Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: Who Am I, Really?

A: That's a good question that would have a pretty imprecise answer were it not for the teachings of The Urantia Book - The Urantia Book is all about answering that very question. So the best response would be to tell you to read the book and to decide for yourself, but instead I'll provide a condensed version.

First, you are a unique personality - there's never been nor ever will be another you. That's because personality is a divine and unique gift from the Father, yours being but one facet of a nearly infinite whole. This unique and divine personality is now being expressed in human form as yourself, but what you believe to be your personality and what others see as you aren't that unique and divine entity, what's being observed and experienced is your character interpreted as you.

Your personality is changeless, but your character will change as it becomes more in tune with your personality. It will appear that you mature and grow and develop wisdom during this life; still, this is only the bottom rung on a ladder of progress stretching to eternity. Your personality is so rich in endowment that unfathomable time is required for your character to develop its full potential in expressing that true personality.

Here on earth, you are also a product of your environment and of both biological and cultural heredity. If your biological heredity is faulty it will be pretty difficult to overcome those shortcomings in this life but you'll be provided ample opportunity to do so in what's to come after this life is over. Environmental and cultural hereditary defects can be overcome by exercising your character and another God given attribute, free will. If you choose to let the circumstances of life dominate you then you will have hardly exercised your free will at all, exhibiting instead character weakness that needs to be strengthened. If you invoke your free will in overcoming hardship and privation to build a life of accomplishment and joy character growth will result.

Your character is the result of the choices and decisions you make; how you think about and treat yourself, other individuals and the world around you; honesty, loyalty, truthfulness, responsibility; your attitude toward life and your place in the cosmos.

So, you are nearly infinite potential being expressed through a developing finite character. You have the aid and guidance of unseen spirit forces to assist and you have the influence of the Holy Spirit and of the Spirit of Truth to help you with the challenging decisions life requires you to make. You're a tadpole striving to become a frog which will eventually transform into a prince as long as you keep the goal in mind and continually strive for God-likeness. God is the home to which we all yearn to return.

Please see our topical study on Personality for a lot more information about who you are.

Labels: character, God, Holy Spirit, personality, progress, Spirit of Truth, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Monday, April 27, 2009

Why is life running so fast?

Q: Why is life running so fast? please can you tell something comforting?

A: Why is life running so fast? I'm sure it would be more comforting to us all if the pace of life slowed down. There have been periods of hundreds of thousands of years in human history where there was little if any personal, cultural, or societal change and today we experience more of those changes in just one year than most of humanity ever experienced in a lifetime.

Perhaps these extracts from The Urantia Book will provide some clarity:

Nature is a resultant of two cosmic factors: first, the immutability, perfection, and rectitude of Paradise Deity, and second, the experimental plans, executive blunders, insurrectionary errors, incompleteness of development, and imperfection of wisdom of creatures, from the highest to the lowest. Nature therefore carries a uniform, unchanging, majestic, and marvelous thread of perfection from the circle of eternity; but on each planet, and in each individual life, this nature is modified, qualified, and perchance marred by the acts, the mistakes, and the disloyalties of creatures; and therefore must nature ever be of a changing mood, whimsical withal, though stable underneath. (4:2.3)

Human life is an endless change unified by the stability of the unchanging personality. (112:5.20 )

When men pray for providential intervention in the circumstances of life, many times the answer to their prayer is their own changed attitudes toward life. (118:10.21)

Remember that the order of progressive evolution is subjected to sudden and unexpected periodical changes in both the material and the spiritual worlds. (170:4.4)

In terms of material and spiritual progress we have a long way to go in order to enter that more enlightened age that's destined to evolve. The accelerated pace of change that we're experiencing is an indication that that evolution is underway and even at this rapid rate our arrival at that state of relative peace and calm will be far into the distant future. As the quote above indicates, prayer is the best action for helping us accept the circumstances of life and for finding happiness during our fast-paced and tumultuous lives.

Finally, here is another reference that may be of help to you, as well as an inspiration for weathering these changes of modern life- Religion and Social Reconstruction.

