Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Thank you for your question to Truthbook.Com. You asked: I believe I have been led to the Urantia Book by my guardian angel called Nathaniel. Is he one of the angels?

Nearly all serious students of The Urantia Book feel that in one way or another they've been led to The Urantia Book by their angels. Since an awareness of the existence of this revelation is still pretty obscure it seems quite likely that sincere seekers for truth, who listen to the Spirit of Truth and ask for guidance from their angels are guided to the book if they're ready to receive its message.

Normally we're unaware of the ministry of our angels and of their names. You may call your angel by any name you wish -- Nathaniel is a perfectly good one; The Urantia Book does not give their names since there are many millions of them here lovingly performing various tasks.

Best wishes in your study of the book. 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. Also, you might be interested in viewing some of our flash movies - in particular, "After You Die," and "You Can Live Forever." Just click on "Audio + Video" in the left column.

Larry Watkins

Here are a few Urantia Book quotes to add to your understanding of these marvelous and sympathetic helpers of the celestial realms.

p1243:2 113:2.5 The angels develop an abiding affection for their human associates; and you would, if you could only visualize the seraphim, develop a warm affection for them. Divested of material bodies, given spirit forms, you would be very near the angels in many attributes of personality. They share most of your emotions and experience some additional ones. The only emotion actuating you which is somewhat difficult for them to comprehend is the legacy of animal fear that bulks so large in the mental life of the average inhabitant of Urantia. The angels really find it hard to understand why you will so persistently allow your higher intellectual powers, even your religious faith, to be so dominated by fear, so thoroughly demoralized by the thoughtless panic of dread and anxiety.

p1243:3 113:2.6 All seraphim have individual names, but in the records of assignment to world service they are frequently designated by their planetary numbers. At the universe headquarters they are registered by name and number. The destiny guardian of the human subject used in this contactual communication is number 3 of group 17, of company 126, of battalion 4, of unit 384, of legion 6, of host 37, of the 182,314th seraphic army of Nebadon. The current planetary assignment number of this seraphim on Urantia and to this human subject is 3,641,852.

p1245:7 113:5.1 Angels do not invade the sanctity of the human mind; they do not manipulate the will of mortals; neither do they directly contact with the indwelling Adjusters. The guardian of destiny influences you in every possible manner consistent with the dignity of your personality; under no circumstances do these angels interfere with the free action of the human will. Neither angels nor any other order of universe personality have power or authority to curtail or abridge the prerogatives of human choosing.

p1246:1 113:5.2 Angels are so near you and care so feelingly for you that they figuratively "weep because of your willful intolerance and stubbornness." Seraphim do not shed physical tears; they do not have physical bodies; neither do they possess wings. But they do have spiritual emotions, and they do experience feelings and sentiments of a spiritual nature which are in certain ways comparable to human emotions.

p1246:2 113:5.3 The seraphim act in your behalf quite independent of your direct appeals; they are executing the mandates of their superiors, and thus they function regardless of your passing whims or changing moods. This does not imply that you may not make their tasks either easier or more difficult, but rather that angels are not directly concerned with your appeals or with your prayers.

p1246:3 113:5.4 In the life of the flesh the intelligence of angels is not directly available to mortal men. They are not overlords or directors; they are simply guardians. The seraphim guard you; they do not seek directly to influence you; you must chart your own course, but these angels then act to make the best possible use of the course you have chosen. They do not (ordinarily) arbitrarily intervene in the routine affairs of human life. But when they receive instructions from their superiors to perform some unusual exploit, you may rest assured that these guardians will find some means of carrying out these mandates. They do not, therefore, intrude into the picture of human drama except in emergencies and then usually on the direct orders of their superiors. They are the beings who are going to follow you for many an age, and they are thus receiving an introduction to their future work and personality association.

p1246:4 113:5.5 Seraphim are able to function as material ministers to human beings under certain circumstances, but their action in this capacity is very rare. They are able, with the assistance of the midway creatures and the physical controllers, to function in a wide range of activities in behalf of human beings, even to make actual contact with mankind, but such occurrences are very unusual. In most instances the circumstances of the material realm proceed unaltered by seraphic action, although occasions have arisen, involving jeopardy to vital links in the chain of human evolution, in which seraphic guardians have acted, and properly, on their own initiative.

Thanks again for your question

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: angels, Larry Watkins, Mary Jo, seraphim, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

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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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Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Adultery

Q: What says The Urantia Book about adultery? Is it a mistake to love a married man?

A#1: Adultery is not treated very extensively in The Urantia Book. It is mentioned only a handful of times, and then, mainly only in the context of evolution, where it had to to with ownership of women and property. There are a few mentions in the later portions of the book, and then, there is this event from Jesus' life:

Jesus was confronted by an angry crowd who had a woman in custody for being an adultress. They wanted Jesus to approve stoning her to death, which was the custom of the day, but it was a situation where the woman had been ill-treated by the husband, and coerced into selling her body for money for the husband. Jesus knew, of course, the whole story, and through his superb discernment, de-fused the entire situation, and the woman was set free. Jesus had no words of condemnation for this woman.

In another event, Jesus mentions adultery in this vignette involving a young man who wanted assurance of eternal salvation:

...as Jesus was going for a walk, [a] young man accosted him and said: "Master, I would know from you the assurances of eternal life. Seeing that I have observed all the commandments from my youth, I would like to know what more I must do to gain eternal life?" In answer to this question Jesus said: "If you keep all the commandments--do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your parents--you do well, but salvation is the reward of faith, not merely of works.

Since there is such a scarcity of real advice on this subject in The Urantia Book, I am going to try to answer your quesiton, but from my own perspective, tempered by my years of study with The Urantia Book, and with life...

It is never a mistake to love another person - but we must make the distinction here between love and sex. They are not necessarily connected, nor should they be, if in doing so, you cause harm to another. That is what adultery is - not just LOVING a married man, but allowing that love to cross the line into a sexual connection. And such an act CAN cause harm, and almost always DOES cause harm.

Fortunately, adultery is no longer treated as a capital crime, warranting death. But, I believe that any thinking and feeling person can discern that there is something not right about it - in priciple, if not in fact. There may be factors which contribute to a person's thinking that they are justified in having sex with another person's spouse. But in the final analysis, it is not a physically healthy, or morally correct thing to do.

We can certainly love whomever we please, but that love should not cross the line into adultery. Aside from the health aspect, there are the other spouse's feelings to consider. In its simplest form, adultery appears to me to be motivated by selfishness. And since true love is not selfish, it would also seem that adultery is neither loving nor uplifting for either party - certainly not for the betrayed spouse. And this does not even address the issue of children who may be involved, should this behavior jeopardize their relationship to either of their parents.

Here are a few Urantia Book quotes regarding love:

"Love is the outworking of the divine and inner urge of life. It is founded on understanding, nurtured by unselfish service, and perfected in wisdom."

"Love is the secret of beneficial association between personalities."

"Love is the desire to do good to others."

It appears to me that a person who is thinking about a liaison with a married man is thinking less about real, heartfelt, and honest love, and more about a selfish need for this person's affection, or attention. It bespeaks an ulterior motive that may not be healthy. And that is not love, but something else entirely, and not entirely good.

Again, this is my opinion, but I would think that since the taboo against adultery is one of the original ten commandments, one might be wise to avoid it.

Sincerely,

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

A#2: MaryJo has already provided an excellent reply from her perspective; I've made presumptions but I hope that you will find my reply providing additional insight.

Is it a mistake to love a married man? Certainly not, if you're his wife; most assuredly so if you're not, particularly if he has a family.

Even more than adultery The Urantia Book speaks forcefully for the importance of devotion to the family. So the focus for you would be not the love, but do you or does he have a family?

Consider Jesus' words relating to adult/child relationships:

"...But whosoever causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea." Children require stability, peace, and a loving home environment in order to develop their potential.

"We know that any child can best relate himself to reality by first mastering the relationships of the child-parent situation and then by enlarging this concept to embrace the family as a whole. Subsequently the growing mind of the child will be able to adjust to the concept of family relations, to relationships of the community, the race, and the world, and then to those of the universe, the superuniverse, even the universe of universes." (8:1.11)

"Society itself is the aggregated structure of family units. Individuals are very temporary as planetary factors--only families are continuing agencies in social evolution. The family is the channel through which the river of culture and knowledge flows from one generation to another." (84:0.2)

"Marriage is not just an individualistic ideal; it is the evolving social partnership of a man and a woman, existing and functioning under the current mores, restricted by the taboos, and enforced by the laws and regulations of society." (83:8.8)

Character issues: Did this man profess vows when he married? If so is he not breaking some of them now? What could that indicate about his character and his sincerity? Can anyone really admire and respect someone who exhibits such character flaws? What does this indicate of your own character if you're willing to disrupt the lives of a man and his wife for personal gratification?

