What Does The Unification Church Teach?

The Unification Church centers around the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, who developed the church in Korea and moved its headquarters to the United States in 1972. Since then it has grown rapidly in size and respectability. Reverend Moon believes that there is a political solution to the world's problems and that he should be the world's leader.

The teachings of the Unification Church are found in The Divine Principle, which is supposedly made up of revelations from God to Moon. According to Moon, three Adams comprise God's plan for the earth. The first Adam and his wife Eve were supposed to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth through their offspring. But they sinned and their fall thwarted God's plans. The second Adam--Jesus Christ--was supposed to get married to the perfect mate and take political power away from the Roman Empire. Instead, says Moon, Satan invaded Christ's body, He was killed, and God's plans were thwarted again. Moon says that Jesus is not God but merely a man who perfectly understood what God wanted. Moon rejects the bodily resurrection of Christ and belief in the Trinity.

The third Adam--what Moon calls the Lord of the Second Advent--will marry the perfect mate, found the perfect family, and bring physical as well as spiritual salvation. The Lord of the Second Advent will take Jesus' place and all nations will unite under him. Although Moon has not said explicitly that he is the Lord of the Second Advent, everything he tells his followers appears to lead them to believe that to be so.

A good part of what the church teaches is secret. In fact Moon's followers are encouraged to practice "Heavenly Deception," deceiving people by telling them anything to get donations. However, their tactics and techniques are well known. Former members of the Unification Church--"Moonies"--say the church uses oriental deprivation techniques to brainwash their young adherents who are often picked up on the street. Once the young people are "loved" into the church, they are taken to houses where church members live together in community. Former Moonies have said prospective members are permitted no sleep for hours, and are harangued over and over again until they are insensible. They acknowledge and accept the church's doctrines not so much of their own free will but through brainwashing. After the brainwashing, they are then sent out on the streets to solicit money for the Unification Church. It is said that adherents get meager amounts of food, live in spartan surroundings, and are deprived of contact with the outside world. They do not even have time to reflect upon the lies they are being told.

The Unification Church had been extraordinarily successful financially, and this has enabled it to pour a lot of money into its evangelistic efforts. It owns many companies in Korea including IL Wha Pharmaceutical Company and Tong Wat Titanium Company. In the United States it has bought a number of companies: The Diplomat National Bank, the New Yorker Hotel, and the Washington Times newspaper.

Excerpt taken from Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions, Copyright 1984 by Pat Robertson.