Plenary Address: Tai Kim IC02
…delivered at a brisk pace…
Ahn-yung-ha-seo! And good morning! Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the kind introduction, and thank you to the Fellowship for your great work, and support, and for giving me the opportunity to speak this morning… I am thrilled and honored to be here…
And as you have heard I am Rev. Tai Kim… but more importantly… I would like to introduce another Korean-American man… who I know rather well…
This man’s parents did not believe in God. His father was an atheist and his mother was a Buddhist. When this man attended college, he had several opportunities to become a Christian but he rejected those chances because he could not believe Jesus’ resurrection. Whenever he debated the Bible, he always argued against it. He believed in Science… not God.
After his military service, his frustration began to grow… because he could not find the purpose of his life… He began to think that he was in the hopeless world of confusion and darkness. But one day, he sat at his desk and suddenly, strange ideas… about Jesus resurrecting in people’s minds… entered his train of thought… perhaps his former thinking had somehow prepared him for this moment… but suddenly he came to believe profoundly in God… from that moment on. And eventually, he began attending weekly church services.
Then this man emigrated from Korea to the United States. During his difficult transition, he was sustained by his new belief in God. He wanted to thank God for sending Jesus and was willing to commit his life to the growing understanding and joy that he had experienced. During this time, he promised himself that he would become a minister no matter what happened.
In the early 90’s, he abandoned a promising career in the computer field and attended a Theological Seminary. While there, he had many questions about the Bible. And he expected to get every answer from the seminary life. Some of his questions were like these, and perhaps like yours:
“Is science the result of God’s blessing or God’s curse? Meaning: does God want science to be developed or not?”
When Cain left Adam and Eve after killing Abel and saying that someone would kill him. “Who was that someone that he mentioned?”
“Are the people of different colors all children of Noah?”
Abraham met Melchizedeck in Genesis. “Who was he? What kind of being was he? And are there any other documents about him?”
Are any other recordings of the history of Jesus besides the New Testament of the Bible.
The concept about the kingdom of God and the world of after death was a puzzle to him…contributing to his next question.
“Are angels real? And, are there any other heavenly beings?”
And so, he had all these questions along with many others filling up all the room in his head… and there was a greater problem… There was no one to answer all his questions!
He searched for answers in books, from professors, and several ministers… but they were all as clueless as he was. But despite his frustrations… this man’s interest with the universe and its relationship to God… drove him onward.
One day, he made a friend in class named Won Myong Lee. The two of them developed a great friendship and discussed the questions that were building up in their minds. In December of 1994, Won Myong told this man about a strange English book written by celestial beings that he had heard about. These beings were not angels, not human, not ministers, nor prophets. However, it mentioned things about after death and about the universe and science.
And so this man became extremely curious about this book and the first thought that came up into his head was, “What is it? I want to read it!” And so, he ran (I mean drove) to Barnes & Noble and bought that book. It was, of course, the Urantia Book.
At first, he and Won Myung were very concerned about that tome. It was a strange book and there were very curious contents in it… For a brief time they even wondered if its source was evil… And so… over the course of six months…they read it completely… all the while discussing its strange content.
During this time… they came to come to the conclusion that it was… what it claimed to be… a new revelation of God…
They reached this decision because of the fact that the book was consistent from the beginning to the end. Cover to cover. It was balanced… And no human’s name got honor through it….
But best of all…… this man was able to find the answers to his most important questions.
And then… in the summer of 1995, this man came to know that there was a small Korean study group interested in spreading the good news who had begun its translation in the Fall of 1991. Won Myong went there and asked questions, found further answers, and met people with whom he could share views, perhaps enhancing the understanding of this unusual material by contributing the Asian mindset…
Not long after… the study group suggested that this man should translate The Urantia Book. At that time, half of Part 4, and a number of papers in Parts 1, 2 and 3 were already translated into Korean.
And so he began to translate the rest of the book from the fall of 1995. He started with Part 4 then Part 3 and Part 2 and finally Part 1.
An one glorious day this spring… this man announced its completion!!!.
Meanwhile…. in the fall of 2001, he learned of another study group in Seoul, Korea -- whose founding members had discovered the Urantia Book as a result of the 1996 Fellowship-sponsored International Book fair in Seoul, Korea and they were avidly studying its contents. He was very excited about this because he realized that there were several other Koreans who had already read and embraced the Urantia Book. Some of them are now editing his translation in preparation for the next edition.
Finally, in June of 2002, just 10 days ago… Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 were printed in an English-Korean 2-column format. A few samples are available for review in the International Lounge…
Now a days, the world is beginning to pay ever more attention to Asia – and not just because Korea did so well in the World Cup….I had to work in a comment somewhere about this!!!…
Of course, this current interest is primarily driven by its economic potential… but I can tell you this… I believe the Asian people will add immeasurably to the spiritual understanding of the Fifth Epochal Revelation!!! And further Asian translations are urgently needed… so we can perhaps, pro-actively influence their emerging cultures…
At the same time I would like to point out that South Korean’s are both reportedly… and in my experience… among the most spiritually-group-focused, as well as, the most sophisticated users of the Internet on the planet… and these facts need to be leveraged. By the way… South Korea is a small country geographically --- the size of New Jersey. But in total, there are over 75 million Korean-speaking people, in the Koreas, and throughout the world..
And so… I am ecstatic, and eager, to share these truths and these great answers… to those of Asian mind…who are seeking it… while expecting Korea to be the base from which this happens…throughout all Asia.
And we all thank the New York Society, its Translation Oversight Committee, and the many individuals who have supported the translation of the Urantia book into Korean… while we realize in some, unknown ways… the existence of this work will contribute not only to the spiritual growth of the Korean people… but to the spiritual fabric of the planet at large..
And while I have spent much time describing the growth and efforts of one man… this speech is much more about you.. and us together… and the opportunities we share… and taking the early steps towards a dream… even without understanding how it will be realized… at the beginning of this journey…
Thank you so much………
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