Friday, December 23, 2005
Will Jesus ever return to earth again and if so when?
Q: Will Jesus ever return to earth again and if so when?
A: Here are several quotes from The Urantia Book that address your question...
The Sons of the next order to arrive on the average evolutionary world are the Trinity Teacher Sons, the divine Sons of the Paradise Trinity. Again we find Urantia out of step with its sister spheres in that your Jesus has promised to return. That promise he will certainly fulfill, but no one knows whether his second coming will precede or follow the appearances of Magisterial or Teacher Sons on Urantia.
Page 598 (52:7.1)
Urantia is the sentimental shrine of all Nebadon, the chief of ten million inhabited worlds, the mortal home of Christ Michael, sovereign of all Nebadon, a Melchizedek minister to the realms, a system savior, an Adamic redeemer, a seraphic fellow, an associate of ascending spirits, a morontia progressor, a Son of Man in the likeness of mortal flesh, and the Planetary Prince of Urantia. And your record tells the truth when it says that this same Jesus has promised some time to return to the world of his terminal bestowal, the World of the Cross. Page 1319 (119:8.8)
Although Jesus referred one phase of the kingdom to the future and did, on numerous occasions, intimate that such an event might appear as a part of a world crisis; and though he did likewise most certainly, on several occasions, definitely promise sometime to return to Urantia, it should be recorded that he never positively linked these two ideas together. He promised a new revelation of the kingdom on earth and at some future time; he also promised sometime to come back to this world in person; but he did not say that these two events were synonymous. From all we know these promises may, or may not, refer to the same event. Page 1863 (170:4.5)
On several occasions Jesus had made statements which led his hearers to infer that, while he intended presently to leave this world, he would most certainly return to consummate the work of the heavenly kingdom. As the conviction grew on his followers that he was going to leave them, and after he had departed from this world, it was only natural for all believers to lay fast hold upon these promises to return. The doctrine of the second coming of Christ thus became early incorporated into the teachings of the Christians, and almost every subsequent generation of disciples has devoutly believed this truth and has confidently looked forward to his sometime coming. Page 1914 (176:2.1)
In further answer to Peter's question, Jesus said: "Why do you still look for the Son of Man to sit upon the throne of David and expect that the material dreams of the Jews will be fulfilled? Have I not told you all these years that my kingdom is not of this world? The things which you now look down upon are coming to an end, but this will be a new beginning out of which the gospel of the kingdom will go to all the world and this salvation will spread to all peoples. And when the kingdom shall have come to its full fruition, be assured that the Father in heaven will not fail to visit you with an enlarged revelation of truth and an enhanced demonstration of righteousness, even as he has already bestowed upon this world him who became the prince of darkness, and then Adam, who was followed by Melchizedek, and in these days, the Son of Man. And so will my Father continue to manifest his mercy and show forth his love, even to this dark and evil world. So also will I, after my Father has invested me with all power and authority, continue to follow your fortunes and to guide in the affairs of the kingdom by the presence of my spirit, who shall shortly be poured out upon all flesh. Even though I shall thus be present with you in spirit, I also promise that I will sometime return to this world, where I have lived this life in the flesh and achieved the experience of simultaneously revealing God to man and leading man to God. Very soon must I leave you and take up the work the Father has intrusted to my hands, but be of good courage, for I will sometime return. In the meantime, my Spirit of the Truth of a universe shall comfort and guide you. Page 1914 (176:2.3)
Jesus promised to do two things after he had ascended to the Father, and after all power in heaven and on earth had been placed in his hands. He promised, first, to send into the world, and in his stead, another teacher, the Spirit of Truth; and this he did on the day of Pentecost. Second, he most certainly promised his followers that he would sometime personally return to this world. But he did not say how, where, or when he would revisit this planet of his bestowal experience in the flesh. On one occasion he intimated that, whereas the eye of flesh had beheld him when he lived here in the flesh, on his return (at least on one of his possible visits) he would be discerned only by the eye of spiritual faith.
Many of us are inclined to believe that Jesus will return to Urantia many times during the ages to come. We do not have his specific promise to make these plural visits, but it seems most probable that he who carries among his universe titles that of Planetary Prince of Urantia will many times visit the world whose conquest conferred such a unique title upon him. Page 1918 (187:4.3)
When the eleven had taken their seats, Jesus stood and addressed them: "As long as I am with you in the flesh, I can be but one individual in your midst or in the entire world. But when I have been delivered from this investment of mortal nature, I will be able to return as a spirit indweller of each of you and of all other believers in this gospel of the kingdom. In this way the Son of Man will become a spiritual incarnation in the souls of all true believers. Page 1953 (187:4.3)Labels: Jesus, Jesus' return, Nebadon, Spirit of Truth, The Urantia Book, Urantia
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Monday, December 19, 2005
What is the truth about Reincarnation?
Q: What is the truth about Reincarnation?
A: The acceptance of "truth" is a relative thing in human experience. To a Moslem, truth is contained in the teachings of the Quran, to most Christians the Bible is the truth. Even within the various Christian and Moslem sects the truth is seen from different angles. So how do you know the truth and how might God regard your affinity for it?
