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1. GOD’S EVERYWHERENESS – P.44
P.44 – §4 The ability of the Universal Father to
be everywhere present, and at the same time, constitutes his omnipresence.
God alone can be in two places, in numberless places, at the same time.
God is simultaneously present "in heaven above and on the earth beneath";
as the Psalmist exclaimed: "Whither shall I go from your spirit?
or whither shall I flee from your presence?"
P.44 – §5 "`I am a God at hand as well as afar
off,’ says the Lord. `Do not I fill heaven and earth?’" The Universal
Father is all the time present in all parts and in all hearts of his far-flung
creation. He is "the fullness of him who fills all and in all,"
and "who works all in all," and further, the concept of his
personality is such that "the heaven (universe) and heaven of heavens
(universe of universes) cannot contain him." It is literally true
that God is all and in all. But even that is not all of God. The Infinite
can be finally revealed only in infinity; the cause can never be fully
comprehended by an analysis of effects; the living God is immeasurably
greater than the sum total of creation that has come into being as a result
of the creative acts of his unfettered free will. God is revealed throughout
P.45 – §0 the cosmos, but the cosmos can never contain
or encompass the entirety of the infinity of God.
P.45 – §1 The Father’s presence unceasingly patrols
the master universe. "His going forth is from the end of the heaven,
and his circuit to the ends of it; and there is nothing hidden from the
light thereof."
P.45 – §2 The creature not only exists in God, but
God also lives in the creature. "We know we dwell in him because
he lives in us; he has given us his spirit. This gift from the Paradise
Father is man’s inseparable companion." "He is the ever-present
and all-pervading God." "The spirit of the everlasting Father
is concealed in the mind of every mortal child." "Man goes forth
searching for a friend while that very friend lives within his own heart."
"The true God is not afar off; he is a part of us; his spirit speaks
from within us." "The Father lives in the child. God is always
with us. He is the guiding spirit of eternal destiny."
P.45 – §3 Truly of the human race has it been said,
"You are of God" because "he who dwells in love dwells
in God, and God in him." Even in wrongdoing you torment the indwelling
gift of God, for the Thought Adjuster must needs go through the consequences
of evil thinking with the human mind of its incarceration.
P.45 – §4 The omnipresence of God is in reality a
part of his infinite nature; space constitutes no barrier to Deity. God
is, in perfection and without limitation, discernibly present only on
Paradise and in the central universe. He is not thus observably present
in the creations encircling Havona, for God has limited his direct and
actual presence in recognition of the sovereignty and the divine prerogatives
of the co-ordinate creators and rulers of the universes of time and space.
Hence must the concept of the divine presence allow for a wide range of
both mode and channel of manifestation embracing the presence circuits
of the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit, and the Isle of Paradise. Nor
is it always possible to distinguish between the presence of the Universal
Father and the actions of his eternal co-ordinates and agencies, so perfectly
do they fulfill all the infinite requirements of his unchanging purpose.
But not so with the personality circuit and the Adjusters; here God acts
uniquely, directly, and exclusively.
P.45 – §5 The Universal Controller is potentially
present in the gravity circuits of the Isle of Paradise in all parts of
the universe at all times and in the same degree, in accordance with the
mass, in response to the physical demands for this presence, and because
of the inherent nature of all creation which causes all things to adhere
and consist in him. Likewise is the First Source and Center potentially
present in the Unqualified Absolute, the repository of the uncreated universes
of the eternal future. God thus potentially pervades the physical universes
of the past, present, and future. He is the primordial foundation of the
coherence of the so-called material creation. This nonspiritual Deity
potential becomes actual here and there throughout the level of physical
existences by the inexplicable intrusion of some one of his exclusive
agencies upon the stage of universe action.
P.45 – §6 The mind presence of God is correlated
with the absolute mind of the Conjoint Actor, the Infinite Spirit, but
in the finite creations it is better discerned in the everywhere functioning
of the cosmic mind of the Paradise Master Spirits. Just as the First Source
and Center is potentially present in the mind circuits of the Conjoint
Actor, so is he potentially present in the tensions of the Universal Absolute.
