Final Thoughts on Hak Ja Han’s CBMR Theology: Which True Father Do You Hold in Your Heart?

In Demian Dunkley’s lectures we hear that “1543 was the peak of Calvin’s work,” “Luther really kicked it (the Reformation) off, but Calvin substantiated it,” and a parallel is drawn between Sun Myung Moon (Luther) and Hak Ja Han (Calvin).

Why did 1543, and Calvin, suddenly start appearing in Hak Ja Han’s speeches? “Martin Luther began the reformation. John Calvin gave it solidity … The birth of the counterpart of the returning Lord was to be 400y ears after Calvin’s main work: God’s Only Begotten Daughter was born in 1943”. (WCLC rally, December 5, 2020) “Calvin's report to the Holy Roman Emperor in 1543 is the starting point; after 400 years, the Only Begotten Daughter was born, who had to be born on the foundation of Christianity.” (Nov 19, 2023) The answer is, of course, simple and it’s not a revelation. Somebody was looking for parallels that would lead to justify Hak Ja Han as the Only Begotten Daughter and worked backwards from 1943 and found Calvin’s, really very little-known work, ‘Necessity for Reforming the Church’.

Unfortunately, though understandably, as those around Hak Ja Han probably initially knew little about the Reformation, it became“Calvin’s main work” in her speech. The ‘7 Lectures’ presenters now know better and include Calvin’s real ‘main work’, the “Institutes of the Christian Religion”, well over 1,000 pages long, in their lectures. Calvin reviewed the ‘Institutes’ constantly from its first publication in Latin in 1536, then in French in 1541, (he wrote in both languages) through 6 editions to the final versions published in 1560 and 1559, respectively. It was translated into Spanish in 1540, Italian 1557, Dutch 1560, English 1561 (by his son-in-love -join my campaign to convert ‘in-laws’ into ‘in-loves’!) German 1572, Czech 1617, Hungarian 1624, Japanese 1934.... It is an extremely important Reformation document and clearly was his ‘peak’ publication.

Given that so much is happening in Christian history it is relatively easy to play the numbers game. When living in the Ukraine, I gave the Christian parallels lecture including important dates and developments in (Russian) Orthodox history, many of which line up very well with the Divine Principle.The Reformation equivalent is when Moscow was declared the “Third Rome” in 1524, the idea having brewed for a few years, & almost 400 years later we have the 1917 Russian Revolution!

Calvin is difficult for Unificationists, or used to be, as Divine Principle totally rejects his theory of Predestination. This, as Tyler Hendricks pointed out to me, may be doing Calvin an injustice through an insufficient understanding of his thought. It is, however, indisputable that Calvinism did indeed lead theologically to horrors such as apartheid, given that Afrikaners, the predominantly white population of Dutch descent in South Africa, adhered to a specific interpretation of Calvinism which emphasized concepts like ‘double predestination’ and a strict social hierarchy. Of course, there were other factors, but Calvinist theology played a most important role in the ideological development of apartheid.

Can the ‘Necessity for Reforming the Church,’ to which Hak Ja Han and the 7 Lectures refer, written in 1543, dedicated “To the Most Invincible Emperor, Charles V, and the Most Illustrious Princes and Other Orders, Now Holding a Diet of the Empire at Spires” be compared to Luther’s 95 theses of 1517? Absolutely not! Can Calvin be compared to Luther? Absolutely yes, as they were both prolific authors, theologians, reformation leaders, whose footprints can be found around the world, Calvin’s clearly in the US and Korea. Normally Luther is described as the 1st Gen reformer, Calvin a 2nd Gen.  But a fuller comparison is for another day.

To explain about the 95 Theses and the ‘Necessity…’: The latter tract is a very well written justification of why the Reformation was necessary: the evils of the church, the necessary remedies …and it deals with the theological doctrine of justification, the sacraments...no new or ‘revolutionary’ content in its about 100 pages, written in Latin. The problem is that nobody read it at the time, certainly not the Catholic Emperor and Princes. Calvin did not translate it into French. It was not translated into English for 300 years, to my knowledge, and into Spanish only in the year2,000. It is still little known and very rarely read, the opposite of being ‘Calvin’s main work’.

Thanks to the printing press Luther’s 95 Theses of 1517 could be found all across German-speaking areas within 2 weeks, were translated from German into Latin, the primary written language of the European educated, within 3 weeks, and within 2 months could be found, in pamphlet form, all across Europe in various languages and their effect, as we know, was revolutionary! By the time of Luther’s death in 1546, much of North Europe was Lutheran. It was the state religion in most of Germany, Scandinavia and theBaltics.

