Meredith Sprunger's Synopsis of The Urantia Book
Synopsis of Paper 105
DEITY AND REALITY
1. The human mind, as it seeks to penetrate the eternity‑mystery of the origin and destiny of all that is called real, may helpfully approach the problem by conceiving eternity-infinity as an almost limitless ellipse which is produced by one absolute cause, and which functions throughout this universal circle of endless diversification, ever seeking some absolute and infinite potential of destiny.
2. Absolute primal causation in infinity the philosophers of the universes attribute to the Universal Father functioning as the infinite, the eternal, and the absolute I AM.
3. The concept of the I AM connotes unqualified infinity, the undifferentiated reality of all that could ever be in all of an infinite eternity. As an existential concept the I AM is neither deified nor undeified, neither actual nor potential, neither personal nor impersonal, neither static nor dynamic. No qualification can be applied to the Infinite except to state that the I AM is.
4. God, as your spiritual Father, is comprehensible to you and to all other mortals; but your experiential worshipful concept of the Universal Father must always be less than your philosophic postulate of the infinity of the First Source and Center, the I AM.
5. The seven prime relationships within the I AM eternalize as the Seven Absolutes of Infinity.
1. The First Source and Center…The Universal Father.
2. The Second Source and Center…the Eternal and Original Son.
3. The Paradise Source and Center…the Eternal Isle of Paradise.
4. The Third Source and Center…the Conjoint Actor.
5. The Deity Absolute. The causational, potentially personal possibilities of universal reality, the totality of all Deity potential.
6. The Unqualified Absolute. Static, reactive, and abeyant; the unrevealed cosmic infinity of the I AM.
7. The Universal Absolute. Unifier of the deified and undeified.6. It is a truth that the Absolutes are manifestations of the I AM‑First Source and Center; it is a fact that these Absolutes never had a beginning but are co‑ordinate eternals with the First Source and Center. The relationships of absolutes in eternity cannot always be presented without involving paradoxes in the language of time and in the concept patterns of space. But regardless of any confusion concerning the origin of the Seven Absolutes of Infinity, it is both fact and truth that all reality is predicated upon their eternity existence and infinity relationships.
7. It has been sometime stated that unity begets duality, that duality begets triunity, and that triunity is the eternal ancestor of all things. There are, indeed, three great classes of primordial relationships, and they are:
1. Unity relationships. Relations existent within the I AM as the unity thereof is conceived as a threefold and then as a sevenfold self‑differentiation.
2. Duality relationships. Relations existent between the I AM as sevenfold and the Seven Absolutes of Infinity.
3. Triunity relationships. These are the functional associations of the Seven Absolutes of Infinity ...The I AM is unqualified infinity as unity. The dualities eternalize reality foundations. The triunities eventuate the realization of infinity as universal function.
8. Prior to the deitization of the finite, it would appear that all reality diversification took place on absolute levels; but the volitional act promulgating finite reality connotes a qualification of absoluteness and implies the appearance of relativities.
9. With the appearance of relative and qualified reality there comes into being a new cycle of reality—the growth cycle—a majestic downsweep from the heights of infinity to the domain of the finite, forever swinging inward to Paradise and Deity, always seeking those high destinies commensurate with an infinity source.
10. These inconceivable transactions mark the beginning of universe history, mark the coming into existence of time itself. To a creature, the beginning of the finite is the genesis of reality; as viewed by creature mind, there is no actuality conceivable prior to the finite.
11. This newly appearing finite reality exists in two original phases:
1. Primary maximums, the supremely perfect reality, the Havona type of universe and creature.
2. Secondary maximums, the supremely perfected reality, the superuniverse type of creature and creation.
12. Transcendentals are subfinite and subabsolute but superfinite and supercreatural. Transcendentals eventuate as an integrating level correlating the supervalues of absolutes with the maximum values of finites ..That which is transcendental is not necessarily nondevelopmental, but it is superevolutional in the finite sense; neither is it nonexperiential, but it is super‑experience as such is meaningful to creatures. Perhaps the best illustration of such a paradox is the central universe of perfection... Havona further acts as a buffer between absolute Paradise and finite creations, still further illustrating the function of transcendentals.
13. As the Supreme is associated with finites, so the Ultimate is identified with transcendentals. But though we thus compare Supreme and Ultimate, they differ by something more than degree; the difference is also a matter of quality. The Ultimate is something more than a super‑Supreme projected on the transcendental level. The Ultimate is all of that, but more: The Ultimate is an eventuation of new Deity realities, the qualification of new phases of the theretofore unqualified.
Discussion Questions
1. Does the sequential explanation of the Seven Absolutes of Infinity help us understand their function?
2. How do the Seven Absolutes of Infinity lay a foundation of explanation for all of the actuals and potentials of the universe in time and eternity?
3. Do unity, duality, and triunity interrelationships of the I AM clarify the foundations of reality or make reality more difficult to understand?
4. Why does relative finite reality with evolutionary growth complement finite reality that was created perfect?
5. How does mortal participation in finite divine creation add to the meaningfulness and joy of our evolutionary pilgrimage?
6. Why have the revelators told us about transcendentals that are superfinite and supercreatural which we cannot understand?
7. What is the value of the difficult conceptual level of this Synopsis of Paper?
A Service of
The Urantia Book Fellowship