December 2012

The Third Eve

December has been busy.  Another image of Eve was created and put into all of the DP Chapter 1 videos (videos 8, 16, 18, 21, 26, 27, 29 and 30).  The 'makeover' will continue into the other chapters as well. The third version of Eve appears on the right in the first picture below. The first eve comes from the renaissance painter Durer.  This initial Eve has been modified twice now.

I was hoping December would be the release date for the DP Outreach PowerPoints but now with the new third Eve, it seems unlikely (the story of my life!). 

Why the new Eve?  Chapter 2 has used various mismatched pictures of Eve from different paintings.  This is part of the Illustrated DP PowerPoint legacy.  I felt it was time to be more consistent.  It was also part of my effort to widen the gap of distinction between my work here and from the past Illustrated DP PowerPoint (FFWPU).  In the next picture below, you can see three new images of Eve that look fairly similar and these will be used in the Chapter 2 PowerPoints-videos.

 

In DP Outreach, some biblical people like Jesus and John look more realistic and that is because I used real photographs as the source material.  With Adam and Eve on the other hand, I want to maintain an impression of a painting for a specific reason: Eve has uncovered breasts.  For most viewers, uncovered breasts are acceptable in painting but not photographic form on the internet.

DP Outreach vs. Illustrated DP

Several years ago, I worked at FFWPU-USA in the education dept.  I was the PowerPoint specialist for the Illustrated DP PowerPoint.  Although there is an initial similarity between the two, my four years of daily investment into these PowerPoints-videos have made stark contrasts.

For example, the Illustrated DP has 11 slides compared to more than 80 slides in the DP Outreach PowerPoint for the same section (see the comparison below).

Another difference between the two is how Chapter 1 deals with Adam and Eve. 

In the earlier Illustrated version, it was reasoned that the Adam and Eve story needlessly complicated the message.  Illustrated wanted to focus on God's Purpose of Creation for us in the present.  The story of Adam and Eve was controversial and most people were not ready to consider it as an historical event: evolution and a first pair of human beings didn't seem to harmonize. 

Consequently, there was only one picture in Chapter 1 showing Adam and Eve.  It was in section 5 about the Direct Dominion of God. DP Outreach will have 26 slides with images of Adam and Eve in its Chapter 1.

Aligning itself closer to the Exposition of the Divine Principle approach,  DP Outreach will explore God's unchanging eternal plan for the first human beings as well as today.  We will learn early in Chapter 1 that the beautiful articulate teachings expressed there were not embodied by early Man.  Instead, there was a curse and a division between the ideal and reality. 

Below are two samples of Adam & Eve in DP Outreach, Chapter 1.

Adam and Eve first appear as serious discussions in section 2.  DP video 14 discusses our first human ancestors.

     

High Definition

The DP Outreach videos on vimeo.com/unification are being upgraded to high definition.  So far, all of Chapter 1 is upgraded.   

Video 39: Motivation of the Human Fall

This video was recently updated as part of my preparation for marketing the DP Outreach PowerPoints.  There were two notable modifications that go beyond the Divine Principle itself.  It included an apologia (a reasoned defense) and a commentary on the DP worldview.

The Apologia
In this video, I've included the controversy surrounding the name 'Lucifer.'  This name is used throughout the DP but it has a weak link to Satan's original name -and some Christians use this 'weak link' to discredit the DP. 
The Commentary
Some biblical creationists believe all humankind were in Adam and thus, actively and willfully sinning together with Adam.  They use this questionable reasoning to explain why all fallen humanity rightly deserve God's wrath and punishment.  I took issue with this and argued against the belief that God is equally punishing us all, together with Adam and Eve.

 

Role of Angels

The above quote is in DP video 39.  It comes from 2.1 in Exposition (page 62).  I changed the word, 'retainers' to 'staff' which is a more common word.  The word retainer means 'adviser'.  Did the angels advise God?  Hmmmm.....

The idea that angels helped create the world is not a traditional Christian stance.  Christian tradition usually limits the role of angels to worshiping and praising God. (Nehemiah 9:6).  I've always wondered why God would need angels to give him praise and glory; this seems like God has an ego and vanity. 

The Divine Principle challenges this traditional Christian role for the angels with the idea that God uses angels to create and to minister His Will to humankind.  Apparently, God who is omnipresent (everywhere) is somewhat limited by being invisible and without a corporeal body.  Thus, created beings living inside the created space-time continuum seem necessary as God's agents, having a 'hands on' role to interact and intervene in the created cosmos.

God still wants to dwell inside the space-time continuum but He apparently decided the best way to do this is through the mind and heart of human beings who would be his 'external form' or bodily self; we are to be God's temple and dwelling place. 

Biblical Creationists who believe God is all-powerful will have to ponder the paradox of whether such a God (who can apparently do anything) can put limits upon Himself.  If he can't, then He is not all-powerful (omnipotent) -and if he does, then in what respect can we still regard God as omnipotent? 

Is it a Sin to "become like God?"

Video 39 states this and it comes from Exposition of the Divine Principle (2.2.1, page 64). Some Christians believe the desire to be like God is sinful: it is an expression of pride, ego and arrogance.  They reason this way in part because they suppose any created entity does not have the unbegotten holy divine substance from which God or Jesus originated. Unbegotten means uncreated (always existed). 

The Divine Principle counters this by saying all created entities "are discreet projections" of God original internal nature and external form.  We are from the unbegotten source like Jesus (but of course we now have bondage and a curse upon us unlike Jesus). 

Like Jesus, Adam and Eve did not have curse in the beginning.  In other words, they had what it takes, to be like God. 

The key word here is 'like.'  Eve wanted to become 'like' God.  It is not usurping God's position.  God gave Adam and Eve the mandate to become fruitful which is sharing what God feels emotionally, sharing God desires and acting upon this mindful pursuits in behavior.  This is a holy pursuit and should not be reckoned as arrogant or prideful. 

Her error was wanting the benefits of being fruitful before becoming like God.