Do Moonies consider themselves to be Christian, given that they follow Rev'd Moon instead of Jesus?

[XIII-Legion]

For a church to be considered a christian church, it must teach that christ is savior and teach their followers to follow Christ. But the Unification church doesn't teach such a core doctrine, which is essential and fundamental for a church to be considered christian.

But instead, Moonies are told that Reverend Moon is their savior; and they've been taught to follow Moon instead of Jesus.

So by definition, Moonies cannot be regarded as christian at all due to the fact they worship Sun Myung Moon instead of Jesus.

But what are your thoughts on this?

 

[The Adept]

...

But instead, Moonies are told that Reverend Moon is their savior; and they've been taught to follow Moon instead of Jesus.

So by definition, Moonies cannot be regarded as christian at all due to the fact they worship Sun Myung Moon instead of Jesus.

But what are your thoughts on this?

My understanding of this south Korean cult is that they consider Moon to be the returned Christ.

'Church members regard Moon as the Second Coming of Christ,'

 

[AdamLove]

Moonies are told that Reverend Moon is their savior; and they've been taught to follow Moon instead of Jesus.

'Church members regard Moon as the Second Coming of Christ

The Adept is correct, we do believe Moon to be the second coming of Christ.

Legion, you are incorrect, we are not taught to follow Moon instead of Jesus, but rather in addition to.

To us, Jesus is the messiah, but so is Rev. Moon. Unfortunately Jesus was murdered and a new messiah (Rev. Moon) had to complete the mission that Jesus was sent to accomplish.

Much in the same way Jesus was a Jew, Rev. Moon is a Christian. This makes me a Christian too, but I am also a Unificationist.

I love Jesus just as much as the next Christian does; arguably more.

 

[John_Stewart]

"For a church to be considered a christian church, it must teach that christ is savior and teach their followers to follow Christ. "

That is debatable. One may believe in "Jesus" with or without believing he is either a messiah, savior, or prophet. "Christ" refers to one especially "anointed", but not necessarily anointed to be the savior of mankind. For example, in Isaiah 45:1, "Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed".

Is it sufficient to believe Jesus was "anointed", to qualify to be recognized as a "Christian"? For me, it is. But, as with adherents of all religions, those who believe differently are considered heretics and "not true believers."

While it is true that Moonies believe in Jesus in some way, I have met at least one religious Jew who claimed to believe in Jesus as a prophet. In addition, Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah ("Christ"), but both they and Christians do not like to refer to them (Muslims) as "Christian".

 

[ShivaFan]

I recall them in Oakland, California. They definetly were Christian, though I don't know a lot nor have I ever been to one if their temples or churches.

However, the only reason I am responding is, I recall a newspaper (current events and news, not religious) they would have for sale at the news stands at BART stations, and this was the BEST newspaper of all of them. Fantastic, way better than the Chronicle or Examiner. It became very popular, I think it is now national and in an internet version under a new name. It was the best. So I say Thanks Rev for a great newspaper!

 

[Daler]

I hung out with the Moonies back in 1974 in Berkeley. Wow! What a long strange trip its been...
They had this thing that there was Adam, Jesus, and Moon.
All the talks were one way.
They weren't comfortable with questions, always putting them off, then going through the same repeated indoctrination routine.
They also practiced this thing they called "Heavenly Deception", rationalizing that one can lie about religion, or to gain new converts by whatever means, etc

 

[John_Stewart]

Speaking from personal experience,
Moonies coming from a Christian cultural background tend to continue to think of themselves as Christian, many of them. (Moonies from Buddhist cultural backgrounds often continue to consider themselves Buddhists, and from Jewish backgrounds to consider themselves Jews, as some have told me directly.)

Even some of those who no longer really think of themselves as Christians but as having gone to something beyond (better than) Christianity, have said they are Christian for the sake of communication with people they believe would reject them and not even listen to what they have to say, if they denied being Christian. Adherents of a few other religions also do this.

The same process is evident when Moonies have said they "follow Jesus" as well as - or as I have heard in a couple of cases - more than, they follow Rev. Moon. Almost all Moonies follow Rev. Moon - and now Mrs. Moon or one of their children, much more than they follow Jesus. If they were forced to choose between a commandment of Jesus or one from True Parents, or if actions urged by True Parents were in conflict with the teachings and life of Jesus, most if not all Moonies of my acquaintance, would not hesitate to follow the Moons.

I do not say this as criticism, but as description, It's the way it is. I do not fault them for it, any more than I fault Christians for choosing to follow Jesus even when his teachings are in conflict with those of Moses, or Muslims for choose to follow Muhammad even when his teachings are in conflict with those of Jesus. What I would fault would be a person's insincerity or dissimulation (lying) for the sake of avoiding verbal criticism or social ostracism.

 

[jreedmx]

The question was "Do followers of Moon consider themselves to be Christian?"

In order to answer that you have to define what a christian is. When Jesus was walking the earth there were no Christians, only followers and the theology was developed later after His death by people trying to figure out the nature of the relationship between God, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and us. When the followers of Jesus were being questioned by some representative of the Jewish authority some leader responded that you should just watch what happens to them. If they are of God then they will prosper, and if they are not then they will decline.

I am currently an ex-member after being in the group for twenty years and meeting my wife in it, and now have become what I would define loosely as a progressive Christian. I didn't consider myself a Christian when I was in the community - in fact we received so much persecution from Christians that I considered them an enemy. Even so, we were always trying to reach out to them as we considered them to be part of Jesus' foundation and central to Gods providence. They tended to be theologically elitist, and just not thinking at all. There was a fundamental lack of care and tremendous self righteousness on those peoples part, and they persecuted us badly.

Christianity is starting to evolve into a newer form - another reformation where the focus is going from the church toward individual spirituality and unless Christians go with it then I fear it will continue to decline. The Christianity of hundreds of years ago does not really fit with the experience and the standard of people that live today and will live in the future. I think God is working in amazing ways to help us develop and I believe works in many ways to reach out to people. Like streams leading to the bigger ocean, bringing everything together in the larger picture.

John Reed