Love and Beauty, Good and Evil, Righteousness and Unrighteousness

When two entities, discrete manifestations of God’s dual characteristics, form a common base and seek to unite as the third object partner to God and establish a four-position foundation, they will engage in give-and-take action.

In accomplishing this, the emotional force that the subject partner gives to the object partner is called love, and the emotional force that the object partner returns to the subject partner is called beauty. The force of love is active, and the stimulation of beauty is passive.

In the relationship between God and human beings, God gives love as the subject partner and human beings return beauty as object partners. In the relationship between a man and a woman, the man is the subject partner, giving love, while the woman is the object partner, returning beauty. In the universe, people are the subject partners who give love to the natural world, and the natural world returns beauty as an object partner.

However, when the subject partner and object partner become completely one in harmony, love is found within beauty and beauty is found within love. This is because when a subject partner and object partner become one in a circular movement, the subject partner sometimes acts as an object partner, and the object partner sometimes acts as a subject partner. In interpersonal relationships, the beauty that a subordinate returns in response to the love of a superior is called loyalty, and the beauty that children return in response to the love of their parents is called filial piety. The beauty that a wife returns in response to the love of her husband is called fidelity.

The purpose of love and beauty is to enable two wholesome beings, springing forth from God, to establish the four-position foundation and realize the purpose of creation. By sharing love and beauty with each other, they join in harmonious oneness, becoming the third object partner to God.

Next, let us investigate the nature of God’s love. Had Adam and Eve attained perfection, each becoming a substantial object partner to God resembling one of His dual characteristics, they would have joined as husband and wife and raised children in a godly family. In so doing, they would have experienced three kinds of original love with their three object partners: parental love, conjugal love and children’s love. (The love of the first object partner, the love of the second object partner, and the love of the third object partner.) Only then would they complete the three-object purpose and form the four-position foundation.

This would be the fulfillment of their purpose of creation. God’s love is the subject to the various kinds of love flowing through the four-position foundation.

Therefore, God’s love is manifested through the various loves of the three object partners. God’s love is the underlying force which breathes life into the four-position foundation.

Accordingly, the four-position foundation is the vessel of perfect beauty through which we can receive and enjoy the fullness of God’s love. It is also the home of perfect joy and the wellspring of goodness. Upon this ground, the purpose of creation is complete.

An act or the result of an act is considered good when it fulfills God’s purpose of creation. This takes place when a subject partner and object partner unite through the harmonious and spirited give and take of love and beauty, become the third object partner to God, and form the four-position foundation. On the other hand, an act or its result is called evil when it violates God’s purpose of creation by forming a four-position foundation under the dominion of Satan.

For example, when an individual realizes God’s first blessing and fulfills his true purpose, the actions to this end are good and the individual is good. These actions involve the free-flowing give and take of love and beauty between the mind and the body so that they unite in the way of God and form the individual four-position foundation.

When Adam and Eve achieve the second blessing by building a family that realizes God’s purpose, their actions to this end are good, and the family they form is good.

These actions include joining as a couple in the way of God through the harmonious and passionate sharing of love and beauty, bearing and raising children, and thus establishing the family four-position foundation.

Moreover, when a perfect individual achieves the third blessing, the actions to this end are good and all things that he nurtures are good. By relating with the natural world as his second self and by becoming completely one with it, a union is formed which becomes the third object partner to God, thus constructing the four-position foundation of dominion.

Conversely, when a person forms a four-position foundation under the bondage of Satan and realizes a purpose contrary to God’s three blessings, this act or its result is called evil.

Righteousness refers to that quality in a person which leads him to pursue goodness and further its purpose. Unrighteousness refers to that quality in a person which leads him to pursue evil and further its satanic purpose. A righteous life is absolutely necessary for the attainment of goodness.