Paper 3. The Attributes of God

   

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PAPER 3

THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

1. God’s Everywhereness
2. God’s Infinite Power
3. God’s Universal Knowledge
4. God’s Limitlessness
5. The Father’s Supreme Rule
6. The Father’s Primacy

INTRODUCTION

I. REFERENCE: (44.1) 3:0.1 - “God is everywhere present...”

COMMENT

1. Presence and power are not passive. He rules. Note: Introduction of “circle of eternity.”

2. We are related to God as a ruler, by and through Michael. God bestows life through Michael.

3. God’s gift of eternal life is in his Sons. See 1 John 5:11. “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”

4. In our philosophy Creator Sons are plural; in our experience, singular.

5. Since God is eternal, his gift of life is eternal—that is, future eternal.

6. God’s gift of eternal life can be accepted or rejected by free-will mortals.

7. The temporal personality comes to possess this eternal life by the technique of evolving an immortal soul through the joint parentage of:

A. The human mind, and

B. The divine Thought Adjuster.

8. These Creator Sons are the personal expression of God to the evolutionary worlds.

9. Without this eternal life, man lives and dies just like an animal.

10. Michael is the trustee of this eternal life—the channel between the infinite Source and the mortal bestowal.

11. Speaking of this life bestowal Jesus said:

John 5:26. “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.”

John 10:28. “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”

John 11:25. “And Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.’”

John 14:6. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.’”

II. REFERENCE: (44.2) 3:0.2 - “The highly personalized Sons...”

COMMENT

1. In actuality, God is our grandfather, Michael is our real father.

2. As a personality, God is our direct parent. And as a future finaliter—God is also our father through Adjuster fusion.

3. The Paradise Sons compensate for the invisibility of the Universal Father.

4. The circle of eternity contains the absoluteness and infinity of the Deities. “Circle of eternity”—a finite symbol of an infinite fact.

5. “Sectors of time” are segments of the eternity circle which has neither beginning nor end.

III. REFERENCE: (44.3) 3:0.3 - “Creatorship is hardly...”

COMMENT

1. When God acts he creates something. In this creation all of God’s attributes are manifested.

2. But God does not create alone—other persons and forces function conjointly with the Father.

3. If one feature of the divine nature could be antecedent to his other attributes, it would be his creatorship.

4. The creatorship of Deity culminates in the universal truth of the Fatherhood of God.

5. To be a Father God must have children—we are his children. God as a Father transcends all other attributes.

1. GOD’S EVERYWHERENESS

I. REFERENCE: (44.4) 3:1.1 - “The ability of...”

COMMENT

1. This is God's omnipresence. Only God can be in numberless places at the same time.

2. These texts are found in:

Deut 4:39. “The Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath: there is no other.”

Ps 139:7. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?”

II. REFERENCE: (44.5) 3:1.2 - " 'I am a God at hand...' "

COMMENT

1. God is near at hand as well as afar off. Jer 23:23,24. “‘Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth?’”

2. God is not just heaven and earth. He fills heaven and earth. God is all the time present in all parts and all hearts of his universe.

3. God is not only a power presence, but also a personal presence.

4. He is the fullness of him who fills all and in all. And he works all in all.

This seems to be Paul in Eph 1:23. “Which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all.” Note: Some personality fills all and is in all. The Adjuster as contrasted with the Infinite Omnipresence.

5. This suggests self-existence—self-will. He not only is ALL—but he is also in all. This is a phenomena embracing both cause and effect—and all intervening interaction between cause and effect.

6. Paul further expresses this concept in Cor 12:6. “And there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one.”

7. But even the heaven of heavens cannot contain the personality of God. See 1 Kings 8:27. “‘Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!’” Note: Highest heaven—Paradise.

8. Note plural heavens. God cannot be limited to one place.

9. While it is true that God is all and in all, that is not all of God.

A. God as First Source and Center is all. Unqualified Absolute.

B. God as Creator-Father is in all. Deity Absolute.

C. But that is not all of God. There is a potentiality of interrelatedness and co-ordination. Universal Absolute.

10. The Infinite can be finally revealed only in infinity—and that entails eternity.

11. The cause can never be fully revealed in effects. Causes are greater than effects, so the former can never be fully disclosed by the examination of the latter.

