Urantia Book Commentary and Articles: 2009-04-05

by Bob Evans on
Apr 5, 2009

A 10-year study of 100,000 galaxies close to our own offers compelling proof that long-hypothesized "dark matter" does exist and is in fact a guiding force behind the structure of the universe, a team of Australian, British, and American astronomers revealed this week.

Saying that "the universe we see is really quite structured," one of the lead researchers explained that the 10-year "census" of galaxies near our own Milky Way offers powerful evidence that this invisible dark matter "seems to hold the galaxies together."

The dark matter's influence on galaxies "stops their constituent stars from flying off and it seems to be driving the large-scale galaxy clusters and super clusters" that are the largest objects in the universe, said Dr. Heath Jones of the Anglo Australian Observatory in an article on the website of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Offering rich details about the direction, speed, shape, and evolving structure of 100,000 galaxies, the 10-year study offered great promise because of its exhaustive scope: it analyzed those dynamic properties for a much larger number of galaxies than any other study had ever attempted.

In reviewing the data from the study, Jones said, it became clear that directly observable visible objects could not possibly have exerted sufficient gravitational force to account for all of the movement and dynamics of the galaxies being studied.

And in hypothesing about what other, nonvisible forces could account for that additional gravitational effect, theories about dark matter completed that equation very nicely, he told the ABC:

"The galaxies just aren't uniform. They are scattered throughout the universe," he said. "What we find is that they tend to clump and cluster together. So you'll get galaxies clustering along nice delicate filamentary chains. You get some galaxies that will congregate in their clusters and you will get clusters of galaxies collecting in super clusters of galaxies, so the universe that we see is really quite structuredâ€¦.

"Astronomers know that this dark matter must exist in the universe," he said. "We can't see it with our telescopes directly, but by studying large objects like galaxies and how they move with respect to each other we can infer its existence quite accurately."

In addition to the compelling evidence the study provides for the existence of dark matter, Jones said, it also offers equally compelling proof that the universe is expanding and will continue to do so, rather than at some point collapsing back in upon itself as some astronomers have theorized.

Labels: Bob Evans, dark matter, Dr. Heath Jones, galaxies, gravity, the universe, The Urantia Book

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No Ordinary Angel: Celestial Spirits and Christian Claims About Jesus

Books
April 07, 2009
by Sam Wells

Book Review: No Ordinary Angel: Celestial Spirits and Christian Claims about Jesus
by Susan R. Garrett
Yale University Press, 352 pp., $30.00

The most impressive thing about Susan Garrett's wide-ranging and lucid six-chapter discussion of angels is that it takes a subject that scholars generally consider to be on the fluffy end of popular piety and integrates it into ecclesial and academic reflection. The real energy of the book is how close it remains to the netherworld of angelic appearances, miraculous rescues and near-death experiencesâ€”in short, a theology based on the movie It's a Wonderful Life. Never condescending, never scaremongering, Garrett shows both an admirable grasp of and critical distance from the ways angels have captivated and continue to stimulate the popular imagination.

At the outset Garrett acknowledges the three broad constituencies in the conversation: Billy Graham-style ingenuousness toward the scriptural record, including the (erroneous) assumption that the Bible has a single consistent view of the nature and role of angels; Rudolf Bultmann-style skepticism about the abiding value of angel imagery, supplemented by Walter Wink-characterized disenchantment of the world into physical phenomena of assorted powers; and New Age "en chanted-world cosmology," sometimes called a "Third Great Awakening," full of spiritual presences and inexplicable powers, largely centered on and designed to bolster the self.

Garrett starts, as one would expect, with the notion of messenger. It seems odd that she does not offer a fuller account of Gabriel and the role of angels in the Christmas and resurrection narratives, since these seem to be at the core of the scriptural record, but her concern at the outset is more with showing Jesus' similarity to and difference from angels. (In brief, Jesus ate, suffered and died in a way that angels never do.) She goes on to explore the role of angels in naming and mediating God's presence, still focusing largely on Jesus, and she provides helpful notes on the way in which understanding of the divinity of Christ emerged from reflection on other motifs, such as God's word, glory, wisdom, power, spirit and name.

After the first two chapters Garrett dwells more on popular conceptions of faith and spirituality. The middle two chapters deal with the negative aspects of the spiritual worldâ€”fallen angels and Satan as the fallen angel; the final two deal with concerns of pietyâ€”guardian angels and experiences and beliefs surrounding death.

