Monday, March 27, 2006
Do you believe that Jesus is coming back again to save his children on earth?
Q: Do you believe that Jesus is coming back again to save his children on earth?
A: I'll have to answer this from a personal belief point of view. The Urantia Book does say that Jesus will come back to earth but no one knows when. As for coming back to save his children - we're all his children regardless of race, nationality, religion, or lack thereof. Adam and Eve weren't "saved" from their error, Jesus wasn't "saved" from a torturous death. I don't think God is in the "saving" business so much as God is in the "learning through our own mistakes" business. So it's my opinion that no, Jesus is not coming back to save his children - he may come back to set the world aright though.
Did you know that The Urantia Book has the most complete and authentic depiction of the life and teachings of Jesus available? You might enjoy reading that section.Labels: God, Jesus, Jesus' return, Larry Watkins, salvation, The Urantia Book
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Did Jesus growup around a major seminary while in Nazareth?
Q: Did Jesus grow up around a major seminary while in Nazareth?
A: Towns of any size each had their own synagogue where the people came to worship and to study and where male children went to school. Jesus grew up in the small town of Nazareth; it had its own synagogue; Jesus studied the scriptures and later on on occasion taught there. The only major place for study would have been in Jerusalem, some distance away from Nazareth.
There has always been conjecture regarding where Jesus learned his special knowledge, how he became the pivotal historical figure. The Urantia Book makes it clear that the study of scriptures fueled Jesus' thinking processes and helped to occupy his conscious mind with positive images and thoughts but that there were no external sources that made Jesus who he was. There was no special knowledge imparted to him, no mystery schools disclosing hidden meanings, but rather his was a normal mind focused on the teachings of the religious scholars available to anyone at that time.
You can read some of what The Urantia Book has to tell about Jesus' early training here 123:3.1 and here 123:5.1Labels: Jesus, Jesus' education, Larry Watkins, Nazareth, The Urantia Book
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Did Jesus die for the sins of mankind?
Q: Did Jesus die on the cross for the sins of mankind? Did God send Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins so we could go to heaven?
A: Did Jesus die for the sins of mankind? In the Frequently Asked Questions section, upper right corner of our home page - Truthbook FAQ - listed under the heading "About Jesus" you'll find answers to "Do you believe Jesus died to save us?" and "What does The Urantia Book say about Jesus being the Saviour?" which will give you a more detailed answer than this one, but basically, no, God doesn't require the shedding of innocent blood in order to win his favor or to divert fictitious divine wrath.
The concept of original sin, as well as the doctrine of blood atonement are contrary to the idea of a loving Father-God. This is completely covered in The Urantia Book within the first five papers, which reveal to us the exact nature of God, and his relationship to us mortals, his created beings. The Cross of Jesus acquires new and deeper meaning in this light, and again, this subject is well-covered in Part IV, the papers that deal with the life, teachings, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.
There's also a good section in the center of our home page titled "There is Life after Death" that describes in vivid detail heaven and the life we experience once this life is over. In addition, there is a flash movie titled "After You Die," which you might find quite illuminating in light of your questions.Labels: atonement, death, heaven, Jesus, sin, the Cross, The Urantia Book
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What do you believe in regard to The Truth Of Jesus and His Teachings?
Q: I would love to know more about you. And What you believe in regard to The Truth Of Jesus and His Teachings. I have been a Christian for many years, and have experienced many false teachings Please take the time to share with me. So far I have loved what I have read.
A: We're glad you found the site and that you like what you've read. You'll find a wide variety of questions and answers about The Urantia Book in our Frequently Asked Questions and Answers to Life's Toughest Questions sections along with all the other areas of the site. Also, the Spiritual Prayer/Chat Room has many topics you may find of interest. You may also enjoy signing onto our Quote of the Day feature where you'll learn more specifically what The Urantia Book teaches on a daily basis.
