© 2003 Al Lockett
© 2003 The Urantia Book Fellowship
| Safeguarding the Symbols of Urantian Faith | Volume 5, Number 1, 2003 (Summer) — Index | The Patterns of Revelation |
Belief can exist without faith; but faith cannot exist without belief Belief can exist without God; but faith cannot exist without God.
We are all born into a world where God exists already. How we respond to or acknowledge the fact of God’s existence is based on a number of environmental factors. Further simplified, where and when we are born, into what culture or part of the world, who our parents are and a host of other elements, all form the basis for the development and evolution of our personal belief systems.
Our experiences as children and the degree to which those experiences affect how we view the world, together form the foundation by which our belief in the existence of God gradually progresses into a personal faith in the existence of God. It is from this intellectual soil that the indwelling spirit of God works to spiritualize those experiences into the realities of living faith. For many readers of The Urantia Book, it is the subsequent review of our life experiences that we examine in order to determine why it was that we were guided to the book, even more so to accept it as the fifth epochal revelation to mankind. And for many readers, the discovery of The Urantia Book has been a faith-enhancing, faith-uplifting, or faith-confirming experience. The value of revelation is its confirmation. It allows us to raise the bar on our faith and deepen our faith attitude. It provides a blueprint for a more directed approach and more active participation with our Thought Adjusters in our personal and spiritual growth.
So at what point does one’s personal belief become one’s living faith? What are the processes both intellectual and spiritual? What are the indications or benchmarks? Is it a black and white, all or nothing phenomenon—you either have it or you don’t—or is there gradual unfolding, sometimes having faith, then other times giving into the doubt of mere belief? Whereas belief may translate into an intellectual exercise, faith is not and must be lived in order to be experienced. In the movie “The Matrix”, Lawrence Fishburne in the character of Morpheus says to Keanu Reeves, “There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.” The Urantia Book has provided a clear delineation of the path and now we step out on faith.
Before we enter into a discussion of faith vs. belief, we must first define what we mean by belief and what we mean when we say faith. A search of a popular Internet search engine indicates that there are upwards of 12 million entries under faith with everything from country rock artist Faith Hill to faith in the most obscure representations. What was immediately apparent was that there is a wide variety of thought and opinion on what constitutes faith and what constitutes belief The line of demarcation is blurred with distinct differences in the various mortal perspectives, especially when confronting the variety of religious and nonreligious philosophies today.
The Encyclopedia of Philosophy states that “belief is the acceptance of something as true or thinking that something could be true.” That is further broken down into two separate notions: belief in and belief that. The theological use of the term belief is the closest to its common usage. Theologians believe in the probability of something, more like an opinion, and secondly the certainty of something. They call this explicit and implicit belief. When a person believes a truth that he or she knows, the belief is explicit; when the person believes the consequences of a truth which they cannot know, the belief becomes implicit. For the sake of this exercise, we are going to rely on the definitions of faith portrayed in The Urantia Book. It is from this perspective that we can gain a clearer understanding of what is faith and what is mere belief.
“The acceptance of a teaching as true is not faith; that is mere belief.” [UB 101:8.1] Because a person accepts a particular religion or teaching as the Truth and is willing in some cases to even die for that teaching does not in itself qualify as faith. “Neither is certainty nor conviction faith.” [UB 101:8.1] Of the many people who will come upon The Urantia Book, some will accept it and believe that it is true; they will express certainty and be convicted of its authenticity, but will not immediately express genuine spiritual faith. But when that truth begins to shape their viewpoint and starts to eliminate the shackles of animal fear, their mode of life responds to the gravity of truth. Like metal filings attracted to a magnet, everything in that person’s life becomes dominated by the magnetic pull of truth. There is something satisfied on the material or intellectual level where acts and knowledge dominate. There is something satisfied on the spiritual level as the Thought Adjuster is successful in connecting. (Without that connection faith could not exist.) The soul of the individual experiences an increased growth rate just from the addition of cosmic consciousness and recognition of cosmic unity. “Belief has attained the level of faith when it motivates life and shapes the mode of living. A state of mind attains to faith levels only when it actually dominates the mode of living.” [UB 101:8.1]
“By their fruits you shall know them.” Genuine faith is expressed in the mode of living, It dominates the life of the individual. God is present in every phase of their existence.
