Monday, April 17, 2006
Where was Jesus during the period before he re-entered public life at 30?
Q: Where was Jesus during the period before he re-entered public life at 30? And what was he doing? It is rumoured that he went to India?!
A: Jesus is such an outstanding historical figure that he has inspired countless imaginations over the past two thousand years and if you search diligently you'll be able to find some author somewhere who has given voice to Jesus having said everything, done everything, or gone everywhere so you're correct in saying that it's rumored that Jesus went to India.
You've brought up an issue which is the cause for so many people turning to The Urantia Book to learn the truth as it is most fully disclosed today -- the account of Jesus' life and teachings given in The Urantia Book claims to be extracted from the records of the recording angels. Is it reallY? There's only one way to find out and to know with certainty, and that's to read the book and to determine the truth or falsity of such a claim for oneself.
It is interesting to note, hoever, that in The Urantia Book, an account is given of a two-year trip that Jesus took with an Indian merchant and his young son, to whom Jesus served as tutor. He also served as interpreter for both father and son on this tour of the Mediterranean world.
The Urantia Book contains over 700 pages of detailed day by day description of Jesus' existence before birth, his birth, childhood, young adulthood, maturity, ministry, teachings, death, resurrection and beyond. If you want to know who Jesus really was and what Jesus really did you will want to read The Urantia Book.
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 teachings of the book. 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: India, Jesus, Jesus' "lost years, The Urantia Book
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What does the Urantia Book say about Divorce?
Q: What does the Urantia Book say about Divorce?
A: The Urantia Book traces the evolution of divorce as cultures have progressed and gives some of the following additionally more specific comments.
The high degree of imagination and fantastic romance entering into courtship is largely responsible for the increasing divorce tendencies among modern Occidental peoples, all of which is further complicated by woman's greater personal freedom and increased economic liberty. Easy divorce, when the result of lack of self-control or failure of normal personality adjustment, only leads directly back to those crude societal stages from which man has emerged so recently and as the result of so much personal anguish and racial suffering.
But just so long as society fails to properly educate children and youths, so long as the social order fails to provide adequate premarital training, and so long as unwise and immature youthful idealism is to be the arbiter of the entrance upon marriage, just so long will divorce remain prevalent. And in so far as the social group falls short of providing marriage preparation for youths, to that extent must divorce function as the social safety valve which prevents still worse situations during the ages of the rapid growth of the evolving mores.
Paper-83 Section-7 Para-7-8
Jesus was minded to go on discussing the other commandments when James Zebedee interrupted him, asking: "Master, what shall we teach the people regarding divorcement? Shall we allow a man to divorce his wife as Moses has directed?" And when Jesus heard this question, he said: "I have not come to legislate but to enlighten. I have come not to reform the kingdoms of this world but rather to establish the kingdom of heaven. It is not the will of the Father that I should yield to the temptation to teach you rules of government, trade, or social behavior, which, while they might be good for today, would be far from suitable for the society of another age. I am on earth solely to comfort the minds, liberate the spirits, and save the souls of men. But I will say, concerning this question of divorcement, that, while Moses looked with favor upon such things, it was not so in the days of Adam and in the Garden."
Paper-140 Section-6 Para-6
The family occupied the very center of Jesus' philosophy of life here and hereafter. He based his teachings about God on the family, while he sought to correct the Jewish tendency to overhonor ancestors. He exalted family life as the highest human duty but made it plain that family relationships must not interfere with religious obligations. He called attention to the fact that the family is a temporal institution; that it does not survive death. Jesus did not hesitate to give up his family when the family ran counter to the Father's will. He taught the new and larger brotherhood of man--the sons of God. In Jesus' time divorce practices were lax in Palestine and throughout the Roman Empire. He repeatedly refused to lay down laws regarding marriage and divorce, but many of Jesus' early followers had strong opinions on divorce and did not hesitate to attribute them to him. All of the New Testament writers held to these more stringent and advanced ideas about divorce except John Mark.
Paper-140 Section-8 Para-14
You may wish to read all of the following section as well regarding Jesus' attitude toward divorce: Paper 167 Section 5
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 teachings of the book. 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: divorce, family, Jesus, Larry Watkins, The Urantia Book
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Sunday, April 16, 2006
Did Jesus have a daughter with Mary Magdalene?
Q: Did Jesus have a daughter with Mary Magdalene?
Q: The question really is, was Jesus the incarnation of a divine being or was Jesus just a great guy. In either case the life and teaching of Jesus changed the world so he continues to be the pivot point for both spiritual and secular thinkers.
