Christian Faith and the Marriage Blessing
Can a Christian receive the Marriage Blessing and still maintain their Christian faith?
The short answer to this question is yes — a topic UTS professors and faith leaders explored during a special online program streamed live Jan. 7. UTS President Dr. Thomas Ward shared opening remarks during the program which was hosted by UTS graduate Yoshie Manaka and featured two distinguished scholars.
“Paul Tillich, a theologian of theologians, made a very important distinction between God and symbols of God,” said Dr. Theodore Shimmyo, UTS president emeritus and professor emeritus of theology. “As we know, God is intangible and ultimate. But symbols of God — which are usually doctrines, rituals, and organizations — are tangible expressions of God that point to God, but they are not God Himself.”
Dr. Shimmyo explained that traditionally Christianity has made this clear distinction, noting that idolizing symbols as though they were the ultimate God is idolatry.
“Symbols can never replace God, so we have to be humble about them,” he said. “The Marriage Blessing by Father and Mother Moon might challenge Christians a little to go beyond their own symbols, but it would be a great occasion for them to truly experience God under His grace, for the essence [of the Marriage Blessing] is God’s sacrificial love as experienced by the founders in the same tradition of Jesus.”
Dr. Shimmyo said even Unificationists are encouraged to go beyond their symbols of God, quoting St. Paul in the Bible, who decried, “The written code kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6) Dr. Shimmyo also examined the principle of unity in diversity, stating that authentic diversity will result in authentic unity in our relationship with God.
With a case study of St. Augustine, Dr. Shimmyo further expounded that Christians can receive the Marriage Blessing and still maintain their faith, just as a baptism through any Christian denomination is efficacious if given in the authentic name of the Trinity.
ACLC National Co-Chairman Dr. Luonne Rouse, an adjunct assistant professor at UTS, said that faith is not bound by doctrines or rituals. “Christiantity, at the core, is the story of the human relationship with God through Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit,” he said. “We look at scripture, and take the history and tradition of any walk of life that you go through in this Christian experience, as well as our own experiences, and we reason through it.”
Dr. Rouse explained how the holy institution of marriage involves faith, commitment, hope, love, and a covenant with God between the couple. “The Word says that Christ and the Church are together,” he said. “Because of the crucifixion, Jesus was not able to marry... The bride of Christ is the Church. What does that say about us in our marriages? We keep marriage holy and sacred because God wants it that way.”
“The holy Marriage Blessing, then, should become our place of faith, hope, and love for all of the world, to return and restore to the place of God’s original design,” he said.
You can watch the full program from UTS here.