Getting the Gospel Movement Back on Track

This topic is challenging and many-sided. I know that experts can be mistaken; and the fact that I have engaged heart, mind, soul, and strength on this topic for five decades does not mean that I’m right. Indeed, part of me would rather be wrong, since many readers pursue aggressive publicity for The Urantia Book, and many of those who take this approach are persons whom I know, respect profoundly, learn essential things from, and love dearly. If you are willing to take your time to reflect interactively on some quotes and questions, you may make discoveries that will enhance your ministry. I would be pleased to continue the conversation.   In this document I have done my utmost to engage the reader in reflective dialogue. Along with quotes and comments are ten questions, to which I respond in the last section of the document (scroll down a little more than half-way). Reading in Part IV about Jesus and how he launched the gospel movement, we discover that under the charismatic and impulsive leadership of Peter, the gospel movement was taken off course, as dramatic facts, truths, and interpretations upstaged Jesus’ original message. Peter’s appealing personality and his success made his error unstoppable by Nathaniel’s wise protests. Today many readers proclaim core spiritual truths and at the same time introduce The Urantia Book. So the obvious question is whether the tendency to link gospel and book in our personal and public ministry represents an error like Peter’s. If so, then it is our privilege to re-think, study with new eyes, interpret wisely, follow the guidance in the new epochal revelation that we profess to cherish, joyously obey the Master whom we love, and reap the harvest of faith-action joined with wisdom.  Part I. Lessons from first three epochal revelations                 After his baptism, Jesus retired for forty days in the wilderness to make the great decisions that would guide his public ministry. He began by a review of planetary history.   ” Jesus thought over the whole span of human life on Urantia, from the days of Andon and Fonta, down through Adam’s default, and on to the ministry of the Melchizedek of Salem.” (136:4.5/1514.6)   We do not know what Jesus derived from his review, but the information we have about planetary history gives us a rich field in which to dig for lessons.      Lessons on receptivity and evolution from the first epochal revelation                Before the Lucifer rebellion, the Planetary Prince’s staff made steady progress for 300,000 years by gradually presenting revelation to the extent that evolutionary progress made it reasonable to do so. They followed the pattern set forth in the Paper on Planetary Mortal Epochs.   “Religion is wholly an evolutionary process prior to the arrival of the Planetary Prince. Subsequently, religion progresses by graduated revelation as well as by evolutionary growth. Each dispensation, each mortal epoch, receives an enlarged presentation of spiritual truth and religious ethics. 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)   This is a first glimpse of the many-sided teaching that I call the receptivity principle: Adjust your teaching to fit others’ level of receptivity. Like the golden rule, this principle is easy to start to work with, but in its fullness it can be challenging. The good news is that, with God, we can rise to the challenges.  Question 1. Someone might feel uncomfortable about the idea of applying this receptivity principle today. Wasn’t Jesus’ gospel for everyone? And isn’t it elitist and presumptuous for us to think that we can judge another person’s religious capacity of receptivity? Please think this through for yourself first before you look at my answer, to be found in the last section of this document.      Next we see an application of the receptivity principle.     “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)   If Caligastia had remained loyal to universe government on Salvington and Paradise, these policies would still prevail on Urantia. Questions 2 and 3. In what ways do we see Jesus acting in accord with this principle? Why care about complicating evolution? And what could motivate us to do our best with evolutionary resources before introducing revelation?  Please make your own discoveries before consulting my answer.                        We can learn again from Jesus’ decision-making in the wilderness.    Gabriel had reminded Jesus that there were two ways in which he might manifest himself to the world . . . . These two ways of world ministry were: 136:4.7 (1515.1) 1. His own way—the way that might seem most pleasant and profitable from the standpoint of the immediate needs of this world and the present edification of his own universe. 136:4.8 (1515.2) 2. The Father’s way—the exemplification of a farseeing ideal of creature life visualized by the high personalities of the Paradise administration of the universe of universes. 