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Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book



Sunday, February 28, 2010

I am very interested in the work of Mary Baker Eddy and the Christian Science movement...does it parallel The Urantia Book?

Q: I am very interested in the work of Mary Baker Eddy and the Christian Science movement. There seems to be many parallels between her revelations and The Urantia Book. Am I close in that observation?

A: Thanks so much for this interesting question to us here at Truthbook.com. It sent me on a research adventure...

Christian Science basically teaches that a person suffering from disease or injury of any kind can be healed, or heal themselves, without help from medicines or other outside means - that all that is needed is prayer, living faith and trust in God. Mary Baker Eddy considered herself to be living proof of this theory when she experienced a cure from a supposedly permanent case of paralysis due to a fall.

Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science was influenced greatly by a man called Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, the commonly accepted father of the "New Thought" movement, which elevated the importance of "mind over matter" in the case of diseases of the body. His teachings have an element of similarity to Urantia Book teachings, in that he declares that the mind and spirit are dominant over matter. The Urantia Book teaches:

(116:6.1) "In the evolutionary superuniverses energy-matter is dominant except in personality, where spirit through the mediation of mind is struggling for the mastery. The goal of the evolutionary universes is the subjugation of energy-matter by mind, the co-ordination of mind with spirit, and all of this by virtue of the creative and unifying presence of personality. Thus, in relation to personality, do physical systems become subordinate; mind systems, co-ordinate; and spirit systems, directive. "

This is taken from a section titled: Spirit Dominance

So, in theory, it does appear that this idea of spirit-dominance that is taught in The Urantia Book does correspond with the teachings of the Christian Science church. And there are other smatterings of similarities, such as the belief that our afterlife is similar to this life and provides the means whereby we can progress towards eternal life, an idea not unlike that of the Mansion Worlds.

Other tenets of the Christian Science religion are definitely in contradiction to Urantia Book teachings - tenets such as the belief that Jesus was not divine and that illness is an error produced by sin or fear.

The Urantia Book teaches us that our biologic makeup is still quite faulty, due to many factors - chiefly that of the default of the Adamic mission which, had it been more successful, would have ridded our bodies of much disease through upstepping our biology with their life-plasm.

(76:4.7) "The body cells of the Material Sons and their progeny are far more resistant to disease than are those of the evolutionary beings indigenous to the planet. The body cells of the native races are akin to the living disease-producing microscopic and ultramicroscopic organisms of the realm. These facts explain why the Urantia peoples must do so much by way of scientific effort to withstand so many physical disorders. You would be far more disease resistant if your races carried more of the Adamic life. "

So, we are still trying to address these physical problems with medical science and in our modern times we have been able to map our genetic code, for one example, and are starting to have the ability to prevent and cure some conditions that have plagued the human races through gene manipulation. And the discovery of penicillin was a great breakthrough in fighting certain diseases. Christian Science denies the importance of medical science.

In a perfect world, the reliance on prayer and faith would always be effective - but the fact is that this world is far from perfect. Having said that, faith is definitely a positive influence on conditions of body and mind, and in Jesus' times, there were many so-called miraculous cures effected by the power of faith. When Jesus ministered to sick people he "inspired the faith and confidence of the sick and suffering." And indeed, this is what appears to have cured them in certain cases, such as the woman with the issue of blood, recounted HERE:

However, in the case of prayer, The Urantia Book states that:

(91:6.2) "Prayer is not a technique for curing real and organic diseases, but it has contributed enormously to the enjoyment of abundant health and to the cure of numerous mental, emotional, and nervous ailments. And even in actual bacterial disease, prayer has many times added to the efficacy of other remedial procedures. Prayer has turned many an irritable and complaining invalid into a paragon of patience and made him an inspiration to all other human sufferers."

This passage is taken from the section titled: The Province of Prayer

So, to answer your question - yes, there parallels between the Christian Science church and Urantia Book teachings - and there are also contradictions. However, one must use reason and wisdom when standing in expectation of a cure for all dis-ease solely by the power of prayer and faith.

While prayer and faith can be powerful aids in physical healing, they are conditioned by the strength of the individual's capacity for, and commitment to them and belief in them, as in the woman in the above story. Not everyone possesses such a level of faith that they can be cured of all disease, and it appears to me to be a dangerous thing to expect that all people - even children - can be cured by spiritual means alone. Over the years, people have been denied the advances of medical science and have died because of it. Then it is assumed that their faith was lacking, or that they were inherently sinful, causing their untimely death. This seems to be an unfair and unwise practice, and clearly contradicts Urantia Book teachings about sickness and disease, which we learn are not the "frown of God." I remember in particular a case in the news where a young child was denied a blood transfusion which could have saved his life, in favor of a strictly prayerful cure. It did not happen - the child died, and the family was left wondering and doubting the strength of their faith.

The Urantia Book helps us to understand the province of prayer, and also the possibilities of prayer and faith; its teachings encourage us to develop a strong faith and to trust in God. It also extols the value of science, and we would do well to take advantage of the discoveries of science while unifying science with mindal and spiritual realities.

I hope that this reply has been helpful. I might suggest that you do a SEARCH using the word "disease" or "sickness" for even more information. Please write back with any further questions or comments... we love to hear from our visitors.

