Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: The UB says Jesus was not in a physical body after his resurrection - how then did he break bread? Did he also eat? The Bible says he did.

A:Thanks for writing with this interesting question.

I am going to start with a few passages from Paper 189 The Resurrection. This way, we'll all understand better the nature of the resurrected form of Jesus. However, I suggest a complete reading of this paper for the best understanding of what happened that day:

"...at two minutes past three o'clock, this Sunday morning, April 9, A.D. 30, the resurrected morontia form and personality of Jesus of Nazareth came forth from the tomb."

"...the body of flesh in which he had lived and wrought on earth for almost thirty-six years was still lying there in the sepulchre niche, undisturbed and wrapped in the linen sheet, just as it had been laid to rest by Joseph and his associates on Friday afternoon. ..the body which they were guarding was now a discarded outer covering which had no further connection with the delivered and resurrected morontia personality of Jesus.

(Note: To find out exactly what happened to Jesus' physical body, please go here.)

"...On Friday he laid down his life as a mortal of the realm; on Sunday morning he took it up again as a morontia being of the system of Satania in Norlatiadek.

"...He did come forth from this tomb of Joseph in the very likeness of the morontia personalities of those who, as resurrected morontia ascendant beings, emerge from the resurrection halls of the first mansion world of this local system of Satania.

When Jesus resurrected from the tomb, he was in a physical form, but he was not visible to everyone. His body was made from "morontia" material, which is the next form which all mortals will assume upon resurrection after death. He only made his presence known to certain people, and he could appear and disappear at will. Perhaps you'll remember his meeting with Mary Magdalene at the tomb; she did not at first recognize him, as he was very changed, but as soon as he spoke, she instantly knew it was the Master.

This seems to be a good place to explain why it was that Jesus appeared in this form. This is revealed material that can only be found in The Urantia Book, as far as I know, but it makes perfect sense when you see the whole story.

As part of Jesus' mission to Urantia, he was required to assume the form of all creatures of his vast universe. You can read all about these various bestowals, seven in all, and the reasons for his mission here.

Jesus' seventh and final bestowal was as the babe of Bethlehem, Jesus of Nazareth, who grew up as a mortal of the realm, just as all mortals do. And Jesus died as a mortal of the realm as well, although his death was particularly brutal and violent - not the same as most humans - but still, he did die a "natural" death, as would any mortal. While he was here in physical form, he revealed the Father to mortals and established the kingdom of heaven in the hearts of mankind, which was a most important part of his overall mission to our universe.

After that, he had to experience the natural outcome of human life and death, and that was as a newly resurrected mortal, in the form that all of us mortals will assume when we die - the above-mentioned morontia form. The only difference between what Jesus experienced and what we will experience is that Jesus remained on earth to spend more time with his followers before he finally left the earth for the last time. We will not be doing that - but in all other respects, what happened to Jesus is what will happen to us when we die, except that we will be resurrected on the Mansion Worlds as morontia beings - changed, but with our personalities intact and recognizable by those of our loved ones who went there before us. Our mortal bodies will remain on earth, to turn into the dust from which they came. We learn in The Urantia Book that we will eat food of "a kingdom of living energy unknown on the material worlds"

You can read more about this unique material in Paper 48 -The Morontia Life

p542:4 (48:1.7) Paul learned of the existence of the morontia worlds and of the reality of morontia materials, for he wrote, "They have in heaven a better and more enduring substance." And these morontia materials are real, literal, even as in "the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." And each of these marvelous spheres is "a better country, that is, a heavenly one."

One of the resurrection appearances that Jesus made was to the two brothers at Emmaus, and on this occasion, Jesus did sit down to dinner with these two brothers. Here is a passage from that story:

"By this time they had come near to the village where these brothers dwelt. Not a word had these two men spoken since Jesus began to teach them as they walked along the way. Soon they drew up in front of their humble dwelling place, and Jesus was about to take leave of them, going on down the road, but they constrained him to come in and abide with them. They insisted that it was near nightfall, and that he tarry with them. Finally Jesus consented, and very soon after they went into the house, they sat down to eat. They gave him the bread to bless, and as he began to break and hand to them, their eyes were opened, and Cleopas recognized that their guest was the Master himself. And when he said, "It is the Masterâ€”," the morontia Jesus vanished from their sight.

