“Man represents God’s positive characteristics, and woman represents God’s negative characteristics. The Principle of Creation operates by separating into two objects the unified characteristics of the internal nature of God. He then harmonizes the two characteristics representing Him, and reunites them in a form that resembles His original internal nature. Man and woman each are born resembling one of God’s characteristics. Hence, the union of the only son and only daughter is the union of God’s positive and negative characteristics.” (CSG 9-83)
God contains both masculine and feminine characteristics in unified form. In creating Adam and Eve, He separated those characteristics into two beings — not to divide Himself, but so that their union would recreate His complete image visibly.
When a husband and wife become one:
- They become a harmonious union resembling God in His entirety
- “Two people, a husband and a wife, are a unified body that represents God in His entirety”
This is why Unification theology uses the term Heavenly Parent rather than Heavenly Father alone — the term acknowledges that God’s nature encompasses both.
The implication for marriage theology
Marriage in Unification thought is not primarily a social covenant or a means of procreation. It is the act of reuniting what God separated in creation — making visible the fullness of God that is otherwise divided between masculine and feminine.
This gives marriage a kind of sacramental weight: not just a holy act but a theophanic one. The couple, in their union, shows the world what God looks like in visible form.