Chapter 9
History of God’s Providence Founders, Prophets and Saints God operates His providence to save humankind through establishing religions; the religions in turn elevate human morality and ethics, leading to the creation of civilizations. Each of the major religions begins with its founder. Father Moon terms these founders “saints,” and gives pride of place to Jesus, Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad as the four representative saints of humankind. Each founder is unique, proclaiming the core truth for the religion he spawned. For the Christian, it is the saving work of Christ alone that saves, notwithstanding the accomplishments of other founders, great as they may be. Likewise, the Muslim’s faith is defined uniquely by the message of Muhammad, the “seal” of the prophets—that is, the last and final prophet. The committed believer is confronted with one individual as the standard of truth, the exemplar and revealer who defines the true way. The declaration, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14.6) is comparable to, “Outside the Buddha’s dispensation there is no saint” (Dhammapada 254); “Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets” (Qur’an 33.40) and so on. For Father Moon, however, all the founders were sent by the one God. All bear witness to the one truth of God. All stand within a single providence of God that seeks to elevate people of every culture and every nation and prepare them to enter His universal Kingdom. Thus, Father Moon adds Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad to that more familiar roster of God’s chosen ones in providential history, which in the Western tradition begins with Abel and Noah and continues with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon and the prophets, up to Jesus. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all regard themselves as heirs to this illustrious lineage. Judaism omits Jesus of course, but adds a succession of great rabbis; Islam includes Jesus and adds a few Arabian prophets to its list such as Ishmael and Idris. Meanwhile, in the East, Hinduism recognizes a succession of Avatars who arise from age to age to defeat the powers of evil and return the world to righteousness. Confucianism has its own lineage of saints: King Yü, Wen and Wu and the Duke of Chou. Confucius saw himself as recovering their ancient wisdom and tradition. This section treats the common characteristics of a saint: pursuit of the truth regardless of the cost; desire to elevate society and all humankind to a higher ideal; a universal outlook that does not discriminate by nationality, wealth or social status; faith in God or Heaven or some higher power; and willingness to bear with persecution and ostracism from ignorant society. Subsequent sections will treat these saints and prophets individually, with special attention on the Western biblical tradition.
1. God’s Champions and Messengers Whenever the Law declines and the purpose of life is forgotten, I manifest myself on earth. I am born in every age to protect the good, to destroy evil, and to re-establish the Law.1
Bhagavad-Gita 4.7-8 (Hinduism)
Lo! We inspired you [O Muhammad] as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him, as We inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and as
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