But mind of the human order is a bestowal of the Daughters of the Conjoint
Actor, the Divine Ministers of the evolving universes.
P.46 – §1 The everywhere-present spirit of the Universal
Father is co-ordinated with the function of the universal spirit presence
of the Eternal Son and the everlasting divine potential of the Deity Absolute.
But neither the spiritual activity of the Eternal Son and his Paradise
Sons nor the mind bestowals of the Infinite Spirit seem to exclude the
direct action of the Thought Adjusters, the indwelling fragments of God,
in the hearts of his creature children.
P.46 – §2 Concerning God’s presence in a planet,
system, constellation, or a universe, the degree of such presence in any
creational unit is a measure of the degree of the evolving presence of
the Supreme Being: It is determined by the en masse recognition of God
and loyalty to him on the part of the vast universe organization, running
down to the systems and planets themselves. Therefore it is sometimes
with the hope of conserving and safeguarding these phases of God’s precious
presence that, when some planets (or even systems) have plunged far into
spiritual darkness, they are in a certain sense quarantined, or partially
isolated from intercourse with the larger units of creation. And all this,
as it operates on Urantia, is a spiritually defensive reaction of the
majority of the worlds to save themselves, as far as possible, from suffering
the isolating consequences of the alienating acts of a headstrong, wicked,
and rebellious minority.
P.46 – §3 While the Father parentally encircuits
all his sons–all personalities–his influence in them is limited by the
remoteness of their origin from the Second and the Third Persons of Deity
and augmented as their destiny attainment nears such levels. The fact
of God’s presence in creature minds is determined by whether or not they
are indwelt by Father fragments, such as the Mystery Monitors, but his
effective presence is determined by the degree of co-operation accorded
these indwelling Adjusters by the minds of their sojourn.
P.46 – §4 The fluctuations of the Father’s presence
are not due to the changeableness of God. The Father does not retire in
seclusion because he has been slighted; his affections are not alienated
because of the creature’s wrongdoing. Rather, having been endowed with
the power of choice (concerning himself), his children, in the exercise
of that choice, directly determine the degree and limitations of the Father’s
divine influence in their own hearts and souls. The Father has freely
bestowed himself upon us without limit and without favor. He is no respecter
of persons, planets, systems, or universes. In the sectors of time he
confers differential honor only on the Paradise personalities of God the
Sevenfold, the co-ordinate creators of the finite universes.
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2. GOD’S INFINITE POWER – P.46
P.46 – §5 All the universes know that "the Lord
God omnipotent reigns." The affairs of this world and other worlds
are divinely supervised. "He does according to his will in the army
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth." It is eternally
true, "there is no power but of God."
P.46 – §6 Within the bounds of that which is consistent
with the divine nature, it is literally true that "with God all things
are possible." The long-drawn-out evolutionary processes of peoples,
planets, and universes are under the perfect control of the universe creators
and administrators and unfold in accordance with the eternal purpose of
the Universal Father, proceeding in harmony and order and in keeping with
the all-wise plan of God. There is only one lawgiver. He upholds the worlds
in space and swings the universes around the endless circle of the eternal
circuit.
P.47 – §1 Of all the divine attributes, his omnipotence,
especially as it prevails in the material universe, is the best understood.
Viewed as an unspiritual phenomenon, God is energy. This declaration of
physical fact is predicated on the incomprehensible truth that the First
Source and Center is the primal cause of the universal physical phenomena
of all space. From this divine activity all physical energy and other
material manifestations are derived. Light, that is, light without heat,
is another of the nonspiritual manifestations of the Deities. And there
is still another form of nonspiritual energy which is virtually unknown
on Urantia; it is as yet unrecognized.
P.47 – §2 God controls all power; he has made "a
way for the lightning"; he has ordained the circuits of all energy.
