As for the question of when and how history started, namely, its origin, the Unification view of history regards the creation of human beings and the human fall as the origin of history, just as does the Christian provi-dential view of history. There is also a question concerning the origin of the human race itself, namely, whether the human race had a single origin (monogenetic) or multiple origins (polygenetic). The Unification view of history advocates a monogenetic view in asserting that the first human ancestors were Adam and Eve. This is because there is a law based on the principle of creation which holds that “creation starts from one.”

Then, what is the goal of history? The Unification view of history regards the goal of history as being the restoration of the ideal world of creation on a higher dimension. The direction of history is such that it is moving or developing toward that goal. Therefore, the origin and goal of history are fixed and determined. However, how that goal is eventually reached is not determined. Each step in the forward progress of history is successfully completed only when the human portion of responsibility-especially the portion of responsibility of providential central figures-is fulfilled in accordance with God’s providence. Therefore, the process that history actually takes-that is, whether history proceeds in a straight line or makes a detour; whether it is shortened or prolonged-depends entirely on the efforts of human beings. This means that the process of history is undetermined and is entrusted to the free will of human beings. In particular, it depends on whether or not providential figures fulfill their mission. This is called fulfillment of responsibility, or simply, portion of responsibility.

The view that the goal is determined but the process is undetermined, and that the progress of history depends on the human portion of responsibility, or free will, is referred to as the “theory of responsibility.”

II. Laws of Creation

Let me now explain the laws of history in more detail. As already stated, human history is the history of re-creation and at the same time it is the history of restoration. Accordingly, historical changes have taken place in accordance with the “laws of creation” and the “laws of restora-tion.” I will first explain the laws of creation. These laws include (1) the law of correlativity, (2) the law of give and receive action, (3) the law of repulsion, (4) the law of dominion by the center, (5) the law of completion through three stages, (6) the law of the period of the number six, and (7) the law of responsibility.

A. Law of Correlativity

Every created being has within itself two elements which form a corre-lative relationship. They are the principal element and the subordinate element. Also, each individual being externally forms another correlative relationship of subject and object between itself and another individual being, whereby it exists and develops. Living beings exist, multiply, and develop through such relationships. The formation of a relationship of subject and object means that they face each other; namely, that they are related with each other. Subject and object are related to each other either with or without a common purpose. When subject and object form a reciprocal relationship with a common purpose, it is said that they form a “correlative standard.”

The fact that an individual being necessarily engages in a correlative relationship of subject and object with another being is called the “law of correlativity.” Accordingly, the first requirement a society (or historical process) must fulfill in order to develop is that correlative elements (correlatives) of subject and object must form a correlative relationship in every field, such as politics, economy, culture, and science. No development can take place without correlative relationships. Correlative elements of subject and object refer to Sungsang and Hyungsang, yang and yin, or principal and subordinate elements (or principal and subordinate beings).

Examples of correlatives are spirit and body (mind and body), ideology and economic conditions (material conditions), spiritual culture and material civilization, government and people, managers and workers, workers and instruments of production, principal parts and subordinate parts in a machine, and so on. There are many other examples. As these correlative elements engage in the relationship of subject and object, development is achieved in all fields such as politics, economy, culture, science, and so on.

B. Law of Give and Receive Action

When the correlative elements of subject and object within a thing form a correlative relationship, the action of giving and receiving certain elements or forces takes place. Such interaction between subject and object is called “give and receive action.” Any development, including development in history, is made through give and receive action. Thus, in history, the development of each field occurs when the correlative elements (correlatives) of subject and object form a correlative relationship and perform harmonious give and receive action, centering on a common purpose.

For example, in order for a nation to maintain its existence, and to prosper, its government and people must form a relationship of subject and object centered on the purpose of the nation’s prosperity, and must engage in harmonious give and receive action. In order for an enterprise to prosper, investors, managers, workers, engineers, and machinery must have mutual relationships of subject and object, and perform harmonious give and receive actions. Therefore, the “law of correlativity” and the “law of give and receive action” are like two sides of a coin, and we can combine them together and call them the “law of give and receive action” in a broader sense.

Give and receive action is harmonious, and is never oppositional or conflictive. Yet, the materialist view of history asserts that history develops through the struggle of opposites. Struggles may become an impetus for development, but while the struggle is going on, development will come to a standstill or may even retrogress. Accordingly, as far as development is concerned, the assertion of the materialist view of history is quite erroneous; it proved to be a false theory concocted solely for the purpose of justifying class struggle.

C. Law of Repulsion

Give and receive action takes place between the correlative elements (or correlative individuals) of subject and object. Subject and subject (or object and object), however, repel each other. We call this repelling phenomenon the “action of repulsion.” The action of repulsion in the natural world is originally latent and does not surface. It plays the role of strengthening or complementing the proper give and receive action between subject and object.

For example, in the natural world, positive electricity and positive electricity (or negative electricity and negative electricity) repel each other, but such phenomena serve to strengthen or complement the proper give and receive action between subject (positive electricity) and object (negative electricity), and never surfaces as itself. Therefore, in the natural world, proper order is not disturbed by the action of repulsion.

In human society, however, the action of repulsion between subject and subject appears in the form of conflict between two leaders. An instance of this is the conflict between an established leader and a new leader at the time of a revolution. During such actions of repulsion, or rivalry, the two conflicting subjects (the subject of conservative forces and the subject of reform forces) engage in give and receive action with their respective objects (groups of people in the object position), whereby they increase their respective forces. As a result, the two forces come into conflict with each other. In this case, one of the two camps is in a position closer to the direction of God’s dispensation, whereas the other is in a position farther from it. The former is referred to as the “good side,” the latter, the “evil side.” Accordingly, in human society the action of repulsion between one subject and another subject appears fundamentally as a struggle between good and evil. When the side of goodness achieves victory in such a struggle, the direction of history is changed a little toward the direction of goodness.

Also, even in fallen societies, there have been cases where the action of repulsion demonstrates its original nature of complementing give and receive action. An example is the case where one country and another, or the people of one country and those of another, compete with each other in a peaceful manner. As a result, both develop culturally and economically.

D. Law of Dominion by the Center

In the give and receive action between subject and object, the subject becomes the center, and the object receives the dominion of the subject. As a result, the object comes to perform circular motion centering on the subject. For this reason, physical circular motion in the natural world is performed. For example, the earth revolves around the sun, and electrons revolve around the nucleus. In human society, since the relationship of subject and object is that of mind and body, circular motion takes place in the sense that the object follows orders, instructions, and requests from the subject.

In the history of restoration God establishes central figures and, through them, leads society in a direction in accord with His providence, namely, in the direction of goodness. In this case, He first forms a social environment, and then inspires the central figure to lead that environment in a direction in accord with His providence. For that to happen, the central figure is charged with their (portion of) responsibility to control the environment. In this way, there is a law that central figures in the providence of God have dominion over the environment. We call this the “law of dominion by the center.” This law applies not only to the chosen people; it applies to all other peoples and countries, as well.

God has been promoting the history of the chosen people as the central history of humankind. The central history has been the history of the Israelites in the Old Testament Age and the history of the Western nations centered on Christianity in the New Testament Age. In the central history, God carries out His providence by establishing central figures. Examples of the central figures of different periods are such figures in the Old Testament Age as Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, the kings, and the prophets, and such figures in the New Testament Age as Augustine, the popes, Martin Luther, and John Calvin, and such political leaders as Charlemagne of the Kingdom of the Franks, Henry VIII of England, and George Washington and Abraham Lincoln of the United States of America.