Among other things in this section, we learn that "Mankind is on the march toward a new and unrevealed planetary destiny."

Thank you for the question...

Labels: change, life, personality, prayer, progress, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Are the Thought Adjuster and Personality alien to each other?

Q: The Urantia Book speaks as though the Thought Adjuster and Personality are alien to each other, yet they both come from God-Father. Why would God play such a game with Him/Her self ?

A: I guess it might seem like some sort of a game that God is playing, but somehow, I don't think that is the case. To me, it is a very interesting, but also very logical thing he does...far more than a mere "game," it is an amazing opportunity that he gives to his mortal and finite children of time.

Mortal beings are endowed with personality, but Adjusters are not - they are designated "pre-personal," indicating that they have personality potential. But while Adjusters do not possess personality, they do possess divine "identity," while the mortal does not, except as potential in the evolving soul. And so, the eventual fusion of the pre-personal Adjuster and the personality of man constitutes the creation of a new kind of being altogether - one with the characteristics and the identity of both the human and the Divine.

In order for the human to achieve this divinity, s/he must make those kinds of decisions and choices throughout life that constitute "spirit-identification," by allying the self with the will of God. These kinds of decisions result in the growth of an immortal soul; it is this immortal entity that is able to eventually fuse with the pre-personal Adjuster. In this way, the Adjuster achieves fusion with that aspect of personality which was once bestowed upon the mortal, and with which that mortal was able to effect those decisions to be like God. In turn, the mortal becomes eternally God-identified. The two become one - a whole new creature capable of completing the Paradise ascent - the return to the Paradise Father who bestowed both of these components. Unless this happens, the mortal creature cannot make this supernal journey.

Far from being alien to each other, these two components of God do - with the consent of the mortal of their indwelling - conspire and cooperate in this amazing creation of a being of eternal status and dignity. The personality and the Thought Adjuster - both gifts of God to evolving mortals - are really the closest of associations in potential. It is the decision of the freewill mortal that activates and completes this liaison. By taking advantage of this opportunity, we can progress from the lowest of the low, to the highest of the high.

As an aside, you might enjoy this intriguing section about the Universal Father as The God of Personality.

Labels: fusion, God, personality, soul, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

Permalink

Friday, April 10, 2009

How is it possible for a first time personality to even be mature enough, wise enough to make eternal decisions?

Q: The Urantia Book describes the process by which we will eventually become one with our Thought Adjuster through "cooperating", submitting our will to God's will; making decisions, choices etc.... How is it possible for a first time personality to even be mature enough, wise enough to make eternal decisions?

A: It may not be possible to make eternal decisions in this earth life, although we can certainly make decisions that contribute to our eternal life. Like the process you describe in your question, we can choose to cooperate with our Thought Adjuster, we can decide that God's will is what we want in our lives, and we can reinforce those basic decisions with the every-day kinds of choices that we all face. By doing this, we grow our soul - the immortal part of us that will survive the death experience. And that is the eternal part of us that will eventually fuse with the TA. Even if we haven't made the "final decision" here - still, by contributing to our soul's growth, we are just that much better able to eventually make that decision when we are really ready.

Here's an abbreviated quote that might be helpful:

p449:4(40:8.1) ...practically all surviving mortals are fused with their Adjusters on one of the mansion worlds or immediately upon their arrival on the higher morontia spheres...

And this:

p538:1(47:8.3) This is a brilliant age for ascending mortals and usually witnesses the perfect fusion of the human mind and the divine Adjuster. In potential, this fusion may have occurred previously, but the actual working identity many times is not achieved until the time of the sojourn on the fifth mansion world or even the sixth.

For me, it is enough of a hope that my faith is sufficient to ensure that I will survive to wake up on the Mansion Worlds, and I think that is the best that most us can wish for at this juncture in our lives. And that's pretty good news! The Urantia Book teaches that fusion with the TA may be a long way off, even after we survive. That kind of decision is not made lightly, even though we may feel that we want it while we are here. As far as I know, only Enoch was able to achieve it here on Urantia, when he went up in a "flash of fire." The Urantia Book says that he was "the first," so maybe there have been others since then, but I don't know...Through our continuing purification, spirit identification, and education on the Mansion Worlds, we can hope to become far better equipped to make that kind of eternal decision when the time is right.

