In documents associated with the Urantia Book, I have found gold in the Publication Mandate. I write not to persuade anyone that any text is revealed, but only to bring forth wisdom. This document gives a picture that fits in perfectly with the overall pattern that we observe in other epochal revelations. They all go through an early phase of getting established, and a later phase of full contact with the planetary population. Much of the wisdom about teaching truth in the Book focuses on working with individuals. But how shall we apply the receptivity principle with the fifth epochal revelation as it relates to the planet as a whole?
Have a look and see what you think.
The Publication Mandate
FOR: The files of the Executive Committee of URANTIA BROTHERHOOD
PRESENTED: 4 April, 1955
It seems appropriate, a second time, to bring to the attention of the Executive Committee certain wise comments and advices which have been gathered over a period of years and which pertain to the future problems of the URANTIA BOOK. These advices could well be presented under the general caption:
THE TIMING OF THE URANTIA BOOK (Generally designated as “The Publication Mandate”*)
“We regard the Urantia Book as a feature of the progressive evolution of human society. It is not germane to the spectacular episodes of epochal revolution, even though it may apparently be timed to appear in the wake of one such revolution in human society. The Book belongs to the era immediately to follow the conclusion of the present ideological struggle. That will be the day when men will be willing to seek truth and righteousness. When the chaos of the present confusion has passed, it will be more readily possible to formulate the cosmos of a new and improved era of human relationships. And it is for this better order of affairs on earth that the Book has been made ready.
“But the publication of the Book has not been postponed to that (possibly) somewhat remote date. An early publication of the Book has been provided so that it may be in hand for the training of leaders and teachers. Its presence is also required to engage the attention of persons of means who may be thus led to provide funds for translations into other languages.
“(You) who have dedicated (your) lives to the service of the Book and the Brotherhood can little realize the import of (your) doings. (You) will doubtless live and die without fully realizing that (you) are participating in the birth of a new age of religion on this world.
“The future is not open to (your) mortal comprehension, but (you) will do well to diligently study the order, plan, and methods of progression as they were enacted in the earth life of Michael when the Word was made flesh. You are becoming actors in an ensuing episode when the Word is made Book. Great is the difference in these dispensations of religion, but many are the lessons which can be learned from a study of the former age.
“(You) must again study the times of Jesus on earth. (You) must carefully take note of how the kingdom of heaven was inaugurated in the world. Did it evolve slowly and unfold naturally? or did it come with sudden show of force and with spectacular exhibition of power? Was it evolutionary or revolutionary?
“(You) must learn to possess (your) souls in patience. (You) are in association with a revelation of truth which is a part of the natural evolution of religion on this world. Overrapid growth would be suicidal. The book is being given to those who are ready for it long before the day of its world- wide mission. Thousands of study groups must be brought into existence and the book must be translated into many tongues. Thus will the book be in readiness when the battle for man’s liberty is finally won and the world is once more made safe for the religion of Jesus and the freedom of mankind.” (10.5)
* In The History of the Urantia Movement, by Dr. William S. Sadler, this message is titled, The Publication Mandate. [This paper was presented by William S. Sadler, Jr. to the Forum on the above date. For public consumption, the pronouns were modified, e.g., “we” instead of “you.” For this purpose we have changed them back to the original. Copies of this paper were inserted
into the secretary’s notebook of each standing committee of the Brotherhood. Committee chairmen received copies.]
[http://www.uai-president.org/publication-mandate.html accessed May 27, 2013]
Questions and comments
Among the many questions that could be raised about this document, I will discuss a few. First, why is it wise to “regard the Urantia Book as a feature of the progressive evolution of human society”? This way of looking at the Book places it in a broad historical context: we are in the post-bestowal age, in a new epoch in that age, and looking forward to a new era. A long-range perspective promotes the self-mastery required to set aside the revolutionary ambition to publicize the Book to the general public as soon as possible.
What now?
The first and last paragraphs of the Publication Mandate frame it with its most challenging ideas.
“The Book belongs to the era immediately to follow the conclusion of the present ideological struggle.” What does the phrase “the present ideological struggle” refer to? Potentially disastrous ideologies gain the upper hand in nations; one thinks of secular totalitarianism and other challenges to human liberty (195:8/2081–82). Think of the deepening conflict between The United States, Russia, and China.