136:4.9 (1515.3) It was thus made clear to Jesus that there were two ways in which he could order the remainder of his earth life. Each of these ways had something to be said in its favor as it might be regarded in the light of the immediate situation. . . . But it was indicated to Jesus that it would afford his Paradise brother, Immanuel, great satisfaction if he, Jesus, should see fit to finish up his earth career of incarnation as he had so nobly begun it, always subject to the Father’s will. On the third day of this isolation Jesus promised himself he would go back to the world to finish his earth career, and that in a situation involving two ways he would always choose the Father’s will. (136:4.6-9/1514.7-10)   Question 4. When we consider see how much this world needs the perspective of The Urantia Book right now, how can our hearts and minds pause and open to the possibility of higher wisdom? Please ponder before considering my answer. As a model of resolute allegiance to the high standards of the Father’s will, Jesus is our inspiration. I cannot imagine that Jesus needed to think back upon the default of Adam and Eve to bolster his total fidelity to the Father’s will, but we ourselves may be strengthened by taking the next teaching to heart.                   A lesson from the default of Adam and Eve   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. (75:8.5/846.4)   This sobering warning inspires us to redouble our efforts to seek the Father’s will and way. Even though the material mind may be tend to be electrochemically controlled, the wholehearted and persistent truth seeker can break through to a new level of cooperation with the indwelling presence of the eternal God. Questions 5 and 6. Is it not natural for us to look for short-cuts and personal inventions when we are given an assignment with instructions about how to do it? What will cure us from feeling clever and strong when we do this with an epochal revelation?     Two types of revelation: A lesson from Machiventa Melchidek     The first two epochal revelations undertook to uplift a wide variety of functions of planetary culture. How is the emergency mission of Machiventa Melchizedek different? “Like Jesus, Melchizedek attended strictly to the fulfillment of his bestowal. He did not attempt to reform the mores, to change the habits of the world, nor to promulgate even advanced sanitary practices or scientific truths. He came to achieve two tasks: to keep alive on earth the truth of the one God and to prepare the way for the subsequent mortal bestowal of a Paradise Son of that Universal Father.“(93:4.15/1018.4)   This paragraph notes a similarity between Melchizedek and Jesus. They did not come to promote general cultural uplift in which spiritual components are revealed together with civilizational components. Rather, their missions were simply spiritual. Question 7. How does the spiritual simplicity of the messages of Melchizedek and Jesus make possible their more rapid spread?  You are invited to make your own discoveries before consulting my answer.                    Part II. Jesus’ Teaching and Practice  The receptivity principle is stated here so as to apply to all mortal epochs including our own—the post-bestowal Son age. It may seem presumptuous for us to try to adjust our teaching in accord with the other person’s religious capacity of receptivity. But we all do to some degree what Jesus’ was learning to do during his adolescence. “[Jesus] is becoming expert in the divine art of revealing his Paradise Father to all ages and stages of mortal creatures.” (127:6.15/1405.7)   It is normal to speak to children differently than to adults, and when we sense that someone is a beginner in the things of the spirit, we don’t normally try to take them very far in our initial meeting. “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)   Question 8: In what ways do you see the receptivity principle as a formulation of emerging and operating in Jesus’ early years before baptism?                  Emptying himself of his superhuman attributes on his bestowal mission, Jesus had gone through a natural and normal human experience of growing up to become a great teacher. He got to know people and learned to adjust his teaching to their individual capacity of receptivity. So once he had trained and ordained his apostles, as they were just beginning their public work, it is no surprise to see Jesus restate the receptivity principle. It comes up first in a conversation with Simon Zelotes.    (141:6/1592) . . . . “ Go then, Simon, teaching and preaching the kingdom, and 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.”   Question 9. What reasons can you think of to wait until the other person comes with inquiries?  You are invited to make your own discoveries before consulting my answer.   Then Jesus goes on to give the receptivity new content for his gospel messengers.   That night Jesus discoursed to the apostles on the new life in the kingdom. He said in part: “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.”   Question 10. Why refrain from presenting core gospel truths and advanced teachings simultaneously? Lots of people have no problem with that, and we see evidence of an increased positive response of truth-seekers.  