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added more material to unification apologetic page
The '''Unification Church''' was founded in 1954 by [[Sun Myung Moon]], a religious minister who was raised in a [[Christian]] household.
The '''Unification Church''' was founded in 1954 by [[Sun Myung Moon]] (1960-), a religious minister who was raised in a [[Christian]] household. The Unification Church was officially named the ''Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity'', abbreviated as HSA-UWC, but is now officially named as the ''Family Federation for World Peace and Unification''.<ref>ttp://www.apologeticsindex.org/21-family-federation-for-world-peace-and-unification</ref>Its followers are typically referred to as ''Moonies'' by critics, a term the church's adherents, called ''Unificationists'', dislike.
Moon was originally from northern [[Korea]] and founded ''The [[Washington Times]]'', a conservative newspaper.
Moon was originally from northern [[Korea]] and founded ''The [[Washington Times]]'', a conservative newspaper. Sun Myung Moon in South Korea in 1954, and who remained its head until late 2009, when he turned over official leadership to his sons.
The church preaches a [[universalist]] doctrine of [[salvation]] based on a doctrine called the Unification Principle.<ref>The church's teachings are written in Korean, and were re-translated in 1996 as ''Exposition of the Divine Principle'' [http://www.unification.net/dp96/] </ref>
The church preaches a [[universalist]] doctrine of [[salvation]] based on a doctrine called the ''Unification Principle''.<ref>The church's teachings are written in Korean, and were re-translated in 1996 as ''Exposition of the Divine Principle'' [http://www.unification.net/dp96/] </ref>
Rev. Moon, calling himself the Lord of the Second Advent, believes he is the new [[messiah]], sent to complete the elimination of evil, the establishment of a perfect society on earth and the cleansing of mankind of [[original sin]].
Rev. Moon, calling himself the Lord of the Second Advent, believes he is the new [[messiah]], sent to complete the elimination of evil, the establishment of a perfect society on earth and the cleansing of mankind of [[original sin]].
==Complaints about the church==
The church became to be known for its unique theology, conversion techniques and mass weddings and political activity. It is opposed by conservative Christians due to its contradictions of Christian Biblical doctrine,<ref>http://www.biblequery.org/OtherBeliefs/RevMoon/RevMoon.htm</ref> <ref>[http://www.wfial.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=artMoonie.article_1 Bob Waldrep, Watchman Fellowship, ''The Unification Church: Moonshine for the Soul'']</ref><ref>[http://www.biblequery.org/OtherBeliefs/RevMoon/RevMoon.htm ''MoonStruck: An Analysis of Rev. Moon’s Unification Church'', biblequery.org]</ref><ref>[http://www.religionfacts.com/unification_church/index.htm Religion Facts, ''Unification Church'']</ref><ref>[http://www.apologeticsindex.org/u05.html Apologetics Index, ''About the Unification Church'']</ref><ref>J. Isamu Yamamoto, Dr Alan W Gomes, ''Unification Church''</ref><ref>[http://video.aol.com/video-detail/nan-sook-hong/1354477572 Nan Sook Hong video interview]</ref> though certain ministries have accepted funding from Unification "front" ministries,<ref>[http://www.letusreason.org/Moon.htm ''The Dark side of the Moon: The wedding blessing pt.1'', pt.1]</ref><ref>http://www.letusreason.org/moon1.htm</ref> while others mainly object to its conservative political involvement.
As of 2009 Moon has officially turned over control of the church to his sons. 30-year-old Rev. Moon Hyung-jin, Moon's youngest, was chosen in 2008 to be the religious leader of the church, while Moon Kook-jin, 39, has become the head of business ventures in South Korea, and overseeing international operations is 40-year-old Moon Hyun-jin.<ref>Associated Press, ''Moon turning over Unification Church to sons''. Mon., Oct . 12, 2009</ref>
==Opposition==
With the growth of the Unification church came increasing theological opposition, primarily from Christian teachers due to Unification's contradictions of Christian theology, detailed in such works the ''Kingdom of the Cults'', by the late Walter Martin. <ref>Martin, ''The Unification Church'', Kingdom of the Cults, chapter 13</ref>
Critic James Bjornstad, in Sun Myung Moon and The Unification Church, sums up Moons theology as being an the admixture of different beliefs.
