Section 2. Universal Prime Energy, Give and Take Action, and the Four Position Foundation

 

2.1 Universal Prime Energy

God, the Creator of all things, is the absolute reality, eternal, self-existent and transcendent of time and space. The fundamental energy of God’s being is also eternal, self-existent and absolute. It is the origin of all energies and forces that allow created beings to exist. We call this fundamental energy universal prime energy.

2.2 Give and Take Action

Through the agency of universal prime energy, the subject and object elements of every entity form a common base and enter into interaction. This interaction, in turn, generates all the forces the entity needs for existence, multiplication and action. The interaction generating these forces through this process is called give and take action. Universal prime energy and the forces generated by give and take action are in a reciprocal relationship of cause and result, internal and external, and subject partner and object partner. Universal prime energy is a vertical force, while the forces generated by give and take action are horizontal forces.

Let us examine in detail God and His creation in terms of universal prime energy and give and take action. God’s universal prime energy directs His eternal dual characteristics to form a common base for their mutual relationship. They then engage in give and take action. Based on the forces generated by this give and take action, the dual characteristics construct a foundation for their eternal reciprocation. This is the foundation for God’s existence, upon which God eternally exists and generates all forces needed to create and sustain the universe.

In the created universe, the dual characteristics that make up each being are empowered by universal prime energy to establish a common base. They then engage in give and take action. Based on the forces generated by this give and take action, the dual characteristics construct a foundation for their continued reciprocation. This becomes the foundation for the existence of each individual being, upon which the being becomes an object partner to God and is able to generate all forces necessary for its continued existence.

For example, atoms come into existence when electrons assemble about a nucleus and engage in electromagnetic interaction, which is a type of give and take action. When positive ions and negative ions perform give and take action, they form molecules and produce chemical reactions. The give and take action between positive and negative electrical charges underlies all electrical phenomena.

The circulation of nutrients between xylem and phloem is one of the give and take actions in plants that sustain their life functions and promote their growth. The give and take action between stamen and pistil is the dominant means for the reproduction of plant life. Animals multiply and maintain their species through the give and take action between male and female. Animal and plant life co-exist through such give and take actions as the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide and the cooperation between bees and flowers.

With respect to the heavenly bodies, the solar system exists based on the give and take action between the sun and the planets. Their various movements give structure to the universe. The earth and the moon also maintain their rotations and their revolution in a set orbit through their give and take action.

The human body maintains its life through the give and take actions between arteries and veins, inhalation and exhalation, sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, and so forth. The give and take action between mind and body enables an individual to carry out activities which further the purpose of life. The give and take actions between husband and wife in a family, among people in a society, between the government and citizens in a nation, and among the nations of the world are essential for them to live together in harmony and peace.

However evil a person may be, the force of his conscience, which impels him toward a virtuous life, is always active within his inner self. This is true for all people of all ages and places. No one can quell the force of conscience, which is powerfully at work even without one’s conscious awareness. The minute a person commits an evil act, he immediately feels pangs of conscience. If the function of the conscience were absent in fallen people, God’s providence of restoration would be impossible. How is this force of conscience generated? Since all forces are produced by give and take action, the conscience cannot generate the force needed for its operation all by itself. That is to say, the conscience can operate only when it forms a common base with some subject partner and engages in give and take action with it. The ultimate subject partner of our conscience is God.

The human Fall, in essence, severed our relationship with God. Rather than attaining oneness with God, our ancestors joined in a reciprocal relationship with Satan, thereby becoming one with him. Jesus was the only begotten Son of God; he attained oneness with God through perfect give and take action. When we unite with Jesus in a perfect reciprocal relationship, we can recover our original God-given nature. We can cultivate a give and take relationship with God and become one with Him. This is how Jesus serves as the mediator for fallen people; he is our way, truth and life. Jesus came with love and sacrifice to give all that he had to humankind, even offering his life. If we turn to him in faith, we will “not perish but have eternal life.”

Christianity is a religion of love. It strives through love and sacrifice to open the path to restore the horizontal relationships of give and take between people in the love of Christ. On this horizontal foundation of love, the way is opened to restore our vertical relationship of give and take with God. In truth, this was the main purpose of all the teachings and deeds of Jesus. For example, Jesus said:

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. -Matt. 7:1-2

So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets. -Matt. 7:12

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. -Matt. 10:32

He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. -Matt. 10:41

And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward. -Matt. 10:42

The Relationship between God and the Universe

1.2 The Relationship between God and the Universe

 

 

We have learned that every creation is God’s substantial object partner, formed in His likeness as a discrete projection of His dual characteristics. God exists as the incorporeal subject partner to all beings. Human beings are object partners embodied at the level of image, and the rest of creation are object partners embodied at the level of symbol. These object partners are called individual embodiments of truth, in image and symbol.

Individual embodiments of truth are discrete manifestations of the dual characteristics of God. Therefore, they can be distinguished broadly into two classes: those of yang qualities which resemble the original internal nature and masculinity of God, and those of yin qualities which resemble the original external form and femininity of God. Although individual embodiments of truth belong to either of these two classes, since they are all substantial object partners to God-resembling His original internal nature and original external form-they each possess within themselves both internal nature and external form, and likewise both yang and yin.

In light of our understanding of the dual characteristics, the relationship between God and the universe can be summarized thus: The universe as a whole is a substantial object partner to God. It is composed of individual embodiments of truth, each a unique manifestation of the dual characteristics of God at either the level of image or of symbol, as governed by the Principle of Creation. The myriad qualities of God, in their duality, are apportioned into diverse human beings, each an incarnate object partner at the level of image. These qualities are also apportioned into all the diverse things of creation, each an embodied object partner at the level of symbol. The relationship between God and the universe is similar to that between internal nature and external form. It is a mutual relationship like that between dual characteristics: internal and external, cause and result, vertical and horizontal, subject partner and object partner, and so forth.

Finally, from the viewpoint of the Principle of Creation, let us investigate the metaphysical concept at the root of East Asian philosophy which is based on the Book of Changes (I Ching). There, the origin of the universe is the Great Ultimate (Ultimate Void). From the Great Ultimate arose yang and yin, from yang and yin came forth the Five Agents-metal, wood, water, fire and earth-and from the Five Agents all things came into existence.7 Yang and yin together are called the Way (Tao), or as the Book of Changes states, “One yang and one yin: this is the Way.”8 The Way is traditionally defined as the Word. To put all this together, from the Great Ultimate arose yang and yin, or the Word, and all things came into being based on the Word. Accordingly, the Great Ultimate is the First Cause of all existing beings, the integral nucleus and harmonious subject partner of yang and yin.

In light of our understanding of the dual characteristics, the relationship between God and the universe can be summarized thus: The universe as a whole is a substantial object partner to God. It is composed of individual embodiments of truth, each a unique manifestation of the dual characteristics of God at either the level of image or of symbol, as governed by the Principle of Creation. The myriad qualities of God, in their duality, are apportioned into diverse human beings, each an incarnate object partner at the level of image. These qualities are also apportioned into all the diverse things of creation, each an embodied object partner at the level of symbol. The relationship between God and the universe is similar to that between internal nature and external form. It is a mutual relationship like that between dual characteristics: internal and external, cause and result, vertical and horizontal, subject partner and object partner, and so forth.

Finally, from the viewpoint of the Principle of Creation, let us investigate the metaphysical concept at the root of East Asian philosophy which is based on the Book of Changes (I Ching). There, the origin of the universe is the Great Ultimate (Ultimate Void). From the Great Ultimate arose yang and yin, from yang and yin came forth the Five Agents-metal, wood, water, fire and earth-and from the Five Agents all things came into existence.7 Yang and yin together are called the Way (Tao), or as the Book of Changes states, “One yang and one yin: this is the Way.”8 The Way is traditionally defined as the Word. To put all this together, from the Great Ultimate arose yang and yin, or the Word, and all things came into being based on the Word. Accordingly, the Great Ultimate is the First Cause of all existing beings, the integral nucleus and harmonious subject partner of yang and yin.

It is written in the Gospel of John that “the Word was with God, and the Word was God,”9 and that all things were made through the Word. Comparing this to the metaphysics rooted in the Book of Changes, we can surmise that the Great Ultimate, as the harmonious source of yang and yin or the Word, is none other than God who, as we have seen, is the harmonious subject partner of dual characteristics. According to the Principle of Creation, the fact that everything created through the Word has dual characteristics shows that the Word itself consists of dual characteristics. Consequently, the claim made in the Book of Changes that yang and yin together are the Word is valid.

However, this East Asian metaphysics observes the universe exclusively from the viewpoint of yang and yin while failing to recognize that all things also possess internal nature and external form. Therefore, although it reveals that the Great Ultimate is the subject partner of harmonious yang and yin, it fails to show that the Great Ultimate is also the subject partner of harmonious original internal nature and original external form. Hence, it does not comprehend that the Great Ultimate is a God with personality.

We have learned that the root concept of East Asian philosophy as based on the Book of Changes can be fully elucidated only with the help of the Principle of Creation. In recent years, Oriental medicine has become recognized to an increasing degree throughout the world. Its success is due to the fact that its founding principles, which focus upon the concepts of yang and yin, are in accordance with the Principle of Creation.

 

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Understanding the Nature of GOD

Section 1. The Dual Characteristics of God and the Created Universe

1.1 The Dual Characteristics of God

How can we know the divine nature of the invisible God? One way to fathom His deity is by observing the universe which He created. Thus, St. Paul said:

Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. -Rom. 1:20

Just as a work of art displays the invisible nature of its maker in a concrete form, everything in the created universe is a substantial manifestation of some quality of the Creator’s invisible, divine nature. As such, each stands in a relationship to God. Just as we can come to know the character of an artist through his works, so we can understand the nature of God by observing the diverse things of creation.

Let us begin by pointing out the common elements which are found universally throughout the natural world. Every entity possesses dual characteristics of yang (masculinity) and yin (femininity) and comes into existence only when these characteristics have formed reciprocal relationships, both within the entity and between it and other entities.

For example, subatomic particles, the basic building blocks of all matter, possess either a positive charge, a negative charge or a neutral charge formed by the neutralization of positive and negative constituents. When particles join with each other through the reciprocal relationships of their dual characteristics, they form an atom. Atoms, in turn, display either a positive or a negative valence. When the dual characteristics within one atom enter into reciprocal relationships with those in another atom, they form a molecule. Molecules formed in this manner engage in further reciprocal relationships between their dual characteristics to eventually become nourishment fit for consumption by plants and animals.

Plants propagate by means of stamen and pistil. Animals multiply and maintain their species through the relationship between males and females. According to the Bible, after God created Adam, He saw that it was not good for the man to live alone.1 Only after God created Eve as Adam’s female counterpart did He declare that His creations were “very good.”

Even though atoms become positive or negative ions after ionization, each still consists of a positive nucleus and negative electrons in stable unity. Similarly, each animal, whether male or female, maintains its life through the reciprocal relationships of yang and yin elements within itself. The same holds true for every plant. In people, a feminine nature is found latent in men and a masculine nature is found latent in women.

Moreover, every creation exists with correlative aspects: inside and outside, internal and external, front and rear, right and left, up and down, high and low, strong and weak, rising and falling, long and short, wide and narrow, east and west, north and south, etc. The reason for this is that everything is created to exist through the reciprocal relationships of dual characteristics. Thus, we can understand that everything requires for its existence a reciprocal relationship between the dual characteristics of yang and yin.

However, there is another pair of dual characteristics in reciprocal relationship which are even more fundamental to existence than the dual characteristics of yang and yin. Every entity possesses both an outer form and an inner quality. The visible outer form resembles the invisible inner quality. The inner quality, though invisible, possesses a certain structure which is manifested visibly in the particular outer form. The inner quality is called internal nature, and the outer form or shape is called external form. Since internal nature and external form refer to corresponding inner and outer aspects of the same entity, the external form may also be understood as a second internal nature. Therefore, the internal nature and external form together constitute dual characteristics.