12. Primary causes are infinite. Secondary causes may be finite, but they are derived from infinite will.

13. The Creator is infinite—and the creation potentially infinite. The whole of causation is greater than all discoverable creation effects.

14. GESTALT. The parts derive their meaning from an attempted understanding of the whole. That is: Creation is best understood by worshipful contemplation of the Creator.

15. While God may partially be revealed through the cosmos, the cosmos can never contain or encompass the infinity of God.

III. REFERENCE: (45.1) 3:1.3 - “The Father’s presence...”

COMMENT

1. The Father’s presence patrols the master universe—not just the grand universe. Note: It is his presence—not his personality.

2. Patrol means to keep order—sustain—make secure for all concerned.

3. God the Father is not walking a beat—he has plenty of help.

4. Some factors of the Father’s presence.

A. Gravity presence. (Personality)

B. Adjusters and other God-fragments.

C. Spirit presence of the Eternal Son.

D. Mind presence of the Infinite Spirit.

E. Presence of the subordinate Creators.

F. The Supreme and the Ultimate.

G. The presence of the Absolutes.

5. God pervades the universe. Ps 19:6. “Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and there is nothing hid from its heat.” Note: Light in the King James version—heat in the Revised version. Remember: Light without heat.

6. Note the use of circuits.

A. Gravity circuit.

B. Mind circuit.

C. Personality circuit.

IV. REFERENCE: (45.1) 3:1.4 - “The creature not only...”

COMMENT

This paragraph consists of six quotations from Sikhism:

1. “As I behold creation, I am amazed and astonished. God is contained in the hearts of men. In my heart I hold God, who filleth every place.” Hymns of Guru Nanak, Asa Ashtapadi: Macauliffe, Sikh Religion 1.301.

2. “God is concealed in every heart. His light is in every heart.” Hymns of Guru Nanak, Rag Sorath: Macauliffe, Sikh Religion 1.330.

3. “Many millions search for God, and find him in their hearts.” Hymns of Guru Arjan, Sukhmani: Ashtapadi 10.6. Macauliffe, Sikh Religion 3.330.

4. “I go searching for the friend; but the friend is with me.” Slokas of Religion 6.413.

5. “Him whom I thought without me, I now find within me. When I found this secret, I recognized the Lord of the world.” Kabir’s Hymns, Acrostic 30: Macauliffe, Sikh Religion 6.186.

6. This last quotation: “The Father lives in the child. God is always with us. He is the guiding spirit of eternal destiny.”—I have been unable to locate.

Note: All passages in The Urantia Book which appear within quotes are from the sacred books of the world’s living religions.

V. REFERENCE: (45.1) 3:1.5 - “Truly of the human race...”

COMMENT

1. Love can dominate us because God dwells within us.

1 John 4:4. “For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

1 John 4:16. “He who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

2. Even our wrong thinking torments our Thought Adjusters.

VI. REFERENCE: (45.1) 3:1.6 - “The omnipresence of God...”

COMMENT

1. Omnipresence is a part of God’s infinite nature. Space is no barrier to Deity. If God is infinite he would have to be everywhere present.

2. But space is real. Wood is a barrier to light, but not to X rays.

3. The person of God dwells on Paradise. As such he is not observable elsewhere.

4. God’s universe presence embraces manifold personalities and numerous influences.

5. It is not always possible to distinguish between the personal presence of God and the presence of his co-ordinates and subordinates.

6. But the Father is truly present in his personality circuit.

7. The divine co-ordinates:

A. Eternal Son.

B. Infinite Spirit.

C. Isle of Paradise.

D. The Absolutes.

8. Near co-ordinates:

A. Creator Sons.

B. Other Paradise Sons.

C. The Seven Master Spirits.

D. Local Universe Mother Spirits.

E. Supreme Being.

F. The Ultimate.

G. God the Sevenfold.

VII. REFERENCE: (45.1) 3:1.7 - “The Universal Controller...”

COMMENT

1. God, the Controller, operates over the Paradise gravity circuits and in accordance with physical mass, because all things adhere and consist in him.