"Begin with a well-seasoned Taoist philosophy, add Christian words and phrases and some Bible verses, and stir briskly until they blend. Now add a bit of spiritism, a pinch of numerology, a dab of physics, and a dash of anti-communism; mix it altogether, using a Korean Messiah, and you have the recipe for one of the newest religious movements sweeping America - The Unification Church, founded by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.<ref>Quoted by John Ford in ''What If I'm Right?'', p. 157</ref>
The Unification church is criticized over what is seen as attempts to appeal to Christianity by using the Bible in order to teach a form of [[New Age]] theology, by applying various esoteric and metaphysical meanings to such biblical words and terms as sin, salvation, born again, etc.
In Divine Principle 9 it is stated, "It may be displeasing to religious believers, especially to Christians, that a new expression of truth must appear", and that "the Bible is not the truth, but a textbook teaching the truth", as revealed by Moon.
Sun Myung Moon has indicated that his use of the Bible is temporary:
"Until our mission with the Christian church is over, we must quote the Bible and use it to explain the Divine Principle. After we receive the inheritance of the Christian, we will be free to teach without the Bible.<ref>''Master Speaks'', March/April, 1965, MS-7, p. 1</ref>
Pointed doctrinal opposition has also also seen from without America. In 1998 Church leaders in the Solomon islands opposed Sun Myung Moon's Global Peace Festival, and stated that he had undermined,
{{cquote|the finished work of Christ on the Cross and what Moon is doing is the work of the Devil and the Anti-Christ.
The only truth comes from the word of God and the Bible which says that Jesus alone is the way the truth and the life no one goes to the Father except through Him, and that alone is one of the fundamental principles of the Christian Faith.<ref>http://solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=3082 November 25, 2008 10:49 AM</ref>}}
In the Philippines the ''News Today'' reported on November 19, 2008 that “religious sectors particularly the Catholic Church” in the Philippine province of Capiz have declared the “Global Peace Festival” held there to be “anti-Christ.”
Charges of mind control and manipulation by the Unification church were often heard in the 70's and 80's.
In 1981 Moon faced governmental opposition when the Internal Revenue Service charged him with tax evasion. Although some other religious figures supported Moon in this issue, he was found guilty and fined 25,000 and time in prison. Moon ended up serving 13 months in prison, and was deported after his release in 1985.<ref>Thomas Streissguth, ''Charismatic cult leaders'', p. 95-97</ref>
Robert Boettcher, the former staff director for the congressional committee which investigated Moon<ref>http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/m/moonies/fraser-report/index.html</ref>, criticized Moon for apparently thinking that his “religious beliefs” were a special license to break laws. \<ref>[Robert B. Boettcher - Gifts of Deceit - Sun Myung Moon, Tongsun Park and the Korean Scandal. (1980)]</ref>
In defense, Pulitzer-prize winning reporter 1991 Carlton Sherwood, an employee of Moon's paper, the [[Washington Times]], wrote ''Inquisition''. Sherwood describes Moon as a victim of religious persecution and racial bigotry, a portrayal which church investigators J. Isamu Yamamoto and Paul Carden strongly disagree with.<ref>[http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0133a.html Christian Research Journal, Fall 1992, p. 32]</ref>
In 1998, Nansook Hong, the former wife of the Moon's oldest son, Hyo Jin Moon, published a crushing memoir, ''In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family'' Boston: <ref>Little, Brown & Company, 1998.</ref> describing her husband's increasingly constant drug use, rampant adultery and physical violence during the turbulent fourteen years of their marriage. In addition, one of Moon's other sons committed suicide in 1999, by jumping from a 17th story balcony in Reno, [[Nevada]].<ref>TIME Magazine, ''Life with the Moons: A conversation with Nansook Hong, former daughter-in-law of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, October 13, 1998</ref>.
