These questions and answers have been
transcribed from tapes made during our Leader's
sessions with members and guests at Centers
throughout the United States during his trip in
March & April 1965.

Question: There are many people who have not had much exposure to the

Bible, and have no active involvement with it. Due to seeming

hypocrisy and the vast number of interpretations of the Bible, these

people have turned from the church. They long for Truth and love, and

they seek and they search and they pray. How should these people be

approached? And once they are contacted and exposed to the Divine

Principle, must they necessarily go back to the Bible and understand its intricacies?

Answer: Since God has been carrying on His dispensation through the

Christian church, He and we are responsible to convey this message to

the Christians first. Until our mission with the Christian church is

over, we must quote the Bible and use it to explain the Divine

Principle. After we receive the inheritance of the Christian church,

we will be free to teach without the Bible. Now, however, our primary

mission is to witness to the Christian church. When they recognize and

accept our movement, the world restoration will be very easy. So go to

the Christians. In reality, Christians are quicker to understand the

Principle than non-Christians. Sometimes non-Christians may accept it

quickly, but it is hard to put the roots into deep soil. They accept

for a few days, then run away.

Question: Adam and Eve had two sons?

Answer: They had more than two sons. We deal with the three sons of

Adam because they had something to do with God's dispensation. He may

have had 12 or 24 or 30 sons. We don't know for sure.

Question: Who did Cain marry?

Answer: His sister. Adam and Eve were brother and sister, so why not

Cain?

Question: It is said that Cain and Abel were tillers of the soil and

keepers of sheep. Did they have tools?

Answer: No, agriculture started much later. This reference in Genesis

does not mean that they did the same type of farming as we do today.

They just picked up the fruit which grew wild in the land, and Abel

tended goats and sheep. The animals and plants were already on earth;

otherwise, what would man have had to eat?

Question: Noah was descended from Seth, the third son. When Ham

failed, Abraham was chosen. Abraham was descended from Shem, the first

son, rather than Japheth, the third son. Does this have any

significance?

Answer: Not that I know of. There may have been something to do with

the physical lineage. Koreans do not include this in their lecture,

Question: Why did Abraham fail to cut the birds in two?

Answer: It was carelessness. After cutting the two offerings, the lamb

and the heifer, why shouldn't he realize that he should cut the birds?

If Abraham had prayed before making the offering, then he would have

been aware of what to do in his heart. He would not have neglected his

duty. I also have faced many instances of that kind in which I could

have been careless. So I always pray beforehand to make sure the

offering is worthy to be accepted. Then, even if the offering has some

fault, it cannot be a condition for Satan to accuse. In that way I

make condition in my prayer before I offer.

Question: The Messiah was to come from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob.

Why not the second son, Simeon, or from the second son of Rachel?

Answer: Number four signifies earthly perfection, and the purpose of

all hopes of God and man. Why not from Rachel. Why from Leah? The

number four was more important. Rachel had only two sons.

Question: My understanding has been that the first wife (Leah) was in

the position of the fallen Eve, and that the second wife (Rachel) was

in the position of the restored Eve.

Answer: The number four is most important. Joseph was important, in

that it was through him the tribal restoration could be started. Perez

was the son of Tamar. Tamar pretended to be a prostitute in order to

receive the seed of Judah. To make the condition for restoration, God

wants to take someone from the bottom, from the most sinful fallen

life. Solomon was also the offspring of Bathsheba, who had an illegal

relationship with David. Ruth also had a sinful relationship with Boaz

and produced Obed, who was in the lineage of the Messiah. Rahab was

the Canaanite prostitute who helped the spies of the Israelites,

betrayed her own city. Because of her, the Israelites could step into

Canaan and start a new dispensation. She is also in the lineage of

Jesus. So there are four adulterous women in Jesus' lineage. In order

to establish the providence of restoration. God must work from the

bottom of the fall. In order to open the way of salvation, it is more

effective to start from extreme evil. When Eve had the relationship

with Lucifer, she deserted Adam. To restore this, Tamar was deserted

by Judah's sons. From that reverse state, she restored herself,

receiving the seed of Judah. Joseph, Rachel's son, accomplished the

mission of savior to the family of Jacob, and helped to start the new

dispensation of Jacob. He was the pioneer who opened the door of the

new dispensation.

Question: Why was the Book of Enoch not included in the Bible?

Answer: The scholars decided not to include it because it might cause

conflict with other books of the Bible. If it had been included, the

human nature of Jesus would have been stressed too greatly, and his

divine nature neglected. Then the dispensation of God during the New

Testament age might have failed. It has been presented now, through

the Dead Sea Scrolls, so that the Divine Principle may be fulfilled.

