Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: How can we know that the Urantia Book is a book from God and not from man?

A: Thanks for this important question. We always love to hear from our visitors.

The Urantia Book presents itself as a revelation of God to mankind - a revelation of epochal significance. It claims that numerous authors of celestial origin were employed to make it manifest to our planet, and that it was authorized by God to be delivered to the human races of Urantia.

The Urantia Book contains material that is mind-expanding and revelatory, and facts that have been heretofore unknown to mortals, providing answers to questions that we didn't even know we had. This material is designed to raise the spiritual consciousness of all of mankind. As well, The Urantia Book contains over one thousand concepts of human knowledge and wisdom that were already known at the time of its delivery to the planet. That is why it may seem that some of the information is "man-made;" it actually is. The authors clearly state this. However, the sheer weight and magnitude of the revelatory aspects of the material presented seems to me to be far beyond the abilities of human beings.

But how can we know? I am not sure that we can ever really KNOW. Maybe a better question is, how can we believe?

Pragmatically speaking, if some human, or group of humans, created this remarkable revelation from whole cloth, I feel sure that they would not have left the attribution of authorship to heretofore unnamed beings of celestial origin. To do that would run counter to everything I have ever experienced of human nature. In the 50+ years since its delivery, no human being has ever claimed authorship. It seems to me that only spiritual beings could have the selflessness required, and the years of dedication needed, to produce such a life-altering document for the sole benefit of humanity-at-large, without seeking personal recognition or thanks. That fact alone makes me sure that it is not "from man."

The recognition of Truth is like a bell resonating in the heart - once it is experienced, it cannot be denied. One does KNOW it in every fiber of one's being.

In my experience, this revelation which is The Urantia Book presents a collection of truths and a philosophy of living that, adopted as a whole, can be "acted out." It certainly can be "lived" in one's experience, and the result is a life that is lifted and ennobled far beyond one's fondest expectation. It produces inner happiness and spiritual assurance of a very high level. Even if it were the creation of man, it would still have that flavor. I, however, choose to believe that it is exactly what it says it is, simply because of its effects on my life.

It is the revelation of God, and the restatement of the life and teachings of Jesus in The Urantia Book that, to me, are overwhelming evidences of its authenticity. To me, no person, or group of persons, could have pulled this kind of knowledge - this kind of spiritual "flavor" - out of thin air. But even if they did, it would still resonate as true, nonetheless. Truth is truth...and it echoes in the soul. I believe it is from God because it has brought me closer to God, and stretched my soul and mind to their capacity. No mere mortal would have that as their final agenda - to what end? In my opinion, only a spiritual and divine agenda can be the purpose of such a revelation.

I cannot declare this for you, however. Each of us who are truthseekers must make the same journey when attempting discernment of any spiritual revelation - whether it is The Urantia Book, or another kind of revelation found in another place.

Experiment - put into practice the materials contained The Urantia Book and their effect on your life - and then you may come to the answer to this important question in your inmost self.

Thanks again for this great question, and best wishes in your search for Truth...

Labels: belief, God, revelation, The Urantia Book, truth

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Why do wicked people live longer in their wickedness without conspicuous evidence of God's judgment on their lives?

Q: Why do wicked people live longer in their wickedness without conspicuous evidence of God's judgment on their lives?

A: Thanks for your note to Truthbook.com, a website dedicated to the teachings of The Urantia Book.

There certainly is no shortage of supposedly wicked people these days. There have always been those who take unfair advantage of others, and who appear to live relatively carefree lives in spite of their wickedness. I understand why this is disturbing to you...none of us likes to see this.

Unfortunately, there will likely always be those who embrace evil ways. When human beings have the choice of freewill - when the choice of good or evil is given - there will always be some who choose evil and sin. Even Jesus said: "...some people are really wicked at heart; they deliberately choose to do mean things..."

On the material plane, the wicked may be seen to get away with a lot of bad behavior - even live long and outwardly prosperous lives. But don't be fooled by that. Eventually, all unrepentant wickedness is dealt with by God's justice.

We are given a lot of leeway here on this earth...we can choose goodness and live lives of freedom and originality with God, or we can choose evil, and allow wickedness to creep into our lives and distort our souls. But the fruits of these choices are very different. The fruits of the righteous are joy in the Spirit, while the wicked lead troubled lives. Again, Jesus, quoting Scripture said: `The wicked flee when no man pursues.' `The wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest, but its waters cast up mire and dirt; there is no peace, says God, for the wicked.'

So, even though it may appear to the on-looker that a wicked person has it made, this is not the case. In this same section from which the above quote was taken, Jesus speaks to us of contentment, and how different it is from the life of evildoing:

"Simon, some persons are naturally more happy than others. Much, very much, depends upon the willingness of man to be led and directed by the Father's spirit which lives within him. Have you not read in the Scripture the words of the wise man, `The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts'? And also that such spirit-led mortals say: `The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a goodly heritage.' `A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked,' for `a good man shall be satisfied from within himself.' `A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance and is a continual feast. Better is a little with the reverence of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted ox and hatred therewith. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without rectitude.' `A merry heart does good like a medicine.' `Better is a handful with composure than a superabundance with sorrow and vexation of spirit.'

"Much of man's sorrow is born of the disappointment of his ambitions and the wounding of his pride. Although men owe a duty to themselves to make the best of their lives on earth, having thus sincerely exerted themselves, they should cheerfully accept their lot and exercise ingenuity in making the most of that which has fallen to their hands. All too many of man's troubles take origin in the fear soil of his own natural heart. `The wicked flee when no man pursues.' `The wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest, but its waters cast up mire and dirt; there is no peace, says God, for the wicked.'

"Seek not, then, for false peace and transient joy but rather for the assurance of faith and the sureties of divine sonship which yield composure, contentment, and supreme joy in the spirit." (149:5.2)

In the end, it is those who seek goodness who also possesses joy and peace. Even though they may not possess the world's riches or ill-gotten gains, they do possess an inner peace that the deliberately wicked can never possess.

Finally, this passage from a discourse that Jesus gave to his apostles on affairs of the kingdom:

"He never ceased to warn his disciples against the evil practice of retaliation; he made no allowance for revenge, the idea of getting even. He deplored the holding of grudges. He disallowed the idea of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. He discountenanced the whole concept of private and personal revenge, assigning these matters to civil government, on the one hand, and to the judgment of God, on the other. He made it clear to the three that his teachings applied to the individual, not the state. He summarized his instructions up to that time regarding these matters, as:

Love your enemiesâ€”remember the moral claims of human brotherhood.

The futility of evil: A wrong is not righted by vengeance. Do not make the mistake of fighting evil with its own weapons.

Have faithâ€”confidence in the eventual triumph of divine justice and eternal goodness." (140:8.5)

That last sentence is of greatest importance when perplexed by the phenomenon of wickedness in the world.

Thanks again for this question to Truthbook. Please write anytime, and if you have not yet done so, please feel free to sign up for our free Quote of the Day service which will deliver a message of goodness and cheer to your inbox daily.

Labels: evil, God, Jesus, justice, The Urantia Book, wickedness

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As we are Christians, I believe we are more in GOD'S HEART...

Q: As we are Christians, I believe we more in GOD'S HEART and what I wanted to know, is SATAN the only thing GOD was unhappy about since he was chased out of heaven to earth?

A: You say that you believe that Christians are closer to God's heart. I would have to say that I disagree with you about that. God is no respecter of persons - he does not prefer this person over that one, but loves all of his children the same. All of God's children are on an equal footing, and possess the same potential for eternal life. Christians, Muslims, Jews, even those persons who do not belong to a particular religion, have an equal place in God's heart. It is not the religion that you belong to, but the fact that all people are indwelt by God that unifies all of us, and leaves no one out. God is spirit Father to all.

From The Urantia Book:

"To every spirit being and to every mortal creature in every sphere and on every world of the universe of universes, the Universal Father reveals all of his gracious and divine self that can be discerned or comprehended by such spirit beings and by such mortal creatures. God is no respecter of persons, either spiritual or material. The divine presence which any child of the universe enjoys at any given moment is limited only by the capacity of such a creature to receive and to discern the spirit actualities of the supermaterial world." (1:4.6)

"The Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man present the paradox of the part and the whole on the level of personality. God loves each individual as an individual child in the heavenly family. Yet God thus loves every individual; he is no respecter of persons, and the universality of his love brings into being a relationship of the whole, the universal brotherhood." (12:7.8)

As for the second part of your question - about Satan being "chased out of Heaven to Earth..."

There is a great deal of confusion about Satan and the devil on our world. The Urantia Book sorts it all out for us, and reveals the truth about Satan and Lucifer and the devil - these three are separate beings, and all have an interesting story. Understanding the true nature of these beings and their roles in our planet's history is one of the most amazing parts of the revelation of The Urantia Book. Please see our topical study on Satan HERE, to learn the truth about this being, and his place in our history. From there, you can follow the links to read more about Lucifer and the devil as well.

In short, I can tell you that Satan was not "chased" from Heaven. Satan was a once-beautiful created son of God, and he was assigned as a lieutenant of Lucifer. Together, Satan and Lucifer launched the terrible rebellion against God's rule which is still causing the world trouble even today. Satan is no longer on our planet, but is, along with Lucifer, in custody on one of the prison worlds of space.

"Lucifer and Satan freely roamed the Satania system until the completion of the bestowal mission of Michael on Urantia. They were last on your world together during the time of their combined assault upon the Son of Man." (53:8.1)

"...Satan is now unqualifiedly detained on the Jerusem prison worlds." (53:9.4)

Finally, about God being unhappy...

"Jesus said: â€œMy brother, God is love; therefore he must be good, and his goodness is so great and real that it cannot contain the small and unreal things of evil. God is so positively good that there is absolutely no place in him for negative evil.'"(130:1.5)

"God is love"; therefore his only personal attitude towards the affairs of the universe is always a reaction of divine affection".(2:5.1)

God loves Satan and Lucifer just as much as he loves any of his children. The fact that they rebelled against him has still not destroyed his love:

"God loves the sinner and hates the sin: such a statement is true philosophically, but God is a transcendent personality, and persons can only love and hate other persons. Sin is not a person. God loves the sinner because he is a personality reality (potentially eternal), while towards sin God strikes no personal attitude, for sin is not a spiritual reality; it is not personal; therefore does only the justice of God take cognizance of its existence. The love of God saves the sinner; the law of God destroys the sin. This attitude of the divine nature would apparently change if the sinner finally identified himself wholly with sin just as the same mortal mind may also fully identify itself with the indwelling spirit Adjuster. Such a sin-identified mortal would then become wholly unspiritual in nature (and therefore personally unreal) and would experience eventual extinction of being. Unreality, even incompleteness of creature nature, cannot exist forever in a progressingly real and increasingly spiritual universe." (2:6.8)

And this is precisely what will happen to both Lucifer and Satan, unless they eventually accept God's love and mercy. Up to the present, they have not. It could be that God feels unhappiness or sorrow over his erring children, but his attitude of love is his primary response to his creation.

Thanks again for writing back to us here at Truthbook. I hope that this answer has been of some help to you...

Labels: Christian, God, Jesus, mercy, Satan, The Urantia Book

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I was unfaithful to my spouse ~ something I thought I'd never do. I now feel "blocked" spiritually...

Q: I was unfaithful to my spouse ~ something I thought I'd never do. I stopped the affair, but our marriage is now ending. I have huge regret for my actions but can't get that chapter out of my head. I now feel "blocked" spiritually, like I can't forgive myself and move on. I feel like part of me is gone. Please help.

A: I feel so sorry that you are suffering such painful regret. I understand regret, as I suffered with it for quite awhile in my past - still do, at times - but when it was at its worst, I was no good to anyone...I can understand that space of inertia, where you can't really move forward because the past is just too heavy around your heart...

Whatever your misdeeds were - in this case, infidelity - they are already forgiven. I can say that with absolute certainty, and I hope you can take that in and believe it as well. God has forgiven you, especially since you have recognized and seem to have sincere remorse for what you did.

You are right: a very important piece of forgiveness is to forgive yourself. Jesus said:

"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." (156:2.7)

That is kind of a "wow" statement, but it is very true. When we continually harbor the feelings of sorrow and regret over our failings, we simply cannot move forward. And so, it is important that you begin to actively and seriously think about forgiving yourself.

One technique that was of some help to me during some particularly dark days was to imagine that I was looking at my life as from the outside - as if I was looking at a friend, perhaps. How would I respond to a beloved friend or relative who was in the same situation I was in? Would I withhold my love and care from her because she was unfaithful to her husband? I can see she's sorry...and has taken steps to stop the affair...would I shun her, and expect her to wallow in sackcloth and ashes? Or would I say to her: "You know, we all make mistakes in life. We all fall short of our ideals. One mistake does not define a whole life. I love you, and I know you will do better in the future. You''ll learn from this, and it will never happen again"

In short, practice the same kind of compassionate love on yourself as you would practice on a beloved friend or sister or brother. To refuse to do so effectively says "no thanks" to God's forgiveness. Thinking that you are unworthy of forgiveness is really an act of pride...there is no one who cannot be forgiven - no one. Try to let this truth sink into your inner being...

What you are going through cannot be ignored or wished away. You do have to deal with it, but it does not have to last forever. You say that you feel spiritually blocked. This is understandable. I have some suggestions from The Urantia Book; take all, some, or none, but I want you to know that it is the kind of truth revealed in The Urantia Book that brought me back from the brink many years ago. I know that if you are a truthseeker, you will always benefit from its truths and comforts. And if you do this assignment, maybe you'll be too busy in the present to want to dwell in the past. These activities will help you live in the present moment, which is where we find God and open that channel of relationship with him. God is our heavenly spirit Father and he loves us with a fatherly affection. He wants to help you.

I would like to suggest that you begin your spiritual recovery by doing a bit of reading in The Urantia Book. Start with Papers 1-5 - about God the Father and his love for us, and perhaps you might like to read Papers 100-103 - these are dealing with spiritual growth and reality of religious experience, and are mightily inspiring. Start with either one.

It is important that you try to gain a larger view - one that is not concentrated solely on your problems. You are a human being of eternal destiny and you carry within you a Divine spark of God. I guarantee that if you sincerely acknowledge the presence of God who walks through your life with you, you will find new purpose and a way forward. Not only that, but you will learn new ways of viewing your life and your choices and you'll gain strength to deal with the present problems you are experiencing as a result of this past event.

Another suggestion I can offer is to find someone who needs you - find someone who is worse off than you are and do some service for them with no thought of repayment. There are lonely people everywhere. Look for them...nursing homes, in homeless shelters, women's shelters, hospice...there are volunteer positions you could add to your day - delivering meals to seniors through "Meals on Wheels" for example. Find something to do. Fill your spare time with service to others. Instead of lamenting your loss, you may find a part of you that will fill the empty places. Again, this is an activity which encourages present-moment living - the eternal NOW, where God can be found..

Said Jesus: "My children, if there exists a true and living connection between the child and the Father, the child is certain to progress continuously toward the Father's ideals. True, the child may at first make slow progress, but the progress is none the less sure. The important thing is not the rapidity of your progress but rather its certainty. Your actual achievement is not so important as the fact that the direction of your progress is Godward. What you are becoming day by day is of infinitely more importance than what you are today." (147:5.7)

The fact that you are reaching out now says to me that you are turning a corner. I am so glad that you chose Truthbook.com as a place that you felt good enough about to share this personal time in your life, and I will agree with you in prayer right now that you will from this day forward, seek truth, beauty and goodness in your life, and you will find it.

Labels: forgiveness, God, infidelity, Jesus, service, spirituality, The Urantia Book

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Monday, November 02, 2009

I am devastated when children are abducted and murdered.

Q: I am devastated when children are abducted and murdered. Please tell me that they are not alone in their last hour. It saddens me while a child is being tortured the world continues and unaware of their pain.

A: All humanity suffers when children are mistreated and murdered. It is an outrage that touches all of us very deeply...

I don't know if I can ease your heart through this pain you feel, but I can tell you that our God is a loving and kind Father to all his children. In life and in death, none of us is ever alone. I do not know for sure, but I like to think that there is some sort of mechanism in the brain that, at some point, shields a victim of such suffering from feeling the full brunt of the pain and fear of such an experience.

Here is a passage from The Urantia Book that may help ease your mind somewhat:

(39:5.11) ...During moments just prior to physical death a reflective phenomenon sometimes occurs in the human mind, and this dimming consciousness seems to visualize something of the form of the attending angel, and this is immediately translated into terms of the habitual concept of angels held in that individual's mind.

We can only hope that a youngster undergoing such a terrible experience may be blessed with such a vision of peace and loveliness. I suspect that the ministering angels do attend these young ones, and ease their passing in ways that we cannot know. And once the child has passed on the the next world, their eternal journey of adventure and joy will begin, despite the terrible circumstances of their death. For this, we can be grateful.

Remember how much Jesus loved children? He was always sensitive to them, and advised all of us to become like children in order to really be able to receive his tender mercies. Knowing this, I am sure that any child who suffers a hard death in this way has a special dispensation of mercy as they pass into his everlasting arms. I can't say for sure, but I prefer to think it is true, since there is no proof to the contrary...

It saddens me as well, to think of the terrible things that happen on our world - not only to children, but to innocent men and women in all kinds of circumstances. Many people are caught in situations all the time that stagger our imaginations and leave us feeling sad and powerless when we dwell upon them. If we were aware of each instance of suffering and pain that occur on our world, none of us could carry on. This does not mean that we are not sympathetic, though. Anyone who hears of such things is saddened and upset by them.

We have a choice though...we can choose to allow ourselves to become paralyzed by sadness and laden with sorrow over these kinds of crimes against humanity, or we can activate our highest mind, and pray for right thinking and a knowledge of God to spread over our world. We can selflessly love the children that we do know, and teach them to love others, and to love God. We can join, or contribute to groups that work to alleviate the suffering of innocent victims. We can put our energy to work in positive ways that serve others. These are activities that we CAN control, and positive action has a ripple effect on our world.

I know that my reply may not give you the kind of relief that you desire, but I do hope that you will open your heart to God and allow him to speak thoughts of peace to your soul. Staying close to God is a sure cure for these times when we feel overwhelmed by events that are out of our control, but which touch our hearts so acutely.

Finally, if you are not already signed up, please take advantage of our free service - Quote of the Day. Each day, you will receive a Urantia Book quote to help lift you up and inspire you to reach your highest spiritual goals.

Thanks for writing. Please feel free to write back any time...

Labels: angels, children, God, Jesus, love, service, Sorrow, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

How compatible is the Urantia Book with the Book of Mormon?

Q: How compatible is the Urantia Book with the Book of Mormon? Since the Book of Mormon and The Urantia Book differ slightly, which one is a more accurate representation of God as we know him?

A: On one level, The Urantia Book is fully compatible with no other avenues of study, whether geology, anthropology, astronomy, physics, philosophy, genetics, history, religion, or spirituality... and there's a reason for that. The Urantia Book claims to be an epochal revelation, providing new and heretofore unknown facts, meanings, values from which we can derive a better understanding of the cosmos and our place in it. Your first challenge then will be to determine whether you believe this claim or not. If not, then whether the teachings of The Urantia Book are compatible with the Book of Mormon or not will have little value for you.

The Urantia Book and the Book of Mormon differ more than slightly. Joseph Smith was inspired, was called upon to translate mysterious writing on gold plates, produced the Book of Mormon, was martyred along with many of his followers, and founded what in about a century and a half has become a major religious movement on the planet. The Urantia Book is associated with no human subject, was produced in English exactly as you see it today, has received little public acclaim as it spreads its influence slowly around the globe. Both Mormons and Urantians have a belief in God and angels and in the validity of revelation. Jesus has a predominant position in each.

The God and Jesus presented in the Book of Mormon represent God and Jesus from Joseph Smith's inspiration. Joseph was a strongly fundamental Bible believer before being visited by the angel -- the BoM presents a strongly fundamentalist relationship with God, a viewpoint that appeals to much of struggling humanity in need of authority and spiritual direction. The historical perspective of the BoM rests on Israelites coming to the New World around 1000 B.C., evolving a culture, and being visited by Jesus at the time of his death on the cross.

The God and Jesus presented in The Urantia Book have little resemblance to what any previous religious forms provide other than the distillation of the truth, beauty, and goodness of these religions augmented by what is newly revealed by TUB. Its historical perspective spans billions of years, the New World became inhabited by a red race traveling over the Bering Strait land bridge about 80,000 years ago, and the red race is the only race not to have been visited in some manner by Jesus in person.

Joseph Smith is not unique in the world of spiritual inspirations. Many prophets of the past felt God's hand touch them and they interpreted what they perceived -- the results are found in the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Torah, the Old and New Testaments, the Koran -- they're the foundations upon which civilization and culture rest and most people are satisfied with the traditions of the past. The Urantia Book is unique. It illuminates the past from a perspective that's not part of that past. It provides an umbrella under which all religions can be gathered and coexist peacefully. It provides a glimpse of God unfettered by human mind filters. It offers Jesus back to the world, as he intended, unencumbered by Christian doctrine. It presents a view of our place in the cosmos that is consistent, logical, meaningful, insightful, joyful and uplifting.

If I believed any religion offered a more accurate representation of God I would be an adherent of that religion, but as a long-time student of The Urantia Book and believer in its teachings I obviously believe that the facts contained in the UB and its spiritual perspective provides the most accurate and meaningful portrayal available. But that's me; you need to make this determination on your own and for yourself.

Thanks for this interesting and important question. I hope that you are subscribed to our daily "Quote of the Day," an easy and inspiring way to learn more about the teachings of this book. If not, just go to Truthbook.com, and click on Quote of the day (right in the middle of the page) and then click on "subscribe." It is a free service that you can discontinue at any time. Also, you might be interested in viewing some of our flash movies - in particular, "After You Die," and "You Can Live Forever" or click on "Audio Book Video" in the left column for a list of all our videos.

Labels: Book of Mormon, God, inspiration, Jesus, Joseph Smith, religion, revelation, The Urantia Book

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Friday, October 16, 2009

I Will Be Here

For all who love - each other, Jesus, and God - this is a lovely tune and a lovely sentiment.

Labels: God, Jesus, love, music, Steven Curtis Chapman, video

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Why does God let the devil destroy the life of his creation?

Q: Why does God let the devil destroy the life of his creation? Why doesn't he always keep us affiliated to his beautiful world rather than exposing us to this evil world?

A: Thank you for your note to Truthbook.com, a website dedicated to the teachings of a website dedicated to the teachings of The Urantia Book.

It is tempting to blame all the ills of our world on the devil. After all, many of us have been taught from an early age that there is this force for evil, centered in the devil, that appears to have equal weight against the forces for good, centered in God. We have been taught to fear the devil, and we blame him for everything bad in the world. And when we are not blaming the devil, we are blaming God for letting the devil have his way so often.

God is not responsible for any personality's evil deeds; and the devil is not always responsible for the bad things that people do:

"The devil has been given a great deal of credit for evil which does not belong to him. Caligastia [the devil - see link below] has been comparatively impotent since the cross of Christ. " (53:8.9)

This is not to say that the devil does not exist. There is a personality who The Urantia Book calls "the devil," and you can read about him HERE. Â And he is not the only one; I am sure you are familiar with the names "Lucifer" and "Satan." These two personalities. along with the devil, Caligastia, pretty much constitute the "forces of evil" who have done untold harm on this planet from the days of it's earliest development.

Two of these personalities are no longer on this planet; the devil remains, but as a vanquished, hollow presence, who can only influence those who actually seek him out. His power is greatly diminished. The remnants of their evil deeds remain, but it can be overcome. Once we know the truth about these personalities, we realize that have much more power to assume responsibility for the changes we wish to see, instead of feeling that we are powerless under the influence of evil forces.

About God, and evil, Jesus said:

"My brother, God is love; therefore he must be good, and his goodness is so great and real that it cannot contain the small and unreal things of evil. God is so positively good that there is absolutely no place in him for negative evil. Evil is the immature choosing and the unthinking misstep of those who are resistant to goodness, rejectful of beauty, and disloyal to truth. Evil is only the misadaptation of immaturity or the disruptive and distorting influence of ignorance. Evil is the inevitable darkness which follows upon the heels of the unwise rejection of light. Evil is that which is dark and untrue, and which, when consciously embraced and willfully endorsed, becomes sin." (130:1.5)

Please read HERE about Jesus, and how he overcame the forces of evil when he was on Earth. (In this section, you'll read that Jesus was known as "Michael," which is his celestial title. But Michael and Jesus are one and the same personality.)
Â
God cannot force us to stay "affiliated with his beautiful world." unless he takes away our free will. But he never forces us. We must come willingly to God. Likewise, the evil things that happen on our earth - things that threaten the life of the creation - could be stopped by God if it was his will, but it was his will that men have freewill choice. If God had wanted a perfect world, he likely would have created it. Instead we find ourselves in a place where God's children have to struggle to find the perfection of GodÂ through faith. When we are exposed to a world that contains both good and evil, mankind then has the opportunity to choose the good and progress towards perfection. If there was no choice, we would not be freewill creatures anymore, and we could not experience the victorious joy of overcoming evil with goodness, as Jesus taught us to do.

But we are not alone in our struggles. God is still at work. Said Jesus:

"There lives within every human mind a divine spirit, the gift of the Father in heaven. This good spirit ever strives to lead us to God, to help us to find God and to know God." (133:3.7)

Every person has this divine spirit, and every person has free will. It is up to each of us to seek God out - not everyone does. But we all carry within us that spark of divinity which can help us immeasurably to stay affiliated with his "beautiful world" - the kingdom of heaven within - by our own choosing.Â Then, no matter what happens in the outer world, we find ourselves with the inner peace of the kingdom of God.

When you find yourself worried over the state of the world, please consider this Urantia Book passage:

"As you view the world, remember that the black patches of evil which you see are shown against a white background of ultimate good. You do not view merely white patches of good which show up miserably against a black background of evil.Â

When there is so much good truth to publish and proclaim, why should men dwell so much upon the evil in the world just because it appears to be a fact? The beauties of the spiritual values of truth are more pleasurable and uplifting than is the phenomenon of evil." (195:5.12)

God's only will for us is goodness. It is ourselves that we must change so that we learn to think with God, if we want to change the world...only in this way will be able to experience more goodness.

I hope this answer has been helpful...please click on the links provided, and always practice the advice that Jesus was fond of giving: "Fear not."

Labels: evil, God, God within, goodness, Jesus, Lucifer, Satan, the devil

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Thursday, October 08, 2009

Is God the darkness we see in the universe?

Q: Is God the darkness we see in the universe? And is that the darkness inside of every human when they close their eyes?

A: My first thought is that the darkness (and light) that we can see with our physical eyes is a purely physical perception. Even when we close our eyes, the darkness that we "see" is simply due to the fact that we have shuttered our eyes to the outside world.

When we view the sky in daytime, we see plenty of light, as our perception is that the sky is lighted up - and it is, because of the sunshine's reflection off of the earth's atmosphere. But when we see images from space - for example, from the Hubble Telescope, we see islands of lighted galaxies surrounded by large areas of darkness. This can be a confusing perception if we are aiming to "see" God. One might think that if God is everywhere, that the areas of darkness must be God as well; and that is true, in a sense.

We know from Urantia Book teachings that God, as the Infinite Spirit, Third Person of the Trinity - pervades all space.

