The Principled Solution to the Tangled Skein of History Begins in Korea

By Sun Myung Moon

This is a selection of From the One to All Beings, commonly known in the Unification Church as Wolli Wonbon, which Sun Myung Moon wrote in 1951 while living as a refugee in Pusan. The only book that he wrote in his own hand, its nearly 700 pages covers all aspects of the Divine Principle and lays out a roadmap of the mission that he dedicated himself to fulfill in his lifetime.

Speaking of this book, the author said, “I wrote the ideas in condensed form, like poetry. Since I just wrote the essential points, people could not easily understand it unless I explained the main points to them.”[1] Here you can taste the poetic and allusive nature of this text and the special feeling that it conveys. To fully grasp the meaning of even a single paragraph, the translators[2] had to read and reread it at least 30 times. Even so, the reader may also find that it requires special effort to fully comprehend these words.

The chapter on Korea has four sections; this is the entire fourth section. It explains why Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon (True Parents) have been making efforts to bring unification to the Korean peninsula, which they see as the key to ending the historical conflict between democracy and communism and inaugurating a world of lasting peace. It also explains how this conflict can be ended; not mainly by political, military, economic, or diplomatic means but by having all people center on Heavenly Parent.

At this time when True Mother is so focused on achieving this goal, the translators present this text to the public with the hope that Sun Myung Moon’s words of 70 years ago will provide people with vision and purpose for carrying out this essential task, which is for the sake of all humankind.

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History has been winding on and on through 6,000 years to arrive at today. It should have wound freely beginning with the One as the clue. But from the start its windings were twisted and tangled, so much so that it appeared like a lumpy pile of thread, and no one could recognize the beginning or the end of it. How can we not but lament over this history?

People have struggled to get through history that is tangled like a pile of thread in order to escape from their distress. Yet, history was too tangled for people to understand the reality of the Clue, and hence they could neither grasp its beginning nor its end.

Great people who appeared in the midst of this history—saints, sages and patriots—finally grasped the beginning point at one end of the skein of history. They hoped to find the final point at the other end, and by making it unwind smoothly from one end to the other, to build a castle of hope.

Hence, after finding the clue that had been hidden for a long time, they pulled at one end of the thread-pile of history hoping to find the other end. Yet in fact, the pile of thread was so tangled in its own way that they could not pull out even a palm’s width of thread; it would not unwind easily. With such a disappointing result, they anguished and despaired over history that had become such a cursed den of evil.

History, its pile of thread still tangled, continued its ceaseless course and became like a ball of thread that rolled around. That is the reality. Yet, people throughout history still hoped that someone would appear and untangle the tangled thread-pile of history, sort it out strand by strand, and wind it into a skein that would run freely into the future.

Originally this skein of thread was supposed to begin and wind freely from the Clue of the Principle and advance freely toward the final point. Winding smoothly like this, it was to fulfill the purpose for all to exist eternally. However, a being who should not have existed, namely Satan, appeared in the midst of it and tangled up the skein of history, driving the whole into contradiction.

That is, the actual being who saddens the whole began to exist, and his beginning totally destroyed the value of everyone who existed. He made it so that no one was able to find the God, the True Being. He built up the pile so much that the way to find the True Being became a difficult path.

As a result, all beings were connected to the pit of death. With everyone accusing one another, the world turned into the base of bitter sorrow. Hence, the True Being’s situation became utterly miserable, and it remains so to this day.

Still, people throughout history searched and searched within the tangled pile for an end of the thread. Some people thought they found the clue when they found what they thought was the end at the beginning of the pile, while others thought they found the clue when they found what they thought was the end at the far end of the pile. They held on to their end, whether it was the beginning end or the final end, and pulled it.

Thus, people tried to pull the pile from both ends. But the more they pulled, the tighter the tangles became until the pile was but a lump, like a noose of sin. It began rolling here and there, depending on who was pulling it.

 This shack, built with rocks, earth and cardboard boxes, is where Sun Myung Moon lived and taught in 1951-52.

Although they grasped either end of the pile, the pile in the middle became so tangled that even though the threads are connected, they could not distinguish one strand from another. It became like a game, with the people holding each end pulling and spinning their end any way they wished. This describes the actual state of history in the present day.

