David G. Bromley

1920 (January 6) Moon was born Yong Myung Moon to a farm family in a village located in present-day North Korea. He was the fifth of eight children. Moon later changed his name to Sun Myung Moon (the word made clear).

Moon is described as a very spiritual youth who frequently journeyed to the surrounding mountains to pray.

1936 - On Easter morning Moon reports that Jesus Christ appeared to him and designated him as the successor to complete his spiritual mission. Moon did not immediately reveal this vision for several years.

1936-1946 - Moon reports that he was continuously at war with Satan, who tried to dissuade him from accepting the messianic assignment. He was also in spiritual communication with God and several great religious figures (Jesus, Moses, Buddha). The revelations that he received formed the basis of the Divine Principle ( Tong Il).

1938 - Moon began attended high school in Seoul and subsequently enrolled at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan to study electrical engineering.

1946 - After receiving a divine revelation, Moon left his wife and new son to travel to Pyongyang, North Korea where he formed a charismatic Christian church. The church drew immediate opposition from Christian and Communist authorities.

1946 – Moon was imprisoned for several months by occupying Japanese forces for his support of Korean independence.

1948 - Moon was arrested in N. Korea and sentenced to 5 years "Hard Labor" in Tong Nee concentration camp in Hung Nam for "Disturbing The Social Order" and served 2 years 8 months.

1950 - Moon was able to escape imprisonment and travel to South Korea when American troops arrived.

1955 - Moon was arrested and held briefly again in South Korea before charges against him were finally dropped. Moon was alleged to be having sexual relations with his female followers. Ewha Women's University dismissed five professors and expelled fourteen students, while at Yonsei University, one professor lost his position and two students were dismissed for refusing to leave the Unification Church.

1972 – Moon arrives in the United States to assume leadership of the movement.

1992 - Moon announced that he and his wife together were The Lord of the Second Advent.

1998 - Moon begins the process of turning over authority of the movement to his children by appointing his third-oldest son, Hyun Jin Nim, as vice president of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International.

2000 - Moon celebrated his eightieth birthday in Seoul with former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle, former British Prime Minister Edward Heath, and Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid in attendance.

1956 - The first written version of the Divine Principle (Wolli Hesol) was published.

Moon believes that the Bible is a cryptogram and that his revelations permit a correct interpretation of the Bible for the first time.

God is the creator, both masculine and feminine. Human beings and the universe reflect God's nature and purpose.

God’s desire and capacity for love led to the creation of humankind, and God’s intent was to experience the joy of loving relationships with Creation.

God’s original plan in placing Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden was that they would spiritually mature with God’s nurturance, become “True Parents,” and then form a God-centered family. Since God created humans with free will, they had the capacity to accept or reject his love.

In God’s original plan humans were to occupy a place higher than the angels. However, the archangel Lucifer became jealous of the love being directed to humans and subverted God’s plan when he spiritually seduced Eve as a teenager before she had fully matured (the spiritual Fall). In her guilt, Eve entered into an illicit sexual relationship with Adam (the physical Fall). The result was the first Fall of Man.

All successive generations of humankind were now corrupted by their original parents’ sin and became members of a “false lineage” centered on Satan. Humans now contained elements of both good and evil, of God and Satan. These two elements were separated in Cain and Able. This separation of divine and satanic elements and the killing of Able by Cain divided humankind itself.

The division of humanity has taken many forms through history, but in the contemporary world is represented by the division between atheistic communism and God-fearing democracy.

The separation of humans from God and the divisions among humankind are responsible for a wide range of human problems – wars, racial strife, family discord, interpersonal animosity and selfishness, economic and political conflict.The task of humankind since the Fall has been to deliver humankind from satanic dominion and re-establish God’s original plan for humanity. God requires that humans assume responsibility for their sin by paying “indemnity.” Once God decides that humans have paid sufficient indemnity, an opportunity for Restoration is offered.

In order to carry out the Restoration process a messiah (an ideal person who is sinless) is needed.

