May 29, 2024
This article was created in the midst of an earnest, loving, intense, and long-drawn-out disagreement on my Number One issue regarding The Urantia Book. Now, a year later, preparing an August 21 talk for siblings in the Netherlands, I return to the article and see something missing. Can you tell what was missing? Using the same word in each case, fill in the blanks.
“Work should alternate with play; religion should be balanced by _____.”
“Future generations shall know also the radiance of our joy, the buoyance of our good will, and the inspiration of our good _____.”
“Jesus greatly enjoyed the keen sense of _____ which these gentiles exhibited. … Jesus greatly regretted that his people—the Jews—were so lacking in _____.”
In the throes of the deepest struggle with four friends of mine, when I was having some meal at my dining room table, I would imagine them joining me, all of us eating and enjoying the best of fellowship, laughing and sharing our lives together in great good humor. This is the proper social context for jumping into this topic.
There is a solemn trust connected with being part of an epochal revelation. And we are involved with not just one of them, but two—the one that Jesus launched and The Urantia Book.
In my 52 years with The Urantia Book, I have been privileged to be able to specialize in five great projects that the authors highlight, which have high leverage for promoting the spiritual renaissance. I have also focused in a sustained way on the principles of epochal revelation management. It would be ideal if the projects that we get involved with align clearly with these revealed projects. The first two of them form the foundation for the last three.
The first project, holistic personal growth, is a fascinating struggle for a God-knowing person. The child of God grows up to become like the Parent. 1:0.3 (21.3) God-knowing creatures have only one supreme ambition, just one consuming desire, and that is to become, as they are in their spheres, like him as he is in his Paradise perfection of personality and in his universal sphere of righteous supremacy. This implies soaking in Jesus’ lesson on self-mastery and cultivating our potentials for leadership, even in the humblest tasks.
The second project is designed to enshrine truth, beauty, and goodness as our supreme values in all that we do. 2:7.10 (43.3) The religious challenge of this age is to those farseeing and forward-looking men and women of spiritual insight who will dare to construct a new and appealing philosophy of living out of the enlarged and exquisitely integrated modern concepts of cosmic truth, universe beauty, and divine goodness. As we learn to live these values, our love matures.
114:6.5 (1255.4) “The epochal angels . . . are intrusted with the oversight and direction of the affairs of each generation as they are designed to fit into the mosaic of the age in which they occur.” The authors of Part IV want the activities that are associated with The Urantia Book to fit properly into the age we are in. Jesus’ bestowal on our world means that this is the post-Bestowal age (52:6.1 [597]). Thus, in Part IV, the Midwayer Commission highlighted three more projects.
The third project the authors of Part IV called “the gospel movement.” They emphasize the gospel movement by using this same phrase three times. Judas Iscariot deserted it. The religious leaders who had arranged for Jesus’ crucifixion thought that they had crushed it. And its early cradle was Jerusalem. It originated in Jesus’ public teachings on the kingdom of God and the good news generally. For a chronological list of quotes, see https://urantiabookprojects.org/gospel-truth/quotes-of-jesus-public-gospel-teachings/
For two thousand years, the dominant interpretation of Jesus’ message has been filtered through the theology of Paul. The more we are loyal to Jesus and his teachings, the more we can help him get his gospel movement back on track.
In his outreach to all of humanity, Jesus calls all his followers to take an active part in spreading the gospel to the world. The principles of epochal revelation management serve, in large measure, as instructions for gospel messengers. The sooner this project blossoms, the easier will be the path of progress for the last two revealed projects that are important for the spiritual renaissance.