One of the attributes that distinguishes humans from animals is that animals only learn through experience, they have no ability for discrimination. Humans don't need experience in order to learn or to discover consequences -- we can determine beforehand what the consequences will be. Over time you will find this fruit to be bitter indeed.

Consider both the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. Whether these are actually God's laws or not may not be so meaningful as the fact that they are proven essential laws of civilization and society. The Golden Rule exhorts us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Are you doing to this man's wife as you would wish another would do to you if you were in her place? For what reason would you think that the Ten Commandments contains the commandment that applies equally to men and women "Thou shall not commit adultery" ?

Thank you for your question and best wishes ...

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.Com

Labels: adultery, character, family, Jesus, Larry Watkins, love, marriage, Mary Jo, Ten Commandments, The Urantia Book

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Are there angels for every day of the week?

Q: Are there angels for every day of the week?

A: Thanks for your question regarding angels. I am offering you a section from The Urantia Book regarding angelic presence in a mortal life. I hope you find comfort in this.

To answer your specific question: I would say that you can rejoice in the fact that the angels are on the job seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year...in short, there is angelic presence available for you, not only every day of the week, but all the days of your life!!!

Please feel free to visit Truthbook.com again. The main page offers much more information on angels (click on the angel picture, for example...). Also, please feel free to subscribe to the Quote of the Day service which is offered free to anyone.
Thanks for writing!!!

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

SERAPHIC MINISTRY TO MORTALS
p1245:7 113:5.1 Angels do not invade the sanctity of the human mind; they do not manipulate the will of mortals; neither do they directly contact with the indwelling Adjusters. The guardian of destiny influences you in every possible manner consistent with the dignity of your personality; under no circumstances do these angels interfere with the free action of the human will. Neither angels nor any other order of universe personality have power or authority to curtail or abridge the prerogatives of human choosing.
p1246:1 113:5.2 Angels are so near you and care so feelingly for you that they figuratively "weep because of your willful intolerance and stubbornness." Seraphim do not shed physical tears; they do not have physical bodies; neither do they possess wings. But they do have spiritual emotions, and they do experience feelings and sentiments of a spiritual nature which are in certain ways comparable to human emotions.
p1246:2 113:5.3 The seraphim act in your behalf quite independent of your direct appeals; they are executing the mandates of their superiors, and thus they function regardless of your passing whims or changing moods. This does not imply that you may not make their tasks either easier or more difficult, but rather that angels are not directly concerned with your appeals or with your prayers.
p1246:3 113:5.4 In the life of the flesh the intelligence of angels is not directly available to mortal men. They are not overlords or directors; they are simply guardians. The seraphim guard you; they do not seek directly to influence you; you must chart your own course, but these angels then act to make the best possible use of the course you have chosen. They do not (ordinarily) arbitrarily intervene in the routine affairs of human life. But when they receive instructions from their superiors to perform some unusual exploit, you may rest assured that these guardians will find some means of carrying out these mandates. They do not, therefore, intrude into the picture of human drama except in emergencies and then usually on the direct orders of their superiors. They are the beings who are going to follow you for many an age, and they are thus receiving an introduction to their future work and personality association.
p1246:4 113:5.5 Seraphim are able to function as material ministers to human beings under certain circumstances, but their action in this capacity is very rare. They are able, with the assistance of the midway creatures and the physical controllers, to function in a wide range of activities in behalf of human beings, even to make actual contact with mankind, but such occurrences are very unusual. In most instances the circumstances of the material realm proceed unaltered by seraphic action, although occasions have arisen, involving jeopardy to vital links in the chain of human evolution, in which seraphic guardians have acted, and properly, on their own initiative.

Labels: angels, Mary Jo, mortals, seraphim, The Urantia Book

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Friday, July 20, 2007

Our Loved Ones And The Afterlife

Q: It says in the Urantia book that after one dies they get to see loved ones that have preceded before them for a certain amount of days of visitation. After those visitation days does one never see them again?

That's a good question for which The Urantia Book doesn't really provide an answer but we can assume that whatever the case all of our needs and desires will be intelligently met -- the mansion worlds are, after all, our entry way into the Paradise ascent so it wouldn't make much logical sense to think that we would start off with a feeling of longing or remorse. Also, our journey to Paradise is a personal and individual undertaking -- we will be associated with greater and greater numbers of others as we become more spiritually aware but our progress isn't tied to that of anyone else even though we will acquire more "loved ones" as we progress. I hope that answer helps.

Thank you for your question. May I recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service from 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 go to the upper right corner of our home page, click on Quote of the Day and follow the instructions.

Best wishes,

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.Com

I hope you won't mind if I add just a few remarks to what Larry has already said...

The only exception to this "visitation" idea, is the case of a child who has preceded a parent - a child who has not yet reached the age of reason. In a case like this, the surviving parent has an opportunity to raise that child. The child is still reckoned to be attached to the parent, and so the child - who has been asleep -is "awakened" with the arrival of the parent or parents on the Mansion Worlds. There are no real specifics about just what that entails, but one could assume that that parent and child will be together for longer than the ten-day visitation.

As Larry has pointed out, our new lives are going to be so different, so full of new experiences, and peopled with so many new friends...and don't forget, your loved ones are also engaged in their new lives now, too.

I am sure that whatever the circumstances, Larry is correct...we can expect a future of hope and anticpation - not longing and sorrow. And I am quite certain that, no matter what, we will never forget our loved ones from Urantia, and they will never forget us, either.

Sincerely,

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: afterlife, children, death, Larry Watkins, loved ones, Mansion Worlds, Mary Jo

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Friday, May 04, 2007

What Is The Will Of God?

Q: What is the will of God?

A: This is a wonderful question, and I am happy to help you explore the subject as it is treated in The Urantia Book. It is actually a more elusive subject than one might think at first glance.

In this following quote we find the first mention of the will of God:

p25:6 1:3.6 In the universes God the Father is, in potential, the overcontroller of matter, mind, and spirit. Only by means of his far-flung personality circuit does God deal directly with the personalities of his vast creation of will creatures, but he is contactable (outside of Paradise) only in the presences of his fragmented entities, the will of God abroad in the universes. This Paradise spirit that indwells the minds of the mortals of time and there fosters the evolution of the immortal soul of the surviving creature is of the nature and divinity of the Universal Father. But the minds of such evolutionary creatures originate in the local universes and must gain divine perfection by achieving those experiential transformations of spiritual attainment which are the inevitable result of a creature's choosing to do the will of the Father in heaven.

This quote explains that the will of God is present in our world, but it exists only in the Spirit of God which indwells all normal-minded mortals. The good Spirit actually IS God, and is our only means of contacting God outside of Paradise . This is a wonderful and reassuring truth - that God actually DOES indwell our minds, and through our own efforts, we can use this indwelling presence to progressively discern the will of God.

This following quote further explains just how we, as mortals of earthly origin, grow to adopt the leadings of the indwelling Spirit, the "will of God," thereby achieving ultimate eternal survival. When we choose to be led by the Spirit-within, we then create that indestructible entity known as the soul, which is the very part of us that survives.

p26:1 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.

Although you did not specifically ask, I thought you might like to have further information regarding the will of God - for example, how the will of God is discerned and performed in a human life. How do we actually DO the will of God?

These quotes may give you some direction and encouragement:

p1221:2 111:5.1 The doing of the will of God is nothing more or less than an exhibition of creature willingness to share the inner life with Godâ€”with the very God who has made such a creature life of inner meaning-value possible. Sharing is Godlikeâ€”divine. God shares all with the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit, while they, in turn, share all things with the divine Sons and spirit Daughters of the universes.

p1221:3 111:5.2 The imitation of God is the key to perfection; the doing of his will is the secret of survival and of perfection in survival.

p1221:7 111:5.6 This choosing of the Father's will is the spiritual finding of the spirit Father by mortal man, even though an age must pass before the creature son may actually stand in the factual presence of God on Paradise. This choosing does not so much consist in the negation of creature willâ€”"Not my will but yours be done"â€”as it consists in the creature's positive affirmation: "It is my will that your will be done."

So, we can now see that the "will of God" is truly an "inside job." The will of God exists in the form of the indwelling Spirit of God in the minds of mortals (known in Urantia Book teachings as the Thought Adjuster, or Mystery Monitor), and the finding and doing of that will consists in sharing that inner life - the life apart from the purely mechanical function of the brain - the life of the mind, and in the arena of free will. In other words, it is our mandate to choose, of our own free will, to do the will of God, allowing the leadings of the indwelling Spirit to inform our choices in life.

