Compiled & Presented by Dave Holt Jan - Mar 1997 Unity Center of Walnut Creek (8 week course)
Part 1: Jesus Within the Jewish Tradition
Part 2: Jesus Visiting Other Cultures
Part 3: Further Travels with Ganid and Gonod
Note: In the materials below, "OE" denotes the "Original Edition" of The Urantia Book and "NE" denotes the "New Edition." The texts are identical with the exception of the page formatting and minor changes in spelling and punctuation.
"You learn about God from Jesus by observing the divinity of his life, not by depending on his teachings. From the life of the Master you may each assimilate that concept of God which represents the measure of your capacity to perceive realities spiritual and divine, truths real and eternal." (The Urantia Book, Pg. 1856 OE)
This is how we plan to proceed--merely to observe his life, the unfolding of its story much as we might listen to the parables he himself loved to tell. At the same time I will highlight the issues that I have perceived emerging out of the text for group discussions. I will also try to relate what we "see" to some well-known idea (or controversy) of his later life, or one that Jesus himself worked with in his public ministry. These concepts will also be cited from the Bible.
"You can adequately comprehend the destiny of the mortals of…a local creation only by a perusal of the narratives of the life and teachings of your Creator Son as he once lived the life of man, in the likeness of mortal flesh, on your own evolutionary world." (P. 360)
Part 1: Jesus Within the Jewish Tradition
The world in Jesus's time:
p. 1332, "Nothing like the civilization of the times of Jesus has been seen-since," also p. 1333, "Greece provided a language culture (I par.)
p. 1338, "three languages prevailed (1. par)
p. 1358, "There were few homes that could give better religious training (up to three languages.)
"The Galileans were not regarded with full favor by the Jerusalem religious leaders and rabbinical teachers. Galilee was more gentile than Jewish when Jesus was born." (p. 1334)
The Alexandrian connection:
p. 1355, "their sojourn at Alexandria…the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures…"
Jesus growing up:
p. 1360, "his prayers-departure from more solemn & reverent modes" (sec 3, 5th last par.) and a par. about, "family co-operation" (2nd last par.)
p. 1362, formal schooling and "contact with the gentiles" because of which, p. 1363, "Nazareth was... more liberal," (up to "view of all Galilee")
p. 1396, "As time went on..." Jesus denied his destiny as "the deliverer of the Jewish people." (I par.)
The angel Gabriel described Jesus as, "the soul-healer of your people and the spirit liberator of all mankind (p. 1345)," in his visitation to Elizabeth (John the Baptist's mother).
The insularity of Jewish culture/ the distrust of "foreigners":
p. 1412, racial mingling... "Mary was much upset..." (1 par.)
More on the Messiah (the deliverer), p. 1334, "The Jewish people ... (1 par.) and p. 1339, 2 pars. under Jews and Gentiles.
Possible Question for discussion: Why, in spite of all the aforementioned biases and prejudices of the Jewish people, were they chosen above other groups to receive the bestowal son in their midst? Consider the idea quoted from A.N. Wilson for example: "They [the Pharisees] taught that the Teaching (Torah) which came from Almighty God--while itself being holy and unchangeable --was of universal application. It was addressed to all mankind, to Gentiles as well as Jews..." (fr. Paul, The Mind of the Apostle, by A.N. Wilson)
Our first theme is emerging: How does Jesus coordinate obedience to his native tradition with the desire for freedom of expression?:
p. 1366-1367, the drawing episode, p. 1372, "Jesus remonstrated with his father about the Jewish custom" (to end of paper.)
p. 1370, "About the middle of May trip to Scythopolis" (to end of paper.)
Theme of Parenting/ Family Life:
The Death of Joseph Paper 126 #2 (p. 1388 OE/1215 NE.) How this "apparently cruel" event changed the course of Jesus's life. read all Sec 2.
A philosophy of non-violence:
p. 1401 OE (p. 1227 NE/Paper 127 #4), The Nineteenth Year (A.D. 13), the children learn Jesus's technique of non-violence.
