Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: Please, in your opinion, what is the difference between the Will of the Universal Father and the Will of the Eternal Son? I just discovered from The Urantia Book that there is the Will of the Eternal Son and the Will of the Father as I was reading about Magisterial Sons being subjected to the Will of the Eternal Son and not to the Universal Father. I am quite perplexed about it.

A: I wonder if this is the reference you are asking about:

(20:6.5) The mortal-bestowal careers of the Michaels and the Avonals, while comparable in most respects, are not identical in all: Never does a Magisterial Son proclaim, "Whosoever has seen the Son has seen the Father," as did your Creator Son when on Urantia and in the flesh. But a bestowed Avonal does declare, "Whosoever has seen me has seen the Eternal Son of God." The Magisterial Sons are not of immediate descent from the Universal Father, nor do they incarnate subject to the Father's will; always do they bestow themselves as Paradise Sons subject to the will of the Eternal Son of Paradise.

This Eternal Son is the second person of the Trinity. Most religions assume that Jesus is this person, but we know from Urantia Book revelation that he is not. Instead, Jesus is a Creator Son on the order of Michael, and he is of origin in the Universal Father, whereas, Magisterial Sons are called Paradise Sons, originating in the Eternal Son.

(7:6.5) Much as the Creator Sons are personalized by the Father and the Son, so are the Magisterial Sons personalized by the Son and the Spirit. These are the Sons who, in the experiences of creature incarnation, earn the right to serve as the judges of survival in the creations of time and space.

I am answering you in a sort of roundabout way, but I think it will help you to understand better if you can bear with me here. I would suggest you first read about the Seven Master Spirits In this section, we learn about the "associative possibilities mathematically inherent in the factual existence of the three persons of Deity."

And they all evidently have their own "will aspects" of Deity.

Getting a grasp on the idea of the Seven Master Spirits will help you to understand this next passage. I offer it as an example in which Jesus was subject to all of these "wills" of all seven of the Master Spirits in his seven bestowals in our universe.

(119:8.4) These various will aspects of the Deities are eternally personalized in the differing natures of the Seven Master Spirits, and each of Michael's bestowals was peculiarly revelatory of one of these divinity manifestations. On his Melchizedek bestowal he manifested the united will of the Father, Son, and Spirit, on his Lanonandek bestowal the will of the Father and the Son; on the Adamic bestowal he revealed the will of the Father and the Spirit, on the seraphic bestowal the will of the Son and the Spirit; on the Uversa mortal bestowal he portrayed the will of the Conjoint Actor, on the morontia mortal bestowal the will of the Eternal Son; and on the Urantia material bestowal he lived the will of the Universal Father, even as a mortal of flesh and blood.

Jesus, being a Creator Son, and of origin in the Father, is subject finally to the will of the Father, and all the other "divinity manifestations." But Magisterial Sons are of origin in the Eternal Son, as in the first quote above:

"The Magisterial Sons are not of immediate descent from the Universal Father, nor do they incarnate subject to the Father's will; always do they bestow themselves as Paradise Sons subject to the will of the Eternal Son of Paradise."

This is referring to the second Master Spirit, that of the Eternal Son. Magisterial Sons do bestow themselves on planets such as ours, and I expect they are subject to the will of the Eternal Son because that is their point of origin, as in the above quote.

But you might assume that since the Eternal Son is one of the Trinity, then he is on an equal footing with God the Father, and so, maybe the difference is academic in the end...or maybe not. The Trinity is a mystery beyond my comprehension....

I am not sure if this adequately answers your question, but I hope it has given you some material to study, so that you understand these distinctions.

Thanks again for this great question - keep reading!!!

Labels: Deity, Eternal Son, Magisterial Son, Seven Master Spirits, The Urantia Book, Universal Father, will

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Who is God the Supreme and God the Ultimate?

Q: If the Universal Father is the God of all creation, the First Source and Center, and perfect in all aspects then who is God the Supreme and God the Ultimate?