On the other hand, Satan, who seeks to oppose God’s providence, has sought to establish a sphere of dominion centered on himself. By esta-blishing central figures on his side, Satan sought to have dominion over the environment through them. Kaiser Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler, who sought world domination by advocating Pan-Germanism, and Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao Ze-dong, who aimed at the conquest of the world through Communism, were such central figures. Without their thought and leadership, the rise of totalitarianism and the Communist revolutions would never have occurred.

Toynbee said, “The growths of civilizations are the work of creative individuals or creative minorities.” ¹ The masses are guided by creative individuals or creative minorities, and follow them. This assertion by Toynbee points to the law of dominion by the center.

The materialist view of history theoretically attaches greater importance to the environment (i.e., the social environment) than to leaders, and asserts that the masses, which are the basis of the social environment, play the decisive role in social development. This view also claims that the leaders act only under the conditions determined by the specific social environment. This way of thinking is based on materialism, according to which, just as spirit is generated from, and determined by matter, so too, is the spirit of a leader determined by the social environment. In this way, Communism deals with the social environment (masses) as a material category, and with central figures (leaders) as a spiritual category. This is not a correct view, however. The leaders are the subject, and the masses, the object; the leaders guide the masses, or society, in a certain direction on the basis of their religious or political ideologies.

E. Law of Completion through Three Stages

According to the Principle of Creation, the growth or development of all things is attained through a process of three stages: formation, growth, and completion. For example, plants mature and perfect themselves through the three stages of germinating, growing stems and putting forth green leaves, and producing flowers and bearing fruit. This law applies to history as well; often the providence of re-creation has been carried out through a process of three stages. For example, it is a law that, if a certain providential event ends in failure, that providence can be prolonged up to a third time (or a third stage), but will necessarily be accomplished at the third stage.

For example, the providence to lay the foundation for the providence of restoration was not fulfilled in Adam’s family due to the failure of Cain and Abel in the substantial offering, and it was accomplished for the first time in Abraham’s family only after an unsuccessful attempt in Noah’s family. Even so, the providence to lay the foundation for restoration which was to be fulfilled during Abraham’s generation was not accomplished at first due to Abraham’s failure in his offering. It was finally fulfilled for the first time at the time of Jacob, who was Abraham’s third generation. The same thing can be said about the coming of the Messiah, the second Adam. Since God could not fulfill the purpose of creation due to the fall of Adam, He sent Jesus as the second Adam. But since Jesus was crucified and could not fulfill the purpose of creation completely, God sends Christ at the Second Advent as the third Adam to fulfill the purpose of creation.

In the modern era, which is the period of preparation to receive Christ at the Second Advent, movements for the revival of Hellenism and Hebraism arose, each developing through a process of three stages. The movement for the revival of Hellenism refers to a humanistic movement. Following the Renaissance, the first humanistic movement, there arose the Enlightenment, the second humanistic movement. The Enlightenment bore fruit in the form of the Communist ideological movement, the third humanistic movement. The movement for the revival of Hebraism refers to a God-centered movement, or a religious reformation. Following the first religious reformation, centered on Martin Luther and John Calvin, there arose the second religious reformation, centered on John Wesley, George Fox, and others; and today, the third religious reformation movement, centering on the Unification movement, is taking place.

The revival of Hebraism (the God-centered movement) was a movement on God’s side, while the revival of Hellenism was a humanistic movement, a movement on Satan’s side, which tended to gradually separate human beings from God. It is for that reason that this movement finally became atheistic Communism. If the God-centered movement becomes successful through the three stages, the humanistic movement, which is based on Satanic ideology, will inevitably come to decline and come under the God-centered movement. Accordingly, the law of completion through three stages for God’s side becomes the law of inevitable fall through three stages for Satan’s side. Thus, the success of the Unification movement, which is the third God-centered movement, and the collapse of Com-munism, which is the third humanistic movement, are both inevitable.

F. Law of the Period of the Number Six

According to the Bible, in the creation of the universe by God, Adam was created on the sixth day. In other words, the creation of Adam was achieved on the basis of a six-day period, as planned. That was the period of preparation for the creation of Adam. By the same token, in the history of re-creation as well, God began the preparation to receive the Messiah at the start of a period of the number six before the coming of the Messiah, the second Adam (Jesus).

That period began from the sixth century BC. God had the Jewish people taken captive to Babylon so that they might repent and turn away from their faithlessness. It was their preparation to receive the Messiah who was to come six centuries later. Around the sixth century BC, Confucius (ca. 551-479 BC) appeared in China and established Confucianism. Subsequent to Confucius, during these six centuries, many philosophers appeared in China, and the golden age of Chinese thought was established. In India, Gautama Buddha (ca. 563-483 BC) appeared in the sixth century BC and established Buddhism. Around the sixth century BC as well, the ancient Indian philosophical books called the Upanishads came into being. Also, at about the same time, Zoroastrianism arose in the Middle East. In Greece, philosophy, art, and science developed greatly from the sixth century BC. All of these developments were prepa-rations to receive the Messiah. God made preparations in this way by guiding various peoples on earth in the direction of goodness through the methods appropriate to the people in each region.

Karl Jaspers, an existentialist philosopher, noticed the fact that remark-able spiritual leaders (founders of religions and philosophies) all appeared at about the same time in different regions of the world, such as China, India, Iran, Palestine, and Greece. He called it the “Axial Period.”² What is the reason those spiritual leaders appeared in many parts of the world at about the same time, as if according to some signal or cue? Jaspers had no explanation, and he held it to be a historic mystery and an insoluble riddle.³ This riddle can be solved for the first time, in light of the law of the period of the number six.

The same thing can be said with regard to the coming of the Second Advent of the Messiah. In order to send the Second Advent of the Messiah, who is the Third Adam, God made preparations at the start of a period of the number six. Good examples are the Reformation and the Renaissance, which started around the fourteenth century and blossomed in the sixteenth century.⁴ During this time period of the number six (i.e., six centuries), the Industrial Revolution, which took place in the late eighteenth century, and the subsequent rapid progress of science and economy occurred. These were all preparations for the coming of the Messiah. God prepared in this way in order to send the Second Advent of the Messiah in the twentieth century.

The religious leaders and philosophers who appeared six centuries before the birth of Jesus were in the position of archangels, whose mission was to pave the way for the Messiah. Accordingly, the love and truth they taught were not perfect, but only partial. It is only the Messiah, the Son of God, who is capable of practicing true love, preaching the absolute truth, and, through such love and truth, solving the unresolved questions of religions and philosophies for the first time. When the time of the advent of the Messiah comes, the unresolved questions of religions and philosophies all come to the fore and the incapacity of traditional religions and philosophies to resolve them becomes clear, since traditional religions and philosophies were given by God through the angels, and their teachings of love and truth are imperfect. Then, in the Last Days, the Messiah appears and, with absolute love and truth, revives and strengthens traditional religions and philosophies, which had become incapacitated, thus realizing the unified world through the unification of all religions and philosophies.

However, since Jesus died on the cross, the realization of the unified world in his time did not take place, and his mission was entrusted to Christ at the Second Advent. As a result, Confucianism, Buddhism, Oriental philosophy, Greek philosophy, and other thoughts were left to subsist until the time of the Second Advent. Therefore, the unity of religions and all thought systems will come to be accomplished, for the first time, at the time of the Second Advent. That is to say, Christ at the Second Advent will solve all the unresolved questions of traditional religions and thoughts by means of the true love and truth of God. He will unify religions and thoughts, and will finally realize the unified world.