He has decreed the time and manner of the manifestation of all forms of
energy-matter. And all these things are held forever in his everlasting
grasp–in the gravitational control centering on nether Paradise. The
light and energy of the eternal God thus swing on forever around his majestic
circuit, the endless but orderly procession of the starry hosts composing
the universe of universes. All creation circles eternally around the Paradise-Personality
center of all things and beings.
P.47 – §3 The omnipotence of the Father pertains
to the everywhere dominance of the absolute level, whereon the three energies,
material, mindal, and spiritual, are indistinguishable in close proximity
to him–the Source of all things. Creature mind, being neither Paradise
monota nor Paradise spirit, is not directly responsive to the Universal
Father. God adjusts with the mind of imperfection–with Urantia mortals
through the Thought Adjusters.
P.47 – §4 The Universal Father is not a transient
force, a shifting power, or a fluctuating energy. The power and wisdom
of the Father are wholly adequate to cope with any and all universe exigencies.
As the emergencies of human experience arise, he has foreseen them all,
and therefore he does not react to the affairs of the universe in a detached
way but rather in accordance with the dictates of eternal wisdom and in
consonance with the mandates of infinite judgment. Regardless of appearances,
the power of God is not functioning in the universe as a blind force.
P.47 – §5 Situations do arise in which it appears
that emergency rulings have been made, that natural laws have been suspended,
that misadaptations have been recognized, and that an effort is being
made to rectify the situation; but such is not the case. Such concepts
of God have their origin in the limited range of your viewpoint, in the
finiteness of your comprehension, and in the circumscribed scope of your
survey; such misunderstanding of God is due to the profound ignorance
you enjoy regarding the existence of the higher laws of the realm, the
magnitude of the Father’s character, the infinity of his attributes, and
the fact of his free-willness.
P.47 – §6 The planetary creatures of God’s spirit
indwelling, scattered hither and yon throughout the universes of space,
are so nearly infinite in number and order, their intellects are so diverse,
their minds are so limited and sometimes so gross, their vision is so
curtailed and localized, that it is almost impossible to formulate generalizations
of law adequately expressive of the Father’s infinite attributes and at
the same time to any degree comprehensible to these created intelligences.
Therefore, 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 again I assure you that this is not true. God’s doings are all purposeful,
intelligent, wise, kind, and eternally considerate of the best good, not
always of an individual
P.48 – §0 being, an individual race, an individual
planet, or even an individual universe; but they are for the welfare and
best good of all concerned, from the lowest to the highest. In the epochs
of time the welfare of the part may sometimes appear to differ from the
welfare of the whole; in the circle of eternity such apparent differences
are nonexistent.
P.48 – §1 We are all a part of the family of God,
and we must therefore sometimes share in the family discipline. Many of
the acts of God which so disturb and confuse us are the result of the
decisions and final rulings of all-wisdom, empowering the Conjoint Actor
to execute the choosing of the infallible will of the infinite mind, to
enforce the decisions of the personality of perfection, whose survey,
vision, and solicitude embrace the highest and eternal welfare of all
his vast and far-flung creation.
P.48 – §2 Thus it is that your detached, sectional,
finite, gross, and highly materialistic viewpoint and the limitations
inherent in the nature of your being constitute such a handicap that you
are unable to see, comprehend, or know the wisdom and kindness of many
of the divine acts which to you seem fraught with such crushing cruelty,
and which seem to be characterized by such utter indifference to the comfort
and welfare, to the planetary happiness and personal prosperity, of your
fellow creatures. It is because of the limits of human vision, it is because
of your circumscribed understanding and finite comprehension, that you
misunderstand the motives, and pervert the purposes, of God. But many
things occur on the evolutionary worlds which are not the personal doings
of the Universal Father.
P.48 – §3 The divine omnipotence is perfectly co-ordinated
with the other attributes of the personality of God. The power of God
is, ordinarily, only limited in its universe spiritual manifestation by
three conditions or situations:
P.48 – §4 1. By the nature of God, especially by
his infinite love, by truth, beauty, and goodness.
