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Audience Questions and Answers Regarding
Some Comments on the Foreword to The Urantia Book

Transcript of a tape recording of Bill Sadler at a Study Group


Audience: That's a wonderful explanation! Thank you, Bill. The question put is: How can the Universal Absolute be Deity?

Well, first of all, we know that it's defined as Deity. On page 15, paragraph 4, the Universal Absolute is spoken of as, "the potential of the static-dynamic Deity functionally realizable," et cetera. "This incomprehensible aspect of Deity may be static, potential, and associative--" Now those are the first three levels of Deity function. I want to go elsewhere for help, because this is a rough one to try to answer.

Over on page 1154, we can get a little help. On 1154, they expand their discussion in the Foreword on the subject of reality when they're talking about the metamorphosis of the I AM, self-distribution of the I AM.

Audience: Is that "Deity and Reality"?

Yes. Page 1154, paragraph 2: It says, "In following the chronological portrayal of the origins of reality, there must be a postulated theoretical moment of `first' volitional expression and `first' repercussional reaction within the I AM." In other words, this is before the circle starts to separate. "In our attempts to portray the genesis and generation of reality, this stage may be conceived as the self-differentiation of The Infinite One from The Infinitude--" The Infinite One being pre-God, The Infinitude being pre-Unqualified Absolute. We've got The Infinite One and The Infinitude, but, "the postulation of this dual relationship must always be expanded to a triune conception by the recognition of the eternal continuum of The Infinity, the I AM.(12)" To me, the Universal Absolute is a kind of a functional symbolization of the continuation of the Infinite. And when you start with that single circle of reality--this is Deity, this is not non-Deity--Deity takes precedence over non-Deity. Non-Deity comes into existence only because Deity has withdrawn itself. That's the best explanation I can give you. When you think of the three circles linked together, that middle circle symbolizes the original circle, and as such would be Deity. The original circle is not non-Deity.

Well, that's understandable. You get non-Deity because of the removal of something. This produces non-Deity by subtraction. But they're still united. Now, you can express this in two ways. Let me draw you another concept-symbol. Here I've got three circles linked, and I've got all my three links in the chain surrounded by one circle. We can't find the large circle, but we can symbolize it by considering the middle circle of the three chain link. That's the best explanation I can offer you. I think this. I think that if you could ever finalize God the Absolute, I think you'd have one Absolute. Then I think the Universal Absolute would become revealed as the Concealed Infinite. But I don't think the Universal Absolute will ever cease to exist, because this would mean we would have reached the end of eternity and the outer edge of infinity, and those are self-contradictory statements. Visualize the Trinity of Trinities. You've got three Trinities on the bottom level. You've got three experiential Deities on the next level, but one of them is not complete. And as long as God the Absolute is incomplete, the third level is the Universal Absolute. But if you could ever complete God the Absolute, this would absorb all three Absolutes and would experientialize all three. And then, I think, on the third level, you'd have the Infinite.

Audience: You've confused me on a higher plane than the one--

Audience: But at least you're going up!

Audience: I'm still confused.

Well, I offer this with great humility, but if this is not the explanation, then I have none to offer. This is the best I can do. That's a rough question.

Audience: Have you ever described the separation of the circles as, "One And Two?" Yes. The "And" itself is a reality. Or I've used the expression, "One And Another." The "And" itself is a reality, yes. See, you didn't ask, "Why is the Universal Absolute Deity?"

Audience: I can understand the association and the unification factor, but I "can't hardly conceive" how it can be Deity.

This Universal Absolute is pretty mysterious. I'll have my ignorance better unified when I do my thirtieth Appendix to the story. I haven't done it yet.

Audience: Bill, I do have a question. You said a while ago--it has to do with the first separation of Absolute Deity--which separated from the other? That seems awfully important to me.

All right. The question is, which moved away from what? Deity moved.

Audience: Not the Unqualified?

The Unqualified Absolute was left behind, because the principle, the potential for volition is the essence of the concept of Deity.

Audience: Deity had to move, the other one couldn't move.

