Cheon Seong Gyeong – Sun Myung Moon
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Cheon Seong Gyeong – Sun Myung Moon |
When we observe how history developed, we see that Egyptian civilization, which was the first human civilization, was a river civilization based on the Nile River. In other words, the Nile River was the cradle of Egyptian civilization. How did Egyptian civilization develop? The Egyptians were curious about what was on the other side of the river. They always wanted to cross the river and explore the other side. This desire was the spiritual background for the development of Egyptian civilization. Mediterranean civilization developed after the age of this river civilization had passed. Human society has been developing based on the motivation that arose from a fervent heart and longing for the other shore. You should know that this longing for the other shore has created revolutions in civilization. (5-43, 1958.12.14)
When we think about the course of the development of civilization, we see that ancient civilizations were tropical civilizations, and current civilizations are temperate civilizations. In this way, it is going the opposite way to the way God originally intended. Ancient civilizations were tropical civilizations and present civilization belongs to the temperate zone. Despite this fact, the temperate zone civilization will not revert to the springtime civilization but has moved on to autumn. That is why, the frigid-zone civilization, centering on communism, invades and passes through here. (49-324, 1971.10.24)
Considering the developmental stages of civilization, we can see that a certain process is needed in order for them to manifest in any one particular form. There must inevitably be a season through which civilization can arise. We can reason that civilization passes through seasons like summer and fall, and then through the winter season for it to develop into a civilization having one universal sphere which is like spring. (66-186, 1973.5.6)
If we assume God exists, what are some of the things He might like? He would, of course, in terms of the seasons, enjoy all four. With regard to people, God would enjoy all the ages from childhood and youth to the prime of life and old age. If you look at people, you will see that there are white people, black people, yellow people, red people -- people of all races. What kind of person would God like? He would like white people, black people, yellow people and red people. Since the world turns on the basis of the overall conditions of relationship, so history unfolds along with the historical development of civilizations. (72-100, 1974.5.26)
God's desire is to realize one world under one will, one unified world, and one ideal world by bringing together all the developments of civilization. Therefore, in order to establish a motive or momentum in world history for Western Civilization to connect with Asian civilization for the first time, then America, the leading nation of the democratic world, has stepped forward taking full responsibility in Asia. Despite the providential significance of this, America withdrew from Asia without fully carrying out its responsibility during the Vietnam War. As a result, providential history was seriously damaged. (78-208, 1975.5.25)
What kind of age of civilization will come in the future? An age of civilization pertaining to the spring season will come. If humankind had not fallen, civilization would have begun starting from the spring season. Due to the Fall of Man, however, it began from the summer season. The spring civilization was to last for eternity. Why can't the summer civilization last for eternity? You must know that all the harmony needed for bearing fruit occurs in spring, not in the summer. The seed is formed during the spring season. That explains why all the civilizations in the fallen world so far, have passed away as seedless civilizations. They can never move toward life. That is why the springtime civilization never appeared after the winter season civilization. (107-298, 1980.6.8)
When we consider the flow of how civilizations developed in human history, we see that the ancient continental civilizations that arose around the river valleys, shifted to peninsular civilizations such as those of Greece, Rome and Iberia. The peninsular civilizations passed on to the island civilization centering on Great Britain, and this island civilization passed again through the continental civilization centering on America to return to Japan, an island civilization. Now, the pilgrimage of civilization must bear fruit in Korea as a peninsular civilization. This is the providential outlook. (279-208, 1996.8.20)
The direction of world civilization will develop as it circles around the globe. In other words, civilization moved from the continental civilization of Egypt, to the peninsular civilization of Rome and Greece, then to the island civilization of Britain, and reached the continental civilization of America. The continental civilization is now moving west, crossing the Pacific Ocean, passing through the island civilization of Japan, and ultimately culminating in the peninsular civilization of Korea to connect with Asia. The culture consolidated here is a profound one, and it will lead to a new world. (115-171, 1981.11.10)
Global civilizations have been born on peninsulas. The most representative of those places is Rome. The features of the Mediterranean Sea look just like a conjugal relationship between a man and a woman. That is why today, even after two thousand years, Rome still has a position as a central world power. The Roman code of law in particular is widely used. This explains how the saying "Civilization comes from Rome" came about. World unification should have begun from Rome, but Rome was unable to fulfill that mission. (229-69, 1992.4.9)