Finally, I chose the following quotes to give you an even broader view of the function of the will of God in the mind of man.

p138:2 12:7.7 The will of God does not uniformly prevail in the heart of the God-seeking material mortal, but if the time frame is enlarged beyond the moment to embrace the whole of the first life, then does God's will become increasingly discernible in the spirit fruits which are borne in the lives of the spirit-led children of God.

p382:6 34:7.6 ... present-day mortals would experience less of this apparent warfare between the flesh and the spirit if they would enter the spirit kingdom, wherein the faith sons of God enjoy comparative deliverance from the slave-bondage of the flesh in the enlightened and liberating service of wholehearted devotion to doing the will of the Father in heaven.

p435:7 39:4.14 The keys of the kingdom of heaven are: sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity. All men have these keys. Men use themâ€”advance in spirit statusâ€”by decisions, by more decisions, and by more decisions. The highest moral choice is the choice of the highest possible value, and alwaysâ€”in any sphere, in all of themâ€”this is to choose to do the will of God. If man thus chooses, he is great, though he be the humblest citizen of Jerusem or even the least of mortals on Urantia.

p1176:4 107:0.4 Any mortal who has seen a Creator Son has seen the Universal Father, and he who is indwelt by a divine Adjuster is indwelt by the Paradise Father. Every mortal who is consciously or unconsciously following the leading of his indwelling Adjuster is living in accordance with the will of God. Consciousness of Adjuster presence is consciousness of God's presence.

Thank you for this most interesting question. I hope the answer has been helpful to you.

Sincerely,

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: God's Will, inner life, kingdom of heaven, Mary Jo, soul, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

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Saturday, February 03, 2007

Evil, Sin and Iniquity

Q: I do not understand how evil can still exist, once you attain a certain level (example - Lucifer) so, my question is, if I continue through my levels of existence, can I still do bad? And won't that prevent me from going further?

A: Thank you so much for this question. I hear in your question a bit of uneasiness, that maybe you are somehow going to be stopped in your eternal journey because evil is going to always be with you. Lucifer, a high Son of God, was influenced by evil, so how can you - a mere mortal - ever be free from it?

I have copied off the following discourse in the words of Jesus for you to look over. He mentions Lucifer (not by name, but you'll recognize him), and you will notice that there are three separate areas of separation from the Father - evil, sin, and iniquity - and they are quite different from each other.

4. EVIL, SIN, AND INIQUITY
p1659:8 148:4.1 It was the habit of Jesus two evenings each week to hold special converse with individuals who desired to talk with him, in a certain secluded and sheltered corner of the Zebedee garden. At one of these evening conversations in private Thomas asked the Master this question: "Why is it necessary for men to be born of the spirit in order to enter the kingdom? Is rebirth necessary to escape the control of the evil one? Master, what is evil?" When Jesus heard these questions, he said to Thomas:
p1660:1 148:4.2 "Do not make the mistake of confusing evil with the evil one, more correctly the iniquitous one. He whom you call the evil one is the son of self-love, the high administrator who knowingly went into deliberate rebellion against the rule of my Father and his loyal Sons. But I have already vanquished these sinful rebels. Make clear in your mind these different attitudes toward the Father and his universe. Never forget these laws of relation to the Father's will:

p1660:2 148:4.3 "Evil is the unconscious or unintended transgression of the divine law, the Father's will. Evil is likewise the measure of the imperfectness of obedience to the Father's will.

p1660:3 148:4.4 "Sin is the conscious, knowing, and deliberate transgression of the divine law, the Father's will. Sin is the measure of unwillingness to be divinely led and spiritually directed.

p1660:4 148:4.5 "Iniquity is the willful, determined, and persistent transgression of the divine law, the Father's will. Iniquity is the measure of the continued rejection of the Father's loving plan of personality survival and the Sons' merciful ministry of salvation.

p1660:5 148:4.6 "By nature, before the rebirth of the spirit, mortal man is subject to inherent evil tendencies, but such natural imperfections of behavior are neither sin nor iniquity. Mortal man is just beginning his long ascent to the perfection of the Father in Paradise. To be imperfect or partial in natural endowment is not sinful. Man is indeed subject to evil, but he is in no sense the child of the evil one unless he has knowingly and deliberately chosen the paths of sin and the life of iniquity. Evil is inherent in the natural order of this world, but sin is an attitude of conscious rebellion which was brought to this world by those who fell from spiritual light into gross darkness.

p1660:7 148:4.8 "Men are, indeed, by nature evil, but not necessarily sinful. The new birthâ€”the baptism of the spiritâ€”is essential to deliverance from evil and necessary for entrance into the kingdom of heaven, but none of this detracts from the fact that man is the son of God. Neither does this inherent presence of potential evil mean that man is in some mysterious way estranged from the Father in heaven so that, as an alien, foreigner, or stepchild, he must in some manner seek for legal adoption by the Father. All such notions are born, first, of your misunderstanding of the Father and, second, of your ignorance of the origin, nature, and destiny of man.

p1660:8 148:4.9 "The Greeks and others have taught you that man is descending from godly perfection steadily down toward oblivion or destruction; I have come to show that man, by entrance into the kingdom, is ascending certainly and surely up to God and divine perfection. Any being who in any manner falls short of the divine and spiritual ideals of the eternal Father's will is potentially evil, but such beings are in no sense sinful, much less iniquitous.

p1661:1 148:4.10 "Thomas, have you not read about this in the Scriptures, where it is written: `You are the children of the Lord your God.' `I will be his Father and he shall be my son.' `I have chosen him to be my sonâ€”I will be his Father.' `Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth; even every one who is called by my name, for I have created them for my glory.' `You are the sons of the living God.' `They who have the spirit of God are indeed the sons of God.' While there is a material part of the human father in the natural child, there is a spiritual part of the heavenly Father in every faith son of the kingdom."

I think you can see now, that Lucifer, far from being simply evil, was supremely sinful and iniquitous. And all this arose from his own mind. Likewise, we mortals sin, too. But once we have been born of the Spirit, and we know we are sons of God, our days of real sinning are over, if we are truly sincere in our faith. Wouldn't you agree? Sin is a conscious act - a deliberate transgression against God, and one would have to be pretty insincere in their commitment to God to keep it up for very long...

If we choose to embrace sin, after having been born of the Spirit, then we alone are responsible for the consequences, and that certainly could mean a blockage in our upward and inward journey to the Father if we don't mend our ways.

In my opinion, it becomes difficult to imagine how anyone who truly knows the love of the Father could keep on committing this or that sin, if they know it is an offense against love. Righteousness demands a change. I am sure you have experienced this, as have so many of our brothers and sisters. Speaking just for myself, once I experience the realization that something I am doing is not right, I want to change that behavior, because I know it is against God's will for me, and it gives me a bad conscience. But evil - unconscious transgression - is something we all live with, to a relative degree. We just have to keep trying to overcome as best we can, by staying close to the Father, and by listening to the "still, small voice" that tells us the right thing to do.

Now that you understand this issue, I hope you feel better...nothing can prevent you from progressing eternally unless you decide otherwise, and I sense from your letter that you are a sincere person, and not likely to go that route!

Thanks so much for writing.

Sincerely,

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: evil, iniquity, Lucifer, Mary Jo, sin, The Urantia Book

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Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Authority To Perform Sacramental Ordinances

Q: If we do not belong to any religious organisation, how can we receive the most important ordinances - baptism, sacrament partaking, priesthood, redemption of the dead (see book of Mormon) etc.? Is there any religion acording to Urantia book who bears true authority to perform these ordinances on Earth?

A: You asked if you don't belong to a religious organization how can you participate in sacrament partaking and the priesthood. You can't -- those are privileges of belonging to a religious organization. If they're important to you then you need to participate and become a member.

According to The Urantia Book, the ordinances you mention are human in design and not divine; their spiritual significance is derived through the significance we afford them. They're rituals and symbols that give meaning to us at significant events but there's nothing intrinsically spiritual about them.

Thank you for your question.

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

A: I hope you will not mind having another perspective on your question...I have a few additional observations regarding the development of rites and rituals which you might find useful.

I agree with you that big transitions in life, such as marriage, baptism, and funerals are important, and that they are enhanced and illuminated by having rituals and celebrations attached to them. They help us to make visible the joy and meaning we feel as a result of the Father's invisible ministry. It seems to me that we should be free to develop new and improved rites that have particular meaning to us in this modern age.

None of these rituals are of a legal nature, except for marriage, which does have to be a legal affair. The others - baptism and funerals - are not legalistic events, as Larry has pointed out, and can be performed by anyone, really.

In the past few years, several Urantia Book reader/believers have taken the trouble to become ministers - some are already ministers of particular religions, but some have just earned on-line ministry ordinations, which are easy to obtain, and which are valid in most states of the union. I myself have done this, and as a result, have performed several weddings for Urantia friends over the years.

The rituals themselves can be developed by the participants, and presided over by the ordained minister. Just because the rites are not sanctioned by an organized church does not invalidate their authority or authenticity. It is the attitude and intention of the participants that make the rites meaningful, don't you agree?

