Meredith Sprunger's Synopsis of The Urantia Book
Synopsis of Paper 63
THE FIRST HUMAN FAMILY
1. The archangel message from Salvington...closed with these words: "Man‑mind has appeared on 606 of Satania, and these parents of the new race shall be called Andon and Fonta. And all archangels pray that these creatures may speedily be endowed with the personal indwelling of the gift of the spirit of the Universal Father."
2. Andon is the Nebadon name which signifies "the first Fatherlike creature to exhibit human perfection hunger ..... Throughout their mortal sojourn on Urantia they called each other Sonta‑an and Sonta‑en, Sonta‑an meaning "loved by mother," Sonta‑en signifying "loved by father."
3. In many respects, Andon and Fonta were the most remarkable pair of human beings that have ever lived on the face of the earth ... While still living with his parents, Andon had fastened a sharp piece of flint on the end of a club, using animal tendons for this purpose, and on no less than a dozen occasions he made good use of such a weapon in saving both his own life and that of his equally adventurous and inquisitive sister ... But their vague feeling of being something more than mere animals was due to the possession of personality and was augmented by the indwelling presence of the Thought Adjusters.
4. Notwithstanding that the twins shared the Primates' deathly fear of being on the ground at nighttime, they sallied forth shortly before nightfall on their northern trek. While it required unusual courage for them to undertake this night journey, even with a full moon, they correctly concluded that they were less likely to be missed and pursued by their tribesmen and relatives. And they safely made their previously prepared rendezvous shortly after midnight.
5. On their northward journey they discovered an exposed flint deposit and, finding many stones suitably shaped for various uses, gathered up a supply for the future. In attempting to chip these flints so that they would be better adapted for certain purposes, Andon discovered their sparking quality and conceived the idea of building fire. But the notion did not take firm hold of him at the time as the climate was still salubrious and there was little need of fire.
6. Before they had been away from home one moon, Andon signified to his mate that he thought he could make fire with the flint. They tried for two months to utilize the flint spark for kindling a fire but only met with failure ... Finally... it occurred to Fonta to climb a near‑by tree to secure an abandoned bird's nest. The nest was dry and highly inflammable and consequently flared right up into a full blaze the moment the spark fell upon it. They were so surprised and startled at their success that they almost lost the fire, but they saved it by the addition of suitable fuel, and then began the first search for firewood by the parents of all mankind.
7. This was one of the most joyous moments in their short but eventful lives. All night long they sat up watching their fire burn, vaguely realizing that they had made a discovery which would make it possible for them to defy climate ... After three days' rest and enjoyment of the fire, they journeyed on.
8. It was almost two years from the night of the twins' departure from home before their first child was born. They named him Sontad; and Sontad was the first creature to be born on Urantia who was wrapped in protective coverings at the time of birth.
9. Andon and Fonta, had nineteen children in all, and they lived to enjoy the association of almost half a hundred grandchildren and half a dozen great‑grandchildren ... These early Andonites evinced a very marked clannish spirit; they hunted in groups and never strayed very far from the homesite... This feeling of intimate kinship was undoubtedly due to the enhanced mind ministry of the adjutant spirits.
10. Andon and Fonta, labored incessantly for the nurture and uplift of the clan. They lived to the age of forty‑two, when both were killed at the time of an earthquake by the falling of an overhanging rock ... Upon the death of his parents, Sontad, despite a seriously injured foot, immediately assumed the leadership of the clan and was ably assisted by his wife, his eldest sister ... This family of Andon and. Fonta held together until the twentieth generation, when combined food competition and. social friction brought about the beginning of dispersion
11. Primitive man‑the Andonites‑had black eyes and a swarthy complexion... In general appearance and skin color these early Andonites more nearly resembled the present‑day Eskimo than any other type of living human beings.
12. Primitive man smiled occasionally, but he never indulged in hearty laughter. Humor was the legacy of the later Adamic race. These early human beings were not so sensitive to pain nor so reactive to unpleasant situations as were many of the later evolving mortals. Childbirth was not a painful or distressing ordeal to Fonta and her immediate progeny.
13. They were a wonderful tribe. The males would fight heroically for the safety of their mates and their offspring; the females were affectionately devoted to their children... they would die without question in defense of their children, but they were not able to grasp the idea of trying to make the world a better place for their grandchildren. Altruism was as yet unborn in the human heart.
14. The original Andonic clan maintained an unbroken line of leadership until the twenty-seventh generation, when, no male offspring appearing among Sontad's direct descendants, two rival would‑be rulers of the clan fell to fighting for supremacy.
15. Only two things came to occupy the minds of these peoples: hunting to obtain food and fighting to avenge themselves against some real or supposed injustice or insult at the hands of the neighboring tribes.., tribal wars broke out... some of the most valuable strains of ability and intelligence were forever lost to the world. This early race and its primitive civilization were threatened with extinction by this incessant warfare of the clans.