Just for interest, you might like to read about Death and Translation on the Spheres of Light and Life. I think we here on Urantia are going to be waiting a long time before that becomes a reality, but someday...

Thanks for this interesting question!

Labels: decision, eternal life, free will, personality, soul, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

Permalink

Is God Playing Games?

Q: The Urantia Book speaks as though the Thought Adjuster and Personality are alien to each other, yet they both come from God-Father. Why would God play such a game with Him/Her self?

A: I guess it might seem like some sort of a game that God is playing, but somehow, I don't think that is the case. To me, it is a very interesting, but also very logical thing he does...far more than a mere "game," it is an amazing opportunity that he gives to his mortal and finite children of time.

Mortal beings are endowed with personality, but Adjusters are not - they are designated "pre-personal," indicating that they have personality potential. But while Adjusters do not possess personality, they do possess divine "identity," while the mortal does not, except as potential in the evolving soul. And so, the eventual fusion of the pre-personal Adjuster and the personality of man constitutes the creation of a new kind of being altogether - one with the characteristics and the identity of both the human and the Divine.

In order for the human to achieve this divinity, s/he must make those kinds of decisions and choices throughout life that constitute "spirit-identification," by allying the self with the will of God. These kinds of decisions result in the growth of an immortal soul; it is this immortal entity that is able to eventually fuse with the pre-personal Adjuster. In this way, the Adjuster achieves fusion with that aspect of personality which was once bestowed upon the mortal, and with which that mortal was able to effect those decisions to be like God. In turn, the mortal becomes eternally God-identified. The two become one - a whole new creature capable of completing the Paradise ascent - the return to the Paradise Father who bestowed both of these components. Unless this happens, the mortal creature cannot make this supernal journey.

Far from being alien to each other, these two components of God do - with the consent of the mortal of their indwelling - conspire and cooperate in this amazing creation of a being of eternal status and dignity. The personality and the Thought Adjuster - both gifts of God to evolving mortals - are really the closest of associations in potential. It is the decision of the freewill mortal that activates and completes this liaison. By taking advantage of this opportunity, we can progress from the lowest of the low, to the highest of the high.

As an aside, you might enjoy this intriguing section about the Universal Father as The God of Personality.

I hope this answer has been helpful....

Labels: eternal life, fusion, personality, soul, spirit identification, Thought Adjuster

Permalink

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

What does The Urantia Book say about the practice of euthanasia?

There are no references to euthanasia (mercy-killing) in The Urantia Book. But knowing what I do, I hope can form an opinion that will be in line with its teachings.

Euthanasia is an interesting subject, and once again in the news of the day. I can't tell you what to think - whether it is right or wrong. I suspect that every case is different. But it is my personal opinion that if a person has been in a vegetative state for some amount of time (in the recent case I read of, the person has been in such a state for over ten years!) and shows no sign of recovery, and no sign of brain activity, I would say that euthanasia would be justified. I know that if it was me in that bed, that I would not want to be kept alive if my Thought Adjuster had left. And we are told that when brain activity ceases, that is the equivalent of death, at which time the Adjuster returns to Divinington to await the personality and soul reunion. Do the soul and personality remain with the body until it is allowed to die?

The Urantia Book says this:

2. Intellectual (mind) death. When the vital circuits of higher adjutant ministry are disrupted through the aberrations of intellect or because of the partial destruction of the mechanism of the brain, and if these conditions pass a certain critical point of irreparability, the indwelling Adjuster is immediately released to depart for Divinington. On the universe records a mortal personality is considered to have met with death whenever the essential mind circuits of human will-action have been destroyed. And again, this is death, irrespective of the continuing function of the living mechanism of the physical body. The body minus the volitional mind is no longer human, but according to the prior choosing of the human will, the soul of such an individual may survive.

