The Bible's Underlying Principles
The Bible's Underlying Principles: 214 Bible questions answered in depth, explaining scripture through the principles that run underneath the text.
These answers explain the Bible in the light of the Divine Principle, the teachings of Reverend Sun Myung Moon.
These are the teachings of The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. It aims to establish a world centered on God through the ideal of True Love and True Families. Those interested can google them to learn more.
All answers in this library are written and reviewed in English.
Sources and further reading
- The Holy Bible, King James Version — Scripture quoted and referenced throughout the answers.
- The Divine Principle (full text) — The complete text of the Divine Principle, the teaching of Reverend Sun Myung Moon that these answers explain.
- Unification texts library (tparents.org) — Large online library of Unification texts, sermons and collected speeches, including the Cheon Seong Gyeong.
- Short video lectures in English — Playlist of short English video lectures presenting these same principles.
Additional resources
Questions by topic
Trinity & God's Nature
- What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity?
- What is the Trinity and how can God be three persons yet one God?
- If Jesus is God, why did He pray to the Father?
- Is the Trinity doctrine found explicitly in the Bible?
- What is the nature and personality of God?
- How can Jesus be both fully God and fully man?
- How does spiritual rebirth occur through the Trinity?
- How is the Trinity meant to be formed?
- Is God a parent?
- Is God a God of glory, or suffering?
- How can a person achieve rebirth?
- Can God do whatever he wants, or realize people's wishes at any time?
Creation & Science
- How old is the Earth according to the Bible, and how do biblical timelines fit with history?
- Did God use evolution as His method of creation, and how does the fossil record fit in?
- Were the six days of creation literal 24-hour days?
- What is Give and Take Action and how does it relate to existence?
- What are the Three Blessings and how do they fulfill God's purpose of creation?
- What is the Four Position Foundation and why is it central to God's creation?
- What is the purpose of creation, and what was God's original ideal?
- What are Dual Characteristics and how do they reflect God's nature?
- Why is the creation groaning?
- How does God exist?
- How does give and take action matter in relationships?
- What is the universal prime force/energy, where does it come from, and how does it sustain all things?
- Why is evolution insufficient to explain the creation and the existence of life?
- What does the ideal world God originally intended look like in daily life, and how is it realized on earth?
The Fall & Original Sin
- What was the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?
- Why did God allow the Fall to happen, and why did He not intervene though He foresaw it?
- How did the Fall happen and what is original sin?
- How is original sin passed down through generations?
- Who is the serpent in the story of the Fall, and what role did it play?
- Why did the serpent cause the Fall?
- What was the Tree of Life mentioned in the Bible?
- Why must the fall be of a sexual nature if we look at the bible as a whole?
- Explain how the Spiritual Fall is of a sexual nature when Angels don't have a gender or sexual organs?
- What is fallen nature, and how is it removed?
- Why is chastity before marriage important?
- What is sin?
Stages of Growth
- What is the realm of God's direct dominion and how does God relate to us during this time?
- What is the realm of God's indirect dominion and how does God relate to us during this time?
- What are the 3 stages of growth, what happens during this time, and why was the Fall possible then?
Jesus & Salvation
- Is Jesus the only way to salvation?
- What does it mean to be saved or born again?
- How do we receive salvation - by faith or by works?
- Can a person lose their salvation?
- What happens to people who never heard about Jesus?
- What is the Gospel message in simple terms?
- Why did Jesus have to die for our sins?
- What is the significance of John the Baptist's role in Jesus' ministry?
- How does Jesus fulfill the role of Second Adam?
- What was Jesus' mission and why was crucifixion not God's original plan?
- Why is the second coming needed?
- Is a female counterpart necessary for salvation, spiritually and physically?
- Explain the meaning of 'What is bound on earth is bound in heaven, what is loose on earth is loose in heaven', and how does it relate to Jesus' mission and the benefit of redemption through the cross?
- Why could Satan tempt Jesus in the wilderness, and what do the 3 temptations mean?
- Was Jesus supposed to marry?
- Why did Jesus resurrect for 40 days after his death?
- Explain the reason behind the "messianic secret".
- Is Jesus God?