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Monday, March 24, 2008

The Urantia Book And Race

Q: I have listened to many MP3s from the CD of the Urantia book. I am so grateful for what I have read so far and have been greatly blessed. However, I have run into a section that causes me great distress :"The difficulty of executing such a radical program on Urantia consists in the absence of competent judges to pass upon the biologic fitness or unfitness of the individuals of your world races. Notwithstanding this obstacle, it seems that you ought to be able to agree upon the biologic disfellowshiping of your more markedly unfit, defective, degenerate, and antisocial stocks." (Paper 51, Section 4).I can't make this read as anything other than extremely racist and (since the white race has blue ancestry) particularly white supremacist. Talking about "unfit, defective, degenerate, and antisocial "stocks" seems to totally negate the loving Fatherhood of God. I am white, by the way and I find it offensive. There is no way I could recommend this book to my black friends.

A: I understand you are a new reader and have yet to finish a first reading of The Urantia Book. There are many sections in the book that can bring consternation when considered outside the context of the full revelation, race being one of them. It's usually suggested that a first and complete reading of the book, from front to back, be undertaken as quickly as possible, without attempting to comprehend all that's being read — this provides an overall context and defines the scope of the material. Subsequent reading can then delve deeper into the terminology and meanings. It has been suggested too that rather than being written like a text book The Urantia Book is more like a symphony with themes and melodies being repeated in a myriad of variations throughout the whole — one has to listen to a symphony more than once to get a basic understanding of the composition.

Regarding race, regarding humanity in general and regarding the composition of the book — most of the first 119 out of the 196 Papers are written by highly intelligent beings who have never been human, beings of higher origin than humans, "angels." As the lowest order of free will creature in existence we humans now find ourselves reading about our origin, nature, and destiny as perceived from a higher and non-human perspective, sources not so sentimental about our shortcomings as we obviously are.

It's interesting how we're so aware of the necessity of animal husbandry to produce improved results but feel it is a human right to breed indiscriminately with no regard for the kind of offspring being produced. If I had a choice I'd want to be born into a healthy body with all my arms, legs, fingers, toes, hearing, eyesight, and normal mental capabilities as opposed simply being left to happenstance and finding myself having less than these normal endowments. That's the point these teachings of The Urantia Book make — we owe it to our offspring to provide them the best biological vehicle possible. Life on an evolutionary world is challenge enough without also being faced with confronting it in a defective body or with a defective mind.

Specifically, you've indicated that the following causes you great distress ... "The difficulty of executing such a radical program on Urantia consists in the absence of competent judges to pass upon the biologic fitness or unfitness of the individuals of your world races. Notwithstanding this obstacle, it seems that you ought to be able to agree upon the biologic disfellowshiping of your more markedly unfit, defective, degenerate, and antisocial stocks." (Paper 51, Section 4).

Why is that distressful? Those words say we humans are reluctant to impose constraints on reproduction because we lack competent judges to pass on the potential fitness of offspring. True. We are however quite scientifically competent at this time in history to predict when it's highly likely that parents will bear children with various defects or diseases. Because of our over-sentimentality we don't impose the social constraints we are now competent to impose upon these obvious problem areas, allowing anyone and everyone to do as they reproductively please when it would be a great benefit if such individuals were given incentives to go childless or to adopt rather than to bear children. How is this distressing? This makes logical sense although maybe not the emotional sense we're so used to reacting to.

You've also said ... "I can't make this read as anything other than extremely racist and (since the white race has blue ancestry) particularly white supremacist." One of the profound functions of the teachings of The Urantia Book is to provide a greater context in which to understand your life on earth and your place in the cosmos — certainly a challenge to each and every reader of the book. You've taken these particular observations and altered their context to fit a preconceived mold. The paragraph you've referred to has nothing to do with racism or white supremacy as you've interpreted. Consider that there's probably not a person alive on the planet who doesn't have some blue ancestry (as well as some of each of the other colors) in their makeup — there's nothing exclusive to the so-called white race. There is no "black" race on Urantia, just as there are no other pure races. The indigo race, a deep purple hue appeared about 500,000 years ago along with the other 5 colored races. Africans are of mixed racial heritage just like the rest of humanity, being a mixture primarily of the remnants of the indigo, orange, and green races.

There have been 9 pure-line races over the million year human history of the planet. None exist today — we're well on our way to full racial blending to fulfill the destiny of a one race world. Of the original 6 colored races can you point to one which The Urantia Book holds above the others? The answer is no. In fact The Urantia Book describes the attributes and shortcomings of each race as well as defining their superior and inferior traits. The only race to be given comparatively high marks is the red race which has nearly been obliterated.

You've written ... "Talking about unfit, defective, degenerate, and antisocial stocks seems to totally negate the loving Fatherhood of God." Is this implying that you don't recognize such detrimental strains flourishing in the gene pool? The genes with which one is endowed have no correlation to the love of the Father or the development of the individual soul. They do have immense consequence to the quality of life one lives here in the flesh.

You've concluded ... "I am white, by the way and I find it offensive. There is no way I could recommend this book to my black friends." The sensitivity to the feelings of your "black friends" is not unusual although you do a disservice by assuming that they couldn't possibly understand the truth behind the statements you've taken offense from when quite possibly their Spirit of Truth led discernment may at this time be superior to your own. Actually, your concern could appear to be an overreaction to what you consider to be shortcomings in your black friends.

Currently there are 3 documents on the races in the Urantia Book Historical Archive. One is a Wrightwood Study, an in-depth analysis of the teachings of The Urantia Book on this topic by a panel and another is a handout written by a black woman. You can access these documents at http://www.ubhistory.org/ArchiveProcessing/HTML/FrameDocTypesGD.html

As this topic has also come up in the Truthbook.com Discussion list and is of current interest it will be posted there and if you choose you can read further comments made by other readers on this topic.

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