In order for the task of Restoration to be complete two tasks must be accomplished. First, there must be a restoration of the God-human relationship (spiritual or vertical restoration) and then relationships among humans (physical or horizontal restoration). There have been a number of central figures through human history. Abel was the first, but he was murdered by Cain before he could fulfill his messianic role.

The last such attempt occurred when, John the Baptist, was to herald the appearance of Jesus. God’s original plan was to have Jesus marry and establish a new God-centered lineage. However, leaders of the day failed to recognize Jesus as the messiah. As a result, Jesus allowed himself to be crucified, which permitted him to make the sacrifice that allowed completion of vertical (spiritual) Restoration. However, the messianic mission remained incomplete as Jesus was unable to marry, have children, and establish a God-centered lineage (physical Restoration).

Because Restoration is not complete, original sin still exists and humans are subject to invasion by evil. Thusanother messianic figure was necessary to complete the restoration process. The “Lord of the Second Advent” will not be Jesus who has returned but rather will be a normally born man who is assisted by Jesus-- from the spirit world.

This messianic figure, the Divine Principle teaches, can be identified by certain characteristics drawn from the Bible. His birth date will be between 1917 and 1930, and he will come from a nation in which there is an active confrontation between godless communism and god-centered democracy and which has suffered from this struggle.

Unificationism also incorporates traditional Korean folk religion, most notably incorporating a belief in spiritualism, communication with the spirits of deceased persons.

Restoration of individuals to God’s domain – Conversion
• One of the two most prominent individual activities was recruitment, which the movement defined as producing “spiritual children.”

Restoration of money and business to God’s domain – Fundraising and business partnerships
• Fundraising is understood to involve transferring money from the sinful satanic domain to God’s sinless domain.

• Business relationships involve grafting onto the Messiah - A business relationship with the messiah creates a spiritual relationship whether or not the other party is aware of it.

Restoration of government – Theocracy
• Creation of a God-centered government by linking the messiah to political leadership

Restoration of family – The Blessing
• Movement novitiates were instructed to devote their attention to developing their capacity for spiritual love before entering into marriage and initiating a physical relationship.
• Through the Blessing, the couple is removed from the satanic lineage and engrafted into God’s sinless lineage. The effects of the Fall and original sin are removed.
• During the early history of the movement Moon personally matched each couple.
• Since 2001 couples Blessed by Moon have been able to arrange marriages for their own children, without his direct guidance.

The Blessing has five steps:
• The Chastening Ceremony. The couple strike each other three times to symbolically make an end to sin and prepare for a new beginning.
• The Holy Wine Ceremony. The couple share a cup of Holy Wine (or grape juice) symbolizing their engrafting into God’s sinless lineage.
During the ceremony a chalice of wine is passed by Moon to the bride; she sips from the chalice and then passes the chalice to the groom; the groom finishes the wine. In receiving the wine from Moon, the bride receives “true love” from “True Father” and is thereby freed from satanic lineage and grafted into the messianic lineage. The bride is thus reborn and, by passing the wine to her bridegroom, gives him a sinless rebirth. The empty chalice is then passed in reverse order back to Moon to complete the ceremony.
• The Holy Blessing Ceremony. The couple exchange vows. A prayer is offered by the officiators. The couple is sprinkled with Holy Water.
• The Separation Period. The couple refrains from having sexual relations for a period, most often 40 days but in some cases much longer, before consummating, or re-consummating, their marriage. At the conclusion of the period of separation the ceremony of Transference of Love occurs when the marriage is sexually consummated.

Couples taking part in Blessing ceremonies exchange these four vows:
• To become a true man or woman who practices sexual purity and lives for the sake of others;
• To become a true husband or wife who respects True Parents' example and establishes an eternal family which brings joy to God;
• To become a parent who educates their children to follow the tradition of true love for the sake of the family and world; and
• To become an ideal family that contributes to world peace.

Ancestor Liberation

1990s - Chung Pyung Workshops in South Korea - creating the Heaven and Earth Blessing.
• Ceremony reunited the spirits of dead spouses with their partners still living on earth, allowing the spirit to return to earth and dwell with the living partner.
• Members’ ancestors residing in the spirit world also became candidates for Blessing.

