Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: Can spiritual death occur even while man is still materially alive? Paper 112:3.2 (Part 1) says "if mortal man has willingly rejected survival the Thought Adjuster leaves him although the Seraphim is still with him". Does it mean the individual still goes on living without the Thought Adjuster as he possess cosmic energies till his material death? My question: "Does spiritual death mean the final destruction of the SOUL? In such a situation how can soul be called immortal?

A: Thanks for this interesting question...

I am going to cite the entire passage that you quoted:

(112:3.2) 1. Spiritual (soul) death. If and when mortal man has finally rejected survival, when he has been pronounced spiritually insolvent, morontially bankrupt, in the conjoint opinion of the Adjuster and the surviving seraphim, when such co-ordinate advice has been recorded on Uversa, and after the Censors and their reflective associates have verified these findings, thereupon do the rulers of Orvonton order the immediate release of the indwelling Monitor. But this release of the Adjuster in no way affects the duties of the personal or group seraphim concerned with that Adjuster-abandoned individual. This kind of death is final in its significance irrespective of the temporary continuation of the living energies of the physical and mind mechanisms. From the cosmic standpoint the mortal is already dead; the continuing life merely indicates the persistence of the material momentum of cosmic energies.

To answer your question briefly - the answer is yes. According to this passage, spiritual death means the final destruction of the soul. In such a case, the soul of that person no longer possesses immortality, because it has died, but "the continuing life merely indicates the persistence of the material momentum of cosmic energies." At natural death, the personality will also (presumably) be extinguished.

Now, it is likely that there is still something of value that remains - perhaps some soul-growth that took place before this final determination of soul-death. Such values are indeed immortal and they do survive. In such a case, it would seem safe to assume that that value, as well as the personality of that person, will be added to the "oversoul of creation," or it will survive in the Adjuster, as explained here:

(2:3.4) ...When the continued embrace of sin by the associated mind culminates in complete self-identification with iniquity, then upon the cessation of life, upon cosmic dissolution, such an isolated personality is absorbed into the oversoul of creation, becoming a part of the evolving experience of the Supreme Being. Never again does it appear as a personality; its identity becomes as though it had never been. In the case of an Adjuster-indwelt personality, the experiential spirit values survive in the reality of the continuing Adjuster.

The soul gains immortality due to the freewill decisions of the possessor of that soul. When a person consistently fails to make such decisions, and instead embraces iniquity (the extremity of sin), their soul ceases to grow and no longer has immortal status. You may recall that consistent iniquity indicates "vanishing personality control," and loss of reality.

Our soul is a spiritual counterpart of our physical beings - a spiritual counterpart which grows throughout a lifetime as a result of freewill decisions made and choices made which are in harmony with God's will. It all comes down to freewill choice. When a person decides to reject survival, when "he has been pronounced spiritually insolvent, morontially bankrupt," his soul has ceased to grow. Once the Adjuster takes leave of that person, that person is, in effect, already spiritually dead. They still possess mortal life, however...

This seems a very harsh - and strange - set of events, and hopefully, not something that occurs very often. It is difficult to imagine going through life without the guidance of the Adjuster, and having no soul, isn't it? However, just its mention in the book means to me that it DOES happen. In my opinion, this would have to be a person who knows full well what they are doing - someone who knows and who has experienced God, and then consistently, willingly, knowingly and deliberately decides to reject him and his plan of survival while still on this earth. Again, it seems a very radical decision to make, and I can't begin to judge whether any person is now living with such a fate.

Larger minds than ours make such determinations, and we have to just keep on with our spiritual lives, staying close to God and trying as best we can to grow our souls with consistent decisions towards grace, faith, trust and love - producing the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, and believing through faith that immortality is ours - not by chance, but by choice.

Again, thanks for this interesting question. I hope that my answer has been of some help to you. For a better understanding, you may enjoy having a look at our topical study on the soul HERE.

Best Wishes...

Labels: death, free will, God, iniquity, personality, soul, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster, value

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Sunday, August 09, 2009

A Question About Going Seriously Astray

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

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

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

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

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

Jesus said:

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

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

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

What does the UB say about sin? Homosexual relation?

Q: What does the UB say about sin? How can an individual know if something is a sin? Are homosexual relations a sin?

A: Here are a few Urantia Book quotes that will help you to understand what sin is, as contrasted with evil, error and iniquity:

(67:1.4) There are many ways of looking at sin, but from the universe philosophic viewpoint sin is the attitude of a personality who is knowingly resisting cosmic reality. Error might be regarded as a misconception or distortion of reality. Evil is a partial realization of, or maladjustment to, universe realities. But sin is a purposeful resistance to divine realityâ€”a conscious choosing to oppose spiritual progressâ€”while iniquity consists in an open and persistent defiance of recognized reality and signifies such a degree of personality disintegration as to border on cosmic insanity.

