Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: Regarding dispensational resurrection, what does it mean when it refers to sleeping souls "who had not already gone onto judgment"? What does the Urantia Book say about judgment - what exactly does that mean? What happens? And does the short life of a Urantian constitute spiritual judgment?

A: The quote that you referenced is from a section titled The Dispensational Resurrection, which describes the mass resurrection that took place following Jesus' resurrection from the tomb. The specific quote is here:

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. p2024:4(189:3.2)

When Gabriel referred to "the dead of a Urantia dispensation," he was referring to these very souls who were now being resurrected - those who had died, but who had been asleep since the days of Adam - a long time for some of them - over 35,000 years. When some people die, they are not resurrected in three days' time, but instead, they stay peacefully asleep, awaiting just such a time as this one described, a dispensational resurrection, in order to move forward.

You can read more about sleeping survivors HERE

Whether a person was resurrected in three days, or whether they may sleep for thousands of years, they still eventually are resurrected on Mansonia, there to begin their "real life, the ascending life."

As for "judgment," here are a couple of quotes from Jesus:

"... Do you not perceive that, when each of you is called to lay down his life struggle and pass through the portal of death, you stand in the immediate presence of judgment, and that you are face to face with the facts of a new dispensation of service in the eternal plan of the infinite Father? What the whole world must face as a literal fact at the end of an age, you, as individuals, must each most certainly face as a personal experience when you reach the end of your natural life and thereby pass on to be confronted with the conditions and demands inherent in the next revelation of the eternal progression of the Father's kingdom." p1915:4(176:2.7)

"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." p1468:3 (133:0.3)

I am not aware of any place in The Urantia Book that describes an actual process by which mortals are judged. Perhaps the judgment is inherent in the fact of survival itself. The Urantia Book says that we gain nothing from resurrection, save the experience of survival...

It could be that your idea of this mortal life being itself a "judgment," is on the right track. One can, in this life, decide to survive. One can have only a "faint flicker of faith" in such a resurrection, and we are told that this is the only requirement for survival after death. "All who will may come."

There may possibly be circumstances where a resurrected mortal may be in conflict about survival, or perhaps their dedication is lacking, or for some other reason, their life is reviewed and judgment is made as to whether they are fit to continue. But I would imagine that the majority of mortals are adjudged to be "fit," to survive the death experience.

We have such a limited understanding of the meaning of life and what's in store for us during the Paradise adventure while we're here that it seems unlikely that we are able to make a knowledgeable decision whether to continue or not, so that decision will most likely occur on the mansion worlds. But, if during this earth life, the person has not exhibited even the smallest flicker of faith and has not produced a soul that can be resurrected then there is no "person" to be resurrected and their existence would cease at mortal death.

Thanks for this really good question ...

Labels: dispensational resurrection, Jesus, judgment, mortal life, resurrection, The Urantia Book

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Friday, May 23, 2008

Ingredients for Spiritual Health

Dawn Obrecht M.D.

One dictionary gave me 14 different definitions for â€œspirit.â€�
The base word is from the Latin spirare, â€œto breathe.â€� Common
uses of spirit and spiritual include â€œpertaining to the
sacred,â€� â€œvital, supernatural being or essence,â€� â€œthe
immaterial intelligent or sentient part of a person,â€� and several
others.

There is more than one route to spiritual healthâ€¦ many doors to
the same room... different perspectives, different ways of saying
the same thing. Here is one door, a simple triad of ingredients:
Donâ€™t Judge, Donâ€™t Compare, and Donâ€™t Have a Need to Know Why.
The End.

If you can do this, no need to read further. You are living on a
spiritual basis.

For those who want a little more discussion, letâ€™s look at
â€œDonâ€™t Judge.â€� As human beings, we are not in charge of the
Universe. Try saying this, â€œThere is a God and itâ€™s not me.â€�
If you find the word â€œGodâ€� objectionable, use â€œForce of the
Universeâ€� or â€œNatureâ€� or something else you want to replace
that three letter word, â€œGod.â€� The sun rises and sets and you
are not in charge of it. The same applies to everything else. The
only things we are in charge of are our own behavior, our thoughts,
and sometimes our feelings.

If we want to judge a situation, another person, anything at all,
we are trying to play God. If we can let God do the judging, we
find we can be more open-minded. We can see what people do as just
behavior, often obnoxious, but just what they are doing, not doing
TO US. If we can be open-minded, and not judge, we can often be of
service and help someone instead of buying into negativity. This
allows others to be more real, to just be human, and allows us to
be the best person we can be. By not judging, we can treat all
people equally and fairly, not see ourselves as victims, and let
God be in charge. When we practice this, we find we are living on a
spiritual basis. This is by no means a suggestion to tolerate
abuse; more on that in a future column. The point is, donâ€™t get
caught up in anotherâ€™s behavior; donâ€™t judge it, donâ€™t be a
victim, just detach from the God job and do your own job of being
the best human being you can be regardless of what the world has in
store for you.

