“Only begotten son” – “only begotten daughter”
In several public speeches, Hak Ja Han has used the expression 독생녀 (“only daughter”, “first-born daughter”, or “only begotten daughter”) about herself. A number of times when Mother Moon has spoken (in Korean), the expression has been translated into English as “only begotten daughter”. Some claim that may not be the best translation of 독생녀 as Unificationism teaches that all women are meant to become true daughters of God, and that Mother Moon is the first of many.
With the expression, she wants to emphasize that she is in a special position as she is one of the two persons required to realize the ideal of True Parents.
In traditional Christian teaching, Jesus is called “God‘s only begotten son”. As the Messiah, he was the first-born who was to save everyone else. In our time, the time of the second coming of the Messiah, Sun Myung Moon was appointed by Jesus to complete the messianic mission that Jesus began 2,000 years ago. Jesus realized God’s ideal as an individual, as God‘s son, or God‘s “only begotten son”.
Now is the time to realize God’s ideal not only on the individual level, but to expand the ideal to the family level, tribal level, etc. Therefore, the Messiah must marry and start a family. Hak Ja Han was blessed in marriage to Sun Myung Moon in 1960, and together with her husband, she shows the way for us all. She is thus in a saviour position as much as her husband is. She emphasizes that the Messiah is now not just a man, but a couple, as reflected in the expression True Parents, a couple who have realized what Adam and Eve originally should have achieved – God’s ideal of creation.
This is something Sun Myung Moon talked about a lot during his lifetime (especially the expression True Parents), but Hak Ja Han has especially emphasized that she is the true daughter of God, in the same way that the Messiah traditionally is understood to be the true son of God.
But she also emphasizes that sooner or later we must all become God‘s true sons and daughters and go through the required process. The Messiah (as a couple) thus shows the way for all people. Through True Parents we may be reborn and get rid of the original sin, which came into the world through humanity’s “false parents”, Adam and Eve.
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Text: Knut Holdhus
