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102:7 The Certitude of the Divine (view source)
Revision as of 11:26, 18 July 2011
, 11:26, 18 July 2011Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame 102:7.1 The Universal Father, being self-existent, is also self-explanatory; he actually lives in every...'
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102:7.1 The [[Universal Father]], being self-existent, is also self-explanatory; he actually lives in every [[rational]] [[mortal]]. But you cannot be sure about [[God]] unless you know him; sonship is the only [[experience]] which makes [[fatherhood]] certain. The [[universe]] is everywhere undergoing [[change]]. A [[changing]] [[universe]] is a dependent universe; such a [[creation]] cannot be either final or [[absolute]]. A [[finite]] [[universe]] is wholly dependent on the [[Ultimate]] and the [[Absolute]]. The [[universe]] and [[God]] are not identical; one is [[cause]], the other [[effect]]. The cause is [[absolute]], [[infinite]], [[eternal]], and changeless; the [[effect]], [[time-space]] and [[transcendental]] but ever changing, always [[growing]].
102:7.2 [[God]] is the one and only [[self]]-[[cause]]d [[fact]] in the [[universe]]. He is the [[secret]] of the order, [[plan]], and [[purpose]] of the whole [[creation]] of [[things]] and [[beings]]. The everywhere-changing [[universe]] is regulated and [[stabilized]] by absolutely unchanging [[laws]], the [[habits]] of an unchanging [[God]]. The [[fact]] of [[God]], the [[divine]] [[law]], is changeless; the [[truth]] of [[God]], his [[relation]] to the [[universe]], is a [[relative]] [[revelation]] which is ever [[adaptable]] to the constantly [[evolving]] [[universe]].
102:7.3 Those who would [[invent]] a [[religion]] without [[God]] are like those who would gather fruit without trees, have [[children]] without [[parents]]. You cannot have [[effects]] without [[causes]]; only the [[I AM]] is causeless. The [[fact]] of [[religious]] [[experience]] implies [[God]], and such a [[God]] of [[personal]] [[experience]] must be a [[personal]] [[Deity]]. You cannot [[pray]] to a [[chemical]] [[formula]], supplicate a [[mathematical]] [[equation]], [[worship]] a [[hypothesis]], confide in a postulate, [[commune]] with a [[process]], serve an [[abstraction]], or hold loving fellowship with a [[law]].
102:7.4 True, many [[apparently]] [[religious]] [[traits]] can grow out of nonreligious [[roots]]. Man can, [[intellectually]], deny [[God]] and yet be [[morally]] [[good]], [[loyal]], filial, [[honest]], and even [[idealistic]]. Man may graft many purely [[humanistic]] branches onto his basic [[spiritual]] [[nature]] and thus [[apparently]] [[prove]] his contentions in behalf of a [[Atheism|godless religion]], but such an [[experience]] is devoid of [[survival]] [[values]], God-knowingness and God-[[ascension]]. In such a [[mortal]] [[experience]] only [[social]] fruits are forthcoming, not [[spiritual]]. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting graft] determines the [[nature]] of the fruit, notwithstanding that the living sustenance is drawn from the [[roots]] of [[original]] [[divine]] [[endowment]] of both [[mind]] and [[spirit]].
102:7.5 The [[intellectual]] earmark of [[religion]] is [[certainty]]; the [[philosophical]] characteristic is [[consistency]]; the social fruits are [[love]] and [[service]].
102:7.6 The [[God]]-knowing [[individual]] is not one who is blind to the [[difficulties]] or unmindful of the obstacles which stand in the way of finding [[God]] in the [[maze]] of [[superstition]], [[tradition]], and [[materialistic]] [[tendencies]] of [[modern]] times. He has encountered all these deterrents and triumphed over them, surmounted them by living [[faith]], and [[attained]] the highlands of [[spiritual]] [[experience]] in spite of them. But it is true that many who are inwardly [[sure]] about [[God]] fear to assert such [[feelings]] of [[certainty]] because of the multiplicity and [[cleverness]] of those who assemble objections and [[magnify]] [[difficulties]] about believing in [[God]]. It requires no great depth of [[intellect]] to pick flaws, ask questions, or raise objections. But it does require [[brilliance]] of [[mind]] to answer these questions and solve these [[difficulties]]; [[faith]] [[certainty]] is the greatest [[technique]] for dealing with all such [[superficial]] [[contentions]].
