Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church is a nonfiction book about the Unification Church

Unification Church

The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...

 and its founder and leader, Sun Myung Moon

Sun Myung Moon

Sun Myung Moon is the Korean founder and leader of the worldwide Unification Church. He is also the founder of many other organizations and projects...

. It was written by Frederick Sontag

Frederick Sontag

Frederick Earl Sontag was a professor of philosophy and author. He taught at Pomona College in Claremont, California from 1952 to 2009, retiring shortly before his death.-Life and academic career:...

, a professor of philosophy at Pomona College

Pomona College

Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...

 and a minister in the United Church of Christ

United Church of Christ

The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...

., and published by Abingdon Press

Abingdon Press

Abingdon Press is the book publishing arm of the United Methodist Publishing House which publishes sheet music, ministerial resources, Bible-study aids, and other items, often with a focus on Methodism and Methodists. Abingdon Press was begun in the early 1900s by The Methodist Church, and is...

 in 1977. Sontag spent 10 months visiting church members in North America, Europe, and Asia as well as interviewing Moon at his home in New York State. The book also provides an overview of Unification Church beliefs

Divine Principle

The Divine Principle or Exposition of the Divine Principle -in Korean, 원리강론/原理講論- is the main theological textbook of the Unification Church. It was co-written by church founder Sun Myung Moon and early disciple Hyo Won Eu and first published in 1966. A translation entitled Divine Principle was...

.

In an interview with UPI Sontag compared the Unification Church (founded in 1954) with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traces its current dispensation beginnings to Joseph Smith, Jr. on April 6, 1830 in Western New York. Initial converts were drawn to the church in part because of the newly published Book of Mormon, a self-described chronicle of indigenous American...

 and said that he expected its practices to conform more to mainstream American society as its members become more mature. He added that he did not want to be considered an apologist

Cult apologist

The term cult apologist is used by opponents of cults and new religious movements to describe social scientists, religious scholars, and other persons who write about cults and new religious movements whose writings they consider as uncritical or not sufficiently critical. Scholars have referred to...

 for the church but a close look at its theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

is important: "They raise some incredibly interesting issues."