
Divine Principle Explanation and Exposition
Former church President Eu Hyo-won began writing the Explanation of the Divine Principle, which was based on the Original Text of the Divine Principle, in May 1955. From 1957, the manuscripts, written under True Father's supervision, were published in monthly installments in Seonghwa magazine.
Finally, after proofreading, the book Explanation of the Divine Principle was published on August 15, 1957. On that day, 212 copies of the book, signed by True Father, were sent out to mission sites across Korea.
The Explanation of the Divine Principle was later revised into a systematized form more suitable for lectures. This version was published on May 1, 1966, under the title Exposition of the Divine Principle.
1. Seven years after the liberation of Korea, I prepared The Original Text of the Divine Principle (Wolli Wonbon), which was a textbook and teaching material for the sake of fulfilling my mission responsibility.
The book Explanation of the Divine Principle (Wolli Haeseol) was published in 1957, and in 1966, the Exposition of the Divine Principle (Wolli Gangnon) was published. There were nine years between 1957 and 1966. During those nine years, I prepared this version of Divine Principle, and we took a step forward. (2010/04/17)
2. We published the Explanation of the Divine Principle based on the Original Text of the Divine Principle.
Because we had nothing with which to educate people, a book was needed. An elementary school graduate can teach with a book, so our members went out to witness on the front line.
Eve fell when she was 16. To witness this, some of our young members went out before they were 15 years old, and their pure hearts became impassioned, and this started them witnessing.
Only the Unification Church has such a history. Even members who were middle school students went out to witness. (601-208, 2008/11/07)
3. When leaders of the Unification Church went out to witness, they went in pairs, taking not even enough money to cover travel expenses, food, to anything else.
They witnessed, centering on the Original Text of the Divine Principle, which was then in the form of a rough draft. In those days, I gave my Original Text of the Divine Principle manuscript to others to transcribe, and some did so. Kim Won-pil directly transcribed my handwritten Original Text, adding my verbal explanations. As he studied it, he came to understand,
“Ah, this is what God is like!” Thereafter, we produced an original, Explanation of the Divine Principle, and from that, we could teach people properly.
One week was enough time. If someone could read it, they could teach others about it. They could catch the essence of the teaching through the Explanation of the Divine Principle.
They could memorize it and teach it to others. (601-209, 2008/11/07)
4. The first person who followed me before even seeing me was the former president of our church, Eu Hyo-won.
He decided to follow me after reading the Principles Original Text of the Divine Principle. He wrote me a letter. President Eu was six years older than me. John the Baptist was six months older than Jesus.
Therefore, President Eu was in a position like that of John the Baptist, and he had to explain the form of that position. When President Eu wrote a book on the Principle, I advised him on how to write it. (052-156, 1971/12/27)
5. I started writing the Original Text of the Divine Principle in 1951 during my refugee years in Busan. I wrote it in a very condensed style. No one who reads it can understand it.
They can understand it only when I explain it to them. Explanation of the Divine Principle is the book in which the Original Text of the Divine Principle is illustrated so that anyone can understand it. (549-257, 2006/12/28)
6. In writing an Exposition of the Divine Principle, every word was evaluated strictly, and when even one word was wrong I had it corrected. Therefore, the Exposition of the Divine Principle is spiritually connected to me.
A light bulb gives light by being connected to electricity, which comes from a power plant via a transmission station. From the transmission station, a reaches electric sockets.
You cannot light a bulb by connecting it to just anything. That is why even in the future, even after history has passed, and I am gone, no one will ever truly be able to express the Principle in writing. My spoken words are always the issue.
How I put issues into words is the point. How others express these ideas is not the issue, for they do not have a spiritual connection. (265-223, 1994/11/23)
7. After the Explanation of the Divine Principle came the Exposition of the Divine Principle. Since the people who were taught with Explanation of the Divine Principle are now using Exposition of the Divine Principle, their teaching is higher than college level.
Everything that enables a nation to function is in the Exposition of the Divine Principle. In other words, the Exposition of the Divine Principle includes every area related to political, financial, social, and historical issues.