- How did the failure of Zechariah's family and the Jewish leaders shape Jesus' course?
Restoration & Providence
- What is the purpose of human history in God's plan?
- What is God's plan of restoration, and how does He restore humanity after the Fall?
- Why did God's providence require multiple attempts through different central figures?
- What is indemnity and how does restoration through indemnity work?
- What is the Foundation of Substance and what is the Cain-Abel relationship?
- What are the parallel periods in providential history between Old and New Testament ages?
- What is the Foundation of Faith and who are central figures?
- What are the conditions of indemnity, and what types of conditions are there?
- What is the providence of restoration and the providence of salvation?
- What is the foundation for the messiah?
- How did the course to separate from Satan evolve throughout the different time periods of the Bible?
- What are conditions of flesh and spirit on the course of restoration?
- Why is the restoration of the human corpse required on the course of restoration?
- Explain the importance of life-threatening trials on the course of restoration, as it occurs in the bible several times.
- What was the significance of offerings in the Old Testament age?
- Why do specific numbers such as 40, 400, and 21 keep reappearing throughout biblical history?
- Who are True Parents in God's providence?
- Why was Abel's offering accepted and Cain's rejected?
- What is the model course for separating from Satan?
- Why did God require circumcision, and what does it signify in the restoration of the lineage?
Biblical Figures
- How did Moses' course contribute to God's providence of restoration?
- How did Adam's family contribute to God's providence of restoration?
- How did Abraham's course contribute to God's providence of restoration?
- How did the judges and kings of Israel contribute to God's providence of restoration?
- How did Noah's course contribute to God's providence of restoration?
- How did Isaac and Jacob's course contribute to God's providence of restoration?
- How did the prophets contribute to God's providence of restoration?
- How did the Israelites' wilderness course contribute to God's providence of restoration?
- What is the mother-son cooperation as it unfolds in the bible, and why is it important on the path of God's providence?
- Why was Abraham's offering so important, and how did his mistake lead to 400 years of slavery in Egypt?
- What is the meaning of Jacob's twenty-one years in Haran and his wrestling with the angel?
- Why did Moses striking the rock twice have such grave consequences?
Second Coming
- What is the Rapture and when will it occur?
- When and how will Jesus return?
- What is the Millennium and will it be literal?
- What are the Last Days, and what do they mean?
- What is the preparation period for the Second Advent?
- How should we understand the signs and symbols of the Second Coming?
- Why did Jesus ask if he will find faith on earth at his second coming?
- How do the time periods in the bible reveal the time when Christ will return?
- Where will Christ return?
- What are the conditions that must be met for a nation to be chosen to lead God's providence at the second advent?
- Why will the world not be able to kill the messiah at the second advent?
- Will the same Jesus who died 2000 years ago return physically, or will he choose someone to inherit his mission?
Heaven, Hell & Afterlife
- Is there purgatory or a second chance after death?
- What happens immediately after we die?
- What is Heaven like and who goes there?
- Is Hell real and how can a loving God send people there?
- How does the spirit world relate to the physical world?
- What is resurrection, and how does God carry it out?
- What is the role of earthly people in helping spirits in the spirit world?
- How does God judge us?
- How do true love and living for others determine our place in the spirit world?
- What role do ancestors play in our spiritual life?
- Will the earth really be destroyed?
- Is there an afterlife?
- How should we prepare on earth to transition well to the spirit world after our death?
- What are the form-spirit level, life-spirit level, and divine-spirit level in the process of resurrection?
- How can dead people resurrect themselves through the process of resurrection?
- How do we create heaven on earth and in the spirit world?
Spirit & Body
- What is the physical mind, and what is the spirit mind?
- How does our spiritual body grow compared to our physical body?
- What is the state of being 'dead' as referred to in the Bible?
- What is our real self, the body or the spirit?
Predestination & Free Will
- How do God's sovereignty and human responsibility work together in His providence?
- If God is all-knowing, how can humans have genuine free will?
- Does God predestine some people to salvation and others to damnation?
- Does predestination contradict the idea that God desires all to be saved?
Satan & Spiritual Warfare
- Who is Satan and where did he come from?
- Will Satan ultimately be destroyed?
- What is spiritual warfare and how do we fight it?
