Organized By:
The European Observatory of Religion and Secularism (Laïcité)
in partnership with
Faculty of Comparative Study of Religion and Humanism (FVG)
CESNUR
CLIMAS (Bordeaux)
THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF SUN MYUNG MOON AND THE UNIFICATION MOVEMENTS IN SCHOLARLY PERSPECTIVE
Antwerp, Belgium
29-30 May 2017
Faculty of Comparative Study of Religion and Humanism (FVG)
Bist 164. 2610 Wilrijk (Antwerpen)
Tel : + 32 3 830 51 58
Program
May 29, 2017
9 a.m.: Registration
10 a.m.: Session 1 Greetings and Introduction
Chris VONCK (FVG) &
Tony VAN LOON (FVG/VUB)
Keynote Speech - The Unification Church: A Kaleidoscopic History
Eileen BARKER (London School of Economics)
11.15 a.m.: Session 2 Reverend Moon's Theology and Its Precedents
Chair: Donald WESTBROOK
The New God of Unificationism: Precedents and Parallels
Alexa BLONNER (University of Sydney)
The Welsh Connection – Pastor Joshua McCabe’s Role in the Unification Church’s Early History
George CHRYSSIDES (University of Birmingham)
12.15 p.m.: Lunch
2 p.m.: Session 3 The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification Since the Death of Reverend Moon
Chair: Bernadette RIGAL-CELLARD
Theological Developments in the Unification Church since the Death of Rev. Moon
Andrew WILSON (Unification Theological Seminary, Barrytown, New York)
Gender Politics in the Post-Sun Myung Moon Unification Movement
Michael MICKLER (Unification Theological Seminary)
Unification Political Theology: Past, Present and Future
Dan FEFFERMAN (Board of Trustees of the Unification Theological Seminary)
May 30, 2017
9.30 a.m.: Session 4 Hyung Jin Moon and the Sanctuary Church
Chair: George CHRYSSIDES
A Not So Divine Conflict: Tensions between True Mother and Hyung Jin Moon
James A. BEVERLEY (Tyndale Seminary, Toronto)
Reverend Moon’s Theology of the 3 Generations Kingship
Richard PANZER (Unification Sanctuary)
Only One God: The Debate on God as “Heavenly Father” vs. God as “Heavenly Parents” in the Contemporary Unification Movement
Kerry WILLIAMS (Unification Sanctuary)
11 a.m. Coffee break
11.15 a.m.: Session 5 Reverend Moon’s Prophetism and Its Post-Charismatic Fate
Chair: Massimo INTROVIGNE
Post-Charismatic Outcomes of New Religions: Themes from Unificationism, Mormonism, and Scientology
Donald WESTBROOK (University of California, Los Angeles)
The Prophetism of Sun Myung Moon and the Means-End Rationality
Régis DERICQUEBOURG (FVG and Group of Sociology of Religion and Secularism, CNRS, Paris)
12.30 p.m.: Lunch
2 p.m.: Session 6 Schisms in the Unification Church and the Case of the Family Peace Association (FPA)
Chair: Chris VONCK
The Dynamics of the Schisms and the Birth of the Family Peace Association
Massimo INTROVIGNE (CESNUR, Torino, Italy)
FPA and the Controversy on the Unification Movement Scriptures
Jongsuk KIM (Institute of Korean Messianic Movement)
The Family Pledge and the Family Peace Association
Mark BRAMWELL (Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences)
Respondent: Youngjun KIM (Family Peace Association)
4 p.m.: Coffee break
4.15 p.m.: Session 7 The Globalization of the Unification Movement
Chair: Régis DERICQUEBOURG
The Unification Church in Germany
Gerhard BESIER (Sigmund Neumann Institute, Berlin)
Kidnapping and Deprivation of Freedom for the Purpose of Deconversion in Japan
Willy FAUTRÉ (Human Rights Without Frontiers, Brussels)
5 p.m.: Conclusion