Let us take human beings as an example. A human being is composed of an outer form, the body, and an inner quality, the mind. The body is a visible reflection of the invisible mind. Because the mind possesses a certain structure, the body which reflects it also takes on a particular appearance. This is the idea behind a person’s character and destiny being perceived through examining his outward appearance by such methods as physiognomy or palm reading. Here, mind is the internal nature and body is the external form. Mind and body are two correlative aspects of a human being; hence, the body may be understood as a second mind. Together, they constitute the dual characteristics of a human being. Similarly, all beings exist through the reciprocal relationships between their dual characteristics of internal nature and external form.

What is the relationship between internal nature and external form? The internal nature is intangible and causal, and stands in the position of a subject partner to the external form; the external form is tangible, resultant, and stands in the position of an object partner to the internal nature. The mutual relationships between these two aspects of an entity include: internal and external, cause and result, subject partner and object partner, vertical and horizontal. Let us again use the example of a human being, whose mind and body are his internal nature and external form, respectively. The body resembles the mind and moves according to its commands in such a way as to sustain life and pursue the mind’s purposes. Mind and body thus have a mutual relationship of internal and external, cause and result, subject partner and object partner, vertical and horizontal.

Similarly, all created beings, regardless of their level of complexity, possess an intangible internal nature, which corresponds to the human mind, and a tangible external form, which corresponds to the human body. Within each being, the internal nature, which is causal and subject, commands the external form. This relationship allows the individual being to exist and function purposefully as a creation of God. Animals live and move because their bodies are directed by an internal faculty corresponding to the human mind, which endows them with a certain purpose. Plants maintain their organic functions by virtue of their internal nature, which also operates like the human mind in some respects.

The human mind imparts to every person a natural inclination to join with others in harmony. Likewise, positive ions and negative ions come together to form particular molecules, because within every one of them exists a rudimentary internal nature that guides them toward that end. Electrons assemble around nuclei to form atoms because they possess an attribute of internal nature which directs them toward that purpose. According to modern science, all particles that constitute atoms are made up of energy. For energy to form particles, it, too, must possess an internal nature which directs it to assume specific forms.

Probing deeper still, we search for the Ultimate Cause which brought this energy, with its elements of internal nature and external form, into existence. This being would be the First Cause of all the myriad things in the universe. As the First Cause, it must also possess the dual characteristics of internal nature and external form, which stand in the position of subject partner to the internal natures and external forms of all beings. We call this First Cause of the universe God, and we call God’s internal nature and external form the original internal nature and original external form. As St. Paul indicated, by investigating characteristics that are universally present in the diverse things of creation, we can come to know the nature of God: God is the First Cause of the entire universe and its subject partner, having the harmonious dual characteristics of original internal nature and original external form.

We have already mentioned that entities require for their existence the reciprocal relationship between the dual characteristics of yang and yin. It is only natural to surmise that God, the First Cause of all things, also exists based on the reciprocal relationship between His dual characteristics of yang and yin. The verse “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”3 supports the idea that God, as the subject partner, has dual characteristics of yang and yin in perfect harmony.

What is the relationship between the dual characteristics of internal nature and external form and the dual characteristics of yang and yin? God’s original internal nature and original external form each contain the mutual relationship of original yang and original yin. Therefore, original yang and original yin are attributes of original internal nature and original external form. The relationship between yang and yin is similar to that which exists between internal nature and external form. Yang and yin thus have the following mutual relationships: internal and external, cause and result, subject partner and object partner, vertical and horizontal. For this reason, it is written in Genesis that God took a rib from the man, Adam, and created a woman, Eve, to be his helper.4 In this case, the yang and yin of God were manifested in masculinity and femininity.

A human being attains perfection when he centers his life on his mind; likewise, the creation becomes complete only when God stands as its center. Hence, the universe is a perfect organic body that moves only according to God’s purpose of creation. As one organic body, the universe should exist in a relationship of internal nature and external form, with God as the internal nature and the created universe as the external form. For this reason it is written in the Bible that human beings, who are the center of the universe, are created in the image of God. Because God exists as the subject partner having the qualities of internal nature and masculinity, He created the universe as His object partner with the qualities of external form and femininity. All of this is supported by the Bible verse which states, “man . . . is the image and glory of God.”6 In recognition of God’s position as the internal and masculine subject partner, we call Him “Our Father.”

In summary, God is the Subject in whom the dual characteristics of original internal nature and original external form are in harmony. At the same time, God is the harmonious union of masculinity and femininity, which manifest the qualities of original internal nature and original external form, respectively. In relation to the universe, God is the subject partner having the qualities of internal nature and masculinity.

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In the Search for a Better Understanding about the Ultimate Creator/GOD

The Fundamental Questions of Humanity

 

Throughout history, people have anguished over the fundamental questions of human life and the universe without arriving at satisfying answers. This is because no one has understood the root principle by which humanity and the universe were originally created. To approach this topic properly, it is not enough to examine resultant reality. The fundamental question is that of the causal reality. Problems concerning human life and the universe cannot be solved without first understanding the nature of God.

 

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Fathoming GOD …….

God and the Work of Creation

Section 1. God’s Motivation for Creating Is Love

1.1. The Work of Creation Required Complete Investment

God’s creating heaven and earth was not aimed primarily at sustaining life; it was to realize the ideal of love. (188-196,
1989.2.26)

Scientists say that the universe is made of energy, and that it originated from energy. But this is not so. An electric current does not flow just because there is potential energy. Electricity is generated through action. And before action, there must be a plus and a minus that is, a subject partner and an object partner. Action cannot occur by itself; there- fore a subject partner and an object part- ner are necessary. Considering all the above, action requires a plus and a minus, and that action then generates electricity. Thus, in the same way, energy arises only through the interaction of subject and object partners. Hence, the universe did not originate from energy, as today’s scientists say it did. Action comes first, not energy. (111-126, 1981.2.8)

Which is most important, love or life? Love is most important. We do not say life is most important just because our world came from God’s life. We say that love is most important. Although God began the creation of heaven and earth with life, the source of life and the motivation for life is love. The reason life came into being is because of love. Why did God create heaven and earth? Although He is the Absolute Being, He cannot feel joy alone. Even if He were placed in a joyful atmosphere, He could not feel the stimulation of joy if He were alone; this is why He created. No matter how much the Absolute Being may say, “I am the Absolute Being, the Master of love and Master of life,” while He is all alone, He cannot feel the stimulation of love. Alone, God cannot feel the stimulation of life that makes Him sense that heaven and earth are within His own body. (38-152, 1971.1.3)

If God had been thinking only about Himself, would He have created heaven and earth? Creation requires an invest- ment of energy. An artist’s great hope is to create a masterpiece. An artist invests all his effort into making great works of art. A masterpiece appears only when the artist gives everything, and feels he cannot give any more. Creation starts with investing oneself. Creation is possible only when energy is poured out. Without contributing energy, there is no result. According to the principle that a perfect object partner appears only through total investment, God as the Subject partner completely invested Himself into making His object partner. The creation was the beginning of God’s work through which He determined not to exist for His own sake, but for the sake of His object partner. (78-111, 1975.5.6)

Creation requires giving out energy. God invested Himself. But how much did He invest? Some people think that when God created through the Word, saying, “Let there be this, let there be that,” it was like a game. But no, God complete- ly poured out His true life, true love and true ideals. We do not love something unless we have worked hard and invested our flesh and blood into it. So the period before creating and the period after cre- ating were therefore different. Before creating, God thought about everything centered on Himself, but after starting to create, He existed for His object part- ner. We do not exist for ourselves but for our partners, for our sons and daughters. That is how it is. (69-81, 1973.10.20)

God had to pour out His very essence to create heaven and earth. This required that He give out energy, and investing energy normally would entail deplet- ing His essence. God created the world through love to be His partner, and He devoted Himself to fulfilling this will. God arranged for His investment to bear fruit in His partner rather than in Himself. By investing, God does not feel diminished, but satisfied. This is because God created through love. (60-85, 1972.8.6)

After eating breakfast, when we work strenuously we get hungry and tired quickly. Why is this so? It is because when energy is poured out, it is depleted. Whatever we do, we cannot be satisfied with a negative result. For things to be good there must be a plus. So for God’s creation to be good, it must have some- thing that can be a plus. Then, when can God retrieve something with that plus? Here is where the standard for the per- fection of created beings must lie. There is a point where all the investment up to that point will start bringing returns. The same thing happens when you have a deep desire to accomplish something and you make effort and stretch beyond your limitations the result comes without fail. This is the law of the universe. It is the same with God. When He cre- ated humankind, God invested energy. He depleted Himself. However, after God created humankind by giving out everything that He could possibly give, perfected human beings will not run away somewhere. When they reach per- fection, they will return to God. When they return, they will not return with a value less than the amount of investment made, but with a value that enhances that of God’s creation. (65-20, 1972.11.13)

How did the universe begin? It started with God serving and pouring Himself out for the sake of the other. It started with God expending Himself. Then, what is the purpose in devoting oneself to creating one’s partner? After both have given all they have, what we gain is love. As long as we have love, we are happy, no matter how much we have invested. Since this is the love principle, God started the creation based on love. God would not invest in anything that would not produce a benefit. Giving all one has creates a minus, so why do you think He did it? Because love has the power to more than fill up any void, after expending and investing Himself, God gained love in return. True love does not become smaller as it is invested, but grows bigger and bigger the more it moves. Conversely, if the principle were that true love would grow smaller, God would be depleted through His investment. But the opposite is the case. True love grows bigger and bigger the more it is invested. (237-124, 1992.11.13)

Since love has the capacity to create, it never grows tired. With a heart of love, you never get tired, because you have the power of love. The energy spent is always replenished by more energy than is used up, no matter how much is invest- ed. This is why you don’t mind making that effort, although to do so is hard and painful. How could you continue if you did not like it? On the path of true love, you cannot have an eternally unwilling heart. God’s essence does not include the concept of an enemy or the concept of evil. This is because His essence dwells within true love. (237-130, 1992.11.13)

So invest, invest and invest based on God’s ideal of creation. When you invest, circular motion occurs. Take air, for example. If there is a very low-pres- sure mass of air and a very high-pres- sure mass of air and they mix, a mid- level pressure mass of air results. God comes down, although no one calls Him. So those who want to invest more than a hundred percent are always filled by God. The principle of the universe is like this. Completely giving yourself out and forgetting what you have given is connected to eternal motion; at that lev- el the underlying principle of eternal life emerges. Eternal life. Otherwise, from where will you derive the principle of unification? When living for the sake of others, circular motion occurs, doesn’t it? What happens with something mov- ing in a spiral motion? It becomes smaller and smaller and rises. As the base of something moving with cyclonic rota- tion broadens out, its height decreases. But eternal life rises up more and more, and therefore automatically God will stand on Adam and Eve’s shoulders and go up as they go up. (205-95, 1990.7.7)

Why did God create heaven and earth? Acts of creation consume energy. They require an investment of energy. Investing energy means expending one- self. However omniscient and omnip- otent God may be, if His abundant endowment of energy did not produce a return, it inevitably would be exhausted. (65-20, 1972.11.13)

God put all His energy into creating all things and human beings. He invest- ed everything and then gave still more. Other things are depleted when they are poured out, but with true love, the more you give, the more your creation prospers and the more it gives back. If you invest 100 units of true love, 120 will come back. Therefore, although those who practice true love seem like they are going to perish, they will not perish; rather, they will prosper eternally and live forever. (219-118, 1991.8.28)

