Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man in the Bible?

2008-10-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

Q: If Jesus preached so consistently about the universal fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man why is there so little record of it in the NT. What references are there?

A: Thank you for writing to us at Truthbook.com

I am including a reference which you might find interesting here. In this article, entitled "Theism: The Fatherhood of God," the author, Robert L. Waggoner, cites many instances of the Fatherhood of God contained in the New Testament. I found this article with a Google search, and there may be others.

I also did a search for "brotherhood of man," but I was not able to find specific Biblical references using those particular words; however, the concept of the brotherhood of man is well-illuminated in these important references which definitely carry the essence of the Master's teachings regarding the brotherhood of man:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:36-39)

"He said to him, 'What is written in the law? How do you read?' The lawyer answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."' Then Jesus told him, "You have answered right; do this, and you will live" (Luke 10:26-28).

Finally, the story of The Good Samaritan is an excellent reference to this topic and it is found in Luke 10:29-37

Another resource that you might find useful is The Paramony, which is a comparison of specific books of the Bible with corresponding information in The Urantia Book.

As you may know from reading The Urantia Book and the Life and Teachings of Jesus, the religion OF Jesus was quickly transformed into the religion ABOUT Jesus after his death and resurrection. Following the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth at Pentecost, a whole new direction was taken.

Here is a passage from The Urantia Book which details this:

p2066:4 (194:4.4) What has happened to these men whom Jesus had ordained to go forth preaching the gospel of the kingdom, the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man? They have a new gospel; they are on fire with a new experience; they are filled with a new spiritual energy. Their message has suddenly shifted to the proclamation of the risen Christ: "Jesus of Nazareth, a man God approved by mighty works and wonders; him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you did crucify and slay. The things which God foreshadowed by the mouth of all the prophets, he thus fulfilled. This Jesus did God raise up. God has made him both Lord and Christ. Being by the right hand of God, exalted, and having received from the Father the promise of the spirit, he has poured forth this which you see and hear. Repent, that your sins may be blotted out; that the Father may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you, even Jesus, whom the heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things."

The gospel of the kingdom, the message of Jesus, had been suddenly changed into the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They now proclaimed the facts of his life, death, and resurrection and preached the hope of his speedy return to this world to finish the work he began. Thus the message of the early believers had to do with preaching about the facts of his first coming and with teaching the hope of his second coming, an event which they deemed to be very near at hand.

Christ was about to become the creed of the rapidly forming church. Jesus lives; he died for men; he gave the spirit; he is coming again. Jesus filled all their thoughts and determined all their new concept of God and everything else. They were too much enthused over the new doctrine that "God is the Father of the Lord Jesus" to be concerned with the old message that "God is the loving Father of all men," even of every single individual. True, a marvelous manifestation of brotherly love and unexampled good will did spring up in these early communities of believers. But it was a fellowship of believers in Jesus, not a fellowship of brothers in the family kingdom of the Father in heaven. Their good will arose from the love born of the concept of Jesus' bestowal and not from the recognition of the brotherhood of mortal man. Nevertheless, they were filled with joy, and they lived such new and unique lives that all men were attracted to their teachings about Jesus. They made the great mistake of using the living and illustrative commentary on the gospel of the kingdom for that gospel, but even that represented the greatest religion mankind had ever known.

Earlier in the Jesus Papers, we find this description of the written records of the four evangelists -Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - and this is an interesting commentary on these most quoted sources of Biblical information regarding Jesus and his teachings, and maybe a further explanation why Jesus' orginal teachings are conspicuously absent.

Thank you for this most interesting question.

How Can I Find God's Voice?

2008-10-06T07:22:00.000-07:00

Q: How to find God's voice?

A: What I hear in your short sentence is a question regarding the voice of God, and how to hear that Voice within yourself.

Many of us have been instructed that God is within us, and The Urantia Book expands and enlarges this concept beautifully. We learn in its teachings that this spark of Divinity within is called the Thought Adjuster, and that it is an actual fragment of the Father himself:
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(148:6.10) ...the Father...speaks within the human heart as a still, small voice, saying, `This is the way; walk therein.' Do you not comprehend that God dwells within you, that he has become what you are that he may make you what he is!"
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Here is another quote regarding the voice of God-within:
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(110:7.9) While the voice of the Adjuster is ever within you, most of you will hear it seldom during a lifetime. Human beings below the third and second circles of attainment rarely hear the Adjuster's direct voice except in moments of supreme desire, in a supreme situation, and consequent upon a supreme decision.
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And this:
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(101:1.2) The Thought Adjuster has no special mechanism through which to gain self-expression; there is no mystic religious faculty for the reception or expression of religious emotions. These experiences are made available through the naturally ordained mechanism of mortal mind. And therein lies one explanation of the Adjuster's difficulty in engaging in direct communication with the material mind of its constant indwelling.

The divine spirit makes contact with mortal man, not by feelings or emotions, but in the realm of the highest and most spiritualized thinking. It is your thoughts, not your feelings, that lead you Godward. The divine nature may be perceived only with the eyes of the mind. But the mind that really discerns God, hears the indwelling Adjuster, is the pure mind. "Without holiness no man may see the Lord." All such inner and spiritual communion is termed spiritual insight. Such religious experiences result from the impress made upon the mind of man by the combined operations of the Adjuster and the Spirit of Truth as they function amid and upon the ideas, ideals, insights, and spirit strivings of the evolving sons of God.
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We see by these quotes that the best way to find this voice within is through our highest thinking, as that is where the combined Spirit of God (the Thought Adjuster) and the Spirit of Truth (Jesus) work together for our highest good.

Even though it may seem difficult from the above quotes to actually experience the hearing of God's voice, we are not left only with difficulty. A very practical way that The Urantia Book helps us to find and hear the Divine voice, is through the prayerful practice of conversing with our "alter ego." Consider this quote:
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(91:3.7) Enlightened prayer must recognize not only an external and personal God but also an internal and impersonal Divinity, the indwelling Adjuster. It is altogether fitting that man, when he prays, should strive to grasp the concept of the Universal Father on Paradise; but the more effective technique for most practical purposes will be to revert to the concept of a near-by alter ego, just as the primitive mind was wont to do, and then to recognize that the idea of this alter ego has evolved from a mere fiction to the truth of God's indwelling mortal man in the factual presence of the Adjuster so that man can talk face to face, as it were, with a real and genuine and divine alter ego that indwells him and is the very presence and essence of the living God, the Universal Father.
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Basically, we can "talk to ourselves," a practice that we all naturally learn to do as children, when we have inner conversations with an imaginary companion. As we grow, and as we desire closer communication with God, we may ennoble that concept to become the reality of a conversation with God-within.

Please click here for the entire section on Prayer and the Alter-Ego.

I Want To Come To Peace With My Past

2008-09-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

Q: Please help me out. How can I come to peace with my past? I will be very thankful to you.

A: We all do things that we regret, and many of us have experienced things in our past that were not pleasant. Oftentimes, bad experiences, or bad choices can stay with us for a long time and can get in the way of living in the present, and can keep us from being happy.

If you have bad memories of something you did, I would advise that you ask God's forgiveness, and allow his forgiveness to sink into your soul. If your conscience is bothering you, please see our topical study on Conscience here. One of the most important lessons that Jesus gave about conscience us is this:

(156:2.7) "My disciples must not only cease to do evil but learn to do well; you must not only be cleansed from all conscious sin, but you must refuse to harbor even the feelings of guilt. If you confess your sins, they are forgiven; therefore must you maintain a conscience void of offense."

Jesus is saying that we must not have feelings of guilt, once we have confessed, because God forgives us. If we continue to feel guilty, we are throwing his gift of forgiveness away.

If it is some bad experience that you have not been able to forget or forgive, please see our study on Forgiveness here.

