The Divine Principle 5: General Introduction - The new truth is to shed a new light

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Text from Divine Principle, General Introduction, fifth set of paragraphs:

"Religion came into existence as the means to accomplish the purpose of goodness in following the way of God according to the intention of the original mind. The need for different kinds of understanding compelled the appearance of various religions. Scriptures of different religions varied according to the mission of the religion, the people who received it, and the age in which it came. Scripture can be likened to a lamp which illuminates the truth. Its mission is to shed the light of truth. When a brighter light appears, the mission of the old one fades. Today's religions have failed to lead the present generation out of the dark valley of death into the radiance of life, so there must now come a new truth that can shed a new light.

Many passages in the Bible say that new words of truth will be given to mankind in the "Last Days". What will be the mission of the new truth? Its mission will be to present the internal truth that religion has pursued and the external truth searched for by science under one unified theme. It should also seek to overcome both the internal and external ignorance of man and offer him internal and external knowledge. It must eliminate the contradiction within man, who is receptive to good and evil, by helping fallen man resist the way of evil and attain the purpose of goodness. For fallen man, knowledge is the light of life and holds the power of revival; ignorance is the shadow of death and the cause of ruin. No feeling or emotion can be derived from ignorance, no act of will can arise from ignorance. Thus, when knowledge, emotion and will do not function properly in man, life is no longer worth living.

If man is created to be unable to live apart from God, how miserable life must be when he is ignorant of God. Yet, can man know God clearly, even though he may diligently consult the Bible? Furthermore, how can man ever know God's heart? The new truth should enable us to know God as a reality. It should also be able to reveal His heart and feeling of joy at the time of creation, and His broken heart and feeling of grief as He struggles to save fallen man who rebels against Him."

The above quotes from the Divine Principle book of Sun Myung Moon explain that there must come a new truth that will shed a new light on the fading truth of scriptures of religions of the past. This new truth will overcome the external ignorance of science and the internal ignorance of religion by presenting new knowledge under a unified theme. This truth should also enable us to know God as a reality and reveal God's heart of joy over the creation and His heart of suffering over the situation of fallen man.

Throughout history, God has worked to install the missions of religious central figures. God raised those central figures of faith in all cultures in order that they would find truth to pass this on to the people around them. As history progressed, more and more truth was revealed. But often that shining light of truth was later again covered with shadows of dogmas and theology and external interpretations that have blocked our ways to know the depth of the original truth revealed.

Always again God is able to give new truth when certain people prepared by God who fulfilled their mission as given by God were open to receive such truth. This is an ongoing process. Thinking from God's viewpoint, it is logical that God will always again attempt to tell us the truth, and God will choose people to receive and pass on that truth.

Such truth is always coming upon a foundation of understanding in a certain tradition of culture or religion. The truth always has the purpose to liberate us from ignorance and illusions that have crept into the traditions in which we are living. For example, Jesus spoke to clarify to the people of his time about wrong concepts that had come into the Jewish religion. In our time it is logical that truth must come to clear up all that has been wrongly understood in Christian theology and in other religions of the past millennia.

This is an ongoing process and as time passes by, always new truth must come and will come to enlighten us and to lead us on more advanced paths of perfection in God's love.

The truth is not absolute when this truth is seen as words that are written down on paper. The truth is absolute insofar it always leads us on a way to more deeply understand God's heart, to perfect our individuality and to build a more ideal society. This process has never stopped and it will never stop.

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