Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: Who is the first man?

A: Thanks for writing this question to us here at Truthbook, a website devoted to the teachings of The Urantia Book. We're glad you found us.

You want to know who the first man is...well, the first "man" was in reality, the first truly human pair - twins named Andon and Fonta. They were the crown of the evolutionary ascent up to that time - humans who could speak and who had the capacity for wisdom and worship.

When the twins reached 11 years of age, the angels made this announcement and prayer:

(63:0.2) "Man-mind has appeared on 606 of Satania, and these parents of the new race shall be called Andon and Fonta. And all archangels pray that these creatures may speedily be endowed with the personal indwelling of the gift of the spirit of the Universal Father."

It was a very important time, and they were very important beings - the first real human beings, developed over millenia through the technique of evolution, now having reached the point where they could be called human beings. They left their simian family behind, and struck out on their own to become the beginnings of a whole new family - the family of man.

You can read all about Andon and Fonta and the first human family HERE.

Many religions teach that the first man was Adam. However, The Urantia Book makes very clear the difference between the first human family of Andon and Fonta and the very different mission of Adam and Eve.

Thanks again for writing to us. I hope you'll visit often. And I would like to invite you to subscribe to our free Quote of the Day service which will deliver an inspiring teaching from The Urantia Book each day to your inbox.

Labels: Adam and Eve, Andon and Fonta, evolution, humans, The Urantia Book

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Sunday, September 06, 2009

Are Marriages fixed in Heaven and taking place on Earth, as per the creator's will?

Q: Are Marriages fixed in Heaven and taking place on Earth, as per the creator's will?

A: Thank you so much for your note to us here at Truthbook.

It is a sweet idea, isn't it - this belief that two people are somehow divinely ordained to be together? And it could be that having this belief can influence two people to work harder than they otherwise might to make a marriage work. But we learn in The Urantia Book that marriage is a strictly evolutionary social institution, and of purely human sanctity - it evolved in response to the need for the stability and progress of humanity. Out of the marriage institution the family was created, which The Urantia Book teaches is the "master civilizer." Marriage allowed for stability of the family unit in primitive times, and it is an institution that still has the highest potential still, if we could somehow figure out how to do it right...so many marriages fail, even those that are performed in a sacred context between spirit-minded people.

I suggest that you read HERE for more information regarding Urantia Book teachings about this vital development in human civilization. And in the meantime, here is a partial section from Paper 83 - "The Marriage Institution" which clearly addresses your question :

(83:8.2) The likening of human associations to divine associations is most unfortunate. The union of husband and wife in the marriage-home relationship is a material function of the mortals of the evolutionary worlds. True, indeed, much spiritual progress may accrue consequent upon the sincere human efforts of husband and wife to progress, but this does not mean that marriage is necessarily sacred. Spiritual progress is attendant upon sincere application to other avenues of human endeavor.

Neither can marriage be truly compared to the relation of the Adjuster to man nor to the fraternity of Christ Michael and his human brethren. At scarcely any point are such relationships comparable to the association of husband and wife. And it is most unfortunate that the human misconception of these relationships has produced so much confusion as to the status of marriage.

It is also unfortunate that certain groups of mortals have conceived of marriage as being consummated by divine action. Such beliefs lead directly to the concept of the indissolubility of the marital state regardless of the circumstances or wishes of the contracting parties. But the very fact of marriage dissolution itself indicates that Deity is not a conjoining party to such unions. If God has once joined any two things or persons together, they will remain thus joined until such a time as the divine will decrees their separation. But, regarding marriage, which is a human institution, who shall presume to sit in judgment, to say which marriages are unions that might be approved by the universe supervisors in contrast with those which are purely human in nature and origin?

Nevertheless, there is an ideal of marriage on the spheres on high. On the capital of each local system the Material Sons and Daughters of God do portray the height of the ideals of the union of man and woman in the bonds of marriage and for the purpose of procreating and rearing offspring. After all, the ideal mortal marriage is humanly sacred.

As you can see from the above quote, marriage is not "fixed in Heaven," nor is it necessarily the "creator's will."

