103,025
edits
Changes
Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame 5:4.1 The morality of the religions of evolution drives men forward in the God quest by the [[motiv...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:The_eye_of_all_ur60.jpg|right|frame]]
5:4.1 The [[morality]] of the religions of [[evolution]] drives men forward in the God quest by the [[motive]] [[power]] of [[fear]]. The religions of [[revelation]] allure men to seek for a God of [[love]] because they [[Desire|crave]] to become like him. But religion is not merely a passive [[feeling]] of "[[absolute]] dependence"[http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/friedrichs309359.html] and "surety of [[survival]]"[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=5.4.1_Quote]; it is a living and [[dynamic]] [[experience]] of [[divinity]] [[attainment]] predicated on [[humanity]] [[service]].
5:4.2 The great and [[immediate]] [[service]] of true [[religion]] is the establishment of an enduring [[unity]] in human experience, a lasting [[peace]] and a [[profound]] [[assurance]]. With [[primitive]] man, even [[polytheism]] is a [[relative]] unification of the evolving [[concept]] of [[Deity]]; polytheism is [[monotheism]] in the making. Sooner or later, God is destined to be [[comprehended]] as the [[reality]] of [[values]], the substance of [[meanings]], and the life of [[truth]].
5:4.3 God is not only the determiner of [[destiny]]; he is man's eternal destination. All nonreligious [[human]] [[activities]] seek to bend the [[universe]] to the distorting [[service]] of [[Ego|self]]; the truly religious [[individual]] seeks to identify the self with the [[universe]] and then to dedicate the activities of this unified self to the [[service]] of the universe [[family]] of fellow [[beings]], human and superhuman.
5:4.4 The domains of [[philosophy]] and [[art]] intervene between the nonreligious and the religious activities of the human self. Through art and philosophy the [[material]]-minded man is [[Manipulation|inveigled]] into the contemplation of the spiritual realities and universe [[values]] of eternal [[meanings]].
5:4.5 All religions teach the [[worship]] of [[Deity]] and some [[doctrine]] of human [[salvation]]. The [[Buddha|Buddhist]] religion promises salvation from [[Pain|suffering]], unending [[peace]]; the [[Judaism|Jewish]] religion promises salvation from difficulties, [[Wealth|prosperity]] predicated on [[Goodness|righteousness]]; the [[Greek]] religion promised salvation from disharmony, ugliness, by the [[realization]] of [[beauty]]; [[Christianity]] promises salvation from [[sin]], sanctity; [[Islam|Mohammedanism]] provides deliverance from the rigorous [[moral]] [[standards]] of Judaism and Christianity. The religion of [[Jesus]] is salvation from self, [[Liberty|deliverance]] from the [[evils]] of creature [[isolation]] in time and in eternity.
5:4.6 The [[Hebrews]] based their religion on [[goodness]]; the Greeks on [[beauty]]; both religions sought [[truth]]. Jesus [[revealed]] a God of [[love]], and love is all-[[embracing]] of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_117#117:1._NATURE_OF_THE_SUPREME_BEING truth, beauty, and goodness].
5:4.7 The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism Zoroastrians] had a religion of [[morals]]; the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism Hindus] a [[religion]] of [[metaphysics]]; the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianism Confucianists] a religion of [[ethics]]. Jesus lived a religion of [[service]]. All these religions are of [[value]] in that they are valid approaches to the religion of [[Jesus]]. Religion is [[destined]] to become the [[reality]] of the [[spiritual]] [[Unity|unification]] of all that is [[good]], [[beautiful]], and [[true]] in human [[experience]].
5:4.8 The [[Greek]] religion had a watchword "Know yourself"[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0010:card=300&highlight=yourself%2Cknow]; the Hebrews centered their teaching on "Know your God"[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Hosea#Chapter_.6]; the Christians preach a gospel aimed at a "knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ"[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=2nd_Letter_of_Peter#2nd_Letter_of_Peter.2C_III]; Jesus proclaimed the good news of "knowing God, and yourself as a son of God."[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_John#Chapter_14][http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=1st_Letter_of_John#1st_Letter_of_John.2C_II] These differing [[concepts]] of the [[purpose]] of religion determine the individual's [[attitude]] in various life situations and foreshadow the [[Degree|depth]] of [[worship]] and the nature of his [[personal]] [[habits]] of [[prayer]]. The spiritual [[status]] of any religion may be determined by the [[nature]] of its prayers.