As Moon promoted himself as a model of family values and taught that he and his wife are the True Parents of the new family, born without original sin, this revelation of iniquity within Moon's family has seriously impugned Moon's credibility. A perfect family is necessary for the fulfillment of Moon's theology, the establishment of the kingdom of God, for which purpose Moon has declared he was ordained as Messiah.<ref>http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/In-the-Shadow-of-the-Moons</ref><ref>Don Lattin, ''Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives, p. 2003</ref><ref>http://www.nypost.com/081798/gossip/pagesix.htm</ref>
==Unification responses to complaints about the church==
===Separating families===
===Separating families===
This sentence has been taken out of context, and the key point that it was Satan rather than God who acted has been ignored. The Divine Principle interprets the Old Testament in terms of God's love for the Jews as the [[chosen people]]. When they acted righteously, they were blessed and protected; when they fell into sin they were scattered. This view is in accord with Western thought.<ref>
This sentence has been taken out of context, and the key point that it was Satan rather than God who acted has been ignored. The Divine Principle interprets the Old Testament in terms of God's love for the Jews as the [[chosen people]]. When they acted righteously, they were blessed and protected; when they fell into sin they were scattered. This view is in accord with Western thought.<ref>
The Old Testament represents the confession of the people of Israel that God first became active in their affairs in the experience of their Hebrew pastoral ancestors. Through the centuries, he continued to protect, [[admonish]], and guide their vulnerable descendants. ... The prophets began to confront Israel in the days of the divided monarchy, indicting the people for failure to heed the moral demand of God and for failing to protect the weak in society. Their warnings of doom came to pass as Israel fell before the imperial might of Assyria and Babylon. [http://www.answers.com/topic/old-testament Columbia Encyclopedia - Old Testament]</ref>
The Old Testament represents the confession of the people of Israel that God first became active in their affairs in the experience of their Hebrew pastoral ancestors. Through the centuries, he continued to protect, [[admonish]], and guide their vulnerable descendants. ... The prophets began to confront Israel in the days of the divided monarchy, indicting the people for failure to heed the moral demand of God and for failing to protect the weak in society. Their warnings of doom came to pass as Israel fell before the imperial might of Assyria and Babylon. [http://www.answers.com/topic/old-testament Columbia Encyclopedia - Old Testament]</ref>
In 2003, a Unification organization, American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) implemented a program designed to persuade Christian churches to remove the cross in their buildings and to replace them with the crown, which is Moon’s preferred symbol. "This campaign, called Tear Down the Cross, culminated in Moon’s high priests holding a ceremony outside Jerusalem in which they buried a 4-foot cross wrapped in Moon’s flag, declaring it to be 'the symbol of Satan’s victory in the Church.”<ref>http://michiganmessenger.com/1129/moon-cults-awards-banquet-disguised-as-innocuous</ref>
==Notes==
==Notes==
*[http://www.reverendsunmyungmoon.org/ Rev. Sun Myung Moon official web site]
*[http://www.reverendsunmyungmoon.org/ Rev. Sun Myung Moon official web site]
*[http://www.uptv.org/ch14.php?188 Determined Man] - slideshow with music
*[http://www.uptv.org/ch14.php?188 Determined Man] - slideshow with music
*[http://www.religionfacts.com/un ification_church/index.htm Religion Facts, ''Unification Church''. Secular historical overview]
*[http://www.letusreason.org/Moon.htm ''The Dark side of the Moon'', Let Us Reason series, critical evangelical examination of Unificationism ]
*[http://www.apologeticsindex.org/u05.html Apologetics Index, ''About the Unification Church''. various critical links]
*J. Isamu Yamamoto, Dr Alan W Gomes, ''Unification Church''. Book, critical analysis
[[category:churches]]
[[category:churches]]