However, I think it is safe to say that marriage is the highest estate to which one can aspire for the purposes of creating the family, and fostering those Godly ideals of love, loyalty, devotion, forgiveness and tolerance that are so vital to a successful marriage and a successful society. When two people are mutually united in this endeavor, and most especially when when they have God at the head of their union and the resulting family, this marriage can be surely an example of a "sacred" union, and this kind of union is well-worth pursuing.

Vast numbers of people desire this kind of ideal close relationship when they enter into marriage, and yet unfortunately, we can see how many marriages are dissolved when the going gets tough or intolerable. A great many marriages do not even rise to the level of the sacred, but are entered into in a quite secular way - for any number of reasons.

One may surmise that if marriage is fixed in Heaven there would be a higher success rate. There can be many reasons for the great number of failed marriages, but it is simply further evidence of the purely human nature of mortal marriage.

Thank you again for writing to us - I hope that this response has been helpful to you.

Labels: evolution, family, God's Will, marriage, The Urantia Book

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Saturday, April 04, 2009

Do please wake up

Q: Do you honestly believe that a woman can give birth to 63 children (your story about Adam and Eve)? What sort of process does your brain go through in order to deny the scientifically possible to believe this nonsense? Do please wake up.

A. Thank you for your note to Truthbook.com and yes, it does sound pretty preposterous doesn't it? You didn't mention the fact that Adam and Eve were supposed to be close to 8 feet tall when the native population was under 6 feet tall -- that would seem pretty preposterous, too. Also, that it's recounted that their bodies gave off a slight aura of color that could be seen with normal vision. If you want to pick at preposterousness then the recounting of the story of Adam and Eve is a great place to begin.

I think you'd have to understand a bit about what else The Urantia Book relates before being able to pluck the story of Adam and Eve from it and have it make much sense. Let me supply a bit of background for you.

Primarily, reality isn't material only; it's both material and spiritual although our relationship with the spiritual is tenuous at best -- we are, after all, the lowest form of free-will and personality endowed creatures in the universe and are intended to be living a nearly totally material existence here. Notwithstanding our ignorance, there is a spiritual overcontrol and administration that is ultimately in control of all material reality; it's responsible for, among many other things, seeing that each inhabited world receives an Adam and Eve at the appropriate time.

Adam and Eve are actually special creations called Material Sons (sometimes Material Sons and Daughters). The Urantia Book contains considerable information about these Material Sons, you can read a bit about them here...and here...

Feel free to further your critique once you've read the material.

Human evolution on an inhabited world proceeds along a normal evolutionary course and human beings naturally evolve up to an apex of physical, mental, and spiritual capacity. In order to develop beyond this limited natural apex an infusion of superior DNA is required, again a normal but rather spectacular event on a planet. This is done by these specially designed beings, the Material Sons, often called biologic uplifters, coming in person. Here's a bit more detailed write-up about this event if you're interested, which appears to scientifically verify this preposterous appearing event having occurred at the exact time in ancient history where The Urantia Book places it.

However, to address your point specifically; the purpose of an Adam and Eve when they are bestowed upon a planet, is to have children. Childbirth is not painful for Eve, it's her primary function and purpose for being here and she can and does have children one after another. So, yes, we do honestly believe that a superhuman woman such as Eve can give birth to considerably more than 63 children. The process our brain goes through is to understand what and why The Urantia Book relates the wealth of significant material it does. We don't deny what is and what isn't scientifically possible, and not only have woken up because of our study of The Urantia Book, we hope to assist everyone who can intelligently assess this material to wake up as well.

Labels: Adam and Eve, evolution, material existence, spirituality, The Urantia Book

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Who is God the Supreme and God the Ultimate?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finally:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Monday, February 06, 2006

Why Did God Create The Universe As It Is?

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

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

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

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

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

1. The Grand Objectives of Creation.

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

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

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

a. To Obtain Voluntary Obedience and Esteem.

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

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

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

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

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

b. To Obtain Creature Experience.

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

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

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

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

c. To Obtain Spirit Growth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

d. To Evolve Perfected Beings.

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

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

2. The Divine Plan for Creating.

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

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

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

a. The Principle of Delegation.

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

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

b. Balance between Fiat Creation and Evolution.

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

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

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

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

c. Achieving Potentials.

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

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

d. Reciprocal Reward.

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

* * * * * * * *

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

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

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