If someone could truly master the range of content in Exposition of the Divine Principle, that person could work as a college professor in any country in the world. They would even be qualified to train college professors.
(601-209, 2008/11/07)
The publication of Exposition of the Divine Principle
Exposition of the Divine Principle is the book in which the Unification Principle, discovered and revealed through True Parents, was systematized and developed for presenting in lectures. It contains the fundamental truth that reveals the history of God's providence, including the Creation, the Fall, and restoration.
From the early 1960s, True Parents felt the need for the Unification Principle to be written and delivered in an easier, more logical, cal, and more systematic form, better fitting the changes and developments of the times.
So they instructed former church President Eu Hyo-won to write such a book. Given the mission to write thoroughly and precisely in the place of True Father, who first delivered the Unification Principle, President Eu dedicated all his efforts to incorporating the heart and truth of True Parents perfectly into every sentence, even every word, of the manuscript of Exposition of the Divine Principle.
8. Parts of the previously published contents of the Unification Principle may be expressed in a new way.
However, the fundamental concepts of the revelation are not changed even slightly from beginning to end. For example, the central concepts expressed in such chapters as The Principle of Creation, The Human Fall, logical following, and The Messiah: His Advent and the Purpose of His Second Coming, are not changed in any way.
The Unification Principle is not something that can be altered after holding discussions about it or just because people do not like it. Such a thing can never happen. (091-124, 1977/02/03)
9. The Unification Principle is neither a philosophy nor a theology. It is the Principle of God. It is the unchanging truth of God. Once you have encountered the Principle, you need to adjust your life to live following it. At the very least, you need to lay a foundation on which to actualize the Principle.
Then Satan cannot invade. When someone has achieved complete oneness with the truth, Satan cannot tear that person away from God and claim him or her as his own. For instance, if God, Adam, and Eve had united completely centering on the truth, there would have been no room for Satan to invade.
The truth has to be substantialized. Living human beings have to sustain and embody the truth.
Otherwise, Satan can steal it and misuse it. This is why I never reveal a new part of the truth until all conditions have been met, and the truth has been substantialized to a certain degree. (091-124, 1977/02/03)
10. The Unification Principle is also the record of my life. It is my life experience. This Unification Principle is in me, and I am in the Unification Principle. Many people say that I am only the presenter and transmitter of the truth, but I am also living following the truth and I embody it.
Therefore, the only way for people to truly understand me and my actions is through the Unification Principle.
Only by learning the Unification Principle and studying it can you understand me. The more you study the Principle, the more you will come to understand me.
(091-125, 1977/02/03)
11. There are so many things that I need to make public, but I have decided to do so only at the right time.
The exposition of the Divine Principle is not all I have to say. Before I would be able to say more, first you would need to know what I have already said and where I said it, and put that into practice, but you are not doing even that.
The exposition of the Divine Principle does not speak of me. What Exposition of the Divine Principle explains is only things until Jesus. It focuses on Jesus. And yet, you think that the only thing you have to place importance on is the Exposition of the Divine Principle.
With all their hearts, members of the Unification Church should follow what I say, empathize with me, and be so moved by my life that they fulfill their responsibility as the standard-bearers who create tomorrow's history. If you lack such a heart, you will not develop. (037-263, 1970/12/27)
12. I do not deny all scholarly research. After investigating such research, I deny only that which is inconsistent with reality. I face the world with the knowledge I have, although I have been persecuted for results because I went into the spirit world and examined it in every detail until I arrived at the truth.
This is why the Unification Church does not say, “We will see whether it is like that” but, “It is like that.” How in the world can it be said of the truth, “We will see whether it is like that”? In physics or chemistry, we do not settle for, “We will see whether it is like that,” and it is the same for the truth. We seek the actual scientific and logical result.
The Unification Principle is not, “We will see whether it is like that” but, “It is like that.” The heart we talk about is also not some vague idea; it is entirely concrete. The character and Word we speak of are not ambiguous either.
They are concrete. These concrete elements, heart, character, and Word, should have the capacity to be applied universally.
They should be consistent with the real world and have an established, eternal position in the real world. They should lead everything in the real world toward integration. (014-180, 1964/10/03)