(9:0.5) "The Infinite Spirit pervades all space; he indwells the circle of eternity; and the Spirit, like the Father and the Son, is perfect and changelessâ€”absolute."

(2:1.1) " 'Touching the Infinite, we cannot find him out. The divine footsteps are not known.' The blinding light of the Father's presence is such that to his lowly creatures he apparently 'dwells in the thick darkness.'"

But...

(4:1.6) " 'The Father unceasingly pours forth energy, light, and life. The work of God is literal as well as spiritual. 'He stretches out the north over the empty space and hangs the earth upon nothing.' "

All of the space bodies that we can see are apparently suspended in darkness, and so I can see why one might think that the darkness IS God. But, so are all the areas of light. However, we need to use our mind and our spirit to resolve this issue:

(103:6.4) "When man analytically inspects the universe through the material endowments of his physical senses and associated mind perception, the cosmos appears to be mechanical and energy-material. Such a technique of studying reality consists in turning the universe inside out.

"A logical and consistent philosophic concept of the universe cannot be built up on the postulations of either materialism or spiritism, for both of these systems of thinking, when universally applied, are compelled to view the cosmos in distortion, the former contacting with a universe turned inside out, the latter realizing the nature of a universe turned outside in. Never, then, can either science or religion, in and of themselves, standing alone, hope to gain an adequate understanding of universal truths and relationships without the guidance of human philosophy and the illumination of divine revelation.

"Always must man's inner spirit depend for its expression and self-realization upon the mechanism and technique of the mind. Likewise must man's outer experience of material reality be predicated on the mind consciousness of the experiencing personality. Therefore are the spiritual and the material, the inner and the outer, human experiences always correlated with the mind function and conditioned, as to their conscious realization, by the mind activity. Man experiences matter in his mind; he experiences spiritual reality in the soul but becomes conscious of this experience in his mind. The intellect is the harmonizer and the ever-present conditioner and qualifier of the sum total of mortal experience. Both energy-things and spirit values are colored by their interpretation through the mind media of consciousness."

And so, while we see one thing through our physical senses, the actual truth of what we are seeing has to be modified through the ministry of Spirit and revelation before we can get the whole picture. We need more than our physical senses to understand the truth of God.

Please consider this passage from The Urantia Book:

(102:0.1) "Nameless despair is man's only reward for living and toiling under the temporal sun of mortal existence. Each day of life slowly and surely tightens the grasp of a pitiless doom which a hostile and relentless universe of matter has decreed shall be the crowning insult to everything in human desire which is beautiful, noble, lofty, and good.

"But such is not man's end and eternal destiny; such a vision is but the cry of despair uttered by some wandering soul who has become lost in spiritual darkness, and who bravely struggles on in the face of the mechanistic sophistries of a material philosophy, blinded by the confusion and distortion of a complex learning. And all this doom of darkness and all this destiny of despair are forever dispelled by one brave stretch of faith on the part of the most humble and unlearned of God's children on earth.

"This saving faith has its birth in the human heart when the moral consciousness of man realizes that human values may be translated in mortal experience from the material to the spiritual, from the human to the divine, from time to eternity."

It is by FAITH that we see beyond our physical perceptions and come to know the "Father of lights." The darkness that we perceive when we close our eyes or view the night sky is deceptive, if this perception is as far as we go in looking for evidence of God in our experience. There dwells within every mortal a "light" that can only be perceived through the ministry of spirit:

(1:3.3) "The spiritual luminosity of the Father's personal presence is a "light which no mortal man can approach; which no material creature has seen or can see." But it is not necessary to see God with the eyes of the flesh in order to discern him by the faith-vision of the spiritualized mind."

(107:4.5) "There is a characteristic light, a spirit luminosity, which accompanies this divine presence, and which has become generally associated with Thought Adjusters. In the universe of Nebadon this Paradise luminosity is widespreadly known as the "pilot light"; on Uversa it is called the "light of life." On Urantia this phenomenon has sometimes been referred to as that 'true light which lights every man who comes into the world.'"

So, I would say that while God certainly does pervade that darkness that we see with our physical eyes, he cannot be defined as that darkness alone; he is also a luminous presence - within AND without - that can only be "seen" with the anointed eyes of faith.

Thanks for this most interesting question.

Labels: darkness, faith, God, light, physical senses, The Urantia Book, universe

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Why do some people have a clearer concept of God than others?

Q: You asked: Why do some people, even children, regardless of religion, have a clearer concept of God, Jesus' teaching and religion than others?

A: I think it is interesting that you mention children as having a clearer concept of God. I have found that to be true as well. I've always thought that it could have something to do with the fact that they have more recently been with him, and have not yet "learned" to forget about him. Sometimes, as we grow up, we get so involved with life and all the distractions of life that we lose sight of our need for God, for Jesus, for religion....

Jesus loved children, and he was always fond of saying that we had to become as little children to really enter the Kingdom. Children are naturally trusting, naturally optimistic, and naturally hopeful, until they are taught otherwise. And so, it is these kinds of qualities that help a person gain a clearer concept of God.

Those who are less trusting, and more pessimistic will not make as much progress because they lack the child-like attributes. Remember, it is that parent/child relationship with God that is so important, and so we have to learn how to become like a trusting child again to really know God as he wants to be known - as our loving Spirit Father. Some people understand this - some do not.

Also, there is the matter of desire. A person who sincerely desires to know God will naturally find more of him in their personal experience. Those who see no need for God - those who are satisfied and happy with themselves - will naturally not take the trouble to really look for him. But anyone who sincerely seeks God WILL find him. This is true of any kind of religious pursuit, whether it is God, Jesus or religion in general. It is always a case of "seek, and ye shall find..." And the opposite of that is "if you don't seek, you won't find..." It seems to me that is usually the sincere seekers that have the best experiences of God.

Thanks for this question. I hope my answer has been helpful to you.

Labels: children, God, Jesus, trust

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

How can I know Urantia book is not a temptation from the devil...?

Q: How can I know Urantia book is not a temptation from the devil or some evil forces? I am a Catholic I was told this is the only religion.

A: Thanks for your note to Truthbook, a site dedicated to the teachings of The Urantia Book.

When we hold the beliefs of some particular religion, we can become frightened into thinking that any deviation from that theology is dangerous; it is then natural that we look upon anything new as suspect - even evil - and to be avoided. This can be true even though our inner spirit may testify to us that we have found something quite wonderful. Fear can hold us back from embracing new truth.

How do we know that The Urantia Book is not of the devil or from other "evil forces?"

Knowledge is power - one of the best features of The Urantia Book is a complete and factual exploration of Lucifer, Satan, and various other evil personalities who have so negatively impacted our planet. The expose is anything but favorable for them. If The Urantia Book was meant to tempt someone into sympathy for these beings, it could be considered a failure in that regard...

However, the overwhelming teachings of The Urantia Book surround the fact that man is a child of God and is a valued member of the family of this loving Father-God. In addition, one of the cornerstone teachings of The Urantia Book is that you carry a part of God himself within your mind, which forever ennobles you as a being of eternal status whose destiny is to one day reunite with that Source of all goodness on Paradise. One of the functions of this Divine fragment is to guide you into a knowledge of God's will, and to help you to develop an immortal soul. This concept can hardly be considered a temptation of the devil, for the devil does not lead men to God.

Your question might have been sent from any number of people who have been told that their religion is "the only religion." Reason tells us that not all of these claims can be correct.

Is there only one true religion? The Urantia Book states:

(143:7.2) "True religion is the act of an individual soul in its self-conscious relations with the Creator; organized religion is man's attempt to socialize the worship of individual religionists."

Now, if that was the extent of organized religion's attempts to reach the truth-seeker, there would be no conflict, but often, the organization also teaches retribution of some sort if the faithful person should question or abandon this teaching. This retribution is usually in the form of eternal damnation. This could be the source of your uneasiness about any other teaching being of a possibly "evil" source.

Any serious study of The Urantia Book will deliver you from these kinds of fears. You harbor within yourself an unerring guide for discerning truth. It is the Spirit that Jesus sent when he left the earth - the promised helper and Comforter. To be safe, always approach any study of a religious text with a prayer for discernment, asking that Jesus be your guide. In this way, you can't ever be "tempted" into a false belief, for Jesus will ever be faithful to your trust in him. Fear not..." Divine truth is best known by its spiritual flavor."

While the teachings of The Urantia Book do not promote any particular church as superior to any other, an affiliation with a God-centered church is entirely compatible with a belief in Urantia Book concepts. Many Urantia Book readers are practicing Catholics; however, the truthseeker must know that the only "true" religion is in the realm of personal spiritual experience, and this is the only religion that Jesus ever taught.

I suggest that you read Jesus' Discourses on True Religion HERE

In this section we learn that:

"Jesus made it clear that the great difference between the religion of the mind and the religion of the spirit is that, while the former is upheld by ecclesiastical authority, the latter is wholly based on human experience."

The Catholic Church, along with many other organized and institutionalized religions, constitutes a religion of the mind - a religion of authority. From this information, and after reading the above Discourses of Jesus, you should be able to form a personally meaningful resolution to the issue regarding the exclusive truth claimed by the Catholic Church.

You may remember that Jesus himself was accused of being in league with the devil during his ministry by people who were desperate to discredit him. His ideas were so revolutionary because they threatened the authority of the religious institutions of his time - so much so, that they eventually murdered him for espousing these liberating ideas to the people. Why? Because the religion of the spirit - true religion - forever leaves the individual religionist free to embrace the truth wherever s/he may find it;

"...true religion is delivered from the custody of priests and all sacred classes and finds its real manifestation in the individual souls of men."

Jesus' teachings are revolutionary today, too. The religion of Jesus still threatens the religions of authority, and sometimes people dismiss it out of fear of some imagined retribution because of what they have been told. The only real proof that you will ever be able to find about any truth is to use your own discernment to separate fact from fantasy. If you can suspend your fears and open your mind, you will find your sincere search for truth rewarded.

Finally, I leave you with this encouraging passage regarding God, and religion:

(2:6.1) "In the physical universe we may see the divine beauty, in the intellectual world we may discern eternal truth, but the goodness of God is found only in the spiritual world of personal religious experience. In its true essence, religion is a faith-trust in the goodness of God. God could be great and absolute, somehow even intelligent and personal, in philosophy, but in religion God must also be moral; he must be good. Man might fear a great God, but he trusts and loves only a good God. This goodness of God is a part of the personality of God, and its full revelation appears only in the personal religious experience of the believing sons of God."

Thanks again for writing. I hope this answer has been of help to you.

Labels: Catholicism, God, Jesus, organized religion, religion, spiritual experience, the devil, The Urantia Book

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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Why are we born? What is the purpose of living? Why am I living?

Q: Why are we born? What is the purpose of living? Why am I living?

A: Thank you for your note to Truthbook.com, a website dedicated to the teachings of The Urantia Book. I will answer your questions with Urantia Book quotes, and I hope you will click on each link to expand these important ideas

We are born to come to know and love God as our spirit Father.

(1:0.2) The myriads of planetary systems were all made to be eventually inhabited by many different types of intelligent creatures, beings who could know God, receive the divine affection, and love him in return. The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. "God created the heavens and formed the earth; he established the universe and created this world not in vain; he formed it to be inhabited."

(1:1.2) The Universal Father never imposes any form of arbitrary recognition, formal worship, or slavish service upon the intelligent will creatures of the universes. The evolutionary inhabitants of the worlds of time and space must of themselves - in their own hearts - recognize, love, and voluntarily worship him. The Creator refuses to coerce or compel the submission of the spiritual free wills of his material creatures. The affectionate dedication of the human will to the doing of the Father's will is manâ€™s choicest gift to God; in fact, such a consecration of creature will constitutes man's only possible gift of true value to the Paradise Father. In God, man lives, moves, and has his being; there is nothing which man can give to God except this choosing to abide by the Father's will, and such decisions, effected by the intelligent will creatures of the universes, constitute the reality of that true worship which is so satisfying to the love-dominated nature of the Creator Father.

Our purpose in life is to share and co-create our lives with God.

(108:0.2) Nothing in the entire universe can substitute for the fact of experience on nonexistential levels. The infinite God is, as always, replete and complete, infinitely inclusive of all things except evil and creature experience. God cannot do wrong; he is infallible. God cannot experientially know what he has never personally experienced; God's preknowledge is existential. Therefore does the spirit of the Father descend from Paradise to participate with finite mortals in every bona fide experience of the ascending career; it is only by such a method that the existential God could become in truth and in fact man's experiential Father. The infinity of the eternal God encompasses the potential for finite experience, which indeed becomes actual in the ministry of the Adjuster fragments that actually share the life vicissitude experiences of human beings.

(2:2.6) God is eternally and infinitely perfect; he cannot personally know imperfection as his own experience, but he does share the consciousness of all the experience of imperfectness of all the struggling creatures of the evolutionary universes of all the Paradise Creator Sons. The personal and liberating touch of the God of perfection overshadows the hearts and encircuits the natures of all those mortal creatures who have ascended to the universe level of moral discernment. In this manner, as well as through the contacts of the divine presence, the Universal Father actually participates in the experience with immaturity and imperfection in the evolving career of every moral being of the entire universe.

We are born to develop God-consciousness.

(0:12.12) ...we know that there dwells within the human mind a fragment of God, and that there sojourns with the human soul the Spirit of Truth; and we further know that these spirit forces conspire to enable material man to grasp the reality of spiritual values and to comprehend the philosophy of universe meanings. But even more certainly we know that these spirits of the Divine Presence are able to assist man in the spiritual appropriation of all truth contributory to the enhancement of the ever-progressing reality of personal religious experience â€” God-consciousness.

(5:5.11) God-consciousness, as it is experienced by an evolving mortal of the realms, must consist of three varying factors, three differential levels of reality realization. There is first the mind consciousness â€” the comprehension of the idea of God. Then follows the soul consciousness â€” the realization of the ideal of God. Last, dawns the spirit consciousness â€” the realization of the spirit reality of God. By the unification of these factors of the divine realization, no matter how incomplete, the mortal personality at all times overspreads all conscious levels with a realization of the personality of God.

You are living to grow an immortal soul of survival value, and then, live forever.

(1:3.7) In the inner experience of man, mind is joined to matter. Such material-linked minds cannot survive mortal death. The technique of survival is embraced in those adjustments of the human will and those transformations in the mortal mind whereby such a God-conscious intellect gradually becomes spirit taught and eventually spirit led. This evolution of the human mind from matter association to spirit union results in the transmutation of the potentially spirit phases of the mortal mind into the morontia realities of the immortal soul. Mortal mind subservient to matter is destined to become increasingly material and consequently to suffer eventual personality extinction; mind yielded to spirit is destined to become increasingly spiritual and ultimately to achieve oneness with the surviving and guiding divine spirit and in this way to attain survival and eternity of personality existence.

(5:5.13) Eternal survival of personality is wholly dependent on the choosing of the mortal mind, whose decisions determine the survival potential of the immortal soul. When the mind believes God and the soul knows God, and when, with the fostering Adjuster, they all desire God, then is survival assured.

Finally, you are a completely unique individual in the family of God. No one else can do what you have to do here on the earth. You are the only one who can reflect back to the world your unique part of the personality of God.

(12:7.9) The love of the Father absolutely individualizes each personality as a unique child of the Universal Father, a child without duplicate in infinity, a will creature irreplaceable in all eternity. The Father's love glorifies each child of God, illuminating each member of the celestial family, sharply silhouetting the unique nature of each personal being against the impersonal levels that lie outside the fraternal circuit of the Father of all. The love of God strikingly portrays the transcendent value of each will creature, unmistakably reveals the high value which the Universal Father has placed upon each and every one of his children from the highest creator personality of Paradise status to the lowest personality of will dignity among the savage tribes of men in the dawn of the human species on some evolutionary world of time and space.

Thank you for this most important question. I hope my reply has been helpful

Labels: God, God-Consciousness, individuality, purpose of life, sharing, soul, The Urantia Book

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Monday, September 14, 2009

Why do we consider the Bible as the word of God?

Q: Is the Bible really the true word of God, although it is written by men? Why do we consider the Bible as the word of God? Why are some gospels not included in the new testament? What shows that the Bible is in its original pure form still today?

A: Thank you for your note to Truthbook.com, a website dedicated to the teachings of The Urantia Book.

The Bible is considered by many people to be the true "word of God," even though it is written by men. They believe that the words in the Bible are true because they were "inspired" by God.

I will quote a portion of another reply given to a person who wrote asking a similar question. I hope you will find it helpful:

"Much of the material in the Bible in the Old Testament is older than written language, so it came from oral tradition handed down from generation to generation until eventually written language was able to record it.

All the books of the Bible, Old and New Testament, were separate manuscripts along with the many other traditional "holy" teachings and manuscripts. It wasn't until about 300 A.D. that the decision was made by the church at Rome that only a specific set of these holy materials were to be used as the basis for the Christian religion and then the specific books of the Old and New Testament were decided upon and all the rest were discarded.

Before the printing press was invented documents were copied by hand by monks and rabbis and other holy men. The original manuscripts were written in a number of different languages and were since translated from the original into the various other languages of the world."

As you can see, there really is no "pure form" of the Bible in existence today, if there ever was such a thing at all. Today's Bible is a collection of some of the highest spiritual thought received by holy- and not-so-holy men over the centuries; and prior to the advent of The Urantia Book, it really was about the best that mankind had in the way of "Divine" thought. The Bible has always been, and still is, one of the best sources of inspiration and guidance on the planet. It forms the basis for Christianity as we know it.

The Urantia Book teaches us that revelation is a continuous process in the individual and periodic in the form of epochal revelation. Epochal revelations are rare events in which communication is established between man and Heaven in order to help mankind to progress spiritually. The Urantia Book is one such epochal revelation, and it is meant for the whole world - not just Jews and Christians. The Urantia Book does not intend to supplant or replace the Bible, but it does illuminate its beginnings, and it does clarify for us the meaning of so-called "sacred Scriptures." Jesus himself was a student of Scripture; he used the Scriptures very liberally in his early years, and even in his ministry. But he did not consider them "sacred." and he chose only those passages that supported his own (epochal) revelation of God to mankind.

The true "word of God" is to be found within the heart of any sincere truth-seeker. We know the truth through our own experience - through trial and error - through seeking and finding. We have an inner guide called the Spirit of Truth which ever leads us into all truth. And so, we are wise to read any religious text - even The Urantia Book - with intelligent discernment. Truth will always be apparent to one who is honestly seeking it. Truth is found in many places, and does not belong to any one person or any group of persons. It is available to all who seek.

Thank you again for your note. I hope you will visit our site often and learn about the teachings of The Urantia Book, while you pursue your interest in the Bible.

Labels: Bible, God, The Urantia Book, truth, Word of God

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Sunday, September 06, 2009

Stop using the Name of Jesus to deceive people...

Q: After browsing through your Urantia website for an hour or so, I feel compelled to write that your organization is merely using highly philosophical, theological, and religious language to cover up what is essentially a liberal approach to Christianity, albeit combined with speculative cosmology about the existence of so-called intelligent cosmic beings.

I believe that you should stop using the historical and revelatory Christian faith to be your launching pad for speculative and fanciful spiritual theologising....say what you really believe...your evolutionary perspective is truly at odds with historical and evangelical Christianity.

...stop using the Name of Jesus, who is the King of kings, and Lord of Lords, and not some Christ Michael incarnate on this earth, to deceive people into believing that you are leading people to the truth. The Bible is very clear in this respect in 1 John 5:12:

"He who has the Son of God (the Second Person of the Trinity, who became both God and Man at his incarnation on this earth as in John 1:14) has the life ('zoe' in Greek); he does not have the Son of God does not have the life."

A: Thank you for your post to Truthbook.com... we always appreciate hearing from those who have discovered our website. I'll reply to your comments as I read down through your note.

You've judged a book by its cover. I'll give you the benefit for having browsed our site for an hour or so; we get many appraisals of what we're all about from people who've spent far less time than that before thinking they've got the full picture and can offer meaningful criticism.

First, we are "merely" nothing, especially not a liberal approach to Christianity. What we are is a website that promotes the teachings found in one specific book and we promote those teachings because, unlike the majority of our critics, individually, without coercion, with an inquiring and open mind, we have actually read the book and made an informed decision regarding its purpose and content and meaningfulness to our lives. Once having started down that path, eventually we may choose to look for like-minded people who have also read this marvelous and tremendous book â€“ that's how this and other Urantia websites were established.

We are not merely using highly philosophical, theological, and religious language; The Urantia Book portrays what are perhaps the highest philosophical, theological, and religious ideals ever expressed in English. To convey those concepts requires exceptional usage and you were at least aware of that aspect in what you read.

You've given us too much credit. No human or organization is responsible for the words of The Urantia Book. A human organization was responsible for getting the Urantia material printed of course but no human is connected with the material itself other than in 1955 being responsible for spelling and punctuation. Because you've spent an hour or so perusing a website rather than the months or so required to actually read the million and a half words of text of the greatest revelation disclosed to the world in over 2,000 years, there's no way you would have recognized that The Urantia Book contains the best in human thought magnified by the wisdom of far greater intelligence than humans exhibit. There is no way we can be responsible for ceasing, as you requested, to use the historical and revelatory Christian faith as a launching pad for speculative and fanciful spiritual theologizing; that's how it's portrayed by the words of the book. If you delve deeper into this material you will understand that The Urantia Book is not promoting any organized religion, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, pagan, or New Age.

You've suggested that we're perpetrating a dishonesty, not being open or declaring in plain language what we really believe. Maybe you can explain yourself better or give an example but that's not so at all; there's no way we could be more up-front in our opinion or the material we promote.

You are absolutely correct in saying that the evolutionary perspective of The Urantia book is truly at odds with historical and evangelical Christianity. We are not proponents of historical or evangelical Christianity nor do we portray ourselves to be. The Urantia Book is not a Christian document in the sense you're thinking of. The Urantia Book clearly teaches us the true nature and purpose of Jesus. Jesus does not belong to Christianity; it is supposed to be the other way around.

Your suggested prohibition against using the name of Jesus because The Urantia Book is not the Bible we've received before. I'll be perfectly clear: The Urantia Book is not the Bible. In stating that Jesus is not some Christ Michael incarnated on this earth you've objected to something for which you have no understanding. Obviously the Bible doesn't contain that information and so you reason that your objection is valid... what if Jesus was known as Michael before incarnating here? What if that was true? What if it is time for new wine to displace that in the old wine skins? How would you know? How will you know Truth? Certainly not by dismissing a book by its cover, or through a cursory glance.

As an example, in our exchange here, if this were 2,000 years ago, what you've essentially done is walked by a gathering at the roadside on your way to some destination and as you passed you've caught the turn of a phrase and the whisper of an unfamiliar idea. Continuing on your way you've mulled over what you heard with a bit of humor and condescension because it didn't correlate with the orthodoxy that you had accepted as Truth. You didn't know and didn't care to know that the speaker you passed by was Jesus; on a spiritual level your brief encounter was meaningless. This is fundamentally what has happened with this one hour critique.

I could give you some masterful quotes from The Urantia Book to back up my reply to you just as you've given some great quotes from the Bible, but I won't. Students of The Urantia Book love and appreciate the Bible for what it is. Most students of The Urantia Book come to have a more profound appreciation of the Bible than they ever had before encountering what you've just stumbled upon and are trying to dismiss.

We're willing to address well thought out and measured criticism regarding the teachings of this little-known book which proclaims itself to be the fifth epochal revelation of truth to the world; it comes to us in book form. Jesus was the fourth epochal revelation of truth to the world; he was a Son of God and the son of man. However, the teachings of The Urantia Book aren't totally devoted to religion or spirituality; those are but two of its numerous revelations. There is no way you, or anyone else can criticize what has been superficially gleaned; howver, reasoned criticism from an in-depth reading will be considered. Are you willing to look deeper? Are you willing to risk discovering truth that may surpass what you already possess?

A study of The Urantia Book takes nothing away from one's knowledge of and love for the Bible, or any other true religious text. There are religious authorities among all the major religious organizations who know, study, and are enthralled by what The Urantia Book discloses. Are you willing to at least dip a few toes in to test the water? You've termed yourself another truth lover; is your love for truth strong enough that you will follow wherever it may lead, whatever may be its apparent source?

There are 197 chapters in The Urantia Book. The first 5 lay the groundwork for an enhanced spiritual connection with God. My suggestion, if you're sincere about a meaningful criticism of The Urantia Book is that you begin by reading Paper 1 and continue on to Paper 5 and then write back from a more informed point of view. I'm not suggesting that you believe anything you read but I do request that you read with an open, inquiring, and critical mind. Take notes as you read if you wish and listen to the text read aloud as you read the words... then come back here and tell me if you've learned anything and what your informed criticism is. I'll be happy to give more attention to your opinion.

Best wishes, and may God be with you.

Labels: Bible, Christianity, God, Jesus, The Urantia Book, truth

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Saturday, September 05, 2009

GOD or Extraterrestrial?

Q: In every relegion, it is assumed that GOD is in the sky. Whenever believers refer GOD, they point at the sky, Stories of each religion tells that GOD will come from sky to solve our problems. GOD used to come to this earth in our ancient stories in this manner. Now my question is, could GOD could be some ET (extra terrestrial) having more IQ than human on earth, who used to visit earth often in earlier days?.
Hence, whether GOD or ET ?

A: Thank you for your question to Truthbook.com -- we're pleased you discovered our site, a site that focuses on the teachings of The Urantia Book. Your question is not an uncommon one from those who are searching for meaning.

As students of this marvelous book we believe, we're assured, that the universe is filled with intelligent life, the vast majority of it being considerably more intelligent than we human beings. Yet, even so, seldom is there ever contact with those superior physical or spirit beings -- life on this world, as on all others, is designed to develop independently of external influence -- that's why God put it all in motion.

So yes, there are more ET's out there than can be imagined, but no, we don't have contact with them except in a very few rare instances. We have learned from The Urantia Book that beginning about 500,000 years ago the primitive humans of this world did have contact with superior physical and spiritual beings -- we received a planetary prince, a spirit being who was to oversee the continuing evolution and development of the human races, and he and his physical staff did so according to plan for nearly 300,000 years. You can read about (and listen too) the Planetary Prince here. Then, about 200,000 years ago, due to the Lucifer Rebellion, the Planetary Prince defaulted in this mission and was lost to the evolving civilizations, giving rise to many myths, fairy tales, folklore and legends that continue to this day. A little less than 40,000 years ago we received a pair of biologic uplifters, Adam and Eve, whose purpose was to improve human genetics and whose mission was to have continued on for eons into the future, failed after a couple of hundred years, also due to the effects of the Lucifer Rebellion and also giving rise to more of the myths and legends we still encounter. About 4,000 years ago we received another celestial visitor, Machiventa Melchizedek, whose material visitation with Abraham of about 100 years duration is briefly mentioned in the Old Testament and a few other writings. Then 2,000 years ago Jesus was born here, a true celestial visitation that changed the course of world history, as did the previous 3 visitations to a lesser degree. You can read (and listen to) the life and teachings of Jesus, a captivating year by year recitation, beginning here.

