The theme of the
quotations for this posting contrasts the true gospel of Jesus with the current
religions about Jesus.
There must come a revival of
the actual teachings of Jesus, such a
restatement as will undo the work of his early followers who went about to
create a sociophilosophical system of belief regarding the fact of
Michael’s sojourn on earth. In a short time the teaching of this story about
Jesus nearly supplanted the preaching of Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom. In this
way a historical religion displaced that teaching in which Jesus had blended
man’s highest moral ideas and spiritual ideals with man’s most sublime hope for
the future — eternal life. And that was the gospel of the kingdom. The
Urantia Book (1866.2) (170:5.19)
“The Pronouncement” Cover
As stated above,
this blog concentrates on excerpts from the booklet “The Pronouncement; the
first paragraph is:
For two thousand years our planet has heard the message of a
religion about Jesus. And truly it is an inspiring message that has
greatly improved the spiritual life of our native sphere. However, if we really think about it does it
make sense? Does it seem logical that
Jesus would be incarnated in a life in the flesh on this troubled planet only
to proclaim a religion about himself?
Could it be possible that he would preach about love and forgiveness and
at the same time exclaim, “Look at me, look at what I am doing?” Could this
be? On the other hand is there a way to
determine the authentic teachings of Jesus?
After all these years is there any possible way to discover what Jesus truly taught? An investigation seeking the actual message
He brought to us would take nothing away from the Bible, which was composed by
honest men of faith in the years after the life and death of Jesus. They were caught up in the emotions of the
times and developed a religion that certainly did change the world. But after all these years the time has come
when we must look for a fresh statement of the truths He proclaimed, a
statement for our times. We take nothing
away from the noble work of the past when we search for teachings of the Master
that might bring comfort and joy to those who reside in spiritual darkness
today, those who are seeking for Truth.
The actual gospel of Jesus is presented in this quotation;
after an introduction each phrase in the quote is discussed later in the
booklet.
[T]he simple teachings of the
Jesusonian gospel: sonship with God, brotherhood with man, and ever-ascending
citizenship in the eternal universe. The Urantia Book (1038.7) (94:10.3)
“Follow the Leader” by W. Stanley Proctor
This delightful statue
is one of many in Summerville’s Azalea Park.
Now back to the booklet. The
epochal revelation is next introduced.
I have studied this
revelation, which is over two thousand pages long, for over thirty-five years
and find it to be internally totally consistent. These teachings have changed me and as a
result of bringing them into my life I have received a brief spiritual
experience. The Urantia Book is Truth.
Urantia is the name
given our planet in the universe records and this book was written by various
supermaterial beings, and then given to us.
These beings know what they are talking about and in the extremely rare
cases when they do not know something it is clearly stated. We lowly earthlings seem to have the notion
that this planet is blithely spinning along in the vast cosmos without anybody
“up there” watching over us and helping us.
If we knew just how much effort is being expended to guide us onto our
eternal path then we would cringe at some of the willful things we have
done.
The Bell Tower of St. George’s, church
completed in 1720
By the way, the above bell tower of St. George’s is located at
Fort Dorchester, which was established nearby in 1757 during the French and
Indian War. Now, back to selections from
the booklet.
This brings us to the question: How did we get this Urantia Book? But is this relevant? If you are lost in the hot desert and are
thirsty nearly onto death would you ask someone who offers you a drink of
refreshing water what well it came from?
By the same token, if you are floundering in spiritual darkness and
someone offers you the light of soul-saving Truth should you question where it
came from?
The section discussing the brotherhood of man contains the
following.
This concept should be obvious, that if God is our Heavenly
Father, then since each of us has the same father we are all brothers and
sisters. Why is that so difficult? What happens is that over time each of us
looks at those around us from a certain earthly viewpoint, a certain frame of
reference. We color everything with our
own prejudices and bias. That is natural
and is only human. However since we each
have the Spark of God Within and we recognize that each person we meet also has
such an internal divine helper then we need to seek the divine viewpoint; each
of us is equally a child of God and each of us is worthy of respect because of
this Truth.
The booklet ends with this affirmation.
This is the gospel that Jesus taught the hungry
souls of his day and this is the Truth that needs to be given to those who live
in spiritual darkness this day, those who are seeking for a broader meaning of
life, a more complete and satisfying view of our eternal future
possibilities. This gospel of love,
brotherhood, service and eternal growth could be the catalyst that ushers in a
new age of spiritual growth for our world of Urantia: a rebirth of the Master’s
teachings for each one of us.
Anybody who wishes copies of The Pronouncement please contact
me by email giving your mailing address and how many copies you wish. This booklet is a brief and useful
introduction the The Urantia Book for
nonreaders.
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, built 1836
Betty Lou joined me
not long before I left South Carolina and we attended Tommy’s church in
downtown Charleston, St. Stephen’s. This
is a wonderfully inclusive church that was a pleasure to attend. We arrived early so we could get a parking
place and were rewarded by being able to listen to the choir practicing for the
next Sunday’s service; I hope to go back to this church when I am next in the
area in the spring.
Christianity, today, has
become a religion well adapted to the social, economic, and political mores of
the white races. It has long since ceased to be the religion of Jesus, although
it still valiantly portrays a beautiful religion about Jesus to such
individuals as sincerely seek to follow in the way of its teaching. It has
glorified Jesus as the Christ, the Messianic anointed one from God, but has
largely forgotten the Master’s personal gospel: the Fatherhood of God and the
universal brotherhood of all men. The Urantia Book (1084.9) (98:7.11)
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