Why does God exist? For what does He want to exist? He wants to exist for the sake of love. This is why He needs a love partner. This is why the omniscient and omnipotent God had to create a love partner. Until now we have not known that God began the creation based on love as His essential ideal. The entire universe was created for the sake of love. (208-35,1990.11.20)

God wants to have a global platform for true giving. God wants to see a free, peaceful and happy place where giv- ing has no accusers and receiving has no conditions attached. God’s goal is to expand that place worldwide and have all humankind settle down to live there. (13-249, 1964.4.12)

1.2. Realizing the ideal of creation through love

God created the world in order to realize love. He created the universe so that He could rejoice over people and all things as they become one centering on His love and making a harmoni- ous world of love. In so doing, He could rejoice over people as they become true husbands and wives centering on God’s love, creating families, tribes, races and a world of true love. He would be able to taste the joy of love by becoming one in love with such people. This was God’s ideal of creation. (Blessed Family – 302)

Heart is the foundation of the origi- nal mind. Through heart God can pour out His infinite love centering on His purpose. Its value never changes. To discuss the value of God’s existence, we must discuss it by holding on to this love. Value is determined when the conditions are established for a reciprocal relation- ship. Joy starts from God’s heart, and its purpose is realized in human beings. The heart of the invisible God manifests itself in the heart of a visible human being. When people with such a heart multiply horizontally and form families, these families become the center of the world. God blessed Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply so that they could have such a family. The ideal of the cos- mos is established on the basis of being fruitful, multiplying and having domin- ion over all things. (27-28, 1969.11.15)

Why do you think God created the universe? God wanted to experience joy through it. Although God is the Abso- lute Being, He cannot feel joy alone, because joy arises only when you have someone to relate to. God does not need knowledge, money or power, because He is himself absolute, omniscient and omnipotent. No matter how advanced science may be, it cannot catch up with or go beyond what God has made. The immense universe operates in an order- ly way according to laws. Considering that God has created and governs this immense universe, which is beyond the reach of human thought and science, God is absolutely scientific as well. Do you think someone who has tied himself to and tasted God’s original love will want to be separated from it? When a bee is sucking nectar from a flower and you pull on its abdomen, it will not stop sucking the nectar even if its abdomen is pulled off. What if you experienced the taste of such love? You might leave, but you would turn around and come back, trying to cling to it. (137-57, 1985.12.18)

The Principle of the Unification Church concludes that God’s love requires fulfilling the four-position foun- dation. Then, what does fulfilling the four-position foundation mean? Parental love should be expressed to and felt by the children. Centered on parental love, which lies at the center of the four-posi- tion foundation, the parents become one with the children, the man and wom- an become one in love, and finally they become one with God’s love. This is the four-position foundation. (Blessed Family – 302)

Adam must be one with God, and what unites them is love. Human beings are the two-dimensional representatives of the world of existence, and its three dimensional representative is God. Love is the central point, the rope that binds them together eternally. When human beings, who have a body, attain one- ness with God, their heart and feelings will be immersed in a boundless state of deep experience and happiness. (35-156,1970.10.13)

Ultimately, God and people become one through love. Human beings and the world become one through love, and the realization of the ideal world of God’s purpose of creation starts here. The realization of God’s ideal finally emerges in the place where new love centered on God, or love according to the law of cre- ation, is settled. (Blessed Family – 302)

What is it that we human beings want after waking up in the morning? Eating breakfast, going out to work and worrying about the whole world are not most important for us. What we want is to have an unchanging heart of love day and night, through all four seasons and throughout our life. God created heaven and earth for the sake of the ideal realm of love, where such men and women form a completely horizontal line and become connected to God at a perfect ninety-degree angle. This is a place of love where human emotion and heaven- ly emotion become one. (213-157, 1991.1.20)

God began His creation from His own essence, giving and giving for the sake of love and forgetting about it. Therefore, if God’s partner is to receive, he likewise must pour himself out. This is like investment coming from above and also from below. In this way, heaven and earth join together harmoniously and become one. They become one centering on the love that can embrace and move heaven and earth. This generates great power. (237-130, 1992.11.13)

To occupy love, you must give and forget what you have given and give again and forget again. Why do you have to have such love? Because the more love moves, the more it expands, rather than diminishes. According to the laws of dynamics in nature, the more things move and operate, the less you have, right? In nature, things diminish the more they move, but in the world of true love, things expand the more they move. Because God knew this, He began the Creation with true love. (237-127, 1992.11.13)

Fathoming GOD ……

Section 7.  Assessing the Existing Views of God
7.1. Existing doctrines of God are contradictory

There are various questions raised against religious doctrine. They include the question “Does God really exist?” God is said to be omniscient, omnipotent,  omnipresent,  possessing utmost goodness and beauty. He is said to be a being of love, the Lord of judgment,   and the Father of humankind. Yet how do we know these descriptions are correct? Why did God create the universe, when He could have just remained quietly by Himself?  What  is the purpose for which God created the world? There must have been a certain method to the creation. What would that method have been? Why does the phenomenon of the so-called law of the jungle appear in this world  created by the God of absolute goodness? It is said that the Fall has led to the world of sin, but why did human beings, created by the perfect God, fall? (122-302, 1982.11.25)

God has many problems. If He is all- knowing and all-powerful, why did He allow Jesus to be nailed to the cross? Is salvation impossible without the cross? How are you going to answer this? If God is all-knowing and all-powerful yet still unable to save Jesus from the cross, such a God is a cruel God whom we should chase away. How can we believe in Him? (136-128, 1985.12.22)
Book 1  • True God

There has been no one who sought to  understand,   by  digging  into   the root cause of God’s grief after the Fall, what the relationship between God and human beings is, and how the supposedly all-knowing and all-powerful God has become so impotent. (133-216, 1984.7.19)

So far,  although many  theologians and  spiritual  mediums   have  known about the existence of Satan, they have not been able to understand why the all- knowing and almighty God could not prevent Satan from opposing Him. This is a problem even throughout the spirit world. Whenever you try to go to God’s side,  Satan will surely interfere. Satan opposes us from many directions,  not just one. But why is God unable to intervene and punish him? This has been a riddle until now. This is one thing that cannot be known even through relating with the spirit world. (133-86, 1984.7.10)

The   all-knowing   and   all-powerful God has been leading  humankind throughout the tens of  thousands of years of history. Why then is it that history is not heading toward a world where goodness is realized but instead has end- ed up heading toward a world of despair and hopelessness? This is a serious problem that can lead to people concluding that there is no God. If there were no God, would humankind have the possibility to dream of the ideals we long for, the peaceful world and utopia that we seek, in the future? Throughout our long history,  thinking  people and numerous philosophers  have failed in their pursuit of such a world and left the world in its present state. Considering this fact, we cannot assume that such a world of hope will come about in the future. (130-18,1983.12.11)

Why does the all-knowing and all- powerful God  leave Satan  alone?  He could just execute him one night by cut- ting off his head, but why does He leave him be? Why just leave him be? This is the most difficult question in religion. Is it a simple matter? (127-112, 1983.5.5)

Many faithful people think of God as sitting on the throne of glory as an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent being with absolute authority. This is why they think that God has nothing to do with such  concepts as suffering or sorrow. If Christians ask what kind of being God is, they would say, “God is our Father.” They say that all believers who call Him Father should repent and practice faith in the sinful world. God and man are related as parent and child, yet they are said to be in contradiction. (123-154, 1983.1.1)

Today    Christianity     pronounces, “God is the holy, all-knowing, and omnipotent being, and the Judge who sits on His throne as the righteous Lord of Judgment who judges all people.” Do you like judges? If a judge serves for ten years, he will get sick and die; if he does not die,   he will at least become seriously ill. If he does not get sick, he is a fake. Judges sometimes pass death sentences, and yet their verdicts cannot be absolutely right. There are many different ways of seeing the situation, and still their judgments decide whether someone lives or dies. It is a serious matter. Judgment, from the human  perspective of  universal laws often  misses the true mark in light of universal law. For this reason,  a  righ- teous person would get sick after being a judge for ten years. (198-285, 1990.2.5)

We should ask Him about this. Today’s Christians say that God is sit- ting on the throne as the all-knowing and all-powerful God. They say that, as the Judge, He sends bad people to hell and good people to heaven. But if God were joyful to see this, He would be a crazy God. God dwells in the place of absolute  goodness,  which  transcends good and evil. (194-32, 1989.10.15)

Christian pastors say that God is sit- ting on the throne as the  omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent being, but would that be interesting? If He sat on a throne for tens of thousands of years doing nothing, would not His buttocks become flabby? If you like sitting, try sit- ting for just three days. (192-29, 1989.7.2)

So what is God doing? According to Christianity, God is sitting on the throne in eternal glory… But if He is alone, what kind of glory is that? Is God sitting in one spot for eternity and saying, “Oh, I so much like my power, my omniscience, mysterious…”? Really? What use is that? God,  too,  has always been living centered on love. The logic of this is undeniable. (191-22, 1989.6.24)

If it seems God  can do everything as He pleases, why did He allow human beings to become like they are over our long, drawn-out history, said by  some to be 850,000 to one and a half million years? This could lead us to  conclude that God does not exist; we could not even talk about an all-knowing and all- powerful God. But that would be faulty logic. Why is it that God cannot do as He pleases? Why can’t He? It is because He is constrained by circumstances. (162-186, 1987.4.12)

What  would  happen  if  man  had not fallen? Today,  Christianity  teaches that God  is all-knowing,  all-powerful and holy,  while we  human beings are profane, but they are wrong. Go to the spiritual world and see. They, too, call God “Father” just as people do on earth today. Who is this father? If the holy God were unable to enter a relationship with people, could we call Him Father? There is a logical contradiction there from the outset. It is completely contradictory. But what I am saying makes sense. (240-191,1992.12.13)

Why am I saying this? God created human beings as His sons and daughters,  but do you think God  has  seen them dancing and singing while praising God, or not? Because they fell and were expelled,  God  still has  not seen such a day. But Christians do not know this about God. They think that God is in glory and that because He is all-knowing and all-powerful, He is able to do anything. But then, they need to ask why He has not been able to save humankind during all these thousands of years. How would you answer this? It  is because human beings committed sin. Since it is they who committed sin, it is they who must liquidate it. (226-304, 1992.2.9)

What is it that God absolutely wants? That is the question. What is it that God wants? What does God absolutely want? Is it ability? Today, Christian churches and Christian theology teach that since God is all-knowing and all-powerful, as the righteous Lord of Judgment He sends good people to the Kingdom of Heaven and evil people to hell. Would you like that kind of judge? Do you like the judges in the secular world? Wouldn’t it be nasty of God to have made it so that He sends some people to hell and some to the Kingdom of Heaven? We conclude that this would be unfair. (211-75, 1990.12.29)

Christian theology claims that God the Creator is holy and the things He created are profane. This view, however, contradicts the original principle of the formation of the universe. The traditional, mainstream idea of Christianity is said to be based on love, even loving one’s  enemy,  but how can the  profane sinner and the holy God become one? Without establishing a basis for answering this serious  question,  any conclusion advanced is futile, false. This is why there must be a partner for the absolute God to absolutely obey, serve and have with Him even at the cost of His own life. (204-100, 1990.7.1)

Christian theologians are today saying, “Now is the time to critique faith as a whole. Now is the time to re-examine all previous doctrines of God and views of life.” Theological trends have so far upheld the view that created beings can- not stand in an equal position to the holy Creator. Then how is love to be given? Do you think God can share love by Him- self? What are those things we call peace and happiness? Can God have these on His own? How would you answer this question? God needs an object partner. (77-317, 1975.4.30)

What motivation led to the birth of this created world? God created heaven and earth because He needed love. Based on this, the doctrine of God in modern Christian theology is in error. They say that the absolute God of power can sub- sist on power alone. This is why, wherever Christian culture has gone, blood has been spilled. Based on this logic we can foresee that, although Western Civilization has developed in accordance with Christian culture, Christian culture will now have a devastating impact on the world in the Last Days. (209-29, 1990.11.25)

