634 lines
38 KiB
Plaintext
634 lines
38 KiB
Plaintext
Urantia Book Paper 3 The Attributes Of God
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SPIRITWEB ORG, PROMOTING SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS ON THE INTERNET.
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Subjects Archive The Urantia Book Urantia Book PART I: The Central and Super
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Universes : The Universal Father The Nature Of God The Attributes Of God God's
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Relation To The Universe God's Relation To The Individual The Eternal Son
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Relation Of The Eternal Son To The Universe The Infinite Spirit Relation Of The
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Infinite Spirit To The Universe The Paradise Trinity The Eternal Isle Of
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Paradise The Universe Of Universes The Sacred Spheres Of Paradise The Central
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And Divine Universe The Seven Superuniverses The Seven Master Spirits The Seven
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Supreme Spirit Groups The Supreme Trinity Personalities The Co-ordinate
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Trinity-origin Beings The Paradise Sons Of God The Paradise Creator Sons The
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Trinitized Sons Of God The Solitary Messengers Higher Personalities Of The
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Infinite Spirit The Messenger Hosts Of Space Ministering Spirits Of The Central
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Universe Ministry Of The Primary Supernaphim Ministering Spirits Of The
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Superuniverses The Universe Power Directors Personalities Of The Grand Universe
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The Corps Of The Finality
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Paper 3 The Attributes Of God
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Introduction
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GOD is everywhere present; the Universal Father rules the circle of eternity.
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But he rules in the local universes in the persons of his Paradise Creator
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Sons, even as he bestows life through these Sons. "God has given us eternal
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life, and this life is in his Sons." These Creator Sons of God are the personal
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expression of himself in the sectors of time and to the children of the
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whirling planets of the evolving universes of space.
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The highly personalized Sons of God are clearly discernible by the lower orders
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of created intelligences, and so do they compensate for the invisibility of the
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infinite and therefore less discernible Father. The Paradise Creator Sons of
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the Universal Father are a revelation of an otherwise invisible being,
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invisible because of the absoluteness and infinity inherent in the circle of
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eternity and in the personalities of the Paradise Deities.
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Creatorship is hardly an attribute of God; it is rather the aggregate of his
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acting nature. And this universal function of creatorship is eternally
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manifested as it is conditioned and controlled by all the co-ordinated
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attributes of the infinite and divine reality of the First Source and Center.
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We sincerely doubt whether any one characteristic of the divine nature can be
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regarded as being antecedent to the others, but if such were the case, then the
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creatorship nature of Deity would take precedence over all other natures,
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activities, and attributes. And the creatorship of Deity culminates in the
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universal truth of the Fatherhood of God.
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1. GOD'S EVERYWHERENESS
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The ability of the Universal Father to be everywhere present, and at the same
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time, constitutes his omnipresence. God alone can be in two places, in
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numberless places, at the same time. God is simultaneously present "in heaven
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above and on the earth beneath"; as the Psalmist exclaimed: "Whither shall I go
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from your spirit? or whither shall I flee from your presence?"
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"`I am a God at hand as well as afar off,' says the Lord. `Do not I fill heaven
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and earth?'" The Universal Father is all the time present in all parts and in
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all hearts of his far-flung creation. He is "the fullness of him who fills all
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and in all," and "who works all in all," and further, the concept of his
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personality is such that "the heaven (universe) and heaven of heavens (universe
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of universes) cannot contain him." It is literally true that God is all and in
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all. But even that is not all of God. The Infinite can be finally revealed only
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in infinity; the cause can never be fully comprehended by an analysis of
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effects; the living God is immeasurably greater than the sum total of creation
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that has come into being as a result of the creative acts of his unfettered
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free will. God is revealed throughout
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top of page - 45
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the cosmos, but the cosmos can never contain or encompass the entirety of the
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infinity of God.
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The Father's presence unceasingly patrols the master universe. "His going forth
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is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit to the ends of it; and there is
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nothing hidden from the light thereof."