2. Paradise gravity acts on all material things—the pull of the ellipse.

3. Linear gravity acts only on the electronic level—attracting in straight lines.

4. The Controller is also present in the Unqualified Absolute—the potential of all uncreated universes.

5. Thus God pervades the universes of the past, present, and future.

6. He is the primordial foundation of all reality.

7. But God may project himself directly in the universe—as in the bestowal of the Adjusters.

VIII. REFERENCE: (45.1) 3:1.8 - “The mind presence of...”

COMMENT

As a mind presence, God is manifested to the universes:

1. The absolute mind of the Infinite Spirit.

2. The cosmic mind of the Master Spirits.

3. The adjutant mind of the local universe Mother Spirits.

IX. REFERENCE: (46.1) 3:1.9 - “The everywhere-present...”

COMMENT

1. The spirit presence of the Father is co-ordinated with the spirit presence of the Eternal Son and the potential of the Deity Absolute.

2. But none of this prevents God’s presence in the hearts of his children by means of the Adjusters.

3. God manifests himself in:

A. Gravity circuit.

B. Spirit circuit of Eternal Son.

C. Mind gravity of Infinite Spirit:

(1) Cosmic mind of Master Spirits.

(2) Adjutants of Mother Spirits.

D. Personality circuit.

X. REFERENCE: (46.2) 3:1.10  - “Concerning God’s presence...”

COMMENT

1. The actualization of the Supreme Being is the indicator of the en masse presence of God in the universe.

2. This sort of presence has nothing to do with God’s presence in the individual.

3. It is to conserve the divine presence that sin is quarantined and rebellion segregated.

4. Loyal majorities have a right to protect themselves from the alienating acts of wicked and rebellious minorities.

5. The injunction to love our neighbor as ourselves does not mean that we should allow him to impose upon us.

6. Moral and spiritual maladies should be quarantined, as well as physical contagion.

7. Civilization has a right to protect itself from the subversive influence of international gangsters.

XI. REFERENCE: (46.3) 3:1.11 - “While the Father...”

COMMENT

God’s presence with us is determined by:

1. Level of existence. Origin and order of being. Relation to Deity.

2. Whether or not we have Father fragments.

3. Our co-operation with these spiritual helpers.

XII. REFERENCE: (46.4) 3:1.12 - “The fluctuations of...”

COMMENT

1. Fluctuations of the divine presence are not due to changeableness in God, but rather to attitudinal changes on the part of his free-choosing children.

2. God is no respecter of persons or planets—man himself, and for himself, determines the divine presence.

3. God confers differential honor only on the personalities of God the Sevenfold.

A. The Creator Son—Creative Spirit.

B. The Ancients of Days.

C. Seven Master Spirits.

D. The Supreme Being.

E. The Infinite Spirit.

F. The Eternal Son.

G. The Universal Father.

2. GOD’S INFINITE POWER

I. REFERENCE: (46.5) 3:2.1 - “All the universes know...”

COMMENT

1. All universes acknowledge God’s sovereignty. Rev 19:6. “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude...crying, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns,’”

2. The affairs of our world are supervised. Dan 4:35. “And he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.”

3. God is the source of all power. Rom 13:1. “For there is no authority except from God.”

II. REFERENCE: (46.6) 3:2.2 - “Within the bounds...”

COMMENT

1. Within the bounds of consistency, all things are possible with God. The quotation is from Jesus’ discussion about the camel going through the eye of a needle. Mark 10:27. “‘With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.’”

2. But even things which are possible with God may not be probable. God could no doubt heal all diseases—cancer. But doctors must depend on what God does do, not on what he can do.

