Episode:The Fifth Epochal Revelation to Urantia (Part 4)
Scattered throughout The Urantia Papers are many notes of acknowledgment and attribution. These direct editorial comments from the superhuman authors are also woven into various passages within the papers. They attract our attention because such notes offer valuable insight into the motives and methods utilized by the revelatory commissions in crafting a written epochal revelation. Carefully analyzed, these tidbits of self-referential information foster better comprehension of the facts and truths of this unique gift to our world.
Keywords: Urantia, Revelation, Paradise Deities, Celestial Beings, Planetary Citizens
Note: This episode was only 90 minutes in length due to technical difficulties. Virtually the entire episode was spent reflecting on passages previously read.
Summary by Kermit
In the acknowledgement immediately following the Foreword we find reference to the mandate guiding the revelators in their presentations having to do with the portrayal of the character of the Universal Father and the nature of his Paradise associates, also including an attempted description of the perfect central universe and encircling seven superuniverses.
“give preference to the highest existing human concepts pertaining to the subjects to be presented.”
One might well ask what human concepts could possibly exist concerning such things so far above mortal terrestrial existence. It was suggested that some of these “highest human concepts” could have been derived from visions and “heavenly glimpses”, such as are enabled through the work of a self-acting Adjuster and set down in writings of seers down through the ages. The concept of the sevenfold nature of heaven which appears in such literature, was put forward as an example. And of course, these concepts may not have even been written down.
Acknowledgement #2
Reflecting on the characterization of all revelation short of the attainment of the Universal Father as being partial, transient, and practically adapted to local conditions in time and space we looked at the acknowledgement given by the midwayers preceding Part IV. The authors of Part IV inform us that they are re-telling the life and teachings of Jesus. Jesus’ words in Part IV have been restated in modern phraseology. More than a score of such declarations are scattered throughout Part IV. The quotation marks around Jesus’ words should be seen as quotes of TRUTH, not exact words. Those who seek Jesus’ exact words are prone to see the Urantia Book as a sacred text.
As was emphasized concerning words, knowledge, and truth: Knowledge is knowingness that can be given. Words are knowledge. (132:3.2) Truth can not be defined by WORDS, only by living. You can not obey fact or knowledge, but you can obey TRUTH.
Remember, JESUS IS the 4th ER, not his teachings (words). He left no writing. Dissemination of the 4th ER consists of the faith of Jesus, Son of Man, reborn in the lives of succeeding generations of men and women.
A caller posed a question about the relationship of words and meaning. It was pointed out that to convey the meanings connoted in Jesus’ gospel, actions must precede words. And further, a living faith (genuine inner life) must precede actions. Your inner life must first be transformed, to conform to the universal harmony of God before the fruits of the spirit can appear in your life. It is through your loyalty to supreme values that you attract the attention of your fellows. The cosmic fruits of the spirit are not just words. But, words can contribute to the clarification of supreme values.
One of the midwayers refers to his resorting to “the memory resources of my own order of earth creatures”, when unable to find the necessary concepts in human records or expressions. A cross reference in [Paper 77:9.9] presents an intriguing picture of the midwayers as the keepers of a “treasure house of the traditions of your inhabited world”. And “in proper circumstances such treasured memories of past events are made available, even as the story of the life and teachings of Jesus has been given by the midwayers of Urantia to their cousins in the flesh.”
Onward to the second paragraph of this acknowledgement, the stringency of the revelation mandate was further emphasized by the following:
“The revelatory permission has been utilized only when the human record and human concepts failed to supply an adequate thought pattern. My revelatory commission forbade me to resort to extrahuman sources of either information or expression until such a time as I could testify that I had failed in my efforts to find the required conceptual expression in purely human sources.”
It was pointed out that the logistics of preparing such testimony was likely a most formidable task, at least from the human perspective.