A: Our God is a wonderful administrator, as well as the Universal Father, God of all creation and "perfect in all aspects." He is the perfect Executive, among all of his other sterling attributes.

What makes a perfect executive? Well, good executives always delegate authority. The Universal Father has delegated authority in the persons of the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit, for starters, creating the perfect Trinity. It is a mystery, but this Trinity of the persons of God are, like him, eternally present, having had no beginning. A great mystery, but true nonetheless.

Together with the three persons of the Trinity, there are four other Deity manifestations -seven in all You have named God the Supreme, and God the Ultimate:

God the Supremeâ€”the actualizing or evolving God of time and space. Personal Deity associatively realizing the time-space experiential achievement of creature-Creator identity. The Supreme Being is personally experiencing the achievement of Deity unity as the evolving and experiential God of the evolutionary creatures of time and space.p4:9(0:2.12)

It is through the Supreme that the First Source and Center experiences individuality and creation. God the Supreme allows the Universal Father to experience growth - the growth of the time-space creations. The Universal Father, in and of himself, is already perfect, as you pointed out. He has no need to experience growth, as he is perfect. Through the Supreme, he is able to escape that "limitation."

Having achieved existential Deity expression of himself in the Son and the Spirit, the Father is now achieving experiential expression on hitherto impersonal and unrevealed deity levels as God the Supreme, God the Ultimate, and God the Absolute; but these experiential Deities are not now fully existent; they are in process of actualization. p10:11 (0:7.4)

Finally:

Do not entertain the idea that, since the Universal Father has delegated so much of himself and his power to others, he is a silent or inactive member of the Deity partnership. Aside from personality domains and Adjuster bestowal, he is apparently the least active of the Paradise Deities in that he allows his Deity co-ordinates, his Sons, and numerous created intelligences to perform so much in the carrying out of his eternal purpose. He is the silent member of the creative trio only in that he never does aught which any of his co-ordinate or subordinate associates can do. p362:5(32:4.1)

So, to sum up: The Universal Father is, was and always will be. He had no beginning and he will have no end. His is primal force and power. The Son is the Father's divine Word, and the Spirit is eternal Action. All three are eternal, and have no beginning or end. The remaining Deity manifestations are experiential and evolutionary. They did have a beginning, but will have no end, as they eventually manifest their purposes in the Universe of Universes.

So, even though God is indeed, perfect in himself, he has created a situation where he is able to escape that perfection to such an extent that he can actually experience imperfection. Another way he does this is to bestow himself in the form of the Thought Adjusters, and so, he even experiences the day-to-day lives of even his lowliest creatures like you and me.

To me, it seems a brilliant plan - and who could expect any less of our great and good Spirit Father?

I hope this has been helpful to you. If you would like to pursue further study, nothing will take the place of actually reading The Urantia Book in its entirety; however, you can do spot-studies by using our search feature, which can help you to pinpoint words and phrases. And please feel free to sign up for Quote of the Day, our daily offering of the best of Urantia Book quotes sent to your inbox, free of charge. Go HERE , or just click on subscribe

Labels: Deity, evolution, experience, God, God the Supreme, God the Ultimate, perfection, The Urantia Book, Universal Father

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Monday, February 06, 2006

Why Did God Create The Universe As It Is?

Q: Why Did God Create The Universe As It Is?

A: This same question has haunted mankind as far back as records go. It began as "why did God create me?" As horizons expanded, it continued as "why did God create the world?" And with growing cosmic consciousness, it becomes "why did God create the universe?" Is the universe a cosmic firecracker? Is man a pathetic cosmic doodle?

Without pretending to know the mind of God, it is inconceivable that the material universe was created without purpose, that the earth supports life by sheer accident, or that mankind is the acme of material creation by mere chance. Unless we postulate a rather bungling Deity, we must reason that it was intended to create a massive universe, it was planned to place in this small segment thereof a life-bearing planet (earth), and it was designed that the development of life forms thereon terminate in the highest-known order of physical existence: homo sapiens. It may very well be that the entire universe was crested to produce and sustain such creatures. But why? To what end? Few sensible answers have been proposed.

