© 2001 Dr. Bruce R. Jackson
© 2001 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
| The Family — Birthplace of Cosmic Citizenship | Fall 2001 — Index | A Sincere “Spiritual Attitude” = “Positive Doing” |
I teach a college course in humanities. In this course I suggest to my students that our planet is currently engaged in a renaissance that will be much larger and have a greater impact on the world than the European Renaissance (ca. 1350 — 1600). Most people are aware of the European Renaissance through such familiar icons as the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, the music of Luther and Palestrina, and the writings of Patrarch, Machiavelli, and Shakespeare. Yet to understand the historical impact of the European Renaissance one must examine the emergence of humanism and individualism, the scholarly investigation of classical thought, the evolution of modern scientific methodology, and the other great movements in intellectual history that gave birth to modern religious, educational, economic, and governmental systems.
Defining a renaissance is difficult. It involves a creative flowering of new ideas with a rebirth of the better values of the past. It is a time of extraordinary change at all levels of society. It is driven by the combination of human suffering, social upheaval, rapid technological development, the reemergence of the better traditional ideals, and the development of exciting new ideas that contain the potential for profound social change.
A renaissance is a very tricky period of history to understand when you are living in it. The intellectuals of the European Renaissance were so conscious of their unique place in history that they gave their era the title “renaissance.” Yet it is clear that they had difficulty in understanding just what that meant in terms of successfully divining the near future. The same is true for us. Neither futurists nor economists are particularly good at making effective predictions concerning the movement of current social history. The turmoil, upheaval, and confusion of a renaissance is characterized by paradox and the unforeseen consequences of invention. Fundamental societal belief systems change rapidly during a renaissance, and much of this is driven by new technologies that quickly disperse information across cultures.
A renaissance is a time when the exploration of new ideas is influenced by a relatively small group of people who are in close communication with each other. Throughout history this fact has not been lost on many eager young intellectuals. One has only to look at the Sistine Chapel to yearn for those heady years of creativity and artistic flourishing. History is littered with claimants to a period of renaissance who wish themselves into the creative frenzy that entitles them to the vaunted historical status.
So are we making the claim that we are living in an age of renaissance? Without question. The internationalization of language, the worldwide spread of connected communications, the unparalleled publication of ideas, the recognition of traditional values, the challenges of the environment, the public revulsion at war and genocide, and the pressures of the world economy clearly indicate a renaissance of global proportions.
Every renaissance has at its core a concept that shapes the direction of human thought. For the European Renaissance this idea was “humanism.” This kernel of thought became the foundation of the Protestant Reformation, the cornerstone of scientific method, and the watchword of human creative activity.
Discovering the modern kernel of thought is key to understanding our renaissance. It is increasingly clear that the modern renaissance is about “diversity.” The old pluralistic systems are breaking down. For example, George Orwell, in his classic novel 1984 , missed the boat because he viewed the evolution of government in classic totalitarian terms.
Modern political systems are being forced to move away from the traditional models because of the power of diversity as the new operational method. For example, war on a massive scale demonstrated in the two world wars is increasingly becoming obsolete because it is bad for business: the enemy of today may necessarily be the customers of tomorrow. The conflict initiated on September 11 will be significantly different from any other war in history. As war is an immensely powerful engine of social change during a renaissance, this new type of warfare will change the way governments, social institutions, and religious organizations interface with each other. This conflict will force the governments of the world to be sensitive to diversity, particularly in dealing with a variety of religious faiths.
Diversity is inherently difficult to define. While an intellectually appealing democratic idea, the very breadth of the concept offers modern thinkers a very slippery slope. Diversity threatens to destroy intellectual progress because its acceptance places on the table all kinds of ideas that are in conflict with each other. As human intellectual history has been largely Darwinian in the selection of ideas, giving equal status to ideas different from “ours” is difficult for “us.” Acceptance of diversity demands tolerance of foreign cultures. Therefore, in the geopolitical arena, the acceptance of the concept of diversity will evolve slowly.
The problem with diversity is that it does not contain an elemental factor that can drive a renaissance. Though acceptance of diversity would change the face of this planet, it does not strike at the very core of each individual. Humanism was important to the Europeans because it changed human life on a personal level. This new valuation of human worth is at the very core of every social change in the European Renaissance.
I believe that contained within the pages of The Urantia Book is the kernel that is needed to give the modern renaissance direction and focus: a complete description of ascendant life. No other single piece of information has the potential to change the human condition on a massive scale. If the teachings of Jesus were enough, then the authors of the fifth epochal revelation would have given us Parts III and IV only. It is the totality of the message of the fifth epochal revelation that has the potential to change the very foundation of human perception. This kernel can be summed up as follows: every human being is a free will ascendant being living in Christ Michael’s universe.
I believe that the modern kernel of knowledge that will fuel our renaissance will be a new understanding of ascendant life. Though recognition of the Heavenly Father is the only condition necessary to obtain ascendant life status, much more is possible. Accepting the challenge of ascendant life presents the individual with the responsibility to acquire new and increasingly powerful information. This information includes such things as knowledge of the universal kingdom, understanding of the direct connection with the Heavenly Father through the Thought Adjuster, an experience of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, recognition of the role of other spiritual beings in human activity, knowledge of the teachings of our universal sovereign, acceptance of tenants of the Religion of Jesus Christ, and experientially living the spiritually driven life of an ascendant being.
The limitations of mortal living are well understood and accepting the gift of ascendant life is very easy. Living as an ascendant being demands a very different perspective. Knowledge of the process of ascendant life empowers the individual to live at very high levels of cosmic consciousness. Ascendant living changes the very foundations of daily life. For example, the human interpersonal relationships change when a mortal becomes an ascendant being because he or she recognizes that all fellow human beings are ascendant beings. We are all the free will sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father.
The Urantia Book makes it clear that ascendant living is qualitatively different from narrow earthbound perspectives. The book suggests that if enough individuals truly become ascendant beings, the very face of this earth will change. This is why the synergistic coincidence of our modern renaissance and the fifth epochal revelation promises to make great social changes in the not-todistant future.
The choice of living as a mortal or ascendant being is entirely the free will choice of each individual. What makes The Urantia Book important is that it places into the hands of the reader the certainty of that knowledge. Spiritual living no longer is the sole province of “blind faith.” Ascendant living is experiential and shapes the individuals understanding of the consequences of cause and effect. Ascendant living changes the way human beings relate to each other. Ascendant living is a new vision of life itself.
The great failing of most