God does exist "out there" -- God also exists "in here," inside of you. Partly because of the myths and legends we think mainly of God being "out there" and are prone to substitute ETs for the true and living God the Father. We're a confused and misguided world and the search for truth is a difficult one that is disregarded by so many. God is the first source and center of all things, including all those intelligent ETs -- we just seek to try to make sense of it all and to get our facts straightened out.

May I recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service from our site that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book with an audio clip and a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the book. To subscribe click on the Quote of the Day link on the left side of our home page and follow the instructions.

Best wishes and may God be with you...

Labels: Adam and Eve, Extra-terrestrials, God, Jesus, Lucifer Rebellion, Melchizedek, planetary prince, The Urantia Book

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I don't understand why, if this is our introductory life, why some people are born hereditarily disposed to mental illness...

Q: I don't understand why, if this is our introductory life, why some people are born hereditarily disposed to neurosis, psychosis, schizophrenia, bi-polarism, retardation, etc...... How does a personality work through that? What a horrible start. How unfair. How can an individual "do the will of God" in this context? Surviving in this rat race is hard enough. Certainly the individual didn't deserve this since this is only the very first experience of what life is. Sometimes life can get so unbearable for these people, suicide is the only relieving option. What's the wisdom in seeing yourself crumble in dignity because one cannot participate "adequately" in society. Yet, we are expected to "Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect."

Then there are those born with a golden spoon and those with charm , beauty and ultra-charisma; the highly gifted intellectual; the musically gifted genius; the leaders, the heroes etc.....What a cake walk for them. Yes, life is wonderful for them. What a great introduction to life. Surely their decision to want to survive and continue on this adventure of life is easily made. It is fueled by such positive experiences and so much to look forward to.

As for the former, I think they'd think twice whether to participate again in a universe where you have no choice of what card is dealt to you and at the risk of "annihilation"

A: You raise age-old questions - and the bottom line is - Life is not fair. It has always been this way, and probably always will be this way. Why? Because we are trapped in a time-space situation where there is always the chance of sorrow, where our fortunes can change in the blink of an eye, where uncertainty is the only constant. Everything changes in this life except the presence of God. This does seem unfair, especially if you feel you have gotten that "short stick..."

Just because a person is born into this life with hereditary tendencies to mental illness does not automatically mean they are less able to do God's will in their life. These kinds of problems can seem overwhelming, and they occcur through no fault of the person - likewise those with physical disabilities may seem terribly disadvantaged when you view them through the eyes of the material. But Jesus said:

"In the matter of sickness and health, you should know that these bodily states are the result of material causes; health is not the smile of heaven, neither is affliction the frown of God.

"The Father's human children have equal capacity for the reception of material blessings; therefore does he bestow things physical upon the children of men without discrimination. When it comes to the bestowal of spiritual gifts, the Father is limited by man's capacity for receiving these divine endowments. Although the Father is no respecter of persons, in the bestowal of spiritual gifts he is limited by man's faith and by his willingness always to abide by the Father's will." (166:4.10)

So, even if one has not received a goodly inheritance in a material sense, still each person receives "spiritual gifts," and it is how those are used that determines spiritual growth and progress. When God advises us to "be ye perfect," I think this only means that we do the best we can with what we have, and become the best person we can be within the confines of the life that we have. No one - not even the most well-endowed person on Earth, can ever come close to actually being perfect as God is in this one, short life, but we CAN be the most perfect person possible given the limitations that have been placed upon us - whether physically or mentally - by using our spiritual gifts (the Thought Adjuster, the Spirit of Truth, etc) to become like God. This becoming like God is not a material striving, but a spiritual one. Paraphrasing something that Jesus said once - if wealth is the smile of Heaven, why are not more wealthy people drawn to the Gospel? Why is it so often the meek, the afflicted, the humble, the downtrodden, who turn to God?

Sometimes, the most beautiful, the richest, and the most gifted people are those who feel no need of God. They are satisfied - and why shouldn't they be? Life seems easy; however, don't be fooled by outward shows of happiness by the seemingly "beautiful people." All of us are dealing with some kind of struggle in our lives, no matter our station in life. But it is those who struggle, those who have to tread the paths of rugged faith, who may be the luckiest in the long run. Remember this passage?

Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation. (48:7.14)

Having to work through difficulties means lots of decisions, lots of opportunities to choose hope over despair - faith over fear. And by always choosing the good, one can improve one's life immeasurably, even if outward circumstances may not change.

Look at famous people who have overcome great adversity - people like Steven Hawking, or Temple Grandin (who suffers from severe autism, and who has become a noted national voice in the humane treatment of animals). I have a sister who suffers from schizophrenia - although her life has been hard, she is very much a shining star in many respects because of her reliance on Jesus - she is still afflicted, but she helps herself through her difficulties with God's help. I shudder to think how bad things could be for her if not for those choices she has made in the spiritual sense.

In fact, this page of the inevitabilities is a good one to read again - especially when we are feeling that our lives are harder than they need to be.

As for those who might opt out of life because of having to deal with unfortunate experiences here on Earth: no matter what we have to experience here, it is the EXPERIENCE of living that is important; we can get that no other way than by living this life through. Having an attitude of bitterness about life indicates a need for more faith and trust in the goodness of God. Bitter resignation may be an easy way out, but is it the best way? This is an illustration of our inability to make eternal decisions here. I don't believe anyone who is beset with material problems can rightly make a decision not to go on to eternal life simply because they can't see a better future. Sometimes, the best we can do is just hang on and keep our little light of faith burning ...and that is enough to get us through. And there are rewards for just hanging on - maybe not material rewards, but rewards that are just as real and even more valuable in the long run.

This is such a short (The Urantia Book calls it "intriguing...")life - compared to the eternity of adventure and progress that awaits us...

The Urantia Book illuminates so much of this for us - I wish everyone could learn of God's goodness through its teachings.

Labels: decision, disability, God, inevitabilities, mental health, spiritual gifts, suffering, The Urantia Book

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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Without associating with any religious sect can a soul which is knowledgeable in science and history make it to the higher realms?

Q: Without associating with any religious sect can a soul which is knowledgeable in science and history make it to the higher realms? Can relatives here on earth pray for a sleeping survivor to move him straight to the mansions?

A: Just as God is no respecter of persons, neither is God respecter of earthly religions -- there's none that's "better" in God's eyes than another. Whichever religious sect is most meaningful to you, or none at all, should be perfectly fine.

I presume by "soul" you're meaning "person" -- the soul is the transportation vehicle to the mansion worlds for the personality and life experiences of the person who has died and has no relationship to science or history, which are mindal activities. What's important to make it "to the higher realms" is spiritual development through spirit-led decisions as a mortal. The faintest flicker of faith is all that's really required for a soul to reach those higher realms after death.

And yes, certainly the relatives or acquaintances or even complete strangers can pray for those who've departed. It won't move them along any faster, for again since God is no respecter of persons... either those who are prayed after or those who are not. It's the decision of the angels how rapidly one is moved from the sleeping survivor condition to incarnation on mansion world number one -- the length of time between death and resurrection is of no real consequence. Sleeping survivors are generally resurrected as a group at the end of an age, or at a dispensational roll-call, such as occurred following the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb. He took a great many souls to heaven all at once.

May I recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service from our site that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of the marvelous Urantia Book with an audio clip and a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the book. To subscribe click on the Quote of the Day link on the left side of our home page and follow the instructions.

Best wishes, and thank you for your question. I hope that the reply has been meaningful.

Labels: God, Mansion Worlds, prayer, religion, resurrection, soul, The Urantia Book

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They say If you make one step towards God, he takes 1000 toward you. I have taken all possible steps towards him but he never makes any step towards m

Q: They say If you make one step towards God, he takes 1000 toward you. I have taken all possible steps towards him but he never makes any step towards me. Why?

A: I wonder what kinds of steps towards God you have taken?

And then I wonder what kind of steps that you expect God to make towards you?

I wonder what your relationship is with God...do you have a relationship with him?

Since I don't know very much about you, I will answer your question with some solid teachings from The Urantia Book that may be of some help to you.

Most importantly, you should know that God dwells within you - in your mind. You can always find him there - he is there as your "pilot light" - the "lamp unto your feet." God is not an aloof Deity residing somewhere in Heaven, apart from his children. Even though he can be found in Paradise, he is also living your life with you at this very moment. Remember - God is a spirit, but he is also a personality. We can relate to him as a person - like the perfect father. No need for memorized prayers - just open your inmost heart to him, without any thought of reward or reply. Like any person, God responds to love and sincerity, and he will help you to connect to this Highest part of yourself, if that is your real desire.

God does hear us when we speak to him, and he does know when we are seeking him. I don't know why you have this sense that he has not made steps toward you...If you are not aware of the steps he is taking, maybe you are not looking in the right places...God's response to us is in the innermost reaches of our highest spiritual thinking, and may be more concerned with meeting your deepest needs and desires with values, not things. If you are looking in a material sense for evidence of God's steps in your direction, you may not ever see it without spiritual insight.

You might try some dedicated times of quiet mental reflection with just talking with God as your primary focus, and see if you get some kind of inspiration that way. But, before you start, find ten things to be grateful for, and thank God for your blessings. In these quiet times, ask God to help you recognize his answers to you. And then listen carefully...

Try to relax, and try to trust God more. Like any good father, he wants your trust and your faith - he wants you to love him like a happy child loves its faithful parent. Keep talking with God, and pay attention. You may be getting more evidence of his Presence than you expect...

I invite you to discover a new revelation of God, found in The Urantia Book. Please feel free to visit our page called "Finding God." Click there on any of the links to open up a whole new way to frame your approach to God.

Thanks for writing...

Labels: finding God, God, God within, God's voice, meditation, prayer, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, August 13, 2009

I read many Bibles but they are different so the question is, who wrote the Bible as a whole? Is it really words of God?

Q: I read many Bibles but they are different so the question is, who wrote the Bible as a whole? Is it really words of God?

A: Much of the material in the Bible in the Old Testament is older than written language, so it came from oral tradition handed down from generation to generation until eventually written language was able to record it.

All the books of the Bible, Old and New Testament, were separate manuscripts along with the many other traditional "holy" teachings and manuscripts. It wasn't until about 300 A.D. that the decision was made by the church at Rome that only a specific set of these holy materials were to be used as the basis for the Christian religion and then the specific books of the Old and New Testament were decided upon and all the rest were discarded.

Before the printing press was invented documents were copied by hand by monks and rabbi's and other holy men. The original manuscripts were written in a number of different languages and were since translated from the original into the various other languages of the world.

According to The Urantia Book, in the New Testament Matthew was written for the edification of Jewish Christians and was written by Isador, one of Matthew's disciples. Mark wrote his gospel, the first one written, in A.D. 68 at the insistence of Peter and the early church at Rome and the other Apostles based their versions on Mark's manuscript. Luke began to follow Paul in A.D. 47 and wrote his gospel in A.D. 82. John (Zebedee) inspired the gospel attributed to him which was written by his associate, Nathan, a Greek Jew in 101 A.D.

Is the Bible the words of God? The Bible contains the words of God as interpreted by those to whom God spoke -- through inspiration, through revelation, through prayer. The words of the Bible are sacred to the extent that they bring man closer to God and open man's heart to spirit ministry. The Bible provides the spiritual foundation upon which Western Civilization has been built.

Labels: Bible, God, New testament, Old Testament, The Urantia Book

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Sunday, August 09, 2009

Will You go to heaven????

Q: Will You go to heaven????

A: Personal belief and faith help define the mental personal realities we each live in but in order to be "real" they require a foundation based on the rock solidness of logical, objective reality. Most people give little thought and little introspection to logic or to objective reality, relying more on seat of the pants, what feels good, or just accepting what others believe for themselves. So, for example, while believing or having faith in the Easter Bunny or in Santa Clause may provide comfort for a believer, that doesn't make that belief "real."

Among all the other gifts God has given us, there's one that helps us overcome the tendency toward wishful thinking, helps us discern reality. If we're to make sense of this complicated and confusing life we need to rely on that gift; it's given to us for that purpose, and that gift is a logical mind... a mind that works to make order out of chaos and to sort fact from fiction, to give us real perspective.

Another gift from God is that of God reaching down to help draw us up toward him and one of the ways this is done is through revelation -- knowledge that's outside of evolutionary acquirement, knowledge that's true, beautiful, and good, knowledge that can be relied on.

Most who actually study the teachings of The Urantia Book eventually come to believe that its teachings are logical and grounded and they come to believe that it is what it claims to be, a divine revelation, that what it portrays is "real." So, based on those two beliefs it's not a difficult step to take to accept what The Urantia Book relates about heaven, which is much more complete and detailed than any other teaching one might encounter.

It's my firm conviction, based on years of study of The Urantia Book, which speaks to me in ways nothing else ever has, is that God is good, God loves me, God provides for me, God has a near infinite plan for my spiritual adventure and development, that this life is but the very first rung at the bottom of the ladder to paradise and eternity, and that when I die I do not disappear. Jesus, through his resurrection, made it evident that death is not an end but is just a transition. So yes, I am confident that when I die I will "go to heaven" although what that means entails much more than the common concept of "heaven."

How about you? Will you go to heaven? Have you checked out our more detailed study called "There is Life After Death" on our home page...

Do you have questions about what it says? Do the videos there give you pause to consider? Has this reply been of any benefit to you?

Thank you for your question and best wishes...

Labels: God, heaven, life after death, mind, The Urantia Book

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A Question About Going Seriously Astray

Q: Do you think that mortal sons of God, after having tasted of the glories and beautiful realities of sonship with Father through faith can ever apostasize or turn iniquitous? Can truly enlightened mortal sons who have accepted son-ship ever reject Father after having known of His sweet will and unending glories? I think that apostasy (iniquity)of such deadly nature can only be exercised by heavenly enlightened creatures and not mortals.

A: It seems that you have made an important distinction between the iniquitous rejection of God by high spirit beings (such as Satan, Lucifer and Caligastia) and mortal beings like us who grasp God through faith. It is hard enough to understand how a high Son of God such as Lucifer, can be subject to rejecting God's love and mercy; it is harder still to understand how a faith-son of God can reject him, having once experienced his love and mercy as a result of that faith-decision. I don't know of anyone who has done that...but...

No matter how committed we are to God, and no matter how convicted we are of the truth of God - and even if we have tasted of the sweetness of his tender mercies, there always remains the possibility of going astray, simply because we have the freewill choice to do so. Until we have made the ultimate decision, and fused with our Thought adjuster, we are always free to decide differently.

I do think, like you, that once having made that leap of faith into acceptance of sonship with God, rejection of that sonship seems highly unlikely. For me, it seems an impossibility - maybe for you, too. But there always remains that possibility, remote as it might be.

In any event, Satan, or any other spirit being does not have any power to make that rejection for another. Even if a person may be somewhat half-hearted in their commitment to sonship with God, Satan does not have any power to affect their decisions unless that person knowingly seeks his influence, or decides to knowingly embrace sin. Again, all created beings retain the power of choice over their own souls; any rejection of God will come from within, not from without. The "devil" is given far more credit for influencing mortals than he deserves. Oftentimes, it is a person's own unwillingness to keep close to God, or to a tendency to fall prey to their own weaknesses that may separate them from God. The love of God is shed abroad in the hearts of mankind, and is available to all.

Jesus said:

"The child, being immature and lacking in the fuller understanding of the depth of the child-father relationship, must frequently feel a sense of guilty separation from a fatherâ€™s full approval, but the true father is never conscious of any such separation. Sin is an experience of creature consciousness; it is not a part of godâ€™s consciousness."(174:1.4)

Labels: evil, God, iniquity, Jesus, Lucifer, mortals, Satan, The Urantia Book

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Friday, July 31, 2009

Can We Reconcile Biblical Prophecy with The Urantia Book?

Q: How can we connect the prophecy of Isaiah when he said that ".....Truly, it was for their sins that he was killed....." and later said that His soul was made an offering unto death. How do you/we understand these things in relation to the meaning of the atonement in the Urantia book?

A: How do I understand these things? I choose to believe what Jesus taught about his mission, and it had nothing to do with his sacrificing himself as an atonement for the sins and guilt of mankind, regardless of what Isaiah said in these passages. Jesus never presented himself in this way - in the Bible, or in The Urantia Book. Further, The Urantia Book explains to my full satisfaction that our heavenly Father is not a vengeful and strict god who needs to sacrifice his sinless son as some sort of ransom for the sins of mankind. I much prefer - and love - the God who I discovered within its pages. And my personal experience with this loving God validates my belief.

Jesus did not believe in the inerrancy of the Scriptures, and neither do it, so it is not an important issue for me. Jesus picked and chose only those Scripture passages that supported his mission on earth, which was to procliam the loving Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. I don't worry about connecting the Bible with The Urantia Book, except as a point of reference. Since finding The Urantia Book, I have been drawn to the Bible as never before, but simply as a valuable, and often inspirational reference work.

Isaiah is covered quite well in The Urantia Book, and it is explained that there were in actuality, two Isaiahs - the earlier and the later. You can read more about these two Isaiahs and some of their beautiful quotations about God HERE. Even the second Isaiah "never ceased to proclaim this "God of love."

If you choose to believe these isolated passages of Isaiah, rather than what Jesus revealed of himself while on the earth, and now, through the revelation of The Urantia Book, that is up to you. If you think that they have to be connected, I disagree. I regret that can't help you to reconcile this issue.

Labels: atonement, Bible, God, Isaiah, Jesus, The Urantia Book

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Sunday, July 19, 2009

Please help me understand this...

Q: Please help me understand this, Jesus said "That which you see going on about this temple is the way in which your fathers sought to symbolize the bestowal of the divine spirit upon the children of faith, and you have done well to perpetuate these symbols, even down to this day". It tells me that Jesus did not criticize their symbolising the spirit bestowal on all mankind as the gift of Father. what is the spiritual meaning therefore of their symbolising the forgiveness of sins by the sacrificing of a spotless lamb, upon which all their sins were confessed, and the blood sprinkled on them for the forgiveness of sins. Which part of Jesus' life fulfilled this ceremony of the jews?.Thank you.

A: Thank you for writing to us here at Truthbook. In the quote which you cite, Jesus is speaking to a group of believers who were with him at the Feast of Tabernacles. During the course of the harvest feast, live animal sacrifices were made and water was outpoured to symbolize the divine spirit. Just for clarity, I will quote the entire passage that you cite in your question:

At the conclusion of this early morning service Jesus continued to teach the multitude, saying: "Have you not read in the Scripture: `Behold, as the waters are poured out upon the dry ground and spread over the parched soil, so will I give the spirit of holiness to be poured out upon your children for a blessing even to your children's children'? Why will you thirst for the ministry of the spirit while you seek to water your souls with the traditions of men, poured from the broken pitchers of ceremonial service? That which you see going on about this temple is the way in which your fathers sought to symbolize the bestowal of the divine spirit upon the children of faith, and you have done well to perpetuate these symbols, even down to this day. But now has come to this generation the revelation of the Father of spirits through the bestowal of his Son, and all of this will certainly be followed by the bestowal of the spirit of the Father and the Son upon the children of men. To every one who has faith shall this bestowal of the spirit become the true teacher of the way which leads to life everlasting, to the true waters of life in the kingdom of heaven on earth and in the Father's Paradise over there."(162:6.3)

It is true that Jesus never criticized the religious practices of the sincere religionists of his day - he always respected the honest efforts of those who desired a closer walk with the Father and a deeper understanding of God.

Clearly, in the last sentences of the passage, Jesus foretells of the Spirit of Truth which was bestowed on all mankind on the day of Pentecost; this Spirit of Truth is now a fact in the inner life of all believers.

As to the second part of your question: "what is the spiritual meaning therefore of their symbolising the forgiveness of sins by the sacrificing of a spotless lamb, upon which all their sins were confessed, and the blood sprinkled on them for the forgiveness of sins:"

The people of Jesus' day were practicing their faith and religion in the best way that they knew up to that time. Their religion was evolved through centuries of civilization, and much of it was still tinged with the remnants of the primitive ideas of sacrifice as a necessary part of placating and appeasing a mysterious Deity who inspired dread and awe. The rituals of the sacrificial killing of a spotless animal satisfied this requirement of appeasement - it was the way things had been done for time out of mind, and was the religious standard for generations before Jesus arrived on the scene to proclaim a better way. For individual believers, I am sure that it may have held significant spiritual power for them, and there is no reason to think that God was displeased at the sincere devotion of an individual who believed this was the right thing to do. This belief has even persisted to our 21st century times, in the form of the atonement doctrine, which is one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith - namely, that Jesus is now the embodiment of the olden ritual of blood sacrifice - by his death, he has atoned for all of the sins of mankind, and it means a lot to the people who believe it. But, it is a belief grounded in fear - fear of a punishing god. Even in our supposed superior civilization, the "traditions of men" have presumed to keep mankind in the shackles of unnecessary ritual and belief, lest they be punished by God; but this was not the teaching of Jesus. That is a religion of men - a religion of authority...

You ask: "Which part of Jesus' life fulfilled this ceremony of the jews?"

The Christian church has put Jesus in the role of atoner, the role that once was held by a lamb or a bullock. But is this what Jesus intended? The Urantia Book - and more specifically the Life and Teachings of Jesus restated within its pages - tell us a different story - a story that belongs to ALL people, and not just to the Christian church, who claims to represent him.

Jesus revealed a loving heavenly Father - a Father who does not require sacrifice to gain his love, or for the forgiveness of sins - a Father who forgives his children even before they have need of forgiveness - a Father who does not ask that an innocent child be killed to atone for another child who has sinned. Christianity has long held that man is a sinful creature, in need of redemption, but Jesus' teachings say otherwise. Jesus says that although man may have evil tendencies, he is not inherently sinful. This was a new revelation in Jesus' times, and it is still a shocking truth to modern-day mankind, who remains persistent in believing in a God of retribution and vengeance.

There is no "original sin;" there is no inherent badness in man that has to be washed away through atonement by the taking of an innocent life. And so, Jesus' life was never meant to become a fulfillment of these kinds of ceremonies. Jesus established a new kind of religion. He stated clearly that man is a child of God, and through this shared sonship with the Father, that all people are related in the spiritual sense, and part of the larger brotherhood of mankind. He elevated man to a faith-son of God. He taught that faith is the one and only requirement for entrance into the kingdom of heaven and survival into eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus taught and LIVED a new kind of religion - the religion of personal spiritual experience - which effectively liberates the spiritual captives, and frees the souls of human beings to live lives of originality and freedom before God. No more does mankind have to live in cowering fear of God, but instead, can live in joyous co-creation with God, whose will for man is only goodness. You can read more about this religion of Jesus HERE.

The teachings of The Urantia Book reveal anew that man is indwelt by a fragment of the loving heavenly Father - that this indwelling spirit is there as a guide, and - along with the Spirit of Truth - this indwelling spirit, and the religion of Jesus, can help mankind to reach a new level of spiritual understanding and a new level of spiritual development. This understanding and development is what is sorely needed in the tumultuous times of the 21st century, and is one of the reasons that this amazing revelation has been given to us at this time.

And finally, The Urantia Book states: "One of the most important things in human living is to find out what Jesus believed, to discover his ideals, and to strive for the achievement of his exalted life purpose. Of all human knowledge, that which is of greatest value is to know the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it." (196:1.3)

Through this knowledge - this amazing revelation of the Master's life - mankind can finally be delivered from the olden ideas of atonement and sacrifice into the new and progressive religion of the Spirit - the religion that Jesus himself lived while on earth.

Thank you so much for this very interesting and thoughful question...!

Labels: atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, forgiveness, God, Jesus, sin, Spirit of Truth, The Urantia Book, water of life

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Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Four Questions Re: The Urantia Book, The Bible, and Jesus

Following are several questions submitted in one request. Two of our Truthbook team (L) and (M) have given their answers in reply.

Q: Do you follow the teachings of the Urantia Book only?

L: Basically, students of The Urantia Book are individuals coming from all manner of background; they do their own thing. Some feel they're escaping organized religion and seek refuge in the teachings of TUB. Others are grateful for their religious heritage and continue on in it. Some have no tradition of religious belief before finding TUB. There are Urantia Book readers who are pastors, ministers, priests, nuns, rabbis, preachers of every Christian denomination, Jews, Muslims, Hindus... The teachings of TUB are not "a" religion; they clarify, augment, emphasize and uplift what is best "in" religion. There are no rules for readers/students/believers -- it's a book; it's a superlative education; we read it and are edified and uplifted by it.

M: The Urantia Book is unique in that it contains many, many truths gleaned from many different established religions, and at the same time, encourages us to develop what Jesus called the religion of personal spiritual experience; it is this revealed teaching that inspires me to find the best in any religion, and to nurture and grow that personal experiential relationship with God in whatever I do. So, in that sense, I do follow the teachings of The Urantia Book, but the experience leaves me free to follow the truth wherever I find it.

Q: What is your viewpoint on the King James Bible?

L: Students of The Urantia Book have no orthodox viewpoint. Some readers are Bible scholars. Some readers hardly know the Bible at all. Personally, I like the King James better than any of the more modern versions, but I think you're asking do Urantia Book readers view the Bible as the infallible word of God and the answer to that would be a pretty unanimous no although most Urantia Book readers appreciate and take comfort in the Bible.

M: I personally prefer the New Jerusalem Bible, which is in common, everyday language. To me, other Bibles are difficult to read because the language is so stilted. I never had much interest in the Bible before I found The Urantia Book, but now I use it pretty regularly as a reference work. Jesus quoted scripture quite often in his life, and I have read many of those parts of the Bible. I do not believe it is inerrant, but like Jesus, I do find much in it that is quite valuable and worthwhile.

Q: Who is Jesus to you?

L: Again, a personal reply -- I didn't understand Jesus before I became a student of The Urantia Book and, in fact, it was my desire to know Jesus better that led me to become a reader of the book 35 years ago. To me, Jesus is Lord. He's the maker and administrator of this world. He's my guide as a human being and he's my nearest goal when I become a spirit being. He's who I turn to when I need help or comfort or wisdom or advice. His spirit is here to help me discern and sift truth from error. I trust Jesus.

M: I knew Jesus from my early childhood as a Catholic, and he always seemed to me to be quite real; however, I also found that the Church was full of inconsistencies regarding Jesus and his words, and I had a hard time separating Jesus from the hypocrisy I experienced. I left the church in my 20s, but I never abandoned Jesus completely. Once I freed myself from the authority of the church, I started to see Jesus differently; however, I did not seriouly think about Jesus for awhile after that. When I discovered The Urantia Book many years later, I was thrilled and deeply moved to rediscover the Jesus that I always loved as a child, and SO much more. Today, Jesus is once again my friend, my companion, my brother, and my Divine pathway to the Father. I believe in him and trust him, and I love him.

Q: Do you believe him to be the son of God who died for mankind's sins?

L: I believe Jesus to be a Son of God of a special order -- The Urantia Book guides us away from the tendency to believe that our race or religion, or in this case, world, is the most important one and that its aspects are superior to any others. Jesus came for all the peoples of this world, not just Christians, of which there were none until some time after he died. He also came for all the worlds of his dominion -- we're not the only one but we are nearly the most barbaric and that's partly the reason he chose to come to this place. So yes, "a" Son of God, a divine being, a creator not a creature like us. Did he come to die for mankinds sins? Again, among students of The Urantia Book, the answer to that would be a pretty unanimous no. We hold God the Father in too high regard to relegate him to human purposes and emotions. God is not vindictive, retributive, jealous, or any of the other human-like attibutes he's so often described as having. God is love and does not condemn his children, neither the divine ones nor the mortal ones, to pain and suffering and sacrifice. Jesus understood this and tried to teach it to a world that didn't understand him or his heavenly Father.