The book is exceptionally well structured, with conclusions to each chapter that perfectly summarize the foregoing material, and very engagingly written, with hosts of examples from ancient literature and contemporary culture. It is disappointing not to see more positive examples from contemporary experience and culture; almost without exception Garrett's contemporary material scrutinizes the self-centered, death-denying character of popular spirituality. This is not necessarily a criticism of the author; it is more a lament about the material she has at her disposal. There are glimpses of helpful historical narrative, particularly where she draws out the way that Calvin's theology, with its conviction that the finite cannot contain the infinite, enhanced the material-spiritual duality that undermined Protestant belief in the intimate presence of angels.

The theological absentee from the book is the Holy Spirit. Garrett helpfully points out how belief in angels thrives in a milieu where God seems to be distant from the world, either experientially or philosophically. Belief in angelsâ€”particularly guardian angelsâ€”seems to be a way in which people understand the divine drawing close to the human in everyday and crisis situations. This is exactly where the Holy Spirit fits into Christian theology. If, as Calvin insists, Jesus is fully human and thus after the ascension can only be in one placeâ€”heavenâ€”then the Holy Spirit is the One who makes "Christ and his benefits" present to the believer.

Angels amplify, illustrate, invigorate, add color to and make vivid the gospel narrative and the world of the discipleship community, but they are not the hinge of salvation; nor are they the principal way in which God is made known in the world today. These are the roles of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It makes complete sense that angels emerged in Judaism as the faith searched for a vocabulary to describe God's communication with Israel, both corporately and in the experience of believers. But in the Christian era, emphasis on angels sounds suspiciously like an abandonment of the Trinity in favor of a unitary God who has a portfolio of alternative methods of communicating with the world.

These questions don't quite get the treatment they deserve in this otherwise highly readable and in many ways intriguing account of popular piety and historic faith.

Labels: angels, Sam Wells, spirituality, Susan R. Garrett

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Sunday, April 05, 2009

Editorial/Opinion Letters to the editor

Published Friday, April 3, 2009 9:26 AM MDT

Total collapse?

Dear Editor:

Jesus prayed, "Thy will be done on Earth as it is done in Heaven." Surely all Christians want this prayer to become reality, but how can we do our part to bring this to fruition if we don't know how things are done in heaven?

Nearly one hundred years ago in Chicago divine personalities began transmitting messages through a sleeping individual. Didn't Saint Luke write, "For with God nothing is impossible." After more than 40 years of transmissions these papers known as the "Urantia Papers" were published in 1955 as the Urantia Book. This 2,000 page book self proclaims to be the most recent presentation of truth to our planet.

The first 1,300 pages teach how things are done in Heaven. The last 700 pages are the complete life and teachings of Jesus. These papers give a detailed account of 19 appearances of Jesus after his resurrection. The New Testament only tells of four appearances.

When I became a student of the book in the 1970s I was intrigued by a paper entitled, "Government on a Neighboring Planet." The authors claim that our planet is in dire need of help and they relate how the most progressive nation on this neighboring planet is advancing its civilization. The paper makes suggestions for improvement in ten areas of our society. At this point of our nation's development, I believe the areas of Home Life, Education, Dealing with Crime, and Military Preparedness are the most relative.

In the family children are not allowed to marry until the age of twenty. They must attend marriage preparation classes before given a marriage license, and they must attend weekly parenting classes until their children are grown.

The education system doesn't confine children in classrooms. In the basics they are home schooled. The public schools are farms, building skills, libraries, and technical skills. One half of each school day is devoted to competitive athletics for all students. When they graduate from the public schools they are skilled craftsmen and women. All who desire academic education can attend colleges without cost.

Crime in this advanced nation is dealt with justly and quickly. The death penalty is given to all public officials who betray the public trust and to all petty criminals who can't be rehabilitated.

Military preparedness is only for defensive purposes. To aid less advanced nations, scholarships are provided for the most able students. They are taught by example how to advance their home nations.

Will the economic programs of the Obama administration rescue our nation and keep us from total collapse? Or is this an example of "the blind leading the blind?" Maybe it's time that skeptics make a serious investigation of The Urantia Book. Copies of the book can be found in our local libraries, the book is also on the internet.

Sincerely

Lynn E. Rhoderick

Labels: Government on a Neighboring Planet, heaven, Lynn E. Rhoderick, planet earth, President Obama, The Urantia Book