Transcript E21-25AL_PreparationForSecondAdvent

Chapter 5
The Period of Preparation for
the Second Advent of the Messiah
With respect to the providence of restoration,
this period is divided into three periods:
1517
(130)
1648
(140)
1789
The Reformation Religious and
ideological
conflicts
(130)
1918
The maturation
of politics,
economy and
ideology
Section 1
The Period of the Reformation
(1517-1648)
In the late Middle Ages, people’s original mind
was repressed, its free development blocked by
the social environment of feudalism and the
secularization and corruption of the Roman
Catholic Church.
Therefore, medieval Europeans were prompted
by the impulses of their innermost hearts to
break down their social environment to open the
way for the restoration of their original nature in
both the external and internal aspects.
• The providential grounds for the Renaissance to
precede the Reformation
God first created the physical self (external)
and then the spirit self (internal).
God’s providence for re-creation:
first the external and then the internal.
e.g.,
1) F/M:
external “symbolic offering”
internal “substantial offering”
more internal “foundation for the Messiah”
2) The course of restoration for fallen people:
servant of servants
adopted child
servant
true child
3)Religion and science:
external social environment through science
internal spirituality of human beings through
religion
4) In the order of creation:
archangel (external)
human being (internal)
In restoration:
external, physical
angelic
world centering
world
(external) on human
physical self
internal, spirit
world centering
on human
spirit self
• Fallen Adam and medievalism
Fallen Adam
Medievalism
to separate
from Satan
to separate
from Satan
Cain
Abel
the movement to revive
Cain-type Hellenism
the Renaissance
the movement to revive
Abel-type Hebraism
the Reformation
• The streams of Hellenism and Hebraism
2000 B.C. Minoan civilization
11th c. B.C. Cain-type
Hellenic civilization
(humanism — guiding ideology)
United Kingdom
Abel-type
Hebraic
civilization
(monotheism —
guiding ideology)
800
Charlemagne
Christian
Empire
Babylonia Greece
Egypt
Syria
Rome
medieval
society Renaissance
Messiah
392
Solomon
Divided
Jewish
Jewish
Kingdoms captivity suffering
of N and S
Persecution
in the
Roman
Empire
313
Reformation
A. The Renaissance
External pursuit of the original nature
the movement to revive Hellenism
Renaissance core value: humanism
freedom
autonomy
reason and understanding
natural world, science, practical life
14th century Italy, the center of the study of the
classical Hellenic heritage;
a movement imitating the thought and life of
ancient Greece and Rome
a movement to reform the medieval way of
life by reproducing the classic Greek culture
a movement to reform every aspect of
society, including politics, economy, and
religion
The Renaissance became the external driving
force that formed modern society.
B. The Reformation
Internal pursuit of the original nature
the movement to revive Hebraism
(revival of the spirit of early Christianity)
Reformation core value: faith in God
- John Wycliffe of England
- Jan Hus of Bohemia
- Martin Luther of Germany
The flames of the Reformation grew strong
and soon spread to Switzerland centering
on Huldrych Zwingli, to France centering on
John Calvin, and to such nations as
England and the Netherlands.
The wars of religion continued for more than
100 years until 1648, when the Treaty of
Westphalia ended the Thirty Years War.
Protestantism triumphed in Northern Europe,
while among the peoples of Southern Europe
the Roman Catholic Church solidified its
influence.
The Treaty of Westphalia gave the same rights
and authority to both Catholic and Protestant
sects.
Section 2
The Period of Religious
and Ideological Conflicts
(1648-1789)
A. The Cain-Type View of Life
• “Rationalism” – Rene Descartes of France
Truth can be investigated only through reason
“I think, therefore I am.”
the deductive method
• “Empiricism” – Francis Bacon of England
Truth can be investigated only through
experience.
the inductive method
Rationalism and empiricism both did away with
mysticism and superstition.
tended to divorce human beings and the
natural world from God.