3. Physical (body and mind) death. When death overtakes a human being, the Adjuster remains in the citadel of the mind until it ceases to function as an intelligent mechanism, about the time that the measurable brain energies cease their rhythmic vital pulsations. Following this dissolution the Adjuster takes leave of the vanishing mind, just as unceremoniously as entry was made years before, and proceeds to Divinington by way of Uversa. p1230:1(112:3.3)

In days past, this was not ever thought about much, because a person who had sustained a serious injury would have naturally passed away, but in our times of amazing medical miracles and cutting-edge technologies, doctors have the power to keep a person alive undefinitely. But is that always wise? To me it seems like a case of science without the moderation of spirit.

Euthanasia comes from two Greek words meaning "good death." Lingering in a hospital bed, waiting for someone to "pull the plug" does not seems like a very merciful way to treat someone. Allowing them to have a "good death" seems to be, in these extreme sorts of cases, the best course of action.

This is a question that has prompted the rise of "living wills," which allow a person beforehand, to say how they would like such a situation handled if they are not able to speak or act on their own. "Natural death," as understood in The Urantia Book may not be possible in such a situation, and so a person has to demand it these days.

Thanks for this thought-provoking question.

Labels: death, euthanasia, living will, mercy-killing, personality, soul, The Urantia Book, Thought Adjuster

Permalink

Saturday, February 14, 2009

How can you know whether you are just human or if you are a divinely bestowed personality?

Q: With such a focus on bestowal missions in TUB, how can you know whether you are just human or if you are a divinely bestowed personality?

A: Are you thinking that maybe because of the focus more people will be claiming to be divine? That's possible -- because of TUB more people are claiming to have special connections to spirit beings since any time that attention is given to something out of the ordinary people with unstable tendencies rush to use it to their advantage. We all like to think we're special -- and we are, but not in a worldly fashion and it's the worldly that exerts such a strong pull on the ego.

Divinely bestowed personalities know who they are -- Caligastia, Adam and Eve, Melchizedek, Jesus. They understood where they'd come from and what it was they intended to do while here so there was no doubt in their minds. Jesus, as a child, faced some confusion, but as he grew up and matured the knowledge came back to him. So, if you're a divinely bestowed personality you know your past and your future. If you're a self-deluding person you'll make yourself believe there's something divine and extra special about you, but deep down you'll know it's a deception.

It's my guess that there are no divinely bestowed personalities in human form on the planet at this time and that there won't be any for some time to come. We're pretty much left to our own devices by deity since it's important that we evolve naturally and solve our own problems. But at some point we'll have evolved to the point where we're ready for a new teacher and one will come. However, TUB has been here for 50 years and is still unknown -- it's going to take a while for it to have its intended effect and we'll need to absorb the fifth in order to be ready for something additional.

Labels: Adam and Eve, bestowal, Caligastia, ego, Jesus, Melchizedek, personality, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Is Our Family Pre-Determined?

Q: Are the parents you receive on Earth pre-planned according to some kind of guideplan? Some children grow up under very spiritually dry environments e.g. the son and daughter of Anthony Lavey, compared to the children of Martin Luther King, Jr.

A: As far as we know from the teachings of The Urantia Book, the only pre-planning of parents that has transpired over the million year course of human history was the selection of Jesus' earth parents -- the three most promising sets of parents were identified and Joseph and Mary were chosen from among them to provide the incarnation of the Creator Son the best opportunity for fulfilling his pre-ordained mission. Normal human beings don't have pre-ordained missions that require fulfilling.

The purpose of the mansion worlds is to provide the remedial environment for whatever is lacking in this material life. People brought up in non-spiritual environments, such as in the Satanic church, can still develop spiritualized thinking -- they still have guardian angels, the ministry of the Spirit of Truth, Thought Adjusters -- just as those raised under the best of conditions can disavow the spiritual reality of life. Environment has a strong impact but it can be overcome through choice.

At conception our personality, the potential for the person we're to become, most likely gravitates toward parents who might provide the kind of environment suitable for our development. But, through the vicissitudes of life, there's no insurance that life will unfold as might have been projected. So, in answer to this question, it would appear that basically no, parents are not pre-ordained; it's the luck of the draw and we learn to make the best of the circumstances into which we're born.

