Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: What are the birthdays of each of the twelve apostles?

A: The Urantia Book does not give the birthdates of the apostles; however, it does supply their ages at the time that they became apostles of Jesus:

Andrew - 33 years-old
Simon Peter - 30 years-old
James Zebedee - 30 years-old
John Zebedee - 24 years-old
Philip - 27 years-old
Nathaniel - 25 years-old
Matthew Levi - 31 years-old
Thomas - 29 years-old
James Alphes - 26 years-old
Judas Alpheus - 26 years-old
Simon Zelotes - 28 years-old
Judas Iscariot - 30 years-old

Please see our topical study of the Apostles for much more information on each of these special ambassadors of the kingdom.

And thank you for your inquiry.

Labels: apostles, birthday, The Urantia Book

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Why was Jesus was born into this world, Urantia, as a 'helpless babe'?

Q: What does it mean when we always read from The Urantia Book that Jesus was born into this world, Urantia, as a 'helpless babe'?

Is it because He was not accompanied by arch-angels and Melchizedeks to help propagate His teachings as Magisterial Son are helped?

Is it because He had to resort to the help of common fishermen and carpenters of His generation to help Him and not on other mighty bestowal Sons who could have upheld His message and teachings in high esteem having a perfect understanding of the kingdom of God themselves?

The brotherhood of men was entrusted to men whom, even after seeing the Morontia Jesus, still dared to entertain thoughts and ideas of a material kingdom. There was certainly going to be a distortion of the good news in the early days since the understanding of these devoted eleven men was not up to expected levels.
The kingdom of course would have been better understood and effectively propagated in the early days if there were other bestowed Divine Sons along with Jesus to help.

A: Jesus bestowed himself seven times in his universe, each time as a citizen of the realm into which he was bestowed. His bestowal on Urantia was certainly to provide a new revelation of the Father to the planet, but as well, it was a necessary thing that he be conceived and born as a normal human being, a "helpless babe," so that he could truly experience the life of that is lived by mortals such as us. If he had come accompanied by celestial helpers, his life would not have been the typical kind of life, and he could not have truly claimed his title of "son of man." No human being has at his or her disposal a vast army of celestial helpers at their instant command...Jesus expressly declined any celestial help. You can read about his bestowals HERE - and specifically about his seventh bestowal (on Urantia ) HERE. Both of these Papers are revealed knowledge that will help any student of Jesus to understand the amazing mission of the Son of God, son of man...when it was finished, Jesus could rightly claim sovereignty over his universe because he had earned that right. And we are the better for it.

Jesus' humanity has long been eclipsed as a result of the evidences of his divinity - the miracles, his dramatic death and resurrection, etc. He was both, but his humanity has never seemed quite as important as his Divinity. This is why The Urantia Book is so important - to show mankind how to live a life dedicated to the will of God, as Jesus' life was. He is truly "one of us." And we can relate to him because of that fact, and identify with him, as he really did live a fully human life.

This is one reason that the apostles may have had problems really getting some of what he said - he was so human, and such a good friend to them. You might imagine how they felt being told that they were in service to a divine Son of God.

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

This life of Jesus before his full consciousness of divinity comprises quite a lot of years, and is a very important study... how his entire life reflected his one-pointed search for the will of God in all things.

Would the kingdom have been "better understood and effectively propagated in the early days if there were other bestowed Divine Sons along with Jesus to help.?" I am sure it would have, but this was not what a normal human being would have as helpers. Jesus lived the real life of a real human being. And in spite of the fact that his simple message became garbled and confusing, the religion that HAS survived is yet a powerful force on the planet today:

(194:4.6) Christ was about to become the creed of the rapidly forming church. Jesus lives; he died for men; he gave the spirit; he is coming again. Jesus filled all their thoughts and determined all their new concept of God and everything else. They were too much enthused over the new doctrine that "God is the Father of the Lord Jesus" to be concerned with the old message that "God is the loving Father of all men," even of every single individual. True, a marvelous manifestation of brotherly love and unexampled good will did spring up in these early communities of believers. But it was a fellowship of believers in Jesus, not a fellowship of brothers in the family kingdom of the Father in heaven. Their good will arose from the love born of the concept of Jesus' bestowal and not from the recognition of the brotherhood of mortal man. Nevertheless, they were filled with joy, and they lived such new and unique lives that all men were attracted to their teachings about Jesus. They made the great mistake of using the living and illustrative commentary on the gospel of the kingdom for that gospel, but even that represented the greatest religion mankind had ever known.

Thanks for this question!

Labels: apostles, bestowal, Christianity, Jesus, Jesus' humanity, son of man, The Urantia Book

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Friday, April 07, 2006

How can people find the truth in their lives when Jesus Christ kept the truth from the common people, only to be disclosed to his direct followers?

Q: How can people find the truth in their lives when Jesus Christ kept the truth from the common people, only to be disclosed to his direct followers? (Math. 13.10 or Mark 4.33) It's been a question with me for a long time. Thanks for listening

A: While it's true that Jesus often taught by a new and challenging method, by parables, he in no way kept the truth from the common people. It was the common people he had come specifically to instruct -- but he did teach his apostles more advanced concepts because they would be the ones teaching the common people once he was gone -- however the primary focus of his message, that we are each a unique child of the Father in heaven who loves us equally, that we are therefore spiritually all brothers and sisters and should treat one another as such to bring the heavenly kingdom to earth -- that was openly taught and is as valuable for us to recognize today as it was when it was a new concept 2000 years ago. Jesus didn't tell his apostles anything more valuable to their spiritual life than what he told to the common people.

By teaching in parables Jesus didn't just say here's the way it is -- he provided meaningful stories and anecdotes that caused the listeners to think and to derive meanings of their own from the lessons contained within. And when Jesus left he bestowed upon the world his spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, which makes it possible for any truth seeker from that day to this to be guided toward progressively more meaningful truth. The message Jesus left was forceful and encompassing enough to change the course of history through the common people.

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

Also your question is a good one which we've added it to our discussion board so that you can have the benefit of the thoughtful responses of our online Urantia Book reader community. You can visit this board and see these responses by clicking here: http://forums.truthbook.com/viewforum.php?f=11. and going to the forum titled "Questions & Answers."

Best wishes,
Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: apostles, Jesus, Larry Watkins, parables, Spirit of Truth

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