On January 19, 2019, The 2nd HWPL Gwangju Jeonnam Branch’s ‘Religious Dialogue Table’ was held in Gwangju, Korea. The lecturer Lee of the Shincheonji church, the pastor Gang of the Presbyterian Church and the pastor Gi of the Presbyterian Church discussed very important things in the Bible for religious reconciliation. And other two pastors attended this dialogue. The dialogue table was exciting from the start, and the citizens were all focused on this moment with their desire for peace.
Let me introduce you briefly about the HWPL. The Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), an international NGO affiliated with the UN DPI and ECOSOC, continues peace and public-interest projects to provide peace education for the end of war and peace. And the World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP) Office of HWPL gathered 2,500 religious leaders for religious reconciliation. The religious leaders including Christianity, Confucianism, Sikhism, and others, are participating in 200 cities.
In Korea, the WARP Office was operated in Seoul, Incheon and Gwangju through the Religious Dialogue Table of Seoul Station. Their purpose is not to reason for the fallacy of doctrines, but to practice the love of Christianity.
The host of the WARP Office said “Interest in peaceful reunification in 2019 is rising. As the times go by, more and more pastors are taking steps and joining in for peaceful dialogue. Now, religious people should try to leave peace as a legacy for future generations. Religious people should be able to discuss right and wrong and pass on beautiful culture to future generations.”
Theme 1 : “When is the last times? What will be the sign of the end of the age?” (NIV)
The topic of the dialogue is two things at a time and each one is given seven minutes.
The pastor Gang of the Presbyterian Church said “I think the last times is ‘when the war on the land is over’. The sign of the end of the age is that each one beat oneself. It is the war. We should abandon jealousy, envy, jealousy, arrogance and greed. Furthermore, I believe that this debate culture is God’s desire. We have to be one, spiritually, beyond the denominations.”
Regarding this, the pastor Gi of the Presbyterian Church said “This Dialogue Table is where other people learn what is good and throw away the wrong thing by revealing what we know. The English Bible refers to ‘the last times’ as ‘days’. So, it is not one day. The last times are many days. We should look at the original Bible, such as the English Bible and Greek version. The era we live in is the ‘end of the age’. It’s a matter of how much we feel. I always lives with care, because I don’t know when Jesus will come.”
The lecturer Lee of the Shincheonji church said “Most of the world’s people and pastors who misunderstand the Bible are saying that ‘the last times’ is the end of the world. Jesus said on Matthew 22:29 that “you are in error because you do not the Scriptures or the power of God.” As God said in the Bible, the last times is to judge the corrupt generation and create a new one when one era is corrupt. The signs of the end of the age are detailed in Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians 2 and The Book of Revelations of St. John. In order to know the signs of the end of the age, we must know who the rebels predicted in the Bible are and who the man doomed to destruction are.”
The theme 2, “Which two kingdoms will fight in the end of the age in Chapter 24 of the Gospel of Matthew?” (NIV) was followed.
The 2nd HWPL Gwangju Jeonnam Branch’s Religious Dialogue Table
Lastly, the host of the WARP Office said “Do you know ‘Butterfly Effect’? A small difference makes a big difference. Our gathering at this time can be a starting point for peace in the world as well as for peace in religion. The God is the God of peace and the God of life. As the bible says, we, who believe in God today, should do the work of peace. Let’s become the messengers of peace and establish a beautiful culture of faith in which we communicate peacefully with each other in peace.”
And finally, the panels are saying how they feel. The pastor Gang said “I think this meeting is really beautiful and God is with us. Korean pastors who are watching this must repent. We, pastors, must really try to lead believers to God.” The pastor Gi said “We must all abandon our vested interests and come before Jesus. And we should welcome Jesus. Few people can throw away their own. We must do it.”
Lastly, the lecturer Lee said “Why is the Book of John’s Important? The Revelation 22:18-19 said ‘If anyone adds something or takes words away from this book, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.’ You should know through the Bible what kind of shepherd I believe. And if it’s done, I want you to go and check and believe.”
One citizen said “It is amazing that the pastors from different denominations can meet and communicate with each other about bible and peace. I think peace and harmony of religions can be achieved as we continue to do this work.”
The WARP Office is active all over the world. For example, The 4th HWPL Intercontinental Online WARP Office Meeting was held on 8th of Dec, 2018. If you want to know more, read my posting, below.
Official: http://hwpl.kr/en/initiative/allianceOfReligions
Many other info : http://hwpl.kr/en/news
As growing attention by the inter-Korean summit, the wind of peace is blowing all over the world. It is to be followed by the highly anticipated North Korea-US summit. In Sweden, there is also peace movement by Korean international NGO. On May 14, the Religious Leaders Conference was held with participants from Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. Its purpose is to discuss the further development of inter-religious dialogues for peace-building.
Organized by the International Peace Youth Group (IPYG) affiliated with HWPL, the “Positive Change for Tomorrow” was held at the Nobel Museum on May 15. It is to recall the history of peaceful exchanges between Korea and Sweden, from the time when the Swedish Red Cross Field Hospital was dispatched during the 1950s Korean War to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) in 2018.
As the international community is paying keen attention to the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula like the 2018 inter-Korean summit and the Korea-U.S. summit, HWPL has called for the realization of peace on the Korean Peninsula based on the civil society’s network, including youth and women throughout the world.