M: I do believe Jesus to be a divine Son of God. As pointed out above, The Urantia Book teaches us that Jesus is one of many Sons, just as there are many inhabited worlds, and many universe systems throughout God's vast creation. Jesus did indeed come to our earth - he chose us especially - and he did die here, but I do not believe that he died as a punishment from God, or as a sacrificial lamb to atone for mankind's sins. His mission was to establish the kingdom of God in the hearts of mankind, to proclaim the good news of the Fatherhood of God and the resultant brotherhood of mankind, and to live and die as a true man among men (and women). He was to portray to mortal eyes the love of the infinite and invisible God who is his, and our, Father. The fact that he died in such a cruel way was not the will of God, but as the consequence of the fears and prejudices of the times in which he lived. His new religion of the spirit was terribly threatening to the religions of authority of his day and time. He was killed by men - not by God. But he did die a "natural" death, and as a result, he did complete that part of his mission, to resurrect victoriously on the 3rd day. He showed all mortals of all worlds in his universe how to live as a "son of God."

Labels: atonement, Bible, God, Jesus, King James, kingdom of heaven, religion, The Urantia Book

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Monday, July 06, 2009

Who Am I, Really?

Q: Who Am I, Really?

A: That's a good question that would have a pretty imprecise answer were it not for the teachings of The Urantia Book - The Urantia Book is all about answering that very question. So the best response would be to tell you to read the book and to decide for yourself, but instead I'll provide a condensed version.

First, you are a unique personality - there's never been nor ever will be another you. That's because personality is a divine and unique gift from the Father, yours being but one facet of a nearly infinite whole. This unique and divine personality is now being expressed in human form as yourself, but what you believe to be your personality and what others see as you aren't that unique and divine entity, what's being observed and experienced is your character interpreted as you.

Your personality is changeless, but your character will change as it becomes more in tune with your personality. It will appear that you mature and grow and develop wisdom during this life; still, this is only the bottom rung on a ladder of progress stretching to eternity. Your personality is so rich in endowment that unfathomable time is required for your character to develop its full potential in expressing that true personality.

Here on earth, you are also a product of your environment and of both biological and cultural heredity. If your biological heredity is faulty it will be pretty difficult to overcome those shortcomings in this life but you'll be provided ample opportunity to do so in what's to come after this life is over. Environmental and cultural hereditary defects can be overcome by exercising your character and another God given attribute, free will. If you choose to let the circumstances of life dominate you then you will have hardly exercised your free will at all, exhibiting instead character weakness that needs to be strengthened. If you invoke your free will in overcoming hardship and privation to build a life of accomplishment and joy character growth will result.

Your character is the result of the choices and decisions you make; how you think about and treat yourself, other individuals and the world around you; honesty, loyalty, truthfulness, responsibility; your attitude toward life and your place in the cosmos.

So, you are nearly infinite potential being expressed through a developing finite character. You have the aid and guidance of unseen spirit forces to assist and you have the influence of the Holy Spirit and of the Spirit of Truth to help you with the challenging decisions life requires you to make. You're a tadpole striving to become a frog which will eventually transform into a prince as long as you keep the goal in mind and continually strive for God-likeness. God is the home to which we all yearn to return.

Please see our topical study on Personality for a lot more information about who you are.

Labels: character, God, Holy Spirit, personality, progress, Spirit of Truth, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, June 25, 2009

What is GOD's name?

Q: What is GOD's name? According to the bible and the Jehova's Witness, his name is Jehova (YHWH in Hebrew). How important is it that we recognize his name?

A: Perhaps the best way to look at it is this: if you have a wonderful father yourself, one you love deeply and respect and look up to and wanted to please you'll probably call him daddy or dad or father. That's what Jesus did... he called God "Father" and God is our Father just like he is Jesus' Father. So why not think of God as your Father or your heavenly Father?

Yes, I understand the name thing is big with Jehovah's Witnesses and Jehovah is a perfectly fine name, as are Abba and Allah and Yahweh, or any of the other thousand names for God, but personally I don't think any one name carries more weight than any other. What we call God is less important than our attitude toward God in our hearts and the final sentence in The Urantia Book is, "When all is said and done, the Father idea is still the highest human concept of God." That's good enough for me.

Thank you for the question and best wishes. I hope this reply has helped you come to a decision.

Labels: Fatherhood of God, God, Jesus, name of God, The Urantia Book

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Sunday, June 07, 2009

If God is always with us then why are people making mistakes?

Q: Why did God create us? What was the reason to create this world? Why can't every person can't see God? If God is always with us then why are people making mistakes?

A: These are questions that many people ask. The Urantia Book gives us answers, and so I am glad that you wrote.

Why did God create people? Because God is love, and love craves love in return:

p21:2 (1:0.2) The myriads of planetary systems were all made to be eventually inhabited by many different types of intelligent creatures, beings who could know God, receive the divine affection, and love him in return. The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. "God created the heavens and formed the earth; he established the universe and created this world not in vain; he formed it to be inhabited."

All people have it within their power to know God. God is knowable, and he is not in hiding:

p25:3 (1:3.3) The Universal Father is not invisible because he is hiding himself away from the lowly creatures of materialistic handicaps and limited spiritual endowments. The situation rather is: "You cannot see my face, for no mortal can see me and live." No material man could behold the spirit God and preserve his mortal existence ...But it is not necessary to see God with the eyes of the flesh in order to discern him by the faith-vision of the spiritualized mind.

So, we see that it is only with "faith-vision" that we can see the Father. But this is entirely possible, because God has sent each mortal being a piece of himself - a "pilot light" - to dwell within their mind, helping each of us through our lives to be successful in finding him, and "seeing" him with our spiritual senses.

But we have to choose to find God. It is our freewill choices that sometimes get in the way of our finding God, and doing his will in our lives. God always respects our freewill and does not interfere with our choices. As a result, we often make mistakes, we do the wrong things and sometimes, we sin.

We are spirit beings at our core, but we live in the world, and the world can make a lot of noise - there are a lot of distractions that we all deal with, so it is important to make times of quietness and try to listen to the "still, small voice" of God that is there for us when we really desire to hear it.

Jesus said: "You are in this world, but your lives are not to be worldlike..." So, even though we live in the world, we have to make the effort to go apart from the world on a regular basis - to remember our spiritual identity and to connect with the Source of that identity, which is God. Remember, God is always as near as a thought, for he dwells within your mind.

It can be frustrating to realize that not everyone wants to do the right things, and not everyone desires to know God. We all pay the price for the misdeeds of others at times, but the good news is that each individual person can choose to do good, and to find God within themselves. Sometimes, that is the best any of us can do. And in this way, we can help others by our example. When we, as God's children, do make that effort to stay close to God, we naturally become more like God, who is our spirit-Father. Like Jesus, we can learn to "go about doing good," and this is a powerful way to live a happy life in spite of the troubles that we see around us.

And finally, here's a bit of encouragement from The Urantia Book:

p2097:1 (196:3.30) Be not discouraged; human evolution is still in progress, and the revelation of God to the world, in and through Jesus, shall not fail.

Thanks for this great question. I hope that you will decide to subscribe to our free service - Quote of the Day - which will help you on a daily basis to stay on your own spiritual path. And please feel free to explore the many other features of our Truthbook.com site which will help inspire you to live your best life with God.

Labels: free will, God, love, spirituality, The Urantia Book

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Sunday, May 10, 2009

I have many questions about life, I need his guidance, I don't know what to do...

Q: I have many questions about life, I need his guidance, I don't know what to do...

A: You may not always feel his guidance, but never doubt or wonder about God's PRESENCE in your mind. He is as close as a thought, and he wants to help you. Quiet down your mind, and let yourself relax enough to hear that "still, small voice..." Return yourself to this present moment only, for that is where you'll find God - and think only about your breath for awhile. This will help you to remain in the minute. Relax.

(160:3.1)...meditation makes the contact of mind with spirit; relaxation determines the capacity for spiritual receptivity.

It is a challenge sometimes to really relax in body and mind, but every time you try, you'll get better at it. This will help you feel calmer, and will help you to be more open to what God has to say to you.

You are dearly loved by your heavenly Father. He knows what you are going through. You may not know what to do, but your Father does. Do your best to try some quiet times to practice relaxing, but even when you can't, you CAN turn your thoughts to God in any moment.

The answers to your questions will come...

Please write back if we can help with any questions about The Urantia Book. and in the meantime, I hope you'll take about three minutes, relax yourself, and have a look at one of our flash videos called "You'll Never Walk Alone."

Thanks for writing with your concerns...I hope this reply has been helpful

Labels: God, meditation, prayer, relaxation, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Playing for Change Peace Video

This is a great music video produced by Play for Change - peace through music.

Labels: God, love, music, peace, playing for change, war

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Monday, April 27, 2009

How can I improve my prayer life?

Q: I am a born again Christian and lately I can't pray, Every time I try to pray there are no words I can say and sometimes I feel so empty inside and I can't even understand what I am saying when I pray. How can I improve my prayer life?

A: When I read your question, this quote from The Urantia Book immediately came to mind:

(91:8.12) Words are irrelevant to prayer; they are merely the intellectual channel in which the river of spiritual supplication may chance to flow...God answers the soul's attitude, not the words.

If you want to improve your prayer life, try to just BE in the presence of God for a while without saying any memorized prayer words. Reach out to God with your inmost soul, and he'll surely help you to know what to do about your concern. Just doing that will possibly help you to feel better connected to God.

I think we all go through dry spells in our spiritual life - at least I do. It is uncomfortable to say the least, when we feel as though we are not able to talk to God as we once could; worse, that perhaps we are not being heard. We feel that emptiness so deeply. Refuse to yield to anxiety over this issue, but know that there is a light at the end of this tunnel that you are in...try to relax. God knows your desire.

Here are a couple of Urantia Book quotes to help you through this time in your life.

Jesus' Discourse on Prayer This link will inspire you to look at prayer as Jesus did.

And THIS is a link to a section of The Urantia Book which has always been of help to me with my prayer life. It deals with praying and the "alter ego," that part of us that comes into play when we "talk to ourselves..." Maybe it will be helpful to you right now.

In addition, you might go to our topical study on Prayer for more advice and inspiration from The Urantia Book.

Don't give up. I will agree with you right now in prayer that you'll turn the corner soon.

Thanks for this great question...

Labels: alter ego, God, Jesus, prayer, The Urantia Book

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Are the Thought Adjuster and Personality alien to each other?

Q: The Urantia Book speaks as though the Thought Adjuster and Personality are alien to each other, yet they both come from God-Father. Why would God play such a game with Him/Her self ?

A: I guess it might seem like some sort of a game that God is playing, but somehow, I don't think that is the case. To me, it is a very interesting, but also very logical thing he does...far more than a mere "game," it is an amazing opportunity that he gives to his mortal and finite children of time.

Mortal beings are endowed with personality, but Adjusters are not - they are designated "pre-personal," indicating that they have personality potential. But while Adjusters do not possess personality, they do possess divine "identity," while the mortal does not, except as potential in the evolving soul. And so, the eventual fusion of the pre-personal Adjuster and the personality of man constitutes the creation of a new kind of being altogether - one with the characteristics and the identity of both the human and the Divine.

In order for the human to achieve this divinity, s/he must make those kinds of decisions and choices throughout life that constitute "spirit-identification," by allying the self with the will of God. These kinds of decisions result in the growth of an immortal soul; it is this immortal entity that is able to eventually fuse with the pre-personal Adjuster. In this way, the Adjuster achieves fusion with that aspect of personality which was once bestowed upon the mortal, and with which that mortal was able to effect those decisions to be like God. In turn, the mortal becomes eternally God-identified. The two become one - a whole new creature capable of completing the Paradise ascent - the return to the Paradise Father who bestowed both of these components. Unless this happens, the mortal creature cannot make this supernal journey.

Far from being alien to each other, these two components of God do - with the consent of the mortal of their indwelling - conspire and cooperate in this amazing creation of a being of eternal status and dignity. The personality and the Thought Adjuster - both gifts of God to evolving mortals - are really the closest of associations in potential. It is the decision of the freewill mortal that activates and completes this liaison. By taking advantage of this opportunity, we can progress from the lowest of the low, to the highest of the high.

As an aside, you might enjoy this intriguing section about the Universal Father as The God of Personality.

Labels: fusion, God, personality, soul, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

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Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Rick Warren Interview

Rick Warren (REMEMBER HE WROTE 'PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE') also he did the debate with McCain and Obama.

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 an absolutely incredible 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 an other 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.
God's Blessings on you today.

What a good way to use your money, I'm sure it is one of the ways Jesus wants us to us it. You know you can't take it with you, you most certainly can't buy eternal happiness, and it seems no one is ever satisfied with what they have - they keep wanting.

____________

Please visit our new page dedicated to GOD

Labels: character, eternity, God, Rick Warren, service, wealth

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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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Friday, March 13, 2009

Are the teachings of Jesus practicable?

Q: Are the teachings of Jesus practicable?

A: Jesus' teachings are certainly practicable - even after 2000 years, the life and teachings of Jesus provide the best source of knowledge that any child of God needs to lead a successful spiritual life. Jesus was a Divine being, and yet he was also a true human who lived a normal life, just as we do. Even though we will not live life in exactly the same way, still, the life that Jesus lived and the teachings that he gave are ever fresh, ever relevant to any mortal who wishes to know how to live as a son or daughter of God. Jesus was, and is, truly one of us.

What are the teachings of Jesus? Jesus taught us that we are children of a loving God, and that as such we are all connected in one great family - we are all brothers and sisters because we share the same Father. Jesus taught that by faith, we become sharers with him in the Kingdom of Heaven, and we become true universe citizens.This truth of Jesus' teaching has not changed. We are still called to seek God through faith, to love God as our Father and to love one another - to serve one another, and to treat others with love and tolerance. Jesus lived as he taught, and so the study of his life is vital to an understanding of what it means to be a child of God

This is one of the greatest gifts that we receive when we read The Urantia Book - we are gifted with Jesus' entire life story - not just the few years of his public ministry that are in the Bible. We see his life as he lived it in his day and time, but in that life are to be found all of the kinds of challenges, joys and discoveries that all normal humans experience; not in exactly the same way, but human nature is not so different today than it was in his time. Emotions are the same - the search for truth, beauty and goodness is the same today as it was then, and the God that Jesus revealed through his life is still the same God - today and evermore.

From The Urantia Book:

To "follow Jesus" means to personally share his religious faith and to enter into the spirit of the Master's life of unselfish service for man. One of the most important things in human living is to find out what Jesus believed, to discover his ideals, and to strive for the achievement of his exalted life purpose. Of all human knowledge, that which is of greatest value is to know the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it. p2090:4(196:1.3)

And:

The nature of God can be studied in a revelation of supreme ideas, the divine character can be envisaged as a portrayal of supernal ideals, but the most enlightening and spiritually edifying of all revelations of the divine nature is to be found in the comprehension of the religious life of Jesus of Nazareth, both before and after his attainment of full consciousness of divinity.p33:2(2:0.2)

In Part IV of The Urantia Book is to be found this complete life story. I hope you will be inspired to read it, and through reading it, to be assured that in Jesus' life - both before and after his realization of his Divinity - is to be found solid guidance and wisdom for our 21st century lives.

Thank you for writing to us with this important question.

Labels: God, Jesus, teachings of Jesus, The Urantia Book

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How did you get your information? That is, about Jesus, God, Yahweh , Melchizedek, etc.

Q: I am quite intrigued about your facts about Jesus. I have been searching for the life style of Jesus before he started his ministry. But I have a question: How did you get your information? That is, about Jesus, God, Yahweh , Melchizedek, etc.

A: Thank you for your note and we're glad to hear that you're intrigued by the material we offer about Jesus. May I suggest that the more you read and know and understand the life and teachings of Jesus the more real he will become and the stronger the connection you will experience. You can begin the story as it is related in The Urantia Book from our site HERE where you can also listen to the text as you read along.

To understand how this information has become available you have to have an understanding of The Urantia Book; the recounting of Jesus' life and teachings is but one of the four parts that comprise this masterful book, first printed in 1955. The purpose of the book is not only to lift Jesus' life and teachings up from the Christian dogma that has surrounded it for the past 2,000 years but also to place it in context with the most recent revelation of spiritual truth to our world, the Urantia revelation, which is sometimes described as a handbook for acquiring cosmic citizenry.

We have a number of study aids available on our site to help with understanding The Urantia Book -- if you'll view our home page at www.truthbook.com in the blue links section at the left side you'll see "Jesus and The Urantia Book," "Urantia Book Video," "Answers to Life's Toughest Questions," "How The Urantia Book Changed My Life," "Spiritual Studies," and "FAQ" -- each of these sections will each provide a wealth of information about the book and about some of the people who study it. As informative and interesting as these materials are however, nothing substitutes for reading the book for oneself and making a personal decision regarding its authenticity, truth content, and value.

May I also recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service from our site that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book with an audio clip and a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the book. To subscribe click on the Quote of the Day link on the left side of our home page and follow the instructions.

Best wishes in your search and please feel free to write any time.

Labels: God, Jesus, Melchizedek, study aids, The Urantia Book, Yahweh

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Thursday, March 05, 2009

How can I continually do what is right and also please the lord?

Q: How can I continually do what is right and also please the lord? I always find myself doing what I do not want to do, and it's killing me. Please help me.

A: I understand what you're asking... how to do the right thing when the wrong thing is easier. There is no magic thought or deed that can force you to do right, because God has endowed you with free will which is the freedom to choose between good and bad, right and wrong -- you're just as free to choose either one. Since you want to do what is right then you are already able to discern what is good/bad or right/wrong and you're having difficulty making the choice to do the good thing. You're fortunate, because some people seem unable to discern which is which.

This is where character comes into play. Is your character strong or weak? If it's weak then you have to begin to strengthen it through making a series of simple/easy choices and stick with them; for example... no chocolate for the rest of the week; no smoking or drinking for the next 10 days, go to bed before 10pm this month, give 25 cents to every needy person you see for the next two weeks, no swearing for 5 days... these kinds of simple decisions will require you to concentrate on following through with your decision. As the simple decisions become easier to stick to then the more difficult ones will be come easier too.

If you already have a strong character and you're just not making good choices it's because you're lazy. To improve on that use a similar technique to the above but choose to do the kind of things that combat laziness. You may also have to make some choices regarding who your real friends and associates should be.

Basically, what you have to do is to strengthen your sense of morality, your integrity, your virtue. The only gift you have to give to God is your decision to do his will in your life.

Morality has its origin in self-consciousness. The physical environment entails the battle for existence; social surroundings necessitate ethical adjustments; moral situations require making choices in the highest realms of reason.

Limitations of intellect, curtailment of education, deprivation of culture, impoverishment of social status, even inferiority of the standards of morality resulting from the lack of educational, cultural, and social advantages, cannot invalidate the presence of the divine spirit in such unfortunate and handicapped but believing individuals.

Morality can never be advanced by law or by force. It is a personal and freewill matter and must be disseminated by the contagion of the contact of morally fragrant persons with those who are less morally responsive, but who are also in some measure desirous of doing the Father's will.

Labels: character, free will, God, morality

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Lincoln's spirituality in his own words

February 12, 1:05 PM
by Kurt Barstow

The 16th President of the United States is noted both for steering the country through its most difficult period as well as for both his noble rhetoric and earthy aphorisms. Below is a selection of quotes from the man in celebration of his 200th birthday.

GOD:

It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.

Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side, My great concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.

The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is the reason he makes so many of them.

The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party - and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose.

I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.

RELIGION:

I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.

When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. And that's my religion.

NATION:

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. (2nd Inaugural Address)

CHARACTER AND THE HUMAN CONDITION:

Character is like a tree and reputation is like a shadow, the shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes crimes out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.

If we take habitual drunkards as a class, their heads and their hearts will bear an advantageous comparison with those of any other class. There seems ever to have been a proneness in the brilliant and warm-blooded to fall in to this vice. The demon of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking the blood of genius and generosity.

To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own.

Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.

Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action.

The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself in every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him.

I am not bound to win, I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light I have.

We can complain that rose bushes have thorns, or we can rejoice that thorn bushes have roses.

I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.

Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?

If you look for the bad in (hu)mankind expecting to find it, you surely will.

It often requires more courage to dare to do right than to fear to do wrong.

HUMAN RIGHTS:

We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny.

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried upon him personally.

Labels: Abraham Lincoln, character, God, human rights, Kurt Barstow, nation, religion, spirituality

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

Is atheism a conspiracy theory?

Q: Is atheism a conspiracy theory?

A: The world abounds with conspiracy theories, but I have never heard of a serious one that involves atheism. Of course, if there were a serious effort afoot, maybe it would not advertise itself on the Internet.

To my understanding, atheism is a case of doubt as to the truth of the existence of God - not only doubt, but a conviction that there is no unseen Deity at all. Agnosticism allows room for doubt, but an avowed atheist is sure that there is no God.

I am sure that even persons who are honest of heart can be atheists. I have often thought, though, that a true atheist is one of the most spirit-minded of persons, as they devote their lives to dis-proving that which is not provable, except in the realm of faith and spiritual experience. Likewise, God's existence is neither able to be dis-proved. If there is such a conspiracy, I think that it will have little chance of ultimate success, as the overwhelming majority of people on Earth DO believe, and have always believed, in some form of Deity Presence.

The seeds of atheism were sown on this planet in the long-ago days of the Lucifer Rebellion. Lucifer himself taught evolving man that there was no God, and this was one of the cornerstones of his infamous Manifesto. Unfortunately, we still see the repercussions of his insanity even today in the form of atheism as a "philosophy." It takes quite a long time for the effects of rebellion to be eradicated.

Because we do not have the spiritual helpers that a normal planet enjoys, such as Adam and Eve and a resident Planetary Prince, we humans must rely on faith and desire to find God. For some, this is a leap that they are not prepared to take, and so they prefer instead to rely wholly upon their material senses, which are hardly adequate to discern spiritual presence. Little wonder that atheism can flourish in a world that glorifies the scientific method divorced from spiritual insight.

In our 21st Century world, atheism seems to be enjoying a resurgence, but is it a serious threat? Is there an organized and concerted effort to undermine belief in God? I have not ever heard of that, but that is not to say that some atheists may desire such an effort, as they can be quite strident in their unbelief. There is also a "church" whose members worship Satan, but does that constitute a "conspiracy theory?" I think these are just confused folks who have yet to learn the reality - or the possibility - of God through their own experience.

Having said all of this, I realize that there may be those who DO know God, but who deny him deliberately - not from honest doubt, but as a deliberate act of rebellion and rejection of his love and mercy. They may in turn try to convince others to do likewise. It has been pointed out to me that such persons are now, and have been in the past, hard at work to deny God. This sort of "atheist" is different, and far more sinister, I think - maybe in line with the sophistries of Lucifer, who did the same thing in those dark, long-ago days of the Rebellion. I suppose there may be a flavor of "Conspiracy" connected with such an effort, but I seriously doubt whether many people who already know God will be tempted to join such a movement...but to answer your question - in this case, atheism just MAY be a conspiracy theory...

Labels: atheism, conspiracy theories, God, Lucifer, Lucifer Manifesto

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Do our Thought Adjusters cooperate with each other? And if so, can they do so over vast distances?

Q: Do our Thought Adjusters cooperate with each other? And if so, can they do so over vast distances?

A: What an interesting question...it took me into some research of The Urantia Book to find the answer for you.

As you likely know, the Thought Adjusters are those fragments of God which indwell the minds of mortals. It is in this way that God is able to experience life with his creatures, and assist mortals in their search for truth, beauty and goodness. The Thought Adjusters ARE god, and collectively, constitute God. When we are told that "God is within" it is literally true.

Since the Divine fragments of God which indwell the minds of mortal man are all part and parcel of the Universal Father, I think it would be safe to say that Adjusters would always co-operate with each other. And they also co-operate with other spiritual influences, such as the Spirit of Truth and the seraphic hosts. But we are told that they act alone in our minds, although there might be instances of "possible co-ordination," as in this passage:

Apart from possible co-ordination with other Deity fragments, the Adjusters are quite alone in their sphere of activity in the mortal mind. The Mystery Monitors eloquently bespeak the fact that, though the Father may have apparently resigned the exercise of all direct personal power and authority throughout the grand universe, notwithstanding this act of abnegation in behalf of the Supreme Creator children of the Paradise Deities, the Father has certainly reserved to himself the unchallengeable right to be present in the minds and souls of his evolving creatures to the end that he may so act as to draw all creature creation to himself, co-ordinately with the spiritual gravity of the Paradise Sons. Said your Paradise bestowal Son when yet on Urantia, "I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men." This spiritual drawing power of the Paradise Sons and their creative associates we recognize and understand, but we do not so fully comprehend the methods of the all-wise Father's functioning in and through these Mystery Monitors that live and work so valiantly within the human mind. p1190:2(108:4.1)

I also found these passages which speak of the communication of Adjusters with one another (which would seem to be implicit in co-operation), and as interplanetary liaisons; this would seem to answer the question of their ability to communicate (or co-operate) over vast distances. All of these passages imply co-operation, as well as communication:

Since Adjusters can plan, work, and love, they must have powers of selfhood which are commensurate with mind. They are possessed of unlimited ability to communicate with each other, that is, all forms of Monitors above the first or virgin groups. As to the nature and purport of their intercommunications, we can reveal very little, for we do not know. And we further know that they must be minded in some manner else they could never be personalized. p1181:5(107:5.2)

When a world is isolated by rebellion, when a planet is cut off from all outside encircuited communication, as was Urantia after the Caligastia upheaval, aside from personal messengers there remains but one possibility of direct interplanetary or universe communication, and that is through the liaison of the Adjusters of the spheres. No matter what happens on a world or in a universe, the Adjusters are never directly concerned. The isolation of a planet in no way affects the Adjusters and their ability to communicate with any part of the local universe, superuniverse, or the central universe.
p1190:5(108:4.4)

Undoubtedly these higher and more experienced types of [self-acting] Adjusters can communicate with those in other realms. But while self-acting Adjusters do thus intercommunicate, they do so only on the levels of their mutual work and for the purpose of preserving custodial data essential to the Adjuster ministry of the realms of their sojourn, though on occasions they have been known to function in interplanetary matters during times of crisis. p1196:11(109:2.9)

These are isolated quotes, answering the gist of your question, but no isolated passage can take the place of actually learning about the ministry of Thought Adjusters in depth.

The following papers of The Urantia Book give us the most complete picture of the mysterious Thought Adjusters:

Paper 107:Origin and Nature of Thought Adjusters

Paper 108:Mission and Ministry of Thought Adjusters

Paper 109:Relation of Adjusters to Universe Creatures

Paper 110:Relation of Adjusters to Individual Mortals

Paper 111:The Adjuster and the Soul

Thanks for this interesting question!

Labels: communication, God, Spirit of Truth, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

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What is the first step that I should do that will lead me in forgiving someone?

Q: Forgiving is one of the hardest thing to do to be able to fully submit yourself to God. What is the first step that I should do that will lead me in forgiving someone?

