The Unification Church (AKA "Moonies") reject the absolute necessity of Christ's atoning death; they believe it to have been contingent. Notice the following from a recent book by one of their adherents on the topic of Joseph Smith:
No one is
disputing the fact that Jesus did have to give his life on the cross and atone
for our sins with his blood. The issue before us is, was it Jesus’ plan and
intention from the beginning? The adherents of traditional doctrine have
declared the case “closed.” This makes it necessary for them to explain away
all the overwhelming number of scriptures that we surveyed which tells a
different story, one of God’s kingdom being “at hand.” They must explain
away the prophesies of Isaiah and others and redefine them as pointing the way
to some distant future time in history. They must make up excuses for Jesus’
tearful remorse over the failure of the people to recognize him and receive
him. They must sweep under the carpet Jesus’ stern warnings of what will happen
to them because of their faithlessness. They must label Jesus’ tearful prayer
in Gethsemane the product of human cowardice and frailty because they can’t
imagine any other reason why Jesus might not want to die for us. And, they have
to twist Jesus’ final words on the cross to be a plea for God to forgive us
because we didn’t know what a good thing we were doing in murdering his Son, or
in Joseph Smith’s case, because the soldiers didn’t know what a good thing they
were doing.
Then, if
Jesus came and was received by the Jewish people and leaders in faith and
obedience, and established God’s earthly kingdom, as Isaiah repeatedly and
clearly prophesied, how then would mankind be saved?
Paul
called Jesus another “Adam.” (1Cor 15:45-47 JST/IV) Adam was the progenitor of
humanity. A new Adam means a new progenitor. God had a plan.
It is
clear when reading Isaiah chapters 8, 11 and 60 that God’s plan for his earthly
kingdom included the salvation of all mankind. Isaiah’s prophesy of Jesus’
torture and sacrificial death for our sins was his warning of the outcome of
Jesus’ life if the Jewish people and leaders failed to embrace God’s son with
faith and obedience. Thus, Isaiah 53 came to pass, leaving the long-awaited
earthly kingdom to be postponed for a future time and place and requiring
Christ to return. Satan continues to rule this earthly world, wars and
suffering continue everywhere, and billions more of God’s children pour into
hell while a few true believers are saved.
The end
result is to say that if there is any truth to this scenario, then it may be
considered appropriate to place Jesus in the Garden, planning with his Father
to come and establish God’s kingdom on earth, contingent upon the faith and
obedience of the chosen people, but it would be inappropriate to place Jesus in
the Garden, planning with God the Father to come and be rejected and crucified
thousands of years later to purchase our forgiveness. It makes all of God’s
painstaking preparations for the acceptance of Jesus irrelevant and insincere.
It makes all the Old Testament meaningless. It would beg the question: Why
waste time? Why not just send Jesus to die long ago, instead of Noah? (D.
Michael Hentrich, Understanding Joseph Smith [2021], 59-61)