Was Jesus a revolutionary? Let us consider that important question here. Some people try to fit Jesus into the role of a radical revolutionary. Was he a Zealot? Or a philosopher of "evolutionary" vs. "revolutionary" change?:
The Jewish Revolt of 70 B.C. was fomented by the Zealots and other Jewish revolutionaries many years after Jesus's death. It led to the nearly complete destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (as he foretold.) The Jews were banned from living in or even visiting Jerusalem. "The city "was rebuilt as a Roman city named Aelia Capitolina." (Biblical Archaeology Review, Jan/Feb 1997)
Jesus refuses to be the leader of the Zealots at age 17 (Ref. p. 1396 OE/1223 NE, Paper 127 #2) and later on, just before his baptism (Ref. p. 1522 OE/1336 NE, Paper 136, #9).
p. 1404, (Paper 127, sec 6, par. 3-7) The first passover without the Paschal lamb up to "the law of Moses."
The episode with his brother Jude, p. 1415 OE/1239 NE (Paper 128, #6 3rd Par.) Read fr., "The family finances..." to end of section 6.
Jesus's philosophy of non-violence continues to be heard, for example, in the teachings of Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. Here is part of a speech Martin Luther King gave to a crowd who assembled outside his home after a stick of dynamite had been thrown onto his porch (Jan. 31, 1956):
"We are not advocating violence. We want to love our enemies. I want you to love our enemies. Be good to them. Love them and let them know you love them."
Part 11: Jesus Visiting Other Cultures
P. 1422 OE (Paper 129, Sec 2, par. 9-10) "...by apparent chance, Jesus met a wealthy traveller and his son .... Jesus agreed to make the trip."
Teaching the character of God:
At Joppa--Discourse on Jonah, (p. 1428 OE, p. 1251 NE/ Paper 130, #1) a spirit liberator: "will deliver them from captivity," generous and forgiving: "fresh opportunities for wiser living," God is love, "his goodness is so great and real that it cannot contain... evil."
Teaching partnership with God:
At Caesarea, (same paper, #2) Anaxand and the cruel foreman, Jesus's first comments on "the indwelling and divine spirit."
What is the "will of God?" (other refs: p. 1221 OE, Paper 111 #5, p. 1068 NE)
Jesus discusses the indwelling spirit quite naturally with Gonod and Ganid as if they are already well familiar with the concept- -perhaps because of such teachings in the Indian tradition as:
"He who, dwelling in all things,/ Yet is other than all things,/ Whom all things do not know,/ Whose body all things are/ Who controls all things from within--/He is your Soul, the Inner Controller,/ the Immortal." (from Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad.)
"The Lord Supreme ... is the inmost soul of all, which like a little flame the size of a thumb is hidden in the hearts of men." (from Svetasvalara Upanishad.)
The Urantia Book expands on this idea of Jesus preserved in Luke 17:21, "The kingdom of God is within you," and his remembered saying on partnership: "with God, all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27)
p. 1438 OE (p. 1258 NE/same Paper 130 #6), The Young Man who was Afraid. Jesus's most successful case history in his role as a psychological healer. Relate this episode to Paul's description of the effect of Jesus's gospel:
"He is a new creature; his old life is over, a new life has already begun." (2 Cor 5:17, The New English Bible)
Jesus as a philosopher and a man of knowledge: Not only did "the common people hear him gladly," but also the philosophers and theologians of the ancient world.
Throughout the Urantia Book's descriptions, Jesus is less of the rabbi familiar to us from the Bible. We see him become reintegrated back into the whole matrix of the ancient world's philosophic, scientific and religious thought in the unique way that his ideas blend science, philosophy and religion to further serve human progress. Jesus was a practical idealist.
"At their inn there also lodged a merchant from Mongolia ... Jesus had several long visits with him. ...This merchant was a Taoist, and he had thereby become a strong believer in the doctrine of a universal Deity ... One God--the Supreme Ruler of Heaven." (p. 1429 OE, p. 1251 NE/ Paper 130, #2)
Every being in the universe is an expression of the Tao. It springs into existence, unconscious, perfect, free, takes on a physical body, lets circumstances complete it. That is why every being spontaneously honors the Tao.
