“I am a controversial person. The mere mention of my name causes trouble in the world. I never sought money or fame but have spent my life speaking only of peace. The world, though, has associated many different phrases with my name, rejected me, and thrown stones at me. Many are not interested in knowing what I say or what I do. They only oppose me. I have been unjustly imprisoned six times in my life, and at times I was beaten so hard that the flesh was torn from my body. Today, though, not even the slightest wound remains in my heart. Wounds easily disappear in the presence of true love.” (From Sun Myung Moon's Autobiography, “As a Peace-loving Global Citizen”)
As the founder of the Unification Church, Rev. Sun Myung Moon has started a new world religion with its roots in Korea, and is a spiritual leader who has the respect of the entire world as a result of his efforts to build world peace. Born in 1920 in Jeongju, South Pyeongan Province, he received a revelation from Jesus on Easter morning when he was 16 years old, calling him to work for the salvation of mankind, after which he earnestly sought God's guidance in prayer and meditation.
Following that, he revealed the path to salvation through his preaching and his work, and he now has followers in more than 180 nations. Sun Myung Moon and his wife Hak Ja Han have worked tirelessly for peace, with efforts including the revival of religion, the reform of politics and economics and projects in all other areas of human endeavor. In order to accomplish this, Rev. Moon has founded organizations that are working toward the ideal of a united peaceful world in all areas, including education, thought, the media, the arts, international relations, science, humanitarian relief, the environment, the family, women's organizations, and youth programs. In 2000, Rev. and Mrs. Moon were honored by WANGO, a federation of more than 3,500 NGO's, with their Universal Peace Award, and in 2006, the Ambassadors for Peace honored them by declaring them King and Queen of Peace for Cosmic Unity.
1920 - 1945: Birth and Internal Preparation
Birth and Family
Sun Myung Moon was born on January 6, 1920 (lunar calendar), as the oldest son among eight children in the family of Kyung Woo Moon and his wife Kyung Gye Kim. The Moon family was known to be active in the Korean independence movement, and lived in Sangsa-ri, Deokeon-myeon, Jeongju-gun in South Pyeongan Province, located in what is now North Korea. His father was a member of the Nampyeong Moon clan, a family known for its kindness towards travelers and those in need.
His uncle, Yun Guk Moon was a Christian minister, and the president of the North Pyeongan chapter of the March 1st Movement, who was imprisoned for two years as a result of his work for Korean independence, and who made sizeable contributions to the provisional Korean government that was set up in Shanghai, China during Japanese's annexation of Korea.
As a young man, Sun Myung Moon was full of curiosity and learned many natural laws from the time he spent in nature, also developing a sympathetic heart that drove him to help any time he saw a person or animal suffering. When he was a teenager, his family converted to Christianity, after which the young Moon developed a strong personal life of faith and prayer.
A Call from Heaven
When he was 16 years old, on the morning of April 17, Easter Sunday, Sun Myung Moon, who had been praying through the night, met Jesus in a vision and was called to a mission of ministry.
Jesus asked him to take on the work of the messiah, liberating God's sorrowful heart by rescuing mankind, God's children, who had become entrapped in a world of sin.
Student Life
After his call to work as the messiah, Rev. Moon immersed himself in prayer, meditation and study to understand God, the creator and the fall of man.
Leaving his hometown, he traveled to Seoul and graduated from the electrical engineering department of Kyungsong Commercial Technical School, and continued his studies at the Industrial High School operated by Waseda University in Tokyo. His righteous nature drove him to become active in an underground club supporting the Korean independence movement during the time he was studying abroad in Japan.
He was summoned before the Japanese authorities who were ruling Korea in October 1944, was arrested and jailed due to his involvement in the underground activities in Japan, and was finally released in February of 1945
1945 - 1960: Public Mission and Marriage
Beginning of Public Life and Ordeals
After Korean's liberation from Japan at the end of World War II, Rev. Moon followed God's calling and began missionary work in Pyongyang , which was referred to at the time as ‘the Jerusalem of the East'. He quickly gathered followers, which caught the eye of the North Korean authorities, who arrested him on suspicion that he was a spy for the South. He was imprisoned on August 12, 1946. Unable to find any evidence to support the charges, they released him on November 21. Rev. Moon continued to spread the word of God even in prison, and resumed his ministry in full force after his release.
He was arrested again on February 22, 1948, this time for violating the North Korean regime's antireligion policies. Rev. Moon was imprisoned at the Heung Nam labor camp, where rations were small, living conditions were very poor, and the prisoners were forced to do hard labor, packing and transporting fertilizer under harsh conditions. While he was imprisoned, Rev. Moon always looked out for the welfare of the other prisoners, and won their respect as a model prisoner.