Labels: Anthony Lavey, choice, Jesus, Jr, Mansion Worlds, Martin Luther King, parenting, personality, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Friday, March 09, 2007

A Position On Abortion?

Q: The position on abortion please.

A: Thank you for your succinct question to Truthbook.com.
There is only one paragraph in The Urantia Book that mentions abortion which is found in the paper titled "The Dawn of Civilization" and that is:

"Many races learned the technique of abortion, and this practice became very common after the establishment of the taboo on childbirth among the unmarried. It was long the custom for a maiden to kill her offspring, but among more civilized groups these illegitimate children became the wards of the girl's mother. Many primitive clans were virtually exterminated by the practice of both abortion and infanticide. But regardless of the dictates of the mores, very few children were ever destroyed after having once been suckled--maternal affection is too strong. "(68:6.9)

However there is considerable material in the book describing the spiritual foundation of life and we know, for example, that when the life of a human being ends here they begin on the mansion worlds where they left off relative to spiritual development. Explanation regarding the mind circuits we use during our life here indicates that at conception a fertilized egg is connected with the mind circuits of both parents and remains so until about the age of 16 when the youth becomes a full-fledged individual separate and apart from their parents and no longer attached to their parents mind circuits. That leads one to believe that any aborted eggs or potential infants will again become the responsibility of the parents once both are on the mansion worlds where they can resume their parenting responsibilities.

In the overall scheme of things God has provided for the full development of every personality despite whatever the vicissitudes of life on a material world may bring. However, the guilt associated with an abortion will more than likely color the thoughts and dreams for the lifetime of those involved here.

Thank you again,

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: abortion, God, mind circuits, parenting, personality

Permalink

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Who am I?

Conventional answers focus upon characteristics of a physical and social nature. Most people know their name, race, creed, ethnic group, nationality, occupation, family role, personality traits, social status, etc. They ARE all of these. Yet, knowing this, they continue to ask "Who am I?" There is something beyond their vital statistics and social data which people desire to know. It is as if they sense that they are part of something greater than their niche in the physical environment, and long to find out what it is.

There is not a biography in "Who's Who in America" which has a soul satisfying answer to this haunting question. All leave unanswered the identity of the biographer from a theological point of view, and leave unsatisfied the craving to know who we are in the universe or cosmos.

To discover who we are from a theological, universal or cosmic view, we must begin by exploring our characteristics which have theological, universal or cosmic significance. These should point toward who we really are.

As members of the human race, the highest order of animal life on earth, we share those characteristics held in common by human beings. If humans have any common characteristics of theological, universal or cosmic significance, then they also apply to you and me.

1. A Personality.

All who read this have one thing in common: each is a person. Persons have characteristics not shared by non-persons. These characteristics give us significant clues as to who we are.

Self-consciousness. Only persons can know that they exist as separate and distinct entities; can conceive of "I." This characteristic makes persons self-conscious: I am "I," every other person is "you," and every non-person is "it." Self-consciousness is absolutely essential to moral choosing.

Uniqueness, Individuality. No two persons are alike; each occupies a separate body and has different experiences. Each reacts differently to similar stimuli. "I" am unlike, to some extent, every other creature in the universe; and this makes "me" an individual: truly unique. (1225:37-1226:3) An understanding of this characteristic is essential to an assessment of human value. No one else can substitute for, or replace, a truly unique person.

Interpersonal Relations. Only persons have interpersonal relations. Relationships between persons and non-persons are not interpersonal. Animals and inanimate objects, not being persons, cannot interrelate "personally" with us. God is a "person," and this characteristic allows persons to have a personal relationship with God.

Wisdom. Of all material beings, only persons are endowed with minds capable of distinguishing between good and evil. Not all persons have this capability at all times; however no physical creature other than a person has wisdom. This characteristic is essential to the ability to make a free-will choice between good and evil.