History is heading into the age of science. With the advent of the age of scientific development, in which the fundamental roots of everything are investigated and our basic origins are pursued through studying the origins of species, religion must inevitably keep pace. In  this  situation,  a  religion  must appear having a commanding  outlook that can explain the reality of the world and  creation,  and  prove God’s  exis- tence. Since there is as yet no such reli- gion, God should prepare the substance of such a religion because He is a living God. (211-139, 1990.12.30)

If  humankind was created by the Absolute Being in such a way as to practice the love of the Absolute  Being,  it is clear that there was motivation and purpose behind our creation. To reveal that motivation and purpose, a correct view of God, explaining who the Absolute Being is, should first be developed. Establishing  the   correct   understanding of God will reveal His purpose and motivation for the creation, and there- by clarify the reason we must practice absolute love for the sake of peace. (110-253, 1980.11.27)

If the absolute, eternal, unique and unchanging God exists, we must be able to view the origin of true love, true ideals, true peace and true happiness from a new standpoint centering on such a God. From that point of view, we can secure perspectives of God, life, and material things that are aligned with God’s own viewpoint, and from there finally be able to welcome a world of new peace  and new happiness. (77-260, 1975.4.14)

The root cause of religious conflict lies in the vagueness of the doctrines of the ultimate reality. The absolute being is only one; there cannot be two or three absolute beings. However,  the  leaders of each religion claim that  only their absolute being is the true God and that other gods are not true gods. This results in each religion having its own absolute being, and fosters further contradictory ideas of the existence of many absolute beings. Since this leads to the conclusion that the gods of all religions are nothing but relative gods, the system of absolute values – that should have been developed through religion based on the doctrine concerning God’s love and truth – still remains relative. In other words, we conclude that reli- gions to this day have not established an absolute value system to settle the confu- sion. This inevitably results from the fact that no religion has been able to present the correct explanation about the Absolute Being. (122-302, 1982.11.25)

Each religion has its own absolute being as the basis of its doctrine. The absolute being in Judaism  is  Jehovah,   that of Christianity,  God,  and that of Islam, Allah. Buddhism and Confucian- ism do not specify an absolute being, but with the basic Confucian virtue, benevolence (仁), being connected to the heavenly mandate, heaven can be taken as the  absolute being  in  Confucianism. Moreover, since Buddhism teaches that all dharmas constantly change while the truth is found in the “suchness” (眞如) behind dharmas, we can say that “suchness” constitutes the absolute being in Buddhism. (122-300, 1982.11.25)

The doctrine of ultimate reality for the new religion must reveal that the absolute beings of the different religions are not separate gods but one and the same God. The new religion will reveal the fact that all religions constitute a brotherhood established by God,  with the theologies of each having embraced one particular aspect of  God’s  attributes. The new religion  will complete the picture of God. Moreover, in reveal- ing God’s attributes and the motivation, purpose, and laws of creation, the doc- trine of ultimate reality must  explain that this purpose and these laws govern the movement of everything in the uni- verse, and that human norms are, in the end, in accordance with this universal law – that is, the heavenly way. (122-303,1982.11.25)

The greatness of the Divine Principle taught by the Unification Church is that it explains creativity in concrete terms and serves us in our understanding of the process of creation. Next, it provides a substantial explanation of how the Fall came about and then also presents a view of history. It clearly explains how God, rather than abandoning human beings in their fallen state, has been working diligently for their re-creation through- out the course of history. It logically and plainly reveals that  through this process of restoration we will arrive at the world He purposed to achieve. (208-296,1990.11.20)

Fathoming GOD …..

6.1. Only love freely traverses borders
God’s heart is found not only in God’s word but also in all things He created. In heaven and earth, God’s heart is every- where. This is why we say that there is nowhere that God doesn’t dwell – that is, God is omnipresent. Since God’s heart is found in the things you  see,  if you want to be in His heart you should have the heart to embrace those things and all that exists in heaven and on earth as yours. This is God’s heart.  A  person that reaches the highest point on the religious way is one who belongs within the heart of God. The one whose heart sings eternally even at the sight of a flying bird or a fragrant flower does not dwell among all things of creation but,rather,within God’s heart.(8-180,1959.12.13)

Then how do we feel God’s presence everywhere? Feel the air as God’s breath, and when there is a storm, feel it as the sweat God has shed battling to win over His course of suffering for the sake of the world. When you behold the sun, be aware that it symbolizes the life elements of  the entire universe. Learn of God’s  love from the sun. God  has provided  nature as a textbook to help His  beloved sons and daughters experience God’s heart and to bring them joy. If there is someone who, at the sight of a leaf, can think to himself that it is like his own child, he is almost a saint.
(59-101, 1972.7.9)

Since God is omnipresent, we want to resemble Him in His omnipresence; because God is omniscient and omnipotent, we also want to be omniscient and omnipotent; and since God is unique, we also desire to be unique. This is resemblance and because we resemble God we want  to  make ourselves like Him.  We want to rule over all of heaven and earth. In all these things we closely resemble God. (26-167, 1969.10.25)

We should live a life of deep emotional experiences through  love.  So when God is sad, I would feel sad, and when God is happy, I would feel happy without even knowing why. As for a child of filial piety, even when he is thousands of kilo- meters away from his parents, his parents’ love is always with him. If we talk of God’s  omnipresence, where is God? He is not found in knowledge. Love, however is different. It is the parents’ heart of love toward their children that makes omnipresence reason- able and possible. It is a heart that reach- es beyond ultimate extremes.
On the path of love, the parent’s love is omnipresent; there is nowhere outside its reach. This is possible only with love. Only  love can completely  govern the son. This is where omnipotent authority comes to bear. (59-101, 1972.7.9)
Love has wonderful attributes. Once you stand in the position of oneness with God’s  absolute and unchanging true love,  you receive the authority  to be where God is and live with Him at any time. Then you will be able to see God even without closing your eyes. The one who has deeply felt God’s sorrowful heart will stop in his tracks and weep bitterly;  such a realm of  deep feelings exists. Even in the fallen world, a mother’s love is such that if her child has an accident far away, she can sense it. She will wake up shouting his name. Doesn’t this happen often? (201-356, 1990.4.30)

Are arteries greater, or are veins great- er? Which are greater? They are equal. Then,  who is greater,  God  or human- kind? They are also equal. In terms of love, if God is the artery, human beings are the veins, so they have the value and privilege to be God’s equal. On  what basis can we talk about uniqueness in heaven and on earth, and about omniscience,  omnipotence,  and omnipresence? On what basis can we say that everything has a connection with me? Based on love. This is something we can understand. (109-146, 1980.11.1)

Who is God? He is the King of the greedy. He is omnipresent, He is every- where. So,  He  must be  very  greedy,   because there is  nowhere without His presence! We should not be calling Him greedy,  yet  He  is very greedy. (121-70,1982.10.24)

Do you think God has a way of being absolutely obedient? God  has the personality of an absolute ruler and dicta- tor. If He has no way to be absolutely obedient,  although He  may be able  to govern at the higher level, He would not be able to govern at the lower level. The term omnipresence itself would become a contradictory term. God resembles us…. Mothers and fathers resemble their sons and daughters, don’t they? We say that God is our Father. God, too, wants to live in absolute obedience. If there were no way for Him to do this, God would be so lonely! (192-29, 1989.7.2)

If there were someone who viewed a  painter’s  work  and  became   spell- bound by day and night, shedding tears in amazement,  would  the painter be offended?  The painter  would want to invite that person into his living room, asking, “Why are you so inspired?” and have him tell his story. Would the paint- er think him crazy if he said, “Oh, this work is so good. I long to look at it and want to stay here with it”? Although you may not understand God, judging from God’s omnipresence, which fills the universe, He exists as love rather than as the Master of knowledge. Try to  recognize anew and rediscover God based on the question, “How can I deeply experience the resonance of love in all aspects of life?” (59-103, 1972.7.9)

6.2. Love pervades the entire universe

God is an absolute God, but why is He absolute? It is because He absolutely obeys love. Are you happy to hear that or not? Also, God is omnipresent. There is nowhere that His love does not pervade. (223-246, 1991.11.10)

God’s love is more than enough to embrace the universe and it occupies the central position. God is the central being of love who maintains the great- est foundation. When God moves, the small things all have to move together. Everything is contained in one big circle, isn’t it? That’s why it makes sense to say that God embraces the whole world and entire universe. (205-33, 1990.7.7)

If God  did not exist,  the  universe would be completely empty. It would feel empty. But because God exists, the uni- verse is completely full. Why? Because there is love. Hence, even when we are alone, the universe is full if we know that God exists. God is everywhere. We come to  feel that He is everywhere. Hence, within love we can know the deep inspiration that comes from God’s omnipresence. But when we do not know about God, everything is empty; it is as if nothing exists. (91-323, 1977.3.1)

When the subject of love is absent, you feel as if nothing exists, but when the subject of love is present, everything is filled up. We come to the conclusion that it is only when we are full of love that everything becomes full; when we are full of love we can give infinitely and truly. Give and take allows for the realiza- tion and multiplication of our ideal. The
world of love transcends distance. The speed of love is such that even light can- not catch up with it. The fastest thing is love; it is also the brightest thing. The most complete thing is  love,  and that which fills most completely is love. (95-39,
1977.9.11)

What is love? Love provides the lubrication and guide rail upon which things can turn. Without love, there is no lubrication. Cars need lubricating oil to be able to move. Everything  needs lubrication in order to move. And only love provides lubrication for the highest joy. Since its root is the omnipresent God, it does not disappear. (180-161,1988.8.22)

Love is like a nerve. Just as pulling a strand of hair pulls the  entire body,   just pulling love pulls  the entire uni- verse. Only when love  moves will the entire universe turn in harmony. (89-90,1976.10.4)

If  there is one subject partner in this universe who can fill every  per- son’s heart, what kind of subject partner would that be? The one  absolute center. We need an absolute being who will completely fill any heart with love. This subject partner has to be an infinite and absolute being. How  much love do you think God who has to fill the hearts of the billions of people today – has? It has to be unconditional. This is why we need the expressions omniscience, omnipotence,   and omnipresence. They are the words God needs. (116-240, 1982.1.1)

Fathoming GOD ….