Establishment of the Unification Church
In October 1950, soon after the outbreak of the Korean War, Rev. Moon gained his release from Hungnam, and headed south for Busan, along with some of his disciples.
After arriving in Pusan, they built a small church with packed mud walls in the Beomnatkol area, and he began preaching again. Despite the fact that their makeshift church was tiny, barely 7 square meters, Rev. Moon's already had his sights set on expanding the mission to the whole world.
Rev. Moon's message reached all the way to Daegu and even Seoul. Young people were drawn to his message and began to gather to listen. In 1954, The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) was established in Bukhak-dong, Seoul.
During this time many young intellectuals, students and faculty members from Yonsei University and Ehwa Women's University became inspired by Rev. Moon's teaching, and felt they had been given a new life. These Christian universities were alarmed, expelling the students and firing the professors when they refused to stop attending the new church. Rev. Moon and his church were accused of being engaging in morally corrupt activities. Although innocent of the charges, Rev. Moon was arrested on July 4, 1954, incarcerated at the Seodaemun Prison, and finally released three months later when the charges were shown to be unwarranted.
Despite this opposition, Rev. Moon's message was already spreading like wildfire, missionaries had already gone to Japan and the United States, and the first formal presentation of his teachings, “Explanation of the Divine Principle” had been published
Marriage to Hak Ja Han
In 1960 Rev. Sun Myung Moon was married to Hak Ja Han. Hak Ja Han was born in 1943 in Anju, into a household that had been devout Christians for three generations. Her mother, Soon Ae Hong, took great care in raising her daughter as a young woman with strong faith. Seeing her devout faith and upstanding character, God chose her as the bride for Rev. Moon. More than 700 members from the churches all around the country came to Seoul for the wedding.
Until the time of his marriage, Rev. Moon's followers had respected him as the father of their faith. After the wedding, members of the church began to refer to Rev. Moon and his bride as the ‘True Parents'. Following his marriage, Rev. Moon spoke even more optimistically about teaching the Divine Principle around the world and establishing world peace.
1961 - 1985: World Outreach
Expansion of Missionary Activity
Following the formal establishment of the church in 1954, missionary activity expanded quickly throughout Korea. Rev. Moon dedicated himself to his mission, preparing each day in tearful prayers, and speaking passionately to the members for many hours, until he was soaked in sweat. During this time the movement's foundation for work in Korea strengthened, expanding from just 20 churches in 1957 to more than 1000 in 1960.
Missionaries were sent to Japan in 1958 and to the US in 1959, marking a substantial start to the work of spreading the message of salvation and world peace around the globe, where the hope of new life caught the attention of many young people.
Members were on fire with inspiration and the movement grew quickly, soon having missionaries in 180 countries. Rev. Moon founded a variety of organizations to gather people in different fields to address ways to accomplish world peace. Rev. Moon's message explained that world peace is not something that can be built with military strength or financial resources, rather, it is important for people to realize that they are brothers and sisters under one God and treat each other with true love.
He taught that Communism was a threat to world peace, because it is an ideology that denies the existence of God.
Progress in the United States
In 1965, accompanied by two of his followers, Rev. Moon made an international speaking tour, visiting 40 nations including Japan, the US and Europe. During his trip, he met US President Dwight Eisenhower, and spoke to him about the role of the United States in securing true world peace. As a pioneer of peace, he visited the White House in 1974, and met President Richard Nixon. He stressed that the United States, a country that had been founded on principles of religious freedom, and which had been abundantly blessed by God, had a responsibility to fight on the front line in the struggle for world peace.
Following this he went on a 32 city speaking tour around the United States, speaking about ‘The New Future of Christianity'. He held a ‘Day of Hope' rally in Madison Square Garden, attended by 25,000 people, and he was invited to speak before the members of the US Congress. Rallies were held in 1976 at Yankee Stadium and the Washington Monument, attended by 54,000 and 300,000 people. Rev. Moon message brought new hope and direction to many of the young people who attended.
Suffering and Victory
Seeing Rev. Moon's growing influence, some Americans grew concerned. In 1981, Rev. Moon was prosecuted on charges of income tax evasion. The court proceedings dragged on for two years and nine months, with the US government hoping he would take the chance to leave the country in order to avoid having to face the charges.
Professing his innocence until the end of the trial, Rev. Moon was found guilty, and sent to Danbury Federal Prison. 3,500 religious leaders of all denominations from around the world united in one heart to march in front of the White House in protest of guilty verdict. To emphasize the importance of protecting religious freedom as guaranteed in the US constitution, religious leaders took turns visiting Rev. Moon in prison each week. From within his prison cell, Rev. Moon continued his work for world peace, and was presented with an honorary doctorate of Divinity from the Baptist Shaw Divinity School.