Only during this 20th century has mankind developed a cosmology and a vocabulary sufficient to fashion acceptable answers to many "whys" about creation. Prior to this, the most sensible answer was in the Catechism: "Q: Why was I made?"--"A: To worship God."

In the 1930s, the URANTIA Papers revealed a reason for the existence of creation which makes great sense: that through the medium of a material time-space universe, Deity is doing things of eternal spiritual value to itself. Although these achievements are stated in anthropomorphic terms so men can understand them, the ideas are profound, exciting and revealing. They give new meaning to life, and go far to explain teachings of Jesus Christ preserved fragmentarily in the Bible.

1. The Grand Objectives of Creation.

Deity pre-dates time and space; it was neither created nor developed, it was "eventuated," it always was: perfect, complete and replete. Before time and space there were certain anthropomorphic qualities of which Deity was deprived. Among these were: (1) voluntary obedience and esteem (there was no free will below Deity level), (2) creature experience, particularly in overcoming evil (all creatures were eventuated in perfection), and (3) growth (Deity was complete and replete). Yet in a broader sense, attributes of Deity must allow for the possibility of obtaining these qualities, or else Deity would be subject to limitations. This appears paradoxical, yet really is not.

All beings living in such an environment, having been eventuated in perfection, lacked certain qualities obtainable only through the experience of undergoing a perfecting process. If Deity desired to add to this perfect environment beings having such qualities, it certainly had the potential to do so. It could originate beings somewhere else in imperfection and devise a strenuous perfecting process by which they could become perfected and then approach Deity.

It is proposed that Deity "desired" to obtain each of the three qualities mentioned above, and to populate its dwelling place with perfected beings. Consequently it conceived and designed a plan to achieve these ends. To implement this plan, Deity created time and space, the universe, and you and me.

a. To Obtain Voluntary Obedience and Esteem.

In a perfect environment, all creatures respond perfectly to the will of Deity; every element acts and reacts exactly as pre-ordained. If God desires to be sought, esteemed, obeyed, loved and worshiped, he can create beings who do these things perfectly, with no say or choice in the matter. In such a case, God is, in effect, loving and worshiping himself by surrogates of his own creation. He is not experiencing obedience and esteem generated voluntarily, that is, by creatures exercising their own free will who seek, obey, and esteem Him solely as a result of their own desire and initiative, born of a recognition of God's intrinsic goodness, loveliness and holiness.

If God desires to be sought, obeyed, and esteemed, by subordinate creatures voluntarily, on their own initiative, solely in response to observed attractive values rather than from automatic response, such creatures must have absolute freedom to respond to God as they will. They must have the option and power to ignore, disobey and hate Him, and must operate in an environment in which all options can be freely exercised without any coercion. This situation cannot exist in a perfect environment, one without the possibility of evil.

For God to receive voluntary obedience and esteem, He must provide a potentially imperfect environment in which both disobedience to the will of God (evil) and obedience to the will of God (good) are equally possible, and populate it with potentially imperfect beings who can exercise their "free will" to choose and do either good or evil.

Deity has created such an environment and such beings. You and I live in an imperfect environment in which choices between good and evil are constantly before us; and we are imperfect beings with the free will to do either. We have the ability to recognize or ignore the qualities and values of Deity (truth, love, justice, beauty, mercy, power, goodness, service, sovereignty, etc.) and the power to respond to them as we will: to pursue them, and seek to love and worship their source; or to ignore or reject both the values and their source. We are not coerced in our choice.

The fact that our imperfect universe contains free-will creatures such as mankind gives strong logical support to the revelation that Deity does, in fact, desire voluntary obedience and esteem.

b. To Obtain Creature Experience.