In the case of marriage, any ordained minister can perform the service, and, as I said above, even an on-line ministry certificate is valid in most states. The marriage of two iindividuals does not even HAVE TO be legal, but most people do want that, especially if they are young, and intend to have children.

As for the sacrament of communion, most Urantia Book readers adopt the re-enactment of the Last Supper as depicted in The Urantia Book, and this is a refreshing and new way to celebrate "communion."

I hope this has been helpful to you...

Sincerely,

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: Larry Watkins, Mary Jo, ministers, rites, rituals, sacraments, The Urantia Book

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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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Friday, December 15, 2006

Fall From Grace

Q: I believe in God and have been brought up in a christian home but fell from grace. I still sin all the time and ask for forgiveness.
Will I still go to heaven even if I continue to fall?

A: Each religion and even each sect within a religion has its own
teachings about sin so this can be a confusing topic but it is one that The
Urantia Book clears up profoundly by making two things ever so clear. One
is that we mortal beings are fallible, we make mistakes, we sin, and we
learn. That's the way God has created us; therefore God doesn't hold it
against us that we make mistakes or that we sin because that's natural
for us. The second observation is that this life in the flesh is just
the first rung on a long ladder to perfection and that all that's
required to stay on the ladder and to progress rung by rung is even just a
small flicker of faith, a belief in God or in something higher than
ourselves.

That said, when you are tempted to do something you know is wrong or
beneath you don't do it -- doing something you know to be wrong is sinful,
a giant step above mere evil. Asking for forgiveness is always a good thing.
Recall Jesus' words that pertain to just about every situation, "fear
not". God has provided the ascension scheme just so beings like you and
I can become perfected over time; it's part of the plan that we will
participate even though we begin so imperfect.

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 along with a beautiful and inspiring image, a great way to
start one's day as well as to begin to understand the teachings of the
book. To subscribe go to the upper right corner of our home page, click
on Quote of the Day and follow the instructions.

Thank you for your question.

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

I hope you won't mind one more point of view on your question to Truthbook.

What I read in your question is something that seems to be epidemic in our world - and that something is - fear of God.

I know that in traditional religions, and even in the Bible, we are told that we must have "fear of the Lord," and it seems to me to be a very unfortunate choice of words. I would rather prefer "respect." And dare I say? I think that God would prefer that, also.

The Urantia Book offers modern mankind a new and expanded concept of God - not as a judge, not as someone who is watching for us to slip up - but as a loving, always loving Father.

I heartily invite you to read the first few papers of the Urantia Book regarding the Universal Father. I guarantee that you will feel much better in evaluating your own "fall from grace." I invite you to imagine the perfect earthly father - someone who is always loving, always forgiving, always understanding of your shortcomings and frailties. A father who never condemns, but who is always ready to comfort you in your shame when you feel you have fallen short of his expectations for you.

If you can imagine a human Father being that good, try to imagine the Divine Father, who must be all of that and much, much more.

As Larry has so well pointed out, it is part of the Father's plan that we are "perfecting," but not perfect. God understands, and his love binds up every wound and every hurt we may inflict on ourselves in the way of guilt and shame. It is not his plan that we should harbor these abiding feelings about ourselves. And neither should we be over-scrupulous when evaluating the degrees of our oun sinfulness, imagining that we are worse than we actually are.

A sense of having done something wrong is healthy, and remorse is a good thing, along with resolve to not repeat the offense. If you truly feel you are sinning too much, simply quit whatever you do that seems sinful to you, and ask God to fill that space with his love and with a better idea. Then forgive yourself, for God has already forgiven you.

It also might be of interest to you to read what Jesus has to say about the subjects of "evil, sin, and iniquity," found in Paper 148, section 4. Page 1660.

And again - please read the first few papers of Part I of the Urantia Book to get a boost of happiness about God, and his loving relationship with you, and all of humanity. It is guanteed to ease your fear and give you peace about God!

Take heart!

Sincerely,

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: ascension, Christian, fear of God, forgiveness, grace, Larry Watkins, Mary Jo, religion, 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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Who is Lucifer?

Who is Lucifer?

There is much misunderstanding on Urantia regarding Lucifer, and the Urantia Book gives us a clear picture of this fallen and disgraced Son of God. To begin with:

LUCIFER WAS A BRILLIANT primary Lanonandek Son of Nebadon. He had experienced service in many systems, had been a high counselor of his group, and was distinguished for wisdom, sagacity, and efficiency. Lucifer was number 37 of his order, and when commissioned by the Melchizedeks, he was designated as one of the one hundred most able and brilliant personalities in more than seven hundred thousand of his kind. From such a magnificent beginning, through evil and error, he embraced sin and now is numbered as one of three System Sovereigns in Nebadon who have succumbed to the urge of self and surrendered to the sophistry of spurious personal libertyâ€”rejection of universe allegiance and disregard of fraternal obligations, blindness to cosmic relationships.

Lucifer was a System Sovereign. To better understand Lucifer's role in the one-time administration of our world, it might be helpful to know what the role of a System Sovereign is:

p392:1 35:8.1 After the creation of the Vorondadeks, the Creator Son and the Universe Mother Spirit unite for the purpose of bringing into existence the third order of universe sonship, the Lanonandeks. Although occupied with varied tasks connected with the system administrations, they are best known as System Sovereigns, the rulers of the local systems, and as Planetary Princes, the administrative heads of the inhabited worlds.

p392:15 35:8.9 Since Lanonandeks are a somewhat lower order of sonship than the Melchizedeks and the Vorondadeks, they are of even greater service in the subordinate units of the universe, for they are capable of drawing nearer the lower creatures of the intelligent races. They also stand in greater danger of going astray, of departing from the acceptable technique of universe government. But these Lanonandeks, especially the primary order, are the most able and versatile of all local universe administrators. In executive ability they are excelled only by Gabriel and his unrevealed associates.

Here is more information about Lucifer:

p601:3 53:1.1 Lucifer was not an ascendant being; he was a created Son of the local universe, and of him it was said: "You were perfect in all your ways from the day you were created till unrighteousness was found in you."

p601:4 53:1.2 Lucifer was a magnificent being, a brilliant personality; he stood next to the Most High Fathers of the constellations in the direct line of universe authority. Notwithstanding Lucifer's transgression, subordinate intelligences refrained from showing him disrespect and disdain prior to Michael's bestowal on Urantia. Even the archangel of Michael, at the time of Moses' resurrection, "did not bring against him an accusing judgment but simply said, `the Judge rebuke you.'" Judgment in such matters belongs to the Ancients of Days, the rulers of the superuniverse.

p601:5 53:1.3 Lucifer is now the fallen and deposed Sovereign of Satania. Self-contemplation is most disastrous, even to the exalted personalities of the celestial world. Of Lucifer it was said: "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your brightness." Your olden prophet saw his sad estate when he wrote: "How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cast down, you who dared to confuse the worlds!"

Because Lucifer was such a high spirit being, he delegated authority, as do all executives. In Lucifer's case, he delegated much of his authority on this planet to a very familiar figure: Satan. In fact, this system, of which our planet is a part, was given the name Satania, in honor of this selfsame Satan. This name was given before the rebellion, however, when Satan was still loyal to the Father. Thus, the name "Satania" has no sinister meaning, once this fact is understood.
In addition, there is another familiar name associated with this archrebel: Beelzebub. The folowing quote delineates the differences between these evil spirit beings:

p602:1 53:1.4 Very little was heard of Lucifer on Urantia owing to the fact that he assigned his first lieutenant, Satan, to advocate his cause on your planet. Satan was a member of the same primary group of Lanonandeks but had never functioned as a System Sovereign; he entered fully into the Lucifer insurrection. The "devil" is none other than Caligastia, the deposed Planetary Prince of Urantia and a Son of the secondary order of Lanonandeks. At the time Michael was on Urantia in the flesh, Lucifer, Satan, and Caligastia were leagued together to effect the miscarriage of his bestowal mission. But they signally failed.

p602:2 53:1.5 Abaddon was the chief of the staff of Caligastia. He followed his master into rebellion and has ever since acted as chief executive of the Urantia rebels. Beelzebub was the leader of the disloyal midway creatures who allied themselves with the forces of the traitorous Caligastia.

p602:3 53:1.6 The dragon eventually became the symbolic representation of all these evil personages. Upon the triumph of Michael, "Gabriel came down from Salvington and bound the dragon (all the rebel leaders) for an age." Of the Jerusem seraphic rebels it is written: "And the angels who kept not their first estate but left their own habitation, he has reserved in sure chains of darkness to the judgment of the great day."