Please take time to think of reasons to obey Jesus before consulting my answer.               Concluding statement   The present document in its current state is adequate to give the reader a basic orientation for interpreting the data relevant to key questions pertaining to the distinction between the gospel movement and the Urantia Book movement. This distinction has considerable importance for forming wise policy in sharing truth. But there are many other questions that remain to be addressed. And no mortal writing can claim to be definitive; nor can one document or set of documents, addressing the needs of one stage of planetary history, be adequate for the needs of other stages of planetary history.           The gradual, further development of this document will add detail to the review of relevant aspects of the life and teachings of Jesus. Other relevant teachings from the Urantia Book will also find a place in this expanding discussion. Questions pertaining directly to the Urantia Book movement will be addressed by expansions of my documents pertaining to Urantia Foundation’s mandate and to “The Timing of The Urantia Book.”               For now, those seeking a fuller discussion of the interrelation of the gospel movement and the Urantia Book movement are advised to review a more thorough document, one published by Urantia Foundation in 1995.                       That earlier document was based on two years of painstaking work, during which time I challenged my own position on this topic by collecting every statement in the book that was relevant to the discussion. I accumulated a large pile of quotes which–taken out of context–seemed to support contradictory policies.             Facing this apparent chaos, I asked myself whether it made sense to conclude that the authors presented incoherent guidance on such an important topic. I wanted to say, “Experiment within the guidelines, not with the guidelines”; but I could not say this unless I could show a coherent pattern of guidelines. If I could not do so, then it would be justified for any reader to cite one or more quotes to justify any policy.             I knew I could not aim for a false precision, a simplistic solution, that would substitute for good judgment in diverse types of situation. Facing this quandary, I began to look deeper, and then I discovered distinctions which made sense of the seeming chaos of advice. I identified a set of principles that honest thinkers who are diligent in their study could accept. There is significant of overlap and redundancy between the 1995 treatment and the 2016 treatment, and I dream of finding time to revise my discussions to make inquiry as efficient and satisfying as possible for the reader; but the sincere seeker after additional clarity can find it here: Introducing The Urantia Book in Accord with its Teachings.”      My Answers to the Questions Posed Above Question 1. Someone might feel uncomfortable about the idea of applying this receptivity principle today. Wasn’t Jesus’ gospel for everyone? And isn’t it elitist and presumptuous for us to think that we can judge another person’s religious capacity of receptivity? Problems of presumption and prudence are addressed in the ordination sermon, which includes two teachings that may seem to be in tension. The first is easy to sympathize with, while the second is more challenging. Jesus told his apostles, “In kindness and with mercy minister to all who are in distress and in need. . . . Love your enemies. . . . You are commissioned to save men, not to judge them.” And then, almost immediately, he said, “In all the business of the kingdom I exhort you to show just judgment and keen wisdom. Present not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample your gems under foot and turn to rend you. . . . I warn you against false prophets who will come to you in sheep’s clothing, while on the inside they are as ravening wolves.” (140:3/1571)  These two clusters of instructions may feel contradictory, which makes it easy to embrace the first and disregard the second. The seeming contradiction disappears if we make a distinction between two kinds of judgment. On the one hand, to judge the survival value of a person’s soul is beyond the capacity of a human being; being judgmental in that sense may express contempt and pride. On the other hand, Jesus told those whom he sent forth to recognize some who cannot benefit from spiritual treasures, some who will become antagonistic, and some who seem spiritual but are deceiving themselves or others.  Intellectually, it is not difficult to distinguish these two kinds of judgment; but difficulties arise in practice. In dealing with others whom we find problematic, we may feel an impulse of anger which conceals a judgmental attitude; in this case we are told to “cast out the beam” in our own eye before ministering to “the mote in the other’s eye.” If we stumble into pride, our only salvation is to turn to God and the saving truth of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. But those who refuse to attempt the exercise of good judgment and keen wisdom miss the opportunity to live the righteousness life in its wholeness.  