It should be noted that it was not necessary to establish totally new religions and philosophies six centuries before Christ at the Second Advent, as happened six centuries before Jesus. We need only to revive the already existing religions and philosophies. It is for that reason that such religions as Buddhism and Confucianism have survived until today. Zoroastrianism, which was a religion holding to a belief in two gods, one of light and one of darkness, was replaced by monotheistic Islam in the seventh century. 

G. Law of Responsibility

The first human ancestors, Adam and Eve, were given a portion of responsibility to fulfill; with that responsibility no one could interfere, not even God. The purpose for this was to enable them to qualify to be the lords of dominion over all things. In other words, Adam and Eve were to become able to have dominion over all things by fulfilling their portion of responsibility, in addition to the portion of responsibility taken by God. Yet, due to their fall, they failed to fulfill that portion of responsi-bility.

The providence of re-creation is to be accomplished in the same way, that is, when the human portion of responsibility (especially that of providential central persons) is fulfilled in addition to God’s portion of responsibility. Here, to fulfill the human portion of responsibility means to accomplish the mission given to human beings (providential persons) by exercising their own free will and taking responsibility for their actions.

Accordingly, if the providential persons fulfill their portions of responsibility, through their own wisdom and effort, in accordance with God’s will, the providence moves to a new stage. If, on the contrary, those persons do not fulfill their portions of responsibility, the providence centered on them ends in failure and is thus prolonged. After a certain numerologically significant period of time, a new person is called by God to carry out the same providence.

The reason that sinful human history has been prolonged until today is that the providential persons have continually failed in fulfilling their portions of responsibility. Jesus was crucified and was unable to realize the unified world because the leaders of his time, including John the Baptist, the priests, and the lawyers, failed to fulfill their portions of responsibility. The reason why Communism caused conflicts and confu-sion all over the world is that, after the Industrial Revolution, the leaders of the Christian nations failed to fulfill their portions of responsibility.

Today, the leaders of democracy must be awakened to the need to fulfill their responsibility in accordance with God’s will. In other words, they must guide all people, including the people in Communist countries, to God’s true word and true love so that they may stand by God. By so doing, a truly peaceful world, namely, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth can be realized.

III. Laws of Restoration

Human history is a history of re-creation, and at the same time a history of restoration; that is, it is the process of recovering the original ideal world, which was lost due to the human fall. Accordingly, a series of laws, different from the laws of creation, are also at work in history. These are the laws of restoration. These laws include (1) the law of indemnity, (2) the law of separation, (3) the law of the restoration of the number four, (4) the law of conditioning providence, (5) the law of the false preceding the true, (6) the law of the horizontal reappearance of the vertical, and (7) the law of synchronous providence.

A. Law of Indemnity

The human fall refers to the fact that human beings lost their original position and state. Restoration is the process of regaining that lost position and state. Yet, in order to regain that original position and state, certain conditions have to be established. The conditions for this purpose are called “conditions of indemnity.” The conditions of indemnity that human beings have to establish are, first, the “foundation of faith” and, second, the “foundation of substance.” Establishing the foundation of faith means that the people must meet a leader (central figure) chosen by God and offer some object for the condition, centering on that leader, during a specified numerological period of indemnity. Establishing the foundation of substance means that the people obediently follow that leader chosen by God.

When we examine history, however, we see that people in sinful societies very seldom obeyed the leaders appointed by God; instead, most of the time they persecuted them. Accordingly, the paths of righteous people, sages, and saints continually turned into courses of hardship. Yet, God regarded the hardships undergone by those righteous leaders as sacrificial indemnity conditions, and gradually restored the people of the sinful world back to His side by subjugating them. In other words, with the hardships of righteous leaders as a condition, God could guide the sinful people to repent. This is the law of indemnity. A representative example is Jesus’ crucifixion. Through Jesus’ crucifixion, many people in the sinful world have awakened to their sinfulness and repented.

Up to the present time, Communists and other dictators have persecuted and killed numerous religious people, righteous people, and good people. Taking the suffering of those people as a condition, however, God finally made the dictatorial regimes surrender, and liberated their people. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the law of indemnity the fall of the Communist regimes, as well as other dictatorial regimes, was inevitable.

B. Law of Separation

Since the Creator is the one and only God, the originally created man and woman were supposed to always relate only to Him. Due to the sinful action of the fall, however, Adam came to be related also to Satan. As a result, Adam came to stand in a midway position where he had to relate both to God and Satan. For that reason, when God tried to relate to Adam, the condition existed for Satan to relate to Adam as well. In such an unprincipled situation God was unable to conduct any kind of provi-dence through Adam. Accordingly, God gave Adam two sons, and placed one of them in the position towards which only God could relate, and the other in a position towards which only Satan could relate. The one separated to God’s side was Abel, the younger brother, and the one separated to Satan’s side was Cain, the elder brother.⁵

God intended to restore both Cain and Abel to His side by having Cain obey Abel. The fall occurred when the human being (Adam), who was to deal only with God, was subjugated by Satan’s temptation. In the principle, in order to achieve restoration through indemnity, Cain, who was on Satan’s side, was required to obey Abel, who was on God’s side. Thus, when Cain and Abel made offerings, God wanted Cain to make his offering not to Him directly, but rather through Abel. Instead, however, Cain resented Abel to the point of murdering him. Consequently, human history started as a sinful history.⁶ However, there still existed the founda-tion of heart with which Abel, who had been positioned on God’s side, remained loyal to the end. So, with that foundation as a condition, God was able, throughout history, to separate people from the Satanic world over to God’s side.⁷

By first establishing an individual on the side of goodness, God gra-dually expanded the sphere of the good side by next establishing a family on the good side, then a tribe, a people, a nation, and finally a world on the good side. Yet Satan, who was working in opposition to God’s provi-dence, has preceded God’s work by starting with an individual on the side of evil, and expanding the sphere of evil by establishing a family, a tribe, a people, a nation, and a world on the evil side. By so doing, Satan has continually obstructed God’s providence.

Usually, the people on the good side (such as saints and sages) tried to convey God’s Word to the people on the evil side. The evil side, however, refused to accept that Word and instead persecuted and attacked the good people of God. Thus, struggles were carried out as the good side responded to those attacks. Therefore, throughout history, struggles on different levels have taken place: between an individual on the good side and an individual on the evil side, between families, tribes peoples, nations, and finally, between the world on the good side and the world on the evil side. These struggles have been continuing until today. Thus, history became a history of struggle between good and evil. In the process of restoration history, however, the good side and the evil side are not good and evil in an absolute sense. The side relatively closer to God’s providence was separated to the good side, and the side relatively farther from God’s providence was separated to the evil side.

Until recently, the world has been separated into two large blocs, namely, the bloc on the side of good and the bloc on the side of evil. These were the free world and the Communist world, respectively. More precisely, they were the group of countries that recognized religion (especially Christianity) and the group of countries that denied religion. The purpose for which God separated the world into a good side and an evil side was to restore both sides by having the good side subjugate the evil side. In the end, due to God’s providence, the good side will win in the struggle between the two blocks. This is exactly what we see happening in the world today. The unification of the free world and the Communist world will be accomplished, ultimately, when the Messiah is received. Since the separation between Cain and Abel came into being because of the faithlessness of Adam, unification between Cain and Abel will be accomplished through the Messiah, who comes as the third Adam.

C. Law of the Restoration of the Number Four

God’s purpose of creation was to realize His love through the family four position foundation. That is to say, if Adam and Eve had grown according to God’s Word and had perfected themselves, they would have become husband and wife centering on God, and would have given birth to good children. Then, the family four position foundation, consisting of God, Adam (husband), Eve (wife), and their children, would have been formed, and a family filled with God’s love would have been realized. Due to the fall of Adam and Eve, however, such a family four position foundation centered on God could not be formed; instead, a family four position foundation centered on Satan was formed, and the entire created world was put under the dominion of Satan. From that point on, it became the central purpose of history to restore the family four position foundation centered on God’s vertical love.