3. The long evolutionary process unfolds according to the eternal purpose. Why do we see so little of the divine plan?

A. We are finite—we discover order, but discern little perfection.

B. The purpose is eternal—we are time-conditioned. We cannot focus on an eternal project.

C. The plan is universal—we are local in space.

D. We are too finite to detect infinite wisdom in the eternal purpose.

E. The plan is characterized by harmony—we are confused and distorted by sin and rebellion.

F. It is not easy for the lowest order of intelligence to perceive the doings of the highest intelligence.

G. We can only partially comprehend the Supreme—much less the Infinite.

4. There is but one law-giver. The laws of the cosmos are the habit of God.

5. God upholds the universes and swings them around their circuits.

III. REFERENCE: (47.1) 3:2.3 - “Of all the divine...”

COMMENT

1. Of all God’s attributes, we best understand his omnipotence.

2. Aside from things spiritual, God is energy. All energy derives from the First Source and Center.

3. Note: The periodic law of chemistry.

4. Light without heat and other unknown forces are derived from Deity. (What holds atoms together?)

IV. REFERENCE: (47.2) 3:2.4 - “God controls all power...”

COMMENT

1. God controls all power—he makes a way for the lightning.

A. God works through the Conjoint Actor and the Power Directors.

B. Job 28:26. “When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder.”

2. Note: The decrees for water.

A. Two gases—water.

B. Three forms of water. Ice floats.

3. If energy were uncontrolled it would radiate into outer space.

4. The cosmic units swing on forever around their Paradise circuits.

V. REFERENCE: (47.3) 3:2.5 - “The omnipotence of...”

COMMENT

1. The Father dominates all energy—physical, mindal, spiritual—on the absolute level.

2. In infinity all energies are indistinguishable. Monota is nonspirit Paradise energy, but indistinguishable from Paradise spirit. Note: In a former edition of Webster the word monota appears as a footnote.

3. Creature mind—not originating on Paradise—is not directly dominated by the Universal Father. Mortal mind takes origin in the local universe.

4. God adjusts with mortal mind by means of the Thought Adjusters.

VI. REFERENCE: (47.4) 3:2.6 - “The Universal Father...”

COMMENT

1. God is not a transient force or fluctuating energy.

2. God is able to deal with all the emergencies of the cosmos: personality reactions, group antagonisms, animal propensities, mental and emotional conflicts, error, evil, and sin.

3. God deals with the cosmos according to:

A. Dictates of eternal wisdom.

B. Mandates of infinite judgment.

4. Regardless of appearances, the power of God is not functioning like a blind force.

VII. REFERENCE: (47.5) 3:2.7 - “Situations do arise...”

COMMENT

1. Things happen in the cosmos which appear to be emergency and make-shift rulings, but such is not the case.

2. This superficial view of the universe results from:

A. Limited range of viewpoint.

B. Finiteness of comprehension.

C. Circumscribed scope of survey.

3. We fail to understand God’s doings because of:

A. Failure to recognize higher laws.

B. Magnitude of God’s character.

C. Infinity of his attributes.

D. Fact of his free-willness.

VIII. REFERENCE: (47.6) 3:2.8 - “The planetary creatures...”

COMMENT

1. Because of the great differences in the creatures of the universe, it is difficult for these finite beings to comprehend the doings of an Infinite God.

2. Said Jesus, just before leaving Urantia: “I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. He did not say, I have understood or explained the world.

3. Because of our misunderstanding, many of the doings of God may seem to be cruel and heartless. But they are not.

4. God’s doings are really wise, kind, and purposeful. They are for the highest good of the greatest number.

5. The privileges of cosmic citizenship exact the price of subjection to the demands of cosmic welfare in its entirety.

6. Sometimes the welfare of the part may appear to differ from the welfare of the whole. From God’s viewpoint such differences do not exist.

IX. REFERENCE: (48.1) 3:2.9 - “We are all a part...”

COMMENT

1. We are a part of the family of God, and must sometimes share in the

2. To mortals, many of the riddles of the universe are really the result of:

A. The decisions of all-wisdom.

B. Choosing of the infallible will.

C. Decisions of a perfect personality for the highest good of all creation.

3. But many of the things which happen to us are caused by:

A. Our own perverted choosing.

B. Thoughtlessness and selfishness.

C. Uncivilized cruelty.

D. Out working of heredity.

E. The evolutionary scheme.

F. Social situations.

G. Our political plight.

H. Incompleteness of the Supreme.

X. REFERENCE: (48.2) 3:2.10 - “Thus it is...”

COMMENT

1. Our finite handicaps cause many of God’s wise and kind acts to appear to be cruel and inconsiderate.

2. Our limitations cause us to pervert the motives and misunderstand the purposes of God’s dealing with the universe.

3. But many things occur on an evolutionary world which are not the personal doings of God.

4. God is a divinely unified personality—he does not need to be adjudged by finite and mortal psychiatry.

XI. REFERENCE: (48.3) 3:2.11 - “The divine omnipotence...”

COMMENT

1. God’s omnipotence is perfectly co-ordinated with all his other attributes.

2. God’s power in the universe is ordinarily limited by three conditions—by his nature, by his will, and by his law.

XII. REFERENCE: (48.6) 3:2.15 - “God is unlimited...”

COMMENT

1. God is:

A. Unlimited in power.

B. Divine in nature.

C. Final in will.

D. Infinite in attributes.

E. Eternal in wisdom.

F. Absolute in reality.

2. But outside of Paradise and the central universe, everything pertaining to God is limited by:

A. The evolving presence of the Supreme,

B. the eventuating presence of the Ultimate.

and co-ordinated in the existential Absolutes of potentiality:

A. Deity Absolute.

B. Universal Absolute.

C. Unqualified Absolute.

3. It is God’s will that his presence be thus limited.

DISCUSSION OF INFINITUDE

1. Notwithstanding God’s eternity and infinity, he is absolute in volition. (58.9) 4:4.4

2. Inability to attain the infinity of God should not prevent our enjoying him on the finite level. (1169.5) 106:7.6

3. Bible texts:

Job 5:9. “Who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.”

Job 36:26. “Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable.”

Isa 46:10. “Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’”

Matt 19:26. “But with God all things are possible.”

Dan 4:35. “And he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.”

Job 42:2. “I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted."

3. GOD’S UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE

I. REFERENCE: (48.8) 3:3.1 - “ 'God knows all things.' ”

COMMENT

1. God knows all things. 1 John 3:20. “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

2. God’s consciousness embraces the thought of all creation. Note:

A. The mind circuit of the Infinite Spirit.

B. The far-flung distribution of Thought Adjusters.

3. He knows about everything before it happens.

4. The divine entities (Adjusters) going out from him are a part of him.

5. He controls nature and is perfect in knowledge. See Job 37:16. “Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge.”

6. The eyes of the Lord are in every place. Prov 15:3. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”

7. About the sparrows and the number of your hairs. Matt 10:29,30.”Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Regarding technique of counting hairs, see Urantia Book, (419.3) 38:2.3)

8. He knows all about astronomy. Ps 147:4. “He determines the number of the stars, he gives to all of them their names.”

II. REFERENCE: (49.1) 3:3.2 - “The Universal Father...”

COMMENT

1. The Universal Father is always conscious of all the worlds of all universes.

2. The rest of this paragraph is a series of quotations:

Ex 3:7. “Then the Lord said, “I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry...I know their sufferings.’”

Ps 33:13,14. “The Lord looks down from heaven, he sees all the sons of men; from where he sits enthroned he looks forth on all the inhabitants of the earth.”

Job 23:10. “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me,

Ps 139:2,3. “Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up; thou discernest my thoughts from afar. Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.”

Heb 4:13. “And before him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”

Ps 103:14. “For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”

Matt 6:8. “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

III. REFERENCE: (49.2) 3:3.3 - “God is possessed...”

COMMENT

1. God is universally self-conscious. He is infinitely conscious of his self-consciousness.

2. God could know everything in and of himself—but he elects to use a host of other beings.

3. The Infinite Spirit is also everywhere present.

IV. REFERENCE: (49.3) 3:3.4 - “We are not wholly...”

COMMENT

1. The authors are not sure that God foreknows sin. Even if he does, it does not abrogate man’s free will.

2. God is never subject to surprise.

V. REFERENCE: (49.4) 3:3.5 - “Omnipotence does not imply...”

COMMENT

1. God cannot do the nondoable or an ungodlike act.

2. God does not know the unknowable.

3. But all such statements are not comprehensible to the mortal mind.

4. Note three Bible texts:

1 John 3:20. “For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

Heb 4:13. “And before him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”

Matt 6:8. “For your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

4. GOD’S LIMITLESSNESS

I. REFERENCE: (49.5) 3:4.1 - “The successive bestowal...”

COMMENT

1. God’s distribution of himself to the universes does not lessen his infinite attributes.

Note: Reside—”To have an abiding place; to be present.”Repose—”Freedom from that which excites or stirs up. Peace, calm, and tranquility.”

2. The potential of God’s nature and attributes is in no way lessened by the unstinted bestowal of himself upon his creation.

II. REFERENCE: (49.6) 3:4.2 - “The creation of...”

COMMENT

1. While each new creation calls for an adjustment of gravity, there remains the gravity potential to control even an infinite universe.

2. The endowment of an infinite creation would leave the Unqualified Absolute undiminished.

3. Regardless of his bestowals of energy and spirit, the infinite potential of God remains the same.

III. REFERENCE: (50.1) 3:4.3 - “And so with wisdom...”

COMMENT

1. The lavish bestowal of mind does not lessen the wisdom potential of Deity.

2. Enlargement of the universe does not diminish the infinite mind endowment of the personality of God.

IV. REFERENCE: (50.2) 3:4.4 - “The fact that he...”

COMMENT

1. There is no limit to the number of Adjusters which the Father can bestow upon his universe children.

2. While these prepersonal Monitors are volunteers, they are sent by a personal Father.

3. This reception of Adjusters creates an inconceivable future for mortals.

4. All of this giving of himself to his creatures in no way diminishes the powers reposed in Deity.

V. REFERENCE: (50.3) 3:4.5 - “To the mortals of time...”

COMMENT

1. We mortals have a future, but God inhabits eternity.

2. A Divine Counselor is finite—he does not fully comprehend Deity.

3. Only an infinite mind can comprehend infinity of existence and eternity of action.

VI. REFERENCE: (50.4) 3:4.6- “Mortal man cannot...”

COMMENT

1. While man cannot know the infinitude of God, he can feel—experience—such a Father’s infinite LOVE.

2. Quality of experience may be unlimited, but quantity is limited by capacity of spiritual receptivity.

VII. REFERENCE: (50.5) 3:4.7 - “Finite appreciation of...”

COMMENT

1. Finite comprehension of infinite qualities transcends the capacity of mortal logic because man is “made in the image of God”—God lives in man.

2. Cosmic sociology—Creator-creature relationship—augments the Father-child affection.

DISCUSSION

1. God is universal unity and unqualified reality. (645.6) 56:9.11

2. God’s hand is on the mighty lever of circumstances. (52.4) 3:6.1

3. Col 1:17. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

5. THE FATHER’S SUPREME RULE

I. REFERENCE: (50.6) 3:5.1 - “In his contact...”

COMMENT

1. Outside of Havona, God rules through his Sons.

2. This delegation of power is in accordance with God’s free will.

3. At any time God can act independently of all his subordinates.

4. Such acts of God would be in perfection and infinite wisdom.

II. REFERENCE: (51.1) 3:5.2 - “The Father rules...”

COMMENT

1. The Father rules through an unbroken line of Sons, ending with the Planetary Princes.

2. It is no mere poetic expression that “the earth is the Lord’s,” and that he “rules in the kingdoms of men.”

Ps 24:1. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.”

Dan 2:21. “He removes kings and sets up kings.”

Dan 4:17. “That the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men.”

III. REFERENCE: (51.2) 3:5.3 - “In the affairs...”

COMMENT

1. God may not always have his way in the hearts of men, but in the cosmos his will prevails.

2. This triumphant eternal purpose is one of wisdom and love.

IV. REFERENCE: (51.3) 3:5.4 - “Said Jesus...”

COMMENT

1. This quote from Jesus is John 10:28,29. “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” Note: In the King James version it says “no man.” Revised version is the same as the Urantia Book—”no one.”

2. Even if we cannot grasp the whole of God’s nature and acts, we can hold fast the concept of him—here and there. Here—in our hearts. There—on Paradise.

3. There is but one God—and in him all things consist.

Eph 4:6. “One God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.”

Col 1:17. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

V. REFERENCE: (51.4) 3:5.5 - “The uncertainties of life...”

COMMENT

The inevitabilities are self-explanatory.

VI. REFERENCE: (52.1) 3:5.15 - “Throughout the universe...”

COMMENT

1. Survival of the part is dependent on co-operation with the plan and purpose of the whole.

2. An evolutionary world without error (unwise judgment) would be one without free will.

3. Evolving man must be fallible if he is to be free.

4. Evil becomes sin only when it is knowingly embraced.

VII. REFERENCE: (52.2) 3:5.16 - “The full appreciation...”

COMMENT

1. Havona natives are able to live by truth, beauty, and goodness without contrastive and thought-compelling situations of evil.

2. These perfect beings are such by fact of existence; they earned none of it.

3. Mortal man earns even his faith-status.

4. All of man now and in the future is an experiential attainment.

VIII. REFERENCE: (52.3) 3:5.17 - “The creatures of Havona...”

COMMENT

Havona natives and mortals contrasted.

6. THE FATHER’S PRIMACY

I. REFERENCE: (52.4) 3:6.1 - “With divine selflessness...”

COMMENT

1. God relinquishes authority and delegates power with selflessness and generosity. Note: Effort to employ English terms to denote divine attitudes.

2. But God is always primal—his hand is on the mighty lever of circumstances.

3. God permits nothing—not even his delegated authority—to interfere with the progress of his eternal purpose.

4. Meaning of primal—first, primary, original, chief. First in importance.

II. REFERENCE: (52.5) 3:6.2 - “The sovereignty of God...”

COMMENT

1. In the last analysis God’s sovereignty is unlimited.

2. In time and space divine sovereignty is limited:

A. By God’s free will.

B. By man’s relative free will.

3. The universe was not inevitable. It is not an accident—not self-existent.

4. All creation is subject to the will of the Creator.

5. The will of God is true and living love. Finite universes are characterized by:

A. Goodness—nearness to divinity.

B. Evil—remoteness from divinity.

Note: 1. The will of God is not a mathematical fact—it is truth and love.

2. Reality of evolutionary creation is only relative.

3. This reality relativity produces differential relation to divinity:

A. Goodness—nearness to God’s will.

B. Evil—remoteness from God’s will.

III. REFERENCE: (53.1) 3:6.3 - “All religious philosophy...”

COMMENT

1. Philosophy, sooner or later, arrives at the concept of one God.

2. Universe causes cannot be lower than effects. Cosmic mind must be above its lower manifestations.

3. Human mind cannot be explained in terms of lower orders of existence.

4. Man’s mind can be comprehended only by recognition of higher orders of thought and purposive will.

5. Man as a moral being is inexplicable unless we acknowledge God.

DISCUSSION OF CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN MIND

1. WORSHIP. God-consciousness.

2. WISDOM. Experience consciousness.

3. SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS. Ego consciousness.

4. ABSTRACTION. Ability to get new truth from old.

5. TRUTH CONSCIOUSNESS. Ability to recognize truth by its flavor.

6. ALTRUISM. Unselfish service for one’s fellows. Ethical brotherhood.

7. IMITATION. Ability to observe and repeat an act. Spontaneous learning.

8. IDEALISM. Consciousness of the superior.

9. MORALITY. Consciousness of the contrast of good and evil.

10. CIVILIZATION. Ability to execute the dreams of creative imagination.

11. HUMOR. Only man can laugh at a joke.

Note: Man’s nearest of kin among animals very closely approaches some of these attainments, but never actually and in the human sense.

IV. REFERENCE: (53.2) 3:6.4 - “The mechanistic philosopher...”

COMMENT

1. Mechanistic philosophers reject the very sovereign will which created the very universe laws they so deeply reverence.

2. What homage the mechanist pays God when he conceives natural law to be self-acting.

V. REFERENCE: (53.3) 3:6.5 - “It is a great blunder...”

COMMENT

It is a great blunder to humanize God—but not so stupid as to mechanize him.

VI. REFERENCE: (53.4) 3:6.6 - “Does the Paradise Father...”

COMMENT

1. Does God suffer? We do not know. The Creator Sons can and do.

2. Perhaps God does through the Adjusters. See Isa 63:9. “In all their afflictions he was afflicted.”

3. God has a fatherly sympathy, and may possibly suffer—even though we cannot understand how.

VII. REFERENCE: (53.5) 3:6.7 - “The infinite and...”

COMMENT

1. The infinite Ruler of the universe of universes is:

Power—Form—Energy—Process—Pattern—Principle—Presence—Reality.

2. But God is more than all these:

A. He is personal.

B. He exercises a sovereign will.

C. He experiences self-consciousness of divinity.

D. He executes the mandates of a creative mind.

E. He pursues the realization of an eternal purpose.

F. He manifests a Father’s love for his universe children.

3. And all of these personal traits can be best understood by observing the bestowal life of Michael on Urantia.

VIII. REFERENCE: (53.6) 3:6.8 - “God the Father...”

COMMENT

This has been adopted as the Urantia benediction.