Worship. Persons are the only material creatures who have a tendency to (a "spirit of") worship. Only persons can perceive that there is reality beyond the material, sense that it is "personal" in nature, sincerely esteem it for its values, and crave to develop a closer personal relationship with it. This characteristic is essential to our love and worship of God.
The above characteristics form the basis of personality. Each creature endowed with these characteristics has a separate and distinct personality, and is a personality. Personality is the key to individuality. No two personalities are the same.

Science cannot explain where personality comes from. There is nothing in the laws of genetics or the theories of evolution to indicate that personality has a scientific basis. The URANTIA Book says personality is a gift of the Father (79:9-11 1225:18-19 1226:14-15); that it is personality which gives mankind the prerogatives of self-determination, self-evolution, and self-identification with Deity. (1301:12-14) Why do we have this gift?

I am the totality of that unique personality who conceives of itself as "I"; there is no other such creature in the universe. I will always be that personality. The personality who I know as "I" is constant and changeless. I am self-conscious: I know the difference between good and evil, and can choose to do either; I can foresee the social consequences of my acts. The cosmic status of my personality is affected by these choices.

2. Man. the Highest Animal. Material man is seen as the highest order of animal life, the acme of creation. He has been given dominion over all the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28) Where did man come from? What does this power signify?

Logically, man could have arrived on earth by one or more of four means:
(1) evolved here by natural processes as a result of a colossal series of incidents, accidents, and coincidences;
(2) created here as man by fiat of God;
(3) created here by mindful use of principles of evolution and mutation; or
(4) transported here from another place.

Pure science has no better answer than that man sprang from method (1), a colossal series of incidents, accidents and coincidences. The odds favoring production of mankind in such a manner are so infinitesimally small that most sensible people reject it as a viable theory. It is said that, under the laws of probability, if enough apes were set before enough word processors and given enough time, one of them would produce a photo-ready copy of The Encyclopedia Britannica. It is one thing to speculate, statistically, that the entire work can be reproduced in that manner, and quite another to propose that it was actually written in that manner. Those believing that the universe, with mankind in it, was actually produced by mindless, directionless phenomena of chance accept something far more implausible than that The Encyclopedia Britannica was accidentally written by an ape.

Fundamentalist Christian theology holds that man came to earth by way number (2), fiat creation by God. Whether or not this is a fact, it contains the essential truth that man appeared on earth as a creative act of Deity, which is theologically significant.

The URANTIA Book teaches that the basic human stock was placed on this planet by way number (3): creation by mindful use of evolution and mutation. (667:33-39) It was planned to up step the human race by interbreeding with material stock brought to earth by way number (4): transportation from another place (Adam & Eve, 583:8-10),however, relatively little benefit accrued from this effort because of the Adamic default. (736:30-35)

For all practical purposes, it is immaterial whether mankind arrived on earth as a result of way (2), (3) or (4), or by any combination thereof; the point is that man appeared--not by accident--but as a result of creation by Deity. Why would Deity create (by any means) "man in His own image" and give him "dominion over" all other physical creation? This is a significant question. Its answers give further clues as to who we are.

Let us postulate that the physical universe of galaxies, suns, planets, moons, etc., was created (by whatever means) to provide a physical environment within which to bring into existence various forms of life designed to support, and to culminate in, "beings" with the qualities of mankind. If so, the development of life forms not only would advance toward the desired end of producing mankind, but also would support him when he came into being. This is exactly what happened on earth; we can only speculate whether it happened elsewhere. If no higher form of physical creature appears, we can reason that the creative process was designed to culminate in, and support, mankind.
I am the capstone of physical creation. I, and those like me, have dominion over all the earth. But why? How does this help Deity?

3. Free Will and Mandatory Choices.

Man is said to exercise free will; and so he does. But only to the extent that he can perceive options and understand their consequences. Wisdom is essential to free will. Civilized society does not hold its members criminally accountable for their misdeeds unless the culprit knew, or should have known, that the act was wrong. This is the basis for excusing the insane from criminal responsibility. Deity has at least as high a standard.