102:7.7 If [[science]], [[philosophy]], or [[sociology]] dares to become [[dogmatic]] in contending with the [[prophets]] of true [[religion]], then should [[God]]-knowing men reply to such unwarranted [[dogmatism]] with that more farseeing dogmatism of the [[certainty]] of [[personal]] [[spiritual]] [[experience]], "I know what I have [[experienced]] because I am a son of [[I AM]]." If the [[personal]] [[experience]] of a faither is to be challenged by [[dogma]], then this faith-born son of the experiencible [[Father]] may reply with that unchallengeable [[dogma]], the [[statement]] of his actual sonship with the [[Universal Father]].
102:7.8 Only an unqualified [[reality]], an [[absolute]], could dare [[consistently]] to be [[dogmatic]]. Those who [[assume]] to be [[dogmatic]] must, if [[consistent]], sooner or later be driven into the arms of the [[Absolute]] of [[energy]], the [[Universal]] of [[truth]], and the [[Infinite]] of [[love]].
102:7.9 If the nonreligious approaches to [[cosmic]] [[reality]] [[presume]] to [[challenge]] the [[certainty]] of [[faith]] on the grounds of its unproved [[status]], then the [[spirit]] experiencer can likewise resort to the [[dogmatic]] [[challenge]] of the [[facts]] of [[science]] and the [[beliefs]] of [[philosophy]] on the grounds that they are likewise unproved; they are likewise [[experiences]] in the [[consciousness]] of the [[scientist]] or the [[philosopher]].
102:7.10 Of [[God]], the most inescapable of all [[presences]], the most real of all [[facts]], the most living of all [[truths]], the most [[loving]] of all [[friends]], and the most [[divine]] of all [[values]], we have the right to be the most [[certain]] of all [[universe]] [[experiences]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_102 Go to Paper 102]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 102 - The Foundations of Religious Faith]]
102:7.1 The [[Universal Father]], being self-existent, is also self-explanatory; he actually lives in every [[rational]] [[mortal]]. But you cannot be sure about [[God]] unless you know him; sonship is the only [[experience]] which makes [[fatherhood]] certain. The [[universe]] is everywhere undergoing [[change]]. A [[changing]] [[universe]] is a dependent universe; such a [[creation]] cannot be either final or [[absolute]]. A [[finite]] [[universe]] is wholly dependent on the [[Ultimate]] and the [[Absolute]]. The [[universe]] and [[God]] are not identical; one is [[cause]], the other [[effect]]. The cause is [[absolute]], [[infinite]], [[eternal]], and changeless; the [[effect]], [[time-space]] and [[transcendental]] but ever changing, always [[growing]].
102:7.2 [[God]] is the one and only [[self]]-[[cause]]d [[fact]] in the [[universe]]. He is the [[secret]] of the order, [[plan]], and [[purpose]] of the whole [[creation]] of [[things]] and [[beings]]. The everywhere-changing [[universe]] is regulated and [[stabilized]] by absolutely unchanging [[laws]], the [[habits]] of an unchanging [[God]]. The [[fact]] of [[God]], the [[divine]] [[law]], is changeless; the [[truth]] of [[God]], his [[relation]] to the [[universe]], is a [[relative]] [[revelation]] which is ever [[adaptable]] to the constantly [[evolving]] [[universe]].
102:7.3 Those who would [[invent]] a [[religion]] without [[God]] are like those who would gather fruit without trees, have [[children]] without [[parents]]. You cannot have [[effects]] without [[causes]]; only the [[I AM]] is causeless. The [[fact]] of [[religious]] [[experience]] implies [[God]], and such a [[God]] of [[personal]] [[experience]] must be a [[personal]] [[Deity]]. You cannot [[pray]] to a [[chemical]] [[formula]], supplicate a [[mathematical]] [[equation]], [[worship]] a [[hypothesis]], confide in a postulate, [[commune]] with a [[process]], serve an [[abstraction]], or hold loving fellowship with a [[law]].