A: You are right that forgiving can be the hardest thing to do. All of us can relate to this...I guess the first thing you must do is to decide whether your un-forgiveness is helping you to achieve the kind of relationship you desire with God - your desire to willingly submit to his will. Is your unwillingness to forgive helping you in your search for peace and happiness in your inner life? Is your anger doing anything to right the situation? Is carrying the burdens of hurt and anger worth the effort?

When we have been sinned against by another - when our sense of right and wrong has been violated by another's words or actions, we recognize it, and we feel anger or indignation against that person - often rightly so. It is a very human response. Sometimes, we dream of revenge or retaliation - our anger burns bright, and we can fan the flames by harboring these feelings - sometimes for long periods of time. But is that helpful? The feelings of anger and hurt are heavy burdens to the heart, and usually do not in any way affect the offender, only the one who harbors them.

The Urantia Book tells us that "anger is like a stone hurled into a hornet's nest." It is a "mental poison" that can "interfere with the spiritual progress of the evolving soul."

So, what is one to do? Jesus was one of the most sinned-against persons we know. He was betrayed, he was deserted by his friends, he was wrongly put to death. And yet, through all of his trials, he remained loving, tolerant and forgiving. He said: "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do."

We must learn to forgive in this life. The first step is to realize the harm that unforgiveness can do to YOU, and that may lead you to make a decision to forgive. Ask God to show you the way to achieve it in your heart. Accept the fact that you are also in need of forgiveness, and pray to realize it. As you learn to forgive everyone who has ever wronged you, you will in turn start to experience forgiveness of your own misdeeds as well. This can be a very liberating experience.

From The Urantia Book:

The Father in heaven has forgiven you even before you have thought to ask him, but such forgiveness is not available in your personal religious experience until such a time as you forgive your fellow men. God's forgiveness in fact is not conditioned upon your forgiving your fellows, but in experience it is exactly so conditioned. And this fact of the synchrony of divine and human forgiveness was thus recognized and linked together in the prayer which Jesus taught the apostles.p1638:4(146:2.4)

And that prayer is, of course, the "Lord's Prayer," which asks God to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

When you can make that mental and spiritual decision to forgive another, you will feel a lifting of your burdens. Leave the offender to God, and remember that "forgiving tolerance" is one of the fruits of the spirit that we are called upon to produce in our lives. Forgiveness can be difficult, but making the effort is well worth it.

Labels: anger, forgiveness, fruits of the spirit, God, God's Will, Jesus, The Lord's Prayer

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Why Do The Urantia Book authors flatter Satan and Lucifer?

Q: Is it not misleading of the TUB authors to be so flattering in their descriptions of Lucifer, Satan, Caligastia and Cano? How can these people be phrased as so brilliant when they ignored God?

A: That is a good question - the authors of The Urantia Book waste no glowing words when describing these rebels as they were before they decided to ignore God. In my opinion, I think they do this just to provide a vivid contrast upon which to view the enormity of their transgressions. They were all high and brilliant beings, capable of so much, and entrusted with so much - and yet, despite their high station, each of them succumbed to the all-too-familiar delusions of ego and self-interest. I find it a fascinating portrayal.

What I come away with is that no one is exempt from God's rule, and no one can expect to escape the repercussions of knowingly and willingly going against God's will, no matter how brilliant they may seem to be. We have a saying: "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." It seems to fit here...

At the same time, the authors also waste no words in describing their shortcomings, or the effects of their planet-changing decisions - on them and on us - and that is quite a contrast as well, when we realize just how far they fell. These once esteemed beings made a big mess for us here, and now, they are fallen so far that their very existence is threatened - by their own choices.

Perhaps another reason that we are told so much about their one-time brilliance is so that we, as mortals, are not tempted to glorify our own egos. By knowing more about how even such elevated beings such as Lucifer, Satan and Caligastia can fall from grace, we may be less tempted to think that we are immune from such folly ourselves - even in our lowly, mortal estate. It is something to think about...

I consider the case of Cano a bit differently, as it seems to me that he was something of an unwitting player in Eve's default - indirectly encouraged by the wiles of Caligastia, through Serapatatia. He was deluded, but not as haughty in his transgression of the Father's will as the others, as he seems to have truly thought, like Eve and Serapatatia, that he was doing a good thing. He was impatient for results, like Eve, and he was over-awed by the seeming brilliance of supposedly "higher" beings than himself. In the cases of Lucifer, Satan and Caligastia, their downfall seems to have sprung from their own arrogance, and I fault them as the instigators, preying on innocence to further their aims. We learn no more of Cano following his death, but I like to think that his transgressions have been forgiven.

We can all take a lesson in humility from these stories. We are led to infer that closeness to God, and sincerity of heart is of paramount importance, and that seeking, and doing, the Father's will is always the best course of action, no matter what our limited minds may think.

And we can be sure by these contrasts, that God does not play favorites, or tolerate willing disobedience from any personality. But we also see that God's love, forgiveness and mercy is ever available, even when we have done the wrong thing - another lesson which the rebels have yet to learn, apparently.

Labels: Cano, God, Lucifer, Lucifer Manifesto, Satan, The Urantia Book

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Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Jesus in The Urantia Book, the whole story

Readers of The Urantia Book describe why these teachings stand unique, packed with new Jesus stories, his lost years, and fresh insights. This detailed portrayal of Jesus emphasizes the religion of Jesus rather than the religion about Jesus. If you love Jesus as portrayed in the Bible, you will gain an even greater admiration and understanding of his life and teachings from Part IV of The Urantia Book.

Labels: Bible, enlightenment, God, inspiration, Jesus, lost years, new insight, religion, religious experience, spiritual, spirituality, truth, urantia book

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How do I know if I am destined to survive...?

I am concerned about the use of the term 'surviving mortal.' How do I know if I am destined to survive, and is there any chance I will not survive between my planet of origin and the first Mansion world?

I guess there is always a chance, but it seems to me that the overwhelming feeling that one gets from reading the Revelation is that the vast majority of human beings WILL survive in eternity. And that includes you.

My understanding is that one must simply CHOOSE to survive, and then have FAITH that that survival is inevitable. Doubt is the one thing that the believer has to resist, and so Jesus always exhorted us to develop a living faith - one that leaves no room for doubt. Unless you deliberately choose otherwise, your survival is assured.

"The door of eternal life is wide open to all; "whosoever will may come"; there are no restrictions or qualifications save the faith of the one who comes."(139:12.7)

Even if you may fear that your own faith might be somewhat lacking, The Urantia Book says this:

... it is the nature of the Sons of God to give every created being a full and equal chance for salvation and survival. Jesus wanted not only the mortals of this world but the onlookers of innumerable other worlds to know that, when doubts exist as to the sincerity and wholeheartedness of a creature's devotion to the kingdom, it is the invariable practice of the Judges of men fully to receive the doubtful candidate. p1566:6 (139:12.7)

The Master looked upon men as the sons of God and foresaw a magnificent and eternal future for those who chose survival. He was not a moral skeptic; he viewed man positively, not negatively. He saw most men as weak rather than wicked, more distraught than depraved. But no matter what their status, they were all God's children and his brethren. p2093:3 (196:2.9)

I think you can rest assured that you will also be given every opportunity to survive, if that is your desire. Your faith and your own choice in this matter are the keys to eternal life.

I hope you will take a look at two of our short flash presentations regarding this issue. One is: You Can Live Forever and the other one is After You Die. Both of these presentation are beautiful condensations of Urantia Book truth regarding the surety of survival, and eternal life.

Labels: choice, death, faith, God, Jesus, survival, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, December 18, 2008

Is Mating a Divine Instinct?

Q: I was wondering. Is there some kind of spiritual aura that attract two of the opposite sex together? Many, if not all humans have this drive to find that special one, who God destined them to find and live with. Is that a divine human instinct?

A: I am enclosing a link which will take you to a section of The Urantia Book titled: The Mating Instinct.

Among other things, this section explains that this powerful instinct is an "innate propensity."

I believe that what adds an element of "the divine" to it is the quality of selfless love and devotion. These excellent qualities of love ennoble the simply primal sex urges to the highest possible outcomes - marriage, home and family.

Does God ordain a "special one" for each of us? I am sure that when we do find a person with whom we can share our lives, when such a relationship becomes infused with devoted love, understanding and tolerance, then we certainly can imagine that it is "destined," which further increases our desire to do all we can to make it the best relationship possible. This addition of "the divine" encourages us to develop persistence, tolerance, trust and purpose, especially when times are hard. We ennoble such relationship by marriage, and we create special rituals to mark such a relationship with religious meaning. This helps to further raise the mating instinct to those high levels of divine meaning and value that make life so very worthwhile, and which help to soften the rigors of living. All relationships are an end unto themselves, and this wonderful relationship of man and woman united in marriage remains one of the most precious, and the most sought-after.

When two people of like spiritual leanings find each other in mutual attraction, it certainly can lend a "spiritual aura" to that relationship. And, when God is added as a "third" in any relationship, it certainly will raise that relationship's potential to one of eternal value.

Thank you for writing to us with this great question.

Labels: God, instinct, love, marriage, mating, The Urantia Book

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Sunday, December 07, 2008

I am so small, how can I ever be accepted in God's world?

Q: I am so small, how can I ever be accepted in God's world?

A: Thank you for this important question.

It is a good thing to have a sense of your own smallness in the larger scheme of things. In The Urantia Book, we learn that "The soil essential for religious growth presupposes ...a normal consciousness of smallness, humility." (read more about humility here">)

But humility is in no way self-abasement, and should not produce feelings of insignificance. Your smallness doesn't mean that you are not needed, or not valued in God's creation. Do you know that you are a completely unique personality? God knows you and loves you dearly, personally, and eternally.

From The Urantia Book: "The love of the Father absolutely individualizes each personality as a unique child of the Universal Father, a child without duplicate in infinity, a will creature irreplaceable in all eternity. ...The love of God ... unmistakably reveals the high value which the Universal Father has placed upon each and every one of his children from the highest creator personality of Paradise status to the lowest personality of will dignity ..." p138:4 (12:7.9)">

You are no smaller than any of God's other mortal children. In God's creation, you stand on an equal footing with everyone else, and you possess the same potentials for eternal life that all God's children enjoy. Knowing this should help you to gain a new self-respect, and to use your unique life to make a difference.

Again, from The Urantia Book: "The door of eternal life is wide open to all; "whosoever will may come"; there are no restrictions or qualifications save the faith of the one who comes. '

Your job is to make the best of whatever life has handed you - to become the best person that you can be - where you are and as you are. Faith in God, faith in your status as a beloved child of God, and service in the brotherhood of man will help you understand that you are a valuable part of God's world, which is also YOUR world, made for you, and for all of us. We all need God, and we all need each other. You are part of a grand family, and you belong, no matter how small you may sometimes feel. Accept your smallness, but also know that you are accepted by God, and needed in his creation; otherwise, you would not be here!

Jesus can offer you some great advice on the business of living HERE. His advice is always practical. Jesus was a truly humble man, and yet he is still the most influential religious person to ever have walked the earth.

Finally, I offer this wonderful quote for your consideration:

Do not allow the magnitude of the infinity, the immensity of the eternity, and the grandeur and glory of the matchless character of God to overawe, stagger, or discourage you; for the Father is not very far from any one of you; he dwells within you, and in him do we all literally move, actually live, and veritably have our being.
p139:1(12:7.12)">

Labels: brotherhhod of man, God, humility, Jesus, service, smallness, The Urantia Book

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Friday, November 07, 2008

How can I help someone who is very angry at God?

Q: I have a friend who's husband is really, really angry at God for the terminal cancer that his brother-in-law is facing. His brother has two small children, and it seems so unfair to him. Do you have any insight as to how to address this - to give her (my friend) some words of wisdom that she might be able to help her husband with?

A: The most important thing I would tell someone who was angry at God for the illness and impending death of a loved is that everyone dies. There is nobody on earth that doesn't die sooner or later. This is a fact of our existence and to some degree the only variable is how we will die. There are some blessings involved in dying with an illness that allows everyone time to assimilate the reality of it, take care of business and say their goodbyes. It's much harder when someone dies accidentally and leaves many things undone. Even so, death happens to everyone and it will happen to this woman's husband too.

From God's point of view, death is not an end but a beginning and it helps to try to get people to look at it that way. Death is really just another birth in an endless cycle of life. The analogy of birth really helps me a lot. Before a person is born they have everything they need. They are in a warm and nurturing environment. Then suddenly the same environment that sustained their being is now totally rejecting them. It must be terribly traumatic. Soon they go from a very small closed environment, where everything is provided rather automatically, to a huge open environment where nothing is provided except when they cry. No wonder they cry so much. But think of the loving hands and warm smiling faces that greet new babies.

Emergence into the next world is no different. Perhaps your friend can get her husband to imagine the joy on the other side when a newly born soul arrives over there. Imagine the joy of reunion for those loved ones who have already passed over and the joy of God and the angels to welcome this beloved child to the shores of the next phase of their ongoing existence. Also, there is the indescribable personal joy of the one who dies but then makes the awesome discovery that there really is no death.

She can remind her husband that because God is the perfect loving parent he feels our pain and is afflicted with us, just as her husband would be afflicted by the pain of his own children.

Some human suffering is unavoidable. God does not dole out death and suffering, these things are brought about by life on the material worlds. However, trust in the goodness of God does give us the comfort and hope that gets us through these difficulties.

Also, comfort your friend with the simple reality that God understands why we humans get angry at him but truly experiences nothing but love for us. Anger does not exist in God. He knows that, compared to eternal viewpoints, human viewpoints are as limited as the vision of a new born baby. Her husband will come to peace in time, anger is part of a grieving process and most people move beyond it, sooner or later.

Please see our Life After Death page, where you'll find our e-magazine "There Is Life After Death," as well as flash movies about life after death, and other uplifting features that will help and inspire you and your friend.

Labels: anger, cancer, God, illness, life after death, suffering, The Urantia Book

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When I die and go to Heaven, how can I be happy when I realize that someone I love is not in Heaven with me?

Q: When I die and go to Heaven, how can I be happy when I realize that someone I love is not in Heaven with me?

A: Your question reminds me of a similar question I asked myself some 34 years ago when I was just 16 and studying the Bible with a group of religionists. While these folks did not believe in Hell, they did believe in Armageddon. Their doctrine was that at Armageddon, God would destroy everyone on earth who was not a part of their church.

At the time, I met a woman (whom I'd never seen before nor since) and I was talking to her about the teachings of this group. She told me something I never forgot. She said, "You have the ability to know the truth in your own heart. If something grinds against your own natural and logical beliefs don't except it as being true." I felt then that this made a great deal of sense, in fact it actually rang as truth to me, so I took it to heart.

Shortly after that, I went to study with the woman who was helping me learn the church's doctrines, which adherents of this church simply called "The Truth." I had been studying with her for about 6 months at the time. She told me, "My Dear, if you don't convert your parents to 'The Truth' God will have to kill them at Armageddon and it will be your fault."

Well, here was a perfect example of something posed as "truth" that most certainly did "grind against my own natural and logical beliefs." I unequivocally balked at her audacious statement, and replied, "Are you saying that God is going to kill my parents?!"

To which she replied, "Well, yes, he will have to dispose of anyone who is not in The Truth."

I thought for a moment and then said, "My parents are the most loving people I know. They are kind and loyal and trusting and sincere. They are truly good, even wonderful people and you say that God is going to kill people like them just because they don't belong to your religious group?"

Again, she vainly tried to explain to me how God would have no choice but to do such a thing.

I then told her, "You may think it would be Heaven to live forever on earth in peace, where the lion lays down with the lamb, etc., knowing that God had killed your loving parents. But that wouldn't be Heaven for me, that would be Hell."

At this point she was aghast, and she exclaimed, "Oh you can't feel that way!"

I simply said, "I'm sorry but I do feel that way and I can't study with you anymore."

I left her standing there with her mouth open. As I walked alone the twelve blocks to my house, I talked to God. I said, "God, you may just as harsh and unforgiving as they say you are. Perhaps you are willing to kill good people because they don't follow one religion or another and if you are that way, I'm sorry but I can't worship you." Then, after a moment's reflection I thought, "Somehow God, I just can't believe that you are that way.

But if you want me to know who you really are, you are going to have to reveal yourself to me because I'm not getting involved with anymore religions." I felt good in my heart about that declaration and I left it at that.

Four years later, during the worst crisis of my life, The Urantia Book came into my life. It claims to be a revelation of God to humankind. Well, I asked God to reveal himself so my mind was open to such a thing. Imagine my joy when I found the God that was so loving, so merciful, so just, so perfect that I joyfully worship him with every fiber of my being.

Here are three great quotes from that wonderful book that I hope will reassure you that God, our truly loving Heavenly Father, takes no delight in causing any harm to any of his children.

P.39 -(2:5.2) It is wrong to think of God as being coaxed into loving his children because of the sacrifices of his Sons or the intercession of his subordinate creatures, "for the Father himself loves you." It is in response to this paternal affection that God sends the marvelous Adjusters to indwell the minds of men. God's love is universal; "whosoever will may come." He would "have all men be saved by coming into the knowledge of the truth." He is "not willing that any should perish."

P.2017 -(188:4.8) When once you grasp the idea of God as a true and loving Father, the only concept which Jesus ever taught, you must forthwith, in all consistency, utterly abandon all those primitive notions about God as an offended monarch, a stern and all-powerful ruler whose chief delight is to detect his subjects in wrongdoing and to see that they are adequately punished, unless some being almost equal to himself should volunteer to suffer for them, to die as a substitute and in their stead. The whole idea of ransom and atonement is incompatible with the concept of God as it was taught and exemplified by Jesus of Nazareth. The infinite love of God is not secondary to anything in the divine nature.

P.60 -(4:5.4) The barbarous idea of appeasing an angry God, of propitiating an offended Lord, of winning the favor of Deity through sacrifices and penance and even by the shedding of blood, represents a religion wholly puerile and primitive, a philosophy unworthy of an enlightened age of science and truth. Such beliefs are utterly repulsive to the celestial beings and the divine rulers who serve and reign in the universes. It is an affront to God to believe, hold, or teach that innocent blood must be shed in order to win his favor or to divert the fictitious divine wrath.

I hope this helps.

And another view:

There would probably be no way in heaven that you could be happy if that were the case. I suspect that you are a Christian -- you may be interested to know that not all Christian sects promote a belief in hell. And, as you put it, if there were a hell wouldn't it seem contradictory for you to be happy in heaven?

The Urantia Book provides an exalted vision of God, that God is as Jesus saw him and described him, a loving heavenly Father even so much better than an earthly parent. And Jesus asked, if a loving earthly father would not exhibit wrath and retribution toward his own children why do we choose to believe that the heavenly Father of us all would treat us even worse than a human parent? That seems contradictory too, doesn't it?

If you've not already done so, may I recommend subscribing to our Quote of the Day. It offers daily inspirational and meaningful quotes from The Urantia Book along with a great picture. It's an easy way to become familiar with the teachings of this marvelous book.

And please, I invite you to take a look at our web page dedicated to the teachings of The Urantia Book regarding Life After Death

Labels: fear of God, God, hell, Jesus, life after death, mercy, The Urantia Book

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Friday, October 17, 2008

What The Urantia Book Means To Me

This video is a set of inspiring interviews with a group of Urantia Book readers who are expressing their heartfelt sentiments about the impact that The Urantia Book has had on their lives. The Urantia Book is many things to many people, but its effects are almost always profound.

Labels: God, inspirational, meaning, readers, The Urantia Book, video

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How Powerful Is My Mind?

Q: can I move things around me by just imaging it in my mind? Would GOD give me that talent?

A: I don't believe it has ever conclusively been proven that human beings have this power. A lot of very realistic demonstrations make it look as if this is possible, but slight-of-hand "magicians" are very clever in making illusions seem real -- like David Copperfield being able to pass through the Great Wall of China or to make a passenger plane disappear. Does he actually do these things? No, not at all, but they look real to us, our eyes deceive our minds. Does Uri Geller actually bend spoons with his mind -- not that I'm aware. Again I think it's an illusion and a trick that appears real.

An Indian guru was once asked by one of his students if the guru would walk across the lake over to the next town. The guru replied that it didn't seem like a good use of time to practice for 15 years to be able to do this when he could easily take the row boat.

The world isn't supported on a foundation of magic -- reality is logical and rational. We can do spectacular things with our minds, but we're given hands and feet for moving things. Would God give you that talent? If it were possible to move things mentally it would be due to your unique hereditary endowment that made your brain somewhat different from others. God would not bless or curse you over your fellows since God does not play favorites.

May I recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service from our site that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book with an audio clip and a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the book -- a book like noneother regarding the nature of reality. To subscribe click on the Quote of the Day link on the left side of our home page and follow the instructions.

Labels: God, logic, magic, mind, power, proof, quote of the day

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Is God a Fantasy? Is The Urantia Book?

Q: How can I be sure of God's existence and also, as a UB reader and follower, that I'm not living some kind of fantasy or mistake?

A: Probably
the best way to be assured is through sincere prayer. Ask for God's
guidance. Ask for help from the Spirit of Truth in discerning truth
from error. Ask for the peace of the Comforter.

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote that "More things are wrought by prayer than
this world dreams of."

If we had visible proof, say in the form of an Adam and Eve who had a personal
presence on this world for over 38,000 years, or a
Planetary Prince's center for world culture that had been in existence
for over 500,000 years, it would be easier to recognize truth from
error. But we don't. What we do have is the gift of a logical mind --
it's there for a purpose and one of those purposes is to help you sift
truth from error, fact from fancy.

As a UB reader you have not only the best source for factual
information relating to the origin, purpose, and destiny of your
existence but you also have access to transforming spiritual truths
that most people are still searching for. Does your logical mind
believe this to be true? If so, what does it matter what those around
you, who have less on which to base their beliefs and decisions, think
is true? It would be they who are living in a mistaken fantasy. Accept
Jesus' exhortation to "fear not!"

Labels: Alfred Lord Tennyson, God, Jesus, proof. logic, Spirit of Truth, The Urantia Book

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Why Do Children Die?

Q: Why do children die? Is it for the sins of the parents, or is their mission on earth completed?

A: It is always a sadness when a child dies. It touches our hearts so deeply that we feel there must be an explanation, and we ask "Why?" It is such a difficult thing to understand that we feel there has to be a good reason, known only to God. It is hard to realize that an innocent child is denied the chance to live a long life, when so many not-so-innocent folks live to a ripe old age.

The Urantia Book teaches us that affliction - any kind of affliction - is never a judgment from God. On a planet such as ours, many things happen which seem heartless and cruel, but this does not mean that we are being punished by God, or that our children are bearing divine retribution for our sins.

The phenomenon of death is occurring all over the planet at every moment. People are born and people die all the time. Death is not a curse, but an inevitability. None of us is guaranteed a long life on this earth, but we are all guaranteed to die in one way or another. In our attempts to fathom some reason in a child's death, we may grasp at the explanation that it was due to some sin that the parents committed - a sin against God, and so God claimed the life of this innocent in retribution...but this is just not the case. The sins of the fathers are not visited on subsequent generations in the form of a death curse. Death simply comes due to disease and the accidents of time - sometimes through violence or war - but the fact of death is simply a part of life, and will ever be so. Death is an equal-opportunity event, whether early or late. This is not to say that it is easy to accept the untimely passing of a child. No matter how they meet death, it is an especially sorrowful thing to bear the loss of a young person, and I can understand why it seems to need an explanation. But the fact is that our lives here are transient, and none of us will avoid death.

The Urantia Book reveals and enlarges the concept of a loving, fatherly God. Our Heavenly Father loves all of his children as individual members of the universal family, and his love encompasses even the smallest and the weakest of lives. With God, no life is ever lost. Even if a child should unfortunately lose its life before it is able to choose an eternity with God, it is saved, and kept safe. The child is raised in one of the many stopping-places in the Father's universe and is ultimately given a chance to enjoy an eternal existence just as is the oldest, most experienced survivor of this earth life. So, even if their earth life may be cut short, they still have the potential of an eternal life in the Father's care.

God is not an angry, vengeful tyrant who demands harsh payments for our transgressions. The Heavenly Father is incapable of wrath and anger. He is so great and good that he has no need for such base emotional reactions. In our attempts to make sense of the seemingly insensible, we have to be careful not to place upon God our most disagreeable human traits.

As for a "life-mission," I cannot presume to say that there is a pre-determined purpose for anyone's life. Our lives are shaped by our free-will decisions. I suppose that many of us feel that we do have a life-mission, but this is usually arrived at after some life experience and is predicated on one's interests and desires and goals for the future.

Labels: affliction, children, death, God, purpose of life, The Urantia Book

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Monday, October 06, 2008

How Can I Find God's Voice?

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:
__________
(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!"
__________
Here is another quote regarding the voice of God-within:
__________
(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.
__________
And this:
__________
(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.
_________
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:
__________
(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.
____________

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.

Labels: alter ego, God, God within, God's voice, prayer, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

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Saturday, September 13, 2008

I Want To Come To Peace With My Past

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.

Labels: conscience, forgiveness, God, Jesus, peace, The Lord's Prayer, The Urantia Book

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Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Christian The Lion

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.

Labels: animals, God, lion, love, Neale Donald Walsch, video

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Saturday, July 12, 2008

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

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 shouldnâ€™t be too difficult for you to correct â€” 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 youâ€™re confusing emptiness with begin unattached to material things â€” material things wonâ€™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 youâ€™re here â€” getting a grasp on that is often a life-long pursuit â€” 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 â€” thatâ€™s one of the great messages provided by The Urantia Book. Jesus came to the world for everyone, not just for Christians, and itâ€™s up to us to learn about him, who he was, why he came, what his message was â€” thatâ€™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 youâ€™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 â€” 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.
____________________

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!!!

Labels: consciousness, God, Jesus, kingdom of heaven, loneliness, service, The Urantia Book

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Friday, May 23, 2008

Ingredients for Spiritual Health

Dawn Obrecht M.D.

One dictionary gave me 14 different definitions for â€œspirit.â€�
The base word is from the Latin spirare, â€œto breathe.â€� Common
uses of spirit and spiritual include â€œpertaining to the
sacred,â€� â€œvital, supernatural being or essence,â€� â€œthe
immaterial intelligent or sentient part of a person,â€� and several
others.

There is more than one route to spiritual healthâ€¦ many doors to
the same room... different perspectives, different ways of saying
the same thing. Here is one door, a simple triad of ingredients:
Donâ€™t Judge, Donâ€™t Compare, and Donâ€™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, letâ€™s look at
â€œDonâ€™t Judge.â€� As human beings, we are not in charge of the
Universe. Try saying this, â€œThere is a God and itâ€™s not me.â€�
If you find the word â€œGodâ€� objectionable, use â€œForce of the
Universeâ€� or â€œNatureâ€� or something else you want to replace
that three letter word, â€œGod.â€� 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, donâ€™t get
caught up in anotherâ€™s behavior; donâ€™t judge it, donâ€™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.

â€œDonâ€™t Compare.â€� 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 acceptanceâ€¦ 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 Godâ€™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 donâ€™t compare!

â€œDonâ€™t Have a Need to Know Why.â€� Many of us operate out of
FEAR, fearing tomorrow, regretting yesterday. Obviously, if we know
what is going to happen, and why, we would beâ€¦ that three letter
word againâ€¦ 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 donâ€™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.

