Episode:The Urantia Papers on the Reason for Revelation (Part 1)

From Symmetry of Soul


Religious revelation is essential to the realization of world-wide brotherhood on Urantia. Even on normal worlds social brotherhood is not an easy accomplishment, and on our confused and disordered planet such an achievement will require a much longer time and necessitate far greater effort. The Urantia Papers, the fifth epochal revelation to our world, is an emergency measure, prepared for our spiritually isolated sphere.

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Keywords: Urantia, Social Brotherhood, Ethical Awakening, Political Wisdom, Spiritual Insight

Summary by Kermit

Note: I feel a little like Philip the steward who found himself short on provisions at the gathering of the five thousand.  I found myself short on time and unable to distill the content for each of the five achievements listed in due time.  Rather than complete some, but not all, I decided to truncate the summary and simply list the five.

We begin the first installment of the series on the reason for revelation with Paper 52:6, Urantia’s Postbestowal Age. Here we see a stark contrast between normal worlds and our benighted sphere subsequent to the bestowal of a Paradise Son. Under more normal circumstances a Paradise Bestowal Son arrives on a world that has enjoyed a lengthy civilizing influence of a Planetary Prince and his staff, the biological uplift and continuing administration of a planetary Adam and Eve, plus the philosophical uplift of a Magisterial Son. The civilization and culture of such a sphere is far above what we can imagine. The revelation of truth that comes with such a bestowal, is on a level compatible with that world. However, on our world, in the depths of our deficiencies, these high truths that accompany the bestowal son are more distressing to our immature spiritual consciousness. This truth has been likened to a sword. It either enhances and augments truth recognition and realization or has an opposite effect. [165:6.3, p. 1824] Jesus forecasts this troublesome issue with his Apostles, proclaiming that his truth will not bring peace, but division. Friends relatives and loved ones are destined to be set against one another. While this truth will bring great and lasting peace to the hearts of those individuals who embrace it, peace on earth must await the universal acceptance of sonship with God. These rugged truths of the 4th ER are even more rugged with the 5th ER. The 4th ER addressed only the spiritual aspects of life. The 5th ER now speaks to ALL domains of human activity.

The realization of the world-wide brotherhood of man is not an easy accomplishment on a normal world, much less Urantia. Social evolution alone cannot achieve such results on a planet like ours. Religious revelation is essential to such attainment. Jesus has shown us the way to the immediate realization of spiritual brotherhood (kindred spirits), but social brotherhood (kindred minds) requires both the personal transformation of individuals, and certain planetary adjustments.

The individual’s grasp of the spiritual revelation of Jesus (4th ER) is transformative for that individual NOW. However, social brotherhood must evolve. Attempts to extend spiritual brotherhood too quickly and too far can bring the opposite result. Such is the emergency we face on our world now.

We explored the distinction between spiritual and social brotherhood. Social brotherhood demands an adjustment to facts. Spiritual brotherhood does not. To achieve social brotherhood the truths of spiritual brotherhood must be harmonized with the facts of our mortal estate. The efforts of the spiritually conscious to establish a social brotherhood based upon the unity of spirit feeling, by ignoring the facts of time or worse declaring these facts to be evil, constitute a most serious emergency.

The realization of social brotherhood on our world depends on the achievement of personal transformations and planetary adjustments in five general areas of human activity. Our Mighty Messenger author presents us with a blueprint for progress in these areas.

  1. Social fraternity.
  2. Intellectual cross-fertilization
  3. Ethical awakening
  4. Political wisdom
  5. Spiritual insight

In our discussion we pointed out some of the features, factors and trends of life today that pose serious obstacles to these achievements and constitute the emergency conditions so often referred to on this program. Consulting the archives of this broadcast for these sobering realities is not recommended for timid souls, but will most certainly challenge and hopefully inspire those brave souls who are consecrated to the truth of the 4th ER and committed to engaging the 5th ER.