By Gordon L. Anderson The bitter partisan divisions in American politics have several roots: political, economic and cultural. In my 2009 book, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, Version 4.0, I explain how a number of the political roots, like viruses, particularly through political parties, have hijacked the political system. The economic roots of… Continue Reading →
The Concept of Truth and the Interpretation of Scripture
By Gordon Anderson In most seminaries and academic institutions, since the rise of critical methods of scholarship, scripture has been studied by applying methods of literary and historical criticism. Literary criticism views scripture as human writing that conveys moral lessons, values and truths rather than the direct writing of God. Yet, it does not deny… Continue Reading →
How Do You Know What You Believe Is True? Theories of Truth
By Keisuke Noda How do you know what you believe is true? This is a difficult question. If there were a definitive answer, we would probably not have myriad belief systems today. It is ironic that, while people hold mutually exclusive, logically incompatible claims and beliefs, each is often convinced of its exclusive superiority over others…. Continue Reading →
Interpreting the Principle: The Transformative and the Objective
By Keisuke Noda The Unification Movement (UM) faces a number of challenges, most obviously denominational divisions. But another challenge is the relevance of the UM and its core teachings or beliefs to contemporary society and future generations who are expected to respond and succeed. Such a challenge is difficult because it is not readily observable,… Continue Reading →
Authoritarianism and the Unity of Denominations / Religions
By Keisuke Noda Denominational splits are one of the most challenging issues in the Unification movement. As Unificationism presents itself as the “new truth” to resolve religious/denominational divides, the claimant carries the burden of demonstrating its truth with evidence. Even if Unificationists cannot solve this reality immediately, they should at least be able to articulate the Unificationist… Continue Reading →
The Paradox of Religious / Denominational Unity
By Keisuke Noda Unificationism calls for the “unity” of religions. The Divine Principle (the Principle), the main text of Unificationist teachings and their systematic exposition, presents the Principle as the “new truth” to unify all religions/denominations and argues its superiority based on its capacity for unity. Ongoing denominational divisions in the Unification Movement (UM) seem… Continue Reading →
Meaning, Vacuum and Autonomy
By Keisuke Noda “Existential Vacuum” is a term coined by Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor psychiatrist, best known for his book, Man’s Search for Meaning. It is the concept used to describe the meaninglessness or emptiness of life. Critical issues in the Unification Movement (UM), such as denominational rifts and other matters previously unknown to… Continue Reading →
The Ethics of Care
By Keisuke Noda The ethics of care is an emerging discipline developed by feminist ethicists in the latter half of the 20th century. It has gradually gained support from non-feminist ethicists and is now examined not as a feminist ethics but as a possible general ethical theory. Care ethics has three main characteristics: It views… Continue Reading →
Rationality and Unification
By Keisuke Noda The idea of “Unification” is central to the Unification Movement. The current reality of the movement is that there is no clear path toward this ideal. This lack of a path, be it conceptual or real, is critical to a movement that carries the banner of “unification” both in doctrine and title…. Continue Reading →
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