The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man is the leading edge, the summary, and the throbbing heart of the gospel (no matter what language we use to express this to a particular person or group). Less recognized in the gospel are the great themes that cluster around this hub. Let’s relax for a minute and savor them. The faith of a little child; the hunger and thirst for righteousness; meekness and purity of heart; happy mourning; mercy and peacemaking; and rejoicing in any persecution that may come our way uninvited. The spirit of God within. Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and loving the neighbor as ourselves. Service on all five positive levels of the golden rule (147:4 [1650]). Prayer to know the will and wisdom of God. Good-humored joy. Worship in spirit and truth. Eternal life for individuals and a glorious destiny for our planet. And the gospel in its fullness includes the cluster of truths centered on Jesus as the Son of God: the bread and the water of life; one with the Father; the good shepherd; the way, the truth, and the life.
The fourth project is “the great hope of Urantia.” 195:10.16 (2086.2) “The great hope of Urantia lies in the possibility of a new revelation of Jesus with a new and enlarged presentation of his saving message which would spiritually unite in loving service the numerous families of his present-day professed followers.” This “new revelation of Jesus” and “new and enlarged presentation of his message” refer partly to The Urantia Book. But the principles of epochal revelation management do not currently justify aggressive publicity for the book. So we need to rely primarily on another, more basic, approach. 195:10.1 (2084.1) “The world needs to see Jesus living again on earth in the experience of spirit-born mortals who effectively reveal the Master to all men.” The family reunion project needs us to reveal the Master; it is for us to present his saving message. The goal is for the family of Jesus’ followers to unite in loving service to God, one another, and everyone else.
The target market for this project embraces the families of Jesus’ present-day professed followers. This includes an enormous number of persons who identify as Christians as well as large numbers of believers who do not, including many “nones” who identify with no religion at all; those who accept The Urantia Book are included.
If we successfully follow the directions to the family reunion, an encouraging result is promised. 195:10.10 (2085.2) “If the Christian church would only dare to espouse the Master’s program, thousands of apparently indifferent youths would rush forward to enlist in such a spiritual undertaking, and they would not hesitate to go all the way through with this great adventure.” Notice: these thousands of youths will only be reached if the Christian church is first won over to the Master’s program. To attract the church means appealing to all ages. If we are loyal to the great hope of Urantia and succeed with the family reunion, the spiritual renaissance can come much sooner.
The fifth project is the human outworking of the fifth epochal revelation—the Urantia Book movement. One pattern in epochal revelations is that they all go through at least two phases: a preparatory phase of training and mobilization, followed by one or more phases of full engagement with the planet. The preparatory phase, to be examined later, cannot be rushed. For this project, seven principles of epochal revelation management listed below are essential.
Here is a chronological list of quotes that reveal the book’s purposes. https://urantiabookprojects.org/urantia-book-movement/purposes-of-the-urantia-book/
From decades ago to the present day, students have found it hard to clearly distinguish these last three revealed projects: the gospel movement, the ecumenical reunion of the families of the professed followers of Jesus, and the Urantia Book movement. A good grasp of them enables us to be much wiser in handling our epochal responsibilities. But in the Urantia Book movement, there has been much controversy, misunderstanding, and confusion. The book is often treated as though it were the gospel to be proclaimed now to all the world.
For the gospel movement, the family reunion, and the fifth epochal revelation to succeed, all three projects must align with the following principles of epochal revelation management.
First: The receptivity principle
The first principle has been a constant since the beginning of epochal revelation. It shows how evolution and revelation work hand in hand. “The evolution of the religious capacity of receptivity in the inhabitants of a world largely determines their rate of spiritual advancement and the extent of religious revelation.” (52:2.3/591.3) With this principle, the Planetary Prince’s staff enjoyed 300,000 years of solid progress. “None of the Prince’s staff would present revelation to complicate evolution; they presented revelation only as the climax of their exhaustion of the forces of evolution.” (66:5.14/747.4)
Here’s Jesus’ version of this principle. “The miller he taught about grinding up the grains of truth in the mill of living experience so as to render the difficult things of divine life readily receivable by even the weak and feeble among one’s fellow mortals. Said Jesus: ‘Give the milk of truth to those who are babes in spiritual perception. In your living and loving ministry serve spiritual food in attractive form and suited to the capacity of receptivity of each of your inquirers.’” (133:4.2/1474.2)
It is common for Urantia Book students to speak of how urgently the planet needs the The Urantia Book. But the need for the book is not the same as receptivity to it.