Error suggests lack of intellectual keenness; evil, deficiency of wisdom; sin, abject spiritual poverty; but iniquity is indicative of vanishing personality control.

(148:4.4) [Jesus said:] "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."

So, we can see that sin is a conscious choice to "oppose spiritual progress" and a "deliberate transgression of the divine law, the Father's will." In other words, one must know that what one is doing is a clear violation of the principles of truth, beauty and goodness, and then decide to do it anyway. This constitutes sin.

The ability to recognize sinful behavior is tied up with the development of a strong character. Here are some passages that illuminate this topic:

(140:4.8)Remember: While inherited urges cannot be fundamentally modified, emotional responses to such urges can be changed; therefore the moral nature can be modified, character can be improved. In the strong character emotional responses are integrated and co-ordinated, and thus is produced a unified personality. Deficient unification weakens the moral nature and engenders unhappiness.

(160:1.2) Human life consists in three great drives--urges, desires, and lures. Strong character, commanding personality, is only acquired by converting the natural urge of life into the social art of living, by transforming present desires into those higher longings which are capable of lasting attainment, while the commonplace lure of existence must be transferred from one's conventional and established ideas to the higher realms of unexplored ideas and undiscovered ideals.

(184:2.12) It requires a great and noble character, having started out wrong, to turn about and go right. All too often one's own mind tends to justify continuance in the path of error when once it is entered upon.

As for homosexual relations, this is an issue that The Urantia Book says nothing about. Although it does extol the value of friendship between same-sex persons, there are no guidelines in the book either for or against sexual relations in such a loving friendship, or the morality of such relations. Unlike the Bible, The Urantia Book is not specific about many of the social issues we face today, and it does not make blanket claims about specific behaviors. These "mores" are determined age to age by the prevailing sentiments of society. Having said that, I would also say that the teachings of The Urantia Book do exalt the man-woman relationship, along with marriage, children and family life, as the highest ideal of relationship. In all inter-personal relations, unselfish love - the desire to do good to others - should be the primary concern.

And regarding the sex urge, consider this quote:

(82:1.10) No human emotion or impulse, when unbridled and overindulged, can produce so much harm and sorrow as this powerful sex urge.

Ideally, spiritually-seeking people can look forward to a stage of development in which they are less bothered by matters of sexuality and physical conflict, and more towards a time when they can transcend these kinds of matters through spiritual identification. I might suggest that you take a look at The Spirit and the Flesh.
In it, we read the following, which is a very positive and encouraging passage - and a very good reason to stay on the spiritual path:

"Those God-knowing men and women who have been born of the Spirit experience no more conflict with their mortal natures than do the inhabitants of the most normal of worlds, planets which have never been tainted with sin nor touched by rebellion. Faith sons work on intellectual levels and live on spiritual planes far above the conflicts produced by unrestrained or unnatural physical desires. The normal urges of animal beings and the natural appetites and impulses of the physical nature are not in conflict with even the highest spiritual attainment except in the minds of ignorant, mistaught, or unfortunately overconscientious persons. "

I would invite you to interpret this reply and the above quotes with your highest, most spiritual thinking while deriving a personally meaningful answer to this question.

Labels: character, error, homosexuality, iniquity, sin, The Urantia Book

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Wednesday, January 07, 2009

How liberal can we be with sexual activity?

Q: How liberal can one be with one`s sexual activity, and when does sexual activity become sinful, or even iniquitous?

A: In sexual activity, as in all other forms of human interaction, LOVE must be the rule of living, as Jesus has said. Jesus exhorted us to always do nothing to others that we would not want done to us, and more positively, to do unto others that which you desire others to do to you. In the sexual union, one would want to have mutuality of consent, and loving intentions above all. As long as there is that bond of love (ideally that of marriage or commitment), and a mutual desire, then there would certainly be room for a good bit of "liberality." What that might mean would have to be determined by the parties involved.

It seems to me that any activity, including sexual activity, becomes sinful only when it violates this rule - when it is purely selfish, or when it is harmful to another, either mentally, physically, or spiritually. And of course, if one persists in selfish or hurtful ways, then such activity would eventually meet the requirements of iniquity.

Read more about The Rule of Living

Thanks for this important question.

Labels: gospel of Jesus, iniquity, love, rule of living, sex, sin

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Sunday, January 27, 2008

I do not understand how evil can still exist, once you attain a certain level.

Q: I do not understand how evil can still exist, once you attain a certain level.(example - Lucifer). 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. 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).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. As 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 brings only sorrow and pain.

Now that you better understand this issue a liitle bit better, 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!

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

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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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