If you examine land masses and islands, peninsulas look like the male sexual organ. Civilizations always develop on peninsulas: Iberia, Greece, and Italy were all peninsulas. Why hasn't the Italian civilization sphere disappeared even after two thousand years? The Mediterranean Sea looks just like a woman's womb. It is occupied by Italy. That is why Italy could survive until today after continuously overcoming all kinds of disasters and calamities throughout its history. If it had disappeared, the restoration of human history and salvation through liberation would have been impossible. (222-48, 1991.10.27)
Italy, the center where the Vatican is located, has been in the position of the man up until today. Germany is not the center, nor France nor Britain. Italy has a cultural background that goes back more than two thousand years. The law is unchanging. Why is that so? Italy represents man, while the Mediterranean Sea represents woman. I am talking about the original standard. It is just like an environment where a man and a woman can make love. Italy is like the male sexual organ, and the Mediterranean Sea is like the female sexual organ. These two combine. Since the Vatican in the West was unable to establish a standard by which to unify the world, this is coming back to the East. (219-85, 1991.8.25)
What is True Parents' mission after they appear? They will eradicate satanic love from this dead world void of God's love, and engraft all of humanity back into a world of life through God's love. You should know that God has been engaged in a battle to bring about that kind of resurrection. The Jewish nation where Jesus was born borders on the Mediterranean Sea. Africa, Israel, and Greece center around the Italian peninsula. God's providence was originally carried out centering on the Asian continent. In the East, God established Hinduism and Buddhism. In China, God established Confucianism, and in the areas around the Euphrates River, such as Syria and Iraq, God created Zoroastrianism and other such religious spheres. Within this triangular area, God tried to unite the world centering on Judaism.
However, due to Israel's failure to unite its twelve tribes, Rome, representing the satanic world, overtook Israel. All the tribes in the Middle East today belong to the twelve tribes that were organized during Moses' time. They were unable to become one. (215-251, 1991.2.20)
What did I say is most important regarding the center around which history develops? It is the sexual organ. The peninsula connected to the continent is like the male sexual organ. That is why the place that looks like the male sexual organ becomes the birthplace and the final destination of the world's cultures. From this point of view, the Italian peninsula signifies the male sexual organ, and the Mediterranean Sea represents a woman's womb. Doesn't it look exactly like the sexual parts of a woman? The Mediterranean Sea is the first place in history on earth that brought together the origins of culture, based on the providence relating to culture.
The greatness of the Roman Empire cannot be denied. The laws and culture of Rome, even now, are exerting tremendous influence on history. That is because the Italian peninsula looks like the male sexual organ, and the Mediterranean Sea looks exactly like the woman's sexual organ, and these two are one. That is why it is the central place that connects both the Asian and African continents with the European continent. (213-223, 1991.1.21)
The Mediterranean Sea is like a woman's womb. Israel is located near the Italian peninsula where the sexual organ, in terms of a woman, can be attached. It is very unusual indeed. The nation located in the deepest part of the woman's womb is Israel. That is where the Lord was born. That is where the root of life came into being and then became a problem. This root of life, should retrace its steps back and create a global domain, and then go through the Mediterranean Sea centering on the peninsula, across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to bring about worldwide unity centering on a peninsular cultural sphere. Originally, everything should have been unified centering on Italy. (191-107, 1989.6.24)
Rome and Israel are in an East-West relationship, whereas Greece and Egypt are in a North-South relationship. Isn't that how it is with the Jewish nation? When you look at this, centering on the Jewish nation, you can see that all these nations are located around the Mediterranean Sea. That is why, if the entire area of the Mediterranean Sea had been completely united centering on Rome, Asia would have become the center. One complete world would have been created centering on Asia. If that had happened, the unification between the East and West would have occurred. The unification of the cultures of East and West should have taken place. However, unification did not come about. Instead, it went west around the world and made a circuit to return towards a unified sphere of East and West. This has been the historical course of Christianity. (189-72, 1989.3.19)
Geographically, the Mediterranean Sea lies between Rome and the Jewish nation. The Mediterranean Sea had to be crossed. Jesus was in a position where he could have avoided death by various means if he had tried. At that time, the people of Israel had been oppressed by various nations for four hundred years. Therefore, it was a time when patriotism could have united them. It was a time when if they could have understood the historical moment, they could have raised a banner of revolt against the Roman Empire. All the political systems of Rome at that time had peaked, so Rome was headed downhill and could no longer control the Jewish nation as it liked. Since that was the historical background, if the Jewish people had united around Jesus, social revolt would have inevitably appeared centering on the Jewish nation at that time. (153-236, 1964.1.3)