16. It is impossible to induce such primitive beings long to live together in peace. Man is the descendant of fighting animals, and when closely associated, uncultured people irritate and offend each other. The Life Carriers know this tendency among evolutionary creatures and accordingly make provision for the eventual separation of developing human beings into at least three, and more often six, distinct and separate races.
17. Before this extensive ice sheet reached France and the British Isles, the descendants of Andon and Fonta had pushed on westward over Europe... These Andonic tribes were the early river dwellers of France; they lived along the river Somme for tens of thousands of years.
18. They regularly dwelt under the shelter of overhanging cliffs along the rivers and in hillside grottoes ... They very early became remarkably clever in disguising their partially sheltered abodes and showed great skill in constructing stone sleeping chambers, dome‑shaped stone huts, into which they crawled at night. The entrance to such a hut was closed, by rolling a stone in front of it, a large stone which had been placed inside for this purpose before the roof stones were finally put in place.
19. As Andon had invented the stone ax, so his descendants early discovered and made effective use of the throwing stick and the harpoon. At last a tool‑creating mind was functioning in conjunction with an implement‑using hand, and these early humans became highly skillful in the fashioning of flint tools. They traveled far and wide in search of flint, much as present‑day humans journey to the ends of the earth in quest of gold, platinum, and. diamonds.
20. As the Andonic dispersion extended, the cultural and spiritual status of the clans retrogressed for nearly ten thousand years until the days of Onagar, who assumed the leadership of these tribes, brought peace among them, and for the first time, led all of them in the worship of the "Breath Giver to men and animals."
21. The Andonites early developed a fear of the elements‑thunder, lightning, rain, snow, hail, and ice. But hunger was the constantly recurring urge of these early days, and since they largely subsisted on animals, they eventually evolved a form of animal worship ... During the vogue of a particular animal, crude outlines of it would be drawn on the walls of the caves.
22. Very early the Andonic peoples formed the habit of refraining from eating the flesh of the animal of tribal veneration. Presently... they evolved a ceremony of reverence... and still later on, this primitive performance developed into the more elaborate sacrificial ceremonies ... And this is the origin of sacrifices as a part of worship.
23. That food was the all‑important thing in the lives of these primitive human beings is shown by the prayer taught these simple folks by Onagar, their great teacher. And. this prayer was: "0 Breath of Life, give us this day our daily food, deliver us from the curse of the ice, save us from our forest enemies, and with mercy receive us into the Great Beyond."
24. Onagar maintained headquarters on the northern shores of the ancient Mediterranean in the region of the present Caspian Sea at a settlement called Oban... From Oban he sent out teachers to the remote settlements to spread his new doctrines of one Deity and his concept of the hereafter, which he called the Great Beyond. These emissaries of Onagar were the world's first missionaries; they were also the first human beings to cook meat.
25. Onagar was born 983,323 years ago (from A.D. 1934), and. he lived to be sixty‑nine years of age ... He instituted an efficient tribal government ... Never again, until the arrival of the Planetary Prince, was there such a high spiritual civilization on earth ... This was, indeed, the golden age of primitive man.
26. Andon and. Fonta... received recognition at the time of the adjudication of Urantia upon the arrival of the Planetary Prince, and in due time they emerged from the regime of the mansion worlds with citizenship status on Jerusem. Although they have never been permitted to return to Urantia, they are cognizant of the history of the race they founded. They grieved over the Caligastia betrayal, sorrowed because of the Adamic failure, but rejoiced exceedingly when announcement was received that Michael had selected their world as the theater for his final bestowal.
27. On Jerusem both Andon and Fonta were fused with their Thought Adjusters, as also were several of their children, including Sontad, but the majority of even their immediate descendants only achieved Spirit fusion.
28. Andon and Fonta, shortly after their arrival on Jerusem, received permission from the System Sovereign to return to the first mansion world to serve with the morontia personalities who welcome the pilgrims of time from Urantia to the heavenly spheres. And. they have been assigned indefinitely to this service. They sought to send greetings to Urantia in connection with these revelations, but this request was wisely denied them.
29. And this is the recital of the most heroic and fascinating chapter in all the history of Urantia, the story of the evolution, life struggles, death, and eternal survival of the unique parents of all mankind.
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think Andon and Fonta were superior to many of their descendants?
2. How do you imagine Andon and Fonta found food and got animal skins to keep warm?
3. Do you think fighting is a necessary quality in the origin and development of mankind?
4. How far have human beings advanced beyond food and security in their priorities?
5. Why do cultures decline spiritually over long periods of time?
6. How does one explain or understand he arrival of great leaders like Onagar?
7. Why were Andon and Fonta denied the opportunity to send greetings in the Urantia Synopsis of Papers?
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