I doubt whether any account of Lucifer can be complete without an examination of exactly why and how this magnificent being created such a world-changing event known as "the Lucifer rebellion." The following quotes will illuminate the nature of this terrible event:

p602:4 53:2.1 Lucifer and his first assistant, Satan, had reigned on Jerusem for more than five hundred thousand years when in their hearts they began to array themselves against the Universal Father and his then vicegerent Son, Michael.

p602:5 53:2.2 There were no peculiar or special conditions in the system of Satania which suggested or favored rebellion. It is our belief that the idea took origin and form in Lucifer's mind, and that he might have instigated such a rebellion no matter where he might have been stationed. Lucifer first announced his plans to Satan, but it required several months to corrupt the mind of his able and brilliant associate. However, when once converted to the rebel theories, he became a bold and earnest advocate of "self-assertion and liberty."

p602:6 53:2.3 No one ever suggested rebellion to Lucifer. The idea of self-assertion in opposition to the will of Michael and to the plans of the Universal Father, as they are represented in Michael, had its origin in his own mind. His relations with the Creator Son had been intimate and always cordial. At no time prior to the exaltation of his own mind did Lucifer openly express dissatisfaction about the universe administration. Notwithstanding his silence, for more than one hundred years of standard time the Union of Days on Salvington had been reflectivating to Uversa that all was not at peace in Lucifer's mind. This information was also communicated to the Creator Son and the Constellation Fathers of Norlatiadek.

p602:7 53:2.4 Throughout this period Lucifer became increasingly critical of the entire plan of universe administration but always professed wholehearted loyalty to the Supreme Rulers. His first outspoken disloyalty was manifested on the occasion of a visit of Gabriel to Jerusem just a few days before the open proclamation of the Lucifer Declaration of Liberty. Gabriel was so profoundly impressed with the certainty of the impending outbreak that he went direct to Edentia to confer with the Constellation Fathers regarding the measures to be employed in case of open rebellion.

The Lucifer Manifesto

p603:2 53:3.1 Whatever the early origins of trouble in the hearts of Lucifer and Satan, the final outbreak took form as the Lucifer Declaration of Liberty. The cause of the rebels was stated under three heads:

p603:3 53:3. 1. The reality of the Universal Father. Lucifer charged that the Universal Father did not really exist, that physical gravity and space-energy were inherent in the universe, and that the Father was a myth invented by the Paradise Sons to enable them to maintain the rule of the universes in the Father's name. He denied that personality was a gift of the Universal Father.

p603:4 53:3.3 2. The universe government of the Creator Sonâ€”Michael. Lucifer contended that the local systems should be autonomous. He protested against the right of Michael, the Creator Son, to assume sovereignty of Nebadon in the name of a hypothetical Paradise Father and require all personalities to acknowledge allegiance to this unseen Father. He asserted that the whole plan of worship was a clever scheme to aggrandize the Paradise Sons. He was willing to acknowledge Michael as his Creator-father but not as his God and rightful ruler.

p603:5 53:3.4 Most bitterly did he attack the right of the Ancients of Daysâ€”"foreign potentates"â€”to interfere in the affairs of the local systems and universes. These rulers he denounced as tyrants and usurpers. He exhorted his followers to believe that none of these rulers could do aught to interfere with the operation of complete home rule if men and angels only had the courage to assert themselves and boldly claim their rights. p603:6 53:3.5 He contended that the executioners of the Ancients of Days could be debarred from functioning in the local systems if the native beings would only assert their independence. He maintained that immortality was inherent in the system personalities, that resurrection was natural and automatic, and that all beings would live eternally except for the arbitrary and unjust acts of the executioners of the Ancients of Days.

p604:1 53:3.6 3.The attack upon the universal plan of ascendant mortal training. Lucifer maintained that far too much time and energy were expended upon the scheme of so thoroughly training ascending mortals in the principles of universe administration, principles which he alleged were unethical and unsound. He protested against the agelong program for preparing the mortals of space for some unknown destiny and pointed to the presence of the finaliter corps on Jerusem as proof that these mortals had spent ages of preparation for some destiny of pure fiction. With derision he pointed out that the finaliters had encountered a destiny no more glorious than to be returned to humble spheres similar to those of their origin. He intimated that they had been debauched by overmuch discipline and prolonged training, and that they were in reality traitors to their mortal fellows since they were now co-operating with the scheme of enslaving all creation to the fictions of a mythical eternal destiny for ascending mortals. He advocated that ascenders should enjoy the liberty of individual self-determination. He challenged and condemned the entire plan of mortal ascension as sponsored by the Paradise Sons of God and supported by the Infinite Spirit.

p604:2 53:3.7 And it was with such a Declaration of Liberty that Lucifer launched his orgy of darkness and death.

In effect, Lucifer was denying the existence of God, and claiming for himself the loyalty and fealty that rightfully belongs to God. He was denigrating the eternal plans of the Universal Father to the beings for whom he was responsible as a sovereign and ambassador of the Eternal Father, essentially disenfranchising them from the reality of God and the chance to take part in the plan of eternal life. Lucifer's clarion call was "personal liberty:"

p604:3 53:4.1 The Lucifer manifesto was issued at the annual conclave of Satania on the sea of glass, in the presence of the assembled hosts of Jerusem, on the last day of the year, about two hundred thousand years ago, Urantia time. Satan proclaimed that worship could be accorded the universal forcesâ€”physical, intellectual, and spiritualâ€”but that allegiance could be acknowledged only to the actual and present ruler, Lucifer, the "friend of men and angels" and the "God of liberty."

p604:4 53:4.2 Self-assertion was the battle cry of the Lucifer rebellion. One of his chief arguments was that, if self-government was good and right for the Melchizedeks and other groups, it was equally good for all orders of intelligence. He was bold and persistent in the advocacy of the "equality of mind" and "the brotherhood of intelligence." He maintained that all government should be limited to the local planets and their voluntary confederation into the local systems

p605:1 53:4.4 While there had been two previous rebellions in Nebadon, they were in distant constellations. Lucifer held that these insurrections were unsuccessful because the majority of the intelligences failed to follow their leaders. He contended that "majorities rule," that "mind is infallible."

In time, the rebellion was finally confined to the system of Satania:

p605:4 53:4.7 Lucifer was permitted fully to establish and thoroughly to organize his rebel government before Gabriel made any effort to contest the right of secession or to counterwork the rebel propaganda. But the Constellation Fathers immediately confined the action of these disloyal personalities to the system of Satania. Nevertheless, this period of delay was a time of great trial and testing to the loyal beings of all Satania. All was chaotic for a few years, and there was great confusion on the mansion worlds.

The "War in Heaven:"

p606:2 53:5.6 "There was war in heaven; Michael's commander and his angels fought against the dragon (Lucifer, Satan, and the apostate princes); and the dragon and his rebellious angels fought but prevailed not." This "war in heaven" was not a physical battle as such a conflict might be conceived on Urantia. In the early days of the struggle Lucifer held forth continuously in the planetary amphitheater. Gabriel conducted an unceasing exposure of the rebel sophistries from his headquarters taken up near at hand. The various personalities present on the sphere who were in doubt as to their attitude would journey back and forth between these discussions until they arrived at a final decision.

p606:3 53:5.7 But this war in heaven was very terrible and very real. While displaying none of the barbarities so characteristic of physical warfare on the immature worlds, this conflict was far more deadly; material life is in jeopardy in material combat, but the war in heaven was fought in terms of life eternal.

While there was a war in Heaven, here on earth much damage was being done, and evil seeds were being planted in the minds of our less-developed and primitive ancestors. Our Planetary Prince at that time, Caligastia, was in league with Lucifer and Satan, and this misguided ruler did all he could to lead the peoples of the earth into this plan, promising "liberty." This is a legacy which has borne dire consequences for all succeeding generations, including the one in which we find ourselves.

p607:3 53:7.2 Throughout this period Caligastia was advocating the cause of Lucifer on Urantia. The Melchizedeks ably opposed the apostate Planetary Prince, but the sophistries of unbridled liberty and the delusions of self-assertion had every opportunity for deceiving the primitive peoples of a young and undeveloped world.