Since Rome was creating a cultural sphere around the area of the Mediterranean Sea, it had the background to rule the world. If Israel had connected with Rome and a global foundation had been created, the world would have been bonded together into a single Christian culture centering on Jesus. That could have completely manifested in the unified foundation. Since Israel was entangled with this bigger nation, both Rome and the rest of the world could have been reeled in. However, this was lost. Israel became a vassal nation to Rome. Today, the Republic of Korea is in a similar position to that nation. (37-45, 1970.12.22)
If Judaism and the people of Israel had become one, the Roman Empire would not have been an obstacle. If they had come together to establish a nation and create oneness with Rome, and if the Roman civilization around the Mediterranean Sea had come under Jesus' command, then world unification would have been achieved. On that foundation, God was trying to restore the entire world, and establish the ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, centering on Jesus. But His will did not come to pass. So after thousands of years of paying with their lives, the global realm of the second Israel was finally established. But Christianity, placed in the realm of the second Israel, did not have a nation on earth as Judaism had. That second Israel had to be persecuted by the world's people, wherever they happened to go for two thousand years, as a penance for the rejection of Jesus. In this sense, there is no forgiveness under the ironclad law of indemnity. (35-170, 1970.10.13)
Since the Roman Empire was established as the Cain-type nation, representing the satanic world, it was able to lay the foundation to issue commands over its global domain, based on its cultural sphere in the Mediterranean Sea. God's will was to restore, through indemnity, the nations and the world, and establish the Kingdom of Heaven of His desire, by raising up Israel as the Abel-type nation, and having it subjugate the Roman Empire, which was in the position of Cain. That has been repeated for two thousand years, and today America stands in the position of Rome. Now, was it a good thing that Jesus was killed? (22-295, 1969.5.4)
Originally, God's will was to have the world united centering on Asia. But who took away that blessing after Jesus was killed under Judaism. Rome took it away. To recover that, God had to circle around the world, centering on Rome, to return to Asia. Why? It is because Rome took all the blessings. Rome had taken away all the blessings Judaism was to receive. That is the path that leads from Rome, based on the Italian peninsula, to Britain and across the Pacific Ocean to Asia. In this way, through the Second World War, God could establish control over the whole area of Asia. He had command over everything. (92-175, 1977.4.3)
Originally, if Jesus had not died, he would have begun from the Asian continent. He should have connected with that continent and gained victory there. Instead, the continent was lost, and Christianity found its place, based on the authority of the Pope, centering on the Italian peninsula and the Mediterranean Sea. Then where did Christianity have to go? The island nation is the next stop after going to the peninsula from the continent. It had to go to the island nation. Accordingly, Christianity should have gone forward centering on the Atlantic civilization and the Italian peninsula. The Atlantic civilization refers to the Mediterranean civilization. Since the Pope in Rome, in the Mediterranean civilization sphere, could not fulfill his responsibility, Christianity was divided into Catholicism and Protestantism, and the Mediterranean cultural sphere spread throughout the world up to today. Ultimately the Atlantic cultural sphere was created with the relationship of America centering on Britain. (188-305, 1989.3.1)
Centering on the people of Israel, Christian civilization took on the form of a religion that focused on human beings. This was called Hellenism, arising from the Greek and Italian civilizations that were at the center of the Mediterranean Sea cultural sphere. Hebraism, based on monotheism, joined this current, and it initiated and won a decisive battle in Rome. This formed the Christian world centering on the Pope in the Middle Ages. With that standard, Christianity developed worldwide using an island civilization based on Protestantism, with Britain as its base. Christianity advanced rapidly by creating an international missionary headquarters. On this providential foundation, civilization gradually traveled around the world, from the sphere of Mediterranean Sea civilization, to Britain in the Atlantic civilization sphere, and then onward from the American civilization sphere to the Pacific civilization sphere where it could touch Japan, which was in a position corresponding to Britain. (78-309, 1975.6.10)
Jesus arrived on Asian land and tried to unite the world, but his teachings were chased away to Rome. They were driven out of the land to the peninsula, and then from the peninsula to an island nation, and then they spread out to seek a global domain. Therefore, based on the Protestant sphere of civilization on the American continent, they returned. The Catholic sphere of civilization had grown, but stood in a position to receive opposition in front of God. It had begun missionary work anew in the Protestant cultural sphere.