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The creature not only exists in God, but God also lives in the creature. "We
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know we dwell in him because he lives in us; he has given us his spirit. This
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gift from the Paradise Father is man's inseparable companion." "He is the
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ever-present and all-pervading God." "The spirit of the everlasting Father is
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concealed in the mind of every mortal child." "Man goes forth searching for a
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friend while that very friend lives within his own heart." "The true God is not
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afar off; he is a part of us; his spirit speaks from within us." "The Father
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lives in the child. God is always with us. He is the guiding spirit of eternal
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destiny."
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Truly of the human race has it been said, "You are of God" because "he who
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dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him." Even in wrongdoing you torment
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the indwelling gift of God, for the Thought Adjuster must needs go through the
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consequences of evil thinking with the human mind of its incarceration.
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The omnipresence of God is in reality a part of his infinite nature; space
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constitutes no barrier to Deity. God is, in perfection and without limitation,
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discernibly present only on Paradise and in the central universe. He is not
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thus observably present in the creations encircling Havona, for God has limited
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his direct and actual presence in recognition of the sovereignty and the divine
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prerogatives of the co-ordinate creators and rulers of the universes of time
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and space. Hence must the concept of the divine presence allow for a wide range
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of both mode and channel of manifestation embracing the presence circuits of
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the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit, and the Isle of Paradise. Nor is it
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always possible to distinguish between the presence of the Universal Father and
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the actions of his eternal co-ordinates and agencies, so perfectly do they
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fulfill all the infinite requirements of his unchanging purpose. But not so
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with the personality circuit and the Adjusters; here God acts uniquely,
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directly, and exclusively.
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The Universal Controller is potentially present in the gravity circuits of the
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Isle of Paradise in all parts of the universe at all times and in the same
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degree, in accordance with the mass, in response to the physical demands for
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this presence, and because of the inherent nature of all creation which causes
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all things to adhere and consist in him. Likewise is the First Source and
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Center potentially present in the Unqualified Absolute, the repository of the
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uncreated universes of the eternal future. God thus potentially pervades the
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physical universes of the past, present, and future. He is the primordial
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foundation of the coherence of the so-called material creation. This
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nonspiritual Deity potential becomes actual here and there throughout the level
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of physical existences by the inexplicable intrusion of some one of his
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exclusive agencies upon the stage of universe action.
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The mind presence of God is correlated with the absolute mind of the Conjoint
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Actor, the Infinite Spirit, but in the finite creations it is better discerned
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in the everywhere functioning of the cosmic mind of the Paradise Master
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Spirits. Just as the First Source and Center is potentially present in the mind
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circuits of the Conjoint Actor, so is he potentially present in the tensions of
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the Universal Absolute. But mind of the human order is a bestowal of the
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Daughters of the Conjoint Actor, the Divine Ministers of the evolving
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universes.
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The everywhere-present spirit of the Universal Father is co-ordinated with the
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function of the universal spirit presence of the Eternal Son and the
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everlasting divine potential of the Deity Absolute. But neither the spiritual
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activity of the Eternal Son and his Paradise Sons nor the mind bestowals of the
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Infinite Spirit seem to exclude the direct action of the Thought Adjusters, the
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indwelling fragments of God, in the hearts of his creature children.
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Concerning God's presence in a planet, system, constellation, or a universe,
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the degree of such presence in any creational unit is a measure of the degree
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of the evolving presence of the Supreme Being: It is determined by the en masse
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recognition of God and loyalty to him on the part of the vast universe
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organization, running down to the systems and planets themselves. Therefore it
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is sometimes with the hope of conserving and safeguarding these phases of God's
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precious presence that, when some planets (or even systems) have plunged far
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into spiritual darkness, they are in a certain sense quarantined, or partially
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isolated from intercourse with the larger units of creation. And all this, as
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it operates on Urantia, is a spiritually defensive reaction of the majority of
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the worlds to save themselves, as far as possible, from suffering the isolating
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consequences of the alienating acts of a headstrong, wicked, and rebellious
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minority.