Here, people who take hold of the first end at the beginning of the pile open the gate of theism.[3] People who grasp the other end are led to the gate of dialectical materialism.[4]

History started rolling when people opened the gate of theism. It took a winding and crooked path, rolling on and on. When people looked back, all they could see were piles of tangled thread.[5] In front of them was the same. They could not distinguish which thread was at the beginning and which was at the end. When they finally grasped the other end of the lumpy ball of thread, they arrived at the gate of dialectical materialism.

This is the reality of the skein of history; it is the reality of the skein of the human world. People who are holding the first end of the skein are on the side of theism, God’s side, while those holding the other end, that of dialectical materialism, are representing Satan.

Each side is tugging the skein of thread, striving to bring people to their side. Yet the more they try, the more the other side reacts by pulling in equal proportion, and therefore the skein only becomes even more tightly tangled.

The people trying to untangle the tangled skein based on theism at one end of the skein and the people trying to do the same based on dialectical materialism at the other end of the skein each think that they are the only ones that relate to the truth.

The adherents of theism follow their strand, thinking that it has the only way to solve problems, but then when they arrive at the other end of the skein they run into dialectical materialism. Likewise, the adherents of dialectical materialism follow its strand, thinking that it is the way to reach freedom, only to arrive at the other end of the skein where the people on the side of theism are pulling.

Why does this happen? It is because originally the Principle is such that theism should connect to materialism and materialism should connect to theism.[6] However, for theism and materialism to connect to each other, they should go through the tangled skein in between.

However, people who tried to go through the tangled skein while holding on to their end, whether theism or dialectical materialism, became lost when they got inside the skein. This way looked like that way, and that way looked like this way, and whichever way they went, they could not find the path to travel from one end to the other end.

Therefore, they put aside the task of untangling the lumpy pile. Holding on to their own end, one asserts, “Our end is the first,” and the other says, “Our end is the beginning.” Yet, not knowing the path through the tangled pile that appears before them, the theists end up running into dialectical materialism, and the dialectical materialists end up running into theism. This is today’s reality.

They are standing on either side of a pile of thread in the middle that is so tangled that they cannot see what is what. If while both sides are confronting each other, someone appears who could unravel the pile and enable them to connect to each other, would they not naturally see it as a gift?[7]

Indeed, untangling the tangled skein of history is the hope of humankind. It is also the cherished hope of the Creator. Yet, if both sides only hold on to their respective ends, can the skein ever be untangled?

To untangle the tangled skein, we need to anchor one end and then repeatedly unwind the other end by going in the direction opposite the way it became tangled. After we reach the bottom, we should wind it back up. This is the task we are given in this era.

To carry out this task today, either the side of theism or the side of dialectical materialism will have to let go of its end. Which side should let go of its end? It will have to be the latter. Since theism is based on the Creator who is the root of all beings, we cannot let go of that end. If we were to let it go, then like a car without a driver to steer it, history would swerve here and there aimlessly and eventually lead humankind to destruction.

Hence, the advocates of dialectical materialism will have to let go of their end. Why? It is because the responsibility of dialectical materialism is like the leaves. The leaves exist because of the root. This is the Principle and a formula of nature.

Amid the worldwide trends of history, what is required today is to see the arrival point of the one who untangles the tangled skein. If the Creator truly exists, He-She should have him sever the fixed point of dialectical materialism at the far end of the skein. This is essential from the perspective of the Principle.

Once that is done, the one at the arrival point should move the lumpy skein of history to the side of theism. He should untangle the tangled skein of history strand by strand from the Clue, who is the Creator, to Satan, who is the base of dialectical materialism, and lay it out in a straight line in front of the Original Being.

Satan is the protagonist who has been governing the course of history. He has been manipulating human beings and confining them in the maze of the tangled pile. If so, the person who can solve this problem can only be the person who belongs to the level prior to the Fall at the time of creation, namely God’s Original Man. Is this not true?

The person who shoulders this task is the center of history who will fulfill the purpose of the Principle. Hence, he is the central person to God and also the central person to all humankind throughout history.

The Creator sent this central person, thinking that he would untangle history to become the Star of Hope, and that all humankind would follow him to become second stars of hope. In this way, the Creator would be able to realize all the hopes that He-She had been carrying in His-Her heart throughout history.

That is why God sent a man with the hope that all people would unite in oneness with him. He was Jesus Christ, who came to the land of Israel 2,000 years ago. However, because Jesus was not able to complete the course that he had purposed during his short life, he ascended to heaven leaving the words “Second Coming.”