- Are demons real and can they possess people today?
- Can evil spirits also resurrect themselves through the process of resurrection?
Value & Purpose
- How do we determine what has value and what doesn't?
- What is the original position of human beings in the creation, including the angels?
- What is the value of human beings?
- How do we know what is true and what is false in relation to God?
Angels
Last Days Disasters
- What are the earthquakes, famines, and plagues in the Last Days?
- What is the judgment by fire in the Last Days?
- What is the great tribulation mentioned in the Last Days prophecies?
- What is the significance of the stars falling from heaven in the Last Days?
- What is the significance of the sun being darkened and the moon not giving its light in the Last Days?
World History & Providence
- Will Jesus return to the Israelites?
- How does God prepare the world to receive the Messiah at the first and second coming?
- It took 2,000 years for God to send Jesus since He found Abraham, so is a similar timeframe needed for Jesus to return?
- Why did the World Wars occur?
- How did the Abel-type and Cain-type worldview evolve throughout history in relation to God's providence?
- What is Hebraism and Hellenism, and how did it evolve throughout history from the viewpoint of God's providence?
- What is the Abel-type and Cain-type worldview?
- Why is the division between North and South a central issue in God's providence today?
- What is the driving force of history?
True Love
Atheist Questions
- Why has religion caused so much harm, violence, and suffering throughout history?
- Where is the scientific or empirical evidence that God actually exists?
- Why doesn't God make His existence obvious to everyone if He wants us to believe?
- If science can explain natural phenomena, why do we need God as an explanation?
- If God created everything, who created God? Where did He come from?
- If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why does He allow evil and suffering in the world?
- With so many religions claiming to be true, how can we know which one is right?
Biblical Authority
- What makes the Bible different from other religious texts?
- Should the Bible be interpreted literally or figuratively?
- Who decided which books belong in the Bible?
- Is the Bible inerrant and infallible?
- Why should we believe the Bible is God's Word?
Old & New Testament
- Why is the Old Testament still relevant today?
- Do Christians need to follow Old Testament laws?
- Is the God of the Old Testament different from the God of the New Testament?
- Why did God command violence and genocide in the Old Testament?
- How does the Old Testament point to Jesus?
- What is the meaning of "no one pours new wine into old wineskins"?
Biblical Contradictions
- How do we explain apparent contradictions in the Bible?
- Why are there different Gospel accounts of the same events, and how reliable are they?
Historical & Scientific Issues
Prophecy & Fulfillment
- What are the Messianic prophecies and did Jesus fulfill them?
- Are we living in the end times?
- How do we interpret Biblical prophecy?
Paul vs Jesus
- Did Paul change Jesus' original message?
- Why should we trust Paul if he never met Jesus during His ministry?
- Why did Paul lament over sin?
Prayer & Worship
- How does prayer work and why does God sometimes seem not to answer?
- What is the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit?
- What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
Conscience & Temple
Grace & Law
- What is grace, how does it relate to law, and what does it mean to be under grace not law?
- Does God's grace mean we can sin freely?
Sanctification
Church & Denominations
- What is the role and purpose of the Church?
- What are the essential beliefs all Christians should hold?
Suffering & Evil
- What is the purpose of trials and tribulations?
- How can we trust God when bad things happen?
- Does God cause suffering as punishment?
- Why does God allow innocent people to suffer?
- Why do those who truly follow God live difficult lives, are persecuted, or usually have a bad public opinion?
- Why did Jesus say that the path leading to God is narrow, but the one leading to Satan is wide?
Marriage & Family
- What is God's design for marriage and family?
- What does the Bible say about same-sex marriage?
- What is the Biblical view of gender roles?
- Are man and women equal before God?
- What is the Holy Marriage Blessing?
Ethics & Morality
- How do we determine what is right and wrong, good and evil?
- What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
- What does the Bible say about abortion?
- Why should we avoid being in debt?
Other Religions
- How should Christians view Judaism?
- How should Christians view Islam?
- Is Christianity exclusive or inclusive?
Israel & End Times
- What is Armageddon?
- What is the Mark of the Beast?
- What is the Antichrist?
- What is the significance of Israel in God's plan?