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While the Father parentally encircuits all his sons--all personalities--his
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influence in them is limited by the remoteness of their origin from the Second
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and the Third Persons of Deity and augmented as their destiny attainment nears
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such levels. The fact of God's presence in creature minds is determined by
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whether or not they are indwelt by Father fragments, such as the Mystery
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Monitors, but his effective presence is determined by the degree of
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co-operation accorded these indwelling Adjusters by the minds of their sojourn.
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The fluctuations of the Father's presence are not due to the changeableness of
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God. The Father does not retire in seclusion because he has been slighted; his
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affections are not alienated because of the creature's wrongdoing. Rather,
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having been endowed with the power of choice (concerning himself), his
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children, in the exercise of that choice, directly determine the degree and
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limitations of the Father's divine influence in their own hearts and souls. The
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Father has freely bestowed himself upon us without limit and without favor. He
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is no respecter of persons, planets, systems, or universes. In the sectors of
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time he confers differential honor only on the Paradise personalities of God
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the Sevenfold, the co-ordinate creators of the finite universes.
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2. GOD'S INFINITE POWER
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All the universes know that "the Lord God omnipotent reigns." The affairs of
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this world and other worlds are divinely supervised. "He does according to his
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will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth." It is
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eternally true, "there is no power but of God."
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Within the bounds of that which is consistent with the divine nature, it is
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literally true that "with God all things are possible." The long-drawn-out
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evolutionary processes of peoples, planets, and universes are under the perfect
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control of the universe creators and administrators and unfold in accordance
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with the eternal purpose of the Universal Father, proceeding in harmony and
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order and in keeping with the all-wise plan of God. There is only one lawgiver.
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He upholds the worlds in space and swings the universes around the endless
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circle of the eternal circuit.
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Of all the divine attributes, his omnipotence, especially as it prevails in the
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material universe, is the best understood. Viewed as an unspiritual phenomenon,
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God is energy. This declaration of physical fact is predicated on the
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incomprehensible truth that the First Source and Center is the primal cause of
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the universal physical phenomena of all space. From this divine activity all
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physical energy and other material manifestations are derived. Light, that is,
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light without heat, is another of the nonspiritual manifestations of the
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Deities. And there is still another form of nonspiritual energy which is
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virtually unknown on Urantia; it is as yet unrecognized.
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God controls all power; he has made "a way for the lightning"; he has ordained
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the circuits of all energy. He has decreed the time and manner of the
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manifestation of all forms of energy-matter. And all these things are held
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forever in his everlasting grasp--in the gravitational control centering on
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nether Paradise. The light and energy of the eternal God thus swing on forever
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around his majestic circuit, the endless but orderly procession of the starry
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hosts composing the universe of universes. All creation circles eternally
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around the Paradise-Personality center of all things and beings.
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The omnipotence of the Father pertains to the everywhere dominance of the
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absolute level, whereon the three energies, material, mindal, and spiritual,
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are indistinguishable in close proximity to him--the Source of all things.
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Creature mind, being neither Paradise monota nor Paradise spirit, is not
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directly responsive to the Universal Father. God adjusts with the mind of
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imperfection--with Urantia mortals through the Thought Adjusters.
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The Universal Father is not a transient force, a shifting power, or a
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fluctuating energy. The power and wisdom of the Father are wholly adequate to
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cope with any and all universe exigencies. As the emergencies of human
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experience arise, he has foreseen them all, and therefore he does not react to
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the affairs of the universe in a detached way but rather in accordance with the
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dictates of eternal wisdom and in consonance with the mandates of infinite
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judgment. Regardless of appearances, the power of God is not functioning in the
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universe as a blind force.
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Situations do arise in which it appears that emergency rulings have been made,
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that natural laws have been suspended, that misadaptations have been
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recognized, and that an effort is being made to rectify the situation; but such
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is not the case. Such concepts of God have their origin in the limited range of
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your viewpoint, in the finiteness of your comprehension, and in the
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circumscribed scope of your survey; such misunderstanding of God is due to the
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profound ignorance you enjoy regarding the existence of the higher laws of the
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realm, the magnitude of the Father's character, the infinity of his attributes,
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and the fact of his free-willness.
