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indwelling mortal man in the factual presence of the Adjuster so that man can talk face to face, as it were, with a real and genuine and divine alter ego that indwells him and is the very presence and essence of the living God, the Universal Father." (997)
For Urantians, the ideal relationship with our indwelling God-Spirit is one that seeks continuous interactive personal communication--whereas for Quakers it appears to be more of an intense awareness of God's presence. But in other respects, particularly those associated with authoritarian religions that interpose creeds and priests between man and God, Quakers and Urantians share the same ideology.
A revealing comment from a Quaker states: "When Quaker-ism became established the attention of many became focused on externals and consciousness of the Inner Presence--and the path illuminated by that Presence--was largely lost."
More so than the difference in how Quakers and Urantians view their individual relationship to their indwelling God-Spirit, the diversion by Quakers into political and secular affairs appears to have been the catalyst for their failure to make a lasting impact as a popular religion. It is also the likely cause of their failure to achieve the "purification of all Christendom."
The Urantia Papers inform us: "Jesus refused to have his attention diverted from his mission of establishing a new way of salvation; he would not permit himself to be concerned about anything else. In his personal life he was always duly observant of all civil laws and regulations; in all his public teachings he ignored the civic, social, and economic realms. He told the apostles that he was concerned only with the principles of man's inner and personal spiritual life." (1580)
However that does not mean avoiding all interaction with the secular world. But Jesus carefully defined how that interaction should take place for his followers:
"Those who are born of the spirit will immediately begin to show forth the fruits of the spirit in loving service to their fellow creatures. And the fruits of the divine spirit which are yielded in the lives of spirit-born and God-knowing mortals are: loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance, and enduring peace." (2054)
He followed that up with: "If professed believers bear not these fruits of the divine spirit in their lives, they are dead; the Spirit of Truth is not in them; they are useless branches on the living vine….My Father requires of the children of faith that they bear much spirit fruit."
Besides getting involved in the problems of social injustice, the Quakers also evolved a set of criteria that distinguished them clearly as being Quakers. They had severe restrictions concerning dress to the point that a single glance identified a person as being a quaker. And when they spoke they used special words like "thee" and "thou." Although originally designed as a witness for honesty, simplicity, and equality, these distinguishing features quickly became a "password" declaring, "I am a Quaker."
Unfortunately such visual icons can quickly become substitutes for the reality of a religion--for Quakers this was meant to be their dedication to living in accordance with "the Inward Light." In the Urantia movement symbols such as the three concentric circles have been used as identifier for Urantia Book readers..
"Jesus talked at great length, trying to show the twelve what they must be, not what they must do. They knew only a religion that imposed the doing of certain things as the means of attaining righteousness--salvation. But Jesus would reiterate, "In the kingdom you must be righteous in order to do the work." (1584) And, "In my Father's kingdom there shall be neither Jew nor gentile, only those who seek perfection through service." (1586)
Remembering that at their basic philosophical foundations, the Quaker movement and the Urantia movement are almost the same, there must be many lessons to be learned from the experience of the Quakers and their failure. Already we have made some of their mistakes.
In a nutshell, the Quaker movement fell apart because it promoted secular issues to a position of fundamental and overwhelming importance--and forgot their foundation ideology, the principles of their real founder.
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