Again, Jesus appeared to the apostles (his thirteenth resurrection appearance), and again, there was bread. Here is a passage from that section:

"Jesus spoke to them, saying: "Come now, all of you, to breakfast. Even the twins should sit down while I visit with you; John Mark will dress the fish." John Mark brought seven good-sized fish, which the Master put on the fire, and when they were cooked, the lad served them to the ten. Then Jesus broke the bread and handed it to John, who in turn served it to the hungry apostles. When they had all been served, Jesus bade John Mark sit down while he himself served the fish and the bread to the lad. And as they ate, Jesus visited with them and recounted their many experiences in Galilee and by this very lake. "

In this passage, we are left wondering whether Jesus actually ate the fish, but I suspect not, as his new form had no need for food of the earthly kind. But he did sit with them, he prepared the fish, and served the meal of fish and bread to John Mark. And he broke the bread with his hands. Never having had any experience with morontia materials, I cannot say how this was accomplished, but if morontia material is of a "more enduring substance," I suspect that physical material can be easily manipulated with it. So, breaking bread would not be a difficult act.

To me, it is also not a very important detail whether Jesus actually ate anything. The important feature of these stories is the fact of his resurrection, and that he did spend a considerable amount of time with many people before finally leaving Urantia for the last time. During these nineteen appearances, he reiterated his teachings, and said fond farewells to many. His resurrection from the dead after his mortal life is of particular interest to us, as it is what we can anticipate as our experience as well following our death.

Thank you for this most interesting question.

Labels: break bread, Emmaus, Jesus, Mansion Worlds, morontia, resurrection, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Does TUB discuss any hitherto unknown human senses or abilities?

Q: Does The Urantia Book discuss any hitherto unknown human senses or abilities?

A: The authors of The Urantia Book tell us that our average sense endowment numbers twelve. Now, I am only aware of the usual five sense - sight, smell, taste, feeling, and hearing, so, it gets one to thinking... They call these twelve sense "physical-sense endowments," and I wonder if at least one of them could be connected to the legacy of animal fear that we have inherited. Fear can be a very visceral reaction. I also wonder if one of our senses could be connected to discernment of the passage of time or our ability to discern the presence of another personality - or non-personality. Additionally, our bodies possess an innate ability to heal themselves. Perhaps memory is considered a "sense." And then, there's always the "sense of humor and the "sense of fairness," or the "sense of right and wrong." Or, it could just be that our senses simply fall below what is considered "average" when taken in total against all humans in the cosmos. It is an interesting subject to think about, right?

Here is a quote:

The average special physical-sense endowment of human beings is twelve, though the special senses of the three-brained mortals are extended slightly beyond those of the one- and two-brained types; they can see and hear considerably more than the Urantia races. p564:5(49:4.3)

I find it interesting to conjecture whether we would have developed keener senses had Adam and Eve not defaulted, and we had had the benefit of their superior life plasm. Consider this quote:

Both the physical and spiritual visions of Adam and Eve were far superior to those of the present-day peoples. Their special senses were much more acute, and they were able to see the midwayers and the angelic hosts, the Melchizedeks, and the fallen Prince Caligastia, who several times came to confer with his noble successor. They retained the ability to see these celestial beings for over one hundred years after the default. These special senses were not so acutely present in their children and tended to diminish with each succeeding generation. p851:3(76:4.5)

I say it is a pity, for I would love to be able to see our friends in the spiritual realms.