Forgiveness is a two-way street. We must forgive others for any offense, and in turn, we are then forgiven for offenses that we may have done to others. Remember the Lord's Prayer, where Jesus taught us to say "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Forgiveness is not always easy, but it is a very important step to take in order to put our past behind us and start fresh.

What would you think of a mountain climber who stops her climb after every stumble, after every rock in the road, and sits down and cries about her mis-step? You would probably think her very silly! It is likewise with us - we are all on a journey, climbing ever higher to reach God. We cannot afford to stop in our journey to cry over every bump in the road - instead, we get up, brush ourselves off, and figure out how to avoid those bumps in the future. Then we can carry on with a light heart.

Finally, I hope you will be cheered by this additional lesson from Jesus:

(156:5.8) Do not become discouraged by the discovery that you are human. Human nature may tend toward evil, but it is not inherently sinful. Be not downcast by your failure wholly to forget some of your regrettable experiences. The mistakes which you fail to forget in time will be forgotten in eternity. Lighten your burdens of soul by speedily acquiring a long-distance view of your destiny, a universe expansion of your career.

Staying close to God will be the most help to you, no matter what it is in your past that is troubling to you - his very Presence exists within you, and he is as close as a thought. He wants to commune with you. He loves you and wants you to be happy and to have a joyous life of love and service in his spiritual Kingdom on earth. Speak to him in your heart, and he will answer.

If you have not already done so, please feel free to subscribe to our free service - Quote of the Day .
You will receive a daily inspiration from The Urantia Book, which will help you to maintain a spiritual perspective on life and which will cheer and uplift you on your journey.

My life is a mess. Everything I do fails.

2008-08-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

Q: My life is a mess. Everything I do fails. I'm tired of all this failure. They say I attract negative spirits...what are they and how do I overcome them? Please help...

A: I am so sorry to hear that you feel like a failure. That's a hard place to be. I can relate, as there have been long stretches of time in my life when I felt that way, too.

I seriously doubt whether you are attracting negative spirit personalities, but you may be attracting negative energies, as that is where your mind seems to be. You appear to have an attitude of defeat in your question, and your attitude really does affect your reality.

Jesus once met a woman who harbored what he called the "spirit of infirmity." Here's the story:

p1835:5 (167:3.1) Abner had arranged for the Master to teach in the synagogue on this Sabbath day, the first time Jesus had appeared in a synagogue since they had all been closed to his teachings by order of the Sanhedrin. At the conclusion of the service Jesus looked down before him upon an elderly woman who wore a downcast expression, and who was much bent in form. This woman had long been fear-ridden, and all joy had passed out of her life. As Jesus stepped down from the pulpit, he went over to her and, touching her bowed-over form on the shoulder, said: "Woman, if you would only believe, you could be wholly loosed from your spirit of infirmity." And this woman, who had been bowed down and bound up by the depressions of fear for more than eighteen years, believed the words of the Master and by faith straightened up immediately. When this woman saw that she had been made straight, she lifted up her voice and glorified God.

Everybody thought it was a miracle, but it really wasn't; this woman needed to hear that she had the power within her to feel better just by changing her mind, and having faith! And that is what she did.

I think you could substitute the word "failure" for "infirmity," and the advice would still be the same. Jesus told her that she had only to believe and that her spirit would be revived. Sometimes, all it takes to really get a new and fresh start is to talk it over with God. I hope you have discovered God as the loving Father that he is. He is always ready to hear you and advise you.

It is my experience that being born of the Spirit, and living life in the service of the Kingdom is a sure cure for depression, for fear, and for that feeling of uselessness and hopelessness that can sometimes afflict our minds - and our very lives. As we think, so we are. Continued failure usually accompanies that sense of inner uselessness and defeat. Change that, and the rest of our lives change. It is inevitable.

It is a fact that ALL of us, at one time or another, WILL experience failure and defeat. It is a normal part of life, and cannot be escaped. But defeat is a great teacher, and here are a few quotes from Jesus to help you when you find yourself in that position. See When You're Discouraged

It might help you to realize also, that Jesus himself was considered a failure by some. His mission of establishing the Kingdom was in total ruins after the crucifixion, and even when he was spreading his gospel of salvation, people laughed at him and called him names. He remained unmoved, and now - 2000+ years later - the whole world knows of him, and his gospel of the Kingdom is once again restated with power and majesty in the pages of The Urantia Book to inspire a whole new generation of believers. Become friends with the Master through the pages of The Urantia Book, which is freely available online, and through the many special features of Truthbook.com . He will always lift you up

So, failure is not always what it seems. It is your attitude that is important here. Stay close to God, love yourself and your fellow travelers on this earth, and do good for others. And then no one can call you a failure because you will stop thinking of yourself that way...

Christian The Lion

2008-07-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

Human beings are supposed to be the highest life form on this planet, right? We are supposed to know all about things like Love. Certainly, more than mere animals, who are said not to have the ability to self-reflect, to make value judgments, etc.

Yes, well, don't be so sure...

Watch this. And if this doesn't tear you wide open with joy and smiles from ear to ear, then you are among the Walking Dead.

Believe me....I would not put this before you if I did not think it was worth every second your time. You GOTTA WATCH THIS.

What would it take for us to show that kind of love to every human being on the face of the earth? And what kind of planet do you think we would have if we did?

What IS love, anyway, except remembering who we really are? Isn't that all that is happening here? Isn't that what this video is all about?

When I see things like this I wonder again out loud about a violent, angry, and vindictive God -- the God that is talked about by so many people in our world who claim to have an Inside Track on who and what God is, and about What God Wants.

I Know What Love IS

2008-07-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

This article was written by a member of the Truthbook Chat Room, which you can find on the left-side menu. Anyone may join. It is such a lovely tribute to the Master that we at Truthbook felt it should be shared.
Thank you to Mr Shakita
__________________
Do you ever feel struck by loneliness? Are you like an island amidst a sea of man-eating predators? Does there exist in the heart of man goodness, kindness, sympathy and love? Would not these very things be the cure for what ails us?

Sometimes in this lonely world we may feel that there is no hope for changing human hearts of stone to ones that are as malleable as clay. But what we perceive to be impossible becomes possible through sheer force of will.

Can we be rescued by someone that points out our faults and condemns us as a result? Are we not already our own worst critics? Do we not already chafe and wither at the insults and criticisms of others?

The actions of one man though perceived as insignificant can cause mountains to rise, deserts to bloom and the hearts of men to burst open with new life.

A man named love alit upon this earth with a golden glow that melted the hearts of men, women and children. He came, not to criticize, condemn or insult. He came not to harshly judge. He came to tell us about our inheritance. Little did we know that we were, all of us, richer than we could possibly imagine.

Love showed us that we were like gleaming emeralds of high value. Would any of us ever toss away a precious gem of high value because it had become soiled? Suppose we searched high and low for our lost gem. Then we find it, hidden away in a lonely place, covered in dirt and grime. Would we not cry out with rejoicing and gladness? We would be reunited and our hearts would once again be at peace.

When we find our heads bowed low, jostled about by the heartlessness of men, we find solace in a love that will neither leave us or betray us. We are not loved because of something that we did or because of having adhered rigidly to some hard and fast rule. We are loved simply because we exist. Even before we took our first breath. Even eons ago when we were just an idea, potential was loved. An idea that was loved became a vibrant, radiant being of life .

In my darkest hours, I see, in my minds eye, the Lord of a universe descending to a small rock in space to become a man. His actions did just not effect this small sphere in Orion's arm. I feel his love touching my heart and radiating out beyond our earth and beyond our solar system.

His love begins like a ripple in our hearts and travels across the cosmos. It is like a powerful tidal force that overpowers everything in its path. It is an irresistible and compelling force that gathers all within reach into its wake.

