A Study of God as Personal

by Ruth Burton

References in [brackets] indicate Paper:Section.Paragraph; references in (parentheses) indicate page and paragraph numbers in the original edition of The Urantia Book.

• God the Father
  • 1. As Creator
    • The Universal Father is a Creator, Controller, and Upholder. [1:0.1]
    • Creatorship is the aggregate acting nature of God. [3:0.3]
    • Creation of the Central Universe, as if in sequence (6.1,3); (13.nl); (90.2,3); (91.2-8)
    • Creation of the Superuniverse, in time, by evolution (129.2-8); (130.3); (164.2,3)
    • In the above references, do you find any partial parallels to modern theories of the origin of the universe? For detailed study, see Paper 15.Sec.1-8; Papers 41, 42.
  • 2. God as an infinite Spirit-Person.
    • God is spirit--an infinite spirit person. [1:3.1]
    • God is a universal Spirit. [1:3.5]
    • Although spirit, God is real. (16.1,2); (23.Sec.2); (25.Sec.3)
    • A mystery, but can be "seen" by faith.
      • Only by faith can the infinite mystery of God be experienced by the finite mind. [1:4.3]
      • (17.3 26.Sec.4)
    • The personality of God.
      • God functions on three subinfinite personality levels. [F:2.2-5]
      • "God" is a term which always denotes personality. [F:2.5]
      • "God" is a word designating all personal relations of Deity. [F:2.6]
      • God is personality. [1:5.5]
      • Religious experience implies the personality of God--but only revelation validates it. [1:5.8]
      • The concept of the personality of God is the measure of religious maturity. [1:5.8]
      • God's infinity should not eclipse his personality. [1:5.1]
      • While God must be much more than personality, he cannot be anything less. [1:5.2]
      • To science God is a cause; to philosophy an idea; to religion a person. [1:6.1]
      • The personality concept of God favors fellowship which cannot exist between non-personal things. [1:7.1]
      • Truth and beauty may exist without personality, but goodness and love are associated only with persons. [1:7.3]
      • God's conduct is personal--conscious and volitional. He is not a slave to his own perfection and infinity. [12:7.2]
      • God is a perfect person who can know and be known--who can love and be loved. [1:5.6]
      • By trinitizing the Father divests himself of unqualified personality, thus becoming the loving father of all his unuiverse children. [10:2.1]
      • (40.4,5) When man loses sight of the love of a personal God... (28.nl) Let us not doubt his personal primacy...
  • 3. The nature of God.
    • A loving Father, as revealed by Michael.
    • In science, God is a cause; in philosophy, a reality; in religion, a loving Father. [4:4.4]
    • God is known by many names--on bestowal worlds, he is called "Our Father." [1:1.2,3]
    • Of all the things God might be, he is more--a loving Father. [1:2.2]
    • God is neigher manlike nor machinelike. [1:2.1]
    • The nature of God is best understood by the life and teachings of Jesus. [2:0.1]
    • (1856.2) ....the Infinite, focalized in Jesus.
    • (1857.4) Jesus is the spiritual lens.....
    • The infinity of God.
      • Notwithstanding God's eternity and infinity, he is absolute in volition. [4:4.1]
      • There is no limit to the number of spirit monitors which God can bestow. [3:4.3]
      • The unstinted bestowal of himself upon his universes does not diminish his potential of power, wisdom, and love. [3:4.1]
      • Regardless of how much you comprehend God the Father, you will always be staggered by the concept of the Father-I AM. [106:7.5]
      • Inability to attain the infinity of God should not prevent our enjoying him on finite levels. [106:7.6]
      • (34.nl) ....absolutely, unqualifiedly infinite
      • (35.2-4) ....willingly downstep... modify, attenuate his infinity.
    • The Justice and mercy of God.
      • Willful sin and iniquity are automatically suicidal. [2:3.4]
      • The final result of wholehearted sin is annihilation. [2:3.1]
      • The creature's need is sufficient to insure the full flow of the Father's mercy. [2:4.3]
      • Mercy is a wise and understanding application of justice--not a contravention. [2"4.5]
      • (40.Sec.6)
    • The love of God.
      • God is love. [2:5.1]
      • The Father's love follows us throughout the endless circle of the eternal ages. [2:5.2]
      • The love of God is intelligent, wise, and farseeing. God is love, but love is not God. [2:5.3]
      • Love is the dominant characteristic of all God's personal dealings with his children. [2:5.5]
      • Love identifies the volitional will of God. [2:6.1]
      • It is wrong to think that God only loves us because of the sacrifices of his Sons. [2:5.2]
      • The face which God turns toward al persons is the face of a loving Father. [105:1.6]
      • (38.Sec.5); (50.nl) ...cosmic sociology
      • (59.3) ....freewill not ruled by power greatest satisfaction
  • 4. The attributes of God--phases of his infinite nature.