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The planetary creatures of God's spirit indwelling, scattered hither and yon
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throughout the universes of space, are so nearly infinite in number and order,
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their intellects are so diverse, their minds are so limited and sometimes so
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gross, their vision is so curtailed and localized, that it is almost impossible
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to formulate generalizations of law adequately expressive of the Father's
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infinite attributes and at the same time to any degree comprehensible to these
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created intelligences. Therefore, to you the creature, many of the acts of the
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all-powerful Creator seem to be arbitrary, detached, and not infrequently
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heartless and cruel. But again I assure you that this is not true. God's doings
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are all purposeful, intelligent, wise, kind, and eternally considerate of the
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best good, not always of an individual
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being, an individual race, an individual planet, or even an individual
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universe; but they are for the welfare and best good of all concerned, from the
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lowest to the highest. In the epochs of time the welfare of the part may
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sometimes appear to differ from the welfare of the whole; in the circle of
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eternity such apparent differences are nonexistent.
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We are all a part of the family of God, and we must therefore sometimes share
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in the family discipline. Many of the acts of God which so disturb and confuse
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us are the result of the decisions and final rulings of all-wisdom, empowering
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the Conjoint Actor to execute the choosing of the infallible will of the
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infinite mind, to enforce the decisions of the personality of perfection, whose
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survey, vision, and solicitude embrace the highest and eternal welfare of all
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his vast and far-flung creation.
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Thus it is that your detached, sectional, finite, gross, and highly
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materialistic viewpoint and the limitations inherent in the nature of your
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being constitute such a handicap that you are unable to see, comprehend, or
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know the wisdom and kindness of many of the divine acts which to you seem
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fraught with such crushing cruelty, and which seem to be characterized by such
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utter indifference to the comfort and welfare, to the planetary happiness and
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personal prosperity, of your fellow creatures. It is because of the limits of
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human vision, it is because of your circumscribed understanding and finite
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comprehension, that you misunderstand the motives, and pervert the purposes, of
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God. But many things occur on the evolutionary worlds which are not the
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personal doings of the Universal Father.
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The divine omnipotence is perfectly co-ordinated with the other attributes of
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the personality of God. The power of God is, ordinarily, only limited in its
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universe spiritual manifestation by three conditions or situations:
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1. By the nature of God, especially by his infinite love, by truth, beauty, and
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goodness.
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2. By the will of God, by his mercy ministry and fatherly relationship with the
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personalities of the universe.
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3. By the law of God, by the righteousness and justice of the eternal Paradise
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Trinity.
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God is unlimited in power, divine in nature, final in will, infinite in
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attributes, eternal in wisdom, and absolute in reality. But all these
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characteristics of the Universal Father are unified in Deity and universally
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expressed in the Paradise Trinity and in the divine Sons of the Trinity.
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Otherwise, outside of Paradise and the central universe of Havona, everything
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pertaining to God is limited by the evolutionary presence of the Supreme,
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conditioned by the eventuating presence of the Ultimate, and co-ordinated by
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the three existential Absolutes--Deity, Universal, and Unqualified. And God's
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presence is thus limited because such is the will of God.
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3. GOD'S UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE
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"God knows all things." The divine mind is conscious of, and conversant with,
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the thought of all creation. His knowledge of events is universal and perfect.
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The divine entities going out from him are a part of him; he who "balances the
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clouds" is also "perfect in knowledge." "The eyes of the Lord are in every
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place." Said your great teacher of the insignificant sparrow, "One of them
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shall not fall
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to the ground without my Father's knowledge," and also, "The very hairs of your
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head are numbered." "He tells the number of the stars; he calls them all by
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their names."