In my darkest hours when the pain and anxiety of this world buries me, I feel a tidal swell surge within my heart. Is it possible that one solitary man can change the course of human affairs? Like a streak of golden light that penetrates the darkness, a swirling beacon lands at my feet. There once was a man, descended from on high, that showed us without doubt that we could rise above our angst and develop the beauty and creativity which is our birthright. Thank you to the man called love, for because of you, I know what love is.

Love,
Mr. Shakita

I Can't Find a Reason To Live. Why Am I Alive?

2008-07-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

Q: I have heard that emptiness is the ultimate peak of consciousness. I feel a sort of emptiness in me. I can't find a reason to live. The only thing that is haunting my mind is why am I alive. I wanna die or wanna do something purposeful in life. Please guide.

A: This shouldn’t be too difficult for you to correct — your basic assumption just needs some tweaking. The ultimate peak of consciousness is to be fully aware, open, loving, giving and not at all to be empty. Perhaps you’re confusing emptiness with begin unattached to material things — material things won’t bring happiness. A fulfilling job that gives you the wherewithal to live comfortably and to enjoy the good things of life is a worthy goal where simply accumulating things is not.

You may not yet understand why you’re here — getting a grasp on that is often a life-long pursuit — but any thinking person will easily recognize that there is a purpose to existence, that the scheme of things is too grand to be meaningless therefore the pursuit of meaning is a true spiritual adventure to be experienced now during this life.

With that in mind, dying prematurely will only subvert your purpose for being here now and will merely postpone your struggles, not remove them.

There is no better guide for living than to know and to understand the life Jesus led while here — that’s one of the great messages provided by The Urantia Book. Jesus came to the world for everyone, not just for Christians, and it’s up to us to learn about him, who he was, why he came, what his message was — that’s hard to do when filtered through Christianity but is a wonderful, inspiring story when told as the angels tell us through the words in The Urantia Book. The life and teachings of Jesus in The Urantia Book gives Jesus to us before the Christian Church got ahold of him. So to get a good handle on your own life, where you are, why you are, where you’re headed you owe it to yourself to read just this enthralling portion of the book. You can read the life and teachings of Jesus on-line from our site or from the book which can be ordered from Amazon. For the on-line version, take the left hand link "The Urantia Book" on our home page at www.truthbook.com and then the link "Urantia Book Introduction." Scroll clear to the bottom of the page and take the "Go to Part IV of the Urantia Book" link — you may want to skip Paper 120 which ties Part IV with the preceding 3 Parts and go right to Paper 121 to begin your reading. I think you'll soon find your spirits lifting and life beginning to look more promising to you.
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I hope you will not mind a second answer to your searching question...Larry gave you some great advice, and I agree completely. Knowing the life of Jesus is the ideal place to find answers, as Jesus was our great teacher and the highest example of how to live and why to persevere, even when life is hard. He was the original Son of God, and he showed us how we can also live as sons of God, which we are, in truth. He is your spiritual brother and is with you always. Reading of his matchless life as a real human man, while also a true God, is endlessly inspiring. Even though his life was lived over 2000 years ago, his words ring clear and relevant to our present lives. Please follow this advice. Take advantage of our Truthbook.com site. We are here for YOU!

This emptiness you speak of is part of the human condition. It has been called "existential loneliness," among other things. Many people have experienced this, and so you must not feel as if you are alone, even though it does feel that way sometimes.

Why do we feel so lonely? We learn in The Urantia Book that this planet earth (Urantia) that we live on is a very disordered kind of world. We have been in spiritual isolation for a very long time, and because of this, we have to discover on our own the reality of the spiritual life. This discovery will change your life, as it puts all of the sorrows and hardships of our lives into a larger perspective, and gives us a solid, indestructible foundation from which to deal with everyday problems and moods of the mind.

You hold within yourself a "pilot light -" a spark of God himself. He has been inside you for a long time, and waits patiently for you to recognize his presence, so that he can share your life, your sorrows, your confusion - and your joys and spiritual victories, too. When you get quiet and ask for him, he will answer you in a "still, small voice." It is hard to hear this voice sometimes, but when you really desire it, you will hear. You are never alone, but God does not call attention to himself. He waits for you to turn to him, and then he can truly commune with you. Far from "emptiness," the consciousness of God is the highest consciousness that there is, and worth every effort to achieve.

Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. He taught us that all you have to do to enter this holy kingdom is to believe that you are a son of God. Very simple. And after that, the best way to experience the joys of the Kingdom is to do something for someone else. Do some kind of service for another. This will take you out of your own problems, if even for a little while, and will help you to see what even a small kindness to another can do for your self-esteem and your own sense of self-worth. I am sure that you know someone right now in your life who could benefit from a service offered by you in love.

It is a difficult world we live in, and I know that sometimes, it is very discouraging to keep on, when we see so much emptiness - not only in ourselves, but in the world around us. The only thing that can fill that emptiness is God. Once you have found God within yourself, you will become energized once more, and will have a new reason to live. God intends that we live lives of joy and originality, and you have within you all that you need to make this a reality.

As Larry pointed out, you cannot escape the business of living and spiritual growth. Even if you leave the earth by your own hand, you will still have to make progress in the next world. It is just the way it is. We will always have to make progress, for "progress" is the watchword of the universe. When you decide to enter the Kingdom by faith now, you are making a great step towards improving your life - and the lives of all who will benefit from your love, understanding, tolerance, and brotherhood. And that is real, here-and-now progress...

As Jesus was fond of saying, "Fear not."
And he also said "the kingdom of Heaven is within you."
Open up your life, instead of ending it. The best is yet to be!!!

Is The Urantia Book Account of Jesus' Life True?

2008-07-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

Q: My question is, although what I've read on the website so far about the Urantia Book seems to make a lot of sense, even the historical events attributed to the life of Jesus, how do we know for sure that these attributed historical events actually happened the way the UB says they did? It's easy to see the philosophical truths in the book, but how can we accept on blind faith that all of these events took place exactly this way? It's easy to understand how the gospels could accurately record historical events because they were supposedly written by human eye witnesses, but the humans that documented the UB, as far as my understanding thus far, were not eye witnesses and thus could only receive this information through very accurate divine revelation, which, unfortunately, is always highly suspect.

A: Thank you for your note to Truthbook.com. You ask the same question Pilate asked Jesus, "What is Truth?" Fortunately, we have a lot of help in discerning truth through spirit agencies, primarily the Spirit of Truth, an unerring guide to direct the hungry truth-seeker toward the truth most valuable, useful, meaningful specifically for them. The truth I am led to may differ from the truth you’re led to. Although there is absolute Truth, truth for an ascending mortal is relative and we have to learn to listen and to be guided when we're unsure.

Back to your question. How do you know that anything is true? What measure would you use to know whether what the UB says is true or not? Many people get around such decisions by relying on the judgment of someone else, friends, relatives, priests, ministers, anyone who professes to know something. Yet, your spiritual development is yours alone. No one else’s judgment can be a substitute for your own judgment. You’re required to use your own mind, to taste the logic and spiritual fragrance of a new idea and to decide for yourself. My choices can’t be of any spiritual benefit to you.

About Jesus, you can decide for yourself if the scant information contained in the Bible is adequate for your needs or if you prefer the rendition provided by The Urantia Book. Is it true? Does it make sense logically and spiritually as far as you can discern? If you believe it does, but you choose to reject it because no one in a position of authority whom you admire backs you up, then you’ve turned your back on your own ability to discern truth. If you believe it doesn’t make logical sense or isn't spiritually fragrant and you intend to continue your search for something more meaningful then you’ve chosen wisely. Your faith hasn’t been blind, it’s been used to guide your search. You don't have to believe The Urantia Book to be on a track of spiritual discernment.

You’ve misunderstood who the true authors of the life and teachings of Jesus portion of The Urantia Book are. The page that immediately precedes Paper 120, the first Paper of Part IV, says:

"PART IV

THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS

This group of papers was sponsored by a commission of twelve Urantia Midwayers acting under the supervision of a Melchizedek Revelatory Director. The basis of this narrative was supplied by a secondary Midwayer who was onetime assigned to the superhuman watchcare of the Apostle Andrew."

