THE ADVENT OF SUN MYUNG MOON Also by George D. Chryssides THE PATHS OF BUDDHISM The Advent of Sun Myung Moon The Origins, Beliefs and Practices of the Unification Church

George D. Chryssides Senior Lecturer in Philosophy Polytechnic South West, Plymouth

M MACMILLAN ©George D. Chryssides 1991

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First published 1991

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Chryssides, George D. The advent of Sun Myung Moon. 1. Unification Church I. Title 289.96 ISBN 978-1-349-38909-4 ISBN 978-0-230-37740-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230377400 ISBN 978-0-333-53836-4 pbk To Harold W. Turner This page intentionally left blank Contents

List of Illustrations viii

Preface X Map of Korea xiii

1 Examining the Evidence 2 Unificationist Doctrines 19 3 The Korean Religious Heritage 46 4 The Advent of Christianity 69 5 Korea's New Christians 85 6 Jesus in Unification Thought 108 7 The Blessing 131 8 Rites and Festivals 149 9 The Future Agenda 165 Postscript: Some Personal Reflections 180 Appendix : The Numerological Significance of the Blessings 193

Notes 196 Bibliography 214 Glossary 220 Index 224

Vll List of Illustrations

1. (above) The hut in which the Principle was first recorded. It was built by Sun Myung Moon in 1951. HSA-UWC/New Future Photo. 2. (below) The Rev Sun Myung Moon speaks at Madison Square Garden, New York, 18 September 1974. UPI/Bettman. 3. The 'True Parents'. Each member owns a copy of this definitive photograph, and it is displayed in all shrines and official premises. HSA-UWC/New Future Photo. 4. Sun Myung Moon addresses the Assembly of the World's Religions, McAfee, New Jersey, November 1985. International Religious Foundation. 5. The Rev and Mrs Moon at the Assembly of the World's Religions, McAfee, New Jersey, 1985. International Religious Foundation. 6. The Youth Seminar on World Religions, 1984, arrives at Seoul, Korea. International Religious Foundation. 7. Participants at a conference of the Council for the World's Religions, a subsidiary of the I.R.F. International Religious Foundation. 8. 'Victory of the Second Generation'. Shrine to Heung Jin Nim at Cleeve House, Wiltshire, dedicated by the Zimbabwean. The tree trunk depicts the Four Position Foundation and bears the motto 'Be Responsible!' Author. 9. During breaks in the seminars, members pray at Heung Jin Nim's shrine. Author. 10. Inside a UC Centre, a lecturer explains the Principle to participants. The theme is 'Providential Time-Identity'. Author. 11. The 'True Parents' and their family in Eastern attire. HSA/New Future Photo. 12. A blessed couple in Holy Robes. Unification Church, UK. 13. Blessing couples await their tum to process into the Jamsil Gymna• sium, Seoul, Korea, for the 5837 couple Blessing, 14 October 1982. Camera Press. 14. The 'True Parents' officiate at the Blessing Ceremony, Madison Square Garden, 1 July 1982. UPI/Bettman. 15. Holy Water is sprinkled on the Blessing couples as they enter. The Rev Moon and his wife Hak Ja Han preside over the ceremony. UPI/Bettman.

Vlll List of Illustrations IX

16. The 5837 couple Blessing, Seoul. This ceremony, together with the marriage of 2075 couples in Madison Square, New York (1 July 1982), is sometimes referred to as the '8000 couple Blessing'. Camera Press/C.K. Kim. 17. A blessed couple who participated in the 5837 couple ceremony. Camera Press/C.K. Kim. Preface

