True Parents

Chambumo — 참부모 — True Parents (眞父母)

Korean: 참부모 (Chambumo)
Hanja: 眞父母 (Jin Bumo) — True Father-Mother
English: True Parents
Full Title: 천지인참부모 — Cheon Ji In Chambumo — True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind

Also known as: The True Parents of Heaven and Earth; The Horizontal True Parents; The Cosmic True Parents

Preface: Why This Term Stands at the Center

The concept of Chambumo — True Parents — is not merely a title or honorific within the teachings of Sun Myung Moon and the Unification movement. It is the theological, soteriological, and providential axis around which the entire body of teaching rotates. Rev. Moon himself stated that of all the terms in the Unification Church's vocabulary, none is more weighty, more “fearsome,” or more consequential than these two words. Every major doctrine — the Fall, Restoration, the Messiah, the Blessing, Cheon Il Guk — converges on this one concept.

To understand Chambumo is to understand the Unification Church itself.

"The words True Parents are among the most frequently used words of our Unification Church members. Although they are simple words, they represent a remarkable reality. This term does not appear in any book in all of history." — Sun Myung Moon (206-60, 03/01/1990) The Significance of the True Parents

I. Etymology and Linguistic Analysis

Korean: 참부모 (Chambumo)

The term is formed from two elements. The first is 참 (cham, Hanja: 眞 jin) — meaning “true, genuine, authentic, real.” The second is 부모 (bumo, Hanja: 父母) — “parents,” itself a compound of 父 (bu, father) and 母 (mo, mother). Together: 참부모 — true parents.

The prefix 참 (cham) is one of the most theologically loaded words in the Unification lexicon. It appears in: 참사랑 (cham sarang, true love), 참생명 (cham saengmyeong, true life), 참혈통 (cham hyeoltong, true lineage), 참가정 (cham gajong, true family). In each case, 참 denotes not merely sincerity but ontological authenticity — something connected to God's original ideal and untainted by the Fall.

The opposite term is 거짓부모 (geojit bumo) — “false parents” — referring to the fallen Adam and Eve who became humanity's ancestors through sin.

Hanja Analysis: 父 (bu, father) and 母 (mo, mother)

Rev. Moon devoted significant teaching to the internal meaning of the Chinese characters comprising “parents” (父母):

"If you separate its strokes, [the character for father 父] has two of the characters for 人 (person), but is combined. It binds them together. What does this mean? A man becomes a man, and a person becomes a person, not only by himself: here two must be bound together. Only in this way does one become a father." — Sun Myung Moon (59-182, 07/16/1972) The Meaning of the Characters for Cheon (天) and Bu-mo (父母)

Similarly, the character for 母 (mother) is described as formed from two female characters (女) placed together — representing a woman who can hold within herself both a heart connected to heaven and a heart representing all women of the earth.

The character 天 (cheon, heaven) — as in Cheon Bumo (Heavenly Parents) — is itself composed of 二 (two) and 人 (person), meaning heaven is realized only when two people become completely one. This forms the linguistic and theological foundation for understanding why True Parents must be a couple — a man and a woman — not a single individual.

"Heaven does not exist alone. There have to be two (二) for heaven to come into being. Hence, we can have cheon (天), meaning heaven, simply by putting two people together." — Sun Myung Moon (59-182, 07/16/1972) The Meaning of the Characters for Cheon (天) and Bu-mo (父母)

II. Theological Foundation: Why True Parents Must Come

1. The Problem: False Parents and the Fallen Lineage

According to the Divine Principle, the catastrophe of the Fall was not merely a moral or spiritual failure — it was a parental failure. Adam and Eve, who were to become the first true parents of humankind under God, instead became 거짓부모 (geojit bumo, false parents). Through their illicit relationship — understood as a spiritual fall with the Archangel Lucifer and a physical fall between Adam and Eve before their proper maturation — they transmitted to all their descendants a lineage disconnected from God and connected to Satan.

The consequence of this is that every human being born into history has been born into 거짓사랑 (geojit sarang, false love), 거짓생명 (geojit saengmyeong, false life), and 거짓혈통 (geojit hyeoltong, false lineage).

This is the root of all suffering, war, division, and evil in human history. It is not an external problem but an internal, genealogical one. The issue is bloodline.