Section 5. God’s Omniscience and Omnipotence Are Within the Principle

5.1. God’s omniscience and omnipotence are based on principles

What was God’s motivation in creating all things in heaven and earth? We have to consider the fundamentals of this. God needs no money. It was not for the sake of money, knowledge, or curiosity. It was not for the sake of power. There is nothing the omniscient, omnipotent and  omnipresent God  does not know. He is the King of wisdom, the King of ability, and the King of gold. He can make as many diamonds as He wishes. But God does not need diamonds. Why would He need them when He has them all the time? One needs something only when it is missing. Through His  knowledge God  created the laws that control the elements of the universe, which move and operate under certain principles. In  comparison to God’s efforts to create those laws, the investment a scientist makes to discover just one minute aspect of one of them amounts to nothing. The quantity of their work, the doctoral degrees earned,  the boasting,  and  the fanfare pale in comparison. Art is the same. Art is learned from nature; it originates from nowhere else. Everything is learned from nature, and there is nothing that cannot be found in nature. (182-121, 1988.10.16)

God is all-knowing and all-powerful, but what need does He have for power? Why would He need it when He is the one who can move the universe? He does not need power because He is the great King  of power.  In  history,  no matter how great the heroes were, they passed away, as did the kings and emperors of great nations; before their passing they were all dancing under God’s authority. God does not need the money or knowledge that we human beings need. (176-165,
1988.5.9)

God   Himself   is  absolute,   omniscient,  omnipotent,  and  omnipresent. There is nothing He does not know, and there is nothing He cannot do. Standing in such an absolute position as the Subject  in  possession of  everything,   what could He need? Although God is the Absolute Subject, He must have the heart to be an object partner as well as the subject partner. Why so? We do not need just the east; when there is east, we need west; when we have east and west, we need north and south; and when we have north and south, we need front and back and above and below. In this way, we seek to form a sphere. This is why the universe moves based on the model of a sphere. (201-12, 1990.2.28)

What kind of things do you think you would find in the universe? Do you think there would be diamond stars? If the all-knowing and almighty God created the universe, would He have created just one diamond star? (49-294, 1971.10.17)

What is it that God likes most? Famous scholars? There is nothing special about famous scholars. A  scholar may say that he has researched this and that, but this is just reporting on the natural formulas and principles created by God  the scholar did not create them. God does not even like scholars. Next, what about presidents? Do you think God likes Reagan, the U.S. president? What about a world president? God is the president of the  universe. What would  the   all-knowing,   all-powerful and absolute being need? God does not like power, either. What’s next? Money? Don’t talk nonsense. (141-247, 1986.2.26)

God is all-knowing and almighty. If He were to get angry and strike the earth, everything would be shattered to pieces. Even presidents of  nations and people who are proud of their position would disappear without a trace at one shout from God. Does God need power? He does not. Power may be something rank and file soldiers covet. Who likes power? The devil likes it. (210-18, 1990.11.30)

Why do you think God created heaven and earth? If God said, “I tried creating you just to show off my power and omniscience and omnipotence,” would this sound good to you? Would creatures born through God’s  power  say,  “God, thank you for creating us with a stroke of your power”? If God said, “I created you because I am so wise,” would you feel good? If God said, “I created you because I  am rich  with ability,”  wouldn’t you think, “If God created me through His ability or wisdom, what is my joy, and what does it have to do with me? That’s God’s ability, not mine. That’s God’s wis- dom, not mine. As for me, I am just so powerless…” Therein lies  the problem with the emphasis on omniscience and omnipotence. (175-150, 1988.4.16)

Christianity today emphasizes “God, the all-knowing  and the  all-powerful Father,”  but  omniscience and  omnipotence  work  exclusively on the basis of  principles. God does not do things arbitrarily or through unprincipled action. The laws established by the eternal God are eternal. He does not arbitrarily change what He has established. The authority and dignity of God, in His obedience to the law, is amazing. God is the first to follow,  absolutely,  the laws He  has  established regarding justice and the public good because they are in keeping with heavenly principles. After God, then all people are to follow, and then the universe. There is no alternative direction. Such is the ideal standard of man’s creation. (162-184, 1987.4.12)

God cannot do it alone. Today’s Christian ministers may think that the all-knowing and all-powerful God can do things arbitrarily any time with the power of creation. But that is far from the truth. All existing things in heaven and earth operate by laws and principles. Even God cannot break them and act on His  own. The president of this country must cherish the laws based on the constitution and those enacted through legislation. There is a major commotion here because this is not happening; isn’t that so? (166-99, 1987.5.30)

This may sound strange, but if God wanted love, why could He not simply create it at will? It is because if He did, He  would not be able to  stand in His proper position. This is  why He  does not create love, and this is the same as saying He  could not  create it. Do  you understand what I am saying? You may say, “Ah, but how can the all-knowing and almighty God be unable to create love?” If He did, we might come to find that either dualism or polytheism were correct. You may doubt it, but this is how it is. (173-211, 1988.2.18)

People these days talk about God’s nature and say that God  is  absolute, all-knowing,   almighty,   all-pervasive, unique, eternal, and unchanging.  But what is God going to do with His absoluteness? What is He going to do with His uniqueness? What does God’s uniqueness have to do with us? These are major questions. What is God going to do with His   omniscience  and   omnipotence? What is the relevance? What is He going to do with His eternal and unchanging essence? It may be good for God Himself, but it has nothing to do with us. The discussion becomes futile and  useless, yet we cannot have blind faith. We have to clarify these matters. (223-261, 1991.11.12)

There is nothing God does not know. He is all-knowing and all-powerful, has full authority, and is omnipresent. But what does this have to do with us? I am asking what it has to do with us. You may say, “Oh, since He has full authority, it should be easy for Him to rule over me. Since He is omnipresent, it should be easy for Him to monitor me. Since He knows everything, He will analyze me thoroughly and leave no escape for me.” What good would come from God ruling over us through His omniscience and omnipotence? (130-209, 1984.1.22)

With what does God govern heaven and earth? He governs through law, a law of governance through love. The universal law exists in order to support the means or way of governance. God created humankind  because He  longs for love. He could have gone on alone, without us, but instead, for some purpose, He did create us. What was that purpose? He needed and needs love that is stimulating and impulsively expressed. (121-103, 1982.10.24)

5.2. Only love is the absolute standard

There is  one  thing  that  immobilizes God. Is God not omniscient and omnipotent? Despite His omniscience and omnipotence, there is one thing He cannot do as He pleases. What do you think that is? Is it that He is unable to make gold or diamonds? Would He lack power? There is one thing this  omniscient and omnipotent being cannot do as He pleases. What is it? It is love. Love. Do you think there is love in my heart? Is there love in your heart? Basically yes. But if you were to go around saying, “My love, my love, my love!” to yourself all the time, you would be a crazy person. (142-269, 1986.3.13)

Do  you think God  can attain love by  Himself?  Would the  all-knowing,   all-powerful and unique God say, “Oh, I feel so  good!”  all by Himself?  Then we would have to say that God has also gone mad. Also, if I were to say, “Oh I’m so happy, my love!” based only on some feeling of love, people would call me crazy, wouldn’t they? But if someone takes even a scrap of paper or handkerchief as his object and says, “Oh my beloved handkerchief!” who would speak ill of that person? The value and authority of an object partner that can represent the universe is possible only in the world of love. (142-31, 1986.3.3)

I am saying that even the absolute God cannot have love by Himself. Since love is found only in a mutual relation- ship,  no matter how all-knowing  and all-powerful  God  may be,  He  cannot possess love alone. Of  course,  He  has the potential for love, but the signs and stimulation of love come only through another, not to God alone. This is love, the power of love. (138-245, 1986.1.24)

We pity widows and widowers, but why do we pity them?  It  is  because although they have love inside, they have nothing to stir it into motion. However omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent God may be, love does not operate when there is no partner. With whom does  God,  the Creator of heaven and earth,  wish to have a  relationship? He wants to engage in love with Adam and Eve. (130-21, 1983.12.11)

God likes love. What kind of love does God like most? It is true love. But what is true love? Where would we say true love has its root? Its root does not lie in God. This sounds strange, doesn’t it?  The all-knowing  and  all-powerful God is the Master of true love, and yet God does not want the root of this love to begin from Him. God thinks that He will plant the root in a person who can be the object of this love. (177-269, 1988.5.20)

For  whom did God create heaven and earth, for His own sake, or for His creatures as His partners? Of course, we can say that God created them for His own sake, but we should know that He attaches great importance to the object partner, and this is the standard for all the creation. The subject partner among all object partners is humankind. God’s thoughts were  focused on humankind and on the happiness of all people. As for God Himself, He is an all-knowing and all-powerful being, isn’t He? (109-268,1980.11.2)

God is absolute, omniscient, omnipotent,  and omnipresent. Then,  can  He also love as He pleases? No. God is also under the dominion of love. Then what can we say about God? Isn’t God omni- scient and omnipotent? If we ask Him,   “God, are You not  omnipotent?” God will answer, “I am omnipotent, but not when it comes to love.” Why is God like that? (98-38, 1978.4.8)

God  cannot be  God  by  Himself. What fun could that be? Would He worry about food? Would He worry about sleep? Would He worry about clothes? He can have these supplied in whatever quantity He desires. He may want to get on a plane and fly around, but He would become bored within an hour. No matter how all-knowing  and  all-powerful God may be, and no matter how much He prides Himself in being so special, He would not find it satisfying. He is just like us. And God has no other choice. He must find the joy that derives from seeing something valuable that He made effort to create. (161-116, 1987.1.11)

What longing was it that led God to create? I am asking what it was that the Absolute Being longed for that caused Him  to create? He  is an all-knowing and all-powerful being who needs neither gold nor knowledge. There is nothing He lacks, and so I am asking what need made Him create human beings? What was God’s fundamental moti- vation for creating? It was not  power, knowledge,  or  possessions.  What did God lack? God lacked the basis for love. God,  too,  is  unable to achieve love by Himself. This is why love is the origin, the alpha – the motivation for the creation of heaven and earth. (149-149, 1986.11.21)

What kind of love does God need? God has love, but He can love only when there is a partner. All of you here, do you have love? But do you like saying, “Oh,   wonderful! O my love!” all alone? Love only works  when you have a partner. This is the basic rule of the universe. No matter how all-knowing and all-power- ful God may be, without a partner He is a lonely and sad God. (94-262, 1977.10.1)

No matter how wonderful, absolute, all-knowing and all-powerful God may be,  good  things cannot happen when God is alone. The words “happiness” or “that’s  nice” do not make sense when you are alone; you can talk about joy and happiness only where there is a relation- ship with an object partner. No matter how all-knowing and all-powerful God may be, He cannot be happy when He stays alone doing nothing. Let’s say that a good singer sings a song by himself. Would this make him happy? He needs someone to hear his song. We need to have give and take  to  feel good. Like- wise, God cannot feel good by Himself. (65-20, 1972.11.13)

What is the origin from which God came into existence? From what could God have come? What is His beginning point? Is it omniscience and omnipotence,  or  absolute  authority?  What’s the use of absolute authority?  When He is alone, what’s the point of having absolute authority? There is nobody else anyway. If He,  as the Absolute  Being,   is alone what is the use of knowledge? The important question relates to God’s essence. And that is love, not a love that seeks to be served, but a love that seeks to serve. (218-263, 1991.8.19)

Even the all-knowing and all-powerful God surrenders in front of true love. No matter how great the  president of Korea may be, he also surrenders helplessly in front of  true  love. When you really love your wife, would you want to bow down to her or not? You would do more than bow down. You would think, “Where in this universe did my wife come from? I cannot help loving her so truly.” The thought of being without her would paralyze your limbs. It is  painful to think of her not being there. How happy her presence makes you! Even the president will happily say, “My darling, please love me; I love you!” as he bows to the ground. At that moment, would that small lady sitting in front of him feel good or bad? (211-83, 1991.12.29)

No matter how all-knowing and all- powerful God may be, He cannot love all by Himself as He pleases. You may say that God can love as He pleases because He  is  all-knowing  and  all-powerful, but this thinking creates a big problem, because it leads to the argument that an object of love is not needed. For this rea- son, in order for God, as the absolute, central being, to feel the stimulation and joy of His own love, He needs a partner in love. (208-233, 1990.11.20)

Even God Himself needs a partner. He   cannot  realize  love  by   Himself, either. If I were to exclaim enthusiastically, “Oh, I feel so good today,” when no one is there, people would call me crazy, wouldn’t they? But when there is a partner, even if I were to speak with enthusiasm it would make sense and fit the circumstances. However all-knowing and all-powerful  God  may  be,  what would be the point if He were dancing alone, saying, “That’s good, good; oh, I like my love”? You must understand this. Even God cannot achieve love by Himself. He can feel stimulating love only when He has a partner. This is the issue. (141-106,1986.2.19)

Among the existing things in the world there is no power that can match God’s because God is all-knowing, all- powerful,  and  absolute. God  is  also eternal, immortal and self-existing. But what is it that God desires? It is not money, knowledge, or power; so what does God desire? There is only one thing God absolutely needs, something absolutely needed by both humankind and God. It is true love. (Blessed Family – 302)

