Unification Church

By James Rochford

The Unification Church is an aberrant offshoot of Christianity started by Yong Myung Moon. Members of the Unification Church are often pejoratively called “moonies” after their founder. While it is difficult to determine how many people are in this group, Yamamoto writes, “Membership in the Unification Church worldwide is probably somewhere between one and two million.”[1] Rhodes concurs with this estimate and adds, “There are an estimated 30,000 or less living in North America.”[2]

History

Yong Myung Moon was born on January 6, 1920 to Confucian parents in North Korea. Moon received a vision from Christ. Boa writes, “1936, while praying on a Korean mountainside, he had a vision. Moon claims that in this vision Jesus appeared to him and commissioned him to carry out His unfinished task on earth. According to Moon, Jesus was unable to fulfill His mission of bringing salvation to the earth, and therefore a new Messiah must come.”^{^[3]} Rhodes writes, “Moon claims that when he was 16 he had a dramatic spiritual experience in which Jesus appeared to him and requested that he complete the mission he had started almost 2,000 years earlier. Jesus allegedly told Moon that Korea was the new Israel, the land God chose for the Second Coming.”[4] Boa writes,

Moon was imprisoned in North Korea in 1948 but was able to escape in 1950, evidently because of the United Nations forces. He claims that his imprisonment was due to his anticommunist activities, but many who knew him then say it was because of his ritual sex practices with members of his communes. According to their statements, Moon engaged in “blood cleansings” in which he had sexual intercourse with women followers in order to purify them.^{^[5]}

Later in 1960, Moon married his wife Hak Ja Han. Rhodes writes, “Moon married a second time in 1960 to Hak Ja Han. Continuing the illusions of grandeur, the wedding is said to have been ‘the marriage of the Lamb’ referenced in Revelation 21:9. They have since had 13 children.”[6] Martin writes, “He was forty and she was seventeen.”^{^[7]} Rhodes writes,

The Unification Church has also sought legitimacy by associating with evangelicals and respectable leaders. The likes of former President George Bush, vice presidential candidate Jacky Kep, Marilyn Quayle, Bill Cosby, and Barbara Walters have participated at Unification Church-sponsored events (having been paid hefty honorariums). Sometimes Reverend Moon will have himself photographed with a famous leader, and that picture will then be run in Unification publications, thereby boosting Moon’s credibility.[8]

New Scripture

The Unification Church believes in additional revelation in addition to the Bible—namely Moon’s book Divine Principles (1957). This book “is authoritative scripture in the Unification Church and is considered superior to the Bible.”^{^[9]} In this book, Moon writes,

It may be displeasing to religious believers, especially to Christians, to learn that a new expression of truth must appear. They believe that the Bible, which they now have, is perfect and absolute in itself. Truth, of course, is unique, eternal, unchangeable, and absolute. The Bible, however, is not the truth itself, but a textbook teaching the truth (Divine Principles, 9).

However, there are a number of reasons for rejecting this additional revelation:

First, the Bible speaks against any additional or contradictory revelation. After God comes to Earth, how could a later prophet contradict him (Heb. 1:1-3)? Paul writes, “Even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” (Gal. 1:8)

Second, Moon never received a vision of Christ. Walter Martin writes, “If Moon did not see Jesus, then the entire system of Moon’s foundation crumbles. Devastating to the credibility of Moon’s supposed vision is that every Unification writing gives the date as ‘April 17, 1936, Easter morning.’ The gravest error in Unification history occurs here. Our calculations prove beyond a doubt that Moon’s vision could not have occurred on Easter morning, because April 17, 1936, was a Friday, not a Sunday.”^{^[10]} In fact, Easter fell on April 12^th that year.

Trinity

Moon denied the doctrine of the Trinity. Martin writes, “The word trinity for Moon was God’s ideal family of Adam and Eve, centered (foundationally) upon God. These three were to become the original trinity, but the fall of man truncated this hope. What occurred in Eden was a satanic trinity, which Moon believes was passed on to humans everywhere.”^{^[11]} Of course, the Bible teaches the doctrine of the Trinity (see “Defending the Doctrine of the Trinity”).

God’s nature

Moon believed that God’s existence was contingent on our existence. Moon writes, “If man did not exist then God would vanish.”^{^[12]} The Bible doesn’t agree with this view (see “Self-existence”).