Beings which are wholly eventuated have no creature experience because they are not creatures (they were not created) and,-existing in a perfect environment, they are greatly limited in experiences. They cannot experience, therefore Deity cannot experience through them, the exhilaration of victory in the mighty struggle between good and evil, for there is no evil. Nor the altruistic satisfaction of subjugating self-interests to the interests of others, for there is no temptation to favor self, and no free will. If Deity desires creature experience it must come from creatures who undergo experiences which Deity may share. The broadest range of experiences would come from creatures possessing absolute free will to choose between good and evil, between self interest and any greater interests of others, living in an environment in which evil and selfishness tempt them.

The URANTIA Book develops the fascinating truth that the Father desires to gain such creature experience. Paper 108 on Thought Adjusters says that God, prior to the adventure of time and space, was wholly existential and "infinitely inclusive of all things except evil and creature experience." (1185:16) In order for the Father to gain creature experience, His spirit (revealed to us as the Thought Adjuster) comes down to participate with us in "every bona fide experience of the ascending career.." (1185:20) By this process--by sharing our life's experiences--the potential of the infinite and existential God to obtain finite experience becomes an actuality.

The fact that the Father desires creature experience is further supported by a discussion of the Father's Eternal Perfection in Paper 2 on The Nature of God. Here it is pointed out that, although perfect, the Universal Father "actually participates in the experience with immaturity and imperfection in the evolving career of every mortal being of the entire universe." (36:30-32) Although potential evil is not a part of the divine nature, "mortal experience with evil and all man's relations thereto are most certainly a part of God's ever-expanding self-realization in the children of time..." (36:34-35)

The fact that you and I now live in an environment in which we face tremendous temptation to do evil and strong urges to accommodate self at the expense of others, is consistent with the revelation that Deity desires to gain creature experience through imperfect human beings.

c. To Obtain Spirit Growth.

Insofar as we know, an "eventuated" Deity, with no subsequent addition or development, does not grow. Growth requires addition or development. If Deity could not grow, this would be a limitation on Deity. Since Deity is not limited, it must have the power to grow. We usually see such growth as involving creative fiat or creative development and evolution.

It is a major theme of The URANTIA Book-that Deity is growing. Papers 115 through 118 discuss this growth. God is spirit (John 4:24; 139:26) and, for Deity to grow, there must be true increase in spirit. Spirit growth entails creating or enlarging that which is spirit by some means other than processing preexistent spirit material. The Biblical injunction to "be ye perfect" takes on a new meaning when considered in the light of spirit growth.

We suppose that God can create spirit either by fiat or by other procedures. Deity does not obtain growth by fiat, alone. One possible alternate procedure is to develop a creature who, in liaison with God, can co-create an embryonic spirit unit, and nurture and develop it into full spirithood. This would require making a being with power to co-operate with God in the original production of something of spirit value, and the will to co-ordinate with God in the process of perfecting it.

It appears that Deity has prepared such creatures, including you and me. The divine plan (discussed below) includes many things designed to achieve spirit growth through human co-operation and co-creation with Deity. The growth portion of the divine plan works this way. While in the flesh, mankind can contribute to spirit growth only by living faith. (1097:27-28) Mankind, has been given the power to work in liaison with God to give birth to his own soul, an embryonic spirit unit.

Revelation confirms that the evolving soul, co-created by man, is of spirit potential and value. But it is by faith, alone, that we accept and act upon the word that our mind, soul and identity, in coordination with God, have the potential to become pure and perfect spirit, thereby adding to the totality and reality of Deity. As we, through faith, convert this potentiality into actuality, we actually become a living soul of spiritual value. This soul lives on for further development into pure spirit; ! thus the spirit component of Deity becomes larger as we grow spiritually. (1279:11-29)

Spirit growth is further addressed in terms of developing perfected (as distinguished from perfect) beings to populate the cosmos. As such, we expect to be given tasks of great importance in the further expansion of the Kingdom of God. (See 131:28-32; 263:10-11)

d. To Evolve Perfected Beings.