The authors of Part IV are not human beings and they actually were eye witnesses — a much better source for truth than is the fallible human mind.

Has the human race been visited by extraterrestrials?

2008-06-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

Q: What is the UFO phenomenon all about? What about the possibilities that ETs from other worlds seeded some of our races?

A: That's an interesting question with no conclusive answer to the first part, even from a Urantia Book perspective. The Urantia Book makes it clear that there are trillions of inhabited worlds but under normal circumstances there is no contact on a material level between any of them until long after they've achieved a very high level of civilization called light and life -- that lets us out, and not only that, our world is still laboring under a quarantine from the celestial worlds. So, what are UFO's?

One possibility is that they're transport vehicles used by the Urantia midway creatures (midwayers), the permanent and usually invisible residents of earth. If you'll do a search on our site you can read what The Urantia Book has to say about midwayers, beings midway between spirit and material reality, as opposed to human beings existing solidly in material reality.

Another conjecture is that since this is not a normal inhabited world that these are vehicles belonging to beings from a nearby world who have been invited here as assistants to the midwayers.

On a personal note, I used to be highly intrigued by UFO sightings and tales. After discovering The Urantia Book that interest dwindled to where now I'd be interested in seeing one but other than that I pay the phenomenon little attention. You'll find numerous other interpretations of what UFOs are among other students of the book, but those two are my personal favorites.

About the possibility that ETs seeded some of our races ... The Urantia Book relates two historical instances of that being the case, normal procedures on all inhabited worlds and part of the normal evolutionary plan. Five hundred thousand years ago an ET administration was established in the Mid-East that flourished for several hundred thousand years. It was comprised of a spiritual ruler of the planet and his staff of 100. All of these were beings of the spirit order and invisible to humans. Their purpose was to establish training schools in agriculture, animal husbandry, social sciences, physical sciences, language and religion -- to improve the social climate of the primitive evolutionary races through these schools and through selective mating. You can read about the Planetary Prince of Urantia and of the Caligastia 100 on our site.

The second instance of ET intervention is that of Adam and Eve which occurred about 38,000 years ago. They were physical beings sent here on a mission similar to Caligastia's but directed more toward the biological uplift of the races. The story of Adam and Eve given in The Urantia Book is plausible, logical, insightful, and tragic and can be read in the book or on our site, Truthbook.com

Do we need to be baptized to be saved?

2008-06-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

Q: Some Christian churches believe a person has to be baptized to be saved. What does the Urantia Book say?

A: The Urantia Book says it takes the tiniest flicker of faith to be saved -- "faith" in the sense of recognizing there is something greater than oneself -- "saved" in the sense that one can continue to participate in the adventure of finding Paradise.
p1733:5 (155:6.17))

Every religion has its own set of "church beliefs," rituals or dogma -- that's what sets one church apart from another and makes them unique. Baptism is a symbolic act, it's not magic. Baptism isn't mentioned in the Old Testament. John the Baptist used baptism as a new symbol for washing away the old beliefs and taking on the new that was to come. Jesus offered himself to John's baptism as a symbol of fulfilling John's proclamations and as a symbol for his heralding of the new message of God the Father and the brotherhood of man. Rituals and symbols are meaningful ways of making statements about one's choices in life.

Can we fuse with our Adjuster and stay on Earth?

2008-05-30T11:42:00.000-07:00

Q: If Jesus fused with his Adjuster, why did he not go up in flames? Is it possible to fuse and remain on Earth?

A: I was happy to answer your question, and I can see why there might still be some confusion. We learn in The Urantia Book that mortals who fuse with their Adjusters while still on the planet go up in a flash of fire. Obviously, Jesus did not experience this.

I did some searches of The Urantia Book, and I was not able to find a definitive answer to this question, but maybe we can reason it out (being mindful that it may not be something that can be entirely understood.)

What occurs to me right away is the obvious problem that would have developed if he had fused...at the time of Jesus' baptism, his ministry was at its very beginning stages; to have him disappear from Earth at this stage would certainly have been counter-productive to his completing his mission of revealing the Father and establishing the Kingdom.

The passage that I cited above has this statement:

"He stood in the Jordan that day a perfected mortal of the evolutionary worlds of time and space. Perfect synchrony and full communication had become established between the mortal mind of Jesus and the indwelling spirit Adjuster, the divine gift of his Father in Paradise."

And: "This ceremony was the final act of his purely human life on Urantia..."

Since Jesus was also Divine - already of the Father himself - there likely was no need for him to fuse with his Adjuster as other humans do. Instead he was given the vision of himself as he really was:

"...the Son of Man saw the vision, presented by the now Personalized Adjuster, of himself as a Son of God as he was before he came to earth in the likeness of mortal flesh, and as he would be when the incarnated life should be finished. This heavenly vision was seen only by Jesus. "

"Throughout the remainder of Jesus' earth life this Personalized Adjuster was associated with him in all his labors; Jesus was in constant communion with this exalted Adjuster."

Jesus, while human, also was God. This makes him a totally unique person. It seems to me to have been unnecessary for him to fuse in the usual way, as the partnership of his mortal self with his Adjuster was already perfected that day in the Jordan. As well, as noted above, his mission would have been effectively ended had he disappeared in the flash of fire. Since he now knew of a certainty who he really was, he was then able to partner quite effectively with his Personalized Adjuster for the remainder of his earth life.

Did this Adjuster indwell the mind of Jesus, as is true of us? It sounds as if it did not, but remained somewhat separate from him, but "associated" and in "constant communion" nonetheless.

As to the second part of your question:

I can think of no good reason for a person to remain, even if s/he could, once fusion has occurred. But aside from that, we read that: "...fusion during physical life instantly consumes the material body..." (p1212:3 (110:7.2) ), so there would be no body left in any event. And once fusion has taken place, the entire purpose for a mortal life has been fulfilled, so no reason to go further in that state of being.

I hope that this reply has been useful to you. Thanks for writing back, and please feel free to write again, anytime...

If Jesus fused, why didn't he go up in flames? Can people fuse and still remain on Earth?

2008-05-30T11:30:00.000-07:00

Q: If Jesus was fused with his adjuster, why did he not go up in flames, so to speak? Is it possible that many human beings have fused with their adjusters and still live on earth?

A: I was happy to answer your question, and I can see why there might still be some confusion. We learn in The Urantia Book that mortals who fuse with their Adjusters while still on the planet go up in a flash of fire. Obviously, Jesus did not experience this.

I did some searches of The Urantia Book, and I was not able to find a definitive answer to this question, but maybe we can reason it out (being mindful that it may not be something that can be entirely understood.)

What occurs to me right away is the obvious problem that would have developed if he had fused...at the time of Jesus' baptism, his ministry was at its very beginning stages; to have him disappear from Earth at this stage would certainly have been counter-productive to his completing his mission of revealing the Father and establishing the Kingdom.

The passage that I cited above has this statement:

"He stood in the Jordan that day a perfected mortal of the evolutionary worlds of time and space. Perfect synchrony and full communication had become established between the mortal mind of Jesus and the indwelling spirit Adjuster, the divine gift of his Father in Paradise."

And: "This ceremony was the final act of his purely human life on Urantia..."

Since Jesus was also Divine - already of the Father himself - there likely was no need for him to fuse with his Adjuster as other humans do. Instead he was given the vision of himself as he really was:

"...the Son of Man saw the vision, presented by the now Personalized Adjuster, of himself as a Son of God as he was before he came to earth in the likeness of mortal flesh, and as he would be when the incarnated life should be finished. This heavenly vision was seen only by Jesus. "

"Throughout the remainder of Jesus' earth life this Personalized Adjuster was associated with him in all his labors; Jesus was in constant communion with this exalted Adjuster."