Creation

Moon had an aberrant view of the creation of the universe. Moon writes, “The archangel [Lucifer] had worked with God to create all the things in the universe; he knew everything.”^{^[13]}

Original sin

In his book, Moon denies original sin:

“[Adam and Eve] had an illicit blood relationship with an angel symbolized by a serpent… The root of man’s sin stems from adultery… Every religion which teaches how to eliminate sin has called adultery the greatest sin… This also demonstrates that the root of sin lies in adultery” (Divine Principle, 75).

This bizarre account is so strange that it doesn’t warrant a biblical response, other than reading the account for yourself (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12-21).

Salvation

Moon dies that Jesus came to die for our sins: “Jesus did not come to die” (Divine Principle, 152). Moon writes, “Today the Christian gospel preaches salvation by the blood of Jesus. How ridiculous that is in the sight of God!”^{^[14]} However, the Bible denies this proposition (see “Defending the Atonement” and “Do Good People Go to Heaven?”).

Deity of Christ

Moon denied Jesus’ deity: “Jesus, on earth, was a man no different from us except for the fact that he was without original sin. Even in the spirit world after his resurrection, he lives as a spirit man with his disciples… Jesus is not God Himself” (Divine Principle, 212). However, the Bible teaches that Jesus was fully God (see “Defending the Deity of Christ”).

The resurrection

Moon denied the resurrection of Christ: “As we know through the Bible, Jesus after the resurrection was not the same Jesus who had lived with his disciples before his crucifixion. He was no longer a man seen through physical eyes, because he was a being transcendent of time and space” (Divine Principle, 360). However, the Bible does teach that Jesus rose from the dead (see “The Resurrection of Christ”).

Hell

Moon denied hell: “The ultimate purpose of God’s providence of restoration is to save all mankind. Therefore, it is God’s intention to abolish Hell completely” (Divine Principle, 187, 190). However, the Bible teaches that hell exists (see “Is Hell Divine Overkill?”).

Moon’s “ministry” is plagued by a multitude of illegal and cultic activity

Moon’s “ministry” has a number of horrific and immoral acts and practices in its history:

First, Moon was found guilty of tax evasion. Yamamoto writes, “The Justice Department claimed that $1.5 million had been deposited into Moon’s account, which he used for himself. Therefore, he should have reported the interest earned on those funds and paid the proper taxes. Moon’s attorney contended that the funds belonged to the Unification Church and were used for church-related purposes. Since Moon was trustee of church funds, it was not uncommon to have church funds in a bank account in his name.”[15] Moon was placed in prison for tax evasion for thirteen months in 1983 in Danbury, Connecticut. Martin writes, “The Unification Church spent 4.5 million dollars to clear Moon’s name with a mass-mailing campaign to three hundred thousand pastors in the United States.”^{^[16]} In this campaign, he convinced the Evangelical church pastors that he was imprisoned “because my skin is yellow and my religion is Unification Church.”^{^[17]} He said that other pastors could be imprisoned just as easily. He was released from prison on August 20, 1985. Martin writes, “He was celebrated at a banquet by seventeen hundred clergy with Baptist evangelist Rev. Jerry Falwell as the main speaker, who unsuccessfully called upon President Reagan to pardon Moon.”^{^[18]}

Second, Moon was guilty of bigamy. Moon married his first wife, Choi Sun Kil, in 1945. Then, he married his second wife, Kim X, 1949. Boa writes, “In 1955 Moon was again arrested on morals charges involving his sexual church-related rites, but escaped conviction.”^{^[19]} Walter Martin writes,

He was reportedly sentenced to five years in Hung Nan prison, North Korea, for bigamy… He was arrested on July 4, 1955, for irresponsible sexual activity that caused a scandal at Ewha Women’s (Methodists) University in Seoul.^{^[20]}

It was also reported by the Church of the Nazarene Korea Mission that Moon’s church was involved in an unusual sexual ‘blood cleansing’ rite where a woman was to have sexual intercourse with Sun Myung Moon to cleanse her blood from Satan’s lineage. The ‘cleansed’ woman could then cleanse her husband through sexual union with him.^{^[21]}

