Urantia Book Cosmology: A Synopsis
by David Glass
The revelators of The Urantia Book provide us with a philosophic concept whereby we may conceive of the nature of reality before the beginning of beginnings--even before the I AM achieved personalization as the Universal Father, God. In this pre-creative, pre-actual state of existence, all of Infinity homogeneously IS. There exist no differentiations of reality: actual has not been distinguished from potential, nor personal from the non-personal. The absolute indivisibility of the I AM finds eternal liberation from the infinite unity of total, undifferentiated reality by self-distributing reality in and as the Seven Absolutes of Infinity: the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit, Paradise, the Deity Absolute, the Unqualified Absolute, and the Universal Absolute.
The Universal Father is the Infinite Source and Center of personality. The Eternal Son is the Second Person of Deity and the Source and Center of spirit. The Infinite Spirit is the Third Person of Deity and the Source and Center of mind. Paradise is the geographic center of Infinity and the Source and Center of energy, matter, and physical gravity. The Deity Absolute is the infinite repository of all potentially realizable personal or personalizable realities. The Unqualified Absolute is the infinite reservoir of all potential nonpersonal realities. The Universal Absolute unifies the Deity and Unqualified Absolutes and resolves the universe tensions which arise from the simultaneous coexistence of manifested spirit and matter.
The Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit comprise the Paradise Trinity. The Universal Father, the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit., and Paradise are actual realities; they exist as and at the Source and Center of all things and beings. The Deity Absolute, the Unqualified Absolute, and the Universal Absolute are the limitless repositories of all the potentialities of infinity. All universe creativity and eventuation takes place as a transfer of realities from the embrace of the infinite potentiality reservoirs of the Deity, Unqualified, or Universal Absolutes into actualization and encircuitment within the absolute gravity grasps of the corresponding universal actuality absolute for personality, spirit, mind, and energy: The Universal Father, the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit, or Paradise.
Amid the interrelationships of these Seven Absolutes of Infinity, there exist three forms and domains of reality manifestation: (1) Immediately surrounding Paradise is the perfect and eternal, divine universe of Havona. Its non-personal reality manifestations and its personal inhabitants are and always have been divinely perfect. (2) Surrounding Havona is the first universe space belt, the domains of the revolving seven Superuniverses. This is the realm of finite creativity and time‑space evolution in which the manifestation of realities progresses from the formations of the rawest of potentialities to the attainment of eternal perfection. (3) The space level of the seven Superuniverses is surrounded by four revolving Outer Space Zones. These are of geometrically increasing dimensions as they exist farther and farther from Paradise. This is the realm of absonite realities--actualities existing on a level midway between those of finiteness and absoluteness. Here realities are eventuated in supertime and superspace, transcending--preceding and following--finite creativity in time and space.
Of these several concentric domains, three--Paradise, Havona, and the seven Superuniverses--are presently inhabited. The Outer Space Zones are not now inhabited.
The potentials of matter, mind, spirit, and personality find their most elementary association in the creation of the mortal inhabitants of the evolutionary planets of time and space. Each such planet is designed to be governed by a Planetary Prince. Approximately one thousand such planets comprise a mature local system. A local system is governed by a System Sovereign from a cluster of headquarters spheres which are architectural worlds, spheres that were made to order by universe beings for specific functions. Approximately one hundred local systems comprise a constellation, governed from a cluster of headquarters spheres by three Constellation Fathers, the Most Highs. About one hundred constellations make up a local universe which is ruled by a Universe Creator or Master Son., depending upon his experiential status.
One hundred local universes comprise a Minor Sector which is supervised by three Recents of Days, beings of origin in the Paradise Trinity. One hundred Minor Sectors make up a Major Sector which is overseen by three Perfections of Days who are likewise of Paradise Trinity origin. Ten Major Sectors comprise a Superuniverse which is ruled by three Ancients of Days of Trinity origin. There are seven Superuniverses, which, together with Havona, comprise the grand universe. Havona, the seven Superuniverses, and the four Outer Space Levels taken together are designated the Master Universe.