The Enlightenment 18th century
broke down the verities enshrined by history and
tradition.
judged all matters in human life by reason or
empirical observation.
discredited anything deemed irrational or
otherworldly.
became the driving force behind the French
Revolution.
• Deism – Edward Herbert
Theology rooted in human reason:
limited God to a Creator who set the universe
in motion and left it to run of its own accord
according to the laws of nature that He had
set up, denying that people had any need of
divine revelation or miracles.
Left-wing Hegelianism
turned the logic of Hegel’s dialectic on its head.
David F. Strauss
The Life of Jesus
Ludwig Feuerbach The Essence of Christianity
Communism – Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels
Systematized the logic of the left-wing
Hegelians as dialectical materialism.
Combined dialectical materialism with atheism
and socialism to create the ideology of
communism.
B. The Abel-Type View of Life
Philosophy
• “Critical philosophy” — Immanuel Kant
Assimilation of the conflicting theories of
empiricism and rationalism
Johann Fichte, Friedrich Schelling
Hegelian dialectic — Georg Hegel
Hegel made a comprehensive synthesis of
18th c. idealism.
Religion
New Spiritual Movements
• Pietism
Philip Spener of Germany
• Methodism
the Wesley brothers of England
• Quakers
George Fox of England
• Emanuel Swedenborg of Sweden
Section 3
The Period of Maturation of
Politics, Economy and Ideology
(1789-1918)
A. Democracy
1. Cain-Type Democracy
• The French Revolution 1789
The leading thinkers behind the French
Revolution were Enlightenment figures who
adhered to atheism and materialism.
Therefore, French democracy tended toward
totalitarianism rather than the equality and
freedom of the individual.
• The Communist Revolution
(Russian Revolution) 1917
Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin
2. Abel-Type Democracy
The English and American democracies were
founded by sincere Christians and were born
out of their victorious fight with absolutism to
win religious freedom.
• The Puritan Revolution 1642
• The Glorious Revolution 1688
(the Bloodless Revolution)
• The United States of America became an
independent nation in 1776.
B. The Significance of the Separation of
Three Powers from the Viewpoint of
the Principle
The concept of the separation of powers into
three branches of government was advocated
by Montesquieu, a leading thinker of the
Enlightenment.
The separation of powers was to be
characteristic of the political structure of the
ideal society.
Satan was defectively mimicking an aspect of
the Principle ahead of its realization by God.
The structure of the ideal society resembles the
structure and functions of a perfect individual.
brain
God
spinal cord
Messiah
peripheral
nervous system
God-loving leaders
nation’s political parties
organs
cells
organizations
people
lungs
heart
stomach
legislative branch
judicial branch
executive branch
liver
financial reserve
C. The Significance of the Industrial
Revolution
The Industrial Revolution arose out of God’s
providence to restore the pleasant living
environment for the ideal society.
The economic structure of the ideal society
resembles the structure of a healthy human body.