Your endowments as a human being include a mind for interacting with your environment and logic for sifting through information to determine facts, meaningful truths and to formulate beliefs. That's how a Moslem and a Christian can arrive at their truths which essentially conflict with one another but which quite possibly are pleasing to God because they were each arrived at through the best application of each believer's endowments. What we may assume to be most pleasing to God would be how we arrive at and act upon our decisions and beliefs, not specifically what we believe.
For students of The Urantia Book the message it contains has become their standard for perceiving truth and The Urantia Book does have several things to say regarding the theory of reincarnation. If you'll return to the Truthbook.com FAQ (upper right hand corner of our home page), under ("What does The Urantia Book Say About...), and the heading "What does the book teach regarding reincarnation?" you'll find some of the reason students of the book replace whatever beliefs about reincarnation they may have one time entertained with the Urantia book teachings.
This is an often asked question so we have added it to our discussion board so that you might have the benefit of the thoughtful responses of our online Urantia Book reader community. You can visit this board and see these responses by clicking here: http://forums.truthbook.com/viewforum.php?f=11. And may I also recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book along with a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the Urantia teachings. To subscribe go to the upper right corner of our home page, click on Quote of the Day and follow the instructions.
Thank you for your question.
Larry Watkins,
Truthbook.comLabels: Bible, Christian, Larry Watkins, Moslem, Quran, reincarnation, The Urantia Book, truth
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Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Why is there so much injustice towards all animals in this world? Why are we, humans, so cruel to our animals?
Q: Why is there so much injustice towards all animals in this world? Why are we, humans, so cruel to our animals?
A: Perhaps the easiest answer is that, as sophisticated as we are, we humans are not so far removed from being animals ourselves. Our ascent from an animal origin to becoming fully realized and spiritual is a long one, particularly here on earth. The human species evolved from the animal kingdom about one million years ago, which is a very short time in evolutionary terms. Many of us still respond to the primitive emotions of ghost fear, superstition, magic because as a species we haven't evolved beyond those primitive influences – our brains are still wired to be receptive to them so to speak. Injustice is still a part of our makeup – not just to animals but to our fellow humans as well. After a million years of evolutionary progress we're just on the verge of giving up on slavery; women are finding equality with men; governments are responding to the will of the people. These are positive steps, but injustice still prevails. Here is a quote from The Urantia Book that speaks to this:
The whole idea of primitive justice was not so much to be fair as to dispose of the contest and thus prevent public disorder and private violence. But primitive man did not so much resent what would now be regarded as an injustice; it was taken for granted that those who had power would use it selfishly. Nevertheless, the status of any civilization may be very accurately determined by the thoroughness and equity of its courts and by the integrity of its judges. (70:11.10)
If we exhibit injustice towards one another certainly injustice will also be exhibited towards animals. However, animals and humans don't have the same rights. We are stewards of the planet meaning that the animals come under our care and supervision. Whether they're to be used as food or for labor or simply to give us pleasure it's our duty to treat them with love and respect – since we don't treat one another that way yet it's too much to expect that we will do so with the animals under our care. But, in my estimation, animals are usually treated better than we treat one another. So, wherever you confront injustice it is valuable to speak out to try to change the condition.Labels: animals, cruelty, humans, injustice, respect, The Urantia Book
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Thursday, December 08, 2005
Does each person have a guardian angel?
Q: Does each person have a guardian angel?
A: The Urantia Book provides specific answers to this question. We've put much of the angel information under one category on our site which you may want to review - just click on the "Angels are Real" link on our home page.
As to whether each person has a guardian angel, yes and no. Every person who has attained a minimum spiritual status has a guardian angel. Their angel may also be responsible for a thousand other mortals as well, each of them being under the angel's charge. As we become more spiritually attuned the groups we're associated with under an angel's charge become smaller and there are people who are exclusively assigned a guardian angel pair. This applies here during this life as well as in the life to come.Labels: groups, guardian angels, individuals, spirtuality
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Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Why did the powers that be decide to disclose this information with such detail?
Q: Why did the powers that be decide to disclose this information with such detail?
A: The Urantia Book explains that the reason for this specific epochal revelation is to provide clear and concise answers to some of life's more perplexing questions, to help clear away some of the confusion and doubt inherent in the studies of science, religion, philosophy, biology, astronomy, geology, sociology, and to provide a straight-forward depiction of the life and teachings of Jesus. This is provided with the intent to restore some of the spiritual, religious, and social guidance lost through error and default throughout the long and bumpy human history.
Being free-will creatures, most humans relish being exposed to new thoughts and ideas, new concepts, new information that offers new points of view, new decisions, new choices. Most students of The Urantia Book are gladly thankful to have discovered this exquisite source of knowledge and the sense of peace it offers by so fully disclosing our place and value in the cosmos.
If you've not already done so, may I recommend subscribing to our Quote of the Day. It offers daily inspirational and meaningful quotes from The Urantia Book along with a great picture. It's an easy way to become familiar with the teachings of this marvelous book and is available at the upper right corner of our home page.
Thank you for your question.
Larry WatkinsLabels: answers, guidance, Jesus, revelation, The Urantia Book
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