If Jesus was really just a nice guy and had had children what would it mean to us today? Actually, nothing. Greatness comes through the spirit, through the inner life and that connection to what is of true value. The value of bloodline is a superstition -- bloodlines do not breed greatness.
Secularists are struggling as hard today to undermine the values religion imparts to culture as they ever have in the past and culture is being tested today as never before. Popular and thought provoking books like The Da Vinci Code put new doubts into peoples thoughts and the media seems to work overtime to enforce the doubt so this particular question is at the forefront of that long-asked question of who was Jesus .
The Bible states emphatically that Jesus was divine naming him the only begotten son of God and claiming that Jesus is the Son of the Trinity. The Bible appears to find less and less favor in our culture today and there's a struggle even among the clergy -- one of the main underpinnings of Western culture is eroding.
The Urantia Book is more modern than the Bible, it gives greater detail and appeals to both faith and the logical mind. It states emphatically that Jesus was divine and that in coming here he had specific purposes both for himself and for this world; this is described in detail in Paper 120 and elsewhere in the book. And just prior to his mortal life the bestowal guidelines set before him included that he not marry nor have children. As a divine being incarnating as a mortal yet having recall of his previous existence, Jesus saw all who inhabit the earth as his children, sons and daughters.
Even though our culture is sexually repressed we fixate on sex and see life thought sex tinted glasses. Others are seen as objects to be exploited for pleasure. It's assumed that everyone is also seeing everyone around them as sex objects too yet even with this near obsession most fathers do not see their daughters as sex objects. So one would ask, why would the father of us all see any of us as sex objects?
If you have concerns or doubts about this then read The Urantia Book. It clears the confusion and dispels doubt. Jesus was not like you or I -- he was a divine being here for a purpose which he fulfilled flawlessly.
This is a great question and we've added it to our discussion board so that you can 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 going to the forum titled "Questions & Answers."
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 teachings of the book. 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: Da Vinci Code, Jesus, Larry Watkins, Mary Magdalene, The Urantia Book
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If Truth Book is a revelation from God, why do you charge for it?
Q: If Truth Book is a revelation from God, why do you charge for it?
A: Truthbook.com is the name of our website, a site dedicated to help people become more aware of the teachings of The Urantia Book. We don't charge for our site -- it's free to everyone. The publishers of The Urantia Book are non-profit organizations -- printing and selling The Urantia Book has never been a profitable business from its initial printing in 1955 to this day -- it's done as a service and the book is priced below what any book of comparable size and quality would sell for.
But the real question is, is The Urantia Book a revelation from God? We say it is and we say that after having approached this book with skeptical but open minds and investing the time and effort required to actually read it so we could decide for ourselves and not rely on someone else's opinion. If you're interested then you might wish to do the same thing -- feel free to browse our site if you like, or you may wish to just jump right in and begin reading the book. It's an adventure like none other.
Thank you for your question,
Larry Watkins
Truthbook.comLabels: Larry Watkins, revelation, The Urantia Book, Truthbook
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Friday, April 07, 2006
How can people find the truth in their lives when Jesus Christ kept the truth from the common people, only to be disclosed to his direct followers?
Q: How can people find the truth in their lives when Jesus Christ kept the truth from the common people, only to be disclosed to his direct followers? (Math. 13.10 or Mark 4.33) It's been a question with me for a long time. Thanks for listening
A: While it's true that Jesus often taught by a new and challenging method, by parables, he in no way kept the truth from the common people. It was the common people he had come specifically to instruct -- but he did teach his apostles more advanced concepts because they would be the ones teaching the common people once he was gone -- however the primary focus of his message, that we are each a unique child of the Father in heaven who loves us equally, that we are therefore spiritually all brothers and sisters and should treat one another as such to bring the heavenly kingdom to earth -- that was openly taught and is as valuable for us to recognize today as it was when it was a new concept 2000 years ago. Jesus didn't tell his apostles anything more valuable to their spiritual life than what he told to the common people.
By teaching in parables Jesus didn't just say here's the way it is -- he provided meaningful stories and anecdotes that caused the listeners to think and to derive meanings of their own from the lessons contained within. And when Jesus left he bestowed upon the world his spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, which makes it possible for any truth seeker from that day to this to be guided toward progressively more meaningful truth. The message Jesus left was forceful and encompassing enough to change the course of history through the common people.
Thank you for your question. May I recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service from this site 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 teachings of the book. To subscribe go to the upper right corner of our home page, click on Quote of the Day and follow the instructions.
Also your question is a good one which we've added it to our discussion board so that you can 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 going to the forum titled "Questions & Answers."