5:4.9 The concept of a semihuman and [[jealous]] God is an inevitable [[transition]] between [[polytheism]] and [[sublime]] [[monotheism]]. An exalted [[anthropomorphism]] is the highest [[attainment]] level of purely evolutionary religion. [[Christianity]] has elevated the concept of anthropomorphism from the [[ideal]] of the human to the [[transcendent]] and divine concept of the person of the glorified [[Christ]]. And this is the highest anthropomorphism that man can ever conceive.
5:4.10 The Christian concept of God is an attempt to combine three separate teachings:
*1. The [[Hebrew]] concept—God as a vindicator of moral [[values]], a righteous God.
*2. The [[Greek]] concept—God as a unifier, a God of [[wisdom]].
*3. [[Jesus]]' concept—God as a living [[friend]], a [[loving]] [[Father]], the divine presence.
5:4.11 It must therefore be evident that composite [[Christian]] [[theology]] encounters great difficulty in [[attaining]] consistency. This difficulty is further aggravated by the [[fact]] that the doctrines of early Christianity were generally based on the personal religious experience of three different persons: [[Philo]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria Alexandria], [[Jesus]] of [[Nazareth]], and [[Paul, the Apostle|Paul]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarsus_(city) Tarsus].
5:4.12 In the [[study]] of the religious life of Jesus, view him positively. Think not so much of his sinlessness as of his [[Goodness|righteousness]], his loving [[service]]. Jesus upstepped the passive love disclosed in the Hebrew concept of the heavenly Father to the higher active and creature-loving [[affection]] of a God who is the [[Father]] of every [[individual]], even of the wrongdoer.
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_5 Go to Paper 5]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 5 - God's Relation to the Individual]]
5:4.1 The [[morality]] of the religions of [[evolution]] drives men forward in the God quest by the [[motive]] [[power]] of [[fear]]. The religions of [[revelation]] allure men to seek for a God of [[love]] because they [[Desire|crave]] to become like him. But religion is not merely a passive [[feeling]] of "[[absolute]] dependence"[http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/friedrichs309359.html] and "surety of [[survival]]"[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=5.4.1_Quote]; it is a living and [[dynamic]] [[experience]] of [[divinity]] [[attainment]] predicated on [[humanity]] [[service]].
5:4.2 The great and [[immediate]] [[service]] of true [[religion]] is the establishment of an enduring [[unity]] in human experience, a lasting [[peace]] and a [[profound]] [[assurance]]. With [[primitive]] man, even [[polytheism]] is a [[relative]] unification of the evolving [[concept]] of [[Deity]]; polytheism is [[monotheism]] in the making. Sooner or later, God is destined to be [[comprehended]] as the [[reality]] of [[values]], the substance of [[meanings]], and the life of [[truth]].
5:4.3 God is not only the determiner of [[destiny]]; he is man's eternal destination. All nonreligious [[human]] [[activities]] seek to bend the [[universe]] to the distorting [[service]] of [[Ego|self]]; the truly religious [[individual]] seeks to identify the self with the [[universe]] and then to dedicate the activities of this unified self to the [[service]] of the universe [[family]] of fellow [[beings]], human and superhuman.
5:4.4 The domains of [[philosophy]] and [[art]] intervene between the nonreligious and the religious activities of the human self. Through art and philosophy the [[material]]-minded man is [[Manipulation|inveigled]] into the contemplation of the spiritual realities and universe [[values]] of eternal [[meanings]].