England had split from Rome because of Luther’s revolution but did not become Lutheran.  By the time of Calvin's death in 1564, Calvinism had significantly spread across parts of Europe, particularly in Switzerland, parts of France (Huguenots), the Netherlands, Scotland, where it became the national religion in 1560, and a few regions of Germany (i.e. substantial, but IMO a bit less substantial than Lutheranism). Certainly, Calvinism is indeed important in the development of the USA, and Christianity in Korea, given the influence and number of Presbyterian missionaries. (BTW Demian Dunkley, a couple of Canadians, one Methodist, one Presbyterian, together with a US Methodist were central to the 1903 Wonsan and 1907 Pyongyang revivals, so not just American missionaries!)

UN troops in Korea, But Not to Save Father in the Heungnam Death Camp

 How was it that Heaven could mobilize 16 UN member states? Because of whom? Because of the Only Begotten Daughter. This nation and its people must be aware of this. They must know the truth. (Hak Ja Han, July 18, 2024)

 In recent years Mother rarely mentions Father, and when talking of the UN troops, it’s all about herself:

 That is why, considering the situation in Korea, since God had to provide an environment in which I could survive, 16 UN member states were able to participate in the war. (Nov 19, 2023)

 When the war broke out in 1950 Hak Ja Han was in Seoul. She “came South under God's protection in1948” and her family quickly fled further south to Jeolla province when the war started. They returned to Seoul after its liberation, and when war returned to the city, narrowly escaped in her uncle's truck before the Han River bridge was bombed by the UN forces! They went south, where, I presume, she was in relative safety for the course of the war, part of which, I think, she spent in Jeju Island.

Because, according to the Chambumoron, the 7-year-old Hak Ja Han was ‘God’s greatest concern’, the fact that Sun Myung Moon was in Heungnam prison and, according to his testimony, a few hours from execution before the intervention of the UN forces, is not worth mentioning. Is this because, had he died, that 7-year-old would have just found another ‘rebegottenson’, presumably who understood the Divine Principle, over the next few years, to elevate to Only Begotten Son status? After all, ten years later, she chose Father out of several candidates. Sorry, to me, that sounds like BS!

Hak Ja Han Predestined from the Time of the Fall?

There is one final question which I think the CBMR theologians need to answer honestly. Is the CBMR fundamentally saying Hak Ja Han was predestined from the time of the Fall? From watching the ‘Epic’ presentations, listening to the 7 Lectures and Demian Dunkley lectures this seems to be the conclusion of the CBMR theology. Thus, a new myth, and yes, I know, myths are important, is being spun that the Han people are descendants of Shem.

According to them, for over 5,000 years God has been developing a seemingly, completely separate, alternative historical timeline to the one laid out in the Divine Principle. This new timeline is centered on Korea and the Han people, unknown until today as there are neither revelatory nor prophetic and, of course, no biblical foundations to support this assertion.

Its only support comes in Father’s words to ACLC clergy, “Asians descended from Shem, Black people descended from Ham and white people from Japeth” (Mar 1. 2003)! Then the Only Begotten Daughter, who according to the CMBR “must be born” in the Asian “Han” race, was not present at the time of Jesus, necessitating the cross. Father is said to have made mistakes & should not have married prior to 1960; the principles of restoration are not deeply explained and no other possibilities for establishing the necessary conditions for the birth of the Messiah or Lord of the Second Advent, e.g. theUnited Kingdom periods, are examined.

Is the Cain/Abel restorational paradigm even mentioned? The CBMR emphasizes the principles of creation, yes, the foundation of the Divine Principle, but what of Father’s words at the end of his life:

I have discovered and clarified that the principle of Cain and Abel is the fundamental principle of the cosmos.  If one understands this principle, one understands 70% of the secret of the cosmos.  All the relationships in the cosmos are based on the principle of Cain and Abel. (Nov24, 2011)

Should we just ‘forget everything’ even though we all still analyze our world according to the Cain/Abel principle (Russia/Ukraine,Hamas/Israel) do we not?

Let us remember that such a conclusion, that Hak Ja Han was predestined, runs totally contrary to everything we have believed about that most precious principle of human responsibility, absolutely fundamental to fulfilling the Principles of Creation!

Final Thoughts (which True Father do you remember?)

1977 was the year Father asked Mrs. Choi, who had always accompanied True Parents on Holy Days since the Holy Wedding, to leave the stage. This I always understood to be the conclusion of Mother’s remarkable, victorious personal course, as guided by Father. At that time she commented;

During the growth period I was much worried about reaching perfection, but now that that period has ended and I have reached the standard desired by Heaven [meaning perfection], I look back upon that time and realize that all my memories of hardships have been transformed into ones of joy.Belvedere 1977/5/3

Now we are being told that Father got it all wrong. Jin Choon Kim, seemingly the main initiator of the Only Begotten Daughter theology, asks us: Does it fit with the Principle that Father, who again has a past scandal, is in the position of the Second Advent, and Mother, who is in the position of a bride who completed her individuality (i.e. does he mean fulfilled the 1st Blessing at 17 years old, which contradicts her words from 1977?) and has no scandal at the First Coming, gives bows to Father?

