Episode:God the Father—Relation to the Individual (Part 1)

From Symmetry of Soul


Our Father is not in hiding; he is not in arbitrary seclusion. He has mobilized the resources of divine wisdom in a never-ending effort to reveal himself to the children of his universal domains. There is an infinite grandeur and an inexpressible generosity connected with the majesty of his love which causes him to yearn for the association of every created being who can comprehend, love, or approach him.

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Keywords: Urantia, God, Father Fragments, Ascension Career, Paradise Presence

Note: Ann and Justin filled in for Andrea and Brad, who were unavailable this week.

Summary by Kermit

Commentary after Review

We touched on a wide range of topics prior to starting our reading for the evening. We are reminded, righteousness, is conformity with the cosmos, not to the cosmos. The cosmos is dynamic truth with which we can strike step, rather than a static fact to which we conform.

Reflecting on the statement that God has no outer life (no outside) we can better understand how it is that our true relationship with the real God is an inner-life phenomenon. We also recognize how natural and difficult it is to abandon the ubiquitous concept of an anthropomorphic God for the real God.

Further reflections on the idea that we experiential creatures are in some way transcendent to God the Father with our free will in the realms of time and space. To avoid the sense of assault on truth, instead of thinking hierarchically about such a concept, a more serviceable model is to envision God as the center (existential nucleus) of an infinite sphere, with individuals occupying points within the sphere at some non-zero distance from the center. God is thus in no wise subordinate to experiential creatures, but the center of everything. Remember, our relationships with the divine are not limited to our analogies.

Recalling the previous week’s harsh words from the revelators concerning the Christian concept of the atonement, we wondered if the revelators’ reference to the Creator Son’s sevenfold bestowal career as the part of the price he must pay for attainment of the full and supreme sovereignty of his local universe, might be leveraged to cohere somehow with Christianity’s atonement idea. The atonement doctrine is a serious challenge to the truth about Jesus and God. Only when we liberate Jesus from the ghost-cult god baggage can the real meanings of the 5th ER be approached.

We also explored the different aims of the 4th ER and the 5th ER. The 5th ER’s aim is not that of salvation. The 5th ER is aimed at individuals whose relationship to God is unsatisfactory and who are courageous enough to consider very different ways of looking at the things, meanings, and values of cosmic reality. And initially it serves to destroy our false notions of such things. As the revelators reminded us, “the people of Urantia continue to suffer from the influence of primitive concepts of God.”

Paper 5. God’s Relation to the Individual

Man being finite is in fact unable to comprehend how the infinite God can fraternize with him. It is only through the truth of the fact of the indwelling God fragment that he can such fraternization be accomplished. Cosmic truth is as literal as fact, only transcendent thereof. Note the distinction between existential truth and experiential truth. The experiential truth of the fact of the indwelling Deity fragment is the actual inner-life itself. Deity, being innately minded is thus able to reside in our minds and is transcendent of spirit. The other spirit ministries, i.e., Spirit of Truth, and Holy Spirit are above our mind. Note personality recognition of God per se is not part of the divine communion, it is synchronizing with Deity. As we have mentioned, personality recognition of God must await our attainment of the third circuit of Havona.

As we also have discussed before, notwithstanding God existential and transcendent separation from the experiential domain, he can at any time make direct personal contact with any part, phase, or kind of creation through the agency of his prepersonal fragments. Such latitude of direct contact suggests that the fragments are transcendent of spirit substance. The personality circuit represents another avenue of contact available to God. Think of the personality circuit in terms of a dynamic circuit of volition anchored by the Universal Father, the volitional Absolute.

5:1. The Approach to God

Our material and finite limitations and not his aloofness render it impossible for us to approach the infinite Father. It is only the absolute dimension or our personality, our indivisibility potential which will allow such approach. The fact that as we are told, the Father desires (yearns) for the association of his creatures should give us the assurance of success.

Elaborating some on the nature of the Thought Adjuster as a Deity fragment and an indwelling spirit, we will become increasingly aware of the Adjuster’s spirit nature long before we can realize the fullness its Deity nature. Yet as the indweller is so intimately associated with both our inner soul (morontia object) and spiritualizing self (upper domain) we should recognize the possibility of immediate communion therewith.

By grace, regardless of various kinds of handicaps of endowment or environment possibilities for spiritual progress are equal to all.

In spite of the experiential and endowment differentials among creatures, and experiential differentials among Thought Adjusters, their spiritual endowment is uniform and unique. Spiritual motivation, consecration to the doing of the Father’s will guarantees the materialization in the creature’s experience, consciousness of knowing God, and assurance of survival to find God by becoming more and more like him. There are no mortal deprivations nor powers of interference that will prevent your eventual successful attainment of Paradise.

As this summary is tending to the long side, suffice it to say the overall gist of this section is most encouraging as to our eventual victory in gaining the prize of God’s presence and our service career in eternity.

Listen to the archive for many of the elucidating details too numerous to include in this summary.