Best wishes,
Larry Watkins
Truthbook.comLabels: apostles, Jesus, Larry Watkins, parables, Spirit of Truth
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Thursday, April 06, 2006
Are people faking near death experiences?
Q: What does the UB say about near death experances, are people faking does that really happen after death cuz i dont know if what they say is consistant with UB
A: Like vivid dreams and remembrances of past lives, near death experiences can seem to be real and can be life-changing experiences. But does that mean they're real? Sometimes what seems to be real and what is real are far apart -- for example, take the TV show American Idol which provides a disturbing glimpse into the the psyches of way more self-deluded people than one would ever expect existed. Thousands of contestants show up to audition to become the singing idol -- thousands too will tell the judges what great singers they are yet when they sing even untrained ears can tell they can't sing at all and even then, when asked, they'll repeat to the judges what a good job they've just done. It's obvious that the world harbors more self-delusion than one might anticipate. Knowing that self-delusion runs high in our ranks it's little wonder then that we have difficulty discerning what's real from what only seems to be real.
The Urantia Book helps us build a foundation for putting things into objective perspective in reality -- a person must read the book for themselves to determine whether or not that reality is more sensible than the one they acquire without such specific instruction.
There are several issues explained by The Urantia Book that relate to your question. One is that after we die our soul and personality depart and don't come back -- therefore ghosts and seeming communications from the departed, although they may seem real, are the result of some other phenomena, they're not what they seem. We're told that a reflective phenomenon sometimes occurs just moments prior to death that can allow the dimming consciousness to visualize something of the attending angel, so what the mind experiences and portrays to the dwindling consciousness in a near death experience is not what it seems to be either -- however, these experiences usually give a sense of peace, comfort, and love that are soothing and positive and help alleviate the fear of death, so, although not real they can serve in a most positive way.
Your question is a good one and we've added it to our discussion board so that you can 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 going to the forum titled "Questions & Answers."
Best wishes,
Larry Watkins
Truthbook.comLabels: Larry Watkins, near-death experience, reality, The Urantia Book
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Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Why then is there a need to have creature eat creature in order to survive ?
Q: If God is loving, why then is there a need to have creature eat creature in order to survive, there seems to be something very sinister in that understanding...???
A: Spoken like a true vegetarian. I might imply from what you've written then that you believe God is unloving -- that perhaps not only do you resent God and the food you eat, but your life as well. If that's so then something seems wrong with such a philosophy, wouldn't you say?
One of the values of studying The Urantia Book is that it provides a so-much-bigger picture of God, the cosmos, us and the world on which we live. It's all too easy to try to view creation from a very circumscribed viewpoint when all we choose to work with are our view of the physical world around us. This book, as a revelation, opens a view of reality that so far surpasses our normal mundane perceptions that we can actually begin to comprehend and behave more like the cosmic citizens we're to eventually become.
Before continuing, may I recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service of our site 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 teachings of the book. To subscribe go to the upper right corner of our home page, click on Quote of the Day and follow the instructions.
Subconscious misgivings about what one eats and drinks can lead to a wide variety of health problems. Feeling blessed by the wide variety of nutritious and delicious food we have ready access to will keep you healthier mentally, physically, and spiritually -- that attitude alone is even more important than specifically what it is you choose to eat. Jesus did say that it's not what goes into one's mouth that defiles him but what comes out of it -- and even if you don't make a habit of voicing your derision for the food you eat, that thought in the back of your mind can and will have profound adverse effect.
God has created a vast order of personalities who exist on pure energy intake -- they don't eat. You and I however have been given the opportunity of beginning here, on the lowest rung on the free-will evolutionary ladder, to work our way to perfection through the experience of the paradise adventure. We're not created perfect but we can aspire to become perfect. And so we begin as physical, evolutionary creatures born to an evolutionary world where the energy we require in order to survive is derived from the energy of our sun. It causes the grass to grow which supports the animals that eat it and the ones that eat them. Human beings are the stewards of the land and the living things -- all living things devour other living things in order to survive, there's nothing sinister about that, it's just the natural order of things on a world such as ours. Once we leave here and begin our spiritual adventure our dependence on outside sources of energy for survival diminish.
A cause to take up that could provide more worthy results than criticizing the choice of food one eats is to strive to be sure that our food is treated with honor, respect, and love -- from the plants to the animals -- these are living things we share the world with and it's to our advantage to learn to afford them the respect they're due and to honor the contribution they make to our survival.
This is a good question and we have added it to our discussion board so that you can 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 going to the forum titled "Questions & Answers."
God be with you,
Larry Watkins
Truthbook.comLabels: energy, food chain, God, Larry Watkins, The Urantia Book
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Xerpi