Some may question the “religious zealotry” or the somewhat seemingly fanatical fervor, or the disciplined orthodoxy of a religion as demonstrations of religious faith; after all, the lives of the proponents are certainly motivated by their teaching, their mode of living is certainly shaped, from elaborate rituals, to vigilant prayer cycles, sacred places, sacred foods, sacred writings sacred days all paying homage to a very sacred God or gods as the case may be. “Faith is a living attribute of genuine personal religious experience.” [UB 101:8.1]
We look to society for the visible examples of the differences between faith and belief. “Beliefs may become group possessions, but faith must be personal.” [UB 101:8.2] I grew up in a Christian home, Baptist to be more precise, with a little bit of apostolic evangelism, baptized in the spirit, saved by the blood of one Jesus Christ who long before I was born, lived and died on a cross for the sins I had and would surely commit. I was told to believe in and have faith in Jesus and for that I could be assured that Jesus would keep me safe from harm and take my soul to heaven when I died, the requirement being that I go to church every Sunday, say my blessings before I eat and my prayers before bed. These are heavy concepts for a child to fully comprehend. If you asked me if I believed in God, my answer would have been a resounding “yes,” although my budding faith wasn’t so sure and was centered somewhere else more personal to me and out of public scrutiny.
Convictions about God may be arrived at through wise reasoning, but the individual becomes God-knowing only by faith, through personal experience. [UB 102:6.5]
So it is both difficult and wrong to assign faith to a group or to ascribe faith to an individual because they are a part of a religious group or adherents to a teaching that is “ancient” or very old, making it purer and therefore the practitioners deeply faithful. “Theologic beliefs can be suggested to a group, but faith can rise up only in the heart of the individual religionist.” [UB 101:8.2]
Religions are always replete with things that you have to do or things that you are forbidden from doing. Often times the test of the faith has to do with how closely the practitioner follows the rules. Some religions forbid the looking upon a women’s face, or art in the household, or growing a beard. Some prescribe hours of studying sacred text for deeper meaning. “Belief is always limiting and binding; faith is expanding and releasing. Belief fixates, faith liberates.” [UB 101:8.2]
Faith does not shackle the creative imagination, neither does it maintain an unreasoning prejudice toward the discoveries of scientific investigation. [UB 101:8.4]
“Faith has falsified its trust when it presumes to deny realities and to confer upon its devotees assumed knowledge.” [UB 101:8.3] I remember listening to a radio show one evening, and the guest on the program was introduced as a professor, a Ph.D., and scientist of some sort who was also a Christian Fundamentalist and Creationist. His mission was to prove scientifically the historical authenticity of the Bible. He had several books published to his credit and he lectured and taught that the world was only 6,000 years old. This calculation was based on a mathematical model constructed by reading the Old Testament and calculating how much time had elapsed since God made Adam and Eve. He shunned any scientific data that opposed this model or evidenced an Evolutionist perspective, even to the point of challenging carbon dating and referring to the evidence of dinosaurs as the “unclean beasts” referred to in the Bible.
“Faith never shuns the problem-solving duty of mortal living” [UB 101:8.3]
It does not exempt you from dealing with the challenges of living. One cannot just do nothing and rely on God to take care of things. There is no such thing as faith without action. Faith in and of itself signifies movement from the dead center of inertia.
“Living faith does not foster bigotry, persecution, or intolerance.” [UB 101:8.3] Enough said!
So if there is a key to judging the extent of or measuring the growth of our faith as it moves along the continuum of our life experience, it is in the example provided by the life of Jesus. “Jesus’ earthly life was devoted to one great purpose—doing the Father’s will, living the human life religiously and by faith.” [UB 196:0.14]
Jesus trusted God much as the child trusts a parent. He depended on God as a child depends upon its parent. He was not inhibited by doubt and unbelief. He was free to express his life in the service of a loving Father, truly able to “let go and let God.” He “combined the stalwart and intelligent courage of a full-grown man with the sincere and trusting optimism of a believing child.” [UB 196:0.11] His faith was so strong and complete that he was totally fearless.