• Saintly and evil persons through history were given the opportunity for liberation and Blessing.
In the 1998 Blessing representatives of evil figures through history, such as Stalin, Hitler, Marx, and Lenin. Through this symbolic act, Moon sought to create the basis for liberating the residents of Hell. Saintly figures such as Socrates, Augustine, Buddha, and Mohammad were also blessed.

1959 - Initial Unificationist missionaries arrived in the United States. Young Oon Kim (Eugene Oregon), Mr. Kim (Pacific Northwest), Bo Hi Pak ( Washington, D.C.), Sang Ik “Papasan” Choi ( San Francisco). Mrs. Kim was one of the professors expelled from Ewha Women's University.

Mid-1960s - Small groups of Unificationists established church centers in western European countries such as Germany, Italy, France and Spain.

1975 - Moon sent out missionaries to 120 countries to spread the Unification Church around the world and also in part, he said, to act as "lightning rods" to receive "persecution."

1991 - Moon announced that church members should return to their hometowns in order to undertake apostolic work there.

1994 - Moon announced that the period of the preeminence of the Unification Church had ended, and he inaugurated the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International as the umbrella organization for the movement. Political notables (Gerald Ford, George Bush, Sr., Jack Kemp, Maureen Reagan), religious leaders (Coretta Scott King, Robert Schuller, Gary Bauer, Beverly La Haye, Ralph Reed), and celebrities (Bill Cosby, Pat Boone) were in attendance.

1998 - Moon appointed his third-oldest son, Hyun Jin Nim, as vice president of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International.

2008 – Moon appointed his youngest son, Hyung Jin Moon as the new leader of the Unification Church and the worldwide Unification Movement. Moon also designated him as the fourth Adam, with Jesus and Moon being the second and third. Moon also appointed his daughter, In Jin Moon as the president of the Unification Church of the United States.

U.S. membership reached a high point of 7,500 to 10,000 during the 1970s. The movement now claims to be active in 190 nations and to have 50,000 members in the US.

Moon launched his network of corporate organization in the late 1950s, using members to found businesses and provide labor.

The conglomerate quickly grew to become one of the thirty largest family-owned conglomerates (chaebols) in South Korea. Businesses included mining, manufacturing, construction, auto parts, pharmaceuticals, weapons production.

When the movement forms business relationships with outsiders, the Unificationist understanding is that these individuals and companies are being “grafted onto” the Messiah and moved under messianic dominion.

Particularly in Japan a number of businesses produced extraordinary profits that were distributed to other parts of the movement.

The corporate organizations are used to support the agendas of the non-profit, outreach groups.

The most prominent business in the U.S. is the Washington Times. Fishing businesses are also prominent.

Moon founded the New Hope East Garden community on the border of Brazil and Paraguay as the birthplace of the new civilization he envisions. The movement owns several million acres of land.

The not-for-profit groups seek to build Unificationism and promote unity among various societal groups and between societies
• International Cultural Foundation – to discover absolute values and integrate scientific and religious knowledge.
• International Religious Foundation – to create religious dialogue to promote world peace.
• Professors World Peace Academy – to solve urgent world problems and bridge east-west differences.
• The World Media Association - to discuss the role of the media in resolving conflict and promoting worldwide understanding.
• Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles – to organize college students.
• Unification Theological Seminary – to train clergy.

When Moon accepted his messianic assignment, he did not believe that he became the messiah. He had to complete a messianic course of activities that would confirm his status.
• 1960 - Moon and his wife (Hak Ja Han) begin having children. Together they bore 12 children as one element of the messianic mission.
• 1961 - Moon toured 40 nations to create 120 "Holy Grounds" throughout the world. Holy Grounds are believed to be special locations where the "spiritual world" and the "physical world" meet, and communication between the living and the dead is more possible. They are intended to represent the claiming of "God's ground" symbolically until later restoring the "homeland" substantially.
• 1973 - International One World Crusade (IOWC) was initiated. Moon gave speeches in 21 cities and was given hundreds of proclamations and keys to the city by various mayors and public officials.
• 1974 (September 18) - Moon spoke to an estimated at 25,000 at the Madison Square Garden Rally, drawing national media attention, due in large part to organized protests outside.
•1974 (October 8) - Moon spoke before Congress, " America in God's Providence."
• 1975 (December 18) - Moon spoke on Capitol Hill with the message "God's Plan for America," Reports indicate that it was attended by two hundred representatives including sixty Congressmen and Senators.
• 1976 (June 1) – At a Yankee Stadium Rally Moon gave the speech "God's Hope for America."
• 1976 (September 18) – At Washington Monument Rally Moon gave a speech, "Bicentennial God Bless America Festival."
• 1990 (April) - Moon met with Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow.
• 1991 - (December 6) - Moon met North Korean president Kim Il Sung.
• 1992 and after - The movement established business ties with North Korea, including Pyeonghwa Motors, a hotel and real estate. In 2007 it founded a " World Peace Center" in Pyongyang.