In order to restore the four position foundation, God first conducted symbolic, conditional providences, the goal of which was to establish a period of time with a duration symbolizing the number four. This is called the law of the restoration of the number four. The restoration of the number four was a condition of indemnity to restore the family four position foundation numerologically. The period of the number four is realized through periods of forty days, forty years, four hundred years, and so on, during which time confusion is brought about by Satan, and the people on God’s side usually undergo hardships.

Examples include Noah’s forty-day flood, Moses’ forty years in the wilderness, four hundred years of persecution of the Christians under the Roman Empire, and so on. When such periods of indemnity were over, the confusion was brought under control in the sense that the four position foundation was restored conditionally, and God’s providence was able to proceed to a new stage. The law of the restoration of the number four applied not only to the history of the Israelites, but also to the history of other peoples and countries as well.

Arnold Toynbee noted that there were many cases in history where unification was accomplished after a period of four centuries of confusion (period of turmoil). We can cite some examples: the four centuries in the Hellenic World from the Peloponnesian War to the unification by the Roman Empire (431-31 BC); about four centuries from the period of “the Contending States” to the unification by the Ch’in and Han Empires in Chinese history (634-221 BC); and about four centuries of feudal anarchy from the Kamakura-Ashikaga period to the unification of all of Japan by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japanese history (1185-1597). Toynbee could not clarify, however, the reason why such periods of four centuries appeared in history.⁸ A similar case is the forty-year rule by the Japanese over Korea, starting with the Eul-sa Treaty of Protection in 1905 and ending with the liberation of Korea in 1945.

D. Law of Conditioning Providence

The law of conditioning providence refers to the fact that, if a central person fulfills, or fails to fulfill his or her human portion of responsibility in accordance with God’s will in a providential event, that will condition a specific providential event of a later period. This means that a providenti-al event not only has an important significance in and of itself, at that time, but also becomes a condition that will determine the characteristics of providential events that will follow later in history.

For example, we know of the case in which Moses struck the rock twice in the wilderness (DNeut. 20). Moses’ action had, in itself, an actual necessity due to the particular circumstances of that time, namely, to enable the thirsty Israelites in the wilderness to have water to drink. At the same time, however, it also had the significance of symbolizing, and conditioning, God’s providence at Jesus’ coming, at a later date. About this matter, the content of the Divine Principle may be paraphrased as follows:⁹

The rock symbolized Adam. Specifically, the waterless rock, before being struck by Moses, symbolized the first (fallen) Adam; in contrast, the rock bringing forth water, after being struck once by Moses, symbolized Jesus, the second Adam. Since water symbolizes life, the first Adam, who was in the state of spiritual death due to the fall, could be symbolized as a rock that does not bring forth water; and Jesus, the second Adam, who would come in order to give life to spiritually dead people, could be symbolized as the water-giving rock. Yet, Moses struck the rock twice in anger at the faithlessness of the Israelites; and in so doing, he struck the rock bringing forth water, which symbolized Jesus. Through that act, the condition was established whereby, if later, when Jesus came, the Israelites were to turn faithless, Satan would have the condition to be able to strike Jesus, the fulfillment of the rock. Jesus was, in fact, crucified due to the faithlessness of the Israelites. This was in part because the double striking of the rock by Moses conditioned the providence at the time of the coming of the Messiah.

This is one example from history as recorded in the Old Testament. The law of conditioning providence was at work not only in this incident, but also in other historical events that were significant in God’s providence. This means that providential events did not simply happen in their time, for no particular reason, but rather they were conditioned, to a certain degree, by various factors which preceded them. How a particular event in a certain age developed, in turn, has influenced later historical events. This is what the law of conditioning providence tells us.

E. Law of the False Preceding the True

This is a law under which the false appears before the true. Satan dominated the world, which had been created by God, by inducing the first human ancestors to fall away from God. Therefore, Satan created an unprincipled world of a pseudo-principle type, in advance of, and imitating God’s providence. God could not but allow it because Adam had fallen without fulfilling his portion of responsibility. So, God has had to carry forward His providence, following the footsteps of Satan, to restore the unprincipled world built by Satan back to the principled world. The unprincipled world created by Satan is false; thus, even though it may prosper, its prosperity is only temporary. As God’s providence progresses, Satan’s unprincipled world can not but eventually collapse.

The ultimate goal of the providence of restoration is to actualize, on earth, a world in which the ideal of creation centered on God is realized, that is, one world in which all humanity is united. That is the kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, where all people attend God, or the True Parents of humankind as God’s representatives, as the supreme sovereign. That world can be realized only through the coming of the Messiah. Satan, however, knowing God’s plan, stole the contents of the providence in advance, established Messianic persons on the Satanic side before the coming (and before the second coming) of the Messiah, and attempted to create ideal states on the Satanic side. That is why a false Messiah and a false unified world have appeared first.

A good example of this is the appearance of the Roman Empire prior to the coming of Jesus. Julius Caesar appeared in the Roman Empire, conquered Gaul, incorporated it into the Roman Empire, and accomplished the unification of the Roman Empire (45 BC). After he was assassinated, Augustus (Octavian) brought the civil war under control (31 BC), and unified the Mediterranean area, building what was virtually a world empire. The peaceful and prosperous period of the Roman Empire was called the Pax Romana and lasted about two centuries. Julius Caesar and Augustus were messianic figures on the Satanic side. They created a false unified world of peace and prosperity in advance of the great unified world of everlasting love, peace, and prosperity that was to have been built through the coming of the true Messiah (Jesus). As it turned out, Jesus was crucified with his mission uncompleted, and therefore the true unified world, or true ideal world, could not appear at that time.

At the time of the Second Advent as well, in accordance with this law, a false Messiah and a false unified world appeared in advance of the providence of the Second Advent. That false Messiah was Stalin, and the false unified world was the Communist world. Stalin, in fact, was revered as “the sun of humankind,” like a Messiah, and aimed to unify the world through Communism. Stalin died in 1953, and from the providential viewpoint, that was the time when the official course of the providence of the Second Advent was to start. The subsequent splintering of international Communism has been a foreshadowing of the collapse of the false unified world and the beginning of the realization of the true unified world.

F. Law of the Horizontal Reappearance of the Vertical

This law means that at the time of the consummation of the history of restoration, vertical (past) historical events reappear horizontally (in the present). “Vertical” refers to the passage of time, and “horizontal” refers to spatial expansion. In other words, the vertical refers to past history, and the horizontal refers to the present, actual world. Accordingly, the “horizontal reappearance of the vertical” means that God conducts His providence so that at the consummation of history all the past providential events and persons in history will reappear in the present in some form on the worldwide level. In this manner, God seeks to resolve, at one time, all the various problems or events that ended unresolved due to the failures of providential figures at various times in history up to this time. This is done in accord with God’s providence, and to complete the history of the providence of restoration.

For example, in the two-thousand-year period of the providence of restoration from Adam to Abraham, the vertical indemnity conditions that had been invaded by Satan were restored through indemnity by the three generations of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, this was only conditional. In other words, the providence of Adam’s family and the providence of Noah’s family, which had ended in failure without proper completion, were conditionally completed through the providence of Abraham’s family. At the time of Jesus, the providential events that had ended in failure due to the invasion of Satan during the four thousand years from Adam to Jesus were made to reappear horizontally so that they might be restored through indemnity at one time. Yet, due to the crucifixion of Jesus, this providence was not successful.