P.48 – §5 2. By the will of God, by his mercy ministry
and fatherly relationship with the personalities of the universe.
P.48 – §6 3. By the law of God, by the righteousness
and justice of the eternal Paradise Trinity.
P.48 – §7 God is unlimited in power, divine in nature,
final in will, infinite in attributes, eternal in wisdom, and absolute
in reality. But all these characteristics of the Universal Father are
unified in Deity and universally expressed in the Paradise Trinity and
in the divine Sons of the Trinity. Otherwise, outside of Paradise and
the central universe of Havona, everything pertaining to God is limited
by the evolutionary presence of the Supreme, conditioned by the eventuating
presence of the Ultimate, and co-ordinated by the three existential Absolutes–Deity,
Universal, and Unqualified. And God’s presence is thus limited because
such is the will of God.
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3. GOD’S UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE – P.48
P.48 – §8 "God knows all things." The divine
mind is conscious of, and conversant with, the thought of all creation.
His knowledge of events is universal and perfect. The divine entities
going out from him are a part of him; he who "balances the clouds"
is also "perfect in knowledge." "The eyes of the Lord are
in every place." Said your great teacher of the insignificant sparrow,
"One of them shall not fall
P.49 – §0 to the ground without my Father’s knowledge,"
and also, "The very hairs of your head are numbered." "He
tells the number of the stars; he calls them all by their names."
P.49 – §1 The Universal Father is the only personality
in all the universe who does actually know the number of the stars and
planets of space. All the worlds of every universe are constantly within
the consciousness of God. He also says: "I have surely seen the affliction
of my people, I have heard their cry, and I know their sorrows."
For "the Lord looks from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men;
from the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of
the earth." Every creature child may truly say: "He knows the
way I take, and when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
"God knows our downsittings and our uprisings; he understands our
thoughts afar off and is acquainted with all our ways." "All
things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
And it should be a real comfort to every human being to understand that
"he knows your frame; he remembers that you are dust." Jesus,
speaking of the living God, said, "Your Father knows what you have
need of even before you ask him."
P.49 – §2 God is possessed of unlimited power to
know all things; his consciousness is universal. His personal circuit
encompasses all personalities, and his knowledge of even the lowly creatures
is supplemented indirectly through the descending series of divine Sons
and directly through the indwelling Thought Adjusters. And furthermore,
the Infinite Spirit is all the time everywhere present.
P.49 – §3 We are not wholly certain as to whether
or not God chooses to foreknow events of sin. But even if God should foreknow
the freewill acts of his children, such foreknowledge does not in the
least abrogate their freedom. One thing is certain: God is never subjected
to surprise.
P.49 – §4 Omnipotence does not imply the power to
do the nondoable, the ungodlike act. Neither does omniscience imply the
knowing of the unknowable. But such statements can hardly be made comprehensible
to the finite mind. The creature can hardly understand the range and limitations
of the will of the Creator.
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4. GOD’S LIMITLESSNESS – P.49
P.49 – §5 The successive bestowal of himself upon
the universes as they are brought into being in no wise lessens the potential
of power or the store of wisdom as they continue to reside and repose
in the central personality of Deity. In potential of force, wisdom, and
love, the Father has never lessened aught of his possession nor become
divested of any attribute of his glorious personality as the result of
the unstinted bestowal of himself upon the Paradise Sons, upon his subordinate
creations, and upon the manifold creatures thereof.
P.49 – §6 The creation of every new universe calls
for a new adjustment of gravity; but even if creation should continue
indefinitely, eternally, even to infinity, so that eventually the material
creation would exist without limitations, still the power of control and
co-ordination reposing in the Isle of Paradise would be found equal to,
and adequate for, the mastery, control, and co-ordination of such an infinite
universe. And subsequent to this bestowal of limitless force and power
upon a boundless universe, the Infinite would still be surcharged with
the same degree of force and energy; the Unqualified Absolute would still
be undiminished; God would still possess the same infinite potential,
just as if force,
P.50 – §0 energy, and power had never been poured
forth for the endowment of universe upon universe.