Why didn't God put a stop to this rebellion? Why was this archrebel permitted to execute his scheme, and mislead and deceive so many evolving planets of mortals - over 600 of them in the Satania System?

p615:3 54:3.1 The moral will creatures of the evolutionary worlds are always bothered with the unthinking question as to why the all-wise Creators permit evil and sin. They fail to comprehend that both are inevitable if the creature is to be truly free. The free will of evolving man or exquisite angel is not a mere philosophic concept, a symbolic ideal. Man's ability to choose good or evil is a universe reality. This liberty to choose for oneself is an endowment of the Supreme Rulers, and they will not permit any being or group of beings to deprive a single personality in the wide universe of this divinely bestowed libertyâ€”not even to satisfy such misguided and ignorant beings in the enjoyment of this misnamed personal liberty.

p615:4 54:3.2 Although conscious and wholehearted identification with evil (sin) is the equivalent of nonexistence (annihilation), there must always intervene between the time of such personal identification with sin and the execution of the penaltyâ€”the automatic result of such a willful embrace of evilâ€”a period of time of sufficient length to allow for such an adjudication of such an individual's universe status as will prove entirely satisfactory to all related universe personalities, and which will be so fair and just as to win the approval of the sinner himself.

p615:5 54:3.3 But if this universe rebel against the reality of truth and goodness refuses to approve the verdict, and if the guilty one knows in his heart the justice of his condemnation but refuses to make such confession, then must the execution of sentence be delayed in accordance with the discretion of the Ancients of Days. And the Ancients of Days refuse to annihilate any being until all moral values and all spiritual realities are extinct, both in the evildoer and in all related supporters and possible sympathizers.

p615:6 54:4.1 Another problem somewhat difficult of explanation in the constellation of Norlatiadek pertains to the reasons for permitting Lucifer, Satan, and the fallen princes to work mischief so long before being apprehended, interned, and adjudicated.

p616:1 54:4.2 Parents, those who have borne and reared children, are better able to understand why Michael, a Creator-father, might be slow to condemn and destroy his own Sons. Jesus' story of the prodigal son well illustrates how a loving father can long wait for the repentance of an erring child.

p616:2 54:4.3 The very fact that an evil-doing creature can actually choose to do wrongâ€”commit sinâ€”establishes the fact of free-willness and fully justifies any length delay in the execution of justice provided the extended mercy might conduce to repentance and rehabilitation.

p616:3 54:4.4 Most of the liberties which Lucifer sought he already had; others he was to receive in the future. All these precious endowments were lost by giving way to impatience and yielding to a desire to possess what one craves now and to possess it in defiance of all obligation to respect the rights and liberties of all other beings composing the universe of universes. Ethical obligations are innate, divine, and universal.

Even with this blatant and far-reaching rebellion - the outright defiance of the Universal Father - God's mercy was a factor in the progress, and outcome of the rebellion:

p616:5 54:4.6 Supreme justice can act instantly when not restrained by divine mercy. But the ministry of mercy to the children of time and space always provides for this time lag, this saving interval between seedtime and harvest. If the seed sowing is good, this interval provides for the testing and upbuilding of character; if the seed sowing is evil, this merciful delay provides time for repentance and rectification. This time delay in the adjudication and execution of evildoers is inherent in the mercy ministry of the seven superuniverses. This restraint of justice by mercy proves that God is love, and that such a God of love dominates the universes and in mercy controls the fate and judgment of all his creatures.

p616:7 54:4.8 But these mercy delays are not interminable. Notwithstanding the long delay (as time is reckoned on Urantia) in adjudicating the Lucifer rebellion, we may record that, during the time of effecting this revelation, the first hearing in the pending case of Gabriel vs. Lucifer was held on Uversa, and soon thereafter there issued the mandate of the Ancients of Days directing that Satan be henceforth confined to the prison world with Lucifer. This ends the ability of Satan to pay further visits to any of the fallen worlds of Satania. Justice in a mercy-dominated universe may be slow, but it is certain.

The legacy of the Lucifer rebellion on our planet is still having repercussions on our world. A quick read of the newspaper headlines can illustrate this point. Everywhere there is self-assertion - wars are fought and millions slaughtered in the name of self-assertion by governments and individuals. "I am right and you are wrong." Greed and avarice are rife, while the needy and downtrodden are ignored. The "me first" idea runs rampant in devious business practices. And worst of all, there is still disbelief in the reality of God. These are all remnants of the Lucifer rebellion.

p618:4 54:6.1 Whatever the difficulties evolutionary mortals may encounter in their efforts to understand the Lucifer rebellion, it should be clear to all reflective thinkers that the technique of dealing with the rebels is a vindication of divine love. The loving mercy extended to the rebels does seem to have involved many innocent beings in trials and tribulations, but all these distraught personalities may securely depend upon the all-wise Judges to adjudicate their destinies in mercy as well as justice.

p618:5 54:6.2 In all their dealings with intelligent beings, both the Creator Son and his Paradise Father are love dominated. It is impossible to comprehend many phases of the attitude of the universe rulers toward rebels and rebellionâ€”sin and sinnersâ€”unless it be remembered that God as a Father takes precedence over all other phases of Deity manifestation in all the dealings of divinity with humanity. It should also be recalled that the Paradise Creator Sons are all mercy motivated.

We are still paying a price for the sins of this former administration. Many have suffered and continue to suffer - either as misguided adherents to the false promise of "personal liberty," or as a result of the infliction of such unworthy ideas and practices on others. But The Urantia Book teaches us that even so, we still have our free will intact, and we are not going to be eternally bothered by this harmful episode in our distant history.

p618:6 54:6.3 If an affectionate father of a large family chooses to show mercy to one of his children guilty of grievous wrongdoing, it may well be that the extension of mercy to this misbehaving child will work a temporary hardship upon all the other and well-behaved children. Such eventualities are inevitable; such a risk is inseparable from the reality situation of having a loving parent and of being a member of a family group. Each member of a family profits by the righteous conduct of every other member; likewise must each member suffer the immediate time-consequences of the misconduct of every other member. Families, groups, nations, races, worlds, systems, constellations, and universes are relationships of association which possess individuality; and therefore does every member of any such group, large or small, reap the benefits and suffer the consequences of the rightdoing and the wrongdoing of all other members of the group concerned.

p619:1 54:6.4 But one thing should be made clear: If you are made to suffer the evil consequences of the sin of some member of your family, some fellow citizen or fellow mortal, even rebellion in the system or elsewhereâ€”no matter what you may have to endure because of the wrongdoing of your associates, fellows, or superiorsâ€”you may rest secure in the eternal assurance that such tribulations are transient afflictions. None of these fraternal consequences of misbehavior in the group can ever jeopardize your eternal prospects or in the least degree deprive you of your divine right of Paradise ascension and God attainment.

p620:1 54:6.9 One error of human thinking respecting these problems consists in the idea that all evolutionary mortals on an evolving planet would choose to enter upon the Paradise career if sin had not cursed their world. The ability to decline survival does not date from the times of the Lucifer rebellion. Mortal man has always possessed the endowment of freewill choice regarding the Paradise career.

In spite of the ravages of the Lucifer rebellion, there is much good on our world, and the good keeps growing. Over the intervening millenia, goodness has gradually overcome many of the effects of the rebellion, and good continues to accrue. As for the present time, you may be comforted to know the following:

p619:3 54:6.6 At first the Lucifer upheaval appeared to be an unmitigated calamity to the system and to the universe. Gradually benefits began to accrue. With the passing of twenty-five thousand years of system time (twenty thousand years of Urantia time), the Melchizedeks began to teach that the good resulting from Lucifer's folly had come to equal the evil incurred. The sum of evil had by that time become almost stationary, continuing to increase only on certain isolated worlds, while the beneficial repercussions continued to multiply and extend out through the universe and superuniverse, even to Havona. The Melchizedeks now teach that the good resulting from the Satania rebellion is more than a thousand times the sum of all the evil.

I hope that this accounting of Lucifer, and the history of his deeds, will help you to understand better why this once-beautiful being is now hated and feared by so many, and why the name "Lucifer" is now rightly seen as the embodiment of the devil himself.

Thank you for this most important question.

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: goodness, Lucifer, Lucifer Manifesto, Lucifer Rebellion, Mary Jo, mercy, Satan, Satania, System Sovereign, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, October 26, 2006

What does the Urantia Book say about hell and judgment day?

Q: What does the Urantia Book say about hell and judgment day?

A: The Urantia Book does not teach the existence of a place called "hell." There is no place of eternal fire for the erring children of God. However, here are several quotes that illustrate the beginnings of the concept of hell, and its subsequent growth in human history:

The Death Survival Concept

p953:6 86:4.7 Early man entertained no ideas of hell or future punishment. The savage looked upon the future life as just like this one, minus all ill luck. Later on, a separate destiny for good ghosts and bad ghostsâ€”heaven and hellâ€”was conceived. But since many primitive races believed that man entered the next life just as he left this one, they did not relish the idea of becoming old and decrepit. The aged much preferred to be killed before becoming too infirm.

p953:7 86:4.8 Almost every group had a different idea regarding the destiny of the ghost soul. The Greeks believed that weak men must have weak souls; so they invented Hades as a fit place for the reception of such anemic souls; these unrobust specimens were also supposed to have shorter shadows. The early Andites thought their ghosts returned to the ancestral homelands. The Chinese and Egyptians once believed that soul and body remained together. Among the Egyptians this led to careful tomb construction and efforts at body preservation. Even modern peoples seek to arrest the decay of the dead. The Hebrews conceived that a phantom replica of the individual went down to Sheol; it could not return to the land of the living. They did make that important advance in the doctrine of the evolution of the soul.