As you may have gathered by visiting our site our focus is on Jesus' teachings as they're disclosed through The Urantia Book. We don't directly sell anything but we do promote the teachings of Jesus as well as the awareness of what this magnificent book has to offer. The majority of people in the world have never heard of The Urantia Book so we're blessed to have this avenue for promoting recognition of its existence and its message.
Regarding Christianity - some Christian clergy embrace the teachings of The Urantia Book while some feel threatened by it. The Urantia Book is not specifically a Christian text because it does not uphold all of the various Christian tenets, therefore some clergy summarily reject it while others find inspiration, illumination, and spiritual insight in its teachings.
Regarding Jesus. Jesus was not a Christian - Christianity sprang from Jesus' teachings and then saw fit to appropriate Jesus for itself, excluding other religions. The Urantia Book seeks to correct that exclusivity and for that reason you'll find believers in the Urantia revelation belonging to all the religions and sects of the world. The Urantia Book gives Jesus back to the world and seeks to restore him to his rightful place in our lives and our thoughts and our prayers. Most of the knowledge about Jesus comes from the 70 or so pages of the Bible. The Urantia Book offers over 700 pages of transcripts of Jesus daily life as recorded by the angels who were there at the time he walked the earth.Labels: Christian, Jesus, The Urantia Book
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Tuesday, March 14, 2006
What does the UB say about why we are here on earth?
Q: What does the UB say about why we are here on earth?
A: The Urantia Book has a lot to say about what you've asked, but to give a short answer, God chose to create a spiritual and a material universe and to experience that creation. There are many types of self aware spiritual and material beings in God's creation, human beings being but one of those types, and God has given a fragment of himself to accompany the soul of human beings as they begin the long adventure of finding their way back to God. The purpose of our life on earth is to begin that adventure as the lowest order of free will creature in existence and to set out on that long adventure by giving birth to an immortal soul simply by believing that life has more to offer than what we can see and touch. Your new born soul, which is you without a material body, and your fragment of God travel together in this adventure until your soul has become spiritualized enough that you and God's fragment fuse into one being and then you continue on as one until the ultimate goal is reached. Earth is but one of billions of starting point worlds that human beings inhabit but it happens to be unique, first because it's an experimental world and is unlike the vast majority of normal worlds, and second it's unique because Jesus lived here; he hasn't lived on any other material worlds. So we're very fortunate that our individual personalities were sent here to inhabit these material bodies on this material world in company with our individual fragment of God the Father. We're just setting out on a grand adventure.Labels: Earth, God, Jesus, soul, The Urantia Book
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Was it God's plan for Jesus to be crucified?
Q: Was it God's plan for Jesus to be crucified? Is it the blood of Christ that saved us, or was it the resurrection?
A: It was man's plan that Jesus be crucified - God didn't set it up or intervene nor did Jesus; they let the circumstances unfold and play out much as they have done throughout history. Of course God or Jesus could alter the plans of men but divine intervention seldom is employed to interfere in the choices made by free will creatures. Additional examples of the non interference by deity into the affairs of men are the loss of our mission of our planetary prince and the loss of the influence of Adam and Eve. God could have fixed them, but God doesn't interfere.
The blood of Jesus is no different from the blood in your body - what's remarkable about the shedding of Jesus' blood is that by allowing himself to be murdered he exhibited divine love for his creatures, friend and enemy alike, and in so doing planted the seeds for a great world wide religion of love and hope to spring up around his life, death, and teachings.
Jesus' resurrection gave proof that there is life after death and gave hope of better things to come to earth bound mortals. It didn't take a blood sacrifice to appease God so that we can enter an everlasting spiritual existence. We are saved by our desire to do God's will, by having even a small flicker of faith that there is more to existence than what meets the eye - one doesn't have to be Christian or believe in Jesus for salvation.Labels: blood sacrifice, God, love, religion, resurrection, the Cross
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Why Jesus is called the son of David?
Q: Why Jesus is called the son of David?