At the time of the providence of the Second Advent, all the events during the six-thousand-year history from Adam, which had been concluded only conditionally because of invasion by Satan, must reappear again horizontally so that they may be totally and fundamentally restored through indemnity, centering on the Second Advent of the Messiah. Thus, the providence of sinful history will be fully consummated. As long as these historical events remain unresolved, there can be no true peace on earth. Only by resolving all of these historical events fundamentally in the Last Days, can the problems of today’s actual society be resolved completely, and the world of true peace realized.

For example, the root cause of the conflicts between Israel and the Arab nations today can be understood as the reappearance of the struggles between the Israelites and their surrounding peoples in the Old Testament days. Accordingly, it is very difficult to resolve the present-day conflict between Israel and the Arabs merely by dealing with it as a political problem. In other words, without tracing the history back to its root cause and resolving it fundamentally, the conflicts between the Israelites and the Arabs will never come to a complete end.

When it comes to the consummation of history in the Last Days, many vertical historical events reappear, and unexpected events happen one after another, thus throwing the world into great confusion. This is because, in accordance with the law of the horizontal reappearance of the vertical, various unresolved problems from past history all reappear in the Last Days. That is why Jesus referred to a “great tribulation”: “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be” (Matt. 24:21). Such confusion and conflict will come to be fundamentally resolved only when humankind welcomes the Second Advent of the Messiah and follows his word of truth and his teaching of true love.

The reason why God causes the events of history to reappear in the Last Days, whereby they become fundamentally resolved by the Second Advent of the Messiah, is that God wishes to achieve two purposes: first, to make human beings establish the condition that they have achieved victory in the six-thousand-year history without making mistakes, thus sweeping away the memories of the numerous miserable events in history once and for all; and second, to subjugate Satan completely by eliminating all the conditions for his accusation, and to eventually save even the Archangel, eternally.

G. Law of Synchronous Providence

The law of synchronous providence refers to a law under which a certain providential event which occurred in the past is repeated in some form in a later period. Such providential periods, the two of which are in the relationship of time-identity, display similar aspects in terms of central figures, main events, numerological time periods, and so on. This is because, in case a certain providential central figure did not fulfill his or her portion of responsibility, the providential period centered on that particular person would come to an end, and after a certain period of time, another person, who is similar to the previous person, would be established to restore through indemnity the historical course of the previous period. Thus, a providential event which is similar to that of the previous period is repeated. In such cases, since conditions of indemnity are gradually compounded together with the prolongation of the providence of restoration, the previous period would not be repeated precisely as before, but rather would be repeated on a higher dimension. Consequently, history develops in a spiral.

Then, how did the law of synchronous providence work in history? In the providence of restoration centered on the family level, during the two-thousand-year period from Adam to Abraham (the Age of the Providence to Lay the Foundation for Restoration), the Messiah was unable to come due to the failure of the providence. As a result, the two-thousand-year period of the providence of restoration centered on the Israelites, from Abraham to Jesus (the Age of the Providence of Restoration), appeared as the synchronous providence. Also, since the two-thousand-year period from Abraham to Jesus, the providence of restoration centered on the Israelites, also ended in failure due to the crucifixion of Jesus, the two-thousand-year period of the providence of restoration centered on Christianity from Jesus until today (the Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration) appeared as its synchronous providence. Arranging the characteristics of synchronism of the two periods of the two thousand years from Abraham to Jesus and the two thousand years from Jesus until today, we have the diagram as seen in table. 8.1.

Synchronism in history was noticed by Oswald Spengler. He said that all cultures develop according to the same formula, and therefore, similar events appear in any two cultures of the world. He described these corre-sponding events as “synchronous.” ¹⁰

Arnold Toynbee noticed synchronism in history at about the same time as Spengler. While lecturing on Thucydides, Toynbee explained how he had realized that the history of ancient Greece and modern Western history are synchronous:

The year 1914 caught me at the University of Oxford, teaching the history of classical Greece. In August 1914, it flashed on my mind that the fifth-century BC historian Thucydides had had already the experi-ence that was now overtaking me. He, like me, had been overtaken by a fratricidal great war between the states into which his world had been divided politically. Thucydides had foreseen that his generation’s great war would be epoch-making for his world, and the sequel had proved him right. I now saw that classical Greek history and modern Western history were, in terms of experience, contemporary with each other. Their courses ran parallel. They could be studied comparatively.¹¹ (italics added)

Toynbee dealt with ancient Greek history and modern Western history as synchronous. In the Unification View of History, ancient Greek history was the period for the preparation for the coming of the Messiah, and modern Western history is the period for the preparation for the Second Coming of the Messiah. These two periods are, indeed, synchronous, and the essential significance of their synchronism is that each is a preparation period for receiving the Messiah.

IV. Changes in History

The laws of creation and the laws of restoration, which have been discussed above, have all been at work in history, but the most important laws are the law of give and receive, the law of repulsion, the law of indemnity, and the law of separation. Among these, the law of give and receive becomes the “law of development” in historical change, while the other three together become the “law of turning.” (The law of turning is also called the “law of the struggle between good and evil.”)

It has already been explained that history has been developing through give and receive action; that is, developments in the political, economic, cultural, and all other fields take place through harmonious give and receive action between various pairs of subject and object, such as spirit and matter, people and the environment (society and nature), government and people, organization and organization, individual and individual, people and machinery, and so on.

Development refers to growth, progress, improvement, and appearance of a new quality-all of which are irreversible types of forward motion. These phenomena appear when correlative elements of subject and object engage in give and receive action centering on a common purpose. On the other hand, struggle occurs between subject and subject, the two subjects having different purposes and different interests. When a struggle takes place, development or progress will be either suspended or reversed. Accordingly, any development or progress appearing in history took place, without exception, through give and receive action.

Subject and subject oppose and struggle with each other according to the law of repulsion. In human history repulsion between one subject and another refers to the conflict between one leader and another. One example is the struggle between the leaders of the bourgeoisie and the royalist aristocrats under Louis XVI, namely, the struggle between new leaders and old leaders at the time of the French Revolution. The two parties were separated according to the law of separation, with one party on the relatively good side (the position that was relatively closer to God’s providence) and the other party on the relatively evil side (the position that obstructed God’s providence). The subjects formed good and evil camps, respectively, by attracting people, who were in the object position to their respective sides (separating the people into two parts), and fought each other. The question of which leader is good and which is evil is a matter to be decided on the basis of the extent to which a leader is in accordance with God’s providence. In many cases, however, the leaders in an existing society carried out tyrannical rule, leaning toward self-centered desire, and so God would often establish new leaders on the good side and would promote His providence through them.

In the struggle between good and evil, if the good side wins, history turns toward a better direction. Subsequently, when history reaches yet another new stage, another leader, who is even better, appears. Then, the old leader comes to stand in a relatively evil position, and a new struggle between good and evil starts. Again, if the good side wins, history turns once more to an even better direction. Finally, through this process, history reaches the stage of perfect goodness, that is, the stage of the ideal of creation. Only then will the struggle between good and evil come to an end. Thus, struggle does not actually bring about development; rather, it effects changes in the direction of history.

In a struggle between a good subject and an evil subject, if the evil side happened to be stronger, God would attempt to bring the evil side to surrender by using the law of indemnity. To explain further, God would guide the leaders on the good side to walk the path of suffering under persecution by the evil side. With that as a condition, He would work to have the leader on the evil side submit in surrender. In case the leader on the evil side would not surrender, He would influence the people on the evil side to isolate their leader. That way, the leaders on the evil side could not but surrender in the end. That is the working of the law of the struggle between good and evil. Accordingly, this law may also be called the “law of taking back by being struck,” or the “tactic of taking back by being struck.” It has been by virtue of this law of indemnity that religions have been propagated throughout the world until the present time, even through persecution.