lungs
heart
stomach
organic,
interdependent
relationship
production
adequate
distribution
fair
consumption
reasonable
Industrial Revolution
mass production
vast colonies as sources of raw materials
and markets for goods
opened up a vast territory for the
propagation of the Gospel
contributed to both the internal and external
aspects of the providence of restoration
D. The Strengthening of the World
Powers and the Partition of Colonies
Two views of life
two types of political
revolutions
democratic world
two types of strengthening
democracies
communist world
influence
Industrial Revolution of England
Industrialization by the rapid progress of science
created economies characterized by
overproduction
need to pioneer new lands as markets for their
products, and as sources of raw materials
scramble for colonies
strengthening of the great world powers
E. Religious Reforms and Political and Industrial
Revolutions Following the Renaissance
Renaissance
First
Second
humanism
Enlightenment
Religious
centered on
Reformation Martin Luther
Political
Revolution
new spiritual
movements
collapse of
the medieval
feudal society
collapse of the
absolute
monarchy
monarchy
democracy
Third
historical
materialism
communist world
(
)
E. Religious Reforms and Political and Industrial
Revolutions Following the Renaissance
Renaissance
First
Second
humanism
Enlightenment
Religious
centered on
Reformation Martin Luther
Political
Revolution
Industrial
Revolution
new spiritual
movements
Third
historical
materialism
communist world
(
)
collapse of
the medieval
feudal society
collapse of the
absolute
monarchy
collapse of the
communist
world
monarchy
democracy
H.K. on earth
steam
engine
electricity
gasoline engine
atomic
energy
Section 4
The World Wars
A. The Providential Causes of the
World Wars
internal motive
Human
action
external motive
free will to follow his
internal tendency
toward God’s Will
free will to respond to
the situation with which
he is confronted
internal cause
God’s providence
external cause
politics, economy,
ideology
world
wars
Internal Causes
1) Satan’s last desperate struggle to preserve
his sovereignty
Rev 12:12
“...the devil has come down to you in great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!”
2) To fulfill the worldwide indemnity condition to
restore God’s Three Great Blessings
3) To overcome on the worldwide level the three
temptations by which Satan tempted Jesus
4) To fulfill the worldwide indemnity condition to
restore God’s sovereignty
B. The First World War (1914-1918)
What Decides God’s Side and Satan’s Side?
Based on the direction of God’s providence of
restoration
1) Supports God’s providence
God’s side
2) Opposes God’s providence
Satan’s side
- Since the goal of every religion is goodness,
every one of them belongs to God’s side.
However, when a religion obstructs the path
of another religion which stands closer to the
center of God’s providence, it will find itself
standing on Satan’s side.
e.g., Judaism at the time of Jesus
- Systems that espouse the Abel-type view of
life and the democratic world
God’s side
Systems that espouse the Cain-type view
of life and the communist world
Satan’s side
- Christianity was established as the central
religion with the ultimate mission to fulfill the
goals of all religions.
Hence, any nation that persecutes
Christianity or obstructs its progress stands
on Satan’s side.
God
Satan
Great
Britain
USA
AustriaHungary
Germany
France
Turkey
Christian
democratic
anti-Christian
authoritarian
Formation stage of the fulfillment of the Three
Great Blessings on Satan’s side:
Kaiser Wilhelm II
of Germany
antitype of Adam
on Satan’s side
form of individual perfection
Pan-Germanism
form of multiplying children
Policy of world
hegemony
form of dominion over the
creation
The Results of WW I
Victory on God’s side:
1) Fulfilled the formation-stage indemnity condition
to restore God’s Three Great Blessings
worldwide.
2) Overcame Jesus’ first temptation on the
worldwide level.
fulfilled the indemnity condition to restore
God’s First Blessing worldwide
3) Established the formation-stage foundation for
the restoration of God’s sovereignty.
Christianity expanded worldwide
established the formation-stage foundation
for democracy.
4) The communist world arose, centering on Stalin
as the antitype of the LSA on Satan’s side,
intending to realize the pseudo-form of the
Heavenly Kingdom on earth.
C. The Second World War (1939-1945)
Satan
God
Satan
Great
Britain
USA
Japan
Germany
France
Italy
Christian
democratic
anti-Christian
fascist
Growth stage of the fulfillment of the Three Great
Blessings on Satan’s side:
Adolf Hitler
of Germany
antitype of Jesus
on Satan’s side
form of individual perfection
Advocating the purity of
the German people as
the master race
form of multiplying children
Policy of world
conquest
form of dominion over the
creation
• The nature of fascism
Fascism denies the fundamental values of
modern democracy.
Race or nationality is the ultimate value, to be
upheld by a strong nation-state.
The guiding political principle of fascism holds
that all power and authority should be entrusted
in one supreme leader.
The personal will of the leader dictates the
governing ideology for the entire nation.
