1. THE REASON RELIGION IS NEEDED

Each one of you is also a person of religion. There are many different kinds of religions. Our Unification Church is considered one denomination among them. We can see that for many religions, according to their cultural and environmental situations, many historical reformations came about.

Then why do we need such religions? Among all the things of creation, only man needs religion. This thing called religion, what does it call subject as it goes on its way? It is not a way centered on man alone. Centered on God, religion is what is realized by the relationship between God and man.

Then, did man start religion or, if there is a God, did God start religion? There are many different opinions about that. Which is it? It is God. Originally, if there had been no Fall religion would not have been necessary. Then who fell? If we consider the problem of what the being is which initiated the bringing of religion, the conclusion points to man. Why did Fallen man try to go before God? When we consider that man did that to try to form a relationship with God, we find that it is not man but God who started religion.

When we look at it this way, on the whole, what is the main cause of religion coming into existence? Of course, it is possible that having Fallen, man could present such a cause, but we cannot help but see that the basic motivation presented by God is the initiating motivation. (92-296)

Because man fell religion is necessary and the Savior is necessary. If man had not Fallen, then a Savior and religion would not have been necessary. Humankind would have at once become one with God and lived centered on the eternal God's love here on this earth, and the sons and daughters born of that kind of mother and father, their descendants, and that country would all have come into the Kingdom of Heaven. After having lived like that on earth they would have gone from the Kingdom of Heaven on earth into the Kingdom of Heaven in heaven. Hell came into existence because of the Fall, and Jesus, the Savior and things like religion became necessary. (53-296)

1) Religion Is Necessary to All Humankind

Then is religion necessary for all humankind? Or is it just necessary for some special people? What do you think? There are some people who say that it will be all right to go to church later when they are old and about to die and then they will believe in Jesus and go to heaven. Such people can never go to heaven.

Because God has come through thousands of years as the God of unity, a person who cannot unite with God's elements of goodness cannot go into the united world of heaven. That world cannot be reached through any illegal means. Therefore, God, to resolve the sorrows of the world of humankind, established religion as a means to save humankind.

Then what kind of person needs religion? Today some university professors and other intellectuals say that religion is something the people believe in. If we analyze those people from the standpoint of the original nature, they are usually evil people who oppose the elements of unity. As long as such people exist, complete world peace is not possible.

Religion is not necessary for only a special small group of people; it is necessary for everyone. It is not just necessary for the people of today; it was necessary for people in the past as well, who died without knowing this content, and in the future people will need to know this and need religion. (18-320)