Jesus’ Urmia lectures are presented in such a way as to heighten their relevance to the 20th century (134:4–6/1486–91). Ideological conflicts may play out on the battlefield. World War has broken out when nationalisms bristled and the momentum of military build-up burst into flames; and when power, unchecked by religious idealism, grew overbearing and led to attempts by some countries to dominate other countries. The point of calling these struggles ideological is to draw attention to the fact that competing systems of ideas are at the root of the conflict.
Persons profit little from the Book unless they are willing to seek truth and righteousness. Does such seeking flourish during times of ideological and political conflict, or do people in such conditions rather tend to seek security or conquest? Progressive civilization follows a developmental sequence, in which the dominant interests begin with nutrition, security, and material comfort, continue through knowledge and wisdom, and philosophy and brotherhood, to spiritual striving and light and life (50:5/576). When civilizations are torn by ideological conflict, society gets polarized; the quest for wisdom suffers, as does the recognition of brotherhood, factors which affect the willingness to seek truth and righteousness.
Today we see the encouraging existence of many progressive individuals and groups, but the following words still apply:
During the psychologically unsettled times of the twentieth century, amid the economic upheavals, the moral crosscurrents, and the sociologic rip tides of the cyclonic transitions of a scientific era, thousands upon thousands of men and women have become humanly dislocated; they are anxious, restless, fearful, uncertain, and unsettled; as never before in the world’s history they need the consolation and stabilization of sound religion. In the face of unprecedented scientific achievement and mechanical development there is spiritual stagnation and philosophic chaos. . . . (99:4.6/1090.2)
In the arts now, secular assumptions and dystopian scenarios are common. Competitive pressures rise, and immature distractions multiply. Many people are too busy to grow; the attention and energy needed to search for new truth and a new level of living is in short supply. When chaos threatens, religion tends to reinforce what is familiar more than to explore what is new.
Parents learn that when their children become teenagers and the crucial years of transition are upon them, they are not ready for many new and challenging ideas. Now our world is in crucial years of transition. During this time of confusion, chaos, and conflict, what are most people ready for? The Book itself answers that one: “All Urantia is waiting for . . . the living, spiritual reality of the gospel of Jesus” (94:12.7/1041.5).
What people need instead is friendship, teaching, and preaching which meet them where they are. Receptivity to the Urantia Book is enhanced by promoting a religion, a philosophy, and a cosmology that are commensurate with man’s intellectual and cultural development. The alternative could be akin to what happened as Christianity was presented to the peoples of the Western world.
Four tasks
The fifth epochal revelation gives no specific instructions about what to do with the Book itself. We want to do things with this revelation; but will our advice simply be to encourage readers in experimenting with any project they may choose? In practice, that would be equivalent to false freedom, disregarding the principles of teaching truth set forth in the Book. The Publication Mandate focuses effort around four tasks—training leaders and teachers, preparing translations, forming study groups, and studying the fourth epochal revelation to discover lessons that apply to the fifth. These projects are not intended to monopolize all of our free time for service, but they clearly represent wise advice.
Does it not make intuitive sense that we should do these things? Do we need leaders and teachers? Their importance is made clear in the Book. Those who are experienced and knowledgeable can train others. For training, there are rich resources inside and outside the Book. Is it not obvious that we should learn from such persons and such resources? And how exhilarating it is to teach and lead, as we begin to obey the truth and act in accord with the Book’s guidance! One of the problems of teaching truth and actualizing brotherhood in our world is the multiplicity of languages; thus, we need translations, the best that we can realistically achieve at the present time. And study groups are needed to socialize and integrate the experience of study so that beginners can interact with experienced readers.
Another project is to “study the order, plan, and methods of progression as they were enacted in the earth life of Michael” with an eye to discovering the lessons for participating in the fifth epochal revelation. This is a topic for group study and for another document, but a few things can be said here. We are asked to “carefully take note of how the kingdom of heaven was inaugurated in the world. Did it evolve slowly and unfold naturally? or did it come with sudden show of force and with spectacular exhibition of power? Was it evolutionary or revolutionary?” These questions are rhetorical. The author presumes that the honest thinker who knows the Book can readily perceive the correct answer.