5.3. Even God is absolutely obedient to love

Since God likes love, can He become crazy for love?  Can  the  all-knowing, almighty, and marvelous God, who cre- ated  heaven and earth, become crazy for love? There are times when a grand- father,  who  normally  dominates like a tiger,  meekly  comes  under the control of the small grandmother. What makes him do this? He does it because he is caught on the hook of love. Love has great power. This is why God help- lessly surrenders in front of love. (137-84,1985.12.24)

If   the  capable,   all-knowing   and almighty God exists, what kind of things would He like? The most logical conclusion is that, since God is  better than human beings, He would inevitably like love. Then what on earth is God’s love? Even before the beginning of time, God had the love that lived unceasingly for others, and He sought to practice that kind of love. (90-86, 1976.12.19)

You should be sons of God. In being God’s sons, which path do you want to take? The path of money? Would God say, “I am all-knowing and all-powerful, and based on my great power you have to come into the parent-child relation- ship”? What  about knowledge? These are  peripheral  matters. God  wants to focus on love, and says, “I must be one with that love.” You should say, “Only that love is the best.” When you  have completely occupied this love, even the powerful God of this universe will say, “Yes, yes!” (69-181, 1973.11.12

However all-knowing and all-powerful God may be, can He order men and women to absolutely obey true love? To have a  commanding  presence as  the Father,  God should command, “I too absolutely obey true love, so obey true love just as I do.” If God  were to  tell His sons and daughters to absolutely obey true love without doing it Himself, would it make sense? God, who occupies true love, would become a dictator. Only when God says, “Just as I eternally and absolutely obey true love, you sons and daughters must eternally obey true love,” will they say,   “Amen!”  Otherwise,  they would scoff, saying, “The Father lives as He pleases, and we have nothing to  do  but obey? Pooh!” There will be problems. Hence, we must establish  the view that God, too,  absolutely  obeys true love. (211-84,1990.12.29)

However  all-knowing  and  all-powerful God may be, He absolutely obeys true love. How  does  that sound: good or bad? Would this  true love be good when heard from the east and bad when heard from the west? It is good whether you hear it from the west, from the south, or from the north, from above, or from below. Day and night, throughout the four seasons, and beyond the time of our youth and old age, it will, for all eternity, be pleasing to hear the sound of true love. (211-75, 1990.12.29)

God, who asserts absolute power, is also looking for a place where love can settle, a place where love can stand. God, too,  absolutely  likes love. How  much does He like it? More than His absoluteness, omniscience, omnipotence,  and omnipresence. God will absolutely obey the laws of true love even if He abandons everything else. Only then, will it all make sense. We say God is the Father of human- kind, don’t we? Then, can this Father tell His sons and daughters to absolutely obey true love if His own life is not centered on love? This root principle is indispens- able. Therefore, only when God Himself lives in absolute obedience to love can He  educate His  children saying,  “You should live like this because I am living this way myself.” (207-261, 1990.11.11)

The   absolute   God    also    thinks,   “Although I  am absolute,  omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, and have everything, I also want to live in obedience to something absolute.” God, also, has the desire to live for the sake of others. Since God is like this, His love does not demand that others serve Him. He should not love in such a way that He asks to be served. (201-115, 1990.3.27)

On what basis will unity be achieved? Since God is omniscient and omnipotent, will it come based on His omniscience? How about knowledge? No. Then what? Power? Power won’t work, either. No matter how powerful spring may be, it cannot be other than a season in which flowers bloom. Although summer may be said to be  powerful,  it cannot be other than a season when the trees grow thick with leaves. In autumn, they will all wither away. Although autumn is said to be the season of harvest, it is unable to overcome winter. In order to overcome these limitations, the seasons need to always serve the sun as their center. In that way, serving the center, the four seasons all  triumph;  in no other way can they unite. What does this mean? When  God, with the tradition of the Parent, enters a scene where the sons, daughters, sisters, and brothers are fighting and stands at the center and says “Do it this way,” will they not unite? Those who say otherwise are out of their minds. (221-190, 1991.10.24)

Modern theology is doomed because it says that since God is all-knowing and all-powerful,  He  can also  love  as He pleases. Can I love as I please alone – without my dear wife? Can I? Those who say that I can are crazy. Then, can God love all by Himself? (209-81, 1990.11.27)

God is all-knowing and all-powerful. What would the world be like if there were another all-knowing and almighty being just like God, and the two came to love each other? They would not balance each other, and would instead run away from each other. Anything that became stuck between them would be unable to go back and forth; it would slip out at the side.
The weak gravitate to the strong, and the strong to the weak and only  then will they fit exactly in the center, riveted together. The weak desires the  strong, and the strong desires the weak. Women who like effeminate men may as well die. The same goes for women who want to love effeminate men. When a woman touches another woman’s hand, does she feel good? When wom- en hold hands do they feel good? When a woman’s soft hand holds another soft hand, how bad that must feel! How bad the feeling of the two soft hands must be! It is worse than dying. So we can say it is like dying. (167-300, 1987.8.20)

Fathoming GOD …

Section 4. God Is Our Father
4.1. God and human beings are related as parent and child

God and human beings are related as parent and child, but how did this relationship come to be? If you enter a mystical state and ask what the center of the universe is, you will get the answer that it is the parent-child relationship. What is the center of the universe? In short, it is the parent-child relationship. (48-208,1971.9.19)

If you pray and ask God, “What is the center of heaven and earth, and what is the root of the universe?” He will say that it is the relationship between a father and his sons and daughters, the parent-child relationship. People who are ignorant of this will think that this refers to the relationship between a physical father and mother and their  sons and daughters, but we are talking about the fundamental relationship with God. (19-158, 1968.1.1)

God created human beings because being alone brings no stimulation. Joy arises through a  relationship.  Alone,   you cannot receive the  stimulation of joy. When we stand in the position of God’s partner, we can finally receive the highest love and God’s internal nature is made substantial. If God is sorrowful, humankind will inevitably be sorrowful. For this reason, the relationship between God  and human beings is a  destined relationship that cannot be severed.  No matter how hard you research, this will be your conclusion. (God’s Will – 279)

I said that God and human beings are in a parent-child  relationship,  but what is special about this parent-child relationship? The highest  place where father and son can meet is the central point where their love,  life and ideals intersect. Then, love, life, and ideals are in one place. At that place, God is love, and so are we; God is life, and so are we; and God’s ideals are our ideals. The first place where these things can be established is in the parent-child relationship. (69-78, 1973.10.20)

When God gives us love, how much would He want to give? God’s love does not have a set limit. He  wants to  give infinitely. Even after giving everything,   God still says, “Because of you, I want to live in you.” What is the essential element that makes this possible? It is love. God would be happy to live as a servant if that life were lived inside love. A father could feel joy even if he sees his beloved son defecate on his dining  table. Love transcends law. God has been continuously extending His love to people, but that doesn’t mean He will complain, saying, “I have given you everything  without reserve. Why do you not give back? How can you be like this?” The God of absolute love is still frustrated that He has not been able to give all the love He wants to. God can- not assert Himself absolutely into our lives. If God’s purpose in creating man was to give perfect love, God would still want to pour His love into the human world even if He  has been  prohibited from doing so until now. The more we think of God as being so unconditional- ly giving, the better we feel. If God were someone who says, “I have given every- thing, so now you give back,” we would not need Him. (36-77, 1970.11.15)

God is the Father of human beings, and human beings are God’s sons and daughters. He  created  them by investing the core of His bone, the core of His flesh, and the core of His bone marrow in them. If they pull on God, God can- not help but follow. (20-207, 1968.6.9)

God created for the sake of love. That is why God likes to see a man and a woman loving each other. For this  reason, God appears in the world of existence as the essence of love. (86-82, 1976.3.7)

A   child is the fruit,  the  manifestation of the parents’ love,  an extension of their life, and the embodiment of the parents’ ideals.  Children  are born on the basis of the parents’ love, life, and ideals;  thus,  the more the parents see them, the more lovable they become, the more they become ideal people to relate to, and the more vibrant life becomes. (69-78, 1973.10.20)

Human beings are born through the relationship of love as God’s  absolute partners. This is where God becomes the Father and we the sons and daugh- ters. If there is a place higher than this, human desire would want to occupy that position. Since human desire seeks the best, if there is something better, God must give it to  us. From this point of view, God is surely the Father of human- kind and human beings are His sons and daughters. (48-205, 1971.9.19)

Clearly, God did not create us without value. If He had, He would be a strange God. Since God is the Absolute Being, He knows everything; if He had created us without knowing these things, He would be an incomplete God. But God is the Absolute Being and thus He cre- ated us as His absolute partners. (54-87,1972.3.20)

What kind of being is God, the Creator of heaven and earth? He is a being of utmost goodness, the root of all things, and the Lord  of love.  Therefore,  after creating heaven and earth, He wanted to give all the precious things in the whole universe to humankind. If there is someone whom God can truly believe in, love, and entrust every- thing to, He will want to pass the most precious things on to him in their entire- ty. (13-247, 1964.4.12)

If God is our Father, He could not have wanted to create us as mediocre or incompetent creatures. As  He  created us to stand in an equal position, at the same level, as the all-knowing and all- powerful God, our conscience seeks the highest and best. (53-224, 1972.2.28)

If God is the Absolute Being, why did that absolute being create human beings? It was not for the sake of money, knowledge or power. He created man because it was the only  way He  could feel love. From this point of view, God as the Father and human beings as His sons and daughters form an axis. If the connections for this axis are made, absolutely nothing can  sever the relation- ship of loving oneness between God and humankind. (137-57, 1985.12.18)

In creating human beings, God completely invested Himself to fashion them into the most precious,  ideal and perfect form. God created Adam and Eve wanting to exist for their sake, not His own. The time when God lived for His own sake advanced to the time when He existed for the sake of His object partner. An ideal being does not live for his own  sake;  an ideal being lives for the sake of others, for the sake of its object partner. This principle is the basic core of the universe. (69-81, 1973.10.20)

No matter how great, how absolute,   and how all-knowing and all-powerful God may be, He cannot be happy alone. The words “happiness” and “it is good” make no sense when you are alone. You can say that it is good, or that you are happy only when you are in a relation- ship with a partner. Is there anyone who says he is happy when he is alone? No matter  how all-knowing  and almighty God may be, He is not happy when He is alone. Let us say a good singer sings a song all by himself. Will he be happy? He needs someone to listen to his song. He will only be joyful when that give and take exists. Likewise, God also needs an object partner in order to experience joy. (65-20, 1972.11.13)

God, by completely investing Him- self, created His object of love because He needed an object of love. You can- not love by yourself. An absolute being also cannot love  without  an object of love. Thus, God created human beings as such objects of love. He would not,   therefore,  create them carelessly. The Bible   reveals  that  He   created  them through the Word, but He was not relaxed in His  work. He  created them by investing Himself 120 percent, hundreds of times over, through  excruciating  hardship and  difficulty.  (197-164,1990.1.13)

When some Christians think about God’s creation of heaven and earth, they focus on God’s omniscience and omnipotence, and thereby believe, simply, that He created by His words. The creation did not, however, come into form by some type of magic. He created His sons and daughters by investing His entire being with a sincere heart. (65-20, 1972.11.13)

This is why we love Him.  We,  for the sake of comparison,  will not  fully love something for which we have not invested our utmost efforts  and given our blood and flesh. We  make some- thing the object of our  sincerest hope
Chapter 1  • The Original Being of God                                                             67

because we have invested into it the core of our bone, the core of our flesh, the core of our thought, and the core of our entire being. Where did God place the ideal start- ing point of creation? He does not tell us to give everything for His sake. Rather than trying to absorb us by saying, “You come and cleave to me,” He invests Him- self. It is not “cleave to me,” but invest- ment. In  other  words,  He  placed the starting point of the ideal upon the prin- ciple of existing for the sake of others. This is why God invested Himself for the sake of humankind. God exists for man- kind’s sake. (78-111, 1975.5.6)

