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Revision as of 17:05, 6 January 2017
, 17:05, 6 January 2017→January 5, 2017
Looking forward,
Looking forward,
Rob
==January 6, 2017==
'''Marty wrote at 7:12am'''
Rob,
I have not seen any "detailed instructions" about establishing a new religion, only the mandate of fostering of religion, (as organized by the readers meeting in their study groups with intention to update worship in the light of the new revelation.)
:4. Foster a religion: This mandate has never happened at all, nor has it ever been discussed or taken seriously. This is one method by which Urantia Foundation and Urantia Brotherhood were to carry out their goals. These words were given respectively by the Revelators to both organizations and carried on by the three organizations today. Also look at the objects and purposes stated in their respective Declaration of Trust of Urantia Foundation, the Constitution of the Fellowship, and the Charter of the UAI. They all share the same mandate, except for the amendments made in default or unauthorized actions. In addition to not carrying out this mandate from the Revelators, UAI actually changed their version of it by adding the word, ―Personal,‖ and the Fellowship amended their wording, confusing the meaning.
We have begun to celebrate Suppers of Remembrance and gatherings on the Birthday of Jesus, But we have not really focused on the organization of a church where we can gather regularly to share worship in the light of our new revelation. Religions are evolutionary, fostered by revelation, not evolutionary without the help of revelation.
Thanks for your thinking Rob. I highly value your thoughts.
Marty
'''Byron wrote at 10:21am'''
Rob, as you know, I generally agree with the position of Marty on this. Over the years you have argued fervently against the “exoteric” aspect (organizational, institutional manifestations) and you make good points. But formal religious expression is natural and evolutionary and inevitable, and especially important for children’s socialization and also the formation of communities of worship and support that all adults need unless they are very advanced and able to dwell entirely in an esoteric relationship with the unseen brotherhood. The idea here is that we should have used the UB to seed our ideas in a vast formal Christian institutional structure. We’ve had near-zero impact in that domain such that millions (actually billions) of Christians have no idea of the FER. That shows a vast incompetence in our outreach, obvious to all objective observers, which is addressed in the document. That said, I am not personally very impressed with the authenticity of Scalzo’s document, especially since it makes no mention of the Correcting Time, Teaching Mission, etc. and for other reasons.
Happy new year to all,
Byron
'''Mer wrote at 11:31am'''
This has been an interesting conversation to listen in on!
Marty, I very much enjoyed, and frequently agreed with, your perspectives while seeing value in Rob's as well. I took the time to read the Disunity document over and contemplate it, and although I find it believable that much of it may be divinely inspired, I do not think it will be adopted by the major organizations due to it's failure to deal authentically with its' authorship. The author, who ever he or she may be, implies repetitively that they have a hotline to God and inside information about who's in default, why, and what must be done. This is just unacceptable and repeats an error the Teaching Mission made over and over. There is NO hotline to God. I've never met anyone who had one. That's not meant to imply that communication with the divine does not occur. We all know with a great inner knowing, that it does. The problem is, one can never be sure which messages you've heard correctly and which have become garbled in translation. The Urantia Book warns us many times about the difficulty of accurate communication with the divine and the dangers of assuming that what you've heard is the definitive word of God.
I do not mind the author choosing to remain anonymous, and I find many of the ideas to be positive actions that could promote unity. In my opinion, however, if the author had given a disclaimer, honestly stating that the ideas presented were his/her best understanding of the divine will, instead of suggesting he/she had certain knowledge of the divine plan, the odds of success would have been higher. Since many of the movement's leaders lived through the whole Family of God/end of the world scenario, they are never going to accept (perhaps wisely) unsubstantiated claims of definitive precognition of the divine will. We all need to grow up and accept the difficult realities of trying to communicate with God from planet earth. A healthy balance is possible, and I pray that we may find it! I want to see the movement reach a state of spiritual maturity which constantly seeks answers from on high, yet never attempts to mislead others about infallibility, and maintains an honest and rational skepticism about what is heard.
with love for my brothers,
Mer
Well said, Byron!
'''Rob wrote at 12:42pm'''
Thank you Marty!
I have always maintained that there exists one letter in the Declaration of Trust that is problematic, namely the letter ‘a’ in the clause cited below to “foster a religion”. The letter ‘a’ signifies one among many e.g. one of many competing religions currently operating in this world, some as evolutionary repercussions of ‘revelation’. However, the document becomes explicit in the section entitled “[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=2016-08-21-Solving_the_Disunity_of_the_Urantia_Revelation#THE_CURRENT_STATUS_OF_THE_REVELATOR.E2.80.98S_MANDATES Current Status of the Revelator’s Mandates]” where it is observed that as "there are none ordained”, a failing grade of F is given.
Nevermind the overall tone of the document reading like a new age version of the infamous sermon ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinners_in_the_Hands_of_an_Angry_God Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God]'' by the colonial theologian Jonathan Edwards, or perhaps more accurately, a contemporary Sales Director of the media monster owned by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch Rupert Murdoch] whose lust for profit has wreaked ruin upon some of the best book publishing in the field of religion.
The ritual celebrations you cite are healthy ''unconscious'' developments that are emblematic of any effective cult. These are natural evolutionary repercussions of sharing the experience of ‘revelation’, at least in this case, such as is confined with the covers of ''The Urantia Book''. Of course, we have observed in the course of our lifetimes how hostile an attitude can be fostered toward 'continuing revelation' in any thinking they are in possession of an 'epochal revelation’ underscoring the irony of this document’s attribution.
Gratefully,
Rob
'''Rob wrote at 12:51pm'''
Hello Byron -
Yes, we are familiar territory here ;-)
It is a misperception that I have argued <u>against</u> formal (exoteric) expressions of an unspeakable inner (esoteric) experience. It would be more accurate to say that I but maintain the primacy of the inner life as the creative source of (all) that which is visibly manifest around us. When persons value sharing that inner life over and above any material artifacts emerging from it, we will be well on our way into the settled culture of “light and life”. Until then, the material inertia of attachment to these ‘artifacts’ offers a necessary evolutionary brake upon progress that is however being lifted much in this time of correction.
Gratefully,
Rob
Rob