Upon each mortal being on every Post-Bestowal Son Age planet of time and space, the Father bestows an unique personality and a Paradise Thought Adjuster, a fragment of the I AM. When the minds of these mortals seek and choose to do the will of God, to pursue the values and the divinity of God, such decisions result in the birth and progressive growth of the soul. Man's mind is material; his Adjuster is pure spirit; the evolving soul is a morontia reality, a phase of existence which qualitatively intervenes between the material and spiritual levels. During the mortal life, the body is the vehicle for the association of the material mind, the morontia soul, the spirit Adjuster, and the unifying personality. At death, the body returns to the physical elements of which it was composed. The soul becomes the vehicle for continuing personality existence.
The soul, a newly bestowed morontia mind, the Thought Adjuster, and the personality are reassembled in the Resurrection Halls of the First Mansion World, one of the subsatellites surrounding the headquarters sphere of the local system. The progressing personality of the onetime mortal proceeds to evolve socially, intellectually, and spiritually, and thereby qualifies itself for the achievement of citizenship status on each of the successive Mansion Worlds and Transitional Culture Spheres of the local system headquarters cluster of worlds. Ultimately, the advancing soul is qualified for residence on the local system headquarters sphere.
The surviving soul of man usually achieves fusion, indissoluble unification, with its indwelling Thought Adjuster on the Sixth Mansion World.
From the local system headquarters sphere, the soul advances to the architectural worlds of the constellation headquarters spheres, and, after passing through these worlds, proceeds to those of the local universe headquarters cluster. At the conclusion of the local universe ascension experience, the domain of material and morontial reality, the soul emerges as a first-stage spirit and embarks upon its spiritualizing career in the superuniverse.
From the local universe headquarters sphere, the progressing spirit advances to the headquarters worlds of the Minor Sector. From that point, the personality will proceed to visit the headquarters clusters of its own and then of all nine other Major Sectors in its Superuniverse of origin. Completing this experience, the personality undertakes the final spiritualizing training on the headquarters spheres of the Superuniverse.
Upon graduation from the Superuniverse training career, the advancing personality proceeds to the pilot world of Havona and thereafter visits each of its one billion worlds of divine perfection, accomplishing some educational task on each one of them. From the last Havona world, the pilgrim approaches the nuclear Isle of Light, and is received as a perfected citizen of Paradise.
Throughout the remainder of this Universe Age, the personality may perform duties on Paradise, in Havona, or in the seven Superuniverses. At the conclusion of this Universe Age, the era of the perfecting of the time-space realms and beings, all onetime mortals who have been mustered into the Paradise Corps of the Finality shall embark upon new and unrevealed missions in the Outer Space Levels.
The seven Superuniverses, Havona, and Paradise are repletely provided with a tremendous corps of ministering personalities--angels, superangels, and others, revealed and unrevealed. These personalities assist the Paradise pilgrims of time in their efforts to ascend the universe and perform numerous other services, some revealed and some unrevealed.
The completed evolutionary Deity of the Supreme Being shall emerge from the perfected universe domains of time and space representing and existing as the complete and exhaustive finite synthesis of power and personality, of non-personal things and personal beings. Thereafter, upon the completed eventuation of the entire Master Universe, including all four of the Outer Space Levels, God the Ultimate shall emerge as the comparable absonite synthesis of all supertime and superspace personalities and things.
The final emergence of both God the Supreme and God the Ultimate shall make possible the beginning of the process of advancing onetime finite and absonite personalities into the realms of Absoluteness. This adventure would culminate somehow in the actualization of God the Absolute, an existential-experiential Deity. The realization and recognition of God the Absolute by creature beings would be tantamount to the attainment of the consciousness of the infinity of the I AM by such personalities. Such an achievement would probably result in the final establishing of such personalities within and as a part of Eternal reality. Such a destiny is supposedly not within the appreciation capacities of the mortals of time and space. Nevertheless, the fraternization, unification, and revelation possibilities between man's personality and his bestowed Thought Adjuster are constitutively without limit.
In eternity all is, and a fragment of all's infinity is associated with man's advancing selfhood. A being uniting with a fragment of Infinity has, at least philosophically, the potential of achieving unity with Infinity. The destiny possibilities of such a God-united being are virtually boundless.