Does he mean that Father should have been bowing to Mother at the engagement and then she should have been wearing the crown, maybe he's bareheaded? But what did she bring to the 1960 Blessing except herself? Did she have any spiritual children? Our understanding was that the marriage in 1960 was the ‘marriage of the lamb’ because of the foundation Father had created with his blood, sweat and tears. The presence and offering of bows by the 3 disciple archangels were essential.

Does Dr. Kim think that her presence was the only thing that was necessary? Was Father’s foundation, which we thought was the culmination of 2,000 years of Christian indemnity, totally unimportant, unnecessary, even though this was the object of her reverential bows, which she should not have had to offer, embodied in her husband?

Clearly, Dr. Kim’s ‘Principle’ is not Father’s Divine Principle, which I am told features little in the CBMR. Indeed, the Sun Myung Moon in the CBMR is not the Messiah/3rd Adam/True Father I followed.In the CBMR he is saved from his error-strewn providential path by a 17-year-old, sinless alpha-and-omega Only Begotten Daughter in 1960, having not understood that he should have only focused on preparing for and finding her.  He then lived the rest of his life, and died, in the newly declared ‘wilderness era’ of 1960-2013. He never understood his wife, who is still saying he needs our help to liberate him from Satan’s accusation (Demian Dunkley, March 2025),from Dr. Kim’s ‘tails’. His name, it seems, is now rarely mentioned by his wife.

My True Father’s wilderness course ended in 1985, with his victorious release from Danbury, at the God and Freedom Banquet where he told the assembled, almost 2,000, clergy, guests and members how he “experienced God in every cell of my body.” He then declared victory over the 8 stages of indemnity, vertically and horizontally (Aug 20, 1989), in 1991 met Gorbachev and Kim Il Sung (accompanied by Hak Ja Han).

He went from a miserable hut, on a hill in Busan, after indemnifying Jesus’ agonizing hours on the cross through his years in Heungnam, creating a Blessing movement, new Holy Days, an extraordinary myriad of activities, to end his life in a palace on a hill in Cheong Pyeong, a place which he decided to buy and develop. He held ceremonies, with his wife, to liberate heaven and earth, the skies, the sea and the land. He guided us through three levels of Blessing and together with his wife held the Coronation Ceremony for the Kingship of God, after a lifetime dedicated to consoling God’s suffering heart.

He declared the date of Foundation Day would be 12 years later to the day. His final prayer, after deeply thanking Mother, still resonates in my heart:

I have completed everything. Today, as I have returned the conclusion of the final perfection to You, Father, I know that up to this moment, I have offered my whole life to You. I am spending this time now to bring my life to its conclusion, to bring it to a close with utmost devotion, in accordance with Your Will.… I, who have the authority to grant liberation and complete freedom to everything … I have accomplished everything for this. I have completed everything. Aju.
()https://tparents.org/Moon-Talks/SunMyung Moon12/SunMyungMoon-120813b

Which True Father do you hold in your heart? Is he the victorious Lord of the Second Advent and TrueParent of heaven, earth and humankind, revealer of the Divine Principle, the liberator of God’s heart, who had ‘the authority to grant liberation and complete freedom to everything’, the miraculous survivor of death camps and torture who worked so tirelessly to build Cheon Il Guk?

Or is he the “one button off”, mistake-prone inheritor of Jesus’ mission of the CBMR, who died in the wilderness, leaving his wife to begin re-buttoning the providence, which she should have been guiding correctly since their Blessing, but could not do so, because he would just not push her to the front and get out of her way? She now claims that she is the one, not him, to build Cheon Il Guk:

The providence is not completed by the Returning Messiah.It is done by the Only Begotten Daughter. (Mar 21, 2025)

According to this new theology, it is not to be done by t True Parents together, as we previously believed and Mother herself declared in 2024 in the Alps:

True Father and I will finish God’s providential history through oneness in heart, body, mindset and harmony. At this time when True Father begins his new journey in the spirit world, we who are in the physical world, must keep pace with Father in rendering glory to Heaven, and completely putting ourselves on the line, investing everything for the establishment of Cheon Il Guk. (6/2014)

Please do not misunderstand me, thinking that I am demeaning or denigrating Mother, with whom I spent time in Kyiv, Ukraine and Caracas, Venezuela. In the latter location she encouraged me to try to have a 4th child, she hoped a girl, as we had 3 boys at that time. We did have one, another boy! Her course has been difficult and tear-filled beyond my ability to comprehend, having sent to spirit world as many children as my wife and I were able to bring into this world.  

My purpose is to ask for the creation of a forum for respectful discussion of the new claims being made by her and in her name, how to deal with the differences in her thought, when compared to Father’s, rather than members just being told, “This is something you have to believe” and “forget everything, so forget everything, I mean it …let it go.” That just does not work. Indeed, it might be considered demeaning!

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