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The Divine Principle or Exposition of the Divine Principle (in Korean, Wolli Kangron, hangul: 원리강론, hanja: 原理講論) is the main theological textbook of the Unification Church. The text presents itself as a new revelation from God, given through the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. The term "Divine Principle" is also used by Unificationists to refer to a metaphysical concept of divine truth, of which the text is only an imperfect human expression.

The Divine Principle follows the format of systematic theology, basing its insights on exegesis of the Bible. However, it is held by some believers to have the status of scripture itself. The content starts with God's purpose in creating human beings, the Fall of man, and redemption—the process through history by which God is working to remove the ill effects of the human fall and restore humanity back to the relationship and position that God originally intended.

The Divine Principle and the Bible

According to its preface, The Divine Principle expresses universal truth; it inherits and builds upon the core truths which God revealed through the Jewish and Christian scriptures and encompasses the wisdom from the Orient. Aside from its first chapter, the Principle of Creation, which is replete with Eastern concepts such as Yin and Yang, the greater part of the book relies almost entirely on the Bible. Yet a close reading shows that the text approaches the Bible from an Eastern sensibility, informed by such Confucian concepts as filial piety and the centrality of the family.

The words "Divine Principle" are a direct translation of the Korean term wolli, which literally means "original principle"—'original' in the sense of God's original plan for creation. While some Unificationists speak of the "Divine Principles," plural forms are not normally used in Korean, and there is a sense that these principles fit together into a unitary whole.

Unification Church members sometimes refer to the Divine Principle (or simply "The Principle") meaning not only the specific translation of Wolli Kangron, but an eternal truth already existing in the universe before the books were written. Indeed, many believe the Divine Principle's overt attitude toward the Bible also applies to itself, namely: "[It] is not the truth itself, but rather is a textbook teaching the truth."

History of the Text

Reverend Sun Myung Moon's first encounter with Jesus reportedly took place on Easter Sunday, 1935. For the next decade or so, he struggled to find the truth. According to the text:

For several decades he wandered through the spirit world so vast as to be beyond imagining…. Through intimate spiritual communion with God and by meeting with Jesus and many saints in Paradise, he brought to light all the secrets of Heaven.

Moon would write down notes of his insights and revelations in the margins of his Bible. These notes reportedly formed the basis of the original concept of the work that later became known as the Divine Principle.

The earliest manuscript of the Principle was purportedly lost in North Korea during the Korean War, where Reverend Moon spent 28 months as a prisoner for his religious teachings and practices. Upon arriving as a refugee in the southern city of Pusan, Reverend Moon wrote a still-existing but unpublished manuscript referred to as Wolli Wonbon (meaning "the original text of the Divine Principle"), dictating the last chapter to Won Pil Kim, his first disciple. He then guided Hyo Won Eu, the first president of the Unification Church of Korea, to prepare more systematic presentations of his teachings with biblical, historical, and scientific illustrations.

Moon reportedly gave Eu special instruction regarding the content of these texts and then checked them over meticulously before approving them. These efforts resulted in Wolli Hesol (Explanation of the Divine Principle), published in 1957 (but not translated into English), and Wolli Kangron (Exposition of the Divine Principle), published in 1966. Since then, Wolli Kangron has been the official basic text of Reverend Moon's teachings.

English translations

The first English translation of Wolli Kangron was made by Mrs. Won Pok Choi in 1972[1] and revised in 1973 under the title Divine Principle. This book went through numerous printings and was widely distributed both among Unification Church members and the public at large.[2]In 1996 the book was completely re-translated with the title, Exposition of the Divine Principle.[3] This is currently the official authorized version.

Before the publication of the 1973 edition of Wolli Kangron, various versions of the Principle were published by the first three Unification Church missionaries to the United States. Young Oon Kim (first missionary to the U.S. and considered the premier Unification theologian) published several editions in the late 1960s, the most well known being Divine Principle and Its Application (1969).[4] David S.C. Kim (an early missionary and later the first president of the Unification Theological Seminary) wrote Individual Preparation for His Coming Kingdom, and Bo Hi Pak (then working as military attaché at the Korean Embassy in Washington, DC) also published a version in the late 1960s. In San Francisco, Sang Ik Choi published a teaching based on the Divine Principle under the title Principles of Education. This secularized version of Reverend Moon's teaching was used as introductory lecture material in his Creative Community Project movement, where recruits were introduced to the Divine Principle in subsequent lectures. All of the above versions were officially abandoned in favor of the 1973 translation, which was initiated shortly after Reverend Moon's own American ministry began in late 1971.

A Divine Principle lecture manual by Reverend Young Whi Kim (then president of the Unification Church in Korea) was subsequently authorized by Reverend Moon and was widely used in the U.S. during the early 1970s, while Reverend Chung Hwan Kwak (then International Director of Education of the Unification Church) published a series of lectures manuals in the late 1970s. One of these, Outline of the Principle: Level 4, gained wide popularity because of its concise language and colorful charts.[5] A version designed for people of non-Christian backgrounds, especially Muslims, was first published in the early 1980, written by Thomas Cromwell. Several other versions have also appeared, some official, some by individuals without official backing.

Courtesy -- New World Encyclopedia
- Divine Principle

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