We can look forward to some extra- and enhanced senses once we pass through the portals of death and assume our morontia existence, as in this quote:

The morontia senses are seventy, and the higher spiritual orders of reaction response vary in different types of beings from seventy to two hundred and ten.p154:5(14:2.3)

And to give you an idea of how inadequate our physical senses are in discerning spiritual reality, consider this quote about the central universe and Havona:

None of the physical beings of the central universe would be visible to Urantians. Neither would any of the physical stimuli of those faraway worlds excite a reaction in your gross sense organs. If a Urantia mortal could be transported to Havona, he would there be deaf, blind, and utterly lacking in all other sense reactions; he could only function as a limited self-conscious being deprived of all environmental stimuli and all reactions thereto. p154:6(14:2.4)

Finally, as to special abilities, I think that mortals are variously gifted with many different abilities - in art, music, writing, mathmatics, science, etc. Some people have amazing abilities that no one even understands - like savants in math or music or memory who are otherwise seemingly mentally retarded. Some of these folks are an endless source of wonder for us all.

Here's a quote that helps illuminate some of this for us:

There are three possible sources of special human ability: At the bottom always there exists the natural or inherent aptitude. Special ability is never an arbitrary gift of the Gods; there is always an ancestral foundation for every outstanding talent. In addition to this natural ability, or rather supplemental thereto, there may be contributed the leadings of the Thought Adjuster in those individuals whose indwelling Adjusters may have had actual and bona fide experiences along such lines on other worlds and in other mortal creatures. In those cases where both the human mind and the indwelling Adjuster are unusually skillful, the spirit artisans may be delegated to act as harmonizers of these talents and otherwise to assist and inspire these mortals to seek for ever-perfecting ideals and to attempt their enhanced portrayal for the edification of the realm. p507:7 (44:8.2)

Labels: abilities, morontia, physical senses, Thought Adjuster

Permalink

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Will we know one another in heaven?

Q: Will we know one another in heaven?

A: Thank you for taking the time to write to us with this question. I think it is a concern that many of us have had. Some of the most beautiful and comforting parts of The Urantia Book are its teachings about life after death. And one of the sweetest is the teaching that we we will indeed, know one another in heaven. In fact, our relationships are the most important thing we do here on earth - so important, that they have eternal value.

"... much of your past life and its memories, having neither spiritual meaning nor morontia value, will perish with the material brain; much of material experience will pass away as onetime scaffolding which, having bridged you over to the morontia level, no longer serves a purpose in the universe. But personality and the relationships between personalities are never scaffolding; mortal memory of personality relationships has cosmic value and will persist. On the mansion worlds you will know and be known, and more, you will remember, and be remembered by, your onetime associates in the short but intriguing life on Urantia." p1235:4(112:5.22)

The "morontia level" is a level of existence which is between the purely physical, and the purely spiritual. It is a stage that we pass through after our life on earth is over. And the mansion worlds are our first stopping-place on our way to Paradise. The "Father's many mansions" that Jesus mentioned are these same worlds. I imagine that this experience will fulfill all of our dreams of Heaven.

Please click visit our study on Life After Death to find lots more information on this topic, including Quotes of the Day and flash movies...

Thanks for writing. I hope this has been helpful to you. Write back any time. Would you like to subscribe to our daily Quote of the Day service? Just go to our home page, click on Quote of the Day (in the middle) and then click subscribe.

Labels: life after death, memory, morontia, relationship, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Friday, March 14, 2008

What is your belief about reincarnation and those intuitives/sensitives that promote past life readings?

Q: What is your belief about reincarnation and those intuitives/sensitives that promote past life readings?

