Jesus of Nazareth (study arc)

Jesus of Nazareth is a study arc started in 2024 by Symmetry of Soul. It comprises three series covering seven papers of The Urantia Book: Papers 123 through 129.

See the latest episode listing on the main archive page.

Some Things to Keep in Mind

Jesus was a human boy, not the magical fetish man of New Testament apocrypha. No. He was Jesus the man, Jesus of Nazareth, starting out life as a baby just like we do. So this story, restored to us in The Urantia Papers, is immensely relevant to us: it illuminates the truth of our human life—what our human life really is. If you want an entertaining story about a boy, read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. If you want a boy's story that can help you and your family's life, study Jesus' childhood.

This whole arc is a sequence of sections. Jesus of Nazareth is created over time, not in the snap of God's finger. This helps us think about how God's creative acts manifest not only in the macro, but in the micro. Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. Use this arc to train yourself to recognize the hand, habit, and laws of God that precisely unfold everything. Find the beauty of creation in the logic of a sequence! Study the logical sequence of Jesus life.

Don't obsess over how fast all of this unfolded, how precocious Jesus was. Recall the Tortoise and the Hare: quality over speed. Yes, Jesus developed quickly but he also has quality. All God expects is quality.

As you study, consider:

1. How did Jesus "insure" his eternal survival? How do any of us insure our survival?
2. Was Jesus raised in a religious household?
3. What role did his mother and father play? His neighborhood environment?
4. What are we to do when we read what appears to be a "random factoid?"
   • Why would the revelators really tell us something like Joseph's resume? Is that random? Or are they revealing a truth about a father who is providing a stable family setting?