Britain and America led the missionary work. After British missionary work established the Protestant, independent nation of America, the providence moved back there. Upon returning, they should have achieved restoration through indemnity offerings within the Pacific civilization sphere, but this side failed. The world should have been unified centering on the Papal authority in Rome and the Italian peninsula, since the foundation to allow this to happen in the continental domain was prepared. Then why was God's will not established at that time? It was because the Vatican in Rome was lacking a broader perspective. Centering on Christianity, what the Vatican should have done was to serve the world, even at the expense of Rome, the Vatican, and Christianity. They did not know that they existed for the sake of the world. They had a different outlook. (204-159, 1990.7.8)
Judaism had a nation in the chosen people of Israel. Yet, only spiritual salvation was attained through the death of Jesus' body. Christianity needs to understand why this is so. Jesus was killed because he did not have a nation. The Kingdom of Heaven should have been established in Asia, but instead Christianity was swayed towards humanism, the Hellenistic system of thought, to a sun god. It came back to Rome and then returned to the Pacific Ocean. Now, the age of the Pacific cultural sphere has come. History does not happen randomly. This must all be revealed. Only then can everyone who has ever lived, and all our ancestors in the spirit world, be liberated. True Parents have now appeared, teaching all these things in order to bring about liberation. (283-206, 1997.4.12)
How did the Fall occur? Eve fell first and then made Adam fall. Eve united with the archangel and made Adam fall. In the course of restoration England, as the female nation, began to dominate the world during the time of Queen Elizabeth I. God's will was not accepted during her reign. What was begun through the queen, carried on with the queen, and came to ruin through the queen. Isn't England an island nation in the middle of the sea? The continent represents man, and the island nation represents woman. Don't the people of the island nation always have a yearning for the continent -- just as a woman longs for a man? That explains why England is considered a female nation. An Adam nation should emerge through that female nation. Adam was brought to ruin through a woman. In the same way, through a woman, England, Adam will be resurrected. That Adam nation is America. Therefore, England must come under the rule of its son. Shouldn't the mother come under the rule of her son? From that position, America was blessed with and bore the fruit of Christian civilization. (81-245, 1975.12.28)
America was called the New World in the European continent. The first people to immigrate to this new world, with hope in their hearts, were a God-loving people who came searching for freedom of faith. They were people who had completely lost hope under the tyranny of the old regime. They boarded a small ship called the Mayflower, with the firm resolve to reach that place where they could serve God as they pleased, even if they were to lose their lives in the Atlantic Ocean. After fifty-seven days of a horrible voyage, they arrived in America in an area that is now called New England. They were the Pilgrim Fathers, the ancestors of America. (100-246, 1978.10.19)
Speaking historically, during the two thousand year history of Christianity, Protestants in the West took the Protestant system and searched for an ideal nation of faith where they could freely practice their religion. They crossed the Atlantic and established a composite people. The independent protestant state, representing this composite people, is America. This is similar to the Vatican in Rome, centering on Catholicism in the past. America was a new dimension of the Vatican in Rome, but one centering on Protestantism. That is what America is. America has such a position. God has been working for six thousand years. The question is how to bring this to a beautiful ending. This indeed is the long-cherished desire that God, and Jesus who represents Christianity, have had throughout history. It is my mission to bring this to fulfillment. That is how I see it. (81-279, 1975.12.29)
America was created by people who crossed the Atlantic, in search of religious freedom, to avoid the arrows of persecution. I understand that its founding principles are based on Puritan beliefs. That is how God gathered the people of the world to this land, and then He bestowed material blessings upon this nation. A time will come in the future when Satan will strike the economy, based on the infrastructure. Therefore, in preparation for this, God has bestowed enormous economic material blessings upon America, and has had its citizens live at a higher level of affluence, compared to any other people. Centering on the Christian cultural sphere, no other nation has been endowed with greater authority than America. (53-315, 1972.3.5)
What caused the downfall of Rome? God was trying to save the world, but the Romans took pride in themselves, above all others. Rome should have aspired to world unification by sacrificing itself as an offering before the coming Lord, but Rome wanted to go only in one direction. However, God wanted it to be a two-way street. That is why the Christian revolution occurred against Rome.
Protestantism arose, based on a new framework. It was severely attacked, but a new and fragile sprout was established in an environment of opposition and persecution. Didn't the Puritans of Christianity cross over to plant this sprout in America? The Protestant zealots of Europe crossed the Atlantic. These Puritans did not leave there for a better life. They crossed the Atlantic, at the risk of their lives, to practice their faith.