In writing any account of someone else's religious beliefs and practices, any author must find himself between two poles: what members of the religion wish to tell, and what the public wishes to know. Nowhere are these polarities more distant than in the field of new religions. The public wishes to know about 'recruitment', 'brainwashing' and fundraising within the Unification Church, while my discussions with UC members elicited far more material on their own inner spiritual life. After much mental agonising, I have had to conclude that a common meeting ground is simply not possible, and that any book, including this one, has to be a compromise. Just as any mainstream Christian would be irritated by an inquirer's relentless pursuit of questions relating to the precise ingredients of the eucharistic wine, it is understandable that UC members should feel that I have given too much attention to the more obviously external manifestations of their faith in some of their ceremonies. However, while recognising the importance of the insider's definition, I still believe that it is important to answer many of the commonly asked outsider's questions too, and it is simply not possible to speak of sets of internal religious experiences which I do not share. If those Unificationists who were willing to discuss their beliefs with me hoped that they might be able to endorse this book's contents, then I fear they may be disappointed: the account which they wanted can, I believe, only be written by themselves. In normal circumstances a phenomenological account of a religion is relatively problem free. The author reads, listens, observes, and writes as far as possible without imposing his or her own value judgments. In the area of new religious movements, however, it seems that no neutral ground is possible. Even using the phrase 'new religious movement' is a conscious choice which involves rejecting terms like 'cult', 'sect' or 'fringe group', terms which some commentators would claim to be more suitable substitutes for what they regard as a euphemism. In this book, however, I decided as far as possible to present the Unification Church (although not uncritically) in terms which would at least be recognisable by its members, in accordance with the normal canons of scholarship - unless, of course, what I saw clearly differed from what they explained to me. I know that in such a controversial area it is impossible to please everyone, and I fear that I will have pleased no-one by what follows.

X The Advent of Sun Myung Moon xi

The UC's critics would no doubt prefer an attack on 'the Moonies' and feel that this study is 'too objective' and academic. UC members may well feel that I have been unfair to them and that they deserved more sympathetic treatment. I also know that some colleagues insist that a phenomenological approach is inappropriate and that the Unification Church (together with most if not all new religions) is only worth taking seriously as a sociological phenomenon. My aim throughout has been that of inter-religious understanding, although in an area of this kind I know that it would be foolish to over-estimate my chances of success! I have been enormously helped and encouraged by many friends and colleagues who have agreed that this project was worth undertaking. It is obvious, I think, that this book would not have been possible without the help of UC members who have been willing to spend large amounts of time clarifying points of difficulty. In some cases this involved traveling long distances to meet me and interrupting their own schedules within the UC. Although some of the UC's critics may deplore my indebtedness to them, I have to thank them in all sincerity for their help. There are many people outside the UC who have helped to shape some of the ideas expressed in this book. The fact that I mention them here, of course, in no way implies that they endorse the views expressed between these covers or that they are responsible for any errors. I myself must take full responsibility for everything which I have written. Amongst particular friends and colleagues who have offered suggestions, thanks are due to Margaret Buck, Janet Franklin, Cathy Michell, Eric Pyle and Dr Paul Williams. Professor W. E. Skillend offered valuable assistance in enabling me to ensure some kind of consistency in transliterating Korean vocabulary, and I am greatly indebted to David and Hyesoon Wood for furnishing me with a translation of part of Kyong Bae Min's History of the Church in Korea, which would otherwise have remained inaccessible to me. I am grateful to Peter Clark of the Centre for New Religious Movements, King's College, London, for permitting me to use a paper which I read at a conference there on 'Jesus in the New Religions' in December 1986: a revised version of this paper forms the first half of Chapter 6. There are several people who have offered valuable assistance and who do not wish to named here, for various good reasons; and there are others who by some chance remark have unwittingly enabled me to catch some of these rare glimpses of enlightenment which have made some of the more puzzling aspects of Unification teaching suddenly fall into place. Two special words of thanks are appropriate. On matters relating to the early history of the Unification Church, I have benefited greatly from discussions and correspondence with Dr Rainer Flasche of Marburg xii Preface

University. Dr Harold Turner deserves special recognition for the role which he played in shaping many of my thoughts, and for his constant encouragement throughout the years in which I carried out the research. It is fitting that this book should be dedicated to him in the wake of his retirement as Director of the Centre for New Religious Movements at Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham.

GEORGE D. CHRYSSIDES