Chambumo Gyeong - 504. World Scripture
Eminent theologians and religious leaders worldwide participated as members of the editorial committee and advisory committee for the publication of World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts, selecting 160 themes common to the scriptures of the various religions. These themes w^re compiled into one unified scriptural text. It was published first as an English edition on August 15, 1991, and, after being presented to True Parents, was published in Korean on May 1,1994. Later, it was also published in Japanese. The second volume, World Scripture and the Teachings of Sun Myung Moon, which included more excerpts from True Fathers sermons, was published on January 28,2009.
15 On August 16,1990, the second Assembly of the World s Religions will be held. The purpose is to support interreligious unity in every nation. With such harmony, they can live as brother and sister faiths, establishing the model of a unified nation. If the Council for the Worlds Religions were to issue visas, those visas would enable people to go anywhere. So, what are we doing now? We are making a scripture for the oneness of all religions. To do this, we need a historical perspective. It is crucial to organize the contents on the basis of a unified doctrine, a proper theoretical and philosophical system that can uncover the root problem that humankind faces. (202-045, 1990/05/01)
16 Religion has no nation. There is no such global country. Where can you find the nation of the Owner of all religions? Through the Assembly of the World's Religions, we proposed an interreligious perspective that would digest the evil ideology of humanism, which destroys morality, and also of communism, which excludes religious truth. We must turn around and go up. A scripture that shows the oneness of all religions is needed in order to fulfill such a grand ideal. Because we have so many different sacred scriptures, we fight one another. Let us therefore compile one world scripture by identifying the moral principles of heavenly law within each scriptural work and extracting the core tenets of the great faiths. Let us make these core principles the foundation of that single scriptural work. (191-086, 1989/06/24)
17 We must create a scripture of oneness for the sake of averting conflict among religions. We must create a composite scripture. During the past six years, from 1985, we brought together distinguished theologians from all religions who identified the core teachings and texts of their faiths. After completing the preparations for this composite scriptural text, academic specialists started the work as expert advisers four years ago. Under their supervision, we will publish a scripture that fosters oneness. It is not good that there are so many scriptures. Muslims should not know only about Islam. The Islamic sphere must understand the Christian cultural sphere as well, and vice versa. The population of the realms of religions comprises two-thirds of all humankind. You must understand that the time has come when God will be able to have dominion over the earth. We must quickly create such a world. (206-277, 1990/10/14)
18 1 advocated publishing World Scripture. This project was announced at the conclusion of the first Assembly of the Worlds Religions in 1985, and it will be published in 1991. As a leader of Islam, you should know about other religions and not just Islam. You must also understand Christianity, Confucianism, Buddhism, Judaism and the Unification Church. If this is the case, why am I suggesting that you learn the doctrine of the Unification Church first? I proposed this and asked you to learn this first because, when seen from the perspective of sustaining a coherent worldview, the Unification Church is at the forefront.
I never think about converting you and making you into Unification Church believers. If there is anyone among your group who says they want to become a Unification Church member, I would be the first person to send them back. Do you think it is an easy thing to publish a scripture for the oneness of the world's faiths? After creating a global committee of scholars from each religion, I said, "We are compiling one global scripture that will include your religious tenets, so we ask you to choose all the content that you would like us to present." We compiled the texts into World Scripture, with core content that anyone would perceive to be fair-minded and appropriate. (210-125, 1990/12/17)
19 On August 16, 1990, at the second Assembly of the World's Religions, which convened in San Francisco, I presented the newly published World Scripture. A God-centered purpose comes from the Absolute Being, and the purposes of this Absolute Being cannot be contradictory. God's Will cannot be at cross-purposes with itself; there is but one Will. From this perspective, the providential view is that we should pursue an ideal spirituality based on God as the Absolute Being.
If we believe that, then education is by all means necessary. Scriptures are like textbooks, and textbooks cannot be at cross-purposes with each other. So we have been preparing this global textbook for the past six years. For the first five years, I asked globally celebrated scholars of all religions to choose the best content from their own scriptures, content they thought should not be omitted from World Scripture. When published, it can be bequeathed to the world. Everyone will experience the depth of the teachings and their similarity to each other. (212-322, 1991/01/11)
20 Scriptures are for the sake of all people. I officially recognized World Scripture as a project that reflected the careful supervision of religious leaders, eminent scholars and professors. Under their supervision, it underwent many corrections in the process of developing into a scripture of oneness. They made it by gathering representative scriptures from a total of 12 religions, including Buddhism, Confucianism, and other faiths. Scriptures that have existed up until now have been indefinite on the beginning and end of humanity. Therefore, we organized this compilation based on the Unification Church worldview, which offers a logical explanation starting from the creation of the world and moving through all stages of history. This being the case, we could not possibly exclude the Unification Church teaching from the compilation. World-famous theologians were in charge of compiling this text, and they offered it to me on August 15,1991. (224-242, 1991/11/24) |