P.50 – §1 And so with wisdom: The fact that mind
is so freely distributed to the thinking of the realms in no wise impoverishes
the central source of divine wisdom. As the universes multiply, and beings
of the realms increase in number to the limits of comprehension, if mind
continues without end to be bestowed upon these beings of high and low
estate, still will God’s central personality continue to embrace the same
eternal, infinite, and all-wise mind.
P.50 – §2 The fact that he sends forth spirit messengers
from himself to indwell the men and women of your world and other worlds
in no wise lessens his ability to function as a divine and all-powerful
spirit personality; and there is absolutely no limit to the extent or
number of such spirit Monitors which he can and may send out. This giving
of himself to his creatures creates a boundless, almost inconceivable
future possibility of progressive and successive existences for these
divinely endowed mortals. And this prodigal distribution of himself as
these ministering spirit entities in no manner diminishes the wisdom and
perfection of truth and knowledge which repose in the person of the all-wise,
all-knowing, and all-powerful Father.
P.50 – §3 To the mortals of time there is a future,
but God inhabits eternity. Even though I hail from near the very abiding
place of Deity, I cannot presume to speak with perfection of understanding
concerning the infinity of many of the divine attributes. Infinity of
mind alone can fully comprehend infinity of existence and eternity of
action.
P.50 – §4 Mortal man cannot possibly know the infinitude
of the heavenly Father. Finite mind cannot think through such an absolute
truth or fact. But this same finite human being can actually feel–literally
experience–the full and undiminished impact of such an infinite Father’s
LOVE. Such a love can be truly experienced, albeit while quality of experience
is unlimited, quantity of such an experience is strictly limited by the
human capacity for spiritual receptivity and by the associated capacity
to love the Father in return.
P.50 – §5 Finite appreciation of infinite qualities
far transcends the logically limited capacities of the creature because
of the fact that mortal man is made in the image of God–there lives within
him a fragment of infinity. Therefore man’s nearest and dearest approach
to God is by and through love, for God is love. And all of such a unique
relationship is an actual experience in cosmic sociology, the Creator-creature
relationship–the Father-child affection.
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5. THE FATHER’S SUPREME RULE – P.50
P.50 – §6 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 the mandates
of his own choice; and that choice is always one of unfailing perfection
and infinite wisdom.
P.51 – §1 The Father rules through his Sons; on down
through the universe organization there is an unbroken chain of rulers
ending with the Planetary Princes, who direct the destinies of the evolutionary
spheres of the Father’s vast domains. It is no mere poetic expression
that exclaims: "The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof."
"He removes kings and sets up kings." "The Most Highs rule
in the kingdoms of men."
P.51 – §2 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.
P.51 – §3 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."
P.51 – §4 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:
P.51 – §5 1. Is courage–strength of character–desirable?
Then must man be reared in an environment which necessitates grappling
with hardships and reacting to disappointments.
P.51 – §6 2. Is altruism–service of one’s fellows–desirable?
Then must life experience provide for encountering situations of social
inequality.
P.51 – §7 3. Is hope–the grandeur of trust–desirable?
Then human existence must constantly be confronted with insecurities and
recurrent uncertainties.
P.51 – §8 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.
P.51 – §9 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.
P.51 – §10 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.
P.51 – §11 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.
P.51 – §12 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.
P.51 – §13 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.
P.52 – §1 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.
P.52 – §2 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.
P.52 – §3 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.
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6. THE FATHER’S PRIMACY – P.52
P.52 – §4 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.
P.52 – §5 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; therefore
P.53 – §0 are the perfecting creations of the evolutionary
universes characterized by goodness–nearness to divinity; by potential
evil–remoteness from divinity.
P.53 – §1 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.
P.53 – §2 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!
P.53 – §3 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.
P.53 – §4 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.
P.53 – §5 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.
P.53 – §6 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.
P.53 – §7 [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.]
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