1992 - At the World Cultural and Sports Festival in Seoul, Korea, Moon announced that he and his wife had completed the mission of the True Parents of humankind and that he and his wife together were The Lord of the Second Advent.

Unificationism faced almost immediate opposition in Korea from Christians and Communist authorities.
• 1946 – Moon was imprisoned for several months by occupying Japanese forces for his support of Korean independence.
• 1948 – Moon was expelled from Presbyterian Church.
• 1948 - Moon was arrested in N. Korea and sentenced to 5 years "Hard Labor" in Tong Nee concentration camp in Hung Nam for "Disturbing The Social Order" and served 2 years 8 months.
• 1955 - Moon was arrested and held briefly again in South Korea before charges against him were finally dropped. Moon was having sexual relations with his female followers. Ewha Women's University dismissed five professors and expelled fourteen students, while at Yonsei University, one professor lost his position and two students were dismissed for refusing to leave the Unification Church.

In the U.S. Moon faced major opposition from anti-cult groups after his arrival in 1972
• Anti-cult groups targeted Unificationism beginning in 1972 and extending until at least 1978.
The movement has been accused of kidnapping, strange diets, lack of sleep, hypnosis, trance-inducing lectures, sensory deprivation, sensory stimulation, chanting, bizarre rituals, ‘love-bombing’ and deception in conjunction with its recruitment practices.
• At least 400 Unificationists were deprogrammed between 1972 and 1978. Law enforcement officials declined involvement in many of these cases.
• Apostate accounts were published with titles such as Crazy for God (Edwards 1979), Heavenly Deception (1980), Escape from the Moonies (1982), and Hostage to Heaven (Underwood 1979).
The most recent damaging book is In the Shadow of the Moons by Nansook Hong, who was married to Moon’s son, Hyo Jin Moon (Hong 1998).

There has been concerted religious establishment opposition to Unificationism
• There has been opposition from the Jewish community over Moon’s assertion that the Jews had killed Christ.
• There was continuing opposition from Christian groups for Moon’s heretical theology.
• Unificationism has been vigorously opposed in Russia by the Russian Orthodox Church.

U.S. government officials, as well as those in a number of other nations, have targeted Unificationism.
• 1974 – Moon publicly supported President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.
• 1978 – The Fraser Committee in Congress was investigating the political influence of the South Korean government in the United States. In its report it concluded that Moon was connected to the KCIA, wanted to establish a worldwide government, wanted to eliminate separation of church and state, and wanted to establish Moon as the ruler of this government.
• 1982 – Moon was convicted of tax evasion and served an 18 month federal sentence in a minimum security facility beginning in 1984. A huge banquet was held to welcome Moon out of prison in 1985. It was attended by 1700 ministers. Jerry Falwell was one of the main speakers, and called for Moon's pardon.

Blessing Ceremonies

• 1960 - 3 Couples
• 1961 - 33 Couples
• 1962 - 72 Couples
• 1963 - 124 Couples
• 1968 - 430 Couples
• 1970 - 777 Couples
• 1975 - 1,800 Couples
• 1982 - 2100 Couples
• 1982 - 5800 Couples
• 1988 - 6,500 Couples
• 1992 - 30,000 Couples
• 1995 - 360,000 Couples
• 1997 36,000,000 Couples
• 2009 20,000 Couples