102:7.4 True, many [[apparently]] [[religious]] [[traits]] can grow out of nonreligious [[roots]]. Man can, [[intellectually]], deny [[God]] and yet be [[morally]] [[good]], [[loyal]], filial, [[honest]], and even [[idealistic]]. Man may graft many purely [[humanistic]] branches onto his basic [[spiritual]] [[nature]] and thus [[apparently]] [[prove]] his contentions in behalf of a [[Atheism|godless religion]], but such an [[experience]] is devoid of [[survival]] [[values]], God-knowingness and God-[[ascension]]. In such a [[mortal]] [[experience]] only [[social]] fruits are forthcoming, not [[spiritual]]. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting graft] determines the [[nature]] of the fruit, notwithstanding that the living sustenance is drawn from the [[roots]] of [[original]] [[divine]] [[endowment]] of both [[mind]] and [[spirit]].
102:7.5 The [[intellectual]] earmark of [[religion]] is [[certainty]]; the [[philosophical]] characteristic is [[consistency]]; the social fruits are [[love]] and [[service]].
102:7.6 The [[God]]-knowing [[individual]] is not one who is blind to the [[difficulties]] or unmindful of the obstacles which stand in the way of finding [[God]] in the [[maze]] of [[superstition]], [[tradition]], and [[materialistic]] [[tendencies]] of [[modern]] times. He has encountered all these deterrents and triumphed over them, surmounted them by living [[faith]], and [[attained]] the highlands of [[spiritual]] [[experience]] in spite of them. But it is true that many who are inwardly [[sure]] about [[God]] fear to assert such [[feelings]] of [[certainty]] because of the multiplicity and [[cleverness]] of those who assemble objections and [[magnify]] [[difficulties]] about believing in [[God]]. It requires no great depth of [[intellect]] to pick flaws, ask questions, or raise objections. But it does require [[brilliance]] of [[mind]] to answer these questions and solve these [[difficulties]]; [[faith]] [[certainty]] is the greatest [[technique]] for dealing with all such [[superficial]] [[contentions]].
102:7.7 If [[science]], [[philosophy]], or [[sociology]] dares to become [[dogmatic]] in contending with the [[prophets]] of true [[religion]], then should [[God]]-knowing men reply to such unwarranted [[dogmatism]] with that more farseeing dogmatism of the [[certainty]] of [[personal]] [[spiritual]] [[experience]], "I know what I have [[experienced]] because I am a son of [[I AM]]." If the [[personal]] [[experience]] of a faither is to be challenged by [[dogma]], then this faith-born son of the experiencible [[Father]] may reply with that unchallengeable [[dogma]], the [[statement]] of his actual sonship with the [[Universal Father]].
102:7.8 Only an unqualified [[reality]], an [[absolute]], could dare [[consistently]] to be [[dogmatic]]. Those who [[assume]] to be [[dogmatic]] must, if [[consistent]], sooner or later be driven into the arms of the [[Absolute]] of [[energy]], the [[Universal]] of [[truth]], and the [[Infinite]] of [[love]].
102:7.9 If the nonreligious approaches to [[cosmic]] [[reality]] [[presume]] to [[challenge]] the [[certainty]] of [[faith]] on the grounds of its unproved [[status]], then the [[spirit]] experiencer can likewise resort to the [[dogmatic]] [[challenge]] of the [[facts]] of [[science]] and the [[beliefs]] of [[philosophy]] on the grounds that they are likewise unproved; they are likewise [[experiences]] in the [[consciousness]] of the [[scientist]] or the [[philosopher]].
102:7.10 Of [[God]], the most inescapable of all [[presences]], the most real of all [[facts]], the most living of all [[truths]], the most [[loving]] of all [[friends]], and the most [[divine]] of all [[values]], we have the right to be the most [[certain]] of all [[universe]] [[experiences]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_102 Go to Paper 102]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 102 - The Foundations of Religious Faith]]