The Concept Of Sin

p975:5 89:2.1 The fear of chance and the dread of bad luck literally drove man into the invention of primitive religion as supposed insurance against these calamities. From magic and ghosts, religion evolved through spirits and fetishes to taboos. Every primitive tribe had its tree of forbidden fruit, literally the apple but figuratively consisting of a thousand branches hanging heavy with all sorts of taboos. And the forbidden tree always said, "Thou shalt not."

p975:6 89:2.2 As the savage mind evolved to that point where it envisaged both good and bad spirits, and when the taboo received the solemn sanction of evolving religion, the stage was all set for the appearance of the new conception of sin. The idea of sin was universally established in the world before revealed religion ever made its entry. It was only by the concept of sin that natural death became logical to the primitive mind. Sin was the transgression of taboo, and death was the penalty of sin.

p975:7 89:2.3 Sin was ritual, not rational; an act, not a thought. And this entire concept of sin was fostered by the lingering traditions of Dilmun and the days of a little paradise on earth. The tradition of Adam and the Garden of Eden also lent substance to the dream of a onetime "golden age" of the dawn of the races. And all this confirmed the ideas later expressed in the belief that man had his origin in a special creation, that he started his career in perfection, and that transgression of the taboosâ€”sinâ€”brought him down to his later sorry plight.

p976:1 89:2.4 The habitual violation of a taboo became a vice; primitive law made vice a crime; religion made it a sin. Among the early tribes the violation of a taboo was a combined crime and sin. Community calamity was always regarded as punishment for tribal sin. To those who believed that prosperity and righteousness went together, the apparent prosperity of the wicked occasioned so much worry that it was necessary to invent hells for the punishment of taboo violators; the numbers of these places of future punishment have varied from one to five

p976:2 89:2.5 The idea of confession and forgiveness early appeared in primitive religion. Men would ask forgiveness at a public meeting for sins they intended to commit the following week. Confession was merely a rite of remission, also a public notification of defilement, a ritual of crying "unclean, unclean!" Then followed all the ritualistic schemes of purification. All ancient peoples practiced these meaningless ceremonies. Many apparently hygienic customs of the early tribes were largely ceremonial.

Early Egyptian Religion

p1045:2 95:2.9 When Melchizedek appeared in the flesh, the Egyptians had a religion far above that of the surrounding peoples. They believed that a disembodied soul, if properly armed with magic formulas, could evade the intervening evil spirits and make its way to the judgment hall of Osiris, where, if innocent of "murder, robbery, falsehood, adultery, theft, and selfishness," it would be admitted to the realms of bliss. If this soul were weighed in the balances and found wanting, it would be consigned to hell, to the Devouress. And this was, relatively, an advanced concept of a future life in comparison with the beliefs of many surrounding peoples.

p1045:3 95:2.10 The concept of judgment in the hereafter for the sins of one's life in the flesh on earth was carried over into Hebrew theology from Egypt. The word judgment appears only once in the entire Book of Hebrew Psalms, and that particular psalm was written by an Egyptian.

Zoroaster - The Salem Teachings In Iran.

p1050:2 95:6.6 The Jewish traditions of heaven and hell and the doctrine of devils as recorded in the Hebrew scriptures, while founded on the lingering traditions of Lucifer and Caligastia, were principally derived from the Zoroastrians during the times when the Jews were under the political and cultural dominance of the Persians. Zoroaster, like the Egyptians, taught the "day of judgment," but he connected this event with the end of the world.

p1050:3 95:6.7 Even the religion which succeeded Zoroastrianism in Persia was markedly influenced by it. When the Iranian priests sought to overthrow the teachings of Zoroaster, they resurrected the ancient worship of Mithra. And Mithraism spread throughout the Levant and Mediterranean regions, being for some time a contemporary of both Judaism and Christianity. The teachings of Zoroaster thus came successively to impress three great religions: Judaism and Christianity and, through them, Mohammedanism.

p1050:4 95:6.8 But it is a far cry from the exalted teachings and noble psalms of Zoroaster to the modern perversions of his gospel by the Parsees with their great fear of the dead, coupled with the entertainment of beliefs in sophistries which Zoroaster never stooped to countenance.

p1050:5 95:6.9 This great man was one of that unique group that sprang up in the sixth century before Christ to keep the light of Salem from being fully and finally extinguished as it so dimly burned to show man in his darkened world the path of light leading to everlasting

The idea of "judgment day," when it is thought that each one is to stand before God and be deemed worthy or unworthy for Heaven, is more real. But as the following quote illustrates, each person is seen as equal before God, and equally worthy of admission to the heavenly realms.

p1468:3 133:0.3 Said Jesus: "Though human beings differ in many ways, the one from another, before God and in the spiritual world all mortals stand on an equal footing. There are only two groups of mortals in the eyes of God: those who desire to do his will and those who do not. As the universe looks upon an inhabited world, it likewise discerns two great classes: those who know God and those who do not. Those who cannot know God are reckoned among the animals of any given realm. Mankind can appropriately be divided into many classes in accordance with differing qualifications, as they may be viewed physically, mentally, socially, vocationally, or morally, but as these different classes of mortals appear before the judgment bar of God, they stand on an equal footing; God is truly no respecter of persons."

The only thing that can keep a soul from progressing to Heaven is the final decision of that person to reject God's mercy, and his invitation to live forever. Every soul will be given an equal opportunity to accept or reject God's love. Those who do reject God, rather than going to a place of damnation, are extinquished as personality in all the universe. It is as though they never existed at all. But there is no place called hell for sinners.
Following are some quotes illustrating the importance of the spiritual life to mortals as far as survival after death is concerned:

From "God Is A Unversal Spirit:"
p25:6 1:3.6 In the universes God the Father is, in potential, the overcontroller of matter, mind, and spirit. Only by means of his far-flung personality circuit does God deal directly with the personalities of his vast creation of will creatures, but he is contactable (outside of Paradise) only in the presences of his fragmented entities, the will of God abroad in the universes. This Paradise spirit that indwells the minds of the mortals of time and there fosters the evolution of the immortal soul of the surviving creature is of the nature and divinity of the Universal Father. But the minds of such evolutionary creatures originate in the local universes and must gain divine perfection by achieving those experiential transformations of spiritual attainment which are the inevitable result of a creature's choosing to do the will of the Father in heaven.

p26:1 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.

From "The Goodness Of God:"
p41:6 2:6.8 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.

p42:1 2:6.9 Facing the world of personality, God is discovered to be a loving person; facing the spiritual world, he is a personal love; in religious experience he is both. Love identifies the volitional will of God. The goodness of God rests at the bottom of the divine free-willnessâ€”the universal tendency to love, show mercy, manifest patience, and minister forgiveness.

In general, humans who are of survivor status, but who have not made the ultimate decision to survive before their death, are numbered among the "sleeping survivors." Groups of these souls slumber peacefully until a resurrectional roll call is made.
Following are some quotes having to do with what might be thought of a real "judgment day." These are rare, and wonderful events - times when many, many souls are resurrected at once, rather than having been resurrected "on the third day." You can assume that each of these souls will, once reawakened, be given the same opportunity for survival as any other soul, before or since. And the desision of the soul itself will determine the soul's being judged worthy of eternal life.

Ascending Mortals

p341:1 30:4.4 2. Sleeping Survivors. All mortals of survival status, in the custody of personal guardians of destiny, pass through the portals of natural death and, on the third period, personalize on the mansion worlds. Those accredited beings who have, for any reason, been unable to attain that level of intelligence mastery and endowment of spirituality which would entitle them to personal guardians, cannot thus immediately and directly go to the mansion worlds. Such surviving souls must rest in unconscious sleep until the judgment day of a new epoch, a new dispensation, the coming of a Son of God to call the rolls of the age and adjudicate the realm, and this is the general practice throughout all Nebadon. It was said of Christ Michael that, when he ascended on high at the conclusion of his work on earth, "He led a great multitude of captives." And these captives were the sleeping survivors from the days of Adam to the day of the Master's resurrection on Urantia.

p341:2 30:4.5 The passing of time is of no moment to sleeping mortals; they are wholly unconscious and oblivious to the length of their rest. On reassembly of personality at the end of an age, those who have slept five thousand years will react no differently than those who have rested five days. Aside from this time delay these survivors pass on through the ascension regime identically with those who avoid the longer or shorter sleep of death.

p341:3 30:4.6 These dispensational classes of world pilgrims are utilized for group morontia activities in the work of the local universes. There is a great advantage in the mobilization of such enormous groups; they are thus kept together for long periods of effective service.

And this final quote illustrates the last dispensational resurrection, made by Jesus at the time of his ascension into Heaven following his resurrection from the tomb.

