Meredith Sprunger's Synopsis of The Urantia Book
Synopsis of Paper 96
YAHWEH--GOD OF THE HEBREWS
1. In conceiving of Deity, man first includes all gods, then subordinates all foreign gods to his tribal deity, and finally excludes all but the one God of final and supreme value ....But the Melchizedek concept of Deity was unlike that of the evolutionary philosophy of inclusion, subordination, and exclusion; it was based exclusively on creative power and very soon influenced the highest deity concepts of Mesopotamia, India, and Egypt.
2. Factually the Hebrew religion is predicated upon the covenant between Abraham and Machiventa Melchizedek, evolutionally it is the outgrowth of many unique situational circumstances, but culturally it has borrowed freely from the religion, morality, and philosophy of the entire Levant. It is through the Hebrew religion that much of the morality and religious thought of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Iran was transmitted to the Occidental peoples.
3. From time to time numerous terms were applied to their concepts of God, and in order to prevent confusion these various Deity titles will be defined as they pertain to the evolution of Jewish theology:
1. Yahweh was the god of the southern Palestinian tribes, who associated this concept of deity with Mount Horeb, the Sinai volcano...
2. El Elyon...the Most High God of heaven ...
3. El Shaddai...material prosperity was a reward for serving El Shaddai...
4. El...composite Deity...
5. Elohim...a three‑in‑one God concept ..,
6. Sundry names... Jehovah is a term which in recent times has been employed to designate the completed concept of Yahweh which finally evolved in the long Hebrew experience.4. The idea of Yahweh has undergone the most extensive development of all the mortal theories of God. Its progressive evolution can only be compared with the metamorphosis of the Buddha concept in Asia, which in the end led to the concept of the Universal Absolute even as the Yahweh concept finally led to the idea of the Universal Father.
5. Racially the Semites were among the most blended of Urantia peoples, containing hereditary factors from almost all of the nine world races ...It was only after the days of Machiventa Melchizedek and Abraham that certain tribes of Semites, because of their peculiar religious beliefs, were called the children of Israel and later on Hebrews, Jews, and the “chosen people."
6. The beginning of the evolution of the Hebraic concepts and ideals of a Supreme Creator dates from the departure of the Semites from Egypt under that great leader, teacher, and organizer, Moses. His mother was of the royal family of Egypt; his father was a Semitic liaison officer between the government and the Bedouin captives.
7. No leader ever undertook to reform and uplift a more forlorn, downcast, dejected, and ignorant group of human beings...Moses endeavored to negotiate diplomatically for the freedom of his fellow Semites. He and his brother entered into a compact with the king of Egypt whereby they were granted permission peaceably to leave the valley of the Nile for the Arabian Desert ...But the king later saw fit to repudiate this treaty...But Moses was not discouraged; he bided his time... when the Egyptian military forces were fully occupied ...this intrepid organizer led his compatriots out of Egypt in a spectacular night flight. This dash for liberty was carefully planned and skillfully executed.
8. Moses thus ...educated an El Shaddaist; through the influence of his father‑in‑law he became an El E1yonist; and by the time of the Hebrew encampment about Mount Sinai after the flight from Egypt, he had formulated a new and enlarged concept of Deity (derived from all his former beliefs), which he wisely decided to proclaim to his people as an expanded concept of their olden tribal god, Yahweh.
9. It does not appear that Moses would ever have succeeded in the establishment of his somewhat advanced ceremonial worship and in keeping his followers intact for a quarter of a century had it not been for the violent eruption of Horeb during the third week of their worshipful sojourn at its base.
10. Moses made a heroic effort to uplift Yahweh to the dignity of a supreme Deity when he presented him as the "God of truth and without iniquity, just and right in all his ways." And yet, despite this exalted teaching, the limited understanding of his followers made it necessary to speak of God as being in man's image, as being subject to fits of anger, wrath, and severity, even that he was vengeful and easily influenced by man's conduct.
11. The most unique and amazing feature of the religious history of the Hebrews concerns this continuous evolution of the concept of Deity from the primitive god of Mount Horeb up through the teachings of their successive spiritual leaders to the high level of development depicted in the Deity doctrines of the Isaiahs, who proclaimed that magnificent concept of the loving and merciful Creator Father.
12. Moses was an extraordinary combination of military leader, social organizer, and religious teacher. He was the most important individual world teacher and leader between the times of Machiventa and Jesus.
13. Moses and his father‑in‑law, Jethro, gathered up the residue of the traditions of the days of Melchizedek, and these teachings, joined to the learning of the Egyptians, guided Moses in the creation of the improved religion and ritual of the Israelites. Moses was an organizer.
14. Moses was a believer in Providence ...But it was truly pitiful to watch this great mind of Moses trying to adapt his sublime concept of El Elyon, the Most High, to the comprehension of the ignorant and illiterate Hebrews...Moses feared to proclaim the mercy of Yahweh, preferring to awe his people with the fear of the justice of God.
15. Upon the death of Moses his lofty concept of Yahweh rapidly deteriorated ...They came near losing all concept of monotheism; they nearly lost their opportunity of becoming the people who would serve as a vital link in the spiritual evolution of Urantia, the group who would conserve the Melchizedeks teaching of one God until the times of the incarnation of a bestowal Son of that Father of all.
16. The Psalms are the work of a score or more of authors; many were written by Egyptian and Mesopotamian teachers ...No collection of religious writings gives expression to such a wealth of devotion and inspirational ideas of God as the Book of Psalms ...This Book of Psalms is the record of the varying concepts of God entertained by the believers of the Salem religion throughout the Levant and embraces the entire period from Amenemope to Isaiah...And when thus regarded, this group of Psalms constitutes the most valuable and helpful assortment of devotional sentiments ever assembled by man up to the times of the twentieth century. The worshipful spirit of this collection of hymns transcends that of all other sacred books of the world.
17. The variegated picture of Deity presented in the Book of Job was the product of more than a score of Mesopotamian religious teachers extending over a period of almost three hundred years ...In Palestine the wisdom and all‑pervasiveness of God was often grasped but seldom his love and mercy...Only at Ur did a voice arise to cry out the mercy of God ...Not since the times of Melchizedek had the Levantine world heard such a ringing and cheering message of human salvation as this extraordinary teaching of Elihu, the prophet of Ur and priest of the Salem believers, that is, the remnant of the onetime Melchizedek colony in Mesopotamia.
Discussion Questions
1. How important was the training Moses received from both of his parents in the teachings of Machiventa Melchizedek?
2, Why was it wise for Moses to use the ancient term “Yahweh” for his new description of God?
3. How did the teaching of Moses that the Hebrews were a chosen people help mold them into a nation?
4. Why is there always a tendency for people to lose belief in higher religious concepts and revert to more primitive forms of belief?
5. How do we arrive at our concept of God?
6. Do Christians recognize the wide range of quality in the Book of Psalms?
7. How does the theology of the Old Testament harmonize with New Testament teachings?
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