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The Universal Father is the only personality in all the universe who does
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actually know the number of the stars and planets of space. All the worlds of
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every universe are constantly within the consciousness of God. He also says: "I
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have surely seen the affliction of my people, I have heard their cry, and I
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know their sorrows." For "the Lord looks from heaven; he beholds all the sons
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of men; from the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of
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the earth." Every creature child may truly say: "He knows the way I take, and
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when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold." "God knows our downsittings
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and our uprisings; he understands our thoughts afar off and is acquainted with
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all our ways." "All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we
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have to do." And it should be a real comfort to every human being to understand
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that "he knows your frame; he remembers that you are dust." Jesus, speaking of
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the living God, said, "Your Father knows what you have need of even before you
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ask him."
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God is possessed of unlimited power to know all things; his consciousness is
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universal. His personal circuit encompasses all personalities, and his
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knowledge of even the lowly creatures is supplemented indirectly through the
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descending series of divine Sons and directly through the indwelling Thought
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Adjusters. And furthermore, the Infinite Spirit is all the time everywhere
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present.
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We are not wholly certain as to whether or not God chooses to foreknow events
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of sin. But even if God should foreknow the freewill acts of his children, such
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foreknowledge does not in the least abrogate their freedom. One thing is
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certain: God is never subjected to surprise.
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Omnipotence does not imply the power to do the nondoable, the ungodlike act.
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Neither does omniscience imply the knowing of the unknowable. But such
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statements can hardly be made comprehensible to the finite mind. The creature
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can hardly understand the range and limitations of the will of the Creator.
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4. GOD'S LIMITLESSNESS
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The successive bestowal of himself upon the universes as they are brought into
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being in no wise lessens the potential of power or the store of wisdom as they
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continue to reside and repose in the central personality of Deity. In potential
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of force, wisdom, and love, the Father has never lessened aught of his
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possession nor become divested of any attribute of his glorious personality as
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the result of the unstinted bestowal of himself upon the Paradise Sons, upon
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his subordinate creations, and upon the manifold creatures thereof.
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The creation of every new universe calls for a new adjustment of gravity; but
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even if creation should continue indefinitely, eternally, even to infinity, so
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that eventually the material creation would exist without limitations, still
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the power of control and co-ordination reposing in the Isle of Paradise would
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be found equal to, and adequate for, the mastery, control, and co-ordination of
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such an infinite universe. And subsequent to this bestowal of limitless force
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and power upon a boundless universe, the Infinite would still be surcharged
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with the same degree of force and energy; the Unqualified Absolute would still
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be undiminished; God would still possess the same infinite potential, just as
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if force,
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energy, and power had never been poured forth for the endowment of universe
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upon universe.
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And so with wisdom: The fact that mind is so freely distributed to the thinking
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of the realms in no wise impoverishes the central source of divine wisdom. As
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the universes multiply, and beings of the realms increase in number to the
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limits of comprehension, if mind continues without end to be bestowed upon
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these beings of high and low estate, still will God's central personality
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continue to embrace the same eternal, infinite, and all-wise mind.
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The fact that he sends forth spirit messengers from himself to indwell the men
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and women of your world and other worlds in no wise lessens his ability to
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function as a divine and all-powerful spirit personality; and there is
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absolutely no limit to the extent or number of such spirit Monitors which he
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can and may send out. This giving of himself to his creatures creates a
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boundless, almost inconceivable future possibility of progressive and
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successive existences for these divinely endowed mortals. And this prodigal
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distribution of himself as these ministering spirit entities in no manner
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diminishes the wisdom and perfection of truth and knowledge which repose in the
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person of the all-wise, all-knowing, and all-powerful Father.
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To the mortals of time there is a future, but God inhabits eternity. Even
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though I hail from near the very abiding place of Deity, I cannot presume to
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speak with perfection of understanding concerning the infinity of many of the
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divine attributes. Infinity of mind alone can fully comprehend infinity of
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existence and eternity of action.
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Mortal man cannot possibly know the infinitude of the heavenly Father. Finite
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mind cannot think through such an absolute truth or fact. But this same finite
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human being can actually feel--literally experience--the full and undiminished
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impact of such an infinite Father's LOVE. Such a love can be truly experienced,
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albeit while quality of experience is unlimited, quantity of such an experience
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is strictly limited by the human capacity for spiritual receptivity and by the
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associated capacity to love the Father in return.
