Construction Project
The Philosophy of Living Construction Project
Quotes, Questions and Comments
Our venture together in the new philosophy of living is by means of experiential education—character acquired by enlightened experience. In order to multiply our effectiveness, we need coordinated working harmony. To enjoy that harmony, it will help to study the statement by the Divine Counselor which launches the project of constructing the new philosophy. So that we can get on the same page, please take a look at the quote from the end of Paper 2, The Nature of God.
2:7.9 (43.2) The great mistake of the Hebrew religion was its failure to associate the goodness of God with the factual truths of science and the appealing beauty of art. As civilization progressed, and since religion continued to pursue the same unwise course of overemphasizing the goodness of God to the relative exclusion of truth and neglect of beauty, there developed an increasing tendency for certain types of men to turn away from the abstract and dissociated concept of isolated goodness. The overstressed and isolated morality of modern religion, which fails to hold the devotion and loyalty of many twentieth-century men, would rehabilitate itself if, in addition to its moral mandates, it would give equal consideration to the truths of science, philosophy, and spiritual experience, and to the beauties of the physical creation, the charm of intellectual art, and the grandeur of genuine character achievement.
2:7.10 (43.3) The religious challenge of this age is to those farseeing and forward-looking men and women of spiritual insight who will dare to construct a new and appealing philosophy of living out of the enlarged and exquisitely integrated modern concepts of cosmic truth, universe beauty, and divine goodness. Such a new and righteous vision of morality will attract all that is good in the mind of man and challenge that which is best in the human soul. Truth, beauty, and goodness are divine realities, and as man ascends the scale of spiritual living, these supreme qualities of the Eternal become increasingly co-ordinated and unified in God, who is love.
2:7.11 (43.4) All truth—material, philosophic, or spiritual—is both beautiful and good. All real beauty—material art or spiritual symmetry—is both true and good. All genuine goodness—whether personal morality, social equity, or divine ministry—is equally true and beautiful. Health, sanity, and happiness are integrations of truth, beauty, and goodness as they are blended in human experience. Such levels of efficient living come about through the unification of energy systems, idea systems, and spirit systems.
2:7.12 (43.5) Truth is coherent, beauty attractive, goodness stabilizing. And when these values of that which is real are co-ordinated in personality experience, the result is a high order of love conditioned by wisdom and qualified by loyalty. The real purpose of all universe education is to effect the better co-ordination of the isolated child of the worlds with the larger realities of his expanding experience. Reality is finite on the human level, infinite and eternal on the higher and divine levels.
The Divine Counselor author of this Paper is one of a group of Trinity-origin beings who are the counsel of Deity (19:3.1/216.5). How does this fact impact your attitude toward the philosophy of living sketch?
Questions and comments
Why is the project of constructing a philosophy of living proposed at the end of Paper 2, The Nature of God? (Can’t wait to hear your answers if you have the time and energy to respond.)
The first three sentences of the sketch describe the problem of civilization which this philosophy of living is designed to solve:
The great mistake of the Hebrew religion was its failure to associate the goodness of God with the factual truths of science and the appealing beauty of art. As civilization progressed, and since religion continued to pursue the same unwise course of overemphasizing the goodness of God to the relative exclusion of truth and neglect of beauty, there developed an increasing tendency for certain types of men to turn away from the abstract and dissociated concept of isolated goodness. The overstressed and isolated morality of modern religion, which fails to hold the devotion and loyalty of many twentieth-century men . . . .”
Does it not appear that the problem of civilization indicated here is nothing less than secularism—people getting turned off by religion?
Note the seven themes of the new philosophy: the truths of science, philosophy, and spiritual experience; the beauties of the physical creation and the charm of intellectual art; religion’s moral mandates, and the grandeur of genuine character achievement. Could you give a couple examples of each theme? For example, what is a truth of science that you find helpful in your philosophy of living? (If you’d like to answer this question, even partially, I’d love to hear your examples!!)
The project of constructing a philosophy of living might seem like an intellectual project, not a religious project—let alone “the religious challenge of this age.” But philosophy lacks the power required to livethis philosophy. The power to live it comes from religion. And the construction project cannot be accomplished by those who are not living it—or well on the way to doing so. This is supposed to be “a new and appealing philosophy”; but that appeal is rooted in our lives. To the extent that our lives are lacking, our writing and speaking will lack the needed appeal. An intellectual who is not living the emerging philosophy can develop a new and impressive system. But it will not attract the variety of people in the way that the emerging philosophy is designed to do. It will not solve the problem of secularism. Truth, beauty, and goodness are divine realities, unified in love. The isolated intellect is powerless to attain such realities.
Let’s look at a few key words from the second paragraph of the philosophy project sketch. Dare to construct a new and appealing philosophy of living. Why does it take courage to do this? Here is part of the answer.
“Religious perplexities are inevitable; there can be no growth without psychic conflict and spiritual agitation. The organization of a philosophic standard of living entails considerable commotion in the philosophic realms of the mind. Loyalties are not exercised in behalf of the great, the good, the true, and the noble without a struggle. Effort is attendant upon clarification of spiritual vision and enhancement of cosmic insight. And the human intellect protests against being weaned from subsisting upon the nonspiritual energies of temporal existence. The slothful animal mind rebels at the effort required to wrestle with cosmic problem solving.” (100:4.2/1097.6)
What does it mean that, in the new philosophy, the concepts of truth, beauty, and goodness are enlarged and exquisitely integrated? The core answer comes in the following paragraph. “All truth—material, philosophic, or spiritual—is both beautiful and good. All real beauty—material art or spiritual symmetry—is both true and good. All genuine goodness—whether personal morality, social equity, or divine ministry—is equally true and beautiful.” How, for example, do experience the beauty and goodness of truths of science?
What does the phrase modern concepts imply? Are today’s modern concepts different from those in the first half of the 20thcentury? What will the term modern concepts mean in a 100 years or 500 years? Can we get everything we need from The Urantia Book, or do we need to go outside?
There is a sentence in Urantia Foundation’s Declaration of Trust which implies that we can have great leverage for planetary transformation “through the fostering of a religion, a philosophy, and a cosmology which are commensurate with Man's intellectual and cultural development.” This final phrase is included in the foundational documents of The Urantia Book Fellowship and Urantia Association International. Note that the philosophy of living includes components of cosmology and religion. If the new philosophy is to function to uplift modern civilization, how can those who construct it be out of touch with humankind’s intellectual and cultural development? Can we reach people where they are without learning anything about the gems in the sources on which they rely? Here is the full sentence from the Declaration of Trust.
PRINCIPAL OBJECT: The object for which this Foundation is created is the promotion, improvement, and expansion among the peoples of the world of the comprehension and understanding of Cosmology and the relation of the planet on which we live to the Universe, of the genesis and destiny of Man and his relation to God, and of the true teachings of Jesus Christ; and for the inculcation and encouragement of the realization and appreciation of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man--in order to increase and enhance the comfort, happiness, and well being of Man, as an individual and as a member of society, through the fostering of a religion, a philosophy, and a cosmology which are commensurate with Man's intellectual and cultural development.”
How do truth, beauty, and goodness constitute a path to love? The Divine Counselor gives two answers in this project statement. (1) Truth, beauty, and goodness are divine realities, and as man ascends the scale of spiritual living, these supreme qualities of the Eternal become increasingly co-ordinated and unified in God, who is love. (2) Truth is coherent, beauty attractive, goodness stabilizing. And when these values of that which is real are co-ordinated in personality experience, the result is a high order of love conditioned by wisdom and qualified by loyalty.
Someone might say, the ideals of the emerging philosophy are impressive, but how can we actually learn to live them? Our first answer comes in the third paragraph of the project statement: “Health, sanity, and happiness are integrations of truth, beauty, and goodness as they are blended in human experience. Such levels of efficient living come about through the unification of energy systems, idea systems, and spirit systems.” Give examples of such systems. How do you find that you can unify them in your experience?
What transformation does the new philosophy promote? One answer comes at the end of the project statement:
The real purpose of all universe education is to effect the better co-ordination of the isolated child of the worlds with the larger realities of his expanding experience. Reality is finite on the human level, infinite and eternal on the higher and divine levels.
In what ways are we isolated? What realizations lead us beyond that isolation?
I saved for last some advanced philosophical questions. Cosmic truth, universe beauty, and divine goodness. The first paragraph of the philosophy construction project statement speaks of the truths of science, philosophy, and spiritual experience. The second paragraph presents a unified concept of cosmic truth. How do we get from truths in the plural to truth in the singular? Can we arrive at the whole by adding up parts? If not, can we find the living whole in particular truths? And does not truth in its living wholeness lead us to the truths that we need in a particular situation?
Can we find beauty in truth and goodness as well as in “material art and spiritual symmetry.” What examples would you pick of “intellectual” art—which foreshadows a higher universe reality, crystallizing the emotions of time into the thought of eternity? And how does such art play a role in universe beauty?
Notice that goodness includes personal morality, social equity, and divine ministry. Can the phrase “divine ministry” refer, not only to, for example, the ministry of the adjutant mind spirits, but to the height of mortal service, “ministry-revelation”? (Notice that the phrase “divine sonship” can refer to a quality of attunement with Deity that mortals can realize in this life.)
The Urantia Book is designed to serve for at least a thousand years. We should not expect too much from our ourselves as we attempt to comprehend the new philosophy. We are privileged to be beginners, doing what we can with all our limitations. If we cheerfully do what we can, we will have no cause for regret.
JHW, August 6, 2018