A: Lineages were important to ancient people - kings were chosen because of their parentage. The Jews had a tradition that the deliverer would come from the lineage of David and be a mighty king. Here is some of what The Urantia Book has to say about the lineage of Jesus' parents:
Joseph, the human father of Jesus (Joshua ben Joseph), was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, albeit he carried many non Jewish racial strains which had been added to his ancestral tree from time to time by the female lines of his progenitors. The ancestry of the father of Jesus went back to the days of Abraham and through this venerable patriarch to the earlier lines of inheritance leading to the Sumerians and Nodites and, through the southern tribes of the ancient blue man, to Andon and Fonta. David and Solomon were not in the direct line of Joseph's ancestry, neither did Joseph's lineage go directly back to Adam. Joseph's immediate ancestors were mechanics – builders, carpenters, masons, and smiths. Joseph himself was a carpenter and later a contractor. His family belonged to a long and illustrious line of the nobility of the common people, accentuated ever and anon by the appearance of unusual individuals who had distinguished themselves in connection with the evolution of religion on Urantia.
Mary, the earth mother of Jesus, was a descendant of a long line of unique ancestors embracing many of the most remarkable women in the racial history of Urantia. Although Mary was an average woman of her day and generation, possessing a fairly normal temperament, she reckoned among her ancestors such well known women as Annon, Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba, Ansie, Cloa, Eve, Enta, and Ratta. No Jewish woman of that day had a more illustrious lineage of common progenitors or one extending back to more auspicious beginnings. Mary's ancestry, like Joseph's, was characterized by the predominance of strong but average individuals, relieved now and then by numerous outstanding personalities in the march of civilization and the progressive evolution of religion. Racially considered, it is hardly proper to regard Mary as a Jewess. In culture and belief she was a Jew, but in hereditary endowment she was more a composite of Syrian, Hittite, Phoenician, Greek, and Egyptian stocks, her racial inheritance being more general than that of Joseph. (122:1.1)Labels: Abraham, David, Jesus, Joseph, Mary
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Is Jesus Christ God in the Flesh?
Q: Is Jesus Christ God in the flesh?
A: To reply from a Urantia Book point of view - yes, and no. Jesus was the human manifestation of a deity, an "only begotten Son" of God. Jesus was a divine being separate and apart from human beings, separate and apart from the Trinity. His statements that "the Father and I are one" and "whosoever has seen me has seen the Father" are also true.Labels: Jesus, The Urantia Book
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Who am I?
Conventional answers focus upon characteristics of a physical and social nature. Most people know their name, race, creed, ethnic group, nationality, occupation, family role, personality traits, social status, etc. They ARE all of these. Yet, knowing this, they continue to ask "Who am I?" There is something beyond their vital statistics and social data which people desire to know. It is as if they sense that they are part of something greater than their niche in the physical environment, and long to find out what it is.
There is not a biography in "Who's Who in America" which has a soul satisfying answer to this haunting question. All leave unanswered the identity of the biographer from a theological point of view, and leave unsatisfied the craving to know who we are in the universe or cosmos.
To discover who we are from a theological, universal or cosmic view, we must begin by exploring our characteristics which have theological, universal or cosmic significance. These should point toward who we really are.
As members of the human race, the highest order of animal life on earth, we share those characteristics held in common by human beings. If humans have any common characteristics of theological, universal or cosmic significance, then they also apply to you and me.
1. A Personality.
All who read this have one thing in common: each is a person. Persons have characteristics not shared by non-persons. These characteristics give us significant clues as to who we are.
Self-consciousness. Only persons can know that they exist as separate and distinct entities; can conceive of "I." This characteristic makes persons self-conscious: I am "I," every other person is "you," and every non-person is "it." Self-consciousness is absolutely essential to moral choosing.
