The Schism of Unification Church and the Tree of Life

Book excerpt: This book, The Schism of Unification Church and the Tree of Life (Part I), is a revised version of the 4th volume of the History of the Korean Messianic Movement published in 2016 and contains the core of the extensive data used in the 5th volume, A Study of the Canonization the Unification Movement(2017); the 6th volume, Unification Church and the Phenomenon of the Only Begotten Daughter (2017); the 7th volume, The Veritable Records of Unification Church Schism (2021); and the 8th volume, The only-begotten daughter phenomenon seen from the Unification Principle (2023). This book also contains content not covered in the first edition and the changed situation of Unification Church since 2016. Nonetheless, I put the word (part 1) in the title because the detailed story of the schism of Unification Church after the founder’s Seunghwa, which could not be contained in this book on the page, will be covered soon in the other book. The reason why I titled this book "The Schism of Unification Church and the Tree of Life" is that although the division of the Unification Movement caused by the failure of Han Hak-ja to do her responsibilities led to tragic results, providence and anti-providence, principle and non-principle, good and evil were distinguished during the process of division, and, certainly, the Unification Movement will soon be overcome and enter the path of revitalization by the Tree of Life of the heavenly lineage that has risen from the dead. This book focused on comparing the identities and deeds of the major figures identified in the process of Unification Church's split, namely Han Hak-ja, Moon Hyung-jin, and Moon Hyun-jin, based on the identity of the founder and the Unification Principle, which is the core teaching. Through this book, readers will be able to accurately understand the causes, processes, and consequences of Unification Church schism and will be able to predict the future. In the conclusion of the first edition, I mentioned that the phenomenon of Han Hak-ja's only begotten daughter is a new religious phenomenon with a different identity from the phenomenon of Unification Church of the founder. Although divided, I predicted that Unification Church would not collapse but would go the path of revitalization. and that the third son of the founder, Moon Hyun-jin, would lead the revitalization. In retrospect, my prediction was correct to some extent. Han Hak-ja, who was the cause of the schism in Unification Church, became one with the fallen archangel figures who destroyed the providence of the True Family and created a new religion to worship the only begotten daughter, Heavenly Parents Holy Community, which clashed with the Unification Principle. On the other hand, Moon Hyun-jin, who was expelled from the Unification Movement by Han Hak-ja and the anti-Moon Hyun-jin forces who tried to wipe out his providential mission, won nearly a decade of persecution and more than 30 lawsuits, and declared that he would re-establish the ideal of the True Family and True Parents, which had been incomplete due to the fall of Han Hak-ja, and dedicate the original Foundation Day before Heaven. As time passes, the inner story and truth of Unification Church schism will become clearer. I wrote this book from both the perspectives of a new religion researcher, an objective observer, and an insider, a believer. The collection and analysis of data to understand the facts and inner story of the incident was done from the perspective of an observer, and the internal causes of Unification Church split, changes in identity and doctrine, and the nature and religious significance of various events and situations that are difficult to understand for a simple observer was described from an insider's point of view.