Laying the foundation for peace at 'Religious Leader Peace Center'... Contrary to the Middle East conflict

Laying the foundation for peace at 'Religious Leader Peace Center'...

to the Middle East conflict

▎ Resolving religious divisions through dialogue and cooperation and and creating hope 

▎ The first special lecture on the book of Revelation held in Korea for pastors earlier this year became the first step

▎ As of 2024, 632 students from each country are taking classes... Spreading influence in Cambodia and India

The war between Israel and Hamas is spreading across the Middle East. Conflicts and wars triggered by religion continue around the world.

On the other hand, in this situation, the foundation of peace is also being laid. A hopeful figure is being created, spreading a culture that religious leaders from each country gather to exchange and cooperate.

Various religious leaders, including Buddhism, Christianity, Sikhism, Hinduism, and Islam, are gathering together to resolve religious divisions. They are producing concrete results by creating a culture of peace based on the spirit of harmony, coexistence, and mutual respect.

The center of such a peace culture is 'Religious Leader Peace Center (hereinafter referred to as the Peace Center)', one of the international cooperation initiatives of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. The Peace Center was the beginning of the first special lecture on the book of Revelation held in Korea for pastors from February 20 to 23 as part of a biblical exchange program for religious leaders.

In the special lecture, a total of 80 religious leaders from 10 denominations from 27 countries attended with the goal of achieving peace, gathering together, understanding and harmonizing with each other.

They agreed that "in order to eliminate disputes between religions and promote mutual cooperation, time is needed to read and understand other scriptures of other religions" and had time to take and discuss special lectures on the Bible's Revelation.

A four-day journey of exchanges of scriptures went through in which various religious people, including Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Confucianism, harmonized in one place to find the truth and share wisdom.

A Buddhist leader who attended the meeting said, "At this site, I tasted the miracle that different religious leaders smiled happily, held hands, put their arms around each other's shoulders, and truly became one. If any religious leaders come and participate at least once, their thoughts will change enough to regret not participating earlier.".

In the wake of the religious leader's Bible exchange program, the establishment of a more advanced "peace center" in a systematic form was achieved. Religious leaders are conducting programs to understand Christianity through the Bible and to bring about interreligious dialogue and cooperation.

The unique scriptural curriculum that explores the truth while respecting the doctrines and worldviews of each religion promotes an understanding of the human nature pursued by religion. As of 2024, 632 religious leaders are participating in the program.

In addition, among the religious leaders who took the first term of the Peace Center, several people have come up with plans to exchange scriptures and implement them between religions in their home countries.

For example, on June 29, the "2024 Cambodian Religious Peace Vision Forum" was held at the Chak Angre Krom Pagoda Temple. The event was attended by 120 monks and instructors, evangelists, and 30 church members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

This place is characterized by the monks who took the course at the Peace Center taking charge of planning, inviting personnel, and operating the event. It is also encouraging that the students voluntarily paid for all the expenses. The students' representatives gave lectures on what they had learned and led the response.

Since then, 104 newly attended monks have signed a "Scripture Exchange Commitment" and promised to participate in the opening of the center in the future.

Monk Sok Bunthoeun, the organizer of the forum, said, "The beliefs of each religion are often considered inviolable to each other, but if you look closely at the basic teachings of most religious scriptures, the main content is to reveal the truth and build love, peace, harmony, and respect. Therefore, interreligious dialogue must be made based on the scriptures of each religion, and the process of learning each other's scriptures and exploring the truth must be included.".

On May 24, the "Shincheonji Religious Peace Center" held a signboard hanging ceremony in Nagpur, India. This was opened by a Buddhist leader, the first student of the Peace Center, in the hope that various religious leaders would interact with words in his office.

Since then, it has actually functioned as a venue for exchanges between local religious leaders, with events called "interreligious exchanges to build peace."

In response to the spread of peace centers led by religious leaders from each country, an official of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus said, "Peace is a universal mission that requires the cooperation of all believers. By promoting dialogue based on mutual understanding and respect, we will be able to achieve sustainable peace in the global village by going beyond preconception and cooperating together.".