The Dispensational Resurrection

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

p2024:4 189:3.2 The circuit of the archangels then operated for the first time from Urantia. Gabriel and the archangel hosts moved to the place of the spiritual polarity of the planet; and when Gabriel gave the signal, there flashed to the first of the system mansion worlds the voice of Gabriel, saying: "By the mandate of Michael, let the dead of a Urantia dispensation rise!" Then all the survivors of the human races of Urantia who had fallen asleep since the days of Adam, and who had not already gone on to judgment, appeared in the resurrection halls of mansonia in readiness for morontia investiture. And in an instant of time the seraphim and their associates made ready to depart for the mansion worlds. Ordinarily these seraphic guardians, onetime assigned to the group custody of these surviving mortals, would have been present at the moment of their awaking in the resurrection halls of mansonia, but they were on this world itself at this time because of the necessity of Gabriel's presence here in connection with the morontia resurrection of Jesus.

p2024:5 189:3.3 Notwithstanding that countless individuals having personal seraphic guardians and those achieving the requisite attainment of spiritual personality progress had gone on to mansonia during the ages subsequent to the times of Adam and Eve, and though there had been many special and millennial resurrections of Urantia sons, this was the third of the planetary roll calls, or complete dispensational resurrections. The first occurred at the time of the arrival of the Planetary Prince, the second during the time of Adam, and this, the third, signalized the morontia resurrection, the mortal transit, of Jesus of Nazareth.

p2024:6 189:3.4 When the signal of the planetary resurrection had been received by the chief of archangels, the Personalized Adjuster of the Son of Man relinquished his authority over the celestial hosts assembled on Urantia, turning all these sons of the local universe back to the jurisdiction of their respective commanders. And when he had done this, he departed for Salvington to register with Immanuel the completion of the mortal transit of Michael. And he was immediately followed by all the celestial host not required for duty on Urantia. But Gabriel remained on Urantia with the morontia Jesus.
p2025:1 189:3.5 And this is the recital of the events of the resurrection of Jesus as viewed by those who saw them as they really occurred, free from the limitations of partial and restricted human vision.

Thanks for this question.

MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: ascension, dispensational resurrection, Egyptian religion, hell, Judgment day, Mary Jo, Salem teachings, sin, sleeping survivors, soul, Zoroaster

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Our son had not yet found God before he died. Do you think he will become a sleeping survivor?

Q: We recently lost our 21 year-old son. He was a good person, but he had not really found God. Given his young age, do you think that he will become a sleeping survivor?

A: So sorry to hear of your loss -- the loss of a child must be even more poignant than the loss of a spouse.

May I offer an interpretation of Urantia Book teachings? Although not so specifically stated, it can be interpreted that children are inescapably linked to the mind currents of both parents from the moment of conception until they reach an age of self-determination, which is about 16, and from that point on they become true individuals. They also receive their Thought Adjuster, their contact with the Holy Spirit, connection with the Spirit of Truth, and the birth of their soul at about age 6. Outward appearances don't indicate what is going on within the mind and soul of any individual whether child or adult.

It's also my interpretation that it requires extraordinary effort here to make sure that one doesn't arrive at the mansion worlds -- I believe the major sorting occurs there after the deficiencies we live with here have been corrected and only then an informed decision about personal survival can be made.

As for myself, I have no concern or worry whether I will arrive on Mansion World One three days after I die here or whether it happens at the next dispensation, however long that takes. We're not in a race, it's a process where time is no longer of any consequence. So I'd be just as happy being a sleeping survivor as I would to be resurrected on the third day -- the time lapse will seem to be the same in either case to my perceptions.

So, my answer for you would be that there is no way for us here to determine what the immediate outcome for your son's journey to Paradise happens to be -- think the best, see him happy and embarking on the mansion world career, pray for your own peace and understanding.

Best wishes,
Larry Watkins (continued...)

Along with Larry, who sent you a letter yesterday, I also want to offer my sincere condolences on the loss of your child.

Your concern for your son's welfare in the afterlife mirrors the concern you likely had for him in his physical life. Now that he is gone from your sight, you continue to hope the best for him, and that you will be seeing him again, sooner than later.You want him to be happy, safe, and protected.

All of us desire the best for our children, and I think that when we read in the Urantia Book about the experiences of the sleeping survivor vs those who resurrect in three days, we automatically hope that we and our loved ones are among the latter group.

One reason may be that we don't want to wait any longer than is necessary to resume our lives in the "better world" to come. And we want our loved ones close - not separated by 1000 years.

I hear in your question a real concern that you and your son may have to postpone your reunion when once you reach the shores of the first Mansion World, if there is a possibility that you will be in different progressing groups.

I don't suppose that any one of us is guaranteed a short sleep of death, or a long one. These are things that we can only speculate about, but I would surely trust in God on this one, and try not to worry. No matter what the conditions of your son's existence right now, he is safe, he is protected, and his resurrection is sure, as is yours.

At some future time, you will reunite with your beloved child. Whether it is sooner or later, it IS certain. For all we really know, he may already be happily progressing and waiting for your someday arrival.

You say that your son was a good person, though he had not really found God. It sounds like he may have been looking, in any event. Jesus said: "My Father responds to even the faintest flicker of faith." It may comfort you to imagine that in his innermost heart, that flicker was present in your son, known only to God.

As Larry has pointed out, time becomes far less of a concern once we leave this time-limited planet, and the sleep of death, whether it is three days or 1000 years will not be a concern to us, no matter where we find ourselves. Those who sleep long will always be protected and safe. The time of reunion is sure, and you can rely on the goodness of God to make it all work out well.

Again, I am sorry for this loss in your life. I can only imagine the effect on your lives.

God bless you.

Sincerely,
MaryJo
Truthbook.com

Labels: afterlife, children, death, Larry Watkins, Mary Jo, resurrection, sleeping survivors, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

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Friday, October 20, 2006

What are appropriate sexual relations with a life partner?

Q: What are appropriate sexual relations with a life partner?

A: The Urantia Book has a number of things to say about relationships but rather than quoting the book I'm giving my personal opinion.

Why make sexual relations different from any other relation? Why couldn't the question as meaningfully have been "what are appropriate eating arrangements with someone you love?"

We fixate on sex as if it were the key to happiness and fulfillment, both of which can be had with no sex at all. Like wealth, one can be happy and fulfilled with it or without it (but given the choice happiness and fulfillment with wealth is usually preferable.) Wealth and sex are often the focus of ambition when instead they're sideline issues that are accorded paramount priorities.

Three categories of sexual activity:

1) power and control sex -- licentious sex without regard for the other's free will

2) narcissistic and recreational sex -- sex with little or no regard for the other's emotional or physical wellbeing.

3) loving sex -- sex as an _expression of love and respect, the desire to do good to another

Nature has made sex a strong motivator built into character in order to bring male and female together for the perpetuation of the species -- without it any species would be short-lived since there are enough differences between the sexes that they would tend to remain apart. Numbers 1 and 2 above are animal origin behaviors, but human beings who have more than animal in their makeup will place this strong motivator in the context of number 3. With a spiritual focus our interactions with others regarding sex as with all our other interactions would be with a loving approach but with the current cultural forces at play the two lower categories are given just as much emphasis as if this were natural human behavior

Thank you for your question.

Larry Watkins

Truthbook.com (continue...)

A: I know that you have already had a reply from Larry, but I hope you won't mind the feminine point of view as well...

As you are well aware, sex in all its forms enjoys a very big focus in our American society - and an underserved one, in my opinion. I imagine it is because so many of us equate love with sex, and everyone desires love; but as Larry pointed out in his reply, one can have a perfectly happy - and love-filled - life without sex. Sexual relations are not a necessary ingredient for a whole life, despite what we see in our advertisements and entertainment, but sex IS a necessary ingredient if one wishes to create children and family. Likewise, the pursuit of family life is not necessary to enjoy a fulfilled life, but sex in this context is certainly necessary to sustain the human species and deserves careful, thoughtful consideration.

If you are lucky enough to have a life partner, I would say that you would do well to always follow the "golden rule" in the area of sexual relations, as well as in all other forms of communication. Always treat that person with the respect and care with which you yourself would desire that they treat you. As for the details of this kind of relationship, I cannot judge or prescribe. Many things are possible, but are all things desirable? This is something that only you and your partner can determine. The Urantia Book teaches us that any successful long-term relationship must be based on "genuine and mutual personal devotion." All other things will follow happily if that basis is first established

The Urantia Book treats sex largely in an historical context - as one important ingredient in the progression of civilization; but one thing it does say is that sex can be the source of much sorrow if used intemperately. I think many of us from the age of the "sexual revolution" of the 60's can attest to the truth of that admonition. Unfortunately, there is no rule-book regarding the sexual relations of individuals, but the strong, healthy bonding of two souls, based on true love and mutual devotion, is a great place to start

Thanks so much for writing.

Sincerely,
Mary Jo
Truthbook.com

Labels: golden rule, Larry Watkins, Mary Jo, sex, The Urantia Book

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