The story of the emergence of NEW ESSENTIALS OF UNIFICATION THOUGHT - 4

Here, I would like to add another comment. I have introduced only the main points of certain traditional philosophies, those points which are relevant to each area of Unification Thought, in order to advocate the profound insights of Unification Thought. Some readers may have the impression that traditional philosophies are treated too simply. This is because the primary aim of this work is not to introduce these traditional philosophies, but to introduce Unification Thought, correctly and in the limited space of one book. Unification Thought deals comprehensively with all areas of thought, and its way of arrangement, that is, the order in which the various areas unfold, is similar to the order of God’s creation of the universe. In other words, since Unification Thought begins with God as the starting point of creation, it deals first with the theory regarding God, who created the universe. Thus, the first chapter is the Theory of the Original Image, which deals with God, the fundamental cause of the universe. Next, since in the order of creation by God all things were created ahead of human beings, Ontology is addressed, as a theory concerning all things. After the creation of all things, human beings were created; therefore, the third area is the Theory of the Original Human Nature, which concerns the original human being. After creating Adam, God brought beasts and birds to Adam (Gen. 2:19-20). Upon seeing them, Adam gave them names. This means that, while observing all things with interest, Adam engaged in cognition and thinking. Therefore, the fourth and fifth areas are Epistemology which is the theory of cognition, and Logic which is the theory of thinking. Adam and Eve were to perfect the three great blessings. This means that they should have perfected their character in order to realize the world of the ideal of creation. The world of the ideal of creation is a world where such people of perfected character live with values centered on true love. Therefore, the sixth area is Axiology, or the theory of value. If Adam and Eve had perfected themselves by fulfilling their portion of responsibility, they would have taught their children their experiences during their growing period, and their children would have matured, through a relatively light portion of responsibility, to perfect the first blessing. Thus, the perfected Adam and Eve would have educated their children. Therefore, the seventh area is the Theory of Education. Since the first blessing is followed by the second and the third blessings to comprise the three great blessings, the theory of education also deals with the educational aspects of the second and third blessings. When human beings mature, they marry and form a family, as was originally intended; therefore, the eighth area to be addressed is Ethics, which deals with norms within the family. The next area concerns the human dominion over all things. The human being is to have dominion over all things, and all things are to return beauty to the human being. Accordingly, the ninth area is the Theory of Art. Since dominion implies not only dominion over nature but also over all the different kinds of human activities, under the concept of dominion are included economics, politics, society, culture, and so on. Though Unification Thought does not address politics and economics as such, it does address the historical changes in those areas. Accordingly, the tenth area to be addressed is the Theory of History. There exist invariable laws consistently at work in all fields of human endeavor; and the theory dealing with these laws is Methodology, which is the eleventh area to be addressed. Because of its all-encompassing nature, methodology should have been placed right after the theory of the Original Image; but since a comparative analysis must be made between Unification Methodology and traditional methodologies, it has been placed last. It was in this manner that the eleven areas of Unification Thought originally came to be arranged. The areas of epistemology and logic, however, have been placed at the end of the book right before methodo-logy, for the sake of convenience, since they deal with sophisticated traditional epistemological and logical theories. As mentioned above, the content of this book is an arrangement of the major aspects of the Rev. Moon’s thought, covering, however, only the part of his thought that has been made available to the public. It is quite possible that new and deeper points of truth will become available to the public as time goes on. Accordingly, if the necessity arises, such new points will be added from time to time, according to the Rev. Moon’s instructions. Finally, I would like to express my sincerest wish that this book may be of help to all the readers who are seeking a deeper understanding of the thought of the Rev. Moon, who has been living a life of complete dedication, under inexplicable persecution. April, 1993