The Tao gives birth to all beings, nourishes them, maintains them, cares for them, comforts them, protects them, takes them back to itself... (From The Tao Te Ching, #51, translated by Stephen Mitchell)
"Tao covers and supports all things. How overflowingly great!... To love people and benefit all things means humanity (jen). To identify with all without losing his own identity means greatness. To behave without purposely showing any superiority means broadness. To possess an infinite variety means richness. Therefore to adhere to virtue is called discipline. To realize virtue means strength. To be in accord with Tao means completeness." (attributed to Confucius by the Taoist philosopher, Chuang Tzu, or one of his pupils. 399-295 B.C.)
P. 1432 OE, At Alexandria, (Paper 130, #3 and #4, p. 1254 NE) Jesus's discussion of the relation between the visible and the invisible with a Platonist. -Jesus teaches on subjects such as: what is truth? What is evil (error)?
**Optional** On The Island of Crete, short section (#5) (At this point, the class needs to make a decision whether to cover the world religions teachings that Ganid and Jesus assembled while in Alexandria or move on to other events in their journey.)
The Sojourn at Rome (Paper 132, p. 1455 OE, p. 1275 NE)
Read all of Introductory section, and Section 1, science, philosophy & religion. A discussion of a balanced approach to progress on all three levels and liberating oneself from dogma/static truth in all three areas. The progressive human development emphasized in Jesus's talks conflicts dramatically with the ideas of last days, judging the people of the earth, the rapture, the end of an age, and Armageddon current in many contemporary Christian circles. These eschatological concepts originate partly from Jewish concerns with re-establishing their rule and smiting their Roman enemies. When Jesus predicted the demise of the Temple, the Jews could not imagine life continuing afterwards. Jesus could foresee the continuing evolution of human societies.
Other references to follow up for further study, par. 4 of The Cosmic Mind, "responds on three levels of universe reality" (paper 16, #6, p. 191 OE, p. 166 NE); The Seven Psychic Circles, par. 4 on, "When the development of the intellectual nature proceeds faster Likewise, overspiritual development" (paper 110, #6, p.1209 OE, p. 1059 NE); Control and Overcontrol, par. 6, "when culture advances overfast, when material achievement outruns the evolution of worship-wisdom" (Paper 118, p. 1301, OE p. 1139 NE)
Section 3, Truth and Faith, talking with the priest of Mithraism. (paper 98, p. 1082 OE, p. 948 NE, for more on Mithraism if you need to know more.)
Section 5, Counseling the Rich Man, Section 6, and Section 7 beginning at par 3, "It was on the visit to Switzerland..." for a discussion of unbalanced approaches to God, philosophy without religion and visa-versa.
Part III: Further Travels with Ganid and Gonod
The Return From Rome (Paper 133, p. 1468 OE, p. 1287 NE) Read all of Introductory section and section 1, Mercy and Justice.
Key ideas: justice, even in the universe, is vested in groups having "absolute confidence in [the] heavenly Father's overcare." Recall from pg. 1326 (OE, p. 1159 just before par. 4), "the full meaning and the rich significance of that faith-trust which you so unvaryingly require all your creatures to master in the bestowal commission given to Michael (Jesus) before his incarnation.
Section 2, Embarking at Tarentum, up to end of par. 3, "...returned to India."
Section 3, At Corinth, up to end of par. 10, "...first Christian church in Corinth."
Section 4, Personal Work in Corinth, Read only par. 10, and 12.
Section 5, At Athens--Discourse on Science. Notice again the triads at the root of Urantia Book cosmology- -science, philosophy, religion; fact, meaning, value; matter (energy-mass), mind, spirit; a liberation from the trap of dualities such as we found in Plato with shadows of reality, original reality but no intervening middle ground of reality coming into being.
Section 6, At Ephesus--Discourse on the Soul, Notice this graph of stages in its evolution:
1. Self-consciousness ... is not the soul.
2. Moral self-consciousness= true human self-realization.
3. Spiritualization of the self-realization of the moral selfconsciousness ... leads to eternal survival of the soul.
Section 7. The Sojourn at Cyprus--Discourse on Mind, Read par. 5 to the end.
Section 9. In Mesopotomia. the Farewell between Joshua, Gonod and his pupil.