In the ongoing struggle between good and evil, when the good side does not fully accomplish its responsibility and the evil side wins a victory, then naturally history does not turn to a better direction but is, instead, prolonged in its existing direction, remaining as it is. After a specified length of time, God again raises a good leader and works to win victory over the evil side. This is the way God has been guiding history, from behind the scenes, toward a better direction. Therefore, human history has not been the history of class struggle, but rather the history of the struggle between good and evil.

In this way, history has developed through the give and receive action between subject and object, and has changed its direction through the struggle between good and evil. In other words, history has undergone changes in direction through the repetition of the process of development and turning. The process of historical changes can be illustrated in fig. 8.1.

From what has been said above, we can understand that history has undergone changes in two respects, namely, in the direction of development (progress), and in the direction of restoration (turning). Development here refers to the development of science, economy, culture, etc.; restoration refers to the recovery of the lost ideal world originally intended-the world of love and peace. The reason these two directions have existed in history is that human history is the history of re-creation and at the same time the history of restoration. The future world will be a world of highly developed science, and at the same time a highly ethical society. A scientific civilization will be attained through development, while an ethical society will be attained through restoration.

Restoration is achieved through the struggle between good and evil, but this does not necessarily refer to military conflict involving armed forces. If the evil side obediently surrenders to the good side, then it is possible for peaceful social change to be accomplished. In fact, the final struggle for putting an end to the struggle between good and evil, namely, the struggle through which the Messiah completely subjugates Satan, will be carried out peacefully, even if it is called a “struggle.” That is, the Messiah will subjugate Satan peacefully by means of true love. In this way, history has been changing, following the two directions of development and restoration. Development will continue forever, whereas restoration will come to an end when the original ideal world is finally restored, after which the ideal world of peace and true love will continue forever.

V. Traditional Views of History

I would like now to present an overview of the representative tradi-tional views of history in order to compare them with the Unification view of history.

 

Cyclical View of History (Fatalist View of History)

The ancient Greeks believed that just as the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter repeat themselves year after year, so does history follow a cyclical course. For them, the birth and fall of historical events were destined, and they could not be affected by human power, so that history had no meaning or goal. This view of history is called the “cyclical view of history,” or the “fatalist view of history.” Representative historians taking this view were Herodotus (ca. 484-425 BC), who is called the father of history and wrote History, and Thucydides (ca. 460-400 BC), who wrote History of the Peloponnesian War. Herodotus depicted the Persian war in the epic manner, whereas Thucydides depicted the Peloponnesian War from beginning to end in a manner that was faithful to the historical facts. What these two men had in common, though, was the idea that history repeats itself.¹²

The cyclical view of history understands the course of history as being destined. It does not admit to the possibility that the development of history might be affected by human effort. Furthermore, because it does not see any goal to history it has no concern about offering a future image of the world.

Providential View of History

In contrast to the Greek view of history, which asserted that history has no beginning or end, or goal, but only repeats itself in a cyclical manner, Christianity presents a fundamentally different view of history, which asserts that history does have a beginning and advances in a direct manner toward a definite goal. In other words, it asserts that history started with the Creation and the human Fall, that it is a salvation history leading to the Last Judgment, and that what drives history is God’s Providence. Such a view of history is called the “providential view of history,” or the “Christian view of history.”

It was St. Augustine (354-430) who, in his classic The City of God, systematized the Christian view of history. Augustine depicted history as a history of struggle between the City of God (Civitas Dei), where God-loving people live, and the City of the World (Civitas terrena), where those people who have yielded to the temptation of Satan reside. He asserted that the City of God would finally win victory in the end and would establish eternal peace. The course of history occurred according to the plan predestined by God, according to this view. Augustive divided human history, from the Fall to its consummation, into six periods: (1) from Adam to Noah’s flood, (2) from Noah to Abraham, (3) from Abraham to David, (4) from David to the Babylonian captivity, (5) from the Babylonian captivity to the birth of Christ, and (6) from the first coming to the Second Coming of Christ. How long the sixth period would last was left unstated.

Through this Christian view, history became meaningful in the sense that it aims at a certain goal; still, the human being was no more than an instrument moved by God. This view possesses many ambiguities and is lacking both in logic and in any sense of historical lawfulness. As such, today it is generally regarded as unacceptable as a social science.

Spiritual View of History (Progressive View of History)

During the Renaissance, theological views of history gradually faded away, and in the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, a new kind of view of history appeared. According to this new view, it was the human being, rather than God’s providence, that drove history. This view held that history was progressing in a linear fashion, and necessarily, according to the progress of the human spirit. This view of history is called the “spiritual view of history,” or the “progressive view of history.”

Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) recognized God’s providence in history, but he considered that the secular world was formed by human beings, and asserted that history should not be explained only by God’s will alone. In his understanding of history, God was relegated to the background, and human beings were brought to the fore.¹³

Voltaire (1694-1778) excluded God’s power working upon history. He asserted that history is driven not by God but rather by those people with higher education, those who had mastered science, namely, enlightened people.

Marquis de Condorcet (1743-94) asserted that, if human reason were awakened, history would progress with harmony between science and ethics.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) said that the purpose of history is to develop all noble human capacities in an international society consisting of a league of nations. He advocated seeing a universal history from a cosmopolitan point of view.

The romanticist philosopher J. G. Herder (1744-1803) asserted that the development of human nature is the goal of history.

Hegel (1770-1831) understood history as the process of the “self-realization of the spirit,” or the “self-realization of the Idea.” According to his view, reason rules the world, and world history progresses rationally. The reason that rules the world is called the “world spirit.” He held that reason manipulates human beings, and called this the “trick by reason.” Hegel’s view of history is called a “spiritual view of history,” or the “idealistic view of history.” He believed that a rational state, where the Idea of freedom would be realized, was to come into being in Prussia; in reality, however, that did not take place. Instead, anti-rational social problems such as exploitation and human alienation became even more serious. Thus, Marx’s historical materialism appeared in part as a revolt against Hegel’s philosophy of history.

Historical Materialism

In contrast to Hegel, who advocated a spiritual view of history and asserted that it is Idea that drives history, Marx asserted that it is material forces that drive history, and argued for the “materialist view of history,” or “historical materialism” (also called the “revolutionary view of history”).

According to the materialist view of history, what drives history is the development of the productive forces, rather than the development of the Idea or spirit. Corresponding to the development of productive forces, certain relations of production are established. Whereas the productive forces develop steadily, however, the relations of production, once established, become fixed, and eventually turn into fetters against the further development of productive forces. Therefore, class struggle takes place between the class that seeks to maintain the old relations of production (ruling class) and the class that seeks new relations of production (ruled class). Accordingly, history has been a history of class struggle. In capitalist society, where this class struggle reaches its peak, revolution occurs in which the proletariat, the ruled class, overthrows the bourgeoisie, the ruling class. As a result, the classless Communist society, which is the “kingdom of freedom” without classes, is realized.

As shown by the fall of Communism, it becomes obvious that the materialist view of history was completely erroneous. When one closely examines this theory, all the laws of history presented by this view are found to be no more than sheer dogma. For example, the development of productive forces is regarded as a material development, but no materi-alistic dialectical explanation is given concerning how the productive forces develop. Also, according to this view, human history is the history of social changes through class struggles. Nevertheless, there was not a single case in which a society was actually changed by a class struggle. Thus, the materialist view of history has proved to be completely false.