Jesus was supposed to lead humankind to stand before God centering on himself, but he was not able to. That is why he said he would return; it is to recover the original path for humankind by fulfilling the remainder of his mission in history.

What will he do to accomplish this when he returns? He will sever the fixed point of Satan, who is working on the earth through dialectical materialism and its viewpoint of history. It is because only by severing this fixed point will he be able to fulfill the task that God the Creator desires.

The epoch-making measure that Jesus takes to fulfill this purpose is the Last Judgment in the Last Days.[8] With this judgment, Jesus will sever that fixed point, which is at the last portion of the tangled skein of history. Once he does, then at the time of the Second Advent he should be able to find the path of the Principle and freely develop God’s Will in the world.

Therefore, the one who can represent God must appear. He is the Lord of the Second Advent. The Lord of the Second Advent should be able to take history’s pile of thread, so tangled that no one can see inside it, and unravel it from the beginning end to the final end. By making the connection from one end to the other, he should be able to inaugurate the path on which we can freely go to the world of the Principle that has no relation to the Fall. He does this so that we can fulfill the purpose to build the kingdom of heaven on earth.

For this, the Lord of the Second Advent must find the gate of the Principle and then advance towards the path of freedom. Thereby, he will enable all humankind to take the path to freely travel from the beginning point of history to the final point of history, so that they too can fulfill the Principle. Then restoration itself will come to an end.

A satellite view of the Korean peninsula.

The Lord of the Second Advent must travel through the skein, from the beginning point of history to the final point.[9] Then he must see the beginning point that God originally planned, from which he can advance to establish the original line.[10] Once he does this, then humankind also should be able to establish the path of the Principle. Then the world of the Principle, which is eternally free without any obstacles, will come to everyone.

The person who is standing on this path, who grasps both the beginning and the end with the ideal elements[11] that connect from the beginning to the end, is the one who realizes the ideal of the Alpha and the Omega. His desire is to liberate humankind so that they can exist from generation to generation, never deviating from the Principle as they engage in action on the path of eternal freedom.

For this, Jesus, the central person of history, through his Second Coming that he promised, will begin a God-centered teaching and unfold a new world for humankind. When Jesus returns, he will completely unravel the tangled pile of history that no one could untangle, guide humankind to the path of the Principle, and begin building the kingdom of Heaven on earth.

For this, the Lord of the Second Advent will have to demonstrate the universal path, unknown to history, which can connect all humankind to the Principle. Thereby, he should become the original point of the Clue that can connect universally. Then he will be able to unravel the tangled skein and solve the fundamental issues of history.

All human beings everywhere should be restored to children of the original point. Standing on that foundation, they should realize the ideal of the Principle. When this happens, Satan, who became the base of the resentment and bitter sorrow that exists to this day, will change his direction. Then everyone will begin advancing towards the eternal and infinite world of the Principle that all beings desire.

We who aim to build to realize the original world of the Principle based upon all this should never forget that we have arrived at a critical juncture. We need to ascertain what period we are in and what stage we are at in terms of the providence.[12]

With this in mind, when we look at the current world, we see two paths. One is the path of dialectical materialism, which appeared in the world as the unprincipled result stemming from the Unprincipled Being. The other is the path of theism, which is the fruit of the Principle that began from the Being of the Principle.

Theism and dialectical materialism are each pulling on the lumpy pile of tangled history. While keeping some distance between them, they are pulling at it from every direction—up, down, right and left—in their struggle to pull it to their side. This the actual situation of today’s reality. As to what the outcome will be, I will leave it to your own judgment.

Why do some people today assert that the dialectical materialism now appearing on earth is the principled truth? Since they are unable to resolve the issue of what is inside the lumpy pile of thread in the middle, they leave it alone and regard the small untangled segment of thread at their end as everything. Also, they believe that the fundamental center of everything is matter.

In this regard, I cannot help but point out that because dialectical materialism fails to understand the Clue that is connected to theism, it is a theory that does not reach the standard of truth.

Therefore, by going through the skein with the Original Man, we must fundamentally destroy dialectical materialism, which is the logic of communism. Then we should help the people on its side to connect to the Clue of theism and lead them to settle at the emerging point.[13] This is the mission of democracy, which is the trend in the modern day that represents theism.