Jesus, while human, also was God. This makes him a totally unique person. It seems to me to have been unnecessary for him to fuse in the usual way, as the partnership of his mortal self with his Adjuster was already perfected that day in the Jordan. As well, as noted above, his mission would have been effectively ended had he disappeared in the flash of fire. Since he now knew of a certainty who he really was, he was then able to partner quite effectively with his Personalized Adjuster for the remainder of his earth life.

Did this Adjuster indwell the mind of Jesus, as is true of us? It sounds as if it did not, but remained somewhat separate from him, but "associated" and in "constant communion" nonetheless.

As to the second part of your question:
I can think of no good reason for a person to remain, even if s/he could, once fusion has occurred. But aside from that, we read that: "...fusion during physical life instantly consumes the material body..." (p1212:3), so there would be no body left in any event. And once fusion has taken place, the entire purpose for a mortal life has been fulfilled, so no reason to go further in that state of being.

I hope that this reply has been useful to you. Thanks for writing back, and please feel free to write again, anytime...

Did Jesus fuse with his Adjuster while on Earth?

2008-05-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

Thank you for this question. Obviously, Jesus was a very special human being, and the events of his baptism in the Jordan culminated in a very special union of human and divine - a unique kind of union with a very special Adjuster. In this following section you will read about the events of that day, including the special kind of fusion that occurred with the human Jesus that day in the Jordan. (I have bolded the pertinent paragraphs pertaining to your question)

p1510:4 ((136:2.1)) Jesus was baptized at the very height of John's preaching when Palestine was aflame with the expectancy of his message—"the kingdom of God is at hand"—when all Jewry was engaged in serious and solemn self-examination. The Jewish sense of racial solidarity was very profound. The Jews not only believed that the sins of the father might afflict his children, but they firmly believed that the sin of one individual might curse the nation. Accordingly, not all who submitted to John's baptism regarded themselves as being guilty of the specific sins which John denounced. Many devout souls were baptized by John for the good of Israel. They feared lest some sin of ignorance on their part might delay the coming of the Messiah. They felt themselves to belong to a guilty and sin-cursed nation, and they presented themselves for baptism that they might by so doing manifest fruits of race penitence. It is therefore evident that Jesus in no sense received John's baptism as a rite of repentance or for the remission of sins. In accepting baptism at the hands of John, Jesus was only following the example of many pious Israelites.

When Jesus of Nazareth went down into the Jordan to be baptized, he was a mortal of the realm who had attained the pinnacle of human evolutionary ascension in all matters related to the conquest of mind and to self-identification with the spirit. He stood in the Jordan that day a perfected mortal of the evolutionary worlds of time and space. Perfect synchrony and full communication had become established between the mortal mind of Jesus and the indwelling spirit Adjuster, the divine gift of his Father in Paradise. And just such an Adjuster indwells all normal beings living on Urantia since the ascension of Michael to the headship of his universe, except that Jesus' Adjuster had been previously prepared for this special mission by similarly indwelling another superhuman incarnated in the likeness of mortal flesh, Machiventa Melchizedek.

Ordinarily, when a mortal of the realm attains such high levels of personality perfection, there occur those preliminary phenomena of spiritual elevation which terminate in eventual fusion of the matured soul of the mortal with its associated divine Adjuster. And such a change was apparently due to take place in the personality experience of Jesus of Nazareth on that very day when he went down into the Jordan with his two brothers to be baptized by John. This ceremony was the final act of his purely human life on Urantia, and many superhuman observers expected to witness the fusion of the Adjuster with its indwelt mind, but they were all destined to suffer disappointment. Something new and even greater occurred. As John laid his hands upon Jesus to baptize him, the indwelling Adjuster took final leave of the perfected human soul of Joshua ben Joseph. And in a few moments this divine entity returned from Divinington as a Personalized Adjuster and chief of his kind throughout the entire local universe of Nebadon. Thus did Jesus observe his own former divine spirit descending on its return to him in personalized form. And he heard this same spirit of Paradise origin now speak, saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And John, with Jesus' two brothers, also heard these words. John's disciples, standing by the water's edge, did not hear these words, neither did they see the apparition of the Personalized Adjuster. Only the eyes of Jesus beheld the Personalized Adjuster.

When the returned and now exalted Personalized Adjuster had thus spoken, all was silence. And while the four of them tarried in the water, Jesus, looking up to the near-by Adjuster, prayed: "My Father who reigns in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come! Your will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven." When he had prayed, the "heavens were opened," and the Son of Man saw the vision, presented by the now Personalized Adjuster, of himself as a Son of God as he was before he came to earth in the likeness of mortal flesh, and as he would be when the incarnated life should be finished. This heavenly vision was seen only by Jesus.

It was the voice of the Personalized Adjuster that John and Jesus heard, speaking in behalf of the Universal Father, for the Adjuster is of, and as, the Paradise Father. Throughout the remainder of Jesus' earth life this Personalized Adjuster was associated with him in all his labors; Jesus was in constant communion with this exalted Adjuster.

Ingredients for Spiritual Health

2008-05-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Dawn Obrecht M.D.

One dictionary gave me 14 different definitions for “spirit.”
The base word is from the Latin spirare, “to breathe.” Common
uses of spirit and spiritual include “pertaining to the
sacred,” “vital, supernatural being or essence,” “the
immaterial intelligent or sentient part of a person,” and several
others.

There is more than one route to spiritual health… many doors to
the same room... different perspectives, different ways of saying
the same thing. Here is one door, a simple triad of ingredients:
Don’t Judge, Don’t Compare, and Don’t Have a Need to Know Why.
The End.

If you can do this, no need to read further. You are living on a
spiritual basis.

For those who want a little more discussion, let’s look at
“Don’t Judge.” As human beings, we are not in charge of the
Universe. Try saying this, “There is a God and it’s not me.”
If you find the word “God” objectionable, use “Force of the
Universe” or “Nature” or something else you want to replace
that three letter word, “God.” The sun rises and sets and you
are not in charge of it. The same applies to everything else. The
only things we are in charge of are our own behavior, our thoughts,
and sometimes our feelings.

If we want to judge a situation, another person, anything at all,
we are trying to play God. If we can let God do the judging, we
find we can be more open-minded. We can see what people do as just
behavior, often obnoxious, but just what they are doing, not doing
TO US. If we can be open-minded, and not judge, we can often be of
service and help someone instead of buying into negativity. This
allows others to be more real, to just be human, and allows us to
be the best person we can be. By not judging, we can treat all
people equally and fairly, not see ourselves as victims, and let
God be in charge. When we practice this, we find we are living on a
spiritual basis. This is by no means a suggestion to tolerate
abuse; more on that in a future column. The point is, don’t get
caught up in another’s behavior; don’t judge it, don’t be a
victim, just detach from the God job and do your own job of being
the best human being you can be regardless of what the world has in
store for you.

“Don’t Compare.” Right. When we compare, we either see
ourselves as better than (richer, better looking, smarter, etc.) or
as not as good as (poorer, fatter, balder, shorter, less education,
worse job, dumber, etc.) another. Either way, we cut ourselves off
from others. We are using a psychological maneuver to stay distant
from others, to stay dissatisfied, with ourselves and/or others. As
with many other personality traits, this comes from not being
comfortable with whom and what we are, from low self-esteem. We
find ways to avoid closeness and acceptance… of others and of
ourselves. We isolate, emotionally if not physically. We find
ourselves alone, even in a crowd. Stop it. See what happens if you
just stop comparing yourself to others and simply start being who
you are. Try seeing yourself and everyone else as God’s kids,
playing down here in His sandbox, chopping wood and hauling water,
doing the best we can with what we have to work with. Accept
yourself, and others, for just who we are, nothing less, nothing
more, and don’t compare!