Labels: comparisons, Dawn Obrecht M.D., fear, God, judgment, spiritual health

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Friday, May 16, 2008

The "Law of Attraction"

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.

Labels: God, law of attraction, needs, positive thinking, wants

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Monday, April 21, 2008

Interview With Rick Warren

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.

Labels: God, Paul Bradshaw, purpose of life, Rick Warren, spirituality

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Monday, March 03, 2008

A Few Questions

Q: Is God more like male or female? If neither, then is God like a universal being for all worlds?

A: Male and female are the two expressions of material beings, similar to positive and negative being the two expressions of electricity. It takes both for completeness. God is neither male nor female -- those terms apply to material beings and not spirit -- God is complete. And yes, there is one God for all of creation and that God has a presence within you. The only gift you can offer to God is your will to do God's will.

Q: What does this quote mean? "When the end of mortal life comes, hesitate not to forsake this body for a more fit and beautiful form and to awake in the realms of the Supreme and Immortal, where there is no fear, sorrow, hunger, thirst, or death. To know God is to cut the cords of death"

A: This quote comes from the section in The Urantia Book (131:4.7) describing the religious doctrines about God and his relations with us as they were expressed during Jesus' time and this quote is from the Hindu religion. It means that when one knows that a higher power exists in the universe than oneself that one has the opportunity to participate in eternity.

Q: Why are we not allowed to see God or Jesus?

A: The evidence of God is all around us -- which you can see any time you desire. But as material beings we're so far spiritually removed from the actual presence of God that we will have to wait until we've become pure spirit beings in the far distant future to stand before him. Until that time, you'll still be able to see the evidence of God's existence any time you desire.

Why can't you see Jesus? Like God, the evidence of Jesus is all around us and you can see or experience it any time you desire. Jesus doesn't live here now, except as the indwelling Spirit of Truth. Jesus is a spirit being but you can make contact with Jesus through prayer and through the desires of your mind.

Labels: God, Jesus, life after death, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, February 14, 2008

God, Moses, And The Ten Commandments

Q: God wrote the ten commandments who gave them to Moses. Moses told the followers. That is what my catholic religion taught me.

A: Thank you for your note to Truthbook.com. We agree that your Catholic religion has taught you that: "God wrote the ten commandments who gave them to Moses. Moses told the followers. That is what my catholic religion taught me."

It's our belief that God has more to say to us than just what we may have been given in the past and that if such additional information meets our standards for truthfulness and goodness, for being logically consistent, and for spiritual fragrance then that too should sincerely be considered. That's why we study The Urantia Book and why there are people from all walks of life, Christians - like Catholics, Baptists, Mormons and Presbyterians, agnostics and atheists, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, lay persons and clergy - people such as these who study the Urantia revelation. No one religion is "right" or "wrong" -- they each contain truth; students of the Urantia revelation find that study of the book augments their religious heritage, provides new insight and answers the questions they may have that aren't answered to their satisfaction by that religion.

Labels: Catholicism, Christian, God, Moses, religion, Ten Commandments, The Urantia Book

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Just What Is Your Belief? Is The Urantia Book A Reference Work?

Q: I look at parts of your site and couldnâ€™t find any reference to the Bible. The part that I read is speaking more or less toward Jesus being who we believe he is but not being into your book any deeper that I am I wonder just what your belief is based on?

I do believe that if a person is Born Again By Jesus Blood he can pretty much understand (being led by the Holy Spirit) the ole fashion word of God.

There is nothing wrong with reference books that provide help for believers and I trust that your book is nothing more that just that (a Help) for believers.

I do like the name of your book TRUTHBOOK because we know that the truth shall set you free but in this day and age there are wolves walking about in sheepâ€™s clothing seeking whom they may devour turning the Truth into a lie.

A: Our site is dedicated to the teachings of The Urantia Book, which does contain over a thousand references to and quotes from the Bible. The Urantia Book is not intended to substitute for the Bible, the foundation upon which Western culture rests, nor to substitute for any particular religion. What it does do is provide insight into the Bibleâ€™s unique position in history and most students of The Urantia Book come to a deeper appreciation of the Bible through their study of the UB. So if youâ€™re comfortable with and confident in your understanding and interpretation of the Bible then there may perhaps be nothing for The Urantia Book to offer you since it speaks to those who did not find the answers afforded by science, religion, or philosophy sufficient to satisfy their inquiring nature.

One significant difference between the Bible and The Urantia Book is that the Bible contains but a brief account of the life and teachings of Jesus â€” although brief it has been sufficient to float the Christian religion for two thousand years and to give an understanding of Jesus to countless seekers. But, all told, there are fewer than 100 pages in the Bible relating to Jesus. The fourth section of The Urantia Book is about 700 pages in length; it recounts his matchless life and teachings from before birth through his death and resurrection â€” no missing years. Students of this book rely upon Jesusâ€™ spirit, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, to lead and guide them as they follow Jesusâ€™ admonition to "Fear not!"

Your impression that The Urantia Book is a reference book is quite accurate â€” itâ€™s an unsurpassed reference to Jesus, the meaning of his life and teachings to all of humanity. It is also considered to be a reference book for cosmic citizenship since it recounts in great detail the nature of God, the nature of creation, the history of the world, and our place in it and how we fit into the grand scheme of it all. But rather than being more than "a help for believers" The Urantia Book is a help for non-believers, those who lacked belief, those who were searching for God but didnâ€™t seem to find Him. Believers have already found God â€” The Urantia Book is a living handbook for those who are seeking.

Labels: Bible, God, Jesus, Spirit of Truth, The Urantia Book, truth

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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Why do we regard watching pornography as sinful and watching a murder action trailer as morally neutral?

I think your question is pretty subjective. I was brought up to think of pornography as sinful. Maybe you were, too. But, obviously, not everyone feels the same these days. Pornography is an industry, and is one of the largest and most profitable in the world. There's no shortage of it, but we do, as a society, seem to keep it under wraps more than we do violence, which is also pervasive - especially in entertainment. We are a violent species, just beginning to discover that we may be able to create peace. And yet we are seem to be still in love with war and killing, unfortunately, and seem to be less in love with one another.

Pornography is natural love taken to a licentious extreme, and violence is the extreme of human conflict. Neither one is desirable or uplifting, in my opinion. As for sinfulness, that may be a matter between the individual and God, although it is hard to imagine that either of these extremes would be pleasing to our loving Heavenly Father.

It may be that there is less a sense of "sinfulness" about many things in our society than there once was. There is a coarseness about much of our entertainment, and both of these extremes bleed into each other. Violence in film is but a reflection of our society, and pornography is simple license in my opinion - pornographers take advantage of weak-minded people who see no reason to control themselves. As well, pornography can be seen as a type of violence against women.

This is precisely the reason that spiritual values are so very important. An eternal spiritual perspective, and the knowledge that one is part of a Universe family and is loved dearly as an individual would fill so many needs that we have which are now satisfied only by increasing violence and more intense stimulation of the physical senses.

Thanks for this question. I hope this reply has been helpful to you.

Labels: God, pornography, sin, spirituality, The Urantia Book, violence

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If I Stand

"If I Stand," by Rich Mullins
This is an all-time favorite. A love song to God...

Labels: God, grace, Rich Mullins, video

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If God created the heavens and earth, my question is (and I have not found a pastor who could answer it) where did God come from?

A: God didn't "come from" anywhere...God is entirely self-contained. God has always "been," and there would be no reality without him. If there was "something" before God, then that something would be God. God is the First Source and Center - the Uncaused Cause. It is difficult to wrap our minds around this concept of the eternal and infinite God, but The Urantia Book helps a great deal. God is indeed mysterious, but much about him can be comprehended by human beings:

THE UNIVERSAL FATHER is the God of all creation, the First Source and Center of all things and beings. First think of God as a creator, then as a controller, and lastly as an infinite upholder. The truth about the Universal Father had begun to dawn upon mankind when the prophet said: "You, God, are alone; there is none beside you. You have created the heaven and the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts; you preserve and control them. By the Sons of God were the universes made. The Creator covers himself with light as with a garment and stretches out the heavens as a curtain." Only the concept of the Universal Fatherâ€”one God in the place of many godsâ€”enabled mortal man to comprehend the Father as divine creator and infinite controller.
(1:0.2)The myriads of planetary systems were all made to be eventually inhabited by many different types of intelligent creatures, beings who could know God, receive the divine affection, and love him in return. The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. "God created the heavens and formed the earth; he established the universe and created this world not in vain; he formed it to be inhabited."
(1:0.3)
The enlightened worlds all recognize and worship the Universal Father, the eternal maker and infinite upholder of all creation. The will creatures of universe upon universe have embarked upon the long, long Paradise journey, the fascinating struggle of the eternal adventure of attaining God the Father. The transcendent goal of the children of time is to find the eternal God, to comprehend the divine nature, to recognize the Universal Father. God-knowing creatures have only one supreme ambition, just one consuming desire, and that is to become, as they are in their spheres, like him as he is in his Paradise perfection of personality and in his universal sphere of righteous supremacy. From the Universal Father who inhabits eternity there has gone forth the supreme mandate, "Be you perfect, even as I am perfect." In love and mercy the messengers of Paradise have carried this divine exhortation down through the ages and out through the universes, even to such lowly animal-origin creatures as the human races of Urantia.

This quote is from the very first Paper of The Urantia Book. I would suggest to you that you read it through. You will find it by clicking "The Urantia Book" and then "English version." It is Paper #1: The Universal Father. It may help you to understand better the immensity and also the loving personality of the Universal Father. And if you have not already done so, please feel free to subscribe (free) to Truthbook's Quote of the Day service.

Thanks for this question. I hope you will take advantage of our online Urantia Book, as well as the many helpful features of our site, and fully satisfy your curiosity about God.

Thanks for this question. I hope you will take advantage of our online Urantia Book, as well as the many helpful features of our site, and fully satisfy your curiosity about God.

Labels: creation, God, The Urantia Book

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Monday, January 28, 2008

Sometimes by Step

Sometimes by Step
by Rich Mullins

Sometimes the night was beautiful
Sometimes the sky was so far away
Sometimes it seemed to stoop so close
You could touch it but your heart would break

Sometimes the morning came too soon
Sometimes the day could be so hot
There was so much work left to do
But so much You'd already done

Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways

And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

Sometimes I think of Abraham
How one star he saw had been lit for me
He was a stranger in this land
And I am that, no less than he
And on this road to righteousness
Sometimes the climb can be so steep
I may falter in my steps
But never beyond Your reach

Labels: God, praise, Rich Mullins, video, worship

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Saturday, January 19, 2008

Calling Out Your Name

Calling Out Your Name by Rich Mullins

Well the moon moved past Nebraska
And spilled laughter on them cold Dakota Hills
And angels danced on Jacob's stairs
Yeah they danced on Jacob's stairs
There is this silence in the Badlands
And over Kansas the whole universe was stilled
By the whisper of a prayer
The whisper of a prayer
And the single hawk bursts into flight
And in the east the whole horizon is in flames

Chorus:
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

I can feel the earth tremble
Beneath the rumbling of the buffalo hooves
And the fury in the pheasant's wings
And there's fury in a pheasant's wings
It tells me the Lord is in His temple
And there is still a faith that can make the mountains move
And a love that can make the heavens ring
And I've seen love make heaven ring
Where the sacred rivers meet
Beneath the shadow of the Keeper of the plains

Repeat chorus

From the place where morning gathers
You can look sometimes forever 'til you see
What time may never know
What time may never know
How the Lord takes by its corners this old world
And shakes us forward and shakes us free
To run wild with the hope
To run wild with the hope
The hope that this thirst will not last long
That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain

Repeat Chorus

And I know this thirst will not last long
That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And with the prairies I am calling out Your name

Labels: God, majesty, nature, prayer, Rich Mullins, video

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Why is there so much addiction in the world? Does God give us an answer?

Q: Why is there so much addiction in the world? Does God give us an answer?

A: Since The Urantia Book offers no specific information regarding the word "addiction," I turned to an online dictionary to gain a starting point for our discussion:

The American Heritage Science Dictionary :
A physical or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, such as a drug or alcohol. In physical addiction, the body adapts to the substance being used and gradually requires increased amounts to reproduce the effects originally produced by smaller doses. See more at withdrawal.
A habitual or compulsive involvement in an activity, such as gambling.

I agree with you that addiction is running rampant in our world today. It seems important to discover just why people become addicted before we can discern whether God has an answer for us.

I have a bit of experience with this subject, as I spent many years in 12-Step programs. My overwhelming addiction was to food, and at one time, I weighed nearly 250 pounds as a result. I could not stop eating. Today, I understand that my overarching need for great quantities of food was a direct result of my feeling of emptiness inside. I tried in vain to feed that emptiness with food. It did help in the short term, but of course, it was a dangerous and ineffective fix. Others feed their particular emptiness (the "hole in the soul") with alcohol, drugs, gambling, shopping, rage, sex, or something else that ultimately proves to be a futile, and damaging, material answer to what I believe to be a spiritual problem. That empty feeling is evidence of the mortal creature's need for awareness of their connection to God.

Jesus said: p1766:4 159:3.8 The world is filled with hungry souls who famish in the very presence of the bread of life; men die searching for the very God who lives within them. Men seek for the treasures of the kingdom with yearning hearts and weary feet when they are all within the immediate grasp of living faith. Faith is to religion what sails are to a ship; it is an addition of power, not an added burden of life. There is but one struggle for those who enter the kingdom, and that is to fight the good fight of faith. The believer has only one battle, and that is against doubtâ€”unbelief.

In our modern world, there are countless ways in which one can divert oneself, and one's feelings of existential emptiness. But at the end of the day, no material substance can ever satisfy that hunger the way that God can - the way that religion can.

Many of our problems are a result of low self-esteem, childhood abuse issues, or just plain ingorance of the spiritual world, and the comfort and solace that can be found there. When one is in these states, one is not always able to see reason, and oftentimes, one relies heavily on one's own misdirected will to handle life's problems (the self-will run rampant). This is pretty normal, but not particularly sane - certainly not effective, if one is relying on one's limited understanding, which may be tainted by the above issues.

Unfortunately, it is only when the addict begins to understand that s/he is out of control, and begins to suffer more from the addiction than from the underlying problem, that healing can occur. This is one reason that 12-Step programs are so helpful, for the number one step is an admission of one's powerlessness over the addiction. After that, one learns to accept the possibility that there is a power greater than oneself, who can retore our sanity. And the third step is that leap of faith that says "I believe."

The Urantia Book is clear about this point -
p43:4 2:7.11 Health, sanity, and happiness are integrations of truth, beauty, and goodness as they are blended in human experience.

And what is true, good and beautiful? Only God, and the things of God, fit this description. And the integration of these qualities, found only in the spiritual experience of finding God, is the secret for treating, and ending, addiction. It is the secret to a happy life.

I am not here to tout the advantages of the 12-Step program - only to share with you my personal experience with it. Any mind-set which produces the spiritual experience will be effective - that mind-set that surrenders one's need to know all the answers into the hands of one's spiritual Parent. When once the addicted individual begins to recognize, and accept, the Presence of God in their own experience, unhealthy addiction of any sort can be healed. The hole in the soul is filled, self-esteem and sanity are restored, and the person can begin to rebuild their life on a solid foundation.

Thanks again for this important question.

Labels: 12-Step Program, Addiction, faith, God, spiritual experience, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, January 10, 2008

The Prayer

The Prayer by Charlotte Church and Josh Groban

Labels: God, prayer, video

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Sunday, January 06, 2008

Who Am I?

No matter how insignificant we may feel at times, this musical reminder of the fact of our sonship with God can give us an inspirational boost. Enjoy!!!

Labels: Casting Crowns, God, Jesus, sonship, video, worship

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Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Is Euthanasia or Suicide Acceptable?

Q: Some people these days are opting for euthanasia and suicide - the terminally ill and people who feel they have lived past their use- by date. How does this action sit with God?

A: Thank you for this interesting question. It is true that people today are beginning to question whether they want to stay on the earth while they have diseases that may rob them of a quality of life that they desire. They make these decisions not only on an individual level, but also begin to question whether laws can be made to assist others when they feel that their life has reached a point of unsustainability without extreme medical intervention or discomfort of other kinds. Physical pain is a big factor - money or availability of resources may be a factor as well. The Urantia Book does not specifically address these questions, although suicide is mentioned, most meaningfully in this quote:

p1773:2 (160:1.5) Suicide among men testifies that such beings have emerged from the purely animal stage of existence, and to the further fact that the exploratory efforts of such human beings have failed to attain the artistic levels of mortal experience. Animals know not the meaning of life; man not only possesses capacity for the recognition of values and the comprehension of meanings, but he also is conscious of the meaning of meaningsâ€”he is self-conscious of insight.

From this quote we can see that suicide is not a good choice because it fails to address the issues of living a life that includes pain of some kind. All mortals experience pain of one kind or another, but we are called to address those issues, and reach, with God, a means of living a good life in spite of our mortal troubles. And this kind of life is possible when we go in partnership with God.

The issue of euthanasia is a bit thornier, but this issue comes down to whether one person, or group of persons can make the decision for another whether to continue a life or end it. In some cases - the one that comes readily to my mind is that of the woman a few years back, who was on a life-support machine - the issue seems somewhat clear. In this woman's case, she was being kept alive by artificial means when her brain had ceased to function, yet some of her relatives were determined to keep her body alive, in a vegetative state. The husband eventually won, saying that he knew from her when she was functioning, that she did not desire this kind of intervention. And so, her machine was disconnected, and she died soon afterwards. Was this murder? Or was it compassion?

God seems silent on this issue, and I certainly cannot presume to speak for God, but I think we can use our reasoning minds to make some conclusions about euthanasia. And to do so, I will speak only for myself. I have a directive in my will that instructs my loved ones to let me go when my brain has ceased to function, and not to keep me alive with artificial means. We learn in the Urantia Book that, once the brain has ceased to function, the Thought adjuster leaves, and the only mechanisms that are left are those keeping the physical body alive - the heart beating, the lungs taking in air, etc. When there is no brain function, there is no longer a reason to have a breathing body, in my opinion. In such an extreme circumstance, there is also no consciousness, and life loses any meaning for the one inhabiting the body.

I certainly cannot support euthanasia for a person who has potential for life and spiritual progress, no matter what the ailment may be. In our modern life, when we have so many medical miracles, and life-sustaining methods, we will surely be confronted with more of these kinds of ethical questions. But for me, the issue is pretty clear. Once the mind is demonstrated to be non-functioning, and the person has lost the ability to think and reason and is in a life-support situation, I see no moral problem with pulling the plug and letting that person go to God, where they can continue their upward ascension. Again - I cannot presume to say that this is what God wills. In these kinds of situations, there are social mores that come into play, and these change from generation to generation. But I do believe that God wants us to live as long as we can - to be productive, to be able to love him and receive his love in return, to contribute to our world, and serve our fellows. I do not believe that he means for us to just be a breathing body, and that that is a good enough reason to be alive. Since God indwells each of us at the level of mind, the evaluation of that mindal function has to be the final determiner as to whether euthanasia can be a valid and moral act.

I hope that this answer is helpful to you...

Sincerely,
MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: brain function, euthanasia, God, Mary Jo, mind, suicide, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

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Saturday, October 20, 2007

Has Anybody Told You?

Has anyone told you today that you are loved? Has anyone made you feel appreciated and let you know how special you are? If not, then please let me be the one. A powerful motivational clip to help enlighten your day.

(You'll need to cut and paste the URL into your address bar)

http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=9382

Labels: appreciation, God, inspirational, video

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Monday, October 08, 2007

Is Jesus The Son Of God? Did He Die For Our Sins?

Q: Do you believe that Jesus was the
son of God? Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross to save us from
our sins? If not, then this is not Christianity.

A: Yes, students of The Urantia Book do recognize that Jesus was the Son
of God as well as being the Son of Man. Which of these two
qualifications is more meaningful? Each of us is a son of God -- that was one of
Jesus' primary teachings, the value of the individual, and that while God
is no respecter of persons, we're each equally important to our Father
in heaven. Christianity tends to emphasize the teaching that Jesus was
a Son of God, neglecting the equally valuable realization that Jesus
was also a Son of Man and neglecting to emphasize that we too are sons of
God, not in the same sense that Jesus was but in a sense that is
equally as cherished and loved by God the father.

By Jesus taking on the role of Son of Man he acknowledged that he would
live a life in the flesh just as we mortals do. Although having a
pre-existent divine existence before becoming a mortal, he accepted status
as a mortal of the realm, was subject to the same vicissitudes of life
that mortals are subject to, lived life as we do. Jesus was human as
well as divine.

Students of The Urantia Book do not believe that Jesus died on the
cross to save us from our sins; we do not accept the Christian atonement
dogma that proposes that God required a human/divine sacrifice in order
to be appeased. We hold the Father in heaven in much higher regard than
such a primitive anthropomorphized opinion casts. As the Son of Man,
Jesus submitted to torture and a barbaric death, not because God willed
it but as a way of making the continuity of life after death undeniable.
Not only did he teach that death was not the end of existence, that in
his Father's house are many mansions where he has prepared a place for
us, but he manifested this teaching by returning from death. This, and
not that he died for sins, is the great gift Jesus has given to
humanity for all time that has been lost to much of Christian theology.

You concluded by saying "If not, then this is not Christianity."
Exactly. The Urantia Book is a new revelation of truth, not an amplification
of Christianity nor of any other religion on earth. The Urantia Book
does not claim to be Christian; it does claim to be Jesusonian â€” to be
an accurate restatement of Jesus' life and teachings devoid of
religious dogma.

Labels: atonement, Christianity, divinity, God, humanity, Jesus, the Cross, The Urantia Book

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Saturday, September 08, 2007

How May I Come To Trust The Urantia Book As Truth?

Q: How may I come to trust the Urantia way as truth? In what ways can I know this truth?

A: That's a good question and one we each have to face, whether it's in regard to The Urantia Book or any other scientific finding, philosophical ideal, or religious belief. How do you know what's real or true versus what's a figment or false? Happily God has provided all we need in this regard.

First, we're endowed with a mind and with free will. These allow us to consider the things that come into our consciousness, to think them over, try them out, see how they feel. We have an in-born conscience that helps us decipher right from wrong. We're also endowed with an ability to think logically and to make deductions from what we already know or understand. If something doesn't make logical sense then either you need more knowledge before making your decision or the thought is erroneous.

The next test is, do you believe that Jesus lived here and taught what is important for us to know? If so then you'll recall that Jesus has said for us to "fear not" -- that can also be applied to concerns about what's true and what's not. You can ask Jesus for guidance in helping you make right decisions and choices. Also recall that Jesus left us his spirit, the Comforter or the Spirit of Truth. This is an actual spirit presence for your benefit to help you know right from wrong, good from evil, truth from error. Ask for guidance -- while humans may lead you astray, Jesus won't. Trust Jesus. If you don't believe in Jesus then making right decisions and knowing the truth can be more difficult -- reading The Life and Teachings of Jesus as found in the fourth part of The Urantia Book will be a blessing to you.

Our main problem is that too many of us are timid about relying upon our own decisions. We look for authority to come from outside. We seek religions of authority, clergy of authority, traditions of authority, teachers of authority -- none of these can substitute for the authority of your own mind and your own thoughts and decisions. You ultimately answer for all of your choices and decisions and beliefs -- the responsibility for them rests with you and no one else can substitute.

It's not necessary to trust and believe The Urantia Book -- some people read it and decide it's not for them. But if you're a truth seeking person, looking for deeper answers then you owe it to yourself to read and to study this amazing book. It's a gift to humanity from deity -- if you're sensitive to truth then its teachings will ring true to you.

May I also recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service from our site that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book with an audio clip and a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the book.

Best wishes,
Larry Watkins

Labels: God, Jesus, Larry Watkins, Spirit of Truth, The Urantia Book, truth

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Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Three Important Questions

Q: 1. What is the source of the Urantia book? Who wrote it and where did the extra-biblical information come from?
2. What is the means by which a person enters into relationship with God? Is it automatic for everyone, or is there something that a person must believe or do?
3. Who is responsible for authorititively interpreting the teachings in the Urantia book? Is there an individual or group who is responsible?

Thank you for your post to Truthbook.com. Yes, this can be confusing on first contact -- I'll see if I can help.

For background, The Urantia Book speaks for itself; it claims to be the next (the fifth) revelation of truth to the world following on the heels of Jesus and as such it proclaims that nothing that has transpired in the intervening 2000 years is of the epochal significance it presents to you personally. There are organizations that publish the book and handle administrative tasks related to the shepherding of the revelation but there are no official pronouncements about the book's contents other than those the book makes regarding itself. As a new revelation of divine truth it is written specifically to you, not to any one culture, group, religion, race, but to each of its individual readers. It is a revelation of truth in book form with no authorized human spokesperson.

With that background the answer to your first question is -- the authors of the 196 Papers (or chapters) of the book plus its foreword are listed and described within the text of the book -- we'd call them celestial beings because they do not live here (on Urantia) -- they were tasked with a divine mandate to present the new knowledge and spiritual insight that are contained in the book. This occurred in the 1930s and was completed by the early 1940s; the book was first published in 1955. Some of the celestial beings either are, or are in close contact with, the angels administering life on this world -- the extra-biblical information you mention comes either from previously published or written records, or, when those were inadequate, it and other revelatory material comes from the records the angels keep.

Your second question: an excellent and insightful question. There is no teaching, no philosophy, no religion that is required in order to enter into a relationship with God. Teachings, religions, philosophies can help, can provide stepping stones and bridges to know and understand our heavenly Father, but any human being, even one born and raised in the jungle, can have a personal relationship with God -- God resides within every human being (in the Urantia revelation this divine fragment of the heavenly Father is named the adjuster, thought adjuster, mystery monitor). God is right here within us, we each have an inborn urge to seek God in whatever manner we may and if we do so a connection is made. Meditation may help, prayer and worship may help, a tragic or life-altering event may help or the connection may just come naturally. However natural this connection may be, it isn't automatic or automatically experienced because many people don't recognize its existence. God reaches down to us but we are required also to reach up toward God in order for that connection to occur.

Your third question -- who is responsible for authoritatively interpreting its teachings? You are. No one else is. The book is written to you -- your challenge is to read it. If it rings true your life will be transformed. If it doesn't then it would be your duty to refute its teachings -- that's something many attempt to do without reading the book or understanding its message so such criticisms are irrelevant. There are thousands of students of The Urantia Book who would be willing to discuss their understanding of its teachings with you but the only way to know the truth is to taste and experience if first hand.

Best Wishes,

LarryWatkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: authorship, God, interpretation, Larry Watkins, relationship with God, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

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Thursday, March 22, 2007

Questions Regarding Death

Q: I had a good friend pass away at 41 unexpectedly. How does God decide when is your time to pass away? When she died, did she go to sleep right away? Do their souls stay around for awhile?

A: Thank you for your question. According to The Urantia Book God is the infinite controller and sustainer of all creation but God does not micromanage. God loves us so much he has conferred free will which means how we live, the choices we make and consequences we receive, and how and when we die are not decisions God takes part in -- we can always ask for guidance, but we are the captains of our souls.