What did God mean when He said, “I am love.” He was teaching us to cherish love by night and day, while working, resting, dancing or crying. In like manner, He could say, “I have love, I have love in its entirety.” Having love in its entirety would mean that everything was invest- ed into it. The one who cherishes love most is God. He has all of that love, yet once we have tasted it we are unable to let go of it even in death. (44-188, 1971.5.7)

As an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent being, there is nothing God wants to withhold for Himself; He lacks nothing. Although He has everything, if there is one thing He values highest and takes the most pride in, it is love. There is nothing He needs apart from love. (108-223, 1980.10.16)

Where does the completion of the ideal of creation begin? It does not start with  God,   but  with  human   beings. It  begins with the things of  creation because the ideal of creation  destines them to be. Humankind stands at the center of creation. For this reason, with- out human perfection, there is no per- fection for God. This is because God and humankind are one. (149-9, 1986.11.1)

What is it that makes us one with God and His will? What is it that can unite with the central core of the Will that is complete rather than the Will that is in process? Is it God’s omnipotence? Omnipotence  will not work. Is it His full authority? No. Then is it His omnipresence? Again,  no. Then  what should it be? God is alive and dwelling in the spirit world, transcendent of time and space. What is the center of His life? It is not His infinite power, omnipresence,  full  authority,  or anything like that. God lives with love as His central focal point. This is how I see it. He has lived focused on love from the beginning and throughout His present course, and He will do so for eternity. This is because God feels joy when He has a true object of His love. (126-223, 1983.4.24)

Since God is absolute, all-knowing,   and omnipotent, He  has a storehouse of love which keeps  replenishing itself even after He gives and gives. If we were to steal a lot of love from God’s store- house and give it out day and night, will God punish us, saying “You, scoundrel, thief of love!”? Since God is all-knowing and all-powerful, He would say instead, “Okay, do that! That’s good. Take as much as you want. Keep doing it forever. Even after you’ve been here at my storehouse, there is still some left. That is why I am God. That is why I am the Subject!” He will say, “I am the Subject Partner, and the subject partner must have more than he can give to the object partner. As the Subject Partner I must have more than I can give to you as my object partners; otherwise, I would not be God. That is what I am like!” He will again say, “If you want to steal love from me and dis- tribute it like my power plant of love, I will supply as much as you need.” If you then say, “When I run out, I will want to get more, so may I connect myself to Your pipeline of love?” God will say, “If you want, go ahead!” (116-240, 1982.1.1)

4.2. God is the closest person to you

What is the highest embodiment of all truths? Parents,  husband and  wife, and children are. There is nothing higher. Then, what is the center of truth? It is love. Based on this principle, what is the center of the highest truth? We say that God is the ultimate source of truth, goodness, love and life. What does all this mean? They all go to the same point the establishment of truth requires love and life. For this reason,  God  is the deepest core, the ultimate source of life, love and truth. Then what kind of being is God? He is both our Father and Mother. The core is the parents. From this point of view, God becomes simply a person. (21-183, 1968.11.20)

God should have a white beard. That would befit Him well. So God would be stroking His beard, and if the son were to say, “I like your beard long,” His beard would become long, and if the son were to say, “I like your beard short,” it would become short. Since God  is all-knowing  and  all- powerful, when He relates to men His face will look rough. To Adam, who likes masculine features, God’s face will look masculine. To women  like Eve,  it will have an appearance  women can like. (110-281, 1981.1.1)

Do you think God existed before the creation of heaven and earth, or  not? Then how old do you think God is? It’s okay for those who can only count up to the number seventy to say He is seventy. To such people, God will chuckle, “Ho,  ho;  I am  seventy.” When some- one who can only count up to five asks Him how old He is, He will say, “Ho, ho; I am five years old” – because they do not know anything more. No matter how many numbers there are, God can- not be calculated in terms of numbers. He is beyond numbers. That makes you happy, doesn’t it? This is how our God is. (173-252, 1988.2.1)

God also likes jokes very much. He likes humor. Who do you think the great king of humor is? It is God.  He has a good sense of humor because He is all-knowing and all-powerful. Who is the great king who can make others roll around laughing, laugh until they burst and fall over? It is God. I am saying that this great king is God. (171-148, 1988.1.1)

Externally, God resembles men and internally He resembles women. While God is strong, all-knowing, and omnipotent, He also has a merciful heart that can  embroider   flowers  on  Buddha’s smile. He should also have a heart like that of the most feminine woman. Only then will these two sides have life. (206-49,1990.10.3)

God is the great Master of the uni- verse, all-knowing and all-powerful; He is a being who  lacks  nothing and has many powers. Nevertheless, if a loving son of filial piety were to press his way to His bosom without asking, would He shout, “Hey, you! How well do you know me? What are you doing?” God might try to stop him, but if the son were to ignore God’s protests and keeps pressing in, like he once did pressing in to snuggle up to his own father’s chest, saying, “I wanted to place my hand on Your chest, just as I used to touch my father’s chest long ago,” what would God do? Would He feel offended? A father would be very happy. As children grow up, they leave their parents’ laps, go outside the house, and cross over rivers and  mountains. Yet when these children come home, cross the threshold, put on their old clothes, and try to  touch their father’s chest, would the father feel good or bad? Even a grandfather on his deathbed would be happy and say, “Come, let me feel your touch.” (169-76, 1987.10.25)

God is the Creator.  Then, what is there to add to Him? What is there for Him to pull in? If something is to grow bigger, it has to pull in and absorb some- thing,  or somebody has to  add some- thing to it. In other words, it either has to absorb something by itself or a third party has to bring something to add on. But when there is nothing to be added to God  Himself  and nothing for Him to pull in, how can God grow bigger by Himself? This is an important question. I have not discussed it because if I did,   you would talk about it carelessly and cause problems. So please research this. I am giving you this as homework. Do some research; write a paper and I will grade it. (218-263, 1991.8.19)

How do you think the absolute God originally began? Do you think He was born all of a sudden, coming out quickly? Aren’t you curious about this? If we talk about this, Christians will say, “Ooh, the Creator is holy, and this is an incredible insult.” Stop that nonsense! Aren’t you curious as to  whether God  came into being or has always existed as He is? We need to have a logical basis to go on. Dr. Yoon! How did God come into being? Shouldn’t someone with a doctorate in physics know this? Isn’t it a shame if the holder of a doctoral degree covers his face like that?  Unification Church members can only  say, “God natural- ly exists,” but this is not the case. God Himself also had to develop. This is the correct answer. (218-263, 1991.8.19)

What is it that has the power of the matchless beauty of creation? God must have  studied  this.  Although  God  is all-knowing and all-powerful, if He is a personal God, and is like a person, when He relates to love, He will want to go into it and sleep there in peaceful rest. God cannot always keep His eyes wide open and say, “You fool, do not rest. Work on restoration through indemnity day and night.” That’s God principle, isn’t it? It is just like breathing. When you exhale, you have to inhale. God also has to rest after work. It is because He wishes to feel the joy of rest that God works. Everything about God is connected to the mutual relationship of give and take. (164-70, 1987.4.26)

If God exists, what kind of being is He?  He  is  all-knowing,  all-powerful, and His presence is all-pervading. That is good. He is omniscient, omnipotent,   and omnipresent, and He can do any- thing. But however powerful He may be, and however good He may be at every- thing,  what would happen if He  told others to serve Him alone? There must be billions of people living in the spirit world; if God said to them, “I am all- knowing,  almighty,  and  absolute,  and you have to serve me absolutely,” what would happen? What if everything had to serve only  God?  Judging  from the essence of our conscience, we would not be able to embrace that in the long term. It would inevitably create conflict. Your hearts  would inevitably conflict with this in the future. (138-75, 1986.1.19)

The only partner that God can love is us – human beings. God cannot make another God among His creatures. Why?
You may think that the all-knowing and almighty God could create another God just like Himself. This may be possible, but what would happen as a result? The other God would eat with Him and follow Him around; they would work together and stand together. If God sat down, the other God would sit down together with Him. What would it be like If they acted exactly the same for hundreds of mil- lions of years?  Think about that. How stifled they would feel! Their eyes would turn inside out in less than a day. And how would they talk? How many days do you think they would talk with each other? Maybe not even three days. They would say, “Everything’s the same! This is killing me.” (141-26, 1986.2.16)

What is the center of religion? It is God. Of course, there are many names for God,  but the name does not  matter. God cannot be two. The root is one, therefore God is one. When people talk about God, they use different names to refer to Him  because  each nation has a different  language.  Yet the Original Being is one. (210-199, 1990.12.23)

Heaven and earth themselves did not come into being because they wanted to, but surely from some origin and through some motivation based on some source of power. Considering  this  on a high- er level, there has to be a fundamental agent of power  who,  as a central subject partner, moves heaven and earth or creates things. We call this being God. His  various names,  given by  different races and in different languages, do not matter. This universe needs to have a center in any case. Although existing beings act and move around, the central being does not move around with them in their world. There has to  be a cen- tral original being who remains forever fixed at the center of this world of rela- tionships in motion. (154-298, 1964.10.5

Fathoming GOD ..

Section 3. God is a Personal God

3.1. A personal God with intellect, emotion, and will

Today,   many  Christians   say   that because God,  the Creator,  is a  unique and absolute being in the position of the Most High God and the being of supreme goodness, He cannot have a relationship with human beings  whom He  created, that is, with created beings. In other words, they say His creatures are profane, whereas He is absolute and divine. But from the viewpoint of love, no matter how elevated and good God is, and no matter how lowly His creatures are, they must have the same character as God if they are to have a relationship of love. They must have the same heart. It means God must have the same personal qualities as a human being. (138-245, 1986.1.24)

What kind of deity is God? He is a personal God, with intellect,  emotion, and will. Since what this personal God wants most is love, He created human beings as His partners in love. This is an amazing fact. (143-149, 1986.3.17)

How did God, the First Cause, shape human beings? He made us like Him- self. He made us in His image.  This means that the Father resembles us as we resemble the Father. This leads us to the answer. In seeking to know about God,  what might we find about His nature? If we conclude, “He is someone like me,” we will be right on the mark. (127-233, 1983.5.15)

Whom do you think God resembles? If it is love that God needs, would He love something that resembles Him, or would He love animals, which do not resemble Him? God needs a partner whom He can like and with whom He can share love. If human beings are indeed God’s partners, upon looking at the human race we are led to the conclusion that God must be a personal God. All His elements must be able to harmonize one hundred percent with those of humankind. God must be one who harmonizes all elements of the body and mind. This is why God must have the attributes of intellect, emotion, and will. (162-271, 1987.4.17)

If God exists, what kind of relation- ship does He have with human beings? To  have  a  relationship  with  human beings, He must be a personal God. And to be a personal God, He must resemble human beings.
People have the attributes of mind and body. Then God, as their Creator, has to have similar attributes if he is to share with them a  common purpose.  This point marks the origin of the concept of dual characteristics. (167-243, 1987.7.21)

Do you think God has a personality as people do? If He is like a person, do you think He  is a man or a  woman? Then, do you think He has the thing all men have dangling from them, or not? What kind of internal nature did I say God has? As the Subject of dual charac- teristics, do you think He has both the concave and convex parts or not? Have you thought about that? (181-203, 1988.10.09)

