Book Introduction
Divine Principle
- A book of books -
- Published by the World Christian Unification Spiritual Association -
The *Principles of Divine Providence* is the core doctrinal text of the Unification Church. It is not a philosophical theory mastered through the study of the humanities, but a revelatory truth revealed through the Savior Sun Myung Moon, the Lord of the Second Coming, in accordance with God's will to save humanity suffering from sin due to the Fall. Divided into two parts, it systematically explains the processes of creation, the Fall, salvation, restoration, and the Second Coming.
The center of the previous volume is the <Principles of Creation>, which explains God’s ideal and purpose of creation. God first created a heavenly environment on earth for the sake of humanity.
And He hoped that humans would fulfill their responsibilities on earth to complete the ideal of creation. The core of the <Principle> is that it is human responsibility to establish a paradise on earth of freedom, equality, peace, and happiness.
The providence of restoration in the second part is a providential understanding of human history. History is the history of God’s providential recreation, seeking to restore fallen humanity to its original state as created. Through the history of restoration, we can come to know God working within history and feel the breath of God working behind the scenes.
The greatness of the *Principle* lies in the fact that it clearly explains that the purpose of human existence is to fulfill God's purpose of creation. The *Principle of Unification* is a guide to the correct understanding of all religious ideals and the responsibilities humans must fulfill for the realization of those ideals.
Prison Letters
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer -
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a theologian born in Germany. He joined the anti-Nazi resistance movement and fought against Hitler's dictatorship, but was arrested by the Gestapo (secret police) on April 5, 1943. He was a young theologian who was martyred at the age of 39 at the Flossenbürg concentration camp in Berlin on April 9, 1945, just before the collapse of the Third World.
The thesis "Communion of Saints (communio sanctorum)," which he submitted as his graduation thesis for the Faculty of Theology at the University of Berlin when he was twenty-one, was so excellent that theologian Karl Barth highly praised it as "a theological miracle."
On February 1, 1933, the day after Hitler came to power, Bonhoeffer warned in a radio lecture titled "The Transformation of the Concept of Leadership" that Hitler was misleading the German people astray and that his political principles were in danger of denying God and idolizing a human leader.
“Prison Letters,” subtitled “Rebellion and Obedience,” is a collection of letters written by Bethge to his family and his friend Bethge while he was imprisoned in various concentration camps for about two years, from the time he was arrested in April 1943 until he was executed on April 9, 1945.
He expressed his sense that a 'new era' entirely different from the present is dawning, encouraging his friends by saying, "We live before God, yet without God." Through prophetic inspiration, he reveals the dignified human image and the appearance of a responsible being in this approaching 'new era.'
To Have or To Be
- Possession or Existence -
by Erich Fromm
This book demonstrates outstanding sociological insight into understanding modern people immersed in possessions, offering a fresh perspective on the healthy direction for the future of humanity.
Instead of asking 'what you possess,' you must seek to know 'what kind of person you are' to see the true nature of a human being. The 'having mode' is the 'nonbeing mode.'
True 'being' requires abandoning self-centeredness and selfishness.
However, most people find it very difficult to abandon the mode of possession. This is because they feel severe anxiety. It makes them feel as if all safety has been destroyed and they have been thrown into the ocean like a person who does not know how to swim. They do not realize that even after discarding the crutches of their possessions, they can walk on their own using their inherent strength. It is an illusion that they cannot walk on their own, an illusion that they will collapse unless supported by the objects they possess. They are like children who fear that if they fall, they will never be able to get up and walk again. ... Mental health is ultimately the manifestation of a righteous life. 'In reality,' things like greed and ambition are merely forms of insanity and mental illness.
In this book, we read the language of prophetic intellect stating that “humans will become ‘truly human’ only when they break free from the ‘mode of having’ and move toward the ‘mode of being.’”