The Unqualified Absolute is a reactor, not an initiator. The Unqualified Absolute is the sneezer, not the taker of snuff. Audience: It's awfully important, I don't know why. I think it is important. The Unqualified Absolute is what was left behind when Deity moved. Now please remember: all of this is symbolization. You can argue that this is simultaneous. You can argue it for sequence. And it makes just as much sense to say it's happening today as that it ever did happen, or that it will happen, or--better still--it isn't always happening. You see, we're using time language in eternity. Here. In reading these papers, make allowance for the "by-and-large." Now, a statement like this might be made in the papers: "The experience of human beings is characterized by birth and death." That's a pretty reasonable statement, isn't it? But it's not 100% true, because fusion might take the place of death. But it's so nearly 100% true, that it might be made in the papers as virtually an absolute statement. It's near absolute. We know of two people who've probably fused, and there are undoubtedly more, because in the papers on Thought Adjusters it says most of the Adjusters who have taken their subjects to fusion were experienced on your world. That suggests to me more than two. The only two I can put my finger on would be Enoch and Elijah. Talking about Absonites--they're beginningless and endless. But God the Ultimate has a beginning. It doesn't say, though, all Absonites are beginningless or endless. It says the Absonite level is characterized by this, just as mortal life is characterized by birth and death. Had Jesus been an ordinary person, he would never have died. He'd have fused about the time he was baptized in the Jordan. They had to take his Adjuster away from him to stop fusion.

Audience: I'm glad you said that. I've never been able to understand why his Adjuster stood away from him.

Same reason on a planet settled in light and life, when a human being is scheduled for fusion--you know, they warn them ahead of time--he can plea for a stay of execution. He's about half way through an important job. They grant him this privilege, but then they detach the Adjuster. He works just as Jesus did. You see, Jesus' life has certain parallels in worlds settled in light and life. A human being might go on and function five years as a post-fusion human being, and then report to the Morontia temple. All his friends would be there like a commencement exercise. The Adjuster would enter the soul and whambo! The pyrotechnics take place and off he is. And what a nice way to go.

Audience: We have some questions on extradivine, and explain your symbol of the two inches and the miles.

All right. The term "extradivine" would refer, I suspect, to the Unqualified Absolute. Is that correct? Let me check this usage. Page 14, paragraph 6: "The Unqualified Absolute is nonpersonal, extradivine, and undeified." Divinity is the characteristic unifying quality of Deity. This is not Deity, hence the Unqualified Absolute discloses no aspects of divinity.

Audience; "Extra" there does not mean "greater than?"

No. "Outside of divinity." It sounds better to say "extradivine" than "undivine." "Undivine" has a connotation of evil. The Unqualified Absolute is not evil, but is not in any way related to divinity per se. Now, the function of the three Absolutes is related to divinity, because the mechanizing function of the Unqualified is unified by the Universal Absolute with the activating function of the Deity Absolute. So the total Absolute is not extradivine, only this aspect of the Absolute. That would be my interpretation of the word "extradivine." A much better choice than the word "undivine."

Audience; It's not antagonistic to divinity-- It's outside of-- Obviously it does not connote "greater than."

Yes. See, this Absolute is not personal, has no divinity, is not a creator. And you can't understand it. You can't use fact, truth, experience, revelation, philosophy, or superphilosophy, absonity, to understand it. And that's why I shudder when I glibly explain it.

Audience: Laughter.

There's a question here about two inches versus miles. Where we're talking about--that must be the firehouse, is that right?

Audience: Yes.

That's the first floor. I'm using space to symbolize time. And since our time calculations are even looser than our space calculations--because we have to assume a constant rate--it doesn't mean much. What I'm saying here is this. In considering our firehouse--remember? We built a three story firehouse. We put a centerpole down the middle where the firemen slide down, and the purpose of that centerpole is to symbolize God, who is contactable on any level of the firehouse. It's the same God. The only thing that's changed is you. We said, if the first story is two inches high, then the second story is miles high, and the third story has no roof. Which is to say, if creative expansion through two inches produces the Supreme Being, it takes miles to produce God the Ultimate. And you can start God the Absolute, but there is no roof. You can't finish God the Absolute. This would require an exhaustion of infinity, and a completion of eternity.


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