"What began with false parents must now begin with True Parents. False parents inherited false life and false lineage through false love. This must be reversed." — Sun Myung Moon (218-223, 07/29/1991) The True Lineage Must Come

2. The Solution: Restoration Through True Parents

Since the problem originated with parents, it can only be solved through parents. No prophet, teacher, philosopher, or saint can resolve the issue of lineage — only parents, standing in Adam and Eve's original position, can engraft humanity onto God's original bloodline.

"The beginning point through which we can regain all these vast and remarkable things is the True Parents... For what has humankind been going through the history of indemnity since the Fall? It was in order to find True Parents." — Sun Myung Moon (67-226, 06/27/1973) The Meaning of the Words True Parents

This is also why Rev. Moon teaches that all the world's religions, despite their diversity, have been ultimately searching for one thing: the arrival of the True Parents. The providential history of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and all major traditions is understood as a preparation, laying the spiritual and cultural foundation for the moment when True Parents could appear on earth.

3. The Messiah as True Parent

Within Unification theology, the roles of Messiah and True Parents are inseparable. The Messiah does not come merely to teach or save through spiritual faith — he comes to accomplish what Adam failed to do: become a true father and establish a true family.

"The Messiah is the True Parent and we are to be true children. We must stand in the same realm of destiny and participate in it." — Sun Myung Moon (55-97, 04/23/1972) The Messiah, the True Parent

The Messiah's three-fold mission is explicitly defined: first, to come into the position of parents, restoring what fallen parents lost; second, to grant rebirth — removing Satanic blood through engrafting into the True Parents' lineage; and third, to elevate humanity — enabling humans to exercise dominion over Satan.

"Through the Fall, human beings first lost the chance to have parents. Second, they received satanic blood; third, they came under satanic dominion. Restoring what was originally intended requires going in the reverse order." — Sun Myung Moon (54-182, 03/24/1972) The Messiah, the True Parent

III. The Nature of True Parents

1. True Parents Are Not Self-Appointed

One of the most striking aspects of Rev. Moon's teaching on Chambumo is his consistent insistence that this position was not self-chosen. It was thrust upon him by the logic of providence — and he describes it as one of the most difficult and fearsome things imaginable:

"You should know how important and how precious the words True Parents are... I did not start this work in order to become the True Parent. I was forced to come forward and do this because it could not be done without me." — Sun Myung Moon (116-113, 12/27/1981) The Meaning of the Words True Parents

"I did not want to do so myself. But if it had not been done, the doctrine of the Unification Church would go off course... Because I cannot turn the truth into a lie, it was inevitable that I do this." — Sun Myung Moon (203-324, 06/28/1990) The Proclamation of True Parents and Kingship

2. True Parents as Parents of Three Ages

Rev. Moon makes a careful distinction between biological (natural) parents and True Parents. Natural parents are parents of one generation and one age. True Parents, by contrast, are the parents spanning three cosmic ages: the Old Testament Age, the New Testament Age, and the Completed Testament Age — and correspondingly, the parents of the formation, growth, and completion stages of human spiritual history.

"I am the parent of the three ages, that is, the parent of the Old Testament Age, the New Testament Age and the Completed Testament Age. This is why I am the True Parent... Your parents are branch parents, and branches grow from sprouts... but I am a parent of the three ages." — Sun Myung Moon (141-226, 02/22/1986) True Parents and Our Natural Parents

This three-generation framework explains why, in Unification theology, Rev. Moon is also identified as the Third Adam: the First Adam who fell, the Second Adam (Jesus) who partially restored but could not complete the family foundation, and the Third Adam — Rev. Sun Myung Moon — who completes the restoration by establishing the True Family.

3. The Dual Structure: Vertical and Horizontal Parents

Unification theology presents God as the Vertical True Parent — the invisible, incorporeal parent of the spirit — and True Parents (as the couple) as the Horizontal True Parents — the visible, substantial embodiment of God's parental love on earth. Together, they form a vertical-horizontal axis of love from which all human families can receive true love, true life, and true lineage.

"God is our real parent. How close He is to us. God as the vertical parent and True Parents as the horizontal parents together realize ideal love." — Sun Myung Moon (218-223, 07/29/1991) The True Lineage Must Come

4. True Parents Liberate God

One of the most profound theological claims in Rev. Moon's teaching is that the arrival of True Parents does not merely benefit humanity — it liberates God Himself. Because God has been suffering as a parent who lost His children, and who has been unable to freely exercise His love or rightful ownership over creation, the establishment of True Parents on earth finally enables God to be liberated from His grief.

