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contribute something worthwhile to the progress of mankind, both temporal and spiritual." Prayerfully reading The Urantia Book provides just such a satisfying symbolic approach to deity for many people!
The discussion of the appearance of a new cult continues with the comment that, "There must be the demand for devotion, the response of loyalty. Every effective religion develops a worthy symbolism, and its devotees would do well to prevent the crystallization of such a ritual into cramping, deforming and stifling stereotyped ceremonials which can only handicap and retard all social, moral, and spiritual progress. No cult can survive if it retards moral growth and fails to foster spiritual progress. The cult is the skeletal structure around which grows the living and dynamic body of personal spiritual experience--true religion." With The Urantia Book, the Revelators have provided a masterfully conceived symbolism for the spiritual sustenance of humanity. If you appreciate the catalytic role the text plays in religious growth, and if you appreciate the text's comments that the inevitable result of religious growth is a desire for service, and if you appreciate the way in which the desire to serve often results in an individual wanting that which is deemed to be of greatest value, perhaps you can then appreciate what a lost cause this ideology of restricted access really is. It is simply not consistent with the nature of the response the book itself says we can expect!
If the past forty years of events within the readership are a reliable indicator, the real challenge before us would seem to be that of helping each other to effectively socialize this new experience. We need to help each other to learn to adapt to the new psychological and spiritual realities encountered as a result of reading the text of this book.
Re-evaluating ways of introducing the book in accord with its teachings.
How, then, are we to responsibly spread the revelation in 'accord with its teaching.' If we are going to answer this question, we will be required to make sure that any strategy we suggest is at least consistent with the concept of reality presented in the text.
Each of the preceding epochal revelations provided humanity with additional tools for dealing with the planetary environment, tools to help us in our ascent from the bonds of biological and psychological determinism to a fuller understanding of techniques of the in-process-of-being-revealed universe of personality, meanings and values. The Prince's regime provided education in a variety of domains. The Adamic regime provided new genes for everyone, in addition to more education. Melchizedek highlighted the power of faith. Jesus empowered us by helping us to understand the personal nature of Deity and the immanently-present reality of the Kingdom. He also provided the Spirit of Truth as a substantial bonus. Each of these revelations, when assimilated by its recipients, provided additional empowerment for the tasks of personal and social evolution toward a greater degree of God-consciousness and adaptations to the trends of the cosmos. We might ask if there is any corollary with The Urantia Book--anything here which can more effectively empower us to deal with our planetary situation. I think the answer is 'Yes!' In addition to a comprehensive view of the nature and origin, history, and destiny, the book provides a revelation of the nature of Supremacy which should empower us to work effectively with our environment.
The nature of Supremacy is very nicely captured in philosopher Alfred North Whitehead's description of each new moment as a "creative advance into novelty." In Jesus' terms, it is simply total commitment in all ways to the doing of the Father's will--a conclusion reached during the forty day period he spent in evaluating how he should proceed with his life. In doing so, he settled upon a masterly technique which allows fresh empowerment within each new, novel moment. This is in sharp contrast to an ideology which presupposes that it 'knows' the optimum configuration of future reality as well as the means of manipulating present reality in order to reach that optimum configuration. The life of Jesus clearly reveals the superiority of submission to the Father's will as contrasted with predetermined ideology as a method of advancing both individual and planetary progress.
Paper 99, The Social Problems of Religion, makes quite clear the impotence of ideology in dealing with the present situation. The argument for ideology is based on an assumption that the dynamics of reality are far more amenable to the positivistic methods of intervention and control than those of the personal universe we find revealed in The Urantia Book. Ideology assumes mechanism, a formula to achieve individual success and social progress; the book reveals living organism--an individual and personal, moment by moment, dedication to the doing of the Father's will.
Again we may ask the question, "How should we approach the challenge of introducing The Urantia Book in accordance with the view of reality that it sets forth?"
A personal philosophy of seeking the Father's will in each decision is the only way I see of functioning creatively within Supremacy, while remaining consistent with the view of reality set forth in the book. The task will be accomplished via the additive contribution that each individual makes to the process.
"Religionists must function in society...as individuals, not as groups, parties or institutions." (1087) Individuals thus oriented can create sequences of particular occasions (to use Whitehead's term) within the evolving supreme through which our spiritual benefactors are able to supply their ministry directly toward planetary uplift. The inevitable
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