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Since readers of
The URANTIA Book are surely interested in the subject of prophesy, it
may be opportune and helpful to study more deeply what our book says
about the relatively near future.
The most
significant things Jesus said about it are to be found in section 2 of
Paper 176, wherein he said: "The things which you now look down
upon are coming to an end, but this will be a new beginning out of
which the gospel of the kingdom will go to all the world and this
salvation will spread to all peoples. And when the kingdom shall have
come to its full fruition, be assured that the Father in heaven will
not fail to visit you with an enlarged revelation of truth..."
(1914:5)
This "enlarged
revelation of truth" has already appeared: The URANTIA Book. The
Master makes it clear that he indeed means our book, because he
continues: "...even as he has already bestowed upon this world
him who became the prince of darkness [Caligastia, first epochal
revelation], and then Adam [second epochal revelation], who was
followed by Melchizedek [third revelation of epochal significance],
and in these days, the Son of Man." [fourth epochal revelation].
(1914:5)
On page 1007:4 it
is stated: "There have been many events of religious revelation
but only five of epochal significance." The first four are the
same as mentioned above by Jesus. The fifth is mentioned as The
URANTIA Papers, the Melchizedek author's name for our book. It is
evident that Jesus already 2000 years ago foretold the coming of our
book, a book of epochal significance and even more, because it heralds
a new dispensation.
From this
fulfillment of his promise we could deduce also that the kingdom
indeed has "...come to its full fruition... " (1914:5), as
Jesus declared this to be a condition for the appearing of the
enlarged revelation of truth. Now since this revelation did appear,
this proves that the kingdom indeed has come to its full fruition. But
what did Jesus mean by these words? Has all the world become
Jesusonian or even Christian? Surely not; the meaning must be
different.
Jesus could, for
evolutionary reasons, not reveal as much truth as the fifth epochal
revelation contains. Revelation is progressive. Therefore, to me the
meaning of "coming to its full fruition" is that about all
that reasonably could be expected to be attained by the fourth epochal
revelation, given time and circumstances, has been attained.
Jesus taught the
Fatherhood of God, the relationship between the individual and his
personal Father. Our book expands this revelation to the revelation of
the Universal Father, the Father of the whole planet and all planets.
Jesus purposely limited his revelation to the spiritual domain, mainly
the personal, spiritual domain. Our book includes also the material
and physical domains, which are not merely personal. The universe, the
planet, the population, the group, and the community are extensively
dealt with also. But fully in accordance with the thoroughness of the
universe, the book rehearses at length the earlier revelations,
particularly in Part IV. Returning to page 1914, we find that
immediately after the words "an enlarged revelation of
truth," Jesus also promised, in the same sentence, "...an
enhanced demonstration of righteousness..." (1914:5)
During several
years I have overlooked these words, or at least they did not catch my
attention. Subconsciously I considered them as a kind of embellishment
of "the enlarged revelation of truth" part. But the authors,
and certainly Jesus, are not given to embellishment and superfluous
terminology.
So let us try to
find the meaning of these words. Their meaning must be closely
connected with "the enlarged revelation;' since they immediately
follow in the same sentence. In our discussion of the fifth epochal
revelation so far, we find that, besides the domain of personal
religious experience, on which the fourth revelation was focused, it
also includes the community aspects. And in the social community
righteousness is a fundamental value. True, it is also basic in the
individual experience, but personally we can, and should, discover
righteousness, the will of God, through communion with the indwelling
great teacher, the Adjuster. The community, however, has in general
not attained to that indispensable level. So the Father and his Son,
our Planetary Prince, will send us, compelled by love, a demonstration
of righteousness. On the following page, Jesus explains that this
demonstration implies a demonstrator. (1915:2) This apparently does
not refer to his personal return to earth.
I Will Sometime
Return.
After having
repeated his promise that "I will sometime return" he
explains that this return "will be with power and in the spirit;'
only visible to "the eye of the spirit;' not to "the eye of
the flesh." Therefore, this return can hardly be identical with
"another dispensational bestowal," mentioned in this same
paragraph (1915:3). Moreover, Jesus adds that "...the times of
the reappearing of the Son of Man are known only in the councils of
Paradise; not even the angels of heaven know when this will
occur." (1915:2) And the midwayers surmise: "But if every
eye is to behold him, and if only spiritual eyes are to discern his
presence, then must his advent be long deferred." (1919:3)
Inasmuch as there
is no official URANTIA Brotherhood or Foundation interpretation of the
teachings of The URANTIA Book, the views expressed herein are based
wholly upon each author's understanding and personal religious
experience.
Continuing our
study and meditation of Jesus' words, we read: "However, you
should understand that, when this gospel of the kingdom shall have
been proclaimed to all the world for the salvation of all
peoples..." (1915:2) This is a repetition of the conditions for
the appearance of "the enlarged revelation of truth" on
1914:5. And we have already seen that because of the actual appearance
of the enlarged revelation of truth, this condition must have been
fulfilled. And because in this paragraph Jesus deals with
"another dispensational bestowal," this condition has been
fulfilled, too, with regard to this bestowal.
But Jesus adds
another condition: ". . . and when the fullness of the age has
come to pass..." (1915:2). It has been written more than once
that the book has been given long before its time or a hundred years
before its time. Its time is the new epoch, or dispensation. The new
dispensation can only come "when the fullness of the age [the
present dispensation] has come to pass." This has not yet
occurred, and so we live in an interim period between the appearance
of the book and the dispensation that begins with a dispensational
bestowal. It is this interim Jesus refers to when he adds this new
condition. How carefully Jesus chose his words on this memorable
Tuesday evening! And of course it is another proof of Jesus'
statement, "the Father and the Son know all things."
What could be the
purpose of such an interim period? A bestowal is far from being just
an accident in the evolution of a planet; it is most carefully planned
in the universe. And this planning includes a certain activity from
the side of the receivers of such a bestowal. This is illustrated in
the cases of Adam and Jesus. In the latter case there had been
prophetic predictions to the extent that all Jewry was expecting a new
Messiah. And John the Baptist had been destined to become the
forerunner of the new kingdom. The world must be prepared for the new
dispensational bestowal. Therefore our book, as a phase of the new
dispensation, has been given before its time to be followed later by
the complemental phase of the "demonstrator of
righteousness." And we, as the receivers of the prebestowal book,
have been given the mandate "to form thousands of study
groups" to the end there may be teachers and leaders for the time
"when the fullness of the age has come to pass."
The URANTIA Papers,
though of epochal significance, and belonging to the new epoch, do not
constitute in themselves the beginning of a new dispensation. But the
dispensational bestowal, the demonstrator of righteousness, does
constitute the new dispensation. Apparently The URANTIA Book has been
given in advance and this gives a new meaning and dimension to the
book for us who live in this interim time. We should not study it for
personal salvation only, how indispensable this may be. After having
secured personal salvation, the alert and understanding reader gives
attention to the responsibility and task this enlarged revelation of
truth assigns to him in connection with the coming bestowal.
And then Jesus adds
something that many times has caused me much trouble. ". . . the
Father will send you another dispensational bestowal, or else the Son
of Man will return to adjudge the age." (1915:2) In itself it is
not remarkable that the Son of Man should return for a judicial
action. We know that: "When a Paradise Son visits an evolutionary
world and becomes like one of its people, his presence terminates a
dispensation and constitutes a judgment of the realm" (226:4).
Jesus has terminated the Adamic dispensation and opened a new one, the
dispensation of the Spirit of Truth. We have not had a Magisterial Son
to do this, and therefore, it seems logical that our Paradise Son
should return to adjudge the age. Such a judicial mission is not a
bestowal and the Son will not be visible on such a mission.
But my real trouble
lies in the little word else. Taken literally, and in itself, this
could mean there even will not be another bestowal! Though I am
inclined to reason that, because of the fulfillment of the condition
of "the full fruition;' and the actual appearance of "the
enlarged revelation of truth;' the second part of Jesus' promise will
be fulfilled also; nevertheless, this last part of the sentence could
contain a certain warning to us. Could it be that we, who have been
privileged and blessed with the knowledge of these promises of the
Master, and having a special responsibility in the preparation for
this dispensational bestowal, may fail in our tasks? Does it matter if
we should or should not do our duty in the execution of Michael's
plans? We also belong to the group that is designated as
"stewards of truth," and we also might be qualified as
"barren stewards." Why is there no increase, no growing in
crease in the number of study groups? Why a setback in the
distribution of books? "In accordance with the truth committed to
your hands, [The URANTIA Papers], will the Master of truth require a
reckoning. " (1918:1) After having dealt with "...the
travail of Jerusalem... (1915:3) and the return of the Son of Man of
which "no one in heaven or on earth may presume to speak,"
he continues with the subject in which we actually are interested now,
in our time. "But you should be wise regarding the ripening of an
age; you should be alert to discern the signs of the times. You know
when the fig tree shows its tender branches and puts forth its leaves
that summer is near. Likewise, when the world has passed through the
long winter of material-mindedness and you discern the coming of the
spiritual springtime of a new dispensation, should you know that the
summertime of a new visitation draws near. " (1915:3) We do
discern the signs of the times: the "gospel of the kingdom"
has gone to all the world and all peoples, the "full
fruition" has been achieved, and last but not least "the
enlarged revelation of truth" has appeared. The midwayers state:
'At the time of this writing [the year 19351 the worst of the
materialistic age is over..." (2076:9) Therefore the spiritual
springtime is now.
Given Before Its
Time.
If we return for a
moment to the statement that the book has been given a hundred years
before its time, it is remarkable to find this period also mentioned
in our book: "Here, Master, is the truth you committed to us a
hundred or a thousand years ago. (1918:1) (The number
"thousand" also is not accidental, as may be explained
later.) It is not uncommon for our book to reveal something in such an
inconspicuous way. The book has been given to be studied, not for
superficial reading. A superficial reader does not notice such things,
but an alert student will try to connect them with other items and so
gain new, often surprising, insights or indications that his own line
of thinking is correct.
Another
corroborative fact is, as speculated by many among us, that the book
for the first one hundred years has been given in the custody of
"the angels of the churches," while after that period the
progress angels take over. The angels of the churches
"...endeavor to maintain the ideals of that which has survived
for the sake of the safe transit of moral values from one epoch to
another," while the progress angels "...are entrusted with
the task of initiating the evolutionary progress of the successive
social ages." (1255:7,6)
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