Third, Moon’s followers worship him as similar to Christ. Moon himself said, “I am now in the position of Lord of the Second Advent to the world… But with my emergence as the victorious Lord of the Second Advent for the world, a new order has come into being.”^{^[22]} Dr. Kim Sudo’s 120-Day Training Manual states, “Then they can understand that Rev. Moon is Messiah, Lord of the Second Advent… If only they can understand the fall of man they can understand that Father is the Messiah… Unless people can understand Father is Messiah, then they cannot move in.”^{^[23]} Rhodes writes, “Unificationists must recite a pledge: ‘I will fulfill our father’s [Moon’s] will, and the responsibility given me. I will become a dutiful son and a child of goodness to attend to our father [Moon] forever.’”[24]

Fourth, Moon’s organization is wealthy beyond imagination. Martin writes, “In all, Moon receives annually approximately one hundred million dollars from Japan, thirty-five million from the United States, and twenty million from Europe in charitable donations.”^{^[25]} Boa writes, “Moon himself, with a net personal worth of $15 million, lives in the lap of luxury on a 25-acre estate in Irvington, New York. Moon also owns a 50-foot cabin cruiser, “New Hope,” which he uses for fishing. Moon protects his lifestyle by surrounding himself with highly competent bodyguards.”^{^[26]} Additionally, Moon owns the New Yorker Hotel and The Washington Times newspaper.[27]

Fifth, Moon’s organization is guilty of brainwashing. Ruth Tucker writes, “The recruitment strategy of the Unification Church was widely criticized for utilizing tactics that were sometimes compared to brainwashing techniques.”[28] Yamamoto writes,

The Unification Church secluded its members from anyone outside the movement. Unification leaders taught members that anyone outside their church is an instrument of Satan. These outsiders included family and friends.[29]

Members were forced to work long hours studying the teachings of the church, raising money for the church, or enlisting new members into the church.[30]

The Unification Church—primarily Moon—selected who was to marry whom within his church. (In many cases they married total strangers or someone they barely knew.)[31]

Unification leaders teaching members that Moon is the most important authority figure in their lives—that their only purpose is to please ‘Father’ (Moon).[32]

The term ‘heavenly deception’ emerged from the teaching that lying is good if it is for the purpose of saving that person, or if it advances ‘the kingdom of God’ (that is, Moon’s church). In other words, Unificationists lied about their group and Moon’s teachings to potential converts… I personally have observed Unificationists practice heavenly deception on numerous occasions. For example, I have encountered Unificationists in wheelchairs soliciting funds for social programs that did not exist, and when I asked them why they pretended to be disabled as they walked to their van, they used their concept of heavenly deception to defend their actions.[33]

Sixth, Moon’s “ministry” adapted occult practice. After the death of his son in 1987, Moon brought on a Zimbabwean member as a spirit medium to contact the dead.^{^[34]} Walter Martin writes, “It is no hidden fact that most of these groups had blended séances, spiritism, ancestral spirit guidance, and a host of occult practices with their untrained ‘Pentecostal Christian’ faith.”^{^[35]} Boa writes, “From his youth Moon had a strong religious bent, coupled with what he calls a clairvoyant ability.”^{^[36]} See our earlier article “The Occult”.

[27] Yamamoto writes, “Although there is no way to determine the exact figure, even the Unification Church admits that individual members have collected tens of millions of dollars in the United States alone in the past twenty years. In North America, either Moon’s church or members have acquired valuable property and numerous small businesses. (The New Yorker hotel and The Washington Times newspaper are two good examples.)” Yamamoto, J. Isamu. Unification Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1995. 15.

[28] Ruth A. Tucker. Another Gospel: Alternative Religions and the New Age Movement (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989), 257. Cited in Yamamoto, J. Isamu. Unification Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1995. 12.

[29] Yamamoto, J. Isamu. Unification Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1995. 14.

[30] Yamamoto, J. Isamu. Unification Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1995. 14.

[31] Yamamoto, J. Isamu. Unification Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1995. 14.

[32] Yamamoto, J. Isamu. Unification Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1995. 14.

[33] Yamamoto, J. Isamu. Unification Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1995. 13.

[34] Martin, Walter, and Ravi Zacharias (General Editor). The Kingdom of the Cults. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2003. 379-380.

[35] Martin, Walter, and Ravi Zacharias (General Editor). The Kingdom of the Cults. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2003. 374.

^{^[36]} Boa, Kenneth. Cults, World Religions, and the Occult. Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1990. 210.

Evidence Unseen