Episode:God the Father—Attributes of God (Part 2)

From Symmetry of Soul


To you the creature, many of the acts of the all-powerful Creator seem to be arbitrary, detached, and not infrequently heartless and cruel. But I assure you that this is not true. God’s doings are all purposeful, intelligent, wise, kind, and eternally considerate of the best good—but not always of an individual being; rather, they are for the welfare and best good of all concerned.

Listen to the broadcast

Keywords: Urantia, God, Absolute, Omnipotent, All-Wise

Summary by Brad

A recurring them in this episode was the need for understanding precision of language on the part of anyone who would peruse these papers.

Commentary on previous review

We considered transcendence versus immanence—God the Father versus God the Mother, respectively. What we observed is, despite omnipresence being a transcendent word, sometimes it is paired with the word immanence in the text. What gives? Well, omnipresence is not immanence in fact, but it is immanence in truth. Immanence literally means “remains within.” God the Father has not “remained within” here in the universes of time and space, here in fact. But in truth, in eternity, He is within. This is a fine distinction, but precision of language is key to seeking truth.

Then a discussion of appearance versus reality: seeing through the geologic formations of a desert drive. And for a flicker of a moment recognizing that God is omnipresent in all of what is before our eyes. A geologist concerns themselves with the appearance of the rocks; the transcendent philosopher seeks to penetrate to the reality behind the appearance. Appearance and reality both are helpful. There are rocks and matter (appearance), but there is purpose in that matter (reality).

We also reminded ourselves that in English, some words formerly were two words: alone formerly was all + one. This helps explain why “God alone” has the attributes he has.

Finally, we observed that the omni- prefix in the 5th ER invokes transcendence, not a sum of an infinite number of things down some horizontal plane (that's immanence). Omni- suggests vertical, not horizontal.

3:2. God’s Infinite Power

Long before we are reverent, we are awe-struck. Impressive hills, volcanoes, etc. This is why the attribute of omnipotence is the one understood the best by us mortals. Power is purposed energy. We discussed how omnipotence is threefold in the absolutes of actuality: matter, mind, and spirit associated with the Isle of Paradise, the Conjoint Actor, and the Eternal Son, respectively. But above this threefold, the three are one on a transcendent level, the absolute of absolutes, God the Father alone (all + one).

Next, in parallel to previous study of ubiquitous versus omnipresent we discussed infinity versus absoluteness. It isn’t the magnitude of God’s power (infinity) that is key, it is its transcendence (absolute). The ancient phrase “God the almighty” is an old wineskin if you're equating it to God the Father. "God the almighty" suggests the summation of all possible power in the universe (immanence), but that’s not God the Father's transcendence.

Next, fact versus truth. Throughout the 5th ER we often should ask: is this a fact of time or a truth of eternity? Consider, “It is eternally true, 'there is no power but of God'”. Down in time, in fact, there are many power beings. But in truth, eternity, there is no power but of God. Consider, “it is literally true, 'with God all things are possible'”. Again this demands precision. This classic statement has led to so much misunderstanding and disappointment, with people hoping for a magic man as their God. God still conforms to what is possible. He is the law-giver, not the down-in-time manipulator. God is not an obsessive-compulsive manipulator of power down in time in space; he is not a Master Physical Controller, beings that literally do manipulate atoms and ultimatons. God is not an anthropomorphic Zeus. God creates the “way” for the lightning; he does not throw the lightning bolts. Also, let’s agree to keep God grounded, shall we? Stop pondering him creating a one-sided door, and other untethered thoughts.

We wondered if ignorance really is bliss? No. Not if the revelators characterize is as mis-understanding, suggesting evil. In your ignorance, your thoughts are evil (not sinful). Do you really want evil—badness given form—disrupting your mind? Instead of a dead faith founded on animal-origin fear, consider a living faith founded on trust. Faith and trust, after all, was the message of the 3rd epochal revelation, and it still applies today.

Revelation is the equivalent of a parent telling a child, “I know it seems this one way, but it really isn’t.” Sometimes we simply must be told the way things really are. In the moment, God’s purposing of energy does not appear all-wise. The universe can seem random and ad hoc. An enlarged viewpoint, and trust, are required to gain insight beyond appearances.