There are rewards for patience. The eternal God has established certain sequences that require one thing to be in place before something else can occur. For example, 65:8.6 (740.2) “When physical conditions are ripe, sudden mental evolutions may take place; when mind status is propitious, sudden spiritual transformations may occur . . . .” In order for one of these sudden leaps forward to happen, it often takes a long time before the conditions are present.
Second: We are to use the same methods that Jesus used
136:8.6 (1521.1) “Jesus chose to establish the kingdom of heaven in the hearts of mankind by natural, ordinary, difficult, and trying methods, just such procedures as his earth children must subsequently follow in their work of enlarging and extending that heavenly kingdom.”
Note: this principle does not prohibit the use of technology, but its uses must be consistent with these principles of epochal revelation management. There is a tendency to let technological creativity become more important than learning to reveal Jesus to all persons.
Third: Lead beginners into gospel truth gradually by small steps
Jesus made this principle clear in his life and teachings. 141:6.2-3 (1592.4,6) “When you have a man safely and securely within the kingdom, then is the time, when such a one shall come to you with inquiries, to impart instruction having to do with the progressive advancement of the soul within the divine kingdom. . . . When you enter the kingdom, you are reborn. You cannot teach the deep things of the spirit to those who have been born only of the flesh; first see that men are born of the spirit before you seek to instruct them in the advanced ways of the spirit. Do not undertake to show men the beauties of the temple until you have first taken them into the temple.” Jesus was never in a hurry.
Fourth: no compromise with political and commercial methods
We can learn much that is realistic and helpful from a wide range of sources. But in Jesus’ fourth decision in the wilderness, he renounced the idea of compromising his mission by using the methods of politics and commerce. He did not emphasize public relations, sensational methods of attracting mass attention, or aggressive fund-raising. This implies: no noise and glamor. Said Jesus, 137:6.5 (1533.3) “My kingdom is not to come with noise and glamor.” Compromised methods are neither true, beautiful, or good.
Fifth: Localization—adapting the message to particular groups
Jesus said, “Go, then, into all the world proclaiming this gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men to all nations and races and ever be wise in your choice of methods for presenting the good news to the different races and tribes of mankind.” (191:4.4 / 2042.1) It has often been said, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you’ll treat everything as if it were a nail.”
Realistically, technological globalization has created a world in which sharing of knowledge, ideas, and inspiration is fairly easy. But this fact increases our need to be informed of sensitivities in different parts of the world. Ideally, we would test-market the tools and methods that we design in order to evaluate how well they communicate with the audiences they will impact.
Sixth: No personal inventions to accelerate revelation
Jesus’ life was so completely devoted to doing the Father’s will that he is our everlasting example of this last principle. 75:8.5 (846.4) “Never, in all your ascent to Paradise, will you gain anything by impatiently attempting to circumvent the established and divine plan by short cuts, personal inventions, or other devices for improving on the way of perfection, to perfection, and for eternal perfection.”
Seventh: The remedy for confusion—excellent study of The Urantia Book
It is surprising to see how seriously the revelators take the problem of confusion: https://urantiabookprojects.org/urantia-book-movement/confusion-and-clear-thinking/
It is also surprising to see the importance of study for participating well in an epochal revelation.
https://urantiabookprojects.org/urantia-book-movement/what-does-the-urantia-book-teach-about-study/ I mention a few points here. 136:1.1,3 (1509.3,5) “The Jews entertained many ideas about the expected deliverer, and each of these different schools of Messianic teaching was able to point to statements in the Hebrew scriptures as proof of their contentions. . . . Many of their reputed Messianic predictions, had they but viewed these prophetic utterances in a different light, would have very naturally prepared their minds for a recognition of Jesus . . . .” 148:5.5 (1662.2) “Nathaniel, there is much in the Scriptures which would have instructed you if you had only read with discernment. Do you not remember that it is written . . . ?” 148:4.7 (1660.6) “You are confused, Thomas, . . . . But why do you refuse to comprehend the meaning of the record which discloses . . . ? And why do you refuse to interpret the meaning of the record which portrays . . . ?”