Out of all material creation, only man is aware of the qualities of his relationship with others, has the ability to foresee the consequences of his conduct in terms of impact on others. Only man is able to know the difference between good and evil. See definition of Evil in Part III.A, below. Therefore, only man has the ability to do evil.

There is another reason why man is the only material creature able to do evil: man, alone is able to overcome his animal nature. Animal behavior is governed by genetics and environment only; but man is able to overcome these by another behavior-regulating force: wisdom, and the free will to use it.

Lower animals always respond to a situation in accordance with their nature and training. A hungry tiger finding a lost child in the jungle acts in accordance with its nature, with no thought of any consequences. A starving man finding the child is instantly aware that a moral choice, if not a spiritual one, is involved. The tiger is absolved of moral blame if it eats the child; the man is not. Why this difference? The two reasons are:
(1) because only the man could know it was wrong, if not evil, and
(2) only the man had control over his own conduct: free will. These differences are of major theological significance.

The fact that man recognizes the difference between good and evil in any situation places upon him the inescapable burden to choose between the two. The more sensitive he becomes, the more differences he observes, and the more choices he must make. Most people constantly face such choices.

Choices between good and evil usually take the form of choices between self interests and (1) societal interests or (2) spiritual interests. Societal interests involve "right vs. wrong," sociological terms pertaining to morality. Spiritual interests involve "good vs. evil," theological terms pertaining to spirituality. This is an important difference. That which seems right may be evil. (Proverbs 14:12) Knowledge of good and evil is not the same as knowledge of right and wrong.

It is said that God provides no rewards or punishments; only consequences. God provides "consequences" only for free-will choices. He judges by the "heart:" the intent to do that known to be either good or evil. Good done accidentally or under duress has no spiritual value to the do-gooder. Evil done through ignorance or accident has no spiritual consequences upon the evildoer; but the choice of evil over good is sin, and the wages of sin is spiritual death.

Why did Deity enable mankind to ignore its animal nature? This quality of free will is given to man in order that he may perform important service to Deity, service which would be impossible without it. In Part I.C, above, four "desires" of Deity are proposed which are attainable through creatures with (1) the ability to ascertain the will of God and (2) the absolute power to obey or disobey it as they choose.

I AM an animal liberated from my animal nature and given both the wisdom to recognize the nature and con sequences of my acts and the free will to act as I choose. I therefore face constant choices of both a moral and spiritual nature. I have the power to ascertain the will of God if I seek to do so. I can increasingly gain knowledge of good and evil. (Compare Genesis 2:9,17; 825:39-40) Most knowledge comes from the Indwelling Spirit within me. (1457:40-43) Much comes from revelation, and some is portrayed in holy books. These provide the knowledge which makes me accountable for my subsequent acts.

The three human characteristics mentioned above do much to reveal who we are from a theological and cosmic point of view.

Labels: characteristics, Christian, free will, God, identity, individuality, personality, relationship, self-consciousness, The Urantia Book, universe, Who's Who in America, wisdom, worship

Permalink

Friday, February 24, 2006

I dearly love my wonderful pets. Can I ultimately have them back in the future life?

Q: I dearly love my wonderful pets. Can I ultimately have them back in the future life? Perhaps recreated for me?

A: Where would we be without our pets or without animals in general who give us such appreciation, happiness and joy, attention, love and affection? Unlike other people, animals can give us attention and show us affection when we want it. Pets are like visible ministering angels; they can help the mentally and physically sick heal faster, give love to the unloved, and help us feel the joyous sense of being alive. They offer us the opportunity to take responsibility for a thinking and feeling creature other than ourselves. Their majesty, beauty, power, delicacy brings us a sense of humility and awe and often mirrors back to us like no other encounter can. Surely we are blessed to have the variety of animals living here with us that we do; we're all the better because of them in their infinite variety.

From The Urantia Book we learn that our deep appreciation for animals is natural since human origins are from animal ancestry although now there are a number of traits that elevate us above the animals, one being our moral and religious natures and the other being personality. Humans can learn not only through experience but by thinking ahead and drawing conclusions, looking before we leap, whereas animals ordinarily learn only by leaping. They achieve goals based on accumulated experience; we can examine the goal and judge its value, can discriminate between ends as well as between means, can know what we are doing, why we are doing it, where we are going, and how we will get there without ever having to have the actual experience.