Another possible interpretation makes Jesus’ teaching easier to apply: the need to exercise good judgment and keen wisdom about others’ receptivity applies mainly when we go beyond the core truths of the gospel to present advanced teaching. Prince’s staff reached out selectively to prospective teachers and leaders (66:3.8/743.9). But Jesus gospel is for Urantia now. In the mighty Spirit of Truth we can coordinate both sides—the spiritual level of loving mercy ministry and the factual level of realistic alertness.  Return to the quote and questions about the Prince’s staff and the receptivity principle. Questions 2 and 3. In what ways do we see Jesus acting in accord with this principle? Why care about complicating evolution? And what could motivate us to do our best with evolutionary resources before introducing revelation?  In his public ministry Jesus did his patient, evolutionary best before shifting into a higher gear of revelation. There are two ways to exhaust the potentials of evolution: (1) when doing your best leads successfully to a ripeness that naturally culminates in a new stage, a higher level; and (2) when doing your best is met by persistent and destructive rejection (the divine response may require a warning that imparts additional truth).  To note a few highlights, in the first phase of his public ministry, Jesus revealed the Father in his simple message and peaceful appeal in a manner that upheld and built on his hearers’ Jewish heritage. He did not change this approach until his public ministry was three-quarters over, when the hostility of the religious leaders had risen to the point of their coming to Capernaum in a united front to initiate open warfare. That was the occasion for Jesus to pre-empt their attack in his epochal sermon. And when his time to leave the planet was drawing near, Jesus revealed himself publicly as the light of the world and the good shepherd.  Why did the Prince’s staff originally follow the policy of presenting revelation only after doing their best with evolutionary potentials? An overarching simplicity, smoothness, stability, and effectiveness graces progress when evolution is allowed to proceed according to plan.  Search The Urantia Book for occurrences of “complicate,” “complicated,” “complicates,” and “complications” to discover what kinds of difficulties this term encompasses. “Complicate” often refers to the effect of mixing the divine way with the distortions of error, evil, and sin.  Overteaching and overenlightenment can lead to confusion in the mind and dismay in the heart (66:6.6/750.1). Do a search on the word “confusion” to grasp the importance of having a clear and correct intellectual understanding. The word often refers to intellectual disarray over matters of great importance.  There is an analogy with the prayer process: cosmic stamina and doing our best before seeking revelation are conditions of effective petitions.    1.      You must qualify as a potent prayer by sincerely and courageously facing the problems of universe reality. You must possess cosmic stamina.  2.      You must have honestly exhausted the human capacity for human adjustment. You must have been industrious. (91:9.2-3/1002.7-8)   God is with us every step of the way in this work. If we supremely desire to represent the Master in his living revelation of the Father to humankind, all the support we need is abundantly available. Return to the quote and question about the original policy of the Prince’s staff. Question 4. When we consider see how much this world needs right now, how can our hearts and minds pause and open to the possibility of higher wisdom? We can see what the world needs, but that is not the same as what the Father knows humanity is ready to receive. Jesus triumphantly overcame the tension in his mind between his sensitivity to immediate need and the higher wisdom about what he could properly do for our world during his lifetime. Jesus’ victory is ours once we wholeheartedly identify with it. We can work patiently, step by step, to prepare for the day when men will be willing to seek truth and righteousness, to cultivate receptivity for the fifth epochal revelation. Return to Jesus’ decision in the wilderness to choose the Father’s will over his sense of the immediate needs of this world. Questions 5 and 6. Is it not natural for us to look for short-cuts and personal inventions when we are given an assignment with instructions about how to do it? What will cure us from feeling clever and strong when we do this with an epochal revelation? There is something natural and good about trying to find new ways of progress. I believe that part of the cure for the temptation to do this with The Urantia Book is to soak in the last three sections of Paper 91, The Evolution of Prayer. Question 7. How does the spiritual simplicity of the messages of Melchizedek and Jesus make possible their more rapid spread?  