    • Omnipresence
      • Omnipresence is a part of God's infinite nature. [3:1.4]
      • The Universal Father is everywhere present. [3:1.1]
      • The Universal Controller is present in the gravity circuits of the universes. [3:1.6]
      • The everywhere spirit presence of the Father is coordinated with the spirit presence of the Son. [3:1.1]
      • (44.1 - 46.1)
    • Omnipotence
      • God is omnipotent. [3:2.1]
      • God upholds the worlds in space. [3:2.2]
      • The omnipotent Father dominates the absolute levels of material, mindal, and spiritual energies. [3:2.3]
      • The divine omnipotence is only limited by:
        • a. The Love of God
        • b. The Will of God
        • c. The Law of God [3:2.4-7]
      • (46.Sec.2)
    • Omniscience
      • God knows all things. [3:3.6]
      • God sees the end from the beginning--his plan embraces all creation. [2:1.4]
      • God is free from conflicting attitudes--antagonisms. His free will is the satisfaction of the eternal nature. [2:4.3]
      • Only God knows the nubmer of stars. And he knows our ups and downs. [3:3.2]
      • God's foreknowledge does not in any way abrogate the freedom of his children. [3:3.4]
      • Omniscience does not imply the knowing of the unknowable. [3:3.5]
      • (48.Sec.3)
  • 5. God's relation to the universe
    • Only in a limited sense is nature the habit of God--nature is modified by finite evolution. [4:2.1]
    • Nature is a combination of Paradise perfection and evolutionary imperfection. [4:2.3]
    • Nature is marred by misthinking and scarred by rebellion. Nature is not God. [4:2.6]
      • (44.last) ...living God greater than...creation.....
      • (48.3) ...crushing cruelty...indifference...not personal doings... See also (56.Sec.2)
    • God is changeless
      • God is stationary, self-contained, and changeless. [4:4.1]
      • The laws of an unchanging God stabilize the everywhere changing universe. [102:7.2]
      • God and the universe are not identical--one is cause, the other effect. [102:7.1]
      • God's perfection is complete, his counsel immutable, his acts infallible. [2:2.2]
      • (57.Sec.3)
    • Erroneous ideas about God
      • Being created in the "image of God" refers to the indweling Mystery Monitors. [1:3.1]
      • God is not jealous of his creatures--he might be jealous for them. [4:3.1]
      • God makes no mistakes and harbors no regrets. He does grieve over the spiritual poverty of his children. [4:3.3]
      • God repents of nothing--his wisdom and insight are unqualifiedly perfect. [4:3.2]
      • God is incapable of wrath or anger--such reactions are foreign to his gracious nature. [4:3.2]
      • (59.Sec.5)
    • Delegation of authority and power
      • In divesting himself of absoluteness, God retained absolute volition and fatherhood.[10:3.5]
      • All of God's delegations of power and authority are self-imposed. [10:3.1]
      • The Father rules through his sons--and on down through the subordinates of these sons. [3:5.1]
      • God is a silent partner in Deity only in that he never does that which others can do. [32:4.1]
      • See also (1l1.5 - 112.3)
  • 6. God's relation to the individual
    • God is not in hiding--he craves to reveal himself. It is our finitude that separates us from the Father. [5:1.2]
    • God is approachable--the Father is attainable. Divine love opens the way for our Paradise ascent. [5:1.7]
    • The magnitude and grandeur of God should not overawe us--the Father dwells with us. [12:7.1]
    • The positive proof of God is found in the personal religious experience of God-knowing mortals. [1:2.7]
    • Wrongdoing does not alienate God, but our choice can influence the Divine Presence. [3:1.4]
    • Though God functions through myriads of divine associates--even though he abides onParadise, the divine presence also dwells in the minds of men.[12:7.1]
    • Through the indwelling spirit (62.2 - 65.3); (139.1-3)
    • By the bestowal of human personality
      • God is the bestower, conservator, and destiny of personality. [5:6.1]
      • God bestows personality, endowing it with creative consciousness and free will. [5:6.4]
      • Personality is an unsolved mystery. [5:6.2]
      • The personality circuit of all creation centers in the person of the Universal Father. [5:6.5]
      • God bestows himself upon his spirit children and makes personal contact with mortals by means of his prepersonal fragments. [5:0.2]
      • When all is said and done--God is our Father. [5:6.1]
      • See also (29.Sec.6)
    • Personality involves freewill choice. The Creator's relation to us is one of utmost respect for our right to make our own choices.
      • Wrongdoing does not alienate God, but our choice can influence the Divine Presence. [3:1.4]
      • God bestows personality, endowing it with creative consciousness and free will. [5:6.4]
      • (51.4) Inevitabilities
      • (52.1 69.1ast)
      • (70,Sec 6) -- especially (71,3)