One of the consequences of living on an imperfect material world is that each of us has challenges to face that are imposed by our heredity, the family environment we grow up in, the decisions we make as we grow, and the just plain accidents that occur when living in such an unpredictable environment. We tend to become so wrapped up in our daily drama that we lose sight of the bigger picture -- that we're here for only a short while and then we begin in the less material realms right where we leave off here and that there is a grand spiritual adventure before us -- this life is a stepping stone for what's to come.

Losing someone near and dear is always a shock and is cause for reflecting on the lives we live and the meaning of it all. Peace be with you as you confront your friend's unexpected death but it was not God's doing, it's part of the normal process of material existence.

When she died she lost consciousness just like happens in deep, dreamless sleep. When she is awakened on the mansion worlds she will remember who she was and will begin the new life there. The sadness of losing a loved one is experienced by those left behind -- the joy and freedom of experiencing the continuation of life after earthly death is transcendent for the one awakening.

At times you may experience your friend's presence even though she is no longer here -- her life has affected the world around us to some degree -- but the real "she" is in a better place and is not present here and does not return or visit.

Peace be with you.

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: death, free will, God, Larry Watkins, soul, The Urantia Book

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Friday, March 09, 2007

A Position On Abortion?

Q: The position on abortion please.

A: Thank you for your succinct question to Truthbook.com.
There is only one paragraph in The Urantia Book that mentions abortion which is found in the paper titled "The Dawn of Civilization" and that is:

"Many races learned the technique of abortion, and this practice became very common after the establishment of the taboo on childbirth among the unmarried. It was long the custom for a maiden to kill her offspring, but among more civilized groups these illegitimate children became the wards of the girl's mother. Many primitive clans were virtually exterminated by the practice of both abortion and infanticide. But regardless of the dictates of the mores, very few children were ever destroyed after having once been suckled--maternal affection is too strong. "(68:6.9)

However there is considerable material in the book describing the spiritual foundation of life and we know, for example, that when the life of a human being ends here they begin on the mansion worlds where they left off relative to spiritual development. Explanation regarding the mind circuits we use during our life here indicates that at conception a fertilized egg is connected with the mind circuits of both parents and remains so until about the age of 16 when the youth becomes a full-fledged individual separate and apart from their parents and no longer attached to their parents mind circuits. That leads one to believe that any aborted eggs or potential infants will again become the responsibility of the parents once both are on the mansion worlds where they can resume their parenting responsibilities.

In the overall scheme of things God has provided for the full development of every personality despite whatever the vicissitudes of life on a material world may bring. However, the guilt associated with an abortion will more than likely color the thoughts and dreams for the lifetime of those involved here.

Thank you again,

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: abortion, God, mind circuits, parenting, personality

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Wednesday, February 14, 2007

When Will Urantia Be Free From Quarantine?

Q: When will Urantia be free from the quarantine, and when/where will Lucifer's judgement take place?

A: The judgment of Lucifer occurs in the spiritual realm, not in the physical material creation. The quarantine is also a spiritual event and has little if anything to do with material creation. Therefore there is little likelihood that we will know, need to know, or experience anything once it has transpired.

Although this world has experienced great spiritual loss due to the effects of the Lucifer rebellion we as individuals haven't suffered because of it -- God still loves us personally and individually, we still have our ministering angels, the Spirit of Truth and the Holy Spirit still connect with us, we each have an adjuster and we still participate in the ascension career; and we have the gift of the life and teachings of Jesus to guide us.

You may have heard from psychics that the Lucifer rebellion has been adjudicated and that "the circuits are open." Such a claim is intended to justify channeling and other psychic activity and give channelers credibility. But, as you may be aware, The Urantia Book does not support psychic activity as a method of spiritual development and warns against pursuing such mental activity, particularly since psychic activity stems from the subconscious mind and spiritual contact is through the superconscious mind. So what seems real to the psychic may be of some value to that psychic but is of little spiritual benefit to anyone else. It is best to ignore "the circuits are open" claims and to participate in the material life of this planet as a "normal" human being. There are no "inside tracks" to perfection.

Thank you for your question.

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: God, Larry Watkins, Lucifer, psychics, quarantine, Urantia

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Sunday, February 11, 2007

On War, Fearing God, and Fighting for Diplomacy.

Q: Do you feel there is hope, as far as the war goes?
If God is Love,why should we fear him?
How can I fight for diplomacy to rule?

A: Thank you for your note to Truthbook.com. Your assessment of the book is as ours is -- it is so superior. Reading it slowly is the best way to extract its full meaning but if you've not had the opportunity to read it clear through I would recommend that you read it front to back rapidly, not being concerned for understanding it all -- that way you have an overall picture of the teachings and then when you go back to read it slowly your comprehension will be on a different level.

Regarding the war and coming wars; they're unfortunate and bring loss, sorrow, sadness to the world but at the same time, as the angels relate, there are positive benefits as well, all is not lost. The war on terror is just more of the same -- we're told in The Urantia Book that wars will be with us until we have all absorbed Jesus' message. We can't outlaw wars or wish them away -- they will disappear when our hearts have changed and that appears to be well into the distant future; it's a one person at a time transformation. Sometimes diplomacy will prevail, other times it will take guns and bombs.

Is it wise to fear God? In the Biblical sense of the word to fear God is to honor God, not to be afraid of God, so yes, it is wise to fear God.

God is much more than the loving caress -- God is the maker and upholder of reality.

How can you fight for diplomacy? There's little you can do in regard to international politics unless that's the sphere in which your work lies. Otherwise you're fighting for something over which you have no control and that leads to frustration. You can fight to improve the things where you have personal influence, which is what we all are called to do.

Thank you for your note.

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: diplomacy, fear of God, God, Larry Watkins, politics, The Urantia Book, war

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Monday, January 08, 2007

Forgive and Forget?

Q: In the Bible it says to forgive and forget. What if a person gives you a lifetime of pain, not only to you, but everyone in your family and countless others as well? I have had substance abuse problems due to this. I cannot find it in my heart to forgive this person. Am I wrong?

A: From the sound of your letter, I would say that you are carrying a big load of anger and hurt, as well as some confusion. You already know that God tells us to forgive and forget, and in your heart, you believe it, but in the present circumstances, you are finding it next to impossible to carry out this act of forgiveness.

It is so difficult when one person can cause so much heartache and distress to others. I have had experiences like this in my own life, and I know it is not easy to forgive. If it was, we would likely never have wars, murders, divorces, or all the other miseries that one person can inflict upon another. Forgiveness is an act practiced by those who want to be Kingdom-dwellers - who want to rise above "the world," where we are told that "revenge is sweet" and discover the true sweetness of taking the high road.

Forgiveness is VITAL to your well-being. I am not going to tell you that you are wrong for not wanting to forgive, but I don't think you would have written such a heartfelt question, with so much anguish, if you did not believe that your heart needed a reason to change. I believe you want to forgive, but your hurts and angry feelings are clouding your mind and judgment right now.

One thing I want to tell you is that the act of forgiveness is NOT for the offender. By forgiving, we don't justify the offenses of the person, we don't excuse their behavior, but we release them from our own judgment, and by doing so, we release ourselves from the terrible burdens of anger, pain and disappointment. And I think you would agree - these terrible heavy feelings ARE burdens of the worst sort.

It might be that this person is beyond help, is blind and deaf to the misery that they place on their friends and family. It might do no good at all even to forgive them to their face. You may want to cut this person out of your life altogther (and that might be a good idea, from the sound of things). Just because we forgive, it does not mean that we have to make ourselves available for further abuse. If you can, find ways to distance yourself from this situation.

Forgiveness is not for THEM. It is for YOU...

Right now, this offending person has a great deal of power over you. You are angry and confused. You are doubting yourself, and using substances to relieve this pain. And you may feel that you are unable to do what God has asked of you - all because you have given over control of your feelings and emotions to be manipulated at the whim of this person. Can you see that?

There will never be a sure way for you to change the behavior of the person who causes such pain, but there is one person that you can control, and it isYOU! Forgiveness is an "inside job," and it will effectively restore your power where it belongs - in your own inner life, doing what YOU know to be best.

It happens inside of you - in your mind - and it causes a change of heart when done by an act of the will, especially when we know that it is God's will that we do so. This is true freedom - to have control over our own emotions and our own responses to the actions of others.

When we wholeheartedly align our will with the Father, we can expect a very good result.

This will take a full surrender on your part - surrender to the goodness and the mercy of God - knowing that he will make all things right, in his way and in his time. Surrender your feelings of anger and pain to God, and ask that he sanctify your heart and wash it clean. Lay your burdens upon him, and lay this offending person at his feet. Then, leave them there.

I don't promise that this is easy, but I do promise trhat it is the right thing to do. It could be that you may have to do this more than once or twice - particularly if this offending person is still in your life. But with every effort, you will gain strength and you will experience victory over this problem.

We have the example of the Master, who gave his very life at the hands of muderers and betrayers, and yet, he was able to say, "forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." He was dogged for all the years of his ministry by people who hated him and wished evil on him - people who plotted against him and sought his ruin. And yet he still forgave - even while in the act of dying at their evil hands. I think it's safe to say that he understands what you're going through. Trust him to help you through it and over it.

Jesus said, What you believe I would do to others, do likewise."

One last thing - and this comes from my own personal experience: Over a period of time, we can establish patterns of behavior with troublesome people, and it may take some time and distance for you to reclaim yourself through forgiveness. Then, when and if you decide to re-connect, you can begin to establish better boundaries and healthier patterns of behavior with this person, so they will know you mean business, and that you no longer are at their mercy. No more will they be able to manipulate you. You will have risen above their misery, and your own - and you may then even be able to provide a good example for others in your life who have been likewise affected.

It will be of great help to you if you can stop seeing yourself as a victim. You can only be victimized if you allow it. Up til now, maybe you didn't know this. Now you do. Take charge of yourself. Ask God to help you, and he will.

Remember - forgiveness is for YOU, not them. Do it for yourself. Pray for the offender, leave them with God, but know that by forgiving them, you are raising YOURSELF up to where you ought to be - where God wants you to be.

Thanks so much for writing, and sharing this difficult problem.

Sincerely,

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: Bible, forgiveness, God, God's Will, Jesus, Mary Jo

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Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Can I Make Contact With My Thought Adjuster?

Q: How do I know for sure if I have made contact with my Thought Adjuster? Sometimes I feel very connected to it and other times I think I am making too many presumptions. How does one know for sure?

A: That's a good question, and I'm glad you asked. As you know, your Thought Adjuster is God within you â€” the Father permeates everything but even so, resides within you as your Thought Adjuster. You don't make "contact with" your Thought Adjuster; your Thought Adjuster contacts you. You can't force or promote or encourage or instigate contact; the Thought Adjuster is the pitcher that pours, you are the vessel that receives; the vessel doesn't produce the pouring.

Relax. It's a journey and a process, not a competition or a race and your thought that you may be making too many presumptions is may in fact be the Spirit of Truth acting in your mind. The best you can "do" is to open yourself to new possibilities through prayer and meditation, both of which are passive, "not doing", listening.

Jesus left by saying "My Peace I leave with you." Accept peace. Fear not -- life proceeds naturally. Perhaps a zen poem is in order:

In the landscape of nature,
There is neither better nor worse.
The flowering branches grow naturally,
Some long, some short.

Best wishes and thank you for your question.

Labels: God, peace, Spirit of Truth, Thought Adjuster

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Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Sins Of The Fathers

Q: I have been told that the sins of the fathers are paid by the children for up to 7 generations. Where does this appear in the Bible? Thank you.

A: Here are some references to sins of the fathers:

Exodus Chapter 20 (5) You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them. For I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those that hate me, (6) and showing mercy to thousands of those that love Me and keep My commandments.

Numbers 14 (18) The LORD is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation.

Deuteronomy Chapter 5 (9) You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them. For I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, (10) and doing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Jeremiah Chapter 32 (17) Ah, Lord Jehovah! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and stretched out arm. Nothing is too great for You. (18) You show loving-kindness to thousads, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them.

SINS OF THE FATHERS -- Euripides (c. 485-406 B.C.), Phrixus, fragment 970: "The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children."

Also: "For the sins of your fathers you, though guiltless, must suffer." - Horace, "Odes," III, 6, l. 1.

"The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children." - Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice," act III, sc. V, l. 1

So it looks like God smites for up to 4 generations and not 7 -- that's much more comforting isn't it.

Let's look at some of what The Urantia Book has to say regarding this:

The Father's love follows us now and throughout the endless circle of the eternal ages. As you ponder the loving nature of God, there is only one reasonable and natural personality reaction thereto: You will increasingly love your Maker; you will yield to God an affection analogous to that given by a child to an earthly parent; for, as a father, a real father, a true father, oves his children, so the Universal Father loves and forever seeks the welfare of his created sons and daughters. (2:5.9)

Of Jesus it was truly said, "He trusted God." As a man among men he most sublimely trusted the Father in heaven. He trusted his Father as a little child trusts his earthly parent. His faith was perfect but never presumptuous. No matter how cruel nature might appear to be or how indifferent to man's welfare on earth, Jesus never faltered in his faith. He was immune to disappointment and impervious to persecution. He was untouched by apparent failure. (100:7.7)

Though many of the temple rituals very touchingly impressed his sense of the beautiful and the symbolic, he was always disappointed by the explanation of the real meanings of these ceremonies which his parents would offer in answer to his many searching inquiries. Jesus simply would not accept explanations of worship and religious devotion which involved belief in the wrath of God or the anger of the Almighty. In further discussion of these questions, after the conclusion of the temple visit, when his father became mildly insistent that he acknowledge acceptance of the orthodox Jewish beliefs, Jesus turned suddenly upon his parents and, looking appealingly into the eyes of his father, said: "My father, it cannot be true--the Father in heaven cannot so regard his erring children on earth. The heavenly Father cannot love his children less than you love me. And I well know, no matter what unwise thing I might do, you would never pour out wrath upon me nor vent anger against me. If you, my earthly father, possess such human reflections of the Divine, how much more must the heavenly Father be filled with goodness and overflowing with mercy. I refuse to believe that my Father in heaven loves me less than my father on earth." (125:0.6)

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. (136:2.1)

"The divine riches of God's character must be infinitely deep and eternally wise. We cannot search out God by knowledge, but we can know him in our hearts by personal experience. While his justice may be past finding out, his mercy may be received by the humblest being on earth. While the Father fills the universe, he also lives in our hearts. The mind of man is human, mortal, but the spirit of man is divine, immortal. God is not only all-powerful but also all-wise. If our earth parents, being of evil tendency, know how to love their children and bestow good gifts on them, how much more must the good Father in heaven know how wisely to love his children on earth and to bestow suitable blessings upon them. (131:10.3)

One of the purposes of the Urantia revelation is to provide a more meaningful understanding of the personal relationship we have with our heavenly Father -- many beliefs are archaic and grounded in superstition and fear and are well in need of updating.

Thank you for your question.
Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: baptism, Bible, God, Jesus, Larry Watkins, relationship with God, sins of the fathers, The Urantia Book

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Friday, November 17, 2006

One True United Religion On Earth?

Q: Do you think there will ever be a time when there is only one united true religion on this earth?

A: It is planetary destiny that eventually all human beings will be united under one umbrella of religious philosophy.

Will it be Christian? Will it be Moslem? Will it be Jewish? Yes and no.

God loves us as individuals, not because we belong to a particular religion, sect, or group. As individuals we each approach God in our own way. Some people will want to express themselves through a Hindu orientation and others through a Buddhist one. But eventually when there is one united religion all religions will have the same philosophical umbrella defining who we are as children of God and who God is as our heavenly Father. We will have learned to appreciate one another for our differences and see one another as spiritual brothers and sisters -- the methods we use to relate to God will be of little importance.

This may be somewhat difficult to understand at this point in our development. That's one of the purposes of the teachings of The Urantia Book -- to provide an enhanced vision of the past and a bigger vision of what the future has in store.

Thank you for your question.

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: God, Larry Watkins, philosophy, religion, unity

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Reincarnation? Life On Other Planets?

Q: Part 1: Does Urantia consider the possibility of rebirth or reincarnation?
Part 2: Is there life on other galaxies and do we continue to learn after death?

A: The Urantia Book is a revelation -- it claims that distinction and those of us who have read and studied it to determine if the claim is unfounded have arrived at the conclusion that it is what it claims to be. Revelation will substantiate some long-held beliefs but it will also give new and often startling insights that can unsettle cherished opinions.

The theory of reincarnation is appealing for several reasons: it seems to offer an explanation for the inequalities of life, it can offer hope for those who desire a continuation of life and meaning beyond the lives we presently find ourselves in, and it's an indication of a plan that overrides and controls our very existence. But the theory of reincarnation addresses these concepts in meager and very unsatisfactory terms and at best one is left with only hazy ideas of how and why it all fits together. Still, it would be difficult to give up a belief in the theory unless there was something much better in place to substitute.

The Urantia Book goes into all the ramifications of these musings in great detail and with exquisite definition and lays out a plan of so much greater satisfaction, logic, meaning than any teachings of reincarnation attempt. Actually, reincarnation is but a hazy reflection of a grand concept of the mortal ascendant career that we enter into once our life here is through, a concept disclosed long ago in the early days of human history that has since been misinterpreted to mean repeated lives here on earth.

Regarding life on other galaxies and continuing to learn: creation isn't the simple mechanistic forces that produce matter in the fashion described through science. True there is energy and matter but there is also spirit and it is spirit for which creation was made. The material universe is creation put into motion by God for the expression of spirit and personality.

Galaxies exist for the purpose of expressing personality. Not all stars support planets nor do all planets support material life but so many do that the numbers are nearly limitless. The purpose of material will-creature life is that it is the starting point for personality expression on a long and glorious ascendant career, where knowledge and understanding continue to be our eternal goal.

May I recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day at our site. It's a free service that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book along with a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the book. To subscribe go to the upper right corner of our home page, click on Quote of the Day and follow the instructions. And of course I would recommend that you test for yourself the teachings of The Urantia Book to find out if they ring true. It's available at most book stores and libraries or can be purchased on-line through our site.

Best wishes and thank you for your questions.

Larry Watkins

Labels: death, galaxies, God, Larry Watkins, reincarnation, The Urantia Book

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Friday, October 27, 2006

Do my loved ones remember me in Heaven?

Q: My mother and father are gone and I was their only child. I'm worried if they will remember me and that I'm still here on Earth when their resurrected, will they remember me while I continue my test here on Earth?

A: The Urantia Book offers us a great wealth of information and comfort regarding the process of death and the experience of mortal resurrection. More importantly, it also offers us assurances that on our eternal journey through the Father's realms, we will always "...know and be known - remember and be remembered by, our onetime associates in the short but intriguing life on Urantia."

This quote is from the section titled "Survival of the Human Self," p1232. It is part of Paper112 entitled "Personality Survival."

As to whether your parents remember you now, while you still are on earth...they surely do, just as you remember them. Not only that, but they remember only the best of times that they shared with you. All experiences that you shared that were less than wonderful will have been forgotten, but the love that they feel for you is still as real now as it was when they were with you here on earth. The loving relationships that we establish on earth are eternal relationships, and can never die, for they have eternal value.

Quoting from the same section as above, "...mortal memory of personality relationships has cosmic value and will persist."

And when you yourself pass over into the Father Mansions, you will be given an opportunity to reunite with your loved ones. I know it will be a joyous time for all of you! The fact that you still hold your parents in your heart means that they have not really gone from you - their physical presence is gone, but that love is so real that it will remain with you for the rest of your days, and beyond. The teaching that they gave and the way they raised you have made you the person you are today, and you carry them in your heart and mind because of it. And I am sure that you had an equally profound effect upon them.

Do your parents remember you today as you remember them? They do. Just as in our earthly life, those with whom we have love ties are always connected to us. Time and space are no barriers to this connection. Even if we don't think of each other every minute, we know our loved ones care for us as we care for them. And when we need them, all we need to do is think of them, remember them and their love, and their "love presence" is upon us in an instant. That is the reality of love, and God is the source of the comfort that it gives, since he is the Author of Love itself.

You are so correct to describe this life as a "test." This earthly life is a testing time, and part of that test for us is to grow a living faith in the Father's goodness, and the promise of Jesus, who said, "If you are the faith sons of my Father, you shall never die; you shall not perish." When you are having hard times in your life, I hope you will remember your parents, and trust that they are remembering you as well. Trust in God, hold Jesus's hand, and be of good cheer. In God's universe, love is just about the most important thing there is.

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: Earth, God, love, Mary Jo, memory, the departed, The Urantia Book

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What was Jesus mission to the world?

Q: What was Jesus mission to the world?

In todayâ€™s world, and for centuries before this, the general understanding of the Christian churches regarding Jesusâ€™ mission has been that Jesus came to earth to act as a sacrificial lamb â€“ that his death on the cross was a necessary event in order for man to be ransomed from the â€œevil one -" saved by the shedding of innocent blood, much like the ancient rituals of slaughtering lambs, rams, goats and so forth at certain times of the year.

This understanding has been predicated upon the belief in a God who is all-powerful, but also jealous and quite vengeful. And since information regarding the actual LIFE of Jesus in the Bible and elsewhere is so scanty, practically all of the emphasis has been placed on the facts of his terrible and shocking death on the cross â€“ and his subsequent resurrection on Easter morning.

The children of God â€“ human beings â€“ have been portrayed as sinful and lost, and the only way that we can be redeemed is through the blood of Jesus which was shed on the cross. This is known as â€œthe atonement doctrine.â€�

The Urantia Book gives us a picture of God the Father which is far different from that of the Old Testament â€“ a picture that is consistent with the actual teachings of Jesus, as revealed in Part IV of the book. Jesus showed us a loving father, a faithful upholder, and not a vengeful judge. Following are a few Urantia Book quotes which expand upon the atonement doctrine, its ancient beginnings, and its unfortunate repercussions:

63:6.4 Very early the Andonic peoples formed the habit of refraining from eating the flesh of the animal of tribal veneration. Presently, in order more suitably to impress the minds of their youths, they evolved a ceremony of reverence which was carried out about the body of one of these venerated animals; and still later on, this primitive performance developed into the more elaborate sacrificial ceremonies of their descendants. And this is the origin of sacrifices as a part of worship. This idea was elaborated by Moses in the Hebrew ritual and was preserved, in principle, by the Apostle Paul as the doctrine of atonement for sin by "the shedding of blood."

2:6.5 Righteousness implies that God is the source of the moral law of the universe. Truth exhibits God as a revealer, as a teacher. But love gives and craves affection, seeks understanding fellowship such as exists between parent and child. Righteousness may be the divine thought, but love is a father's attitude. The erroneous supposition that the righteousness of God was irreconcilable with the selfless love of the heavenly Father, presupposed absence of unity in the nature of Deity and led directly to the elaboration of the atonement doctrine, which is a philosophic assault upon both the unity and the free-willness of God.

149:2.3 1. The effort to connect the gospel teaching directly onto the Jewish theology, as illustrated by the Christian doctrines of the atonementâ€”the teaching that Jesus was the sacrificed Son who would satisfy the Father's stern justice and appease the divine wrath. These teachings originated in a praiseworthy effort to make the gospel of the kingdom more acceptable to disbelieving Jews. Though these efforts failed as far as winning the Jews was concerned, they did not fail to confuse and alienate many honest souls in all subsequent generations.

4:5.4 The barbarous idea of appeasing an angry God, of propitiating an offended Lord, of winning the favor of Deity through sacrifices and penance and even by the shedding of blood, represents a religion wholly puerile and primitive, a philosophy unworthy of an enlightened age of science and truth. Such beliefs are utterly repulsive to the celestial beings and the divine rulers who serve and reign in the universes. It is an affront to God to believe, hold, or teach that innocent blood must be shed in order to win his favor or to divert the fictitious divine wrath.

p1083:6 98:7.1 A Creator Son did not incarnate in the likeness of mortal flesh and bestow himself upon the humanity of Urantia to reconcile an angry God but rather to win all mankind to the recognition of the Father's love and to the realization of their sonship with God. After all, even the great advocate of the atonement doctrine realized something of this truth, for he declared that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself."

103:4.4 Jesus swept away all of the ceremonials of sacrifice and atonement. He destroyed the basis of all this fictitious guilt and sense of isolation in the universe by declaring that man is a child of God; the creature-Creator relationship was placed on a child-parent basis. God becomes a loving Father to his mortal sons and daughters. All ceremonials not a legitimate part of such an intimate family relationship are forever abrogated.

194:2.8 Jesus lived a life which is a revelation of man submitted to the Father's will, not an example for any man literally to attempt to follow. This life in the flesh, together with his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection, presently became a new gospel of the ransom which had thus been paid in order to purchase man back from the clutch of the evil oneâ€”from the condemnation of an offended God. Nevertheless, even though the gospel did become greatly distorted, it remains a fact that this new message about Jesus carried along with it many of the fundamental truths and teachings of his earlier gospel of the kingdom. And, sooner or later, these concealed truths of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men will emerge to effectually transform the civilization of all mankind.

It might help you to understand even better to let the words of Jesus speak here:

165:3.8 â€¦â€œ I came into this world to reveal the Father to you and to lead you to the Father. The first I have done, but the last I may not do without your consent; the Father never compels any man to enter the kingdom. The invitation ever has been and always will be: Whosoever will, let him come and freely partake of the water of life."

149:6.2 "â€¦I have come to reveal the Father's love so that you will be attracted to the worship of the Eternal by the drawing of a son's affectionate recognition and reciprocation of the Father's profound and perfect love. I would deliver you from the bondage of driving yourselves through slavish fear to the irksome service of a jealous and wrathful King-God. I would instruct you in the Father-son relationship of God and man so that you may be joyfully led into that sublime and supernal free worship of a loving, just, and merciful Father-God.

On the subject of the Father's love for mankind, Jesus said:

142:2.2 â€¦I come in the flesh to reveal the Father in new glory and to show forth his love and mercy to all men on all worlds. As the gospel of this kingdom shall spread over the world with its message of good cheer and good will to all men, there will grow up improved and better relations among the families of all nations. As time passes, fathers and their children will love each other more, and thus will be brought about a better understanding of the love of the Father in heaven for his children on earth. Rememberâ€¦that a good and true father not only loves his family as a wholeâ€”as a familyâ€”but he also truly loves and affectionately cares for each individual member."

With a little bit of reflection, one can see that the idea of the atonement is an idea which is not conducive to establishing a loving relationship with our Creator Father. Modern religions emphasize Jesusâ€™ death and resurrection over his actual life, which in itself was a revelation of the Fatherâ€™s love to all mankind â€“ even to the inhabitants of the universe in which we live.

So â€“ one might ask â€œWhat about Jesusâ€™ death on the cross? Is that not important? It is certainly important. The Urantia Book devotes much attention to the passion of Jesus, and the terrible events of that week. It was an unprecedented spectacle of cruelty and barbarity practiced on the Son of God.
The cross is forever a symbol which we can embrace and use as an example of the creatureâ€™s desire to do the will of God. This following section may be helpful for you to understand the importance â€“ even without the atonement doctrine â€“ of the Cross of Jesus.