Uniqueness, Individuality. No two persons are alike; each occupies a separate body and has different experiences. Each reacts differently to similar stimuli. "I" am unlike, to some extent, every other creature in the universe; and this makes "me" an individual: truly unique. (1225:37-1226:3) An understanding of this characteristic is essential to an assessment of human value. No one else can substitute for, or replace, a truly unique person.
Interpersonal Relations. Only persons have interpersonal relations. Relationships between persons and non-persons are not interpersonal. Animals and inanimate objects, not being persons, cannot interrelate "personally" with us. God is a "person," and this characteristic allows persons to have a personal relationship with God.
Wisdom. Of all material beings, only persons are endowed with minds capable of distinguishing between good and evil. Not all persons have this capability at all times; however no physical creature other than a person has wisdom. This characteristic is essential to the ability to make a free-will choice between good and evil.
Worship. Persons are the only material creatures who have a tendency to (a "spirit of") worship. Only persons can perceive that there is reality beyond the material, sense that it is "personal" in nature, sincerely esteem it for its values, and crave to develop a closer personal relationship with it. This characteristic is essential to our love and worship of God.
The above characteristics form the basis of personality. Each creature endowed with these characteristics has a separate and distinct personality, and is a personality. Personality is the key to individuality. No two personalities are the same.
Science cannot explain where personality comes from. There is nothing in the laws of genetics or the theories of evolution to indicate that personality has a scientific basis. The URANTIA Book says personality is a gift of the Father (79:9-11 1225:18-19 1226:14-15); that it is personality which gives mankind the prerogatives of self-determination, self-evolution, and self-identification with Deity. (1301:12-14) Why do we have this gift?
I am the totality of that unique personality who conceives of itself as "I"; there is no other such creature in the universe. I will always be that personality. The personality who I know as "I" is constant and changeless. I am self-conscious: I know the difference between good and evil, and can choose to do either; I can foresee the social consequences of my acts. The cosmic status of my personality is affected by these choices.
2. Man. the Highest Animal. Material man is seen as the highest order of animal life, the acme of creation. He has been given dominion over all the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28) Where did man come from? What does this power signify?
Logically, man could have arrived on earth by one or more of four means:
(1) evolved here by natural processes as a result of a colossal series of incidents, accidents, and coincidences;
(2) created here as man by fiat of God;
(3) created here by mindful use of principles of evolution and mutation; or
(4) transported here from another place.
Pure science has no better answer than that man sprang from method (1), a colossal series of incidents, accidents and coincidences. The odds favoring production of mankind in such a manner are so infinitesimally small that most sensible people reject it as a viable theory. It is said that, under the laws of probability, if enough apes were set before enough word processors and given enough time, one of them would produce a photo-ready copy of The Encyclopedia Britannica. It is one thing to speculate, statistically, that the entire work can be reproduced in that manner, and quite another to propose that it was actually written in that manner. Those believing that the universe, with mankind in it, was actually produced by mindless, directionless phenomena of chance accept something far more implausible than that The Encyclopedia Britannica was accidentally written by an ape.
Fundamentalist Christian theology holds that man came to earth by way number (2), fiat creation by God. Whether or not this is a fact, it contains the essential truth that man appeared on earth as a creative act of Deity, which is theologically significant.
The URANTIA Book teaches that the basic human stock was placed on this planet by way number (3): creation by mindful use of evolution and mutation. (667:33-39) It was planned to up step the human race by interbreeding with material stock brought to earth by way number (4): transportation from another place (Adam & Eve, 583:8-10),however, relatively little benefit accrued from this effort because of the Adamic default. (736:30-35)
For all practical purposes, it is immaterial whether mankind arrived on earth as a result of way (2), (3) or (4), or by any combination thereof; the point is that man appeared--not by accident--but as a result of creation by Deity. Why would Deity create (by any means) "man in His own image" and give him "dominion over" all other physical creation? This is a significant question. Its answers give further clues as to who we are.