“The faith of Jesus attained the purity of a child’s trust. his faith was so absolute and undoubting…” [UB 196:0.12] The faith of Jesus was trusting, like that of a child, but it was wholly free from presumption. He did not presume God would handle it. “He made robust and manly decisions, courageously faced manifold disappointments, resolutely surmounted extraordinary difficulties, and unflinchingly confronted the stern requirements of duty.” [UB 196:0.14]
As we look introspectively to examine our own report card of personal experience and religious growth, here arc 12 faith indicators from The Urantia Book.
- Causes ethics and morals to progress despite inherent and adverse animalistic tendencies.
- Produces a sublime trust in the goodness of God even in the face of bitter disappointment and crushing defeat.
- Generates profound courage and confidence despite natural adversity and physical calamity.
- Exhibits inexplicable poise and sustaining tranquillity notwithstanding baffling diseases and even acute physical suffering.
- Maintains a mysterious poise and composure of personality in the face of maltreatment and the rankest injustice.
- Maintains a divine trust in ultimate victory in spite of the cruelties of seemingly blind fate and the apparent utter indifference of natural fences to human welfare.
- Persists in the unswerving belief in God despite all contrary demonstrations of logic and successfully withstands all other intellectual sophistries.
- Continues to exhibit undaunted faith in the soul’s survival regardless of the deceptive teachings of false science and the persuasive delusions of unsound philosophy.
- Lives and triumphs irrespective of the crushing overload of the complex and partial civilizations of modern times.
- Contributes to the continued survival of altruism in spite of human selfishness, social antagonisms, industrial greeds, and political maladjustments.
- Steadfastly adheres to a sublime belief in universe unity and divine guidance regardless of the perplexing presence of evil and sin.
- Goes right on worshipping God in spite of anything and everything. Dares to declare, ‘Even though he slay me, yet will I serve him’. [UB 101:3.4-16]
Each of these will resonate individually with the challenges associated with living. Each will demand the full compliance of faith and fearlessness. Each will require all or nothing, complete trust in God. Life lessons will invariably provide plenty of practice.
On Jerusem the ascenders from these isolated worlds occupy a residential sector by themselves and are known as the agondonters, meaning evolutionary will creatures who can believe without seeing, persevere when isolated, and triumph over insuperable difficulties even when alone. . . . [UB 50:7.2]
As we observe and live in a world where God exists, we can’t presume to judge whether any individual has faith or not, but we can eliminate misunderstanding, ignorance, and well-intentioned philosophizing and determine where we stand in the matrix of complicated belief systems. “Have you faith? Then have it to yourself.” [UB 99:5.7]
Al Lockett is a member of The Urantia Book Society of Greater New York, and has been engaged in outreach as a reader and student of the book for over 30 years. He is a leacher/facilitator for the Internet School (UBIS) and a member of their Board of Directors. Al also contributed to the Wrightwood Series on “Race and The Urantia Book” and has appeared twice on cable TV as a panelist discussing the book.
"Primitive man lived a life of superstitious bondage to religious fear. Modern, civilized men dread the thought of falling under the dominance of strong religious convictions. Thinking man has always feared to be held by a religion. When a strong and moving religion threatens to dominate him, he invariably tries to rationalize, traditionalize, and institutionalize it, thereby hoping to gain control of it. By such procedure, even a revealed religion becomes man-made and man-dominated. Modern men and women of intelligence evade the religion of Jesus because of their fears of what it will do to them—and with them. And all such fears are well founded. The religion of Jesus does, indeed, dominate and transform its believers, demanding that men dedicate their lives to seeking for a knowledge of the will of the Father in heaven and requiring that the energies of living be consecrated to the unselfish service of the brotherhood of man. [UB 195:9.6]
| Safeguarding the Symbols of Urantian Faith | Volume 5, Number 1, 2003 (Summer) — Index | The Patterns of Revelation |