Human beings originated from God; therefore, history is advancing towards the goal of fulfilling God’s Principle. Now it is in the completion stage, where we have to begin fulfilling the Principle by adjudicating the matter of right wing and left wing that appeared in the world due to the Unprincipled Being. Now is the time when we will have to embark on the new world of the Principle, centering on the original point—the Original Parents who will have to appear on earth.

Where must the original point appear? It will have to be in Korea, which God the Origin prepared at the central zone of climate as the emerging point where He-She will embark anew on the earth.

Korea is this place of hope, which heaven and earth have longed to see throughout history. Accordingly as was stated above, when the world enters the time of transition from the unprincipled era to the era of the Principle, this historical emerging point will be established.

Excerpts from the Korean in this Sunhak Institute of History video: Wolli Wonbon, the handwritten original manuscript of the Principle, is still extant… It is not the product of a human brain, but was written according to God’s directions… Father: “I had to keep pace with the contents that God instructed me to write. That’s why I had to write quickly. I should leave this manuscript behind so that the entire Wolli Wonbon can be published for all humankind.”

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At a borderline in the middle of this emerging point, the Being of the Principle has to confront the unprincipled being and deal with him. That will be the beginning of the emerging point, which will be the demise of the unprincipled world and the starting-point of the world of the Principle in these end times. For this, there will have to be a decisive battle whereby God the being of the Principle is victorious and Satan the unprincipled being is defeated.

Therefore, we should understand that from this land of the emerging point, the new clue of history[14] must emerge. This is what history requires of it, and this is God’s hope for it.

When we look around the world today among the nations that are divided by a border to find the land that can become this emerging point, we see Korea, a nation at war that is divided at a border called the 38th parallel.

This nation is the land where fallen human history must be brought to an end. Hence, from the perspective of the Principle, we come to the conclusion that it must become the emerging point of joy and happiness for humankind.

God totally mobilized the nations representing goodness for this nation that will become the land of the emerging point. Then Satan also appeared, totally mobilizing the nations representing evil to confront them. People who observe the world-level war that ensued as they confront each other cannot help but watch with anxious hearts.

However, the purpose of this war is to establish the focal point of the Principle and the focal point of hope. Hence, it goes without saying that many new events without precedent in history are taking place centering on Korea. Since I believe you understand this, we do not need to discuss it any further.

Even the United Nations, an international organization that was newly founded for world peace, began its activities in earnest starting with Korea. Specifically, when a satellite nation of the communist camp[15] invaded South Korea to make it a base for communism, the UN acted immediately to take measures against it.

This is because Korea is the base of God’s providential course. If so, we can conclude that the peace of Korea, which will have to become the emerging point of the new history, is directly connected with world peace. This is why the Korean War unfolded as a world war.[16]

The Korean War is the war in which God and Satan confront each other over human beings for the last time.[17] Hence, the Korean War should fundamentally expel Satan to consummate the purpose of the Last Judgment. This will enable Korea to become the base to embark for Jesus Christ’s ideal.

Therefore, Korean War should realize the purpose of Second Coming on the earth, along with the Second Coming in the air that is mentioned in the Bible. Only then can God establish the foundation to embark on a new history based on nations that center on Godself.

This photo was circulated in 1951 among Korean Christians, where newspaper accounts stated that it was taken in the skies over Korea. 

God’s purpose is to have the people of the world advance together towards the realm of God’s direct dominion. It was for this purpose that during the Korean War God performed an amazing work that surprised the world. This was Jesus Christ’s appearance in the sky, which was unprecedented in history.[18] This unusual event demonstrates that the Korean War is not simply one of many wars, but is the war between God and Satan.

Hence, the troops dispatched by the UN, which are in the position of the sheep representing God’s side, absolutely must defeat the communist nations, which are like the goats. Afterwards, the communist nations must be restored to the Principle; then the realization of the ideal of world peace will begin. Then it will be Satan’s final surrender, and along with it, unprincipled history will be brought to an end.

Then Korea, centering on the one point of the Principle, will become the base of the new heaven and new earth. It will begin the world of the Principle, the world of new hope, and from it will unfold the ideal of eternal peace.