“Don’t Have a Need to Know Why.” Many of us operate out of
FEAR, fearing tomorrow, regretting yesterday. Obviously, if we know
what is going to happen, and why, we would be… that three letter
word again… God. If we know all things, then life might be easier,
(you think?); but we would be kicking God out of His job again.
Living on a spiritual basis requires us to trust, trust that God
has a plan and we don’t get to know what it is until it happens.
We are just players, not directors, of this life thing. If we play
the best we can, being responsible, reliable, honest, kind,
accepting and all those other spiritually healthy things, we get to
have joy and peace, knowing we are being the best person we can be.
Try it. It really works.

Living a spiritual life means living a life of trust. It means
breathing deeply and asking for help in dealing with whatever life
throws at us, trusting God will give us the spiritual strength and
capacity to get through, maybe even to find joy and peace. In fact,
just trusting can be joyful and peaceful!

Dr. Dawn Obrecht is the only MD addiction medicine specialist on
the western slope of Colorado. She is a Fellow of the American
Society of Addiction Medicine and her office is in Steamboat
Springs. She can be reached at 970-846-8479 or docdawn@hotmail.com.

Campaign for Love and Forgiveness

2008-05-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

Please cut and paste this flash movie into your browser, and enjoy.

http://www.loveandforgive.org/popup_video.php?flv=http://www.ikshare.com/1.00.02/flv/love_and_forgiveness.flv&jpg=&bgcolor=bfc689&autoplay=true

And after you do that, cut and paste this address into your browser so that you can visit The Campaign for Love and Forgiveness.

http://www.loveandforgive.org/

You'll be inspired and cheered by these positive happenings in our seemingly hopelessly violent world.

I wanted to embed the movie. I could not do it, but the information is worth the trouble to cut and paste.

Amazing Grace - Just the Black Notes...

2008-05-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

Did you know of the pentatonic scale (5 notes) and the history of Amazing Grace?
I knew of the scale and the lyricist but not of the piano black keys as the basic notes of Negro spirituals. Enjoy, this is so BEAUTIFUL!!
It is part of a service conducted by Wintley Phipps. This is truly inspiring...

AMAZING GRACE - JUST THE BLACK NOTES!

The "Law of Attraction"

2008-05-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

Q: Does the "law of attraction" actually exist or somthing like it ?( i.e what we set our minds on to our wants and needs can be attainable even if it seems impossilbe to get or reach)

A: The "law of attraction" does function on material matter because of material gravity and on spirit substance because of spirit gravity; those are the only two real laws of attraction, but that's not what you're asking about. You want to know if you want and wish for things focused and strongly enough if they'll be granted to you, a popular new age concept along similar lines to karma, and the answer to that is no; magic does not uphold reality even as much as we may desire that would be the case.

It is always to our benefit to entertain a positive outlook even in the face of disappointment and struggle, to believe that the best is available to us if we do our best, to set goals and strive to achieve them, to direct our lives along positive lines. If that's our life's outlook then the seemingly impossible can and sometimes does become our reality. Remember the concept that "God is no respecter of persons." This means that God (or fate) does not show favoritism to those who set their minds on wants and needs as opposed to those who have no such focus. Life on an experimental evolutionary world always poses rewards and defeats -- it's your attitude toward these vicissitudes that makes the overall difference in the quality of your life.

Does God Forgive Adultery?

2008-05-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

Q: Does God forgive adultery? I was truly in love with this man, still am, although I am no longer in the relationaship. I know it was wrong, regardless of my love for him, and am profoundly sorry and overwhelmingly ashamed and terribly guilt ridden.

A: Let me put your mind at rest, if I can. God forgives ANYTHING, from what I understand of his loving and merciful nature. God has forgiven you even before you know you need forgiveness. What a great Dad he is!!!

I am not going to presume that your experiences with adultery constitute sin - it sounds as if you might have already made that judgment upon yourself. But adultery is certainly a violation of accepted mores. You say that you felt great affection for this man, and those feelings seemingly justified your, and his, actions. Even though you may have known that it was wrong, you did it anyway because it felt so right to love as you did. Of course, there are far-reaching consequences to such actions, and maybe you also experienced some of those, or saw them in the other people whose lives were affected by your decisions.

Love in its purest sense is the desire to do good to others - but real love must encompass all of our brothers and sisters, not just a special one here or there. Real, honest love will never be consciously selfish or hurtful to another - and that includes the spouse and family of the married man.

Maybe you'll be comforted by this quote of Jesus from The Urantia Book:

p1861:5(170:2.19) "Jesus taught that sin is not the child of a defective nature but rather the offspring of a knowing mind dominated by an unsubmissive will. Regarding sin, he taught that God has forgiven; that we make such forgiveness personally available by the act of forgiving our fellows. When you forgive your brother in the flesh, you thereby create the capacity in your own soul for the reception of the reality of God's forgiveness of your own misdeeds."

In order for you to feel forgiven you must now proceed with the business of forgiving all of those in your life who may have wronged YOU. This is no small task for most people, but it can be easily accomplished with the right frame of mind. It may include forgiving your former partner, as well.

Learn to look for God's will in all of this, and try to see a bigger picture. Get your mind off of yourself, and try to see in others the same kinds of personality foibles that created your own misdeeds, be they pride, greed, arrogance, or selfishness. Remember how easy it was for you to fall prey to these, and it may be much easier to see how another could err in the same way you did - maybe not by doing what you did, but in other ways. Then, forgiveness becomes easier. Eventually, you will find God's forgiveness in your own heart, if you open that heart to real sympathy with others and the trials they experience. Set everyone free from your own judgment.

The fact that you are remorseful is a good sign that you may now think more carefully about it if you are ever again faced with such a possibility. You know by its consequences in your, and other's lives, that what you did was not good, not Godly, and you can amend your life in accordance with that knowledge - and also, maybe help others who may be tempted to fall into the same trap. And I think you'll agree that it was a big trap.

We all make mistakes, and we all fall short of our highest ideals. It is the human condition. But the important thing to remember is that in every moment, we can make a new start, and we can change our ways of looking at things so that we don't repeat those mistakes again. The consciousness of guilt and remorse is the way we know we have done the wrong thing, and it speaks well of you that you are taking that to heart, rather than continuing to justify your actions.

But also I would add that you must forgive yourself. Stop dwelling on those feelings of regret, stop beating up on yourself, wipe the slate clean and start fresh with your life. This might be a good time to re-assess what love really means to you...? With God's help, fearlessly address the personal shortcomings that created the mental atmosphere in you in which you felt justified to proceed with your acts, and ask him for healing in those areas. It may not happen ovenight, but it will happen if you remain sincere of heart.

Most importantly, remember you are a beloved child of God - stand firmly on that solid truth - and he will never forsake you when you ask him for his help and mercy.

Why would someone choose NOT to survive? And are there really "swines" among us?

2008-05-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

Q: I have more questions that after reading the UB has made me wonder how or why a personality would chose to NOT survive death and NOT to go on to a career in eternality. Do you know of such reasons other than genetic make-up or the self-destruction of the body so it can no longer function for thinking and reason?
Additionally, are there truly "swines" out there that UB tells us to not cast pearls upon? And if so, how do we know this or when do we know when to stop casting pearls? I always have hope that a grain of sand will perhaps reach into the soul of this so-called "swine" and lodge there like such as does in an oyster. The oyster tries so hard to throw off the grain of sand and in its struggle, it develops the beautiful pearl itself.

