Global and Solitary
Dialogue and the Unification Church
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v3i1.27Keywords:
New Religious Movement (NRM), Unification Church, World Council of Churches (WCC), Sun Myung Moon, Kingdom of Heaven, Korea, Troeltsch, Second Coming, Salvation, Lord of the Second Advent, Divine Principle, Universal Peace Federation (UPF), World PeaceAbstract
This article examines the way in which the Unification Church has promoted dialogue, particularly interreligious dialogue, and the role of dialogue in the theology of the Unification Church. It notes, however, that although dialogue with other religions is essential to fulfil the theology of the movement, it is the theology of the movement that makes successful interreligious dialogue impossible. The Unification Church claims a new Messiah for Christianity and this paper argues that this presents one of the most significant barriers to dialogue with, for example, the World Council of Churches. The paper also argues that the Unification Church has successfully found common ground outside religious belief on which to engage in dialogue with those outside of the movement. It concludes with an assessment of how more formal interreligious dialogue may be possible with the Unification Church in the future.
References
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----- 2009 As a Peace-Loving and Global Citizen. Washington: The Washington Times Foundation.
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Barker, Jason. 1998 New Religious Movements and Interreligious Dialogue, vol 15 No 4, Accessed from http://www.watchman.org/articles/other-religious-topics/new-religious-movements-and-interreligious-dialogue/
Beckford, James. 1975 “A Korean Christ.” New Humanist 91(5): 125–126.
Boyle, Kevin and Juliet Sheen, eds. 1997 Freedom of religion and belief: a world report London: Routledge.
Chryssides, George 1999 Exploring New Religions, London: Cassell.
Cunningham, Agnes, J Robert Nelson, William L Hendricks and Jorge Lara-Braud. 1978 “Critique of the Theology of the Unification Church as Set Forth in Divine Principle.” In Science, Sin, and Scholarship, edited by Irving Horowitz, 103–118. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Divine Principle. 1973 London: HSAUWC.
Hassan, Steven. 1990 Combatting Cult Mind Control. Vermont: Park Street Press.
Kwak, Chung Hwan ed. 2007 World Scripture and the Teachings of Sun Myung Moon. New York: Universal Peace Federation.
Kwon, Se Jin. 2011 “In-Depth Report Legal Dispute Over The Unification Church-Owned Parking Lot In Yeouido, Seoul.” Chosun Monthly, 23 January 2011. http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/KookJinMoon/KookJinMoon-110123.pdf. Accessed 15/5/12.
Lewis, Sarah. 2011 “The Unification Movement: Science, Religion and Absolute Values.” In Handbook of Religion and the Authority of Science, edited by James R. Lewis and Olav Hammer, 571–588. Leiden: Brill.
Moon, Sun Myung. 1985 “Founder’s Address” Assembly of the World’s Religions. Accessed from http://www.unification.net/misc/orgns.html.
----- 2009 As a Peace-Loving and Global Citizen. Washington: The Washington Times Foundation.
----- 2010 “Assembly to Proclaim the Substantial Word that Firmly Establishes the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind.” 4 December 2010, Seoul, Korea. From author’s collection.
Moon, Kook Jin. 2008 “Interview of Kook Jin Moon.” Chosun Magazine, August 25, 2008. Accessed from http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/KookJinMoon/KookJinMoon-080825.htm.
Phan, Peter. 1993a “Introduction.” Dialogue and Alliance 7(2): 1–2.
----- 1993b “The Claim of Uniqueness and Universality in Interreligious Dialogue.” Dialogue and Alliance 7(2): 31–50.
Prunner, G. 1980 “The New Religions in Korean Society.” Korea Journal 20(2): 4–15.
Quebedeaux, Richard. 1979 “Conlusion” quoted in Quebedeaux, R and Richard Sawatsky eds, Evangelical-Unification Dialogue, 354–364, New York: The Rose of Sharon Press.
Roy, Wallis. 1984 The Elementary Forms of the New Religious Life. London: Routledge.
Singer, Margaret. 1995 Cults in our Midst: The Hidden Menace in our Everyday Lives. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Saliba, John. 1993 “Dialogue with the New Religious Movements.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 30(1): 51–80. 1995
Perspectives on New Religious Movements. London: Geoffrey Chapman.
Slee, Colin. 1999 “New Religious Movements and the Churches.” In New Religious Movements, Challenge and Response, edited by Bryan Wilson and Jamie Cresswell, 165–180. London: Routledge.
Taylor, Jerome. 2011 “Hyung Jin Moon: Meet the new Moonie messiah.” The Independent, 12 May 2011, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/hyung-jin-moon- meet-the-new-moonie-messiah-2282676.html?origin=internalsearch. Accessed 13/5/12.
True Parents. 2007 www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Publications/Smm-Org/works_inter_religious.html
Rev. Sun Myung Moon: His Works “Interreligious Work: The most effective way to bring about peace and human betterment in today’s world.”
Troeltsch, Ernst. 1931 The Social Teaching of the Christian Church. London: George Allen and Unwin.
Universal Peace Federation. 2006 “Mission.” http://www.upf.org/about/mission
Wells, Jonathan. 1997 “Theological Witch-Hunt: The NCC Critique of the Unification Church.” Journal of Unification Studies 1: 23–39. http://www.journals.uts.edu/volume-i-1997/69-theological-witch-hunt-the-ncc-critique-of-the-unification-church.html.
Wilson, Bryan. 1998 “New Religions: The Problems They Encounter.” Journal of Oriental Studies 8: 185–202.
World Ties. 2012 The Blessed Families Committee for Crisis Resolution (Bless Families Committee), “Rally Statement Advocating the Resignation of Chairman Kook Jin Moon and a Solution to the Parc1 Crisis April 17, 2012 - Seoul, Korea.” http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldTies/message/3441. Accessed 13/5/12.
Published
2012-08-03
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Lewis, S. (2012). Global and Solitary: Dialogue and the Unification Church. International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 3(1), 27-45. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v3i1.27