"Of all human knowledge, that which is of greatest value is to know the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it." (p. 2090, Paper 196, sec 1, par 3.)
By Martin Greenhut Reader of the Urantia Book since 1970
I am a graduate of Talmudical Academy High School and of Yeshiva College in New York City. I also attended the Hebrew Teachers Institute at Yeshiva for six years. For my entire youth I was intensely active in Jewish life and was a practicing orthodox Yeshiva student until my senior year in college when I chose to give up my orthodoxy and its consequent segregation from the rest of the world. I became what is known in Israel today as "a secular Jew". It simply means that I gave up my orthodox involvements and practices and lived as an agnostic... although not hostile to religion... just not able to relate to the various sectarian doctrines. I believed that If God existed he didn't love any people on earth any better than the others and certainly wouldn't exclude anyone from eternal salvation just because they were born into the wrong religion.
As a Jew, the obstacle to relating to Christianity was my resentment for the anti-semetic confrontations that were thrust upon me by Christians. I grew up during WWII and as a teenager I saw the first filmed evidence of the Nazi Holocost that was presented as evidence at the Nuremberg trials. Whenever I heard quotations from "The New Testament" I regarded them as teachings hostile to the Jews and consequently would not read it.
I lived a life dedicated to improving the world and it brought me into contact with all kinds of people. When working with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s movement in the civil rights struggle I often found myself in churches of the blacks and that is where I was first introduced to the love of Jesus.
I was not satisfied that things were as we were taught. I always lived in hope and never left the "Kriat Shema" behind. "Hear o' Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord, your God with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your might." I just knew that He was out there, but I didn't know where. As it turned out, my search for truth brought the Urantia Book into my hands and since that day I have been taken up with its study and in the practice of its teachings.
Getting into the Urantia Book meant that I had to be open to new truth and this process has meant an ongoing expansion of my understanding of life and of the problems that we are facing in this world. It brought me to the doors of faith which are opened as I knock.
The greatest problem that I had as a Jew were in the teachings about the Paradise Trinity but a careful reading of Book One of the Urantia Book dispelled these doubts with no problem. As for Jesus, the Urantia Book gave me an opportunity to meet him as a Gallilean Jew. I didn't ever have to become a "Christian". If anybody asks me to this day what my religion is I unhesitatingly tell them that I am a Jew.
Knowing Jesus as a jew is an unspeakable blessing. The Urantia Book reveals Jesus' Jewish upbringing, education and racial outlook in such a way as to allow me to identify with him as a Jew. He had the same kind of home and schooling as did I, went to the synagogue as did I, and lived in a jewish culture which has not significantly changed to this day. The prayers and biblical passages that he quoted were the same ones that I used, he attended seders and read from the Torah, had a Bar Mitzvah and his teacher was a chazan. His apostles were Gallilean Jews and his earliest followers were also jews.
The distortions that Pauline Christianity imposeed on the Teachings of Jesus along with the mistakes of his apostles who preached a religion about Jesus rather than the religion of Jesus compromised the Gospel Message. I find Christianity's doctrines of the virgin birth and the doctrine of atonement by the shedding of blood (the crucifixion of Jesus as a sacrificial offering for the sins of man) both alienating and degrading of the wondrous bestowal and the life of truth that Jesus lived here among us. The Revelation of God's love in the human life of the Son of Man will continue to enrich us spiritually in all eternity.
As for the rest of the Urantia Book, its revelations are both challenging and eddifying, inspiring and supreme.
In my opinion, any Jew who gets into the Urantia book will not only gain a profound understanding of our religion but also has a head start in understanding the teachings of our Lord and Creator who lived here as one of us and revealed the Father in Heaven as he lived a human life among us.
There is some especially interesting Jewish Lore that relates to the Urantia revelation which has significance to me.
Pentecost is the Jewish Festival of Shevuoth. It is the Hag HaBikkurim... The festival of the First Fruits. It is also called Z'man Ma-tahn Torateinu... the time of the giving of our Torah.
The day of Pentecost on Which Jesus poured His Spirit of Truth upon all flesh is the same day celebrated by Jews for the giving of the Torah to the world through Moses.
Xerpi