Now is the time when we must bring an end to the history that has been like a tangled skein. Then all humankind will be able to realize the ideal of a circuit of giving and receiving by going through the skein from its beginning to its end, and head for the world of goodness centering on the Principle of the Ideal. We must establish the world of spherical harmony, which is like a circle on which there is no need for division between the ways of theism and dialectical materialism.

All people are called to unite and participate in this historical task to fulfill this common purpose. Is this not what God, who has been leading the providence to find His-Her lost children, expects of us all?[19] ♦

Translators:

Hee Hun Oh Standard (UTS Class of 1981) served as interpreter for True Father at church and public events for 12 years. An editor and translator, she worked for True Mother’s scripture project, World Scripture and the Teachings of Sun Myung Moon, Outline of the Principle Level 4, and more. She also has 10 years’ experience as a state-certified Korean/English interpreter and translator in California. Most recently, for the past 10 years she has been working for From the One to All Beings.

Dr. Andrew Wilson (UTS Class of 1978) is Professor of Scriptural Studies at Unification Theological Seminary. He edited World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts and World Scripture and the Teachings of Sun Myung Moon.

Photo at top: Rev. and Mrs. Moon examine the five volumes of Wolli Wonbon (May 20, 2008).

Notes:

[1] Chambumo Gyeong, English edition (2015), p. 256.

[2] Hee Hun Oh Standard and Andrew Wilson.

[3] Theism in Korean literally means “mind only,” and is originally a Buddhist term. It means that mind or Spirit is the essence of reality, and material is the result. In a philosophical text it would be translated idealism. However, in the context of this discussion of history, theism is the more appropriate translation.

[4] In Korean, this term that communists use for dialectical materialism literally means “matter only.” Hence, it could also be translated simply as materialism. Modern materialism arose in Europe in the 17^th century, in part as a reaction to the Wars of Religion. However, while there are varieties of materialism, it reached its ultimate form in dialectical materialism (communism), which was the ideology that most impacted Korea.

[5] Those piles are the tangled histories of religions and their wars.

[6] In the world that upholds the Principle, it will be natural for theists and materialists to recognize that both sides have valuable insights into reality, and that capitalists and communists both have valuable insights into building a good economy that serves people’s needs. Like mind and body, theists and materialists would work together. By practicing living for the sake of the other, they would be able to build a harmonious and peaceful society.

[7] The author conducted ministries that reached out to both sides, to Christians through HSA-UWC and to communists through Victory over Communism activities and CAUSA. When he proclaimed a truth that was unfamiliar to them, he was persecuted by both sides. Yet his purpose was never to condemn but to love them, educate them and raise them up in the Principle. In this way he brought to natural submission Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 and North Korea’s President Kim Il Sung in 1991.

[8] The Last Judgment refers to world-level wars of the 20th century: World War I, World War II and the Korean War. All these wars were undertaken under the auspices of Jesus. If the Christian nations centering on Jesus had triumphed in the Korean War, the judgment would have been successfully concluded at that time. Then a God-centered new world centering on those Christian nations would have begun in the post-war generation.

[9] This is the course of restoration, by which the Lord of the Second Advent will have to recover all 6,000 years of history.

[10] The beginning point is the marriage of original Adam and Eve without the Fall, namely the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and the original line means families of God’s lineage that fill the earth.

[11] The ideal elements are God’s true love, true life and true lineage.

[12] Providentially, the period denotes the time of the final confrontation between God and Satan, and the stage denotes the task of bringing the communist nations from Satan’s side to God’s side prior to the stage of establishing God’s kingdom.

[13] The place where communists give up their resentments and settle peacefully alongside the adherents of democracy and together build a peaceful society is unified Korea, the emerging point of peace and the emerging point of God’s kingdom.

[14] The Lord of the Second Advent.

[15] The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).

[16] The UN Forces consisted of troops from 16 nations from all over the world. It is estimated that 67 nations were involved in supporting the war effort, the most to support an ally in a war.

[17] This does not mean that in the future there will not be any wars, but that they will not be at the level that directly involves God and Satan. They will mainly be local conflicts, the consequence of human immaturity, arrogance and greed.

[18] The photo was reportedly first published in The Daily Independent, Ashland, KY, in August 1951; numerous newspapers reprinted it during the following months. The author indicated that this photo was published in a Korean Christian newspaper on Wednesday, October 31, 1951.

[19] Here the author noted the time as the morning of November 18, 1951.