The Meaning of Jesusâ€™ Death on the Cross

p2016:6 188:4.1 Although Jesus did not die this death on the cross to atone for the racial guilt of mortal man nor to provide some sort of effective approach to an otherwise offended and unforgiving God; even though the Son of Man did not offer himself as a sacrifice to appease the wrath of God and to open the way for sinful man to obtain salvation; notwithstanding that these ideas of atonement and propitiation are erroneous, nonetheless, there are significances attached to this death of Jesus on the cross which should not be overlooked. It is a fact that Urantia has become known among other neighboring inhabited planets as the "World of the Cross."

p2016:7 188:4.2 Jesus desired to live a full mortal life in the flesh on Urantia. Death is, ordinarily, a part of life. Death is the last act in the mortal drama. In your well-meant efforts to escape the superstitious errors of the false interpretation of the meaning of the death on the cross, you should be careful not to make the great mistake of failing to perceive the true significance and the genuine import of the Master's death.

p2016:8 188:4.3 Mortal man was never the property of the archdeceivers. Jesus did not die to ransom man from the clutch of the apostate rulers and fallen princes of the spheres. The Father in heaven never conceived of such crass injustice as damning a mortal soul because of the evil-doing of his ancestors. Neither was the Master's death on the cross a sacrifice which consisted in an effort to pay God a debt which the race of mankind had come to owe him.

p2016:9 188:4.4 Before Jesus lived on earth, you might possibly have been justified in believing in such a God, but not since the Master lived and died among your fellow mortals. Moses taught the dignity and justice of a Creator God; but Jesus portrayed the love and mercy of a heavenly Father.

p2016:10 188:4.5 The animal natureâ€”the tendency toward evil-doingâ€”may be hereditary, but sin is not transmitted from parent to child. Sin is the act of conscious and deliberate rebellion against the Father's will and the Sons' laws by an individual will creature.

p2017:1 188:4.6 Jesus lived and died for a whole universe, not just for the races of this one world. While the mortals of the realms had salvation even before Jesus lived and died on Urantia, it is nevertheless a fact that his bestowal on this world greatly illuminated the way of salvation; his death did much to make forever plain the certainty of mortal survival after death in the flesh.

p2017:2 188:4.7 Though it is hardly proper to speak of Jesus as a sacrificer, a ransomer, or a redeemer, it is wholly correct to refer to him as a savior. He forever made the way of salvation (survival) more clear and certain; he did better and more surely show the way of salvation for all the mortals of all the worlds of the universe of Nebadon.

p2017:3 188:4.8 When once you grasp the idea of God as a true and loving Father, the only concept which Jesus ever taught, you must forthwith, in all consistency, utterly abandon all those primitive notions about God as an offended monarch, a stern and all-powerful ruler whose chief delight is to detect his subjects in wrongdoing and to see that they are adequately punished, unless some being almost equal to himself should volunteer to suffer for them, to die as a substitute and in their stead. The whole idea of ransom and atonement is incompatible with the concept of God as it was taught and exemplified by Jesus of Nazareth. The infinite love of God is not secondary to anything in the divine nature.

p2017:4 188:4.9 All this concept of atonement and sacrificial salvation is rooted and grounded in selfishness. Jesus taught that service to one's fellows is the highest concept of the brotherhood of spirit believers. Salvation should be taken for granted by those who believe in the fatherhood of God. The believer's chief concern should not be the selfish desire for personal salvation but rather the unselfish urge to love and, therefore, serve one's fellows even as Jesus loved and served mortal men.

p2017:5 188:4.10 Neither do genuine believers trouble themselves so much about the future punishment of sin. The real believer is only concerned about present separation from God. True, wise fathers may chasten their sons, but they do all this in love and for corrective purposes. They do not punish in anger, neither do they chastise in retribution.

p2017:6 188:4.11 Even if God were the stern and legal monarch of a universe in which justice ruled supreme, he certainly would not be satisfied with the childish scheme of substituting an innocent sufferer for a guilty offender.

p2017:7 188:4.12 The great thing about the death of Jesus, as it is related to the enrichment of human experience and the enlargement of the way of salvation, is not the fact of his death but rather the superb manner and the matchless spirit in which he met death.

p2017:8 188:4.13 This entire idea of the ransom of the atonement places salvation upon a plane of unreality; such a concept is purely philosophic. Human salvation is real; it is based on two realities which may be grasped by the creature's faith and thereby become incorporated into individual human experience: the fact of the fatherhood of God and its correlated truth, the brotherhood of man. It is true, after all, that you are to be "forgiven your debts, even as you forgive your debtors."

You can see how important Jesusâ€™ death on the cross is to our understanding of Jesus life lived as an obedient child of a loving Father. Jesus did not have to die in this fashion. His mission of revealing the Father was completed before the terrible events of the Passion, but he chose to go through the agony and humiliation of death on the cross in order that he might complete his earth life the way all mortals do - by actually dying. The fact that his death was caused by wicked men was not God's plan. It was planned by men, but Jesus chose to accept his fate, rather than to escape the cross - which he could have done, had he so wished.

Thank you for this most important question.

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: atonement, God, Jesus, love, the Cross, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, May 11, 2006

Are there any other gods besides Jesus Christ who rule non-Christians?

Q: Are there any other gods besides Jesus Christ who rule non-Christians?

A: There is but one God, God the Father, who rules all of creation. Jesus is not God but he is our heavenly parent. He came to earth, not just for Christians or to establish the Christian religion, but for all people, all races, all religions to give the message that we're all spiritual brothers and sisters since God is our heavenly Father. It just ended up that Christianity decided to make Jesus their own to the exclusion of other religions. That's partly the reason we have the teachings of The Urantia Book, to help us understand history and to put religion and spirituality into perspective and to give Jesus to everyone who seeks.

Your second question was: What should be done to entrust our life in jesus and be a true believer?

That's a good question and the answer is all you need to do is at some point to sit quietly and prayerfully and talk to Jesus in your mind. Tell Jesus you want to know him better and want to entrust your life to his care. Do this meditatively and prayerfully and you will feel a connection. Trust your own understanding and reception of truth -- when Jesus left this world he left his Spirit of Truth in his place to help guide us toward truth, beauty, and goodness. Rely on that guidance, fear not, and trust Jesus.

May I also recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book along with a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the book. To subscribe go to the upper right corner of our home page, click on Quote of the Day and follow the instructions.

Thank you for your questions.
Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: Christian, God, guidance, Jesus, Larry Watkins, religion, Spirit of Truth

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Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Why then is there a need to have creature eat creature in order to survive ?

Q: If God is loving, why then is there a need to have creature eat creature in order to survive, there seems to be something very sinister in that understanding...???

A: Spoken like a true vegetarian. I might imply from what you've written then that you believe God is unloving -- that perhaps not only do you resent God and the food you eat, but your life as well. If that's so then something seems wrong with such a philosophy, wouldn't you say?

One of the values of studying The Urantia Book is that it provides a so-much-bigger picture of God, the cosmos, us and the world on which we live. It's all too easy to try to view creation from a very circumscribed viewpoint when all we choose to work with are our view of the physical world around us. This book, as a revelation, opens a view of reality that so far surpasses our normal mundane perceptions that we can actually begin to comprehend and behave more like the cosmic citizens we're to eventually become.

Before continuing, may I recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service of our site that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of this marvelous book along with a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the book. To subscribe go to the upper right corner of our home page, click on Quote of the Day and follow the instructions.

Subconscious misgivings about what one eats and drinks can lead to a wide variety of health problems. Feeling blessed by the wide variety of nutritious and delicious food we have ready access to will keep you healthier mentally, physically, and spiritually -- that attitude alone is even more important than specifically what it is you choose to eat. Jesus did say that it's not what goes into one's mouth that defiles him but what comes out of it -- and even if you don't make a habit of voicing your derision for the food you eat, that thought in the back of your mind can and will have profound adverse effect.

God has created a vast order of personalities who exist on pure energy intake -- they don't eat. You and I however have been given the opportunity of beginning here, on the lowest rung on the free-will evolutionary ladder, to work our way to perfection through the experience of the paradise adventure. We're not created perfect but we can aspire to become perfect. And so we begin as physical, evolutionary creatures born to an evolutionary world where the energy we require in order to survive is derived from the energy of our sun. It causes the grass to grow which supports the animals that eat it and the ones that eat them. Human beings are the stewards of the land and the living things -- all living things devour other living things in order to survive, there's nothing sinister about that, it's just the natural order of things on a world such as ours. Once we leave here and begin our spiritual adventure our dependence on outside sources of energy for survival diminish.

A cause to take up that could provide more worthy results than criticizing the choice of food one eats is to strive to be sure that our food is treated with honor, respect, and love -- from the plants to the animals -- these are living things we share the world with and it's to our advantage to learn to afford them the respect they're due and to honor the contribution they make to our survival.

This is a good question and we have added it to our discussion board so that you can have the benefit of the thoughtful responses of our online Urantia Book reader community. You can visit this board and see these responses by clicking here: http://forums.truthbook.com/viewforum.php?f=11. and going to the forum titled "Questions & Answers."

God be with you,

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: energy, food chain, God, Larry Watkins, The Urantia Book

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Monday, March 27, 2006

Do you believe that Jesus is coming back again to save his children on earth?

Q: Do you believe that Jesus is coming back again to save his children on earth?

A: I'll have to answer this from a personal belief point of view. The Urantia Book does say that Jesus will come back to earth but no one knows when. As for coming back to save his children - we're all his children regardless of race, nationality, religion, or lack thereof. Adam and Eve weren't "saved" from their error, Jesus wasn't "saved" from a torturous death. I don't think God is in the "saving" business so much as God is in the "learning through our own mistakes" business. So it's my opinion that no, Jesus is not coming back to save his children - he may come back to set the world aright though.

Did you know that The Urantia Book has the most complete and authentic depiction of the life and teachings of Jesus available? You might enjoy reading that section.

Labels: God, Jesus, Jesus' return, Larry Watkins, salvation, The Urantia Book

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006

What does the UB say about why we are here on earth?

Q: What does the UB say about why we are here on earth?

A: The Urantia Book has a lot to say about what you've asked, but to give a short answer, God chose to create a spiritual and a material universe and to experience that creation. There are many types of self aware spiritual and material beings in God's creation, human beings being but one of those types, and God has given a fragment of himself to accompany the soul of human beings as they begin the long adventure of finding their way back to God. The purpose of our life on earth is to begin that adventure as the lowest order of free will creature in existence and to set out on that long adventure by giving birth to an immortal soul simply by believing that life has more to offer than what we can see and touch. Your new born soul, which is you without a material body, and your fragment of God travel together in this adventure until your soul has become spiritualized enough that you and God's fragment fuse into one being and then you continue on as one until the ultimate goal is reached. Earth is but one of billions of starting point worlds that human beings inhabit but it happens to be unique, first because it's an experimental world and is unlike the vast majority of normal worlds, and second it's unique because Jesus lived here; he hasn't lived on any other material worlds. So we're very fortunate that our individual personalities were sent here to inhabit these material bodies on this material world in company with our individual fragment of God the Father. We're just setting out on a grand adventure.

Labels: Earth, God, Jesus, soul, The Urantia Book

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Was it God's plan for Jesus to be crucified?

Q: Was it God's plan for Jesus to be crucified? Is it the blood of Christ that saved us, or was it the resurrection?

A: It was man's plan that Jesus be crucified - God didn't set it up or intervene nor did Jesus; they let the circumstances unfold and play out much as they have done throughout history. Of course God or Jesus could alter the plans of men but divine intervention seldom is employed to interfere in the choices made by free will creatures. Additional examples of the non interference by deity into the affairs of men are the loss of our mission of our planetary prince and the loss of the influence of Adam and Eve. God could have fixed them, but God doesn't interfere.

The blood of Jesus is no different from the blood in your body - what's remarkable about the shedding of Jesus' blood is that by allowing himself to be murdered he exhibited divine love for his creatures, friend and enemy alike, and in so doing planted the seeds for a great world wide religion of love and hope to spring up around his life, death, and teachings.

Jesus' resurrection gave proof that there is life after death and gave hope of better things to come to earth bound mortals. It didn't take a blood sacrifice to appease God so that we can enter an everlasting spiritual existence. We are saved by our desire to do God's will, by having even a small flicker of faith that there is more to existence than what meets the eye - one doesn't have to be Christian or believe in Jesus for salvation.

Labels: blood sacrifice, God, love, religion, resurrection, the Cross

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Who am I?

Conventional answers focus upon characteristics of a physical and social nature. Most people know their name, race, creed, ethnic group, nationality, occupation, family role, personality traits, social status, etc. They ARE all of these. Yet, knowing this, they continue to ask "Who am I?" There is something beyond their vital statistics and social data which people desire to know. It is as if they sense that they are part of something greater than their niche in the physical environment, and long to find out what it is.

There is not a biography in "Who's Who in America" which has a soul satisfying answer to this haunting question. All leave unanswered the identity of the biographer from a theological point of view, and leave unsatisfied the craving to know who we are in the universe or cosmos.

To discover who we are from a theological, universal or cosmic view, we must begin by exploring our characteristics which have theological, universal or cosmic significance. These should point toward who we really are.

As members of the human race, the highest order of animal life on earth, we share those characteristics held in common by human beings. If humans have any common characteristics of theological, universal or cosmic significance, then they also apply to you and me.

1. A Personality.

All who read this have one thing in common: each is a person. Persons have characteristics not shared by non-persons. These characteristics give us significant clues as to who we are.

Self-consciousness. Only persons can know that they exist as separate and distinct entities; can conceive of "I." This characteristic makes persons self-conscious: I am "I," every other person is "you," and every non-person is "it." Self-consciousness is absolutely essential to moral choosing.

Uniqueness, Individuality. No two persons are alike; each occupies a separate body and has different experiences. Each reacts differently to similar stimuli. "I" am unlike, to some extent, every other creature in the universe; and this makes "me" an individual: truly unique. (1225:37-1226:3) An understanding of this characteristic is essential to an assessment of human value. No one else can substitute for, or replace, a truly unique person.

Interpersonal Relations. Only persons have interpersonal relations. Relationships between persons and non-persons are not interpersonal. Animals and inanimate objects, not being persons, cannot interrelate "personally" with us. God is a "person," and this characteristic allows persons to have a personal relationship with God.

Wisdom. Of all material beings, only persons are endowed with minds capable of distinguishing between good and evil. Not all persons have this capability at all times; however no physical creature other than a person has wisdom. This characteristic is essential to the ability to make a free-will choice between good and evil.

Worship. Persons are the only material creatures who have a tendency to (a "spirit of") worship. Only persons can perceive that there is reality beyond the material, sense that it is "personal" in nature, sincerely esteem it for its values, and crave to develop a closer personal relationship with it. This characteristic is essential to our love and worship of God.
The above characteristics form the basis of personality. Each creature endowed with these characteristics has a separate and distinct personality, and is a personality. Personality is the key to individuality. No two personalities are the same.

Science cannot explain where personality comes from. There is nothing in the laws of genetics or the theories of evolution to indicate that personality has a scientific basis. The URANTIA Book says personality is a gift of the Father (79:9-11 1225:18-19 1226:14-15); that it is personality which gives mankind the prerogatives of self-determination, self-evolution, and self-identification with Deity. (1301:12-14) Why do we have this gift?

I am the totality of that unique personality who conceives of itself as "I"; there is no other such creature in the universe. I will always be that personality. The personality who I know as "I" is constant and changeless. I am self-conscious: I know the difference between good and evil, and can choose to do either; I can foresee the social consequences of my acts. The cosmic status of my personality is affected by these choices.

2. Man. the Highest Animal. Material man is seen as the highest order of animal life, the acme of creation. He has been given dominion over all the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28) Where did man come from? What does this power signify?

Logically, man could have arrived on earth by one or more of four means:
(1) evolved here by natural processes as a result of a colossal series of incidents, accidents, and coincidences;
(2) created here as man by fiat of God;
(3) created here by mindful use of principles of evolution and mutation; or
(4) transported here from another place.

Pure science has no better answer than that man sprang from method (1), a colossal series of incidents, accidents and coincidences. The odds favoring production of mankind in such a manner are so infinitesimally small that most sensible people reject it as a viable theory. It is said that, under the laws of probability, if enough apes were set before enough word processors and given enough time, one of them would produce a photo-ready copy of The Encyclopedia Britannica. It is one thing to speculate, statistically, that the entire work can be reproduced in that manner, and quite another to propose that it was actually written in that manner. Those believing that the universe, with mankind in it, was actually produced by mindless, directionless phenomena of chance accept something far more implausible than that The Encyclopedia Britannica was accidentally written by an ape.

Fundamentalist Christian theology holds that man came to earth by way number (2), fiat creation by God. Whether or not this is a fact, it contains the essential truth that man appeared on earth as a creative act of Deity, which is theologically significant.

The URANTIA Book teaches that the basic human stock was placed on this planet by way number (3): creation by mindful use of evolution and mutation. (667:33-39) It was planned to up step the human race by interbreeding with material stock brought to earth by way number (4): transportation from another place (Adam & Eve, 583:8-10),however, relatively little benefit accrued from this effort because of the Adamic default. (736:30-35)

For all practical purposes, it is immaterial whether mankind arrived on earth as a result of way (2), (3) or (4), or by any combination thereof; the point is that man appeared--not by accident--but as a result of creation by Deity. Why would Deity create (by any means) "man in His own image" and give him "dominion over" all other physical creation? This is a significant question. Its answers give further clues as to who we are.

Let us postulate that the physical universe of galaxies, suns, planets, moons, etc., was created (by whatever means) to provide a physical environment within which to bring into existence various forms of life designed to support, and to culminate in, "beings" with the qualities of mankind. If so, the development of life forms not only would advance toward the desired end of producing mankind, but also would support him when he came into being. This is exactly what happened on earth; we can only speculate whether it happened elsewhere. If no higher form of physical creature appears, we can reason that the creative process was designed to culminate in, and support, mankind.
I am the capstone of physical creation. I, and those like me, have dominion over all the earth. But why? How does this help Deity?

3. Free Will and Mandatory Choices.

Man is said to exercise free will; and so he does. But only to the extent that he can perceive options and understand their consequences. Wisdom is essential to free will. Civilized society does not hold its members criminally accountable for their misdeeds unless the culprit knew, or should have known, that the act was wrong. This is the basis for excusing the insane from criminal responsibility. Deity has at least as high a standard.

Out of all material creation, only man is aware of the qualities of his relationship with others, has the ability to foresee the consequences of his conduct in terms of impact on others. Only man is able to know the difference between good and evil. See definition of Evil in Part III.A, below. Therefore, only man has the ability to do evil.

There is another reason why man is the only material creature able to do evil: man, alone is able to overcome his animal nature. Animal behavior is governed by genetics and environment only; but man is able to overcome these by another behavior-regulating force: wisdom, and the free will to use it.

Lower animals always respond to a situation in accordance with their nature and training. A hungry tiger finding a lost child in the jungle acts in accordance with its nature, with no thought of any consequences. A starving man finding the child is instantly aware that a moral choice, if not a spiritual one, is involved. The tiger is absolved of moral blame if it eats the child; the man is not. Why this difference? The two reasons are:
(1) because only the man could know it was wrong, if not evil, and
(2) only the man had control over his own conduct: free will. These differences are of major theological significance.

The fact that man recognizes the difference between good and evil in any situation places upon him the inescapable burden to choose between the two. The more sensitive he becomes, the more differences he observes, and the more choices he must make. Most people constantly face such choices.

Choices between good and evil usually take the form of choices between self interests and (1) societal interests or (2) spiritual interests. Societal interests involve "right vs. wrong," sociological terms pertaining to morality. Spiritual interests involve "good vs. evil," theological terms pertaining to spirituality. This is an important difference. That which seems right may be evil. (Proverbs 14:12) Knowledge of good and evil is not the same as knowledge of right and wrong.

It is said that God provides no rewards or punishments; only consequences. God provides "consequences" only for free-will choices. He judges by the "heart:" the intent to do that known to be either good or evil. Good done accidentally or under duress has no spiritual value to the do-gooder. Evil done through ignorance or accident has no spiritual consequences upon the evildoer; but the choice of evil over good is sin, and the wages of sin is spiritual death.

Why did Deity enable mankind to ignore its animal nature? This quality of free will is given to man in order that he may perform important service to Deity, service which would be impossible without it. In Part I.C, above, four "desires" of Deity are proposed which are attainable through creatures with (1) the ability to ascertain the will of God and (2) the absolute power to obey or disobey it as they choose.

I AM an animal liberated from my animal nature and given both the wisdom to recognize the nature and con sequences of my acts and the free will to act as I choose. I therefore face constant choices of both a moral and spiritual nature. I have the power to ascertain the will of God if I seek to do so. I can increasingly gain knowledge of good and evil. (Compare Genesis 2:9,17; 825:39-40) Most knowledge comes from the Indwelling Spirit within me. (1457:40-43) Much comes from revelation, and some is portrayed in holy books. These provide the knowledge which makes me accountable for my subsequent acts.

The three human characteristics mentioned above do much to reveal who we are from a theological and cosmic point of view.

Labels: characteristics, Christian, free will, God, identity, individuality, personality, relationship, self-consciousness, The Urantia Book, universe, Who's Who in America, wisdom, worship

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Wednesday, February 22, 2006

How do I hear the Voice from God?

Q: How do I hear the Voice from God?

A: The Urantia Book tells us that even Jesus wasn't always certain he heard God so don't be discouraged if you don't think you're hearing God. There's a part of God in you that's with you always - whether you're aware of God's presence or not God is there with you, but you'll feel closest to God when you pray, worship, or meditate, so if you'd like to have a closer relationship with God then devote quiet time to these practices.

Labels: God, Jesus, meditation, prayer, worship

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Thursday, February 09, 2006

What difference does it make to anyone what choices I make for myself?

Q: What difference does it make to anyone what choices I make for myself, whether I go to school, live productively in society, have a career, or a family, or whatever, so long as I donâ€™t hurt anyone else and do my best to live with the choices I make?

A: There is no need to apologize for the life you have chosen for the sake of those who have expectations about your choices in life. Itâ€™s your life and you have every right to choose not to go to school, not to have children, not to get a job, and not to participate in society. If these life choices did not and do not appeal to your sensibilities, you are right to reject them, and you owe no one an apology or even an explanation. However, if you have regrets about the choices you have made then you are really apologizing to yourself. And you will need to forgive yourself if some of your life choices didnâ€™t have the outcome you had hoped for and then make better choices in the future. Try not to feel so bad, this is a part of life.

Each day we make choices that will affect our future. No matter what choice we make, the path we take will be fraught with difficulty and joy. No one chooses the perfect path, for the path of perfection does not exist in this world. All we can possibly choose here is a path toward perfection, and that path is long and arduous, and full of trial and error. So often we think â€œIf only I had done it this wayâ€� or â€œI would have been better off if only I had done that.â€� We would do better to make the most of the path we have chosen, to bring meaning and value into our life as it is, and let go of regrets and guilt about what might have been. God is the master at making lemonade out of lemons, and we could all stand to emulate this divine quality in our own lives. If we feel that we have made a serious error in choice, we must do all that we can to correct that mistake. I have a Native American friend who says, â€œIf you make a wrong turn, you must make two right turns, one to correct the wrong turn, and one just for growth.â€�

You say that you are not great in the kingdom but you are a child of God, regardless of your current frail human status. What father of a large family would ever slight the youngest member just because he was young and inexperienced? The youngest in a family is often greatly blessed by the experience of his older and wiser siblings who willingly help him find his way, if he will only be willing to ask for their help and listen to their instructions. You would do well not to slight yourself. God is no respecter of persons, and he loves you as much as the mightiest spirits of creation.

Rest assured that God is always here to help you in every creative endeavor. He will help you to share these good gifts with humanity only first you must desire his help. Pray for it, and it will be forthcoming.

Every blessingâ€¦.Paula

Labels: free will, God, Paula, regret

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What Is The Proper Role Of Organized Religion?

Q: What Is The Proper Role Of Organized Religion?

A: Jesus came to earth to save people from bad religious organizations, not bad political organizations. He died in the attempt.

Organized religions result from socialization of persons with common religious experiences. They hold no ecclesiastical authority; yet God supports collective action in His behalf. (Matthew 18:20) They represent collective religious action.

Organized religions have been mixed blessings. They have preserved certain coals of spiritual truth which flame up from time to time, and even now may be rekindled; they have collected and saved writings, music and art reflecting the highest thoughts of mankind; they have maintained a popular awareness that there is a God to be reckoned with; and they have sheltered many saints who otherwise may have been destroyed. Yet, on the other hand, they have been fraught with hypocrisy and corruption; claimed status and authority which they did not possess, and used it to enslave millions; they have prostituted the banner of God before political and business causes; they have engaged in internecine warfare over minutiae of doctrine; they have repeatedly persecuted the saints; and--most important--they have stood in the way of individual spiritual progress by millions of truth-seekers.

There is no practical way by which the true worship of God can be expanded without some social organization behind it. Man is a social animal, and needs the company of others on all of life's journeys. Groups can always accomplish things which individuals cannot: maintain places and opportunities for group worship, provide literature and training; provide ministries and missions, etc. And, most important, they can create and support communities and environments in which the worship of God is encouraged.

It is great error for organized religion to become involved in politics. This is the evil which led to downfall of the Jewish kingdom and later, to the dark ages. God is a God of persons, not of causes. God loves each person on both sides of every controversy with equal fervor. For organized religion to become involved on either side is an unholy alliance. It stifles new-born faith and persecutes true believers.

To prepare for its proper role, organized religion should unburden itself of all ancient armor and armaments, all excess baggage, and come forth with the true soul-saving gospel of Jesus: that God is our Father, and we are his children; and that all men and women must learn to live as one spiritual family. In seeking Him to esteem Him, people also find themselves and feel good about it. And they become concerned about their neighbors.

Religion can, and should, create social communities of those with common religious experiences; to confirm the reality of their experiences, to reinforce their feelings of value, to encourage their continued efforts, to minister to the needs of the community, and to avoid feelings of isolation. Even religionists need social approval. And weaker and more timid souls need the shelter of some institution for early development.

Instead of destroying present religious organizations and forming new ones, we should focus upon the highest truths in each, thereby transforming them. We should build upon the foundations already laid. Existing religions have some good practices, talents and assets in place. All they need is proper direction. Religionists are better advised to work within responsive religious organizations to make them more fruitful rather than to abandon them and work alone.

Labels: God, gospel of Jesus, Jesus, politics, religion, society

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Are There Extra-Terrestrial Beings? If So, What Are They?

Q: Are There Extra-Terrestrial Beings? If So, What Are They?

A: In order implement the Divine Plan for Creating, Deity created time, space, and the material universes. And, over the millennia since then, Deity has populated the universes with countless billions of beings of all sorts. The earth contains only a very small fraction of a percent of all such beings.

The vast majority of these are spirit and semi-spirit beings, wholly invisible to us. The universe is literally teeming with angels, of which earth has its fair share. In addition there are other orders of spirit beings other than angels in large numbers on this planet. Lucifer, Satan, Melchizedek, Adam and Eve, and Jesus are all extra-terrestrial beings who have visited earth.

We are told that, within the local planetary "system" there are over 600 planets which hold material beings comparable to mankind in the sense that they are material, upright-walking bipeds, sexually reproductive and have free will. The physical characteristics of these beings, together with the vast distances involved, make it highly improbable that any such beings ever visited this planet.

There is nothing in The URANTIA Book which tends to explain the phenomenon of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) reported in various parts of the world. They do not resemble Transport Seraphim.

Labels: Extra-terrestrials, God, planets, spirit beings, The Urantia Book, UFO

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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 loc