Episode:Jesus the Tutor—Return from Rome (Part 4)

From Symmetry of Soul


True philosophy grows out of the wisdom which does its best to correlate quantitative and qualitative observations.  When both science and religion become less dogmatic and more tolerant of criticism, then will philosophy begin to achieve unity in the intelligent comprehension of the universe.  The real universe is friendly to every child of the eternal God.

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Keywords: Urantia, Jesus, Science, Philosophy, Soul

Summary by Kermit

Commentary on the Review

We revisited Jesus’ ministry to the condemned criminal in his last hour. Using spiritual terminology Jesus acknowledges that this man did indeed commit an evil deed and will pay for it with his life. As was observed, his wrongdoing did disrupt the relationship of some individual or individuals with the ubiquity of spirit unity. Yet genuine repentance and sincere faith is sufficient to secure justice and mercy before the heavenly courts.

133:5. At Athens—Discourse on Science

We briefly discussed the midwayer commentary confirming that a great university dating back to the times of the Alexandrian empire was still thriving. The midwayers then proceed to give us, in terms of modern thought, the content of Jesus’ discussion on science held with a Greek philosopher in their inn one evening.

As we’ve commented before, the depth and extent of Jesus’ teaching as represented by the midwayers far exceeds what we would imagine Jesus would have actually delivered. The midwayers give us a full 5th ER rendition of the content of Jesus’ teaching. Scientists are now able to measure universe energy or force phenomena of gravitation, light, and electricity, yet are forever unable to scientifically determine what these phenomena are. Science is limited to physical-energy activities (appearances). The reality behind these appearances is approached through true philosophy which stems from correlating these quantitative observations of science with the qualitative observations of religion in the realm of eternal values (human philosophy) plus divine revelation. Note that a true scientist is first a philosopher then science becomes a specialization within philosophy. Failure to separate matter and spirit or disregarding spirit altogether leads to the dangers of mathematical pride, statistical egotism, and spiritual blindness.

Jesus acknowledges the validity of Aristotelian logic and mathematics in their application to the material world but demonstrates their limitations when applied to life problems by using a simple illustration of shearing sheep. He goes on to apply mathematics to the realm of the intellectual and moral value of persons by saying the association of personalities is not summative but super-summative. Such intellectual and moral value of a social group of human beings in coordinated working harmony is more accurately a function of the number of persons squared. Between the lines we might infer that on higher universe levels where spirit is recognized as an actual substance, intellectual and moral value can actually be represented in quantitative terms. Alas, when both science and religion become less dogmatic and more tolerant of criticism, philosophy will then begin to achieve unity in the intelligent comprehension of the universe.

Jesus then proceeds to speak of the unity in the cosmic universe, even describing a friendly universe. Only when quantitative fact (science) and qualitative value (religion) are recognized as having common causation in the person of the Paradise Father can such unity of thought be found. Thus can the door be opened to the insights into the purpose of the universe and the spiritual goal of progressive personality achievement. The midwayers conclude the narration underscoring the triunity of cosmic reality as unified in the Supreme.

133:6. At Ephesus—Discourse on the Soul

The authors remind us that Ephesus is home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the temple of Artemis. Ganid’s purchase of a souvenir honoring the fertility goddess occasioned a long talk with Jesus about idol worship.

Ephesus was a center of early Christianity due to Paul’s work there. Jesus’ was less influential in preparing the soil for later Christian missionaries here than the other large cities, e.g. Corinth, they had visited.

Jesus had several profitable sessions with a progressive thinker at the local school of philosophy. After his (Jesus) repeated use of the term “soul”, the learned Greek inquired as to Jesus’ meaning of the term. We conjectured that the Greek word likely used by Jesus was psyche.

In teaching about the soul, Jesus suggested soul to mean the spiritualized mind of the personalized self and additionally alluded to what the 5th ER reveals the soul to be as the morontia object whose birth is simultaneous with the arrival of, yet distinct from the divine indwelling spirit. Notwithstanding the inability of either material science or spiritual proving to demonstrate the soul’s existence, In Jesus’ teaching about the nature of the soul he emphasizes the truth that every morally conscious mortal knows of the existence of his soul as a real and actual personal experience.

Notes by Brad

  • Evil: a disruption of the relation between individuals and the unity that permeates all.
  • Zabe, Mark Erickson and other send condolences and hugs to Ann Garner.
  • We like the study of precision of language here. You'll find some of these listed under key concepts.
  • "A great university still thrived" in Athens. Remember, it had been hundreds of years since the golden age of 6th century B.C..
    • The works of man are ephemeral. Sometimes they are unearthed as recently around Lake Van.
  • True philosophy is the superadditive consequence of science and religion. This section 5 has very definitive statements of the superadditive consequence of human personality.
    • It's like the square of the number of persons, just the sum of them.
  • Force, energy, and power distinctions in the 5th ER are worth keeping in mind as reading this discourse on science.
  • Logic is a word that has several meanings, context-dependent, in the 5th ER. More or less distortion of meaning is at play. There is simple, mere linear logic (almost just a form of mathematics) to something far more sweeping. Usually the word logic is challenged in the 5th ER with a sweeping definition. [Paper 103] has a far more expansive definition of logic.
  • The unity arising from true philosophy spoken of here is a triunity (not the perhaps "simpler" unity of spirit substance).
  • The Temple of Artemis was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
  • The words "profitable" and "worth while" are all over these papers in this arc.
    • Profitable: a lasting experiential acquirement. More than a mere capitalistic definition.


  • Soul has two meanings in the 5th ER:
    • The upper domain of mind in the hourglass analogy. The personalized self. As contrasted with the animal-origin material mind.
    • A literal object constructed out of morontia material. The upper domain of mind always has a "copy" made of its wholeness into the soul by the Thought Adjuster.
  • [133:6.5] is a paragraph that starts with the former meaning, and ends with the latter. It spans these two meanings.
  • Don't be satisfied with the initiation of your soul by the Father. Don't let it then stagnate; be grown by God the Mother.