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 restoration.” 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.
1. Law of Correlativity
Every created being has within itself two elements which form a correlative 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 establishing 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.” 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.
5. 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 Communism, which is the third humanistic movement, are both inevitable.
6. 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 preparations 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 remarkable 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.” 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. 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. 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.
7. 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 responsibility.
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 confusion 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.