Let us postulate that the physical universe of galaxies, suns, planets, moons, etc., was created (by whatever means) to provide a physical environment within which to bring into existence various forms of life designed to support, and to culminate in, "beings" with the qualities of mankind. If so, the development of life forms not only would advance toward the desired end of producing mankind, but also would support him when he came into being. This is exactly what happened on earth; we can only speculate whether it happened elsewhere. If no higher form of physical creature appears, we can reason that the creative process was designed to culminate in, and support, mankind.
I am the capstone of physical creation. I, and those like me, have dominion over all the earth. But why? How does this help Deity?
3. Free Will and Mandatory Choices.
Man is said to exercise free will; and so he does. But only to the extent that he can perceive options and understand their consequences. Wisdom is essential to free will. Civilized society does not hold its members criminally accountable for their misdeeds unless the culprit knew, or should have known, that the act was wrong. This is the basis for excusing the insane from criminal responsibility. Deity has at least as high a standard.
Out of all material creation, only man is aware of the qualities of his relationship with others, has the ability to foresee the consequences of his conduct in terms of impact on others. Only man is able to know the difference between good and evil. See definition of Evil in Part III.A, below. Therefore, only man has the ability to do evil.
There is another reason why man is the only material creature able to do evil: man, alone is able to overcome his animal nature. Animal behavior is governed by genetics and environment only; but man is able to overcome these by another behavior-regulating force: wisdom, and the free will to use it.
Lower animals always respond to a situation in accordance with their nature and training. A hungry tiger finding a lost child in the jungle acts in accordance with its nature, with no thought of any consequences. A starving man finding the child is instantly aware that a moral choice, if not a spiritual one, is involved. The tiger is absolved of moral blame if it eats the child; the man is not. Why this difference? The two reasons are:
(1) because only the man could know it was wrong, if not evil, and
(2) only the man had control over his own conduct: free will. These differences are of major theological significance.
The fact that man recognizes the difference between good and evil in any situation places upon him the inescapable burden to choose between the two. The more sensitive he becomes, the more differences he observes, and the more choices he must make. Most people constantly face such choices.
Choices between good and evil usually take the form of choices between self interests and (1) societal interests or (2) spiritual interests. Societal interests involve "right vs. wrong," sociological terms pertaining to morality. Spiritual interests involve "good vs. evil," theological terms pertaining to spirituality. This is an important difference. That which seems right may be evil. (Proverbs 14:12) Knowledge of good and evil is not the same as knowledge of right and wrong.
It is said that God provides no rewards or punishments; only consequences. God provides "consequences" only for free-will choices. He judges by the "heart:" the intent to do that known to be either good or evil. Good done accidentally or under duress has no spiritual value to the do-gooder. Evil done through ignorance or accident has no spiritual consequences upon the evildoer; but the choice of evil over good is sin, and the wages of sin is spiritual death.
Why did Deity enable mankind to ignore its animal nature? This quality of free will is given to man in order that he may perform important service to Deity, service which would be impossible without it. In Part I.C, above, four "desires" of Deity are proposed which are attainable through creatures with (1) the ability to ascertain the will of God and (2) the absolute power to obey or disobey it as they choose.
I AM an animal liberated from my animal nature and given both the wisdom to recognize the nature and con sequences of my acts and the free will to act as I choose. I therefore face constant choices of both a moral and spiritual nature. I have the power to ascertain the will of God if I seek to do so. I can increasingly gain knowledge of good and evil. (Compare Genesis 2:9,17; 825:39-40) Most knowledge comes from the Indwelling Spirit within me. (1457:40-43) Much comes from revelation, and some is portrayed in holy books. These provide the knowledge which makes me accountable for my subsequent acts.
The three human characteristics mentioned above do much to reveal who we are from a theological and cosmic point of view.Labels: characteristics, Christian, free will, God, identity, individuality, personality, relationship, self-consciousness, The Urantia Book, universe, Who's Who in America, wisdom, worship
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Xerpi
