天聖經 Cheon Seong Gyeong
The Holy Scripture of Cheon Il Guk
An anthology of True Parents’ teachings
Family Pledge
- Our family, the owner of Cheon Il Guk, pledges to seek our original homeland and build the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven, the original ideal of creation, by centering on true love.
- Our family, the owner of Cheon Il Guk, pledges to represent and become central to heaven and earth by attending the Heavenly Parent and True Parents; we pledge to perfect the dutiful family way of filial sons and daughters in our family, patriots in our nation, saints in the world, and divine sons and daughters in heaven and on earth, by centering on true love.
- Our family, the owner of Cheon Il Guk, pledges to perfect the Four Great Realms of Heart, the Three Great Kingships and the Realm of the Royal Family, by centering on true love.
- Our family, the owner of Cheon Il Guk, pledges to build the universal family encompassing heaven and earth, which is the Heavenly Parent’s ideal of creation, and perfect the world of freedom, peace, unity and happiness, by centering on true love.
- Our family, the owner of Cheon Il Guk, pledges to strive every day to advance the unification of the spirit world and the physical world as subject and object partners, by centering on true love.
- Our family, the owner of Cheon Il Guk, pledges to become a family that moves heavenly fortune by embodying the Heavenly Parent and True Parents, and to perfect a family that conveys Heaven’s blessing to our community by centering on true love.
- Our family, the owner of Cheon Il Guk, pledges, through living for the sake of others, to perfect the world based on the culture of heart, which is rooted in the original lineage, by centering on true love.
- Our family the owner of Cheon Il Guk, pledges, having entered the Era of Cheon Il Guk, to achieve the ideal of God and human beings united in love through absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience, and to perfect the realm of liberation and complete freedom in the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven, by centering on true love.
Preface
As a Korean youth with a vibrant Christian faith, Sun Myung Moon often prayed in the hills near his village home in the northern reaches of the Korean Peninsula. Feeling deeply the plight of his own people who, at that time in the mid-1930’s, were struggling under the domination of a foreign power, he called out to God, asking why the world was filled with so much pain and sadness. God’s answer came through Jesus Christ, who told him of the deep grief of our Heavenly Parent over the suffering of humankind and asked him to accept a mission to relieve that suffering. Rev. Moon testifies that he at first refused due to the enormity of the task. Yet he was so moved by Jesus’ sorrowful heart that he began a desperate struggle to train himself spiritually so that he might understand the root of humankind’s separation from God and become a conduit for God’s healing love.
Sun Myung Moon’s early efforts to teach about God in North Korea ultimately led to his being sent to a forced labor camp to die of over-work and starvation. Yet He saw this course as training to discipline his mind and body, to grow in his love for God, and thus to overcome the cruel circumstances. Fellow prisoners have testified that Rev. Moon survived by focusing not on his own suffering, but on relieving that of those around him. Once he was freed, Rev. Moon began to teach again, his heart full of urgency to inspire change in the world. It is the recorded words from the many hours Rev. Moon spent speaking with followers and at public events that form the body of text from which this volume has been compiled.
Cheon Seong Gyeong presents carefully selected extracts, drawn from sermons given over almost six decades, from the earliest known recorded sermons (1956), to the most significant ones from his final years. These are arranged according to themes that reflect the essence and diversity of Rev. Moon’s thought and discourse with Heaven. Although the written word may inadequately capture Rev. Moon’s passionate and exuberant speaking style, the seriousness of his heart is unmistakable as he describes the beauty of God’s original plan for us as His children, God’s profound sorrow that this is still to be realized, and His work, visible in history’s course, to see the human potential in love finally fulfilled.
The volume also includes extracts from talks given by Rev. Moon’s beloved wife, Hak Ja Han Moon, who stood with her husband throughout their fifty-two years together. Given during the months following Rev. Moon’s ascension, her words illuminated the path ahead for the worldwide Unification movement.
Cheon Seong Gyeong concludes with a selection of Rev. Moon’s prayers, the intimate words of a son to his Heavenly Parent. These reveal much about the mission he has striven to fulfill and reveal aspects of his teachings not expressed elsewhere.
Unificationists testify that God sent Rev. and Mrs. Moon as the True Parents of humankind, with the mission to raise up ideal families and open the gates to God’s kingdom of goodness and true love, which they refer to as Cheon Il Guk. True Parents commissioned the creation of this new edition of Cheon Seong Gyeong as part of the Holy Scripture for this time. It contains God’s guidance for our role in actualizing Cheon Il Guk in this world.
This work has been translated from the original Korean, and contains many passages that have not previously appeared in English.
Accompanying this volume is a booklet listing the dates on which the words contained in each extract were spoken and the page number in the source from which they were drawn. This permits the reader with an interest in the original language to read and understand the True Parents’ words in context.
Much gratitude is due to the translators and editors, who have striven to produce a work that conveys the soul of the original teachings. Truth from God does not pour forth in the convenient linear form of human language. Moreover, Korean expression and nuance do not always flow easily into the logical structure of English. For both these reasons, the translation of this work presented a formidable challenge and the reader may at times need to meditate over the content in order to grasp its intended meaning. The life-giving power of God’s Word as revealed herein will surely be greatly enhanced when the reader invites the presence of the Holy Spirit.
May God bless you in your course of discovery as you read the text.