One of the challenging concepts of The Urantia Book is that animals do not possess personality whereas humans do, and that it is personality that survives physical death; this means that we continue on in our existences once our lives here on earth are through but that our beloved pets don't. And any pet owner will readily say their cat or dog definitely does have a personality so obviously The Urantia Book is wrong. The difficulty lies in what we commonly define as personality and the Urantia book definition. In Urantia book terms, personality is the unique gift of the Father in heaven bestowed upon free-will creatures. Human beings are the lowest order of free-will creatures in creation. Animals, being lower on the scale of life than human beings, are not free-will creatures and do not have personality bestowed upon them. The personality we recognize in our animals is the result of the interaction between animal and human and the accumulated experiences of the animal; we associate their interaction with us as being their unique personality.

The love and association we experience through our pets enriches our lives, makes us better people, enlarges us emotionally, all of which is to the benefit of the development our our soul, the vehicle that carries personality on into the spirit world. And there we will again encounter lower life forms that will be like our animals were here, where we will receive love and recognition and have the opportunity to express them to lower forms just as we have here.

We may think it unreasonable or unjust that we're not reunited with our earthly pets when we depart here but consider that many people and some religions believe/teach that when we die it is all over, that nothing survives death, that despite the example Jesus provided we live, we die, and that's it for the human personality. In light of such nihlistic thought the understanding that it's our pets that don't survive takes on a different significance. Which would make more logical sense, that your life as a human being is of no ultimate value and ceases when you die, or that animal life, unblessed by free-will and divine personality does not survive?

When our beloved pets die their life energy returns to whence it came; they survive in our memories. When we die we will be blessed with associations of other life forms like the animals left behind. Think of the love and attachment you felt for the first pet you had and how, when it died you thought there would never be another to replace it. Then eventually you had another pet that you loved as much as the first -- you remembered the first as fondly as you cherished the next. You couldn't have the first back but you found something that substituted so well you were equally delighted with the second. So it will be in the life to come.

Yours is a good question and we've added it to our discussion board so that you can 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: http://forums.truthbook.com/viewforum.php?f=11. 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 this marvelous 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.

Thank you for your question.

Larry Watkins
Truthbook.com

Labels: animals, free will, humans, Jesus, Larry Watkins, memory, personality, pets, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Where do animals go after death?

Q: Where do animals go after death?

A: Here's a quote from The Urantia Book:

The life bestowed upon plants and animals by the Life Carriers does not return to the Life Carriers upon the death of plant or animal. The departing life of such a living thing possesses neither identity nor personality; it does not individually survive death. During its existence and the time of its sojourn in the body of matter, it has undergone a change; it has undergone energy evolution and survives only as a part of the cosmic forces of the universe; it does not survive as individual life. The survival of mortal creatures is wholly predicated on the evolvement of an immortal soul within the mortal mind.
Page 404 (36:6.5)

Many people who have owned pets or have had a close relationship with an animal have found this statement to be difficult to accept, particularly because it says that animals don't possess identity or personality. The problem stems from taking the term out of context. When used by The Urantia Book the word personality is given a different interpretation from what we commonly use it for. We all know our cat or dog has personality â€“ that's why the pet becomes special to us. But what TUB is relating is that the eternal evolutionary course for creatures of free will intent (human beings) is separate and different from what becomes of other forms of life.

When our beloved pet dies the life force that made it special and unique to us is absorbed back into the Supreme Being. When we die we go on to the mansion worlds where we will encounter even more appealing forms of plant and animal life to associate with.

Labels: animals, death, personality, soul, Supreme Being, The Urantia Book

Permalink

Monthly Archives - Previous Articles
October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009

RSS Feed

The Urantia Book : Pictures of Jesus : Angel Pictures: Inspirational Quotes : Life After Death : Story of Jesus : Truthbook.com : Urantia : The Urantia Book