The opposite of refined and precise thinking is gross thinking, part-wise thinking. At all times, aspire to remind yourself of the whole, the big picture. The revelators accuse us of having a natural viewpoint that is detached, sectional, finite, gross, and highly materialistic. These can be grown past. The 5-year-old observes the “crushing cruelty” of a parent limiting their access to ice cream; can you do better? Can you, with faith, see past the apparent “crushing cruelty” of God’s acts?


Finally, in the episode we covered some physics, given the curious “light without heat” reference. Is there some form of radiant energy besides photons? Dr. Chris expounded his synthetic interpretation of three forms of radiant energy:

  1. Photon-based radiant energy. This is the one we already know and know best. We’ve been observing it radiating most impressively from the sun for a million years. This form of radiant energy is converted into heat when absorbed by matter.
  2. Some particle like a photon but without that “jiggly” thing. There is one flavor of this in the central universe and another flavor in the universes of time and space.
  3. A radiant energy not so like photons at all. It is ubiquitous, it can be absorbed by physical systems, but it has no “jiggly” photon-like property. Could this be the so-called muon neutrino? Even if it is, don’t expect modern science, with its absence of philosophic grounding and its materialistic assumptions, to understand the muon neutrino correctly.

If you didn't follow all of that, consider just this. Avoid the old wineskin of thinking “light without heat” is just photons that aren’t in the infrared octave of the electromagnetic spectrum. And remember that luminosity can extend beyond the physical; there is spirit luminosity. To grasp this, you must penetrate beneath appearances. What is the true source of all light? Ah yes. God.

Notes by Brad

  • This author had hours of staring at the desert in the last week while driving.
    • For just a moment, god's omnipresence made some sense. My analytical tendency to pick apart geologic formations melted away and I got this feeling of some kind that God was transcendently touching every point within my view.


  • It's trivial to read "God alone" and not critically think about the word alone.
    • Just like a child misses the clever wordplay in Rocky and Bullwinkle.


  • Omnipotence is more about transcendence than immanence.
    • Again, the omni- prefix used here connotes transcendent.
    • A summation of all power (horizontally), you have the Almighty
    • But a vertical approach is omnipotence.


  • Fact versus truth, a fine example here: "It is eternally true, there is no power but of God."
    • This is not a fact, but a truth. In the facts of time there are other powers but of God.
    • Also, it is not a fact of time that "with God all things are possible."
      • If it were, there would be no consistent divine nature--just whimsy.


  • This author remembers pondering God being energy, being awestruck and terrified by Raiders of the Lost Ark at age 8.


  • What is "virtually" unknown energy?
    • Today we think only in terms of radiant energy. Energy moving along a ray.
    • But there are 2 other foundational, ubiquitous energies.
    • "light without heat" suggests something that is not a photon. When it is absorbed it doesn't impart heat.
      • Yeah, so this author was stuck in the old wineskin of electromagnetic radiation.
    • Perhaps a muon-neutrino is what scientists has confusedly denoted this unrecognized energy.


  • He has made "a way" for the lightning. He doesn't throw lightning bolds like some obsessive-compulsive manipulator down in time.


  • The three absolutes of actuality--a threefold omnipotence
    • Absolute of matter: Isle of Paradise. It is literally omnipotentover all physical phenomenon
    • Absolute of mind: Conjoint Actor.
    • Absolute of spirit: Eternal Son.
  • And then there is these 3 acting as 1 in transcendence: God the Father
    • God alone (all one) again! Just like the previous episode's omnipresence.


  • Adjust: ad- + -just, approach + to.
    • Provocative: the Thought Adjuster is adjusting to you! Your will dominates.
      • It "approaches to" the mind of imperfection. The full transcendence of Deity makes this possible.
    • But if you consecrate yourself to God's will, you then are allowing it to adjust your mind.


  • So I'm ignorant of God. So what? Let me be blissful!
    • Ah, but this is misunderstanding. It's evil. In your ignorance you are evil, giving badness form in your mind--disrupting your mind.
    • Can you avoid giving badness form in your mind?
      • Turn your dead faith (your antidote to fear), and instead predicating it on trust to make it living faith?
      • Jesus, as he lived, did this unshakably.


  • God is omnipotent, but not all-doing (omnificient).
    • Like the 5-year-old who thinks not getting ice cream is "crushing cruelty," so might we have analogous thoughts of God not doing things that make us comfortable.
    • And he acts, he does react.


  • The threefold "unpacking" of God's love is: truth, beauty, and goodness.
  • Applied love is mercy.