Sun Myung Moon - New World Encyclopedia

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Sun_Myung_Moon
Future unification church leader Sun Myung Moon was born in North Pyeongan Province, which is now part of North Korea on January 6, 1920.
He was a cult leader whose followers became known as Monies which was consider3ed divisive to them.
Image: A family portrait of part of Rev. Moon's Family
Sun Myung Moon (문선명, 文鮮明), (February 25, 1920 (lunar: January 6, 1920) – September 3, 2012), was born in North Pyeongan Province, which is now part of North Korea. He founded the Unification Church (known formally as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, founded May 1, 1954, Seoul, Korea; with missions and centers in 185 countries) in 1954, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, August 1, 1996, and the Universal Peace Federation in 2005, in New York City. He is also well-known for holding, since 1960, Blessing Ceremonies, which are often called "mass weddings," and for founding The Washington Times newspaper in 1982.
Reverend Moon was a prolific speaker, his writings filling over 400 volumes, and his original religious teachings are published as the Exposition of the Divine Principle (1996).
More than just a religious leader, Moon founded and supported dozens of organizations to advance international understanding and build lasting peace in the world. A long-time opponent of totalitarian communism, Moon developed a systematic ideological critique and counterproposal to communism, which he propagated through the world in the 1970s and 1980s and which strengthened the resolve of anti-communist elements in numerous front-line states. Since the demise of the Soviet Union, he was an ardent supporter of reconstruction in post-communist societies and invested heavily in the development of North Korea. Other examples of his diverse humanitarian efforts include founding The Little Angels children's dance troupe as Korean cultural ambassadors, developing fish-based protein supplement to fight hunger and malnutrition, organizing numerous interfaith conferences to foster cooperation among religions, proposing the establishment an inter-religious council at the United Nations, and advocating a tunnel across the Bering Strait to unite the world's nations by an international highway.

Most Unification believers understand Reverend Moon to be fulfilling the mission of the promised "Second Coming of Christ." Also, together with his wife Mrs. Hak Ja Han (Moon) (한학자, 韓鶴子), believers understand them as the "True Parents" of all humankind. The latter ascription derives from the view that Reverend and Mrs. Moon are the first human beings to realize the "original ideal of creation," a responsibility originally given the first human ancestors, the biblical Adam and Eve.
Forms of address
Did you know?
Reverend Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, is often called "True Father" or "Father Moon" by his followers and other clergy
In the English speaking world, Sun Myung Moon is often referred to as "Reverend Moon," both by Unification Church members, and by the general public and the media. Unification Church members most often call him "Father" or "True Father." Some mainstream Christian clergy who have come to associate themselves with the Unification Movement took to calling him "Father Moon." Similar titles are used for his wife, Hak Ja Han (Moon), who is referred to as Mrs. Moon, and often called "Mother," or "True Mother," and again clergy working with the Moons have taken to calling her "Mother Moon."
Early life
Reckoning by the lunar calendar, by which many Korean people record their birthdays, Sun Myung Moon was born on January 6, 1920 (February 25, 1920 C.E.), in Sangsa-ri (상사리, 上思里), Deogun-myun (덕언면, 德彦面), Jeongju-gun (정주군, 定州郡), North P'yong'an Province (평안북도, 平安北道), Korea (now in North Korea), the fifth of eight children who lived past childhood in the family of Moon, Kyeungyoo (문경규, 文慶裕) and Kim Kyung-gye (김경계, 金慶継), who gave him the name Yongmyung (문용명, 文龍明). People from North P'yong'an Province are known for their strong and stubborn natures. Many important figures in the Korean Independence movement came from this area. As a young boy, Yongmyung was known for his strong sense of justice and for his reputation for tackling difficult tasks and sticking with them.


The birth home of Yongmyung Moon in North P'yong'an Province
In 1920, Korea was already under the control of Japan. Reverend Moon was born to a rural family. If he had lived even a few decades earlier, he very likely would not have had the opportunity to obtain a formal education, since education during the Joseon period (1392-1897) was available almost solely to sons of the Yangban, or noble class. It was the influence of Protestant, Christian missionaries, with missions in Korea starting from the late 1880s, that allowed for the expansion of educational opportunities to include all classes and including both both and girls. Attending the local sodang, or Confucian primary school, Moon's early years of study included learning to read and write the Chinese characters that were used for all scholarly works in that time. He was taught to master key works of Confucian and other classic literature. It was held that these texts contained the wisdom through which citizens in Confucian society learned how to live, especially how to relate to others. One of the most important elements in Confucian teaching is the view that no life exists in isolation from others, and that it is crucial to keep the proper relationships with the key persons in one's life, such as one's King, parents, siblings, children, spouse, and friends.
Religious life and call to mission
Confucian ethics had prevailed throughout the entire Joseon period, largely to the exclusion of Buddhism, Christianity, and other religions. Under some Joseon monarchs (especially in the early years), Buddhists and Catholic and Protestant Christians were severely persecuted and even killed. Only after the 1880s did it become been safe to practice Christianity in Joseon Korea. Many members of Sun Myung Moon's family became members of the local Presbyterian church, the same church that Sun Myung and his brother also began to attend (he was 11 years old at the time). Like many Christians in Korea at that time, Sun Myung Moon would have spiritual encounters with Jesus during prayer. He had a particularly dramatic encounter on Easter Sunday in 1935, that determined the direction of the rest of his life. In prayer on a hill near his home, he relates that Jesus Christ appeared to him and asked him to devote his life to the service of God and to take on the continuation of Jesus' mission of bringing salvation to the world. Reverend Moon reports having tried three times to reject this mission (realizing the hardship it would entail), but surrendered to Jesus' insistence on Jesus' third try.

After graduation from the sodang in 1938, Moon planned to become a teacher, and applied to the Normal School in Pyeongyang, but was rejected because he was colorblind. Instead, he traveled south to Seoul and entered the Kyeongsong Institute of Commerce and Industry, founded a few years earlier as part of the Japanese educational system installed in Korea by the Japanese government. (Japan governed Korea following Korea's annexation by Japan in 1910.)
Study and worship in Seoul
While a student in Seoul, Moon attended services at several churches, including one of the first Pentecostal churches in Korea. Later, he attended the Heuksong-dong congregation of the Jesus Church, a new church founded and organized by a local evangelist, Yong-do Lee. Evangelist Lee's ministry was filled with spirit, and sometimes his sermons would continue for four, six or even eight hours. Moon also served as a Sunday School teacher at the Myung Su Dae Church. Throughout his worship, prayer and studies, Sun Myung Moon's inner thoughts were constantly focused on how to accomplish what he had promised Jesus. He sought knowledge through nature, through his incessant study of the Bible, and through his prayerful "travels and encounters in the spiritual world." He studied the lives and teachings of saints and religious leaders, and read the Bible from cover to cover several times."
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