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Finite appreciation of infinite qualities far transcends the logically limited
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capacities of the creature because of the fact that mortal man is made in the
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image of God--there lives within him a fragment of infinity. Therefore man's
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nearest and dearest approach to God is by and through love, for God is love.
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And all of such a unique relationship is an actual experience in cosmic
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|
sociology, the Creator-creature relationship--the Father-child affection.
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5. THE FATHER'S SUPREME RULE
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In his contact with the post-Havona creations, the Universal Father does not
|
|
exercise his infinite power and final authority by direct transmittal but
|
|
rather through his Sons and their subordinate personalities. And God does all
|
|
this of his own free will. Any and all powers delegated, if occasion should
|
|
arise, if it should become the choice of the divine mind, could be exercised
|
|
direct; but, as a rule, such action only takes place as a result of the failure
|
|
of the delegated personality to fulfill the divine trust. At such times and in
|
|
the face of such default and within the limits of the reservation of divine
|
|
power and potential, the Father does act independently and in accordance with
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the mandates of his own choice; and that choice is always one of unfailing
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|
perfection and infinite wisdom.
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top of page - 51
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The Father rules through his Sons; on down through the universe organization
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|
there is an unbroken chain of rulers ending with the Planetary Princes, who
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|
direct the destinies of the evolutionary spheres of the Father's vast domains.
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|
It is no mere poetic expression that exclaims: "The earth is the Lord's and the
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|
fullness thereof." "He removes kings and sets up kings." "The Most Highs rule
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|
in the kingdoms of men."
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|
|
|
In the affairs of men's hearts the Universal Father may not always have his
|
|
way; but in the conduct and destiny of a planet the divine plan prevails; the
|
|
eternal purpose of wisdom and love triumphs.
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|
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|
Said Jesus: "My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; and no one is
|
|
able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." As you glimpse the manifold
|
|
workings and view the staggering immensity of God's well-nigh limitless
|
|
creation, you may falter in your concept of his primacy, but you should not
|
|
fail to accept him as securely and everlastingly enthroned at the Paradise
|
|
center of all things and as the beneficent Father of all intelligent beings.
|
|
There is but "one God and Father of all, who is above all and in all," "and he
|
|
is before all things, and in him all things consist."
|
|
|
|
The uncertainties of life and the vicissitudes of existence do not in any
|
|
manner contradict the concept of the universal sovereignty of God. All
|
|
evolutionary creature life is beset by certain inevitabilities. Consider the
|
|
following:
|
|
|
|
1. Is courage--strength of character--desirable? Then must man be reared in an
|
|
environment which necessitates grappling with hardships and reacting to
|
|
disappointments.
|
|
|
|
2. Is altruism--service of one's fellows--desirable? Then must life experience
|
|
provide for encountering situations of social inequality.
|
|
|
|
3. Is hope--the grandeur of trust--desirable? Then human existence must
|
|
constantly be confronted with insecurities and recurrent uncertainties.
|
|
|
|
4. Is faith--the supreme assertion of human thought--desirable? Then must the
|
|
mind of man find itself in that troublesome predicament where it ever knows
|
|
less than it can believe.
|
|
|
|
5. Is the love of truth and the willingness to go wherever it leads, desirable?
|
|
Then must man grow up in a world where error is present and falsehood always
|
|
possible.
|
|
|
|
6. Is idealism--the approaching concept of the divine--desirable? Then must man
|
|
struggle in an environment of relative goodness and beauty, surroundings
|
|
stimulative of the irrepressible reach for better things.
|
|
|
|
7. Is loyalty--devotion to highest duty--desirable? Then must man carry on amid
|
|
the possibilities of betrayal and desertion. The valor of devotion to duty
|
|
consists in the implied danger of default.
|
|
|
|
8. Is unselfishness--the spirit of self-forgetfulness--desirable? Then must
|
|
mortal man live face to face with the incessant clamoring of an inescapable
|
|
self for recognition and honor. Man could not dynamically choose the divine
|
|
life if there were no self-life to forsake. Man could never lay saving hold on
|
|
righteousness if there were no potential evil to exalt and differentiate the
|
|
good by contrast.