Revelation indicates that that Deity desires to populate eternity with two types of beings: (1) perfect beings, and (2) perfected beings, created less-than-perfect but becoming perfect by some process. Perfect beings are either eventuated or created by fiat: spiritual, immortal, and completely responsive to the will of God. By contrast, perfected beings originate as physical (not spiritual), mortal (not eternal), free-willed (not God-directed) creatures, and must initiate and sustain their own "evolutionary" progression by virtue of their own wills rather than by fiat of God. Otherwise, the procedure is nothing more than an alternate method of creating perfect beings by fiat.

If we heed such revelation, the fact that you and I are physical, mortal and free-willed makes us candidates for the perfecting process.

2. The Divine Plan for Creating.

Let us turn our mind's eye back to before the beginning of time and visualize the momentous decision to create free-will creatures in an imperfect environment. Let us postulate that Deity desired to attain the four grand objectives mentioned in Part I.C.1, above, and more. To do so, Deity devised an absolutely brilliant plan, sufficiently comprehensive to accomplish every end and purpose it desired. We can call this the Divine Plan for Creating. We are not privy to this plan, but from time to time we glimpse parts of it by observing what is going on and by revelation. What we learn is very stimulating.

Views of modern philosophy and theology concerning the method of creating are generally developed against a paradigm in which preexistent Deity created, by fiat, time, space and everything in them, and left them to run on or run down. This approach is terribly wrong. It visualizes a static or decaying universe, not a growing and dynamic one. And by focusing on the earth, it sees things as being out of Divine control.

It is more productive to use revelation, tradition and logic in an effort to reconstruct some of the controlling elements of the Divine Plan for Creating. I propose that it was founded upon, among other things, the following elements.

a. The Principle of Delegation.

Although Deity is omnipotent, it is not omnificent; therefore the plan entrusts most of the work to subordinate creatures, both celestial and human. In practice, Deity creates, develops and evolves as much as possible through subordinate creatures specially developed for the tasks they are to perform. Subordinate creatures are used not only as artists and artisans, but also as co-creators.

The practice of creating, developing and evolving things by means of subordinate creatures has one intended side effect of giving some creatures experience capable of being shared and absorbed by Deity. In a proper environment, it provides experience in dealing with evil. At least one class of creatures can be given free will to choose between good and evil, with the resultant opportunity to obey and esteem God voluntarily, solely because of the attractiveness of God and the values they see in doing so; not from robotic control or innate coercion to do so. And insofar as the process results in new spirit values, it results in the growth of Deity.

b. Balance between Fiat Creation and Evolution.

The plan employs both creation and evolution; with creation used only when necessary, and evolution used as much as possible.

Creation by Fiat: to truly create is to make something out of nothing. Fiat creating is done only as a last resort, when there exists no other way to achieve the objective. Fiat creating is reserved for Deity.

Creation by Developing and Evolving: to develop something out of something else, to evolve something desirable out of something undesirable, to work out something better from something good, and, ultimately, to achieve perfection in everything. Deity seems to accomplish as many things as possible by developing and evolving them. This technique is followed by subordinate creatures, including mankind.

In the beginning, Deity created time, space and basic matter, insofar as we know, by fiat. But since then, that which has occurred in time and space has been accomplished, largely, by and through countless subordinate beings exercising delegated authority, who control, process and develop basic matter until it "evolves" into the universe, as we know it, and all that dwells therein. The process is dynamic: continuing and growing.

c. Achieving Potentials.

The plan incorporates, as a fundamental technique, the converting of potentialities into actualities. (1261:15-16; 1263:18-19) As applied to us, Deity brings into existence our potentialities, and each of us is to convert his or her potentialities into actualities.

This technique both limits and challenges. Each creature is limited to his potentialities, and is challenged to attain them. But once one's potential is reached, new potentials are often provided for further growth and service. To obey and esteem God is a human potential offering ever-expanding plateaus as we advance toward Paradise. To experience victory over evil opens greater potentials for good. Insofar as we successfully actualize our spiritual potentialities, we become cocreators with God of something of spirit value, (1279:11-15) And as a result, Deity grows through us. (1265:28-31)

d. Reciprocal Reward.

