Meredith Sprunger's Synopsis of The Urantia Book
Synopsis of Paper 50
THE PLANETARY PRINCES
1. While belonging to the order of Lanonandek Sons, the Planetary Princes are so specialized in service that they are commonly regarded as a distinct group.
2. The Planetary Prince and. his assistant brethren represent the nearest personalized approach (aside from incarnation) that the Eternal. Son of Paradise can make to the lowly creatures of time and. space ..the directing corps of ...new worlds must be of the lower orders of the administrators of a system in order to be innately sympathetic with, and understanding of, the planetary problems and difficulties. And all of this effort to provide sympathetic rulership for the evolutionary worlds entails the increased liability that these near‑human personalities may be led astray by the exaltation of their own minds over and above the will of the Supreme Rulers.
3. All Planetary Princes are under the universe administrative jurisdiction of Gabriel, the chief executive of Michael, while in immediate authority they are subject to the executive mandates of the System Sovereigns. The Planetary Princes may at any time seek the counsel of the Melchizedeks...but they are not arbitrarily required to ask for such assistance, and if such aid is not voluntarily requested, the Melchizedeks do not interfere with the planetary administration.
4. The rule of the evolutionary planets in their early and unsettled careers is largely autocratic ...The entire staff of a world ruler consists of personalities of the Infinite Spirit and certain types of higher evolved beings and ascending mortals from other worlds. Such a staff averages about one thousand, and as the planet progresses, this corps of helpers may be increased up to one hundred thousand. or more.
5. On going to a young world, a Planetary Prince usually takes with him a group of volunteer ascending beings from the local system headquarters ...This corps of material helpers constitutes the connecting link between the prince and the world races. The Urantia Prince, Caligastia, had a corps of one hundred such helpers. Such volunteer assistants are citizens of a system capital, and none of them have fused with their indwelling Adjusters.
6. These assistants to the Planetary Prince seldom mate with the world races, but they do always mate among themselves. Two classes of beings result from these unions: the primary type of midway creatures and certain high types of material beings who remain attached to the prince's staff after their parents have been removed from the planet at the time of the arrival of Adam and Eve.
7. The Prince's corporeal staff early organize the planetary schools of training and culture, wherein the cream of the evolutionary races are instructed and then sent forth to teach these better ways to their people.
8. In the headquarters settlement on your world every human habitation was provided with abundance of land ...The time was about equally divided between the following pursuits: 1. Physical labor...2. Social activities...3. Educational application... 4. Vocational training ...5. Spiritual culture.
9. From such a world center of culture and achievement there gradually radiates to all peoples an uplifting and civilizing influence which slowly and certainly transforms the evolutionary races.
10. On Urantia these plans for planetary progress and cultural advancement were well under way, proceeding most satisfactorily, when the whole enterprise was brought to a rather sudden and most inglorious end by Caligastia's adherence to the Lucifer rebellion.
11. It was one of the most profoundly shocking episodes of this rebellion for me to learn of the callous perfidy of one of my own order of sonship. Caligastia, who, in deliberation and with malice aforethought, systematically perverted the instruction and poisoned the teaching provided in all the Urantia planetary schools in operation at that time. The wreck of these schools was speedy and complete.
12. The loyal princes of the inhabited worlds are permanently attached to the planets of their original assignment ...Under the benign rule of a Planetary Prince...the mortal races on an average world of time and space will successfully pass through the following seven developmental epochs: 1. The nutrition epoch ...2. The security age...3. The material‑comfort era... 4. The quest for knowledge and wisdom...5. The epoch of philosophy and brotherhood... 6. The age of spiritual striving...7. The era of light and life.
13. After serving their spheres through successive dispensations of world history and. the progressing epochs of planetary progress, the Planetary Princes are elevated to the position of Planetary Sovereigns upon the inauguration of the era of light and life.
14. The isolation of Urantia renders it impossible to undertake the presentation of many details of the life and environment of your Satania neighbors.. In these presentations we are limited, by the planetary quarantine and by the system isolation.
15. Culture presupposes quality of mind; culture cannot be enhanced unless mind is elevated.. Superior intellect will seek a noble culture and find some way to attain such a goal. Inferior minds will spurn the highest culture even when presented to them ready‑made.
16. You should not forget that for two hundred thousand years all the worlds of Satania have rested under the spiritual ban of Norlatiadek in consequence of the Lucifer rebellion. And it will require age upon age to retrieve the resultant handicaps of sin and secession.
17. It may turn out, eventually, that mortal creatures hailing from the worlds quarantined in consequence of rebellion are extremely fortunate. We have discovered that such ascenders are very early intrusted with numerous special assignments to cosmic undertakings where unquestioned faith and sublime confidence are essential to achievement.
18. On Jerusem the ascenders from these isolated worlds occupy a residential sector by themselves and are known as the agondonters, meaning evolutionary will creatures who can believe without seeing, persevere when isolated, and triumph over insuperable difficulties even when alone.
19. This functional grouping of the agondonters persists throughout the ascension of the local universe and the traversal of the superuniverse; it disappears during the sojourn in Havona, but promptly reappears upon the attainment of Paradise and definitely persists in the Corps of the Mortal Finality.
Discussion Questions
1. How did we know about our Planetary Prince before the coming of the Urantia Synopsis of Papers?
2. Why would mortal ascenders wish to accompany a Planetary Prince to a new world?
3. How do you think Caligastia perverted the teachings in headquarter schools?
4. What would it be like to have the Planetary Headquarters active on our world now?
5. What stage of planetary development is dominant on our world?
6. How will the Urantia Synopsis of Papers effect our planetary growth and how can we facilitate the spread of their teachings?
7. How do you think the functional grouping of agondonters will effect our Paradise ascent experience?
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