5:4.5 All religions teach the [[worship]] of [[Deity]] and some [[doctrine]] of human [[salvation]]. The [[Buddha|Buddhist]] religion promises salvation from [[Pain|suffering]], unending [[peace]]; the [[Judaism|Jewish]] religion promises salvation from difficulties, [[Wealth|prosperity]] predicated on [[Goodness|righteousness]]; the [[Greek]] religion promised salvation from disharmony, ugliness, by the [[realization]] of [[beauty]]; [[Christianity]] promises salvation from [[sin]], sanctity; [[Islam|Mohammedanism]] provides deliverance from the rigorous [[moral]] [[standards]] of Judaism and Christianity. The religion of [[Jesus]] is salvation from self, [[Liberty|deliverance]] from the [[evils]] of creature [[isolation]] in time and in eternity.
5:4.6 The [[Hebrews]] based their religion on [[goodness]]; the Greeks on [[beauty]]; both religions sought [[truth]]. Jesus [[revealed]] a God of [[love]], and love is all-[[embracing]] of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_117#117:1._NATURE_OF_THE_SUPREME_BEING truth, beauty, and goodness].
5:4.7 The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism Zoroastrians] had a religion of [[morals]]; the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism Hindus] a [[religion]] of [[metaphysics]]; the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianism Confucianists] a religion of [[ethics]]. Jesus lived a religion of [[service]]. All these religions are of [[value]] in that they are valid approaches to the religion of [[Jesus]]. Religion is [[destined]] to become the [[reality]] of the [[spiritual]] [[Unity|unification]] of all that is [[good]], [[beautiful]], and [[true]] in human [[experience]].
5:4.8 The [[Greek]] religion had a watchword "Know yourself"[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0010:card=300&highlight=yourself%2Cknow]; the Hebrews centered their teaching on "Know your God"[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Hosea#Chapter_.6]; the Christians preach a gospel aimed at a "knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ"[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=2nd_Letter_of_Peter#2nd_Letter_of_Peter.2C_III]; Jesus proclaimed the good news of "knowing God, and yourself as a son of God."[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_John#Chapter_14][http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=1st_Letter_of_John#1st_Letter_of_John.2C_II] These differing [[concepts]] of the [[purpose]] of religion determine the individual's [[attitude]] in various life situations and foreshadow the [[Degree|depth]] of [[worship]] and the nature of his [[personal]] [[habits]] of [[prayer]]. The spiritual [[status]] of any religion may be determined by the [[nature]] of its prayers.
5:4.9 The concept of a semihuman and [[jealous]] God is an inevitable [[transition]] between [[polytheism]] and [[sublime]] [[monotheism]]. An exalted [[anthropomorphism]] is the highest [[attainment]] level of purely evolutionary religion. [[Christianity]] has elevated the concept of anthropomorphism from the [[ideal]] of the human to the [[transcendent]] and divine concept of the person of the glorified [[Christ]]. And this is the highest anthropomorphism that man can ever conceive.
5:4.10 The Christian concept of God is an attempt to combine three separate teachings:
*1. The [[Hebrew]] concept—God as a vindicator of moral [[values]], a righteous God.
*2. The [[Greek]] concept—God as a unifier, a God of [[wisdom]].
*3. [[Jesus]]' concept—God as a living [[friend]], a [[loving]] [[Father]], the divine presence.
5:4.11 It must therefore be evident that composite [[Christian]] [[theology]] encounters great difficulty in [[attaining]] consistency. This difficulty is further aggravated by the [[fact]] that the doctrines of early Christianity were generally based on the personal religious experience of three different persons: [[Philo]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria Alexandria], [[Jesus]] of [[Nazareth]], and [[Paul, the Apostle|Paul]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarsus_(city) Tarsus].
5:4.12 In the [[study]] of the religious life of Jesus, view him positively. Think not so much of his sinlessness as of his [[Goodness|righteousness]], his loving [[service]]. Jesus upstepped the passive love disclosed in the Hebrew concept of the heavenly Father to the higher active and creature-loving [[affection]] of a God who is the [[Father]] of every [[individual]], even of the wrongdoer.
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_5 Go to Paper 5]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 5 - God's Relation to the Individual]]