A: Thank you for this timely and interesting question. The Urantia Book has the following to say about reincarnation:

p953:4((86:4.5)) The primitive doctrine of survival after death was not necessarily a belief in immortality. Beings who could not count over twenty could hardly conceive of infinity and eternity; they rather thought of recurring incarnations.

p953:5((86:4.6)) This idea of reincarnation originated in the observance of hereditary and trait resemblance of offspring to ancestors. The custom of naming children after grandparents and other ancestors was due to belief in reincarnation. Some later-day races believed that man died from three to seven times. .

p1029:1((94:2.3)) The undue concentration on self led certainly to a fear of the nonevolutionary perpetuation of self in an endless round of successive incarnations as man, beast, or weeds. And of all the contaminating beliefs which could have become fastened upon what may have been an emerging monotheism, none was so stultifying as this belief in transmigrationâ€”the doctrine of the reincarnation of soulsâ€”which came from the Dravidian Deccan. This belief in the weary and monotonous round of repeated transmigrations robbed struggling mortals of their long-cherished hope of finding that deliverance and spiritual advancement in death which had been a part of the earlier Vedic faith.

p1811:5((164:3.4)) The older Jewish teachers, together with Plato, Philo, and many of the Essenes, tolerated the theory that men may reap in one incarnation what they have sown in a previous existence; thus in one life they were believed to be expiating the sins committed in preceding lives. The Master found it difficult to make men believe that their souls had not had previous existences.

You can see from these quotes that reincarnation is not a belief that is fostered in the teachings of The Urantia Book, nor in the teachings of Jesus. However, it is a theory that many seeking souls adopt as a way of explaining survival of the self, as well as karma, the idea of reaping what we sow.

I was a believer in reincarnation at one point in my life, but I now much prefer the idea of "resurrection" of the immortal soul as presented in The Urantia Book:

p533:5((47:3.7)) On mansion world number one (or another in case of advanced status) you will resume your intellectual training and spiritual development at the exact level whereon they were interrupted by death. Between the time of planetary death or translation and resurrection on the mansion world, mortal man gains absolutely nothing aside from experiencing the fact of survival. You begin over there right where you leave off down here.

This teaching relieves any fears I may have had about having to return to this planet over and over again as the result of some past sins - which to me, is a very depressing thought. Having to endure, all over again, a complete mortal life until I "get it right," seems terribly unappealing to me.

Given the sheer size and magnitude of the inhabited universe presented in The Urantia Book, it seems highly unlikely to me that we would be doomed to such a circular existence focused on only this little ball of dirt in space. Rather, we can look forward to resurrection on new worlds, with new challenges, and new opportunities for atoning for our shortcomings. The watchword of the universe is "progress." Personally, I see nothing progressive about reincarnation.

I am however, interested in the phenomena of the intuitives that you mention, and I notice that many people seem to gain a great deal of comfort from these "readings." I am sure that they believe in what they are doing, as well as do the people who seek them out, but to me, it is only a curiosity, and nowhere near reality. I don't consider it sinful or bad, just misguided and pointless. From the Urantia Book:

p159:6((14:5.10)) Love of adventure, curiosity, and dread of monotonyâ€”these traits inherent in evolving human natureâ€”were not put there just to aggravate and annoy you during your short sojourn on earth, but rather to suggest to you that death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery.

Finally, as to the karmic idea, The Urantia Book has an interesting quote about reaping and sowing:

p431:2((39:2.13)) When you finish your earthly career, your body remains on this planet...You "sow a mortal body" in the grave; you "reap a morontia form" on the mansion worlds.

(NB: "Morontia" is a term designating a stage of existence which is between material and spiritual - a transition state between being entirely mortal, and entirely spiritual - ed.)

The Urantia Book teaches us that this new life vehicle will be a faithful reflection of the true inner person, so that the spiritual progress, or lack thereof, will be reflected in this new form. This is an intriguing concept, and to me, is a good reason continue to do all I can to progress spiritually...hey, I want to look good in my new life!!!

I would like to invite you to take a look at our flash movies - in particular, "After You Die," which is a beautiful. three-minute presentation about this very subject of life after death, and what we can expect when we experience our resurrection.

And if you have not done so, please susbscribe to Quote of the Day, a free service of Truthbook.com. You'll receive a daily quote from The Urantia Book to uplift and inspire you.

Labels: karma, life after death, morontia, past-lives, reincarnation, resurrection, The Urantia Book