Melchizedek and Jesus sent out missionaries with a gospel to be proclaimed immediately to all the world. But civilizational development, as with the first two epochal revelations, is generally gradual. “Only moral and spiritual adjustments can be made on the spur of the moment” (81:6.40/911.5); so the association of the type of mission with the velocity of propagation makes sense; some changes take longer than others. (Note: all epochal revelations have an early, quiet phase before they go into high gear.) Another reason for the difference between these two types of epochal revelations is that the gospel messages of Melchizedek and Jesus were readily accessible to the multitudes, whereas the majority of the planet’s inhabitants were not ready to participate much in the first two epochal revelations.  “ All Urantia is waiting for . . . the living, spiritual reality of the gospel of Jesus.” (94:12.7/1041.5) The gospel movement is a legitimate channel for bold and vigorous action now.               Return to the quote and question about Melchizedek’s spiritual mission and its similarity to that of Jesus. Question 8: In what ways do you see the receptivity principle as a formulation emerging and operating in Jesus’ early years before baptism?  Think of how, in early childhood, Jesus was sometimes too aggressive with his siblings and others—and how Joseph would patiently explain things to him so that he could learn self-control. Jesus learned not to try to communicate ideas about his future to his mother, Mary, and to suppress communicating anything that would make him appear different. By the end of his adolescent years Jesus was “becoming expert in the divine art of revealing his Paradise Father to all ages and stages of mortal creatures.” (127:6.13/1405.7) But not even on the Roman tour with the most advanced leaders did he drop words about his divine status. His teachings then represented the basic gospel that he taught before shifting into a different gear in the epochal sermon and after Peter’s confession. Question 9. What reasons can you think of to wait until the other person comes with inquiries?  Jesus told Simon Zelotes of two conditions that should ideally be satisfied before imparting advanced teaching. The first the condition will addressed in the following answer: the other person is known to be firmly established in the kingdom. The second condition is that the other person comes with inquiries. Successful teaching answers a question that has already begun to agitate the mind and soul of your listener. If you answer a question that the other person is not asking, you largely waste your time. How do you whet appetites? Partly by doing nothing: let the spirit do his work; and allow experience (including the trials of life) to ripen the individual’s awareness of a need for more truth. Another way to whet appetites is to find the right word at the right time and not overteach. The trick is to elicit the question by cultivating the awareness of intellectual and spiritual need.       Question 10. Why refrain from presenting core gospel truths and advanced teachings simultaneously? Lots of people have no problem with that, and we see evidence of an increased positive response of truth-seekers.  Peter enjoyed a quick success as he preached some of Jesus’ teachings mixed with advanced teachings. But by allowing advanced teachings to upstage Jesus’ gospel he and Paul created a stumbling block for all who were not ready for their advanced teachings. That’s part of why The Urantia Book was given—to get the gospel movement back on track.  The literal and obvious truth about needing to go into a great cathedral in order to see its beauties is a metaphor for an insight that is less obvious. Although any math teacher knows that a child must learn arithmetic before going on to algebra, spiritual teachers have often presented advanced truth to beginners. There is a cosmic principle that certain things need to be in place before other things can occur in a stable way, and Jesus is here letting us know how this principle guides spiritual teaching.  If this restriction—into the temple first—seems austere, please remember the richness of the many-sided gospel which leads people into the temple. The truths of God as our Father and other persons as members in the family are complemented by teachings about worship and service, the joy and liberty of sonship with God, doing the Father’s will, becoming like God, and the presence of the Father’s indwelling spirit. As we grow in our skill in sharing and our understanding of the cluster of core spiritual truths that facilitate entrance into the kingdom, any sense of restriction will be swallowed up in the abundance of joy as we join in the labor of the sower.   “Jesus endeavored to make clear that he desired his disciples, having tasted of the good spirit realities of the kingdom, so to live in the world that men, by seeing their lives, would become kingdom conscious and hence be led to inquire of believers concerning the ways of the kingdom. All such sincere seekers for the truth are always glad to hear the glad tidings of the faith gift which insures admission to the kingdom with its eternal and divine spirit realities.” (141:7.3/1593.4)