"The True Parents must bear responsibility for Adam and Eve's failures and settle the matter. Otherwise, there is no way back to the position of true parents." — Sun Myung Moon (256-28, 03/12/1994) True Parents Who Liberate God

IV. The Historical Position of True Parents

1. The Position Is Unique and Unrepeatable

The position of True Parents is not a spiritual category that can be occupied by multiple individuals throughout history. It is a singular, historical moment in providence — the one time in all of cosmic history when the original purpose of creation is fulfilled on the physical plane.

"In this world, there cannot be two sets of True Parents." — Sun Myung Moon The Value of Working with True Parents while They Are on Earth

2. What History Has Been Waiting For

From the standpoint of Unification theology, all of recorded human history — every empire, every religion, every civilization — has been a providential preparation for this one moment. The coming of True Parents is not a marginal religious event but the central turning point of all history:

"This one term, True Parents, controls the direction of history. Until now, untold numbers of patriots have walked the path of sacrifice in order to find and establish these words. The name that is established with hope through continuous bloody struggles and desperate cries is the holy name of True Parents." — Sun Myung Moon (33-109, 08/09/1970) The Meaning of the Words True Parents

3. Why Jesus Could Not Complete the Mission

Rev. Moon teaches that Jesus, as the Second Adam, came with the mission of True Parents but could not complete it because he was crucified before establishing a true family. This is described as the central tragedy of Christian history — not because Jesus failed personally, but because the prepared people failed to receive and protect him.

"Jesus could not proclaim himself as the True Parent. That was the problem. If he had, Christianity would not have had to shed blood." — Sun Myung Moon (204-178, 07/08/1990) The Proclamation of True Parents and Kingship

The completion of what Jesus began — the establishment of a True Family — is thus the defining mission of the Second Coming, understood in Unification theology as the advent of Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon as the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind.

V. The Restoration of Three Rights Through True Parents

Rev. Moon teaches that the Fall resulted in the loss of three fundamental rights, all of which must be restored through and by True Parents.

The first is the Right of the Eldest Son (장자권, jangja-gwon) — the restoration of the birthright, the transfer of the position of eldest son from the Satanic (Cain) side to God's (Abel) side, representing the restoration of rightful spiritual inheritance and authority.

The second is the Right of Parents (부모권, bumo-gwon) — the restoration of true parental authority and the establishment of a True Family centered on God. This is the central mission of True Parents themselves, restored through the Holy Wedding of Rev. and Mrs. Moon on April 11, 1960.

The third is the Right of Kingship (왕권, wang-gwon) — the restoration of heavenly sovereignty and the establishment of God's Kingdom (Cheon Il Guk) on earth, with True Parents as the King and Queen of Peace. This right was restored through the Coronation Ceremony for God's Kingship on January 13, 2001.

"On True Parents' Day, what we can think about first is the restoration of brotherhood, and second, how the restoration of the right of parents is complete. Next, as the third step, the restoration of the right of kingship remains." — Sun Myung Moon (218-69, 07/02/1991) The Proclamation of True Parents and Kingship

VI. True Parents and the Blessed Families

The relationship between True Parents and Blessed Families (축복가정, chukbok gajong) is foundational to how Chambumo functions in practice. Through the Blessing Ceremony, True Parents transmit their lineage to Blessed couples — engrafting them onto the True Olive Tree and enabling their children to be born into God's direct lineage rather than the fallen lineage.

This means that the role of True Parents is not only historical and theological but genealogical and biological in its implications: through the Blessing, the lineage of fallen humanity is literally redirected.

"What do True Parents have to do? They must rectify the tainted lineage that forms the root of the satanic world, turn the resulting deviated life around, and correctly reopen the path of love that has gone the wrong way." — Sun Myung Moon (169-37, 10/04/1987) The Meaning of the Words True Parents

The practical transmission works through three stages: the Holy Wine Ceremony — changing the lineage symbolically; the Holy Wedding / Blessing — establishing the couple as a heaven-centered unit; and the Three-Day Ceremony — establishing the proper order of love within the new couple.

Through these rites, Blessed Families become extensions of True Parents' family on the tribal and global level, which is also why every Blessed member is called to take on the role of Tribal Messiah — becoming, within their own lineage, a small-scale True Parent who blesses their own kin.

VII. The Significance of True Parents — A Threefold Summary

Rev. Moon summarizes what the words True Parents signify in the context of providence.

First, all people, including the first ancestors, will be cut off from the false lineage of Satan.

