|
Unselfishness: Its Relationship to God-Consciousness and Religious Experience.
In The Urantia Book, the word unselfish is used as both a noun and an adjective. Its derivatives, the noun unselfishness and the adverb unselfishly, also make an appearance. As a noun, unselfish is associated with religious experience, religious impulse, and religious reflection, as well as with spiritual insight and God-consciousness. As an adjective, there is a difference in the way it is used in Parts 1-3 of the book as compared with Part 4. In the latter, it qualifies service (20 times), devotion (4 times) and good and love once each. In Parts 1-3 unselfish is used to qualify ministry, fellowship, service, love, prayer, and interest in the welfare of our fellows.
In its first appearance in the book, unselfishness is described as the spirit of self-forgetfulness.
"Is unselfishness--the spirit of self-forgetfulness --desirable? Then must mortal man live face to face with the incessant clamoring of an inescapable self for recognition and honor." (51)
In the book's second use of unselfishness, we are told that when the spiritual tests for greatness are applied, unselfishness is the real measure of planetary greatness. (317) Greatness is further explicated: "Greatness is synonymous with divinity. God is supremely great and good. Greatness and goodness simply cannot be divorced." (317) It appears then that unselfishness, implying greatness and goodness, is a quality of the divine nature.
Given these criteria for unselfishness, it seems that "He who would be greatest among you let him first become the most unselfish of all" would make an adequate substitute for those well-known words of Jesus: "He who would be greatest among you let him first become servant of all." And the answer to the question once put by Jesus, "What is it that defiles a man?" could well have been, "his incessant clamoring for recognition and honor."
Where can we discover a practical revelation that adequately illustrates the meaning of "divine greatness?" The book tells us, "The nature of God can be studied in a revelation of supreme ideas, the divine character can be envisaged as a portrayal of supernal ideals, but the most enlightening and spiritually edifying of all revelations of the divine nature is to be found in the comprehension of the religious life of Jesus of Nazareth, both before and after his attainment of full consciousness of divinity." (33)
What was it about Jesus that so impressed the disciple, John? "Those characteristics of Jesus which John most appreciated were the Master's love and unselfishness; these traits made such an impression on him that his whole subsequent life became dominated by the sentiment of love and brotherly devotion." (1554) Among the early Christians, John became known as the apostle of love. Tradition has it that he lived beyond his ninetieth year. The Urantia Book has this touching description of his last days, "At Ephesus, when the aged bishop was no longer able to stand in the pulpit to preach but had to be carried to church in a chair, and when at the close of the service he was asked to say a few words to the believers, for years his only utterance was, 'My little children, love one another.'" (1554)
In its next use in the book, unselfishness is described as the "badge of human greatness," (1572) after which we are told that, "Love, unselfishness, must undergo a constant and living readaptative interpretation of relationships in accordance with the leading of the Spirit of Truth." (1950)
The final use of the word unselfishness comes in a remark about the refreshing comfort and liberating power that Christianity brought to spiritually hungry people (the Stoics and members of the mystery cults) whose language had no word for "unselfishness." (2073)
Those who are in touch with modern theological scholarship will be aware that, even without the aid of The Urantia Book, scholars have demonstrated that it is possible to unravel the essential lessons of the Fourth Epochal Revelation--and the meaning of the life of Jesus as a revelation of the true nature of God. The Urantia Book expands enormously upon our knowledge of the details of Jesus' life and teachings, but the fact remains that the essentials can be, and have been, unravelled from records other than The Urantia Book. But what about Parts 1-3? What is contained therein that is of unique value to twentieth century humanity?
The answer to the last question may be contained in these words: "Only a glimpse of the circle of eternity can inspire man to do his best and can challenge the best in him to do its utmost. And when man is thus at his best, he lives most unselfishly for the good of others, his fellow sojourners in time and eternity." (1776)
In The Urantia Book, for the very first time on the planet of Urantia, mankind has a documented account of life beyond the grave. Prior to its receipt, the only reliable knowledge about the afterlife was contained in the few disclosures given to us by Jesus, as recorded in the gospel accounts: "In my Father's house there are many mansions." (John 14:2), and "For
|
|
