GOD IN TWO PERSONS
I conceived of the following parodstic parallel solely as a
source of amusement:
Christianity:
"God in three persons, blessed Trinity"
Unificationism:
"God in the two persons, blessed Duality"
(the former quote is from an English-language hymn sung
often in the several mainline churches during my career as organist,
choirmaster, music director in Christian and Jewish congregations, which was
ended by Father's direction in 1973.)
Yet, the parallel may prove instructive: The three persons
of the Holy Trinity maybe understood as having distinct roles or functions, as
in 2 Corinthians 13:14: "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." Here 'grace' is understood to mean 'saving
grace'. Skipping forward to contemporary times, in the website Catholics United
for Faith, I read, “We sometimes speak of the Father as Creator, the Son as
Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as Sanctifier." Throughout the Bible, God is
depicted as a shepherd, not only leading his sheep, but carrying lambs and
feeding them, the second function of a mother. A number of Unificationist Holy
Songs explicitly or implicitly indicate comfort in God’s bosom.
Unificationists
believe that the True Parents, two persons--a united man and woman--are
"the substantial God". As the True Father and the True Mother, they
have distinct functions. Now, a man should act as a man, yet he has also a
feminine nature that colors his action depending upon its strength. Similarly,
a woman should act as a woman and has also a masculine nature coloring her
action. In the Bible, the first female hero, Rebecca, decisively chooses to
abandon her traditional position in her matrilineal society, and her potential
as an heiress, to go and become the wife of Isaac, living in a patrilineal and
even patriarchal society. A number of Unificationists view True Mother as
acting with increasing forcefulness.
Currently, then, my conceptualization is, "Heavenly
Parent, one being substantiated (from one point in time and forever thereafter)
as two persons, the True Father and True Mother. with distinct functions, yet
united as the True Parents " That having been said, further study of my
suggested parallel, unpacking further common understandings of the Holy
Trinity, suggests further issues for the Unificationist faith; however, I will
leave that for another discussion.
John Andrew Sonneborn
joonsuu@gmail.com
joonsuu@gmail.com
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