|
|
|
|
9. Is pleasure--the satisfaction of happiness--desirable? Then must man live in
|
|
a world where the alternative of pain and the likelihood of suffering are
|
|
ever-present experiential possibilities.
|
|
|
|
top of page - 52
|
|
|
|
Throughout the universe, every unit is regarded as a part of the whole.
|
|
Survival of the part is dependent on co-operation with the plan and purpose of
|
|
the whole, the wholehearted desire and perfect willingness to do the Father's
|
|
divine will. The only evolutionary world without error (the possibility of
|
|
unwise judgment) would be a world without free intelligence. In the Havona
|
|
universe there are a billion perfect worlds with their perfect inhabitants, but
|
|
evolving man must be fallible if he is to be free. Free and inexperienced
|
|
intelligence cannot possibly at first be uniformly wise. The possibility of
|
|
mistaken judgment (evil) becomes sin only when the human will consciously
|
|
endorses and knowingly embraces a deliberate immoral judgment.
|
|
|
|
The full appreciation of truth, beauty, and goodness is inherent in the
|
|
perfection of the divine universe. The inhabitants of the Havona worlds do not
|
|
require the potential of relative value levels as a choice stimulus; such
|
|
perfect beings are able to identify and choose the good in the absence of all
|
|
contrastive and thought-compelling moral situations. But all such perfect
|
|
beings are, in moral nature and spiritual status, what they are by virtue of
|
|
the fact of existence. They have experientially earned advancement only within
|
|
their inherent status. Mortal man earns even his status as an ascension
|
|
candidate by his own faith and hope. Everything divine which the human mind
|
|
grasps and the human soul acquires is an experiential attainment; it is a
|
|
reality of personal experience and is therefore a unique possession in contrast
|
|
to the inherent goodness and righteousness of the inerrant personalities of
|
|
Havona.
|
|
|
|
The creatures of Havona are naturally brave, but they are not courageous in the
|
|
human sense. They are innately kind and considerate, but hardly altruistic in
|
|
the human way. They are expectant of a pleasant future, but not hopeful in the
|
|
exquisite manner of the trusting mortal of the uncertain evolutionary spheres.
|
|
They have faith in the stability of the universe, but they are utter strangers
|
|
to that saving faith whereby mortal man climbs from the status of an animal up
|
|
to the portals of Paradise. They love the truth, but they know nothing of its
|
|
soul-saving qualities. They are idealists, but they were born that way; they
|
|
are wholly ignorant of the ecstasy of becoming such by exhilarating choice.
|
|
They are loyal, but they have never experienced the thrill of wholehearted and
|
|
intelligent devotion to duty in the face of temptation to default. They are
|
|
unselfish, but they never gained such levels of experience by the magnificent
|
|
conquest of a belligerent self. They enjoy pleasure, but they do not comprehend
|
|
the sweetness of the pleasure escape from the pain potential.
|
|
|
|
6. THE FATHER'S PRIMACY
|
|
|
|
With divine selflessness, consummate generosity, the Universal Father
|
|
relinquishes authority and delegates power, but he is still primal; his hand is
|
|
on the mighty lever of the circumstances of the universal realms; he has
|
|
reserved all final decisions and unerringly wields the all-powerful veto
|
|
scepter of his eternal purpose with unchallengeable authority over the welfare
|
|
and destiny of the outstretched, whirling, and ever-circling creation.
|
|
|
|
The sovereignty of God is unlimited; it is the fundamental fact of all
|
|
creation. The universe was not inevitable. The universe is not an accident,
|
|
neither is it self-existent. The universe is a work of creation and is
|
|
therefore wholly subject to the will of the Creator. The will of God is divine
|
|
truth, living love; there-
|
|
|
|
top of page - 53
|
|
|
|
fore are the perfecting creations of the evolutionary universes characterized
|
|
by goodness--nearness to divinity; by potential evil--remoteness from divinity.