• Nations on Satan’s side
Germany deprived people of their basic freedoms,
and its ideological oppression denied them their
religious freedom. Furthermore, Hitler massacred
six million Jews.
Japanese militarists forced every church in Korea
to install a kamidana, an altar for the Japanese
Shinto gods, and compelled Korean Christians to
worship at Shinto shrines. Those Christians who
did not comply were imprisoned or killed.
In Italy, Mussolini promoted Catholicism as the
state religion with the selfish intention to use it for
unifying the people under his fascist regime.
• God’s and Satan’s sides confronted each other
with three great powers on each side.
It was due to the Fall of Adam, Eve and the
Archangel that God’s Three Great Blessings
were not realized. Therefore, in the restoration
of the Three Blessings, there necessarily have
to be three actors taking these respective roles.
• The Soviet Union, a nation on Satan’s side, joined
God’s side because
1) During WW II fascism had become an obstacle to
both Satan’s side and God’s side.
2) The providence of restoration through indemnity
required that God temporarily permit Satan’s side
to form the communist world
the Soviet Union
joined God’s side to destroy fascism, in order to
quickly build up the communist world.
However, as soon as WW II was over, the
communist world and the democratic world
separated like oil and water.
The Results of WW II
Victory on God’s side:
1) Fulfilled the growth-stage indemnity condition
to restore God’s Three Great Blessings
worldwide.
2) Overcame Jesus’ second temptation on the
worldwide level.
fulfilled the indemnity condition to restore
God’s Second Blessing worldwide.
3) Established the growth-stage foundation for
the restoration of God’s sovereignty.
established the growth-stage foundation for
democracy.
4) The fact that Hitler and his nation were
destroyed, while Stalin and his foundation of
worldwide communism grew strong,
indicated that the time for building the
spiritual kingdom centered on Jesus had
passed, and the age for building a new
heaven and new earth centered on the LSA
had begun.
D. The Third World War
God
Satan
democratic world
communist world
Completion stage of the fulfillment of the Three
Great Blessings on Satan’s side:
Stalin of the
Soviet Union
antitype of the LSA
on Satan’s side
form of individual perfection
Advocating the
solidarity of farmers
and workers
form of multiplying children
Policy of communizing
the world
form of dominion over
the creation
Satan’s side and God’s side will strive until they
each attain sovereignty over a world.
(Gen 1:28 – the dominion over all things)
The democratic world and the communist world
stand confronting each other .
Mt 25:32,33
“Before him will be gathered all the nations, and
he will separate them one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
and he will place the sheep at his right hand,
but the goats at the left.”
It became inevitable that there would be world wars,
first to divide and then to unify these two worlds.
World War I, II
wars to divide the world into
the two spheres
World War III
a war to unify these two spheres
Two possible ways of war:
1) Through external, armed conflict
incomplete resolution
further requiring a perfect ideology which
can satisfy the desires of the original nature
of all people
2) Through internal, ideological conflict
complete resolution
a perfect, unified world can be established
The way of war depends upon success or failure in
carrying out the human portion of responsibility.
new
truth
truth
old
truth
democratic world
dialectical
materialism
materialism
communist world
Dialectical materialism:
Satan’s false imitation of the truth in order to unify
humanity centering on himself
denies the existence of any spiritual reality to
deny the existence of God
denies the existence of Satan.
Satan arose in a monstrous denial of God, even at
the sacrifice of himself.
the spiritual root of dialectical materialism
The Results of WW III
Victory on God’s side:
1) Fulfill the completion-stage indemnity condition to
restore God’s Three Great Blessings worldwide.
2) Overcome Jesus’ third temptation on the
worldwide level.
fulfill the indemnity condition to restore
God’s Third Blessing worldwide
3) Establish the completion-stage foundation for
the restoration of God’s sovereignty.
establish the completion-stage foundation for
democracy.
4) Realization of the original ideal world
God
South
Korea
Satan
Japan
USA
North
Korea
China
USSR