Jesus had a perfect grasp of the situation; he possessed unlimited power, which might have been utilized in the furtherance of his mission, but he was wholly content with means and personalities which most people would have regarded as inadequate and would have looked upon as insignificant. He was engaged in a mission of enormous dramatic possibilities, but he insisted on going about his Father’s business in the most quiet and undramatic manner; he studiously avoided all display of power. And he now planned to work quietly, at least for several months, with his twelve apostles around about the Sea of Galilee. (138:6.5/1543.3)
Nevertheless, though the overall answer is clear, the details are interestingly complex.
Order refers to sequence. Jesus grew to maturity before launching his public career. He chose rugged apostles and trained them not only in the gospel of the kingdom, but also in the interpretation of the scriptures with which they were familiar and which were regarded as authoritative by the people with whom they would be working. When they wanted to go public with the new message, he assigned them first to acquire experience and develop skill in personal ministry. As they began their public work, he insisted that they make sure that their students were born of the spirit, “in the temple,” the kingdom of heaven, before trying to show them “the beauties of the temple,” advanced teaching. In the early phase of their work, they spent a year quietly taking over the work of John the Baptist, before beginning aggressive proclamation.
The Plan for the progression of the kingdom contains a rationale for the order, or sequence, of the unfolding of events. The plan was for Jesus eventually to openly reveal his divine Sonship, which he did) during the “second, or nonmiraculous phase of the progress of the kingdom” (134:0.1/1483.1; 165:1.2/1818.0). Jesus’ plan was anchored in the great decisions that he made in the wilderness after his baptism. By those decisions he restrained his use of the power at his disposal. The Urantia Book and today’s communication technologies are the main powers at our disposal, and we may study and pray, seeking wisdom for appropriate restraint in the use of that power. Jesus’ fourth decision is especially relevant (146:8/1520). He renounced the methods that people use to gain their ends in commerce and diplomacy. Instead, he pledged to accept methods that are “natural, ordinary, difficult, and trying,” just such methods as his followers would need to use in extending the heavenly kingdom (developing skills in personal ministry, teaching, answering questions, preaching, and effective organizing).
Can growth happen too fast?
How could overrapid growth be suicidal? This warning comes from the Urantia Book and is given without explanation (39:4.12/435.5). My experience of warnings is that often when they come, I am unaware of being on dangerous ground and tending toward doing something or wrong; I also know how easy it is to neglect warnings. Let’s exercise our intelligence and see if we can understand why this warning might be given. Overrapid growth can precipitate a premature clash, in which we lack the trained leaders and teachers to handle the controversies, good translations so that people can read for themselves, and study groups where beginners can socialize their interpretations with more experienced students. Casting our pearls of truth before those who cannot nourish themselves on them may arouse hostility and sometimes persecution.
Conclusions
We live in a time of rapid change, and more changes are needed: Modern man is confronted with the task of making more readjustments of human values in one generation than have been made in two thousand years (92:7.14/1013.9). But does that mean that in this time of crisis, the receptivity principle is obsolete? That would be like saying that when you hit white water rapids, you should jettison the fundamentals of canoeing.
Much disagreement about how to work with the Urantia Book would disappear if we distinguish between urgent goals and wise methods. That distinction enables us to harmonize the apparent clash between (1) the need for wise evolutionary methods that obey cosmic principles of divine wisdom and (2) the need for prompt personal transformation to follow Jesus: “Jesus has shown the way to the immediate attainment of spiritual brotherhood” (52.6.2/597.3).
I have said that my purpose in this essay is to promote wisdom, not to persuade anyone in the debate about whether the Publication Mandate is authoritative. But I need a quote that is relevant to that debate in order to clarify the wisdom that I find there.
The proof that revelation is revelation is this same fact of human experience: the fact that revelation does synthesize the apparently divergent sciences of nature and the theology of religion into a consistent and logical universe philosophy, a co-ordinated and unbroken explanation of both science and religion, thus creating a harmony of mind and satisfaction of spirit which answers in human experience those questionings of the mortal mind which craves to know how the Infinite works out his will and plans in matter, with minds, and on spirit. (101:2.1/1105.5)
I cheerfully leave it to the reader to judge whether the ideas that I set forth meet that test. Does they integrate into a consistent and logical universe philosophy a scientific understanding of the facts of the present age together with the religious revelation of the Urantia Book?
Happy discerning! Happy praying! Happy revealing by your life and teachings!
March 6, 2023