|
|
|
|
All religious philosophy, sooner or later, arrives at the concept of unified
|
|
universe rule, of one God. Universe causes cannot be lower than universe
|
|
effects. The source of the streams of universe life and of the cosmic mind must
|
|
be above the levels of their manifestation. The human mind cannot be
|
|
consistently explained in terms of the lower orders of existence. Man's mind
|
|
can be truly comprehended only by recognizing the reality of higher orders of
|
|
thought and purposive will. Man as a moral being is inexplicable unless the
|
|
reality of the Universal Father is acknowledged.
|
|
|
|
The mechanistic philosopher professes to reject the idea of a universal and
|
|
sovereign will, the very sovereign will whose activity in the elaboration of
|
|
universe laws he so deeply reverences. What unintended homage the mechanist
|
|
pays the law-Creator when he conceives such laws to be self-acting and
|
|
self-explanatory!
|
|
|
|
It is a great blunder to humanize God, except in the concept of the indwelling
|
|
Thought Adjuster, but even that is not so stupid as completely to mechanize the
|
|
idea of the First Great Source and Center.
|
|
|
|
Does the Paradise Father suffer? I do not know. The Creator Sons most certainly
|
|
can and sometimes do, even as do mortals. The Eternal Son and the Infinite
|
|
Spirit suffer in a modified sense. I think the Universal Father does, but I
|
|
cannot understand how; perhaps through the personality circuit or through the
|
|
individuality of the Thought Adjusters and other bestowals of his eternal
|
|
nature. He has said of the mortal races, "In all your afflictions I am
|
|
afflicted." He unquestionably experiences a fatherly and sympathetic
|
|
understanding; he may truly suffer, but I do not comprehend the nature thereof.
|
|
|
|
The infinite and eternal Ruler of the universe of universes is power, form,
|
|
energy, process, pattern, principle, presence, and idealized reality. But he is
|
|
more; he is personal; he exercises a sovereign will, experiences
|
|
self-consciousness of divinity, executes the mandates of a creative mind,
|
|
pursues the satisfaction of the realization of an eternal purpose, and
|
|
manifests a Father's love and affection for his universe children. And all
|
|
these more personal traits of the Father can be better understood by observing
|
|
them as they were revealed in the bestowal life of Michael, your Creator Son,
|
|
while he was incarnated on Urantia.
|
|
|
|
God the Father loves men; God the Son serves men; God the Spirit inspires the
|
|
children of the universe to the ever-ascending adventure of finding God the
|
|
Father by the ways ordained by God the Sons through the ministry of the grace
|
|
of God the Spirit.
|
|
|
|
[Being the Divine Counselor assigned to the presentation of the revelation of
|
|
the Universal Father, I have continued with this statement of the attributes of
|
|
Deity.]
|
|
|
|
top of page - 54
|
|
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
Subjects Archive The Urantia Book Urantia Book PART I: The Central and Super
|
|
Universes : The Universal Father The Nature Of God The Attributes Of God God's
|
|
Relation To The Universe God's Relation To The Individual The Eternal Son
|
|
Relation Of The Eternal Son To The Universe The Infinite Spirit Relation Of The
|
|
Infinite Spirit To The Universe The Paradise Trinity The Eternal Isle Of
|
|
Paradise The Universe Of Universes The Sacred Spheres Of Paradise The Central
|
|
And Divine Universe The Seven Superuniverses The Seven Master Spirits The Seven
|
|
Supreme Spirit Groups The Supreme Trinity Personalities The Co-ordinate
|
|
Trinity-origin Beings The Paradise Sons Of God The Paradise Creator Sons The
|
|
Trinitized Sons Of God The Solitary Messengers Higher Personalities Of The
|
|
Infinite Spirit The Messenger Hosts Of Space Ministering Spirits Of The Central
|
|
Universe Ministry Of The Primary Supernaphim Ministering Spirits Of The
|
|
Superuniverses The Universe Power Directors Personalities Of The Grand Universe
|
|
The Corps Of The Finality
|
|
|
|
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