Philosophy-of-Life View of History

Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) and Georg Simmel (1858-1918) asserted that history grows together with the growth of life. This view is called the “philosophy-of-life view of history.”

According to Dilthey, life is a human experience, and the experience is always expressed, and manifests itself in the external world. The manifes-tation of experience is the world of history and culture. Therefore, the cultural system of human beings, including religion, philosophy, art, science, politics, and law is the objectification of life. Simmel, similarly, asserted that history is the expression of life. Life is a stream that continues infinitely, and life’s “stream of becoming” makes history.¹⁴

According to the philosophy-of-life view of history, the pain and unhappiness of humankind, as recorded in history, are regarded as inevitable phenomena that accompany the growth of life. Accordingly, the question of how people could be liberated from such pain and unhappiness remained unsolved in the philosophy-of-life view.

Cultural View of History

In Europe before World War I, trust in the progress and development of history was basically unshakable. People believed that history was developing, centering on Europe. It was Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) who questioned this linear, Eurocentric image of history.

Spengler advocated a cultural view of history, asserting that the foundation of history is culture. He regarded a culture to be an organism, and thus considered, a culture is born, grows, and dies, and therefore its death is inevitable. In Western civilization, he found symptoms of this impending decline, which corresponded to the decline of Greece and Rome, and predicted the decline of the West. He advocated that, knowing in advance of this decline of the West, one should live in acceptance of this inevitable destiny, without falling into pessimism. There was a strong tie with Nietzsche on this point. Spengler’s view of history was deterministic.

Under the strong influence of Spengler, Arnold J. Toynbee (1889-1975) propounded his unique cultural view of history. According to Toynbee, the essential entity that constitutes world history is not a region, an ethnic people, or a nation, but a civilization. He considered that each civilization passes through the stages of genesis, growth, breakdown, disintegration, and dissolution.

The cause of the genesis of a civilization can be found in the human response to the challenges from the natural or social environment. Creative minorities foster a new civilization while guiding the masses of people, but when the creative minorities themselves eventually lose creativity, the civilization breaks down. Then, the creative minorities turn into the ruling minorities, and the “internal proletariat” within the civilization and the “external proletariat” surrounding it are born and separate themselves from the ruling minorities. As a result, society falls into confusion. After a while, however, the strongest among the ruling minorities establishes a “universal state,” bringing an end to the period of turmoil. Under the oppressive rule by the universal state, the internal proletariat nurtures a “higher religion” and the external proletariat (savages surrounding it) forms the “barbarian war-bands” (aggressive forces). Thus, the universal state, the higher religion, and the war-bands constitute three factions. Eventually the higher religion becomes a “universal church” by converting the ruling classes, but the universal state soon collapses, and together with it, the civilization meets its death.

After the first civilization has disappeared, the external proletariat invades and becomes converted to the higher religion, giving birth to a civilization of the new generation. The relationship of such old and new civilizations is called “apparentation-and-affiliation.” There were twenty-one fully grown civilizations in world history. All the present civilizations are in their third generation, and are separated into the four lineages of Christian (the West, Greek orthodoxy), Islamic, Hindu, and Far East civilizations. It can be said that the succession of civilizations through three generations, as advocated by Toynbee, correspond to the providential synchronism in three generations in the Unification view of history (the Age of the Providence to Lay the Foundation for Restoration, the Age of the Providence of Restoration, and the Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration).

It is characteristic of Toynbee’s view of history that it excludes deter-minism and asserts non-determinism and the theory of free will: how human beings respond to challenges depends on their free will. Therefore, the way in which history proceeds is never predetermined, but human beings can choose their future.

Toynbee clearly envisioned the City of God (Civitas Dei) as a future image of human history. Yet, based on his non-deterministic position, he considered that the choice of the “Kingdom of God” or the “kingdom of night” would depend on human free will. He wrote as follows:

Under a law of love which is the law of God’s own Being, God’s self-sacrifice challenges Man by setting before him an ideal of spiritual perfection; and Man has perfect freedom to accept or reject this. The law of love leaves Man as free to be a sinner as to be a saint; it leaves him free to choose whether his personal and his social life shall be a progress towards the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of night.¹⁵

Another characteristic of Toynbee’s view of history is the introduction of God into his view of history which, he says, modern society seems to have forgotten.

What do we mean by History? And the writer … would reply that he meant by History a vision-dim and partial, yet (he believed) true to reality as far as it went-of God revealing Himself in action to souls that were sincerely seeking Him.¹⁶

Traditional Views of History Seen from the Unification View of History

Having presented outlines of some traditional views of history, I will now compare them with the Unification view of history, and will attempt to show that the Unification view of history is able to unify traditional views.

First, there is the question whether history should be seen as a circular or as a linear movement. The Greek cyclical view and Spengler’s cultural view grasped history as a circular movement, whereas the Christian view, the progressive view, and the materialist view regard history as a linear movement. The philosophy-of-life view held that history develops with the growth of the stream of life. That view could be seen as a modification of the progressive view.

If history is grasped as a linear movement, we can have hope in the development of history, but we are left without a good understanding of the breakdowns and revivals in human history. On the other hand, when we regard history as a circular movement, nations and cultures become destined to perish, and we are left without any hope.

The Unification view of history grasps history from the two aspects of re-creation and restoration and understands its development as a spiral movement that has both aspects, namely, a linear forward movement and a circular movement. In other words, it views history as a spiral movement that has both the forward-moving nature of development toward a goal (realization of the original ideal world of creation) and the circular-movement nature of restoring the lost original ideal world through the law of indemnity by establishing providential figures.

Second, there is the question of determinism and non-determinism. Such views of history as the Greek fatalist view, which holds that history moves inevitably towards a given destiny, and Spengler’s cultural view, were deterministic. The providential view, which holds that history proceeds according to God’s providence, can also be regarded as deterministic. Hegel’s view, which holds that reason, or the world spirit, drives history, and the materialist view, which holds that history inevitably reaches the Communist society according to the development of productive forces, are also deterministic. All these views assert that some super-human power drives history. Under such types of determinism, the human being is no more than a being dragged along by history, and it is impossible to change history through efforts based on people’s free will.

On the other hand, Toynbee advocated non-determinism from his position of the theory of free will. That is, he asserted that the way in which history proceeds is chosen by people’s free will. In Toynbee’s non-deterministic position, however, the future image of history remains ambiguous, and therefore we are left without a sure hope for the future.

In contrast, the Unification view of history takes the position that the goal of history is determined, but that the process of history is not determined because the accomplishment of providential events requires the fulfillment of the human portion of responsibility in addition to God’s portion of responsibility. In other words, the Unification view of history has aspects both of determinism and non-determinism. This theory is called the “theory of responsibility.”

When we compare the traditional views of history with the Unification view of history, we find that the traditional views have each emphasized a portion of the Unification view, and that the Unification view is the most comprehensive, unifying view of history. Also, Toynbee’s view of history is similar in many ways to the Unification view of history. From a providential viewpoint, Toynbee’s view can be regarded as being a preparation for the appearance of the Unification view of history. That is to say, Toynbee’s view had the mission of serving as a bridge linking traditional views of history with the Unification view of history.

VI. Comparative Analysis of Providential View,
    Materialist View, and Unification View

Finally, I will present a comparison from various perspectives concerning the providential view and the materialist view, which are representatives of the traditional views of history, together with the Unification view. I will compare these three views of history on such points as their beginning, characteristics, driving force for development, laws of change in history, struggle, phenomena in the Last Days, events at the consummation of history, and the ideal world to come. This will help us deepen our understanding of the characteristics of each view of history.