A: Thank you for your post and for your questions. I'll answer as best I can.
About choosing not to survive -- there are a number of different opinions about what transpires here because The Urantia Book is not very specific and this is a topic we're all interested in and concerned about. It is my opinion that relatively few, if any, people can actually choose not to survive death while in this life -- others disagree and think many people don't make it to the mansion worlds. In any event, we can see the results of some pretty atrocious people doing very bad things but I don't know that any of that equates to personality extinction; the angels know and understand our motives better than we do. The whole ascension scheme of surviving death to awaken on the mansion worlds, the remedial work and the 570 different levels of morontia life we experience while there, fusion with our adjuster, and the beginning of our paradise ascension career as spirit beings is so thorough and complete it doesn't seem to me to be designed for only a few ascenders. Each personality is unique -- we each will contribute to the unfolding of the Supreme -- so every personality that is extinguished leaves a void. So it's my interpretation that here on earth this non-survival concern is not something to worry about -- particularly since our world has had so much happen to knock it off course and we're experiencing the results of those abnormalities.

When the time does come to be able to make a full and informed choice about eternal personality survival only those spirit beings who no longer relate to reality would be candidates for non survival. That occurs when a being first begins to reflect upon themselves, starts to idolize their own personality, feeds their own ego, disengages spiritually from the cosmos -- as exemplified by Lucifer.

Yes, there are "swines" among us -- usually we won't recognize them but I'm sure they stood out in Jesus' eyes. Your analogy of a grain of sand is a good one and one worth striving for, even with difficult people. The world is full of difficult people who would be redeamable if the right circumstances were presented to them -- they can always have the opportunity for redemption on the mansion worlds however. Probably the best concept for what "swine" would be is that there are people who through faulty genetics or accident or bad personal choice no longer function with human will dignity -- their connection to the higher adjutant mind spirits has been cut off. They look human and talk human but are really very high grade animal beings -- they'd be sociopaths -- and there's probably little if anything any of us could do that would be of value for them; it never hurts though to try to place that grain of sand that can become a pearl.

Becoming perfect is an ideal -- good to hold before us in consciousness but unattainable on earth. The last perfect person was Jesus and before that was Eljah as far as we know. I think our Father in heaven wants us to become the best mortal being we're capable of during this life. We're not spirit beings -- we're so far from that state it's nearly incomprehensible -- we're material beings with a spirit impulse. We have this one material life to live and experience before we're off to a new level of experience that is closer to the spiritual existence but still far removed. We do well if while here not attempting to renounce our nature or to assume the cloak of being spiritual but if instead we work at being the best material being we can be, knowing that the more spiritual is our purpose.

Good that you're sticking with reading The Urantia Book -- like peeling an onion. It's a life-time journey of adventure and discovery. Yes, it certainly can be confusing, but that's not because it doesn't make sense, it's because we don't yet understand, and rereading improves comprehension and understanding. There's nothing else like it for the seeker.

There are my opinions and I hope they help provide some answers.

What's the meaning of the "mark of the beast," or the number 666?

2008-04-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

Q: What is the meaning of the "number of man," or the "mark of the beast" called "666?"

A: The closest Urantia Book reference to that number comes from the following paragraph:

"The grand universe number of your world, Urantia, is 5,342,482,337,666. That is the registry number on Uversa and on Paradise, your number in the catalogue of the inhabited worlds. I know the physical-sphere registry number, but it is of such an extraordinary size that it is of little practical significance to the mortal mind."
(15:14.8)

Perhaps this number, which ends in 666, was revealed to John and all that he recorded were the last 3 digits.

There are no magic numbers. The universe is logical, not magical. Some numbers have significance because they refer to universe realities, but numerology and the magic associated with numbers is superstition based. The "mark of the beast" is a figure of speech signifying our evolutionary animal origin. It's referred to in the following paragraph which describes the gradual spiritual purging and purification we experience as we move through the mansion worlds following death.

The experience on this sphere is the crowning achievement of the immediate postmortal career. During your sojourn here you will receive the instruction of many teachers, all of whom will co-operate in the task of preparing you for residence on Jerusem. Any discernible differences between those mortals hailing from the isolated and retarded worlds and those survivors from the more advanced and enlightened spheres are virtually obliterated during the sojourn on the seventh mansion world. Here you will be purged of all the remnants of unfortunate heredity, unwholesome environment, and unspiritual planetary tendencies. The last remnants of the "mark of the beast" are here eradicated. (47:9.1)

Is there such a thing as "soul travel?"

2008-04-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

Q: Is there anything called soul travel as practice by eckanker or other school of thought?

A: Thank you for your question. Yes, there is something called soul travel. It's associated with confusing beliefs about souls disconnecting from the body and traveling around, observing, becoming ghosts, reincarnating -- beliefs that are ancient and based in superstition. The process is along the lines that intent, or meditation, or drugs can allow the soul to detach, that it remains attached to the body only through a thin silver cord, that it can travel great distances -- to other planets as well -- and as long as the cord is attached the soul will return to the body but if it breaks it won't return. Eckankar focuses on teaching this technique and other meditation practices promote it as well -- after all, who wouldn't want to be able to fly off and observe all manner of interesting things?

It's a mind game deception. Our minds are powerful as well as directable. We do have the ability to direct our mind and a conscious connection so that it may seem we have left our body. Mind can detect information at a distance but "you" don't leave one place and travel to another. Through practice one can strengthen the connection to the subconscious mind's psychic abilities and participate in many otherwise strange mind games. Such a practice will disengage one from reality substituting the practical to make it become impractical.

The Urantia Book warns against attempting to augment psychic abilities, offering instead a practical, inspiring, spiritually beneficent cosmology which answers life's most challenging questions and gives focus to human longings and desires in a logical, positive, and uplifting manner. There's more than enough in reality to satisfy curiosity and the desire for adventure without veering away into augmenting unreality experiences.

Another of our responders has a few words on this subject as well...

I wonder if you are familiar with The Urantia Book teaching on the soul? I find it to be one of the loveliest parts of the Revelation. And it goes like this: When a child reaches the age of reason - anywhere from 5-7 years - and makes a conscious choice for good, that is the time when God sends a fragment of himself to indwell that child's mind. The Urantia Book calls this fragment the Thought Adjuster. And, it signals the birth of the soul. Thereafter, every moral choice that the child makes results in growth of the soul. The soul is comprised on only goodness, and it is that part of us that will survive us after our material bodies have died here on earth. It grows throughout our lifetime, and will actually be our true appearance when we awaken on the Mansion Worlds of God.

I only add this because sometimes people have a fuzzy understanding of just what the soul is - I know I did, before I read about it in The Urantia Book.

Personally, I would not like to think of my soul traveling away from me. I agree that our minds, including imagination, can play tricks on us - if we are so-minded. But they also can be influenced greatly by our spiritual choices. Maybe your spiritual frame of mind wants to think that your soul can travel to other realms, perhaps, but what does that really mean? There really are only two realms - the material and the spiritual. If you want to travel to spirit realms, you have to go no further than your own mind, where that fragment of God still resides, and get to know him. That is the best spiritual realm of all, and it is in the here-and-now, and will help your soul to grow, and you'll be conscious of everything.

If you are thinking more along the lines of remote-viewing or something, I would definitely not want to send my soul somewhere less than spiritual. This seems dangerous to me, only because it really could disassociate you from reality - reality being spiritual - and this would not be beneficial for your soul's growth. I don't know the limits of the human mind, and I find remote-viewing kind of interesting, but I doubt that it has anything to do with our soul. Again, this is a confusion of mind and soul, in my opinion.

Some additional soul quotes from The Utantia Book:
The material self has personality and identity, temporal identity; the prepersonal spirit Adjuster also has identity, eternal identity. This material personality and this spirit prepersonality are capable of so uniting their creative attributes as to bring into existence the surviving identity of the immortal soul.

