1) God's Providential History of Salvation through Religion

What is the will of God? It is to perfect Adam through the process of re-creation history. Upon the victorious foundation of perfected Adam, Eve could be perfected. Upon the foundation of perfected Eve, the children and the family could be perfected. In order to set up a foundation for the children to be perfected, a substantial circle must be set up representing the clan and the nation. This is the essence of the providence for salvation. It is essential for the completion of the providence for salvation.

Since human history began, many saints and sages have come and gone. Their work, in a nutshell, was to establish and develop religions. In history, many religions have appeared, and some have continued until today. Religion has evolved through several stages: the religion of the servant, the religion of the adopted son, the religion of the son, and the religion of the parents.

Human culture has developed in four directions; east, south, north and west. Likewise, many religions have appeared in different regions, suited to their own environments, in the roles of the religion of the servant, the religion of the adopted son and the religion of the son. Of course, even the religion of the servant contains providential rituals and teachings about the son and the parents.

The path of these many religions is the path to complete God's ideal of creation. The religion of the servant established that path. The religion of the adopted son continued on the same path on the foundation of the religion of the servant. The position of the adopted son substituted for the position of the son, who experiences God's heart, God's environment and God's will. The adopted son receives the parents' inheritance if there is no son.

After the religion of the adopted son came the religion of the son. What happened when the religion of the son appeared? This religion teaches us clearly who our parents are. It not only tells us who our parents are, but also establishes one unified realm of heart.

In the age of the servant and the age of the adopted son, God could not establish the standard of heart of the son. But when the son finally appeared, he became the central object in relation to the Parent, the subject. It was a historical moment when God, the Parent, had His first son and was able to love him. In this moment, for the first time since the creation, God saw His cherished hope fulfilled.

This consummation of the providential history of restoration shows us that Christianity, which inherited Jewish tradition and went through the mainstream historical course, is the central religion of all religions.

In Christian history, the Old Testament age was the era of the servant. Entering the New Testament age, the era of the adopted son opened. To inherit the position of the son we need the ideology of the Messiah. The Messiah is the son who can receive God's love. That's why Jesus Christ is the only son of God. "Only son" means the only one before God. It means he is the first son centering on God's love. Centered on Christianity and its providential background, God was able to guide history to the present age and build up the democratic world which has dominated 20th century civilization.

Now human history has come to an end. Here, at the consummation of human history, we talk about the Last Days. What does this mean? After the completion of the Messianic son's mission, in order to connect with the Parents' mission, Christ is in the position of the bridegroom and all human beings are in the position of the bride. Together the bridegroom and his bride bring in the religion of the Parents. Therefore the Last Days are the time when the children's era comes to an end and we move on to the parents' era.

What is the hope of children? It is to look upon the parents they have never seen, to find the parents who have been lost, to meet the parents they have never known. It is to receive love from their parents. The Last Days are not a time of fire and destruction as today's Christians believe. The Last Days are the time when the children's hope is fulfilled and the parents appear and, centered on God's love, build God's family, society, nation and world. The people will be educated by the parents and reunited with God's love, and the sovereignty of evil will be transformed into the sovereignty of good. This time of transformation is the Last Days. To carry out this role and mission a new religion has been born, raised up and gradually developed.

What is the Unification Church? The Unification Church speaks of True Parents and True Children. Many religions have appeared and disappeared. Their teachings are all one-sided. But the Unification Church proclaims the religion of the parents. That is the difference. Here the parents we speak of are not just the parents of others. Centering on God, they are the parents who stand in the position of ancestors by bequeathing the fundamental parental tradition. They are not the parents of one generation in today's society. They are the parents who bring rebirth to sinful human beings, engraft them to themselves to give them the title of true children, and take care of them, until every human being has been saved. This is the position of the parents we speak of in the Unification Church.

Then, what will happen to the peripheral religions? They will not perish. When a seed sprouts, the first leaves fall as new ones appear. In the same way the early religions will pass away. The religion of the servant will disappear. The religion of the adopted son will disappear. The religion of the son will be connected with the religion of the parents, as its root, and a new unified religious world will come about.