Toward the end of Part IV, we find some quotes about revelation that are inspiring calls to action. But they need to be interpreted in the context of Parts I and II, relevant statements and stories in Part III, and the earlier lessons of Part IV.
Consider. 196:1.2 (2090.3) “The time is ripe to witness the figurative resurrection of the human Jesus from his burial tomb amidst the theological traditions and the religious dogmas of nineteen centuries. Jesus of Nazareth must not be longer sacrificed to even the splendid concept of the glorified Christ. What a transcendent service if, through this revelation, the Son of Man should be recovered from the tomb of traditional theology and be presented as the living Jesus to the church that bears his name, and to all other religions!” What does the phrase “through this revelation” refer to? In part, to The Urantia Book. But why do the authors not come out and say so plainly? Here the phrases “through this revelation” and “the living Jesus” also call us to make room for evolutionary approaches that rely only indirectly on the book. We are expected to be this revelation.
Another example. 195:9.2 (2082.7) “Paganized and socialized Christianity stands in need of new contact with the uncompromised teachings of Jesus; it languishes for lack of a new vision of the Master’s life on earth. A new and fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus is destined to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism and to overthrow a world sway of mechanistic naturalism. Urantia is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment.” Here the phrase “a new and fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus” keeps the door open to approaches that fit the planet’s evolutionary condition.
We are not only quivering on the brink of the spiritual renaissance. There are also surprises for which reservists are made ready, plus this warning from a Mighty Messenger. 118:8.6 (1302.3) “When culture advances overfast, when material achievement outruns the evolution of worship-wisdom, then does civilization contain within itself the seeds of retrogression; and unless buttressed by the swift augmentation of experiential wisdom, such human societies will recede from high but premature levels of attainment, and the “dark ages” of the interregnum of wisdom will bear witness to the inexorable restoration of the imbalance between self-liberty and self-control.”
Unfortunately, the objective evidence we have is that the planet is accelerating its descent into the confusion and chaos of an interregnum. In these circumstances, receptivity to a new epochal revelation declines markedly. If I am right, our function now is to keep the torch of truth shining brightly and wisely until conditions become ripe.
I have left to the end a difficulty with the principle of receptivity. How can we find specific guidance about when the planet will be receptive to The Urantia Book? On this topic, there is a helpful document which finds extensive support in the book. I refer to the “The Timing of The Urantia Book,” often called The Publication Mandate: http://urantiabookprojects.org/publication-mandate/ This document states that planetary readiness for the fifth epochal revelation is conditioned on two essentials. First, the ideological conflict must be over. Today we see ideological conflict—for example—between China, Russia, and the United States. Conflict drenches enemies in prejudiced ideas and emotions which impair spiritual receptivity. Second, men must be willing “to seek truth and righteousness.” That is the planetary question for which The Urantia Book is the answer.
In addition, The Urantia Book movement has important tasks to accomplish. The book was published early so that we could prepare translations, form thousands of study groups, and train teachers and leaders to be ready for when planetary receptivity has evolved. We have made a good start. But we are far from ready now to receive an avalanche of inquiries stimulated by sudden worldwide publicity for the book.
With these five great projects, I have experienced gratifying successes and humiliating failures. Are we not all in the same boat? We all struggle with the same questions, whether we are engaged in—or thinking about—starting, joining, supporting a project financially, or endorsing one. How shall we take the complex bundle of inspiration and wisdom in The Urantia Book and make our best contribution to the planet?
If we wholeheartedly desire to fit in with the mosaic of our age, we can cheerfully carry out our responsibilities in the light of: two epochal revelations, five revealed projects, and seven principles of epochal revelation management.