Having thus provided for the growth of the immortal soul and having liberated man's inner self from the fetters of absolute dependence on antecedent causation, the Father stands aside. Now, man having thus been liberated from the fetters of causation response, at least as pertains to eternal destiny, and provision having been made for the growth of the immortal self, the soul, it remains for man himself to will the creation or to inhibit the creation of this surviving and eternal self which is his for the choosing. No other being, force, creator, or agency in all the wide universe of universes can interfere to any degree with the absolute sovereignty of the mortal free will, as it operates within the realms of choice, regarding the eternal destiny of the personality of the choosing mortal. As pertains to eternal survival, God has decreed the sovereignty of the material and mortal will, and that decree is absolute.
p71:2 (5:6.7)

The association of actuals and potentials equals growth, the experiential realization of values. But growth is not mere progress. Progress is always meaningful, but it is relatively valueless without growth. The supreme value of human life consists in growth of values, progress in meanings, and realization of the cosmic interrelatedness of both of these experiences. And such an experience is the equivalent of God-consciousness. Such a mortal, while not supernatural, is truly becoming superhuman; an immortal soul is evolving.
p1097:3 (100:3.6)

Interview With Rick Warren

2008-04-21T05:54:00.000-07:00

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having "wealth" from the book sales. This is a facinating short interview with Rick Warren, "Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

Student Visitors To The Finaliter's World

2008-04-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

Q: In the Urantia book 47:1.1, it is stated that the student visitors are entertained in the finaliter’s world. How do the students travel to this world? Are these students human too?

A: In answer to your question regarding student visitors, I offer the following:

Administrator Seraphim
p436:1 (39:4.15) The Transporters. These are the transport seraphim who function in the local systems. In Satania, your system, they carry passengers back and forth from Jerusem and otherwise serve as interplanetary transporters. Seldom does a day pass in which a transport seraphim of Satania does not deposit some student visitor or some other traveler of spirit or semispirit nature on the shores of Urantia. These very space traversers will sometime carry you to and from the various worlds of the system headquarters group, and when you have finished the Jerusem assignment, they will carry you forward to Edentia.

Student visitors may or may not be human like us, but they are more than likely ascenders in the Father's plan as we are. Here is a description of the landing field - the sea of glass - on our system capital world:

Jerusem Receiving Field
p521:6 (46:2.9) Transports arrive on the crystal field, the so-called sea of glass. Around this area are the receiving stations for the various orders of beings who traverse space by seraphic transport. Near the polar crystal receiving station for student visitors you may ascend the pearly observatory and view the immense relief map of the entire headquarters planet.

And on this subject of angelic transport, I thought you might like to read something about these transporters, and their connections with our ideas of the way angels look:

p438:5 (39:5.12) The erroneous idea that angels possess wings is not wholly due to olden notions that they must have wings to fly through the air. Human beings have sometimes been permitted to observe seraphim that were being prepared for transport service, and the traditions of these experiences have largely determined the Urantian concept of angels. In observing a transport seraphim being made ready to receive a passenger for interplanetary transit, there may be seen what are apparently double sets of wings extending from the head to the foot of the angel. In reality these wings are energy insulators—friction shields.

When celestial beings are to be enseraphimed for transfer from one world to another, they are brought to the headquarters of the sphere and, after due registry, are inducted into the transit sleep. Meantime, the transport seraphim moves into a horizontal position immediately above the universe energy pole of the planet. While the energy shields are wide open, the sleeping personality is skillfully deposited, by the officiating seraphic assistants, directly on top of the transport angel. Then both the upper and lower pairs of shields are carefully closed and adjusted.

And now, under the influence of the transformers and the transmitters, a strange metamorphosis begins as the seraphim is made ready to swing into the energy currents of the universe circuits. To outward appearance the seraphim grows pointed at both extremities and becomes so enshrouded in a queer light of amber hue that very soon it is impossible to distinguish the enseraphimed personality. When all is in readiness for departure, the chief of transport makes the proper inspection of the carriage of life, carries out the routine tests to ascertain whether or not the angel is properly encircuited, and then announces that the traveler is properly enseraphimed, that the energies are adjusted, that the angel is insulated, and that everything is in readiness for the departing flash. The mechanical controllers, two of them, next take their positions. By this time the transport seraphim has become an almost transparent, vibrating, torpedo-shaped outline of glistening luminosity. Now the transport dispatcher of the realm summons the auxiliary batteries of the living energy transmitters, usually one thousand in number; as he announces the destination of the transport, he reaches out and touches the near point of the seraphic carriage, which shoots forward with lightninglike speed, leaving a trail of celestial luminosity as far as the planetary atmospheric investment extends. In less than ten minutes the marvelous spectacle will be lost even to reinforced seraphic vision.

Thanks for writing, please write again anytime

Matthew 27:52-53

2008-04-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

Q: In Matthew 27: 52-53, it is written that many bodies of the saints were raised from the dead after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Where are these bodies now and what really happened?

A: Thanks for this question.
Here are some quotes discussing sleeping survivors, and what it means to be a sleeping survivor:

p341:1 (30:4.4) Sleeping Survivors. All mortals of survival status, in the custody of personal guardians of destiny, pass through the portals of natural death and, on the third period, personalize on the mansion worlds. Those accredited beings who have, for any reason, been unable to attain that level of intelligence mastery and endowment of spirituality which would entitle them to personal guardians, cannot thus immediately and directly go to the mansion worlds. Such surviving souls must rest in unconscious sleep until the judgment day of a new epoch, a new dispensation, the coming of a Son of God to call the rolls of the age and adjudicate the realm, and this is the general practice throughout all Nebadon. It was said of Christ Michael that, when he ascended on high at the conclusion of his work on earth, "He led a great multitude of captives." And these captives were the sleeping survivors from the days of Adam to the day of the Master's resurrection on Urantia.

There have only been a few of these dispensational resurrections of the sleeping survivors, and the one following Jesus' resurrection from the dead was the last one. There will not be another one until another celestial bestowal is made on this planet, which could be hundreds, or thousands of years from now. Here is a quote describing this amazing event:

The Dispensational Resurrection
p2024:3 (189:3.1) A little after half past four o'clock this Sunday morning, Gabriel summoned the archangels to his side and made ready to inaugurate the general resurrection of the termination of the Adamic dispensation on Urantia. When the vast host of the seraphim and the cherubim concerned in this great event had been marshaled in proper formation, the morontia Michael appeared before Gabriel, saying: "As my Father has life in himself, so has he given it to the Son to have life in himself. Although I have not yet fully resumed the exercise of universe jurisdiction, this self-imposed limitation does not in any manner restrict the bestowal of life upon my sleeping sons; let the roll call of the planetary resurrection begin."

The circuit of the archangels then operated for the first time from Urantia. Gabriel and the archangel hosts moved to the place of the spiritual polarity of the planet; and when Gabriel gave the signal, there flashed to the first of the system mansion worlds the voice of Gabriel, saying: "By the mandate of Michael, let the dead of a Urantia dispensation rise!" Then all the survivors of the human races of Urantia who had fallen asleep since the days of Adam, and who had not already gone on to judgment, appeared in the resurrection halls of mansonia in readiness for morontia investiture. And in an instant of time the seraphim and their associates made ready to depart for the mansion worlds. Ordinarily these seraphic guardians, onetime assigned to the group custody of these surviving mortals, would have been present at the moment of their awaking in the resurrection halls of mansonia, but they were on this world itself at this time because of the necessity of Gabriel's presence here in connection with the morontia resurrection of Jesus.

Notwithstanding that countless individuals having personal seraphic guardians and those achieving the requisite attainment of spiritual personality progress had gone on to mansonia during the ages subsequent to the times of Adam and Eve, and though there had been many special and millennial resurrections of Urantia sons, this was the third of the planetary roll calls, or complete dispensational resurrections. The first occurred at the time of the arrival of the Planetary Prince, the second during the time of Adam, and this, the third, signalized the morontia resurrection, the mortal transit, of Jesus of Nazareth.

All of these survivors who were resurrected at this, or any other dispensational resurrection, resume their ascension careers as if no time had passed at all. They are treated the same as a survivor who awakens after three days.

Music and Life - Alan Watts

2008-04-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

Music And Life

a short animated video illustrating a great spiritual truth - the journey IS the destination

URL: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4