Second, a new love, life, and lineage connected to God and the original root will begin.

Third, for the first time in history, the true hometown and true homeland of love become accessible to all people.

"The words True Parents in relation to God's will signify first that all people, including our first ancestors, will be cut off from the false lineage. Second, they signify that a love, life, and lineage connected with God and the new original root will begin. These are truly amazing words." — Sun Myung Moon (206-60, 03/01/1990) The Significance of the True Parents

VIII. Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon as Chambumo

Rev. Sun Myung Moon (문선명, 1920–2012)

Born January 6, 1920, in Jeongju, North Korea (present-day North Pyongan Province), Sun Myung Moon received his calling on Easter morning, April 17, 1935, at age 16, when Jesus appeared to him and asked him to complete the mission that Jesus had left unfinished. After years of spiritual preparation and suffering — including imprisonment under both Japanese colonial rule and North Korean communist authorities — he founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) in Seoul on May 1, 1954, and delivered the Divine Principle.

About Sun Myung Moon

Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon (한학자, b. 1943)

Born January 6, 1943 (Heavenly Calendar), Hak Ja Han Moon is known as the True Mother — the first woman in history to stand in the position of the perfect, restored Eve. On April 11, 1960, she married Rev. Moon in the Holy Wedding ceremony in Seoul — the event understood as the beginning of the True Family and the completion of what could not be accomplished at the time of Jesus.

About Hak Ja Han Moon

The Holy Wedding — April 11, 1960 (음력 3.1절)

The marriage of Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon is considered the pivotal event in the providence of restoration — the moment the right of parents was restored on earth for the first time.

This date is celebrated as True Parents' Day (참부모의 날, Chambumo-ui Nal), one of the four major Holy Days of the Unification movement.

True Parents' Day

IX. Key Proclamations of True Parents

The formal proclamation of True Parenthood did not happen all at once — it unfolded through a series of historical declarations.

April 11, 1960 — Holy Wedding of Rev. and Mrs. Moon — establishment of the True Family

1990–1991 — Public proclamation of True Parents before world leaders

January 13, 2001 — Coronation Ceremony for God's Kingship

May 5, 2004 — Declaration of Ssang Hab Shib Seung — opening of the Era After the Coming of Heaven

June 13, 2006 — Coronation of King and Queen of Peace in Heaven and Earth

January 13, 2013 — Foundation Day (천일국 기원절) — ultimate providential completion

The Proclamation of True Parents The Proclamation of True Parents and Kingship

X. True Parents in the Cheon Seong Gyeong

The primary scriptural source for Chambumo doctrine is Book 2 of the Cheon Seong Gyeong, which contains 47 teaching passages specifically devoted to the True Parents. It is one of the longest and most densely cited books in the entire scripture. Key chapters include:

XI. Chambumo in the Cham Bumo Gyeong

The Cham Bumo Gyeong (참부모경, Chambumo Gyeong) — “Scripture of the True Parents” — is the third volume in the series of Holy Scriptures and is named entirely after this concept. It chronicles the life course of the True Parents: their callings, trials, victories, and providential accomplishments. The title itself is the most explicit recognition that the lives of Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon are the scripture.

Cham Bumo Gyeong — Full Index

True Love — 참사랑 (cham sarang) → True Love
True Lineage — 참혈통 (cham hyeoltong) → Lineage
True Family — 참가정 (cham gajong) → Blessing and Ideal Family
Blessing Ceremony — 축복식 (chukbok-sik) → Blessing Ceremony
Shimjeong — 심정 → Shimjeong
Tribal Messiah — 종족메시아 → Tribal Messiah
Cheon Il Guk — 천일국 → Cheon Il Guk
Four-Position Foundation — 사위기대 → Four-Position Foundation
Fallen Nature — 타락성 → Fallen Nature
True Parents' Day — 참부모의 날 → True Parents' Day
Seunghwa Ceremony — 승화식 → Seunghwa Ceremony
Family Pledge — 가정맹세 → Family Pledge

XIII. Further Reading on tplegacy.net

Primary Sources (Speeches and Sermons)

Historical and Providential Context

This glossary entry is part of the Glossary of the Unification Church on True Parents Legacy. This entry covers the term Chambumo (참부모) as taught in the speeches and writings of Sun Myung Moon, preserved across the Cheon Seong Gyeong, Cham Bumo Gyeong, and the broader collection of teachings on tplegacy.net. It does not represent an official statement of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU).