The Urantia Book in the Mosaic of our Post-Bestowal Age
Prelude
114:6.5 (1255.4) 1. The epochal angels. These are the angels of the current age, the dispensational group. These celestial ministers are intrusted with the oversight and direction of the affairs of each generation as they are designed to fit into the mosaic of the age in which they occur.
A mosaic is a work of art. It arranges countless pieces of various colors and shapes according to the artist’s design for a beautiful whole. Many mosaics, ancient and modern, are on the floors of buildings. We walk on them, perhaps hardly noticing them. If we take a look, we often need historical understanding to understand and begin to appreciate them. If we focus on one or a few pieces—tesserae—in the mosaic, we may be impressed with the abstract qualities of the stone, glass, or pixels of which they are made; but their real meaning escapes us apart from the whole.
The Urantia Book is the greatest work of art on the planet. To discover its full beauty requires study that seeks the book’s creative design.
2:7.5 (42.6) Philosophers commit their gravest error when they are misled into the fallacy of abstraction, the practice of focusing the attention upon one aspect of reality and then of pronouncing such an isolated aspect to be the whole truth. The wise philosopher will always look for the creative design which is behind, and pre-existent to, all universe phenomena. The creator thought invariably precedes creative action.
To discover the powerful design of The Urantia Book requires study of how the parts make up a meaningful whole on all levels: the four parts of the book; groups of papers; sections within a paper; and smaller units with meaningful structure. On the basis of this and other kinds of study, I have offered some findings about how the book as a whole illuminates an inquiry into principles of epochal revelation management. See two previous articles in this series, “Getting the Gospel Movement Back on Track,” and “Introducing The Urantia Book in Accord with its Teachings” which partly overlaps with the previous document but adds a lot to it.
Our Post-Bestowal Age: Origin, History, and Destiny
To discover what we can of the design of the post-bestowal age is a fascinating quest. To understand the planetary conditions that formed the backdrop for the bestowal, we do well to study especially the first three epochal revelations.
The origin of the post-bestowal age was Jesus’ bestowal, to gain creature experience and to reveal the will of the Paradise Father; in large measure his public career as a teacher was focused on establishing the kingdom of God by launching what is three times referred to as “the gospel movement.”
The history of the post-bestowal age, for the first two thousand years, is partly surveyed in Paper 195, After Pentecost, which traces the development of Christianity in its changing cultural and political contexts.
The destiny of the post-bestowal age, according to some passages, appears to be fulfilled by a spiritual renaissance.
176:2.6 (1915.3) “Concerning the times of the coming again of the Son of Man, no one in heaven or on earth may presume to speak. But you should be wise regarding the ripening of an age; you should be alert to discern the signs of the times. You know when the fig tree shows its tender branches and puts forth its leaves that summer is near. Likewise, when the world has passed through the long winter of material-mindedness and you discern the coming of the spiritual springtime of a new dispensation, should you know that the summertime of a new visitation draws near.
Jesus spoke of five “phases, or epochs” of the kingdom, and two of these are particularly relevant to this inquiry.
170:4.3 (1863.1) 2. The enlarging brotherhood of gospel believers, the social aspects of the enhanced morals and quickened ethics resulting from the reign of God’s spirit in the hearts of individual believers.
170:4.5 (1863.3) 4. The prospect of the more perfect fulfillment of the will of God, the advance toward the dawn of a new social order in connection with improved spiritual living — the next age of man.
What do we need in order to reach this “next age of man” with its spiritual progress and new social order?
195:9.4 (2082.9) Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings. If Christianity persists in neglecting its spiritual mission while it continues to busy itself with social and material problems, the spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new teachers of Jesus’ religion who will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. And then will these spirit-born souls quickly supply the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social, moral, economic, and political reorganization of the world.
We are definitely told that a new civilization will be built upon Jesus’ teachings.
154:4.6 (1720.3) There was much talk about Jesus’ preaching doctrines which were upsetting for the common people; his enemies maintained that his teachings were impractical, that everything would go to pieces if everybody made an honest effort to live in accordance with his ideas. And the men of many subsequent generations have said the same things. Many intelligent and well-meaning men, even in the more enlightened age of these revelations, maintain that modern civilization could not have been built upon the teachings of Jesus — and they are partially right. But all such doubters forget that a much better civilization could have been built upon his teachings, and sometime will be. This world has never seriously tried to carry out the teachings of Jesus on a large scale, notwithstanding that halfhearted attempts have often been made to follow the doctrines of so-called Christianity.
To help build that better civilization, The Urantia Book, which is intended to function for a thousand years, highlights a number of social and political projects. But the highest leverage for planetary transformation comes from religious and spiritual projects, among which the gospel movement emphasized far more than any other, although there are other projects.
Modern religion would rehabilitate itself, if, in addition to its moral mandates, it would give equal attention to the truths of science, philosophy, and spiritual experience, to the beauties of the physical creation, the charm of intellectual art, and the grandeur of genuine character achievement.
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. (2:7.9-10/43.2-3)
And there is another specific a desideratum, not an inevitability.
195:10.16 (2086.2) The great hope of Urantia lies in the possibility of a new revelation of Jesus with a new and enlarged presentation of his saving message which would spiritually unite in loving service the numerous families of his present-day professed followers.
In this ecumenical project, “the new revelation of Jesus” obviously includes The Urantia Book, but it also refers to something said several paragraphs earlier:
195:10.1 (2084.1) The world needs to see Jesus living again on earth in the experience of spirit-born mortals who effectively reveal the Master to all men.
In This Emerging Mosaic, Where Does The Urantia Book Fit In?
In the normal planetary sequence, the first three epochal revelations build up a fine civilization as the base for the Bestowal Son’s spiritual mission. Coming to a world that lacked the proper foundation, Jesus is reversing that sequence, building a new civilization upon his teachings. The post-bestowal age includes or possibly culminates in a spiritual renaissance, and on that basis, a new world order is to arise.
The Urantia Book expands cosmic consciousness and enhances spiritual perception, providing a most elegant, if partial, substitute for the civilization that we have lost plus a spiritual understanding that will sooner or later guide the gospel movement into a magnificent repleteness. We can make blunders in epochal revelation management that will seriously delay that eventuality, but, promises Jesus, “in an age to come the gospel which I declare to you will rule this very world” (143:1.4/1683.1).
Those of us who are enthusiastic about The Urantia Book would like to play our part in helping the book to succeed in its mission. But why does the book itself not give us clear instructions about how to do this? In Paper 52, Planetary Mortal Epochs, we have a survey of sequences of ages through which a normal planet passes on the way from primitive man to light and life. Although our planet is atypical, we are given an entire section devoted to Urantia’s Post-Bestowal Age. This is an obvious place where we could be given some word about the role to be played by the Urantia Papers. What are we told? That Jesus has already shown the way to the immediate attainment of spiritual brotherhood; and that, in order to achieve social brotherhood, “much depends upon the following personal transformations and planetary adjustments”: social fraternity, intellectual cross fertilization, ethical awakening, political wisdom, and spiritual insight. Not a word about The Urantia Book. Where’s the advice we might have hoped for?
Actually the book provides abundant instruction about the role of truth and revelation in personal and planetary transformation; and we have the high privilege and duty of applying this teaching to changing personal, group, local, and planetary circumstances.
Additional instruction is provided outside the book itself. Urantia Foundation is mandated, first of all, to pursue its lofty goals by promoting a religion, a philosophy, and a cosmology which are commensurate with man’s intellectual and cultural development. To communicate effectively to the level of man’s development requires frequent adjustments to the ups and downs of intellect and culture.
Additional insight about how the book fits into the mosaic of the age comes from the observation that epochal revelations typically move through at least two major phases: an initial preparatory phase, which may include establishing a center or a network of centers, and mobilizing and training a team; next comes a phase which culminates in full contact with the planet.
We are told that we are ready now for truth and love. “All Urantia is waiting for the proclamation of the ennobling message of Michael . . . , for the living, spiritual reality of the gospel of Jesus” (94:12.7/1041.5). There are more specifics.
In the divine mosaic of history, each project in the planetary agenda has its proper place in sequence and its proper phases of unfolding.
Concluding Thoughts, Objections, and Replies
“This is the day which the Lord has made.” I believe that the Creators have a mosaic not only for each planetary age, but for each day, a mosaic which includes tesserae for each person each day. If we desire above all to find and do the Father’s will, to follow Jesus, and to work out the details with the agencies of the Infinite Spirit, we can enjoy ever-increasing success in that quest. We can even sense something of the mosaic for our day.
It can be difficult or impossible to find an answer to the question of what the will of God is, unless we recall that his will is, first and foremost, that we supremely desire to do his will; and, second, that how we do it is even more important than what we do. But if we are willing to undertake a thorough prayer process, being industrious in study and other modes of inquiry to provision our minds with a balanced set of teachings, and if we sincerely surrender every wish of mind and every craving of soul to the transforming embrace of spiritual growth, then we can succeed. The Father’s will asks us to go into partnership in our inquiry, and his expectations for us are not unreasonable. His will is for us to do what we can do with him and in him.
The Urantia Book is intended to serve for a thousand years, and it cannot present detailed guidance for each generation. In my several documents on these questions, I have sketched an orientation that I believe enhances a prayer process. The gift of the fifth epochal revelation requires us to be diligent. I am utterly convinced that this revelation will succeed. Nevertheless, this generation can blunder in epochal revelation management, and greatly delay that success. We should not assume that every our every initiative with The Urantia Book is appropriately described as serving the revelation. To serve truly, we need to mobilize our full energies of mind, soul, and body—under the guidance of divine wisdom.
In closing I want to address two important objections to the perspective I have set forth.
Objection 1: Each person should feel free to experiment, following his or her sense of leading, in bringing The Urantia Book to the attention of others. We should support one another in these experiments, and trust that time will weed out the ineffective ones and that our creativity will makes some nice discoveries about what works.
Question: How might the wisdom of The Urantia Book provide an answer to this objection? Please take time to come up with your own answer, before consulting Jeff’s answer (presented below).
Objection 2: I am going to introduce The Urantia Book to as many people as I can, and even if only one out of a hundred becomes a reader, all my efforts will have been worth it.
Question 2: How might the wisdom of The Urantia Book respond to this objection? Please take time to come up with your own current best answer before consulting Jeff’s answer.
Consider the present historical conditions of intense stress, personal, group, local, national, continental, and planetary. Planetary change may be up or down, fast or slow, big or small. How far will declining ecological, social, economic, and political trends go before the planetary spiritual renaissance takes wing? What proportion of people are hungry for truth and righteousness? What proportion of people are needed to trigger the spiritual renaissance? On a world of seven billion people, among a significant spiritual elite a micro-spiritual renaissance has already started. How shall we interact with that elite? Some enthusiasts for The Urantia Book treat the book as the good news that they tell most to others whenever a chance for spiritual communication arises. The book tends to upstage the gospel, and presenting book and gospel simultaneously runs afoul of the wise sequence of revelation.
How shall we promote the spiritual renaissance? By lives that proclaim Jesus’ gospel and by judicious introduction of The Urantia Book to individuals and groups that are ready. Wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Not casting pearls before swine. If a Urantia Book conference is flying concentric circles and advertising the book as publicly as possible in one hotel and we discover right down the block in another hotel a conference of violent extremists, shall we visit the other conference with our circles and books? That contrast is an image of our world.
What makes a group ready? Tough question. But like many tough questions, it is impossible to resolve by partisan debate. intellectual unless we approach it divinely, ready to defer our slightest wish to the Father’s will, prepared to surrender every wish of mind and every craving of soul to the embrace of spiritual growth.
Are our lives are primarily occupied with projects that clearly lie in territory supported by revelation?
139:4.9 (1555.2) . . . Jesus’ ever deferring his slightest wish to the will of the Father in heaven and his daily life of implicit trust . . .
The various answers to this question have difficulties.
Answer number one is that we are on our own and free to experiment. Different people will feel called in different ways, and we should all be supportive of one another, no matter what people choose to do. Our creativity will generate some successes, and we’ll learn what works and what doesn’t.
This answer contains truth, but that truth is mixed with a discernible echo of the disastrous error of false freedom. This answer fails to acknowledge the lessons contained in the book itself, in other documents, and in our experience. As a result making readers vulnerable to sophistry and self-deception.
The planetary government and our unseen friends generally are limited in what they can do for us by their duty to respect the sovereign free will of mortals, even when we exercise that free will to make serious blunders. The winds of false liberty still blow strong, sin continues to darken our world, and mortals are also vulnerable to self-deception and sophistry.