1986 - 1992: Preparation for the Age of Peace
Victory over Communism
Rev. Moon insisted that communism would fail, viewing the cold war not from a political standpoint, but from the viewpoint of God's providence of salvation. He felt that communism was certain to collapse because of its insistence that God did not exist. His Second General Assembly of the Professors' World Peace Academy in 1985, on the theme ‘The Fall of the Soviet Empire' had a strong impact on many in the academic world.
On April 11, 1990, Rev. Moon held a historic meeting with Soviet President Mikhael Gorbachev. In the meeting, they discussed Soviet - Korean relations, economic cooperation and the reunification of Korea, along with the issue of religious freedom within the Soviet Union and topics relation to peace for humanity.
The following year, on December 6, 1991, another historic meeting was held with North Korean President Kim Il Sung. Rev. Moon talked about religious freedom and economic cooperation and the two men exchanged opinions on a number of subjects, issuing a written declaration of cooperation.
Standing on the front line in the fight for the end of communism, Rev. Moon advocated ‘Unification through True Love'.
Women's Federation for World Peace and Proclaiming True Parents
In 1991 women's activities for world peace began in Korea and Japan, led by Hak Jan Han Moon. In 1992, the Women's Federation for World Peace was founded to build a society with true love and strong moral character, and to work for world peace with the power of the woman's heart of true love.
Rev. Moon stressed that, although in the past history had been developed by men, from this time on it would be the ‘Age of Women'. He encouraged the women, saying that they are the ones who can bring an end to the world of sin, war and violence, suppression and exploitation; creating in its place a world of peace, love and freedom. On this foundation, Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han were publicly declared the True Parents of mankind.
“Because Adam and Eve fell and became false parents, the messiah must come as the new ancestor for mankind and bring rebirth to all people.” (Rev. Moon's collected speeches 229-80)
1993 - 2000: True Parents and the Completed Testament Age
Proclamation of the Completed Testament Age
In 1993, on the foundation of the world proclamation of True Parents as the Messiah, Rev. Moon proclaimed the ‘Completed Testament Age'. The Completed Testament Age follows the Old Testament Age and the New Testament Age, as the age in which God's will can be substantially realized.
Rev. Moon now explained concepts that until then had not been included in the Divine Principle or his speeches up until this time in the Completed Testament Speeches, ‘View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation', ‘In Search of the Origin of the Universe', ‘True Family And True Universe Centering On True Love', ‘The True Family and I'.
Establishment of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification
In 1996, Rev. Moon renamed the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, and beginning with families as the building blocks for peace, he continued with a wide variety of activities in the cause of world peace.
Hoon Dok Hae and Ideal Family Education
In order to establish the ideal families that God desires, starting from 1997, Rev. Moon asked the members to start holding Hoon Dok Hae sessions, gathering to read Rev. Moon's speeches. The Hoon Dok Hae tradition continues today, and through Hoon Dok Hae. Blessed families all around the world receive spiritual renewal and a deeper understanding of God's will, the providence and the world. Also, stressing the importance of understanding the spiritual world in the Completed Testament Age, the Chung Pyung Heaven and Earth Training center was built to offer education programs regarding the spiritual world, and its relationship to the physical world
2001 - Settlement of the Age of Peace
Coronation of God's Kingship
After Rev. Moon's long course of spiritual search and illumination, followed by a thorny and suffering course to accomplish God's will, on January 13, 2001, he declared the commencement of heaven's sovereignty and held a ceremony for the Coronation of God's Kingship.
Then Rev. Moon proclaimed that it was time to build a substantial kingdom with God as King, Cheon Il Guk, to be completed by 2013.
In order to support the work of building Cheon Il Guk, the Inter-religious and International Peace Council was formed in 2003, and the Universal Peace Federation in 2005, to work toward forming a Peace UN to lead activities for world peace.
Inter-religious Peace Activities
On January 28, 2001, a World Peace Blessing Ceremony was held at UN headquarters in New York, and on May 27, at the New York Hilton, Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, Archbishop George Stallings and other religious leaders participated in a 60 couple Inter-religious and International Blessing and Rededication Ceremony.
A new phase of the peace providence began on December 22, 2003 when more than 20,000 people, including representatives from the Judaism, Christianity and Islam, religions leaders and religious scholars, and Peace Ambassadors from more than 50 countries participated in a Peace March in Israel. Following the march, other events continued in Israel.
The King of Peace
On June 13, 2006, Leaders from many nations honored Rev. Moon for his work in the cause of world peace. Delegates from 185 nations proclaimed Rev. & Mrs. Moon as the King of Cosmic Peace. Rev. Moon continues to work to establish the nation that God has been waiting for.