Question: Why was Jesus descended from the line of Judah?

Answer: Restoration, the separation from Satan, has to be fulfilled

through the Cain and Abel relationship. Cain and Abel, therefore, had

to struggle between themselves. The God-favored Abel position required

Cain to subject himself to Abel, or for Abel to subjugate Cain. This

was the first such instance in the history of the restoration after

the fall. The next instance was Esau and Jacob. At this time, Jacob

laid the foundation because Esau subjected himself to Jacob. The

struggle which occurred between Esau and Jacob actually occurred in a

closer relationship than that between Cain and Abel, because Esau and

Jacob were not only brothers but twins. This means that God was

narrowing down the person from whom the line of the Messiah would

come. This narrowing down process reached its ultimate conclusion in

the line of Judah with Perez and Zerah. These were the children of

Judah and Tamar, and they struggled for their position in the womb of

their mother. The struggle then had been narrowed down from brothers

to twins to children as yet unborn. In this last case, the one in the

Abel position overcame the one in the Cain position in the womb. Perez

was to have been the second son, but he overcame this in the womb and

was the first to be born. [See Gen. 38:27-30]. In this way, the

birthright of the first son was restored by birth. By doing this,

Perez restored the heavenly lineage, the bloodline. He then could be

the ancestor of the Messiah. Without this process, Jesus could not

have come from this lineage.

Tamar was actually Judah's daughter-in-law. Judah had three sons, and

Tamar was the widow of the first son. It was the custom of the Jews at

that time for the brothers to become the husband of their brother's

widow. But the second and third sons did not fulfill their duties and

become her husband. In order to have a child to continue the line,

Tamar dressed as a prostitute, sat along the roadside, and tempted

Judah to have a relationship with her. From this relationship came

Perez and Zerah.

Solomon was born of Bathsheba, who was not David's wife but the wife

of Uriah. Then Ruth, a widow, conceived a child from Boaz and became

the grandmother of King David. So in the lineage of Jesus there were

several harlots, Rahab, Tamar, Ruth, and Bathsheba. From this unique

genealogy, the Messiah has to come.

Question: If Cain had subjected himself to Abel, would this same

narrowing down have had to occur?

Answer: No, it would not have been necessary. If Cain had subjected

himself to Abel, the next generation would have produced the Messiah.

Question: Can you explain Jesus' virgin birth?

Answer: There have been a number of instances in the Bible where the

Spirit of God has acted in a birth. For instance, in the story of

Abraham and Sarah, Sarah was too old and Abraham was also old. But the

Bible says God quickened the womb of Sarah so that she could bear a

son. In the same way, the Holy Spirit worked with Mary. It was not

done in the sense of producing a child from the union of God with man,

but in the sense of God participating in the event. Jesus was born of

a father and a mother, just as anyone else is, but in his case the

Spirit of God was working also.

Question: Is it true that Mary had to reach a certain level before she

could have this type of birth, so that God was not forcing something

against her will?

Answer: What do you mean, "forcing"?

Question: Going back to the first Principle, love cannot exist without

the opportunity to refuse it. If God can take away part of man's free

will, how can it be reconciled?

Answer: In the Bible, it is said that Mary said, "I am the handmaid of

the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." She was obedient

and accepted the information given her.

Jesus was different from other people in his mission, not in his

manhood. He was to be the Messiah of the whole world. For that purpose

he was chosen even before he was born. He was born to be the Messiah.

To be born as the Messiah from the beginning, his lineage had to be

chosen. He had to come from a specific line. His ancestors from way

back had already been chosen. He could not come from just any family,

but only the one chosen. From that lineage there were many offspring,

so his parents had also to be chosen.

To satisfy your curiosity, I can explain very plainly. But since

Christians believe that Jesus was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit,

and God's primary object of this dispensation is Christians (it is His

will that we lead Christians first because they are the ones who have

been keeping the promise of the Second Coming), it is our mission to

tell them first, whether they refuse or accept. If I explain

everything plainly about the birth of Jesus, it may put a stumbling

block in the way of many Christians accepting God's new dispensation.

Therefore, I don't want to explain everything too plainly here.

To be conceived by the Holy Spirit means that Jesus was not born of

the lust of his parents. It was not just human desire. Both were

inspired, and in that sense they were almost forced to have the

relationship which produced Jesus. This makes it somewhat different

from the ordinary birth. So he was a chosen man, but he was a man.

Jesus was born from the beginning as the Prince of Heaven, to be the

Messiah. In that sense, he was God's only begotten son. From his birth

he probably felt different from other children, but the full

consciousness of his mission did not occur until he was older.

Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, not from their physical desire, but

through the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus case was not

exactly the same, but in the matter of the desire of the parents they

are the same. Here you can compromise two extreme theories. Modern

theologians deny completely any supernatural birth for Jesus. They say

Jesus had two parents. Conservatives say that he was born of the Holy

Spirit without a human father. In our explanation we can reconcile

those two extremely different positions.

Question: Why was it said that the Messiah had to come from the order

of Melchizedek?

Answer: It doesn't say so. It says the Messiah resembles Melchizedek,

not that he came from his order. Melchizedek came to witness to

Abraham. This meant to give the spiritual inheritance to Abraham which

Melchizedek had received. [The tape ended here.] As we remember, a

comparison was made then to Jesus' receiving the inheritance of the

Old Testament Age from John the Baptist, and our Leader receiving the

inheritance of the New Testament Age at the beginning of his ministry.

Question: Mary prayed saying, "God my Savior". What did she mean?

Answer: Is God not our Savior? Since God chose Mary to conceive Jesus,

and God helped the Israelites to get out of Egypt, isn't God their

Savior?

Question: Was Jesus wiser than Solomon?

Answer: What wisdom did Solomon have? He just judged in the right way

a few times. He was a very foolish man.

Question: When John the Baptist sent his two disciples to Jesus to ask

if he was the Messiah, did John really doubt within himself that Jesus

was the Messiah?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What is meant by Jesus' story of the talents in the Bible?

Answer: Jesus meant by this parable that we should witness to others.

If you have received the most precious thing from God, you must share

it with others. The more you have received, the more you must share.

Treasure means truth from God. As you share it with others, it will

multiply. If you do not share it, you bury it in the ground. Then the

king or the Lord will say, "You are a lazy servant. Why did you bury

my treasure?" So do not bury it, but share it with others and multiply

it. It doesn't multiply if you do not share it. God loves the people

of the whole world just as he loves you and me. He wants to share all

the good things with the people of the whole world, just as He does

with us. Therefore, if you have received anything now, God wants to

use you as an instrument to share this precious thing with all others.

He doesn't want you to cherish it within yourself, or to bury it, but

to spread it to the world.

Question: What is meant by turning the other cheek?

Answer: If this were a normal world in the eyes of God, He would not

like His children to bow down before the servants of Satan. But at the

time of Jesus, Jesus did not have enough foundation or foothold; he

was all alone in the satanic world. He had to serve people in a most

humble way. Although people struck him on the left cheek, he had to

turn the other cheek to show humility, love, and the spirit of

service. In that way, he extended his foundation or his territory of

good. By doing so, Jesus intended to pay indemnity.

After he had paid enough indemnity and had changed the world and made

it normal, why should the children of the Supreme be insulted and

despised by the servants of Satan? If we have to show our humility

without reason, without purpose, without any limitation to the evil,

then the idea conflicts with the idea of judgment which is also

written in the Bible. God cannot judge evil if we are to surrender to

evil without limit. When the time comes that God executes His

judgment, it will be the other way round. Evil will surrender to good.

In the first and second World Wars, the evil side took the initiative

and struck the good side. They were defeated. So will the third World

War be. Now the time is coming when the sovereignty of God is

established. Evil cannot strike good. Good must judge the evil and

destroy it. In other words, this is a satanic world. To do the right

thing, we have to make a detour. Abel has to subjugate Cain in order

to be blessed by God.

Question: Jesus said, "It was for this purpose I came into the world.

For this purpose I was born." What specifically was he talking about

when he made that statement?

Answer: He was talking to Pilate about his kingship. He meant that his

kingdom was not of the power and sovereignty of earthly kingdoms, but

the kingdom of truth and love. This doesn't necessarily mean just a

spiritual aspect. The original world of God was spiritual and

physical. Jesus came to restore that world.

Question: In the Book of Revelation, the word lamb is applied to the

Lord of the Second Advent. The Christian have defined this word as a

sacrificial offering, slain upon the cross for their sins. This

doesn't seem to fit with what we teach. What is the real meaning of

the term 'Lamb'?

Answer: Lamb doesn't always mean a sacrificial offering. To call Jesus

'lamb' did not mean necessarily that he should have been crucified. A

lamb represents absolute obedience to its owner's will. It is a gentle

and very obedient animal. When a lamb is slain, it does not resist.

Man uses both the wool and the flesh of the lamb. In other words, both

the inner and the outer. Both Jesus and the Lord of the Second Advent

are gentle and obedient to God. To be a sacrificial offering does not

necessarily mean being killed, but the whole life is a sacrificial

offering for world restoration. The whole being of the Lord is needed

to help mankind.

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