Do you think God laughs? Have you seen God  smiling? Do  you think God has eyes? Do you think He has a nose? How about a mouth or ears? Does He have a body? If you examine Christianity carefully you can see that Christians do not have a sense of this. They do not know if God has eyes. If you ask them, “Have you really seen His eyes?,” they do not know. If you ask them, “Whom does God resemble?,” they will answer, “What do you mean? God resembles Himself.” What kind of answer is that? Whom does God resemble? His children. This is why God has to be a personal God. As a personal God, He demands of us the highest standard of character. What forms the base for the highest standard of character? It is measured neither by money nor by power, but by love. (182-59, 1988.10.14)

If God exists, He has to be a person- al God; He has to be like a person. As a personal God He must possess intellect, emotion, and will. Based on these attributes, all His feelings and desires, and all of the goals He sets according to His will must become concrete. (174-162,1988.2.28)

God  knows everything. He  is the supreme King of knowledge and power; He is all-knowing and almighty. Furthermore, He is omnipresent; no place is void of His presence. What is it that He needs? Diamonds? He can make them any time. Gold or jewels? No. What God needs is love. If God were alone, would he say “Oh, I have love and it’s great”? What is it that God needs? If God is a personal God then He must have a mouth; must He not? Then, He also must have a nose, eyes, ears, hands, feet, and a mind and heart. If God is like a person then He should have these attributes. (142-30, 1986.3.3)

What kind of person is God? He is omniscient, omnipotent,  omnipresent, and could destroy or save the world with just one word. But we do not need this kind of God.  What  kind of God  does our original mind  desire? We would desire someone about whom we can say: “I cannot but love Him more than my own father and mother. Even if we have a righteous king or president in our country,  He  is  even higher than they are.” Presidents are changed every four years; they are good and bad, and thus difficult to respect. (147-271, 1986.10.1)

If God exists and comes to our world today,  He  must be a God  of  intellect, emotion, and will. Why? Because this is how human beings are.  His  intellect, emotion, and will, however, are not based on the human way but on the heavenly way. (9-291, 1960.6.12)

Can the absolute God  be sad? Can the all-knowing and almighty God avoid sadness? Can He relate to sorrow? These are serious questions that I can- not take lightly. We cannot maintain the view that the absolute God can be the father of humanity and yet never experience sorrow. There is a logical contradiction here, for it fundamentally distances God the Father from His children who have intellect,  emotion,  and will,  and who experience the feelings of joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure. Therefore, God has to be the Subject who can feel joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure – even more than we can. (203-288, 1990.6.27)

There is no religious organization that correctly witnesses about God. If you talk about God, Buddhism and Confucianism are the same;  they  become dumbfounded. They do not  know the personal God,  with  intellect,  emotion, and will. The Unification Church asserts the oneness of God and man. This is a magnificent concept. (227-112, 1992.2.11)

Members of the Unification Church can be proud of the fact that we know God very well. We know God clearly. God is both a personal God with intellect, emotion, and will, and the Subject of love at the same time. We know this clearly. We know that the God of love is the center of heavenly heart and we know that the center of heavenly heart cannot vacillate. (210-314, 1990.12.27)

3.1. A personal God with intellect, emotion, and will

Today,   many  Christians   say   that because God,  the Creator,  is a  unique and absolute being in the position of the Most High God and the being of supreme goodness, He cannot have a relationship with human beings  whom He  created, that is, with created beings. In other words, they say His creatures are pro- fane, whereas He is absolute and divine. But from the viewpoint of love, no mat- ter how elevated and good God is, and no matter how lowly His creatures are, they must have the same character as God if they are to have a relationship of love. They must have the same heart. It means God must have the same personal quali- ties as a human being. (138-245, 1986.1.24)

What kind of deity is God? He is a personal God, with intellect,  emotion, and will. Since what this personal God wants most is love, He created human beings as His partners in love. This is an amazing fact. (143-149, 1986.3.17)

How did God, the First Cause, shape human beings? He made us like Himself. He made us in His image.  This means that the Father resembles us as we resemble the Father. This leads us to the answer. In seeking to know about God,  what might we find about His nature? If we conclude, “He is someone like me,” we will be right on the mark. (127-233, 1983.5.15)

Whom do you think God resembles? If it is love that God needs, would He love something that resembles Him, or would He love animals, which do not resemble Him? God needs a partner whom He can like and with whom He can share love. If human beings are indeed God’s partners, upon looking at the human race we are led to the conclusion that God must be a personal God. All His elements must be able to harmonize one hundred percent with those of humankind. God must be one who harmonizes all elements of the body and mind. This is why God must have the attributes of intellect, emotion, and will. (162-271, 1987.4.17)

If God exists, what kind of relation- ship does He have with human beings? To  have  a  relationship  with  human beings, He must be a personal God. And to be a personal God, He must resemble human beings. People have the attributes of mind and body. Then God, as their Creator, has to have similar attributes if he is to share with them a  common purpose.
This point marks the origin of the concept of dual characteristics. (167-243, 1987.7.21)

Do you think God has a personality as people do? If He is like a person, do you think He  is a man or a  woman? Then, do you think He has the thing all men have dangling from them, or not? What kind of internal nature did I say God has? As the Subject of dual characteristics, do you think He has both the concave and convex parts or not? Have you thought about that? (181-203, 1988.10.09)

Do you think God laughs? Have you seen God  smiling? Do  you think God has eyes? Do you think He has a nose? How about a mouth or ears? Does He have a body? If you examine Christian- ity carefully you can see that Christians do
not have a sense of this. They do not know if God has eyes. If you ask them, “Have you really seen His eyes?,” they do not know. If you ask them, “Whom does God resemble?,” they will answer, “What do you mean? God resembles Himself.” What kind of answer is that? Whom does God resemble? His children. This is why God has to be a personal God. As a per- sonal God, He demands of us the highest standard of character. What forms the base for the highest standard of character? It is measured neither by money nor by power, but by love. (182-59, 1988.10.14)

If God exists, He has to be a personal God; He has to be like a person. As a personal God He must possess intellect, emotion, and will. Based on these attributes, all His feelings and desires, and all of the goals He sets according to His will must become concrete. (174-162,1988.2.28)

God  knows everything. He  is the supreme King of knowledge and power; He is all-knowing and almighty. Furthermore, He is omnipresent; no place is void of His presence. What is it that He needs? Diamonds? He can make them any time. Gold or jewels? No. What God needs is love. If God were alone, would he say “Oh, I have love and it’s great”? What is it that God needs? If God is a personal God then He must have a mouth; must He not? Then, He also must have a nose, eyes, ears, hands, feet, and a mind and heart. If God is like a person then He should have these attributes. (142-30, 1986.3.3)

What kind of person is God? He is omniscient, omnipotent,  omnipresent, and could destroy or save the world with just one word. But we do not need this kind of God.  What  kind of God  does our original mind  desire? We would desire someone about whom we can say: “I cannot but love Him more than my own father and mother. Even if we have a righteous king or president in our country,  He  is  even higher than they are.” Presidents are changed every four years; they are good and bad, and thus difficult to respect. (147-271, 1986.10.1)

If God exists and comes to our world today,  He  must be a God  of  intellect, emotion, and will. Why? Because this is how human beings are.  His  intellect, emotion, and will, however, are not based on the human way but on the heavenly way. (9-291, 1960.6.12)

Can the absolute God  be sad? Can the all-knowing and almighty God avoid sadness? Can He relate to sorrow? These are serious questions that I can- not take lightly. We cannot maintain the view that the absolute God can be the father of humanity and yet never experience sorrow. There is a logical contradiction here, for it fundamentally distances God the Father from His children who have intellect,  emotion,  and will,  and who experience the feelings of joy, anger, sorrow
and pleasure. Therefore, God has to be the Subject who can feel joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure even more than we can. (203-288, 1990.6.27)

There is no religious organization that correctly witnesses about God. If you talk about God, Buddhism and Confucianism are the same;  they  become dumbfounded. They do not  know the personal God,  with  intellect,  emotion, and will. The Unification Church asserts the oneness of God and man. This is a magnificent concept. (227-112, 1992.2.11)

Members of the Unification Church can be proud of the fact that we know God very well. We know God clearly. God is both a personal God with intellect, emotion, and will, and the Subject of love at the same time. We know this clearly. We know that the God of love is the center of heavenly heart and we know that the center of heavenly heart cannot vacillate. (210-314, 1990.12.27)

3.2. We need a personal God with whom we can be one

In addition to His intellect, emotion,   and will, God has His own hopes, circumstances and heart. What are God’s hopes,  circumstances and  heart?  We need to know these fundamentals before considering   humankind’s situation. Armed  with this  knowledge,  you will naturally and immediately understand people’s original desire. Why? Because humankind’s purpose  is  God’s,   and God’s  purpose is humankind’s.  Those who understand people’s  circumstanc es, hopes, and heart can also understand God’s. (151-208, 1962.12.15)

We cannot talk about love unless God is a personal God. God needs to have the same qualities of emotion and character as  human  beings. Christianity, alone among religions,  revealed that kind of God. The early Christians called God “Father.” Becoming free and able to call God “Father” marked a great religious discovery. My  explanation of God, as the internal and external Father who seeks to create a unifying authority through love that is incarnated in substantial form, takes the conversation to a new level, but the Christian discovery of God as the Father is amazing. Furthermore, it has created the base upon which the nature of God, in love, can be peacefully discussed  and explored. Christianity has also  promoted monotheism. For these reasons, as I see it, Christianity serves as the global religion that can unite the world. It is paving the way to unify the world. (139-239, 1986.1.31)

Although there are many religious paths today,  the one religion that  can penetrate the heart has not  appeared during the course of history. Because God  exists,  however,  such a  religion must inevitably appear. Some religions instruct in social ethics and  morality and others teach about the infinite spirit world. However, there must be a religion that combines teachings on ethics and morality with  those that describe the  incorporeal  world,  uniting them upon the
essential core of one heart. I have  searched for such a religion and it is Christianity. Christianity is a religion of heart. Through the Fall, human beings lost God and forgot that God is our Father. We lost the substantial True Parents and Christianity is the religion that can reintroduce them. (9-140, 1960.5.1)

The final destination of philosophy is the discovery of God. What kind of God is He? He is absolute, unchanging and unique. In discovering God, we will find that He has to be a personal God, one needed by human beings. In  order  to have a relationship with us, God has to be a personal God who shares the inner and outer aspects of all our thoughts, ideals and will. He has to be someone who can deeply relate with us in all aspects of our being,  emotional, volitional, or intellectual. Otherwise He has nothing to do with us. From this point of view, on the basis of the premise that He must be a God whose character includes humanlike character, philosophy has not honored God. (138-142, 1986.1.21)

Whom does God resemble? His sons and daughters. Who are you? You are God’s sons and daughters. You take after
God. And God is a personal God. Can God just be some shapeless entity? What is amazing about Christianity is that it has talked about a God of emotion and personality in terms of His character and love, and His intellect, emotion, and will. This is a great thing. It has also pro- moted monotheism. (177-274, 1988.5.20)

If God  is a personal God,  do  you think God needs love? When we human beings  are  born  as  God’s  sons  and daughters and call God  “Father,”  we need the Father just as He needs us, and the Father needs us just as we need Him. (184-199, 1989.1.1)

If God is a personal God, what should be connected to Him? When you say “God,” you are talking about something high, aren’t you? Then, can your body be connected to Him? No. It is your heart that is connected. Human beings are to live with a vertical heart with the First Cause, the personal God, at the axis. Just as the earth rotates on its angle-adjust- ed axis and moves in its day by day, 365 day course around the sun, we should live revolving around God. This is how we should see it. (194-154, 1989.10.22)

God’s existence leads naturally to the conclusion that this world has no hope for the future unless God’s providence advances and is fulfilled. The  Unification Church has emerged at  this time in history to acknowledge the personal God with His perfected intellect, emo- tion and will,  and  to work with Him to realize the ideal world based on the realm of heart. The Unification Church is clarifying, for the first time, the rela- tionship between God and humankind. (213-302, 1991.1.21)