God's providential focal point began, from that resolution, in the face of death. The Puritans came for the sake of Protestantism, and after two hundred years established an independent Protestant state. That is the history of America. There was not a single Catholic president until Kennedy. By the 1960s, left and right were to unite centering on the United Nations. President Kennedy was given that chance because it was a time for front and back, top and bottom to become one. (229-295, 1992.4.13)
The Protestants separated from the Vatican in Rome out of their earnest desire for God's new world. The Puritans of England, in particular, claimed that England was not suited for the construction of God's world, and so amidst severe persecution they departed for the new world.
The new world where they landed was the American continent. At that time many Catholics were falling away from the Vatican in Rome. Based on their desire to follow God, the protestant Pilgrim Fathers boarded the Mayflower, and despite severe hardships crossed the Atlantic to reach America. Later on, people from a number of European countries began to gather in America. The British and French, and later people from Germany, which was to become an enemy nation, as well as many other people in Europe, crossed the Atlantic to settle in America. After their arrival, they fought against the Indians and continued to expand their territory westward. (215-199, 1991.2.17)
During the Catholic era, since Protestants were persecuted by the Catholic Church, they crossed the Atlantic Ocean. If you consider the founding principles of your homeland, you can see that your ancestors crossed the Atlantic at the risk of their lives. That is why, when they arrived in this land and began to build a nation, they tried to create an ideal Kingdom of God's desire, a world under His will. Today, what has happened to those founding ideals? They have become part of liberalism and so, no longer mention one word about creationism. Instead, they assert that the theory of evolution is correct. You should know that we are living in the final and last hours of the Christian cultural sphere, where the authority of the churches is about to be revoked.
Your ancestors lived in a time where they had to be determined to go a very dangerous path, such as venturing across the Atlantic, risking their lives in a war for their independence, and fighting the Indians. They risked their lives by crossing the Atlantic and offered their lives during the War of Independence. You should know that they set out with a firm resolve to offer their lives to God. When your ancestors crossed the Atlantic, they did not have a leader. They were just following God. During the War of Independence, though your army was weak, they followed God and fought on. You should know that they attended God as their captain, praying and shedding tears with Heaven. (131-315, 1984.5.19)
North and South America belong to the Christian cultural sphere. Catholicism and Protestantism are like siblings. When America, as it is now, comes to Asia, the Asian people think that America has crossed the Pacific, without regard for its sibling, to steal from distant nations. They would not think America came to help. This is how most Asians view Americans who come to Asia. They think, "What kind of help can they -- who come here without uniting with their own brothers, instead fighting and abandoning them -- bring to us?" They would believe that Americans had come to steal from them. God is saying, "You Americans, you really have to get your act together." When they cross the Pacific to go to Asia, they will find seedlings of enmity there. Japan is an economic empire, and China is a population empire. The Soviet Union is an ideological empire. Therefore, in order to satisfy these nations you have to bring something greater. But what exactly can America provide? This is why they say that Americans have come to steal from them. (272-138, 1995.10.1)
The closest siblings to the United States are the other nations of North America and the nations of South America. One continent is predominately Catholic and the other predominately Protestant. Putting this aside, whatever America may try to do with Asia…. Japan was once America's enemy. China and the Soviet Union are also America's enemies. They do not see America as a neighbor belonging to the Pacific sphere. They think of America as a foreign land. No matter how hard America tries to establish friendly ties with other countries, if a problem arises with Japan everything falls over backwards. This is foolish. If you think about the future, America should go hand in hand with North and South America together to embrace Japan. They must embrace Asia. (272-186, 1995.10.5)
When conflict broke out between European Protestants and Catholics, groups of Protestant believers crossed the Atlantic to settle in North America, eventually establishing an independent Protestant nation. God built that nation. As a result, for two hundred years, America extracted all of Europe's essence. America extracted everything from its connections to the essence of faith and, facing the Pacific, bore the fruits of two thousand years of history, based on the female cultural sphere and the Christian cultural sphere, in a span of two hundred years. (228-222, 1992.4.3)
Satan opposed the union of America and Japan, and tried to stop the unification of Asia. Satan is an external being who is obsessed with economic problems. With its own economic problems in mind, America is employing a policy of restraint, based on its trade laws, to keep Japan from entering its markets. In this way, America is putting the brakes on countries in the Pacific realm, especially Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and India. You should know that at this critical time in the last days, America is approaching the point where it may make a grave error. (135-128, 1985.10.4)