1. Beginning of History

The providential view of history holds that human history began with the Creation and the Fall of the first human ancestors. Accordingly, human history started as a sinful history. In contrast, the materialist view of history holds that human history began when human beings separated from the animal kingdom, and that the first society was a primitive communal society. The Unification view of history, like the providential view, holds that history started with the Creation and the Fall of the first human ancestors and that human history began as a sinful history.

2. Characteristics of History

The providential view regards history as a history of salvation by God. The materialist view regards history as a history of class struggle. In contrast, the Unification view grasps history from the two aspects of re-creation and restoration.

3. Driving Force for the Development of History

According to the providential view, the driving force for the development of history is God’s providence. According to the materialist view, the development of the productive forces, which are material forces, is the driving force of history. In contrast, the Unification view holds that it was both God’s providence and the human portion of responsibility working in tandem that has moved history. According to the providential view, God moves all of history, and it therefore follows that even tragic events in history were allowed by God. From the standpoint of the Unification view, however, things did not turn out in accordance with God’s will because human beings did not fulfill their portion of responsibility. Thus, human beings are responsible for all the tragic events in history.

4. Laws of Change in History

The providential view merely asserts that the Kingdom of God, consisting of those who believe in God, and the kingdom of the world, consisting of those who obey Satan, fight each other, but that in the end the Kingdom of God will be victorious. It fails to offer any other law of history. On the other hand, the materialist view of history applies the materialist dialectic to history and presents its laws of history: Human beings in their social life enter into certain relations of production, which are independent of their will; the relations of production correspond to a given stage in the development of the productive forces; the relations of production are the basis, and the forms of consciousness are the superstructure; people’s social existence determines their consciousness; when the relations of production become fetters to the development of productive forces, revolution takes place; and so on. In contrast, the Unification view of history sets forth the laws of creation and the laws of restoration as the laws that have been at work in history.

5. Struggles at the Consummation of History

The providential view holds that a final struggle will take place between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world. The Bible says that an angel (Michael), who serves God, and Satan will fight in Heaven. The materialist view holds that a fierce struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat will take place in capitalist society, which is the last stage of class society in history. The Unification view holds that history is the struggle between good and evil, and that the struggle between good and evil at the consummation of history is the struggle between the democratic world and the Communist world, which takes place on a worldwide scale. In this struggle, the Communist world is subjugated by, and surrenders to, the free democratic world. Ultimately, both sides are reconciled and are united through the Messiah.

6. Phenomena of the Last Days

The providential view holds that extraordinary natural phenomena will take place in the Last Days, that is, at the consummation of human history. About such phenomena, the Bible says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Matt. 24:29). The materialist view holds that in capitalist society such phenomena as misery, oppression, slavery, degradation, and exploitation will increase and economic collapse and social confusion will arise. The Unification view holds that at the consummation of history existing values will be neglected and collapse-especially, sexual morality will sharply decline-and that profound social confusion will be widespreod.

7. Events at the Consummation of History

The providential view of history holds that the Last Judgment will take place in the Last Days. According to the Bible, the sheep will be placed at the right hand of Christ and the goats at the left (Matt. 25:33), and those on the right side, namely, the sheep, those who obeyed God, will be given blessings (Matt. 25:34), whereas those on the left side, the goats, namely, those who followed Satan, will be thrown into eternal fire (Matt. 25:41). The materialist view asserts that the prehistory of humankind comes to an end as the proletariat, the ruled class, overthrows the bour-geoisie, the ruling class, through violent revolution. The Unification view asserts that in the Last Days the good side and evil side will be separated on a worldwide scale, and that the good side will convey God’s truth and love to the evil side and naturally subjugate the evil side.

8. The History that Terminates

What comes to an end at the consummation of history, or what history comes to an end at the consummation of history? The providential view asserts that the sinful history of man will come to an end when the Kingdom of God wins victory over the kingdom of the world. The materialist view asserts that the history of class struggle comes to an end when the proletariat overthrows the bourgeoisie. The Unification view asserts that sinful history and the history of the struggle between good and evil will come to an end when the good side persuades the evil side to surrender naturally.

9. The Ideal World to Come

What will the world be like after history comes to an end? According to the providential view of history, the age of a new heaven and a new earth will come after the judgment of the last days is over (Rev. 21-22). It is not at all clear, however, what the age of the new heaven and the new earth will be like, specifically. The materialist view asserts that after the revolution, Communist society, which is the classless kingdom of freedom, will be realized. The Unification view of history asserts that the original ideal world of creation, namely, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, where all humankind will become one family, will be realized by receiving the Messiah, the true parents of humankind.

A summary of the three views of history in terms of the above-mentioned nine points is shown in table 8.2. We find, unfortunately, that the Christian view of history is rather mysterious and so irrational that it hardly has any persuasive power today. It simply asserts that God promotes His providence in history. Since concrete laws of history are not presented, however, it is not at all clear how He conducts His providence. It is also hard to understand that in the Last Days those people represented by the goats on the left side will receive eternal punishment. Further, it does not clarify what the new heaven and the new earth will concretely be like.

The materialist view of history, when compared with the Christian view of history, seems more realistic and rational, and therefore it carries more persuasiveness. Consequently, it has captivated the minds of many intellectual young people. At its height, nearly half the world came to be ruled under Communism. Today, however, it has become clear that Communist society would not be the kingdom of freedom nor an affluent society, but rather the opposite. Thus, the idea of a Communist society has perished from the earth. Originally, as Toynbee said, Communism appeared as an accusation or a prosecution from Satan’s side, because Christianity failed to fulfill its mission and suffered degeneration. That is why the materialist view of history had the external appearance of a Christian view of history which had been turned upside down. In this connection, Karl Löwith stated as follows:

What explains the idealistic foundation of historical materialism is … old Jewish messianism, prophetism, and the untiring Jewish persistence to absolute righteousness. The Communist Manifesto clearly has a feature of faith, the firm belief in “what one hopes for” in a reversed form of scientific prophesy. Thus, it is not at all accidental that the final hostility between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat corresponds to the faith in the ultimate conflict between Christ and the anti-Christ in the last period of history, and that the task of the proletariat resembles the world-historic mission of the chosen people. The role of the oppressed class for global salvation corresponds to the religious dialectic of the crucifixion and resurrection, and the transformation of the kingdom of necessity into the kingdom of freedom corresponds to the transformation of an old aeon into a new aeon. The process of history as described in The Communist Manifesto, reflects the well-known Judeo-Christian pattern of interpreting history as the events of salvation through the providence toward a significant final goal. The historical materialism is the salvation history in terms of political economy.¹⁷

The Unification view of history emerged as an elaboration of the Christian view of history; yet it is presented as a view that overcomes the mysteriousness and irrationality of the Christian view of history. It is a view of history that can successfully overcome the Communist accusation against Christianity. The Christian view of history asserts that the people in the kingdom of the world who obeyed Satan will receive eternal punishment. The materialist view of history asserts that the proletariat will overthrow the bourgeoisie by violent means. Yet, the Unification view of history asserts that the good side will induce the evil side naturally to surrender by means of true love and eventually will save all humankind by restoring the evil side to the good side. In the true ideal world all humankind must become happy. That is guaranteed by the Unification view of history.

The materialist view of history attacks the Christian view of history as being mere superstition or myth, and boasts, on the other hand, that it itself is a scientific view of history, with rational laws. Nevertheless, the laws presented by the materialist view of history have turned out to be nothing but arbitrary, pseudo laws, advocated for the sole purpose of rationalizing revolution. In contrast, the laws presented by the Unification view of history are genuine laws, fully supported by historical facts.