â€œDonâ€™t Compare.â€� Right. When we compare, we either see
ourselves as better than (richer, better looking, smarter, etc.) or
as not as good as (poorer, fatter, balder, shorter, less education,
worse job, dumber, etc.) another. Either way, we cut ourselves off
from others. We are using a psychological maneuver to stay distant
from others, to stay dissatisfied, with ourselves and/or others. As
with many other personality traits, this comes from not being
comfortable with whom and what we are, from low self-esteem. We
find ways to avoid closeness and acceptanceâ€¦ of others and of
ourselves. We isolate, emotionally if not physically. We find
ourselves alone, even in a crowd. Stop it. See what happens if you
just stop comparing yourself to others and simply start being who
you are. Try seeing yourself and everyone else as Godâ€™s kids,
playing down here in His sandbox, chopping wood and hauling water,
doing the best we can with what we have to work with. Accept
yourself, and others, for just who we are, nothing less, nothing
more, and donâ€™t compare!

â€œDonâ€™t Have a Need to Know Why.â€� Many of us operate out of
FEAR, fearing tomorrow, regretting yesterday. Obviously, if we know
what is going to happen, and why, we would beâ€¦ that three letter
word againâ€¦ God. If we know all things, then life might be easier,
(you think?); but we would be kicking God out of His job again.
Living on a spiritual basis requires us to trust, trust that God
has a plan and we donâ€™t get to know what it is until it happens.
We are just players, not directors, of this life thing. If we play
the best we can, being responsible, reliable, honest, kind,
accepting and all those other spiritually healthy things, we get to
have joy and peace, knowing we are being the best person we can be.
Try it. It really works.

Living a spiritual life means living a life of trust. It means
breathing deeply and asking for help in dealing with whatever life
throws at us, trusting God will give us the spiritual strength and
capacity to get through, maybe even to find joy and peace. In fact,
just trusting can be joyful and peaceful!

Dr. Dawn Obrecht is the only MD addiction medicine specialist on
the western slope of Colorado. She is a Fellow of the American
Society of Addiction Medicine and her office is in Steamboat
Springs. She can be reached at 970-846-8479 or docdawn@hotmail.com.

Labels: comparisons, Dawn Obrecht M.D., fear, God, judgment, spiritual health

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Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Is it ok for other people parents to judge you of your past if they are true Christian?

Q: Is it ok for other people or parents to judge you for your past if they are true Christian?

A: You're asking then, should Christians hold one another accountable for their behavior, probably based on the belief that when Jesus said "Judge not" he was saying that everyone should be allowed to do, say, act, any way they choose and no one should hold anyone else accountable because they will be judged in like manner. Does that make sense? and could anyone actually think Jesus would mean such a thing?

Wouldn't it make more sense if we assumed that Jesus meant not to judge or decide upon someone elses spiritual value? That I cannot presume that I'm better than someone else in a spiritual sense, or that I'm spiritually superior to another, or that my wants and needs are more important than those of someone elses? If, as Jesus has said, we're all God's children, then God is our heavenly Father, and if, as we've been told, God is no respecter of persons, then spiritually we're all equal, everyone is my equal brother or sister in God's eyes, I'm in no superior position to be spiritually critical of anyone -- that kind of judgment is left for God and the angels.

However, when it comes to our actions here on earth each one of us is compelled to continuously make judgments. That's why we've been given discerning minds, a sense of mercy, a sense of fairness and justice, a sense of compassion and of righteousness. These should all come into play as we weigh and judge the actions and deeds of one another and hold one another accountable for behaviors past and present, no matter what religion or lack of religion is professed. Just as society has the authority and obligation to judge its citizens and remove individual freedoms, or incarcerate, or even put to death those who won't live in compliance with social rules, so too do individuals have the right to make determinations of one another based on past performances and behaviors.

So yes, it is right that you're judged for your past. The only way to change the way others think of you is to prove that you should no longer be tied to a critical judgment and you do that through your present behavior, your thoughts and your deeds expressed over a period of time.

This is a good question and we have added it to our discussion board so that you might 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: Judging one another and going to the forum titled "Questions & Answers."

May I also recommend that if you're not already signed up that you consider subscribing to the Quote of the Day. It's a free service that offers a daily quote from the incomparable teachings of The Urantia 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.

Best wishes,

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: Christian, God, Jesus, judgment, justice, Larry Watkins, mercy