Every time we humans contribute anything to Deity, Deity contributes something of greater value to us. The more we obey and esteem God, the more He rewards and loves us. For every experience of victory over evil which we provide to God, we receive high recompense in the growth of our soul. And as we add spirit values to Deity, we actually become the very spirit we co-create with Deity.

* * * * * * * *

Let us examine the cosmos (as we see it) to determine how well the divine plan for creating (as we understand it) provides a vehicle through which mankind can satisfy the above noted desires of Deity, the purpose of creation. Visualize the universe as being circular, with Deity in Heaven at the center, and men and women on earth on the outermost periphery. Deity is perfect. We believe that nothing imperfect can exist in its presence, and the farther from Deity, the greater the possibility for imperfection. If so, the place in the universe where the most imperfect conditions could exist is on its outer periphery, where earth is located. Yet even that is not necessarily so bad. Deity does not cause evil; it only provides an environment in which evil is possible. No place in which evil is possible is perfect. A universe with the above characteristics provides the ideal location in which to implement the plan.

Earth is located in an environment in which imperfection, evil, is possible. It is populated with human beings who have absolute free will to do good or evil. They have a mind to discern between the two. They are material, mortal and finite. This provides the ideal creature to execute the "creature" portion of the plan.

Labels: Deity, Divine Plan, Earth, evolution, experience, God, Jesus, potential, revelation, spiritual growth, The Urantia Book, universe

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Thursday, February 02, 2006

Does God Really Exist?

Q: Who, Or What Is God? Does God Really Exist?

A: It is assumed that everyone knows who, or what, is God. God is GOD and, like the President of the United States, needs no further introduction. This assumption is incorrect, and leads to much confusion. "God" is a characteristic, a description, a title, and not a common name. There is only one commonly-accepted President at a time; but there is no common acceptance of who, or what, God "is."

Relatively few people have the same mental image of God. They see different names for God, different characteristics of God, and different "do's" and "don'ts" of what God desires of them. For example, note the differences in the identity of God. Some say there is one God and his name is Allah; others say there is one God and His name is E1, or Father; others say there is one God of three persons, or a sevenfold God; some see Jesus as God, or as the Son of God, or a great prophet; etc. Every different religion and sect sees God in a separate light.

In order to avoid seeing God as a theological prescription written by one religion or sect, let us look at God as a generic term. In this manner we can get the full benefit from discussing God without concern about names, doctrine, etc. There is a simple, generic definition of God with which everyone agrees: "God" is Deity personified.

As used here, "God" is a person, and means "that part of Deity with which one may have a personal relationship." "God" does not refer to any particular manifestation of Deity, such as Yahweh, Allah, Krishna, Jesus, Father, etc. You may feel free to substitute any name of God as you see fit. It is only by freeing ourselves from any hassle over the correct name or attributes of God that we can proceed with an unemotional treatment of many meaningful issues.

Now, viewing God as a personification of Deity, does God really exist? This is another way of saying: is there really a component of Deity with which men and women can have a personal relationship?

Since we have defined God as a component (all or part) of Deity, if there is no Deity, there is no God. In Part I.A, above, we said that there is, in truth and reality, such a thing as Deity. Those who disagree and hold that there is no Deity are called "atheists." If the atheists are correct, there is no Deity, therefore nothing with which to have a personal relationship; and, ipso facto, no God.

Logically, it is possible for there to be Deity, yet Deity could either
(1) have no personal component with which to relate, or
(2) have a personal component so remote and aloof that mortal man cannot have a "personal relationship" with it.

Those taking either of these views are called "agnostics." Agnostics concede that Deity may exist, but hold that mankind can never have a personal relationship with it. If they are correct, there may be Deity, but no God.

It is the testimony of religionists which provides the most persuasive (and only unequivocal) evidence that there exists a personal component of Deity to which mankind can, and does, relate: a God. They claim to have actually experienced a personal relationship with God. This cannot be true unless Deity
(1) contains a personal component, and
(2) mankind is able to have a personal-relationship with it.

Revelation comes from no other source than personal contact with Deity. Unless all who testify to a personal experience with God are either mistaken or lying, there IS a God.

Yes, God exists, for Deity exists, and men and women can have a personal relationship with at least a part of Deity. But why take someone else's word for it?

If you have had a personal relationship with God, then you already know that God exists. And if you have not, why not now? Every person can enjoy the comfort and joy of experiencing this warm personal relationship if they only try.

Labels: Deity, experience, God, relationship with God, religion

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What Is Religion?

Q: Religion And Deity - What Is Religion?

A: "Religion is the revelation to man of his divine and eternal destiny...a purely personal and spiritual experience..." (2075:333/4), "the relation of man to God." (1421:6-7) As used here, religion means the general subject of man's relationship to God. A religion is a social organization of people holding similar ideas about their relationship with God. (See Part I.E) A religionist is one who believes that there is a God and that he or she enjoys a personal relationship with God.

The religionist looks to his own personal experiences to verify the existence of Deity: personal contacts with the supernatural which are as real to him as experiences with the natural. He has "felt" a reality that defies all scientific explanation. He knows of realities which science cannot confirm, quantify or qualify; for example: love, beauty, mercy, justice. His experiences are therefore seen as revelations of something greater than his material environment. Millions of religionists, over many centuries, claim to have come into intimate, intelligent, loving and meaningful contact with a power higher than self, and to have experienced modes, forms and degrees of revelation which they attribute to a source and power other than natural: to Deity. Unless they all are mistaken or lying, there is a reality we may call Deity.

On the other side of the ledger, the content often differs from one revelation to another. Recorded traditions of each religion reflect truths revealed to its leaders, yet each record contains some things which differ in content from all others. Assuming that Deity must be consistent and revelation perfect, these apparent conflicts are cited as reasons to discount the existence of Deity. This makes about as much sense as saying that because one day is revealed as being sunny in California and as being rainy in Chicago, the day did not exist.

This argument that revelation must be consistent overlooks the limitations on revelation. Excessive revelation would destroy free will. Most religious experiences are a one-on-one confirmation only that the individual has come into personal contact with Deity. There are more ways than one to contact Deity. It is a mistake to assume that, because a person has found Deity under one set of circumstances, one has found the exclusive path. Revelation is always incomplete and partial, as God seldom reveals more than is needed or more than the human mind can absorb. Instead of magnifying the differences let us focus on the commonalties: in every instance, these countless personal experiences can be seen as successful efforts of Deity to confirm to mankind its existence.

At times, revelation is intended for many. These, too, suffer from human misunderstanding and misapplication. For example, the revelation of God to man by Jesus Christ was so advanced and extensive that it may be called "epochal." The full import of that revelation has not yet been fully understood or absorbed. All of these revelations point the religionist to the conclusion that some sort of Deity exists.

It is sometimes proposed that science and religion conflict with each other, but this is not really possible. Both disciplines were made by the same Creator as part of the same cosmos, therefore they must harmonize together. At times some science appears to conflict with some theology to some people. When a scientific fact is supported by ample evidence, it is the differing theological belief which is suspect. Science offers no evidence that Deity does NOT exist.

What is Deity like? Both logic and revelation provide a long list of characteristics of a superlative nature attributable to Deity. They are classic. You are welcome to provide a list of your own.

Labels: Deity, experience, Jesus, relationship with God, religion

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Monday, January 30, 2006

Philosophy And Deity

Q: Philosophy And Deity

A: Philosophy is the love of wisdom: it seeks knowledge about all things from all sources. Unlike science it includes disciplines for theology, metaphysics, etc. It can reach conclusions sustained by logic without formal scientific proof.

The philosopher looks to both reason and information to support his conclusions. Many philosophers postulate, out of pure reason, that there must have been a reality before the beginning of time and space; that there must have been a first cause of everything material; and that nothing could exist--even time and space themselves--without some primal act of mindful creating. This produces a concept of Deity.

When the philosopher ponders the sheer orderliness and harmony of the universe as revealed by science, he reasons that superlative qualities of mind and vast quantities of power were necessary to create such a harmonious entity, and he attributes these to Deity. The unique characteristics and circumstances of the cosmos lead many philosophers to conclude that the material universe, with mankind in it, must have been mindfully created for a specific cosmic purpose. Logic, alone, does not reveal the function and objectives of creation; but mankind is seen as a significant clue to the puzzle, and Deity as its source.

Philosophy recognizes realities outside the province of science. The fact that science has not confirmed a proposition does not deter philosophy from recognizing its accuracy. Philosophers consider input from religion, and find some proposals of religionists as to the function and objectives of creation to be supported by logic. Even without the testimony of religionists, it is highly probable that most philosophers would conclude that there must be some form of Deity.

Labels: Deity, information, philosophy, reason, science

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Do Science And Philosophy Conflict With Religion?

Q: Do Science And Philosophy Conflict With Religion?

A: Science is systematized knowledge derived from observation, study and experimentation. It is concerned with facts provable by systematic observation under established principles. By its nature it is limited to the material realm, and has no disciplines for the spiritual or supernatural realms.

Deity can be postulated by science both as an a Priori force and a first cause, but cannot be confirmed by science because the phenomenon cannot be quantified, qualified, reproduced, duplicated, measured or otherwise proved by scientific methodology. Deity is not a mathematical equation, a chemical formula or a physical law. Science is concerned only with matter, energy and life, and is limited by time and space. Science may trace the universe back to the "big bang" (the beginning of time), but it has no method of determining its cause, where the "banged" matter came from, how the laws governing the behavior of matter in time and space were devised, or why the whole thing happened in the first place. Even scientists recognize that there are realities beyond the province of science. For example, science understands much about the brain, an electro-chemical organism, but it cannot explain mind. It understands paint and color, but not art.

Many scientists accept a theory that Deity exists as a master planner, a first cause, and an over controller;; but they cannot prove it. It remains for philosophy and religion to prove the actuality of any truth or reality beyond the physical universe as revealed, or to be revealed, by the observations and laws of science; to confirm or deny the existence of Deity.

Labels: Deity, philosophy, religion, science, truth

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Is There Such A Thing As Deity? If So, What Is It?

Q: Is There Such A Thing As Deity? If So, What Is It?

A: Man has long believed in a power higher than himself. This power is personalized as God. But personalization, itself, is a limitation. It omits the non-personal, pre-personal, sub-personal, super-personal, post-personal, etc. It is useful to find a word more all-inclusive than "God" to call this higher power. Such a word is "Deity." Deity is both all-inclusive and flexible: it contracts or expands to encompass the entire spectrum of quantities, qualities and values which one may ascribe to the "higher powers." People can agree that Deity exists without agreeing as to its characteristics.

Deity is used here in its broadest sense. Deity includes all those characteristics, both personal and impersonal, attributed to a higher power, regardless of name. Further definition is unnecessary.

The cosmos is "the universe considered as a harmonious and orderly system." Divinity is that unifying and co-ordinating quality which is characteristic of Deity which converts the universe into the cosmos. Divinity is seen as perfection, as completeness, as unity and as harmony between the creator and the created. Mankind glimpses divinity as justice, power and sovereignty, as love, mercy and ministry, and as truth, beauty and goodness. That which has the qualities of divinity is said to be divine. Deity is the source of all that is divine.

Deity is not a synonym for God. "God," as used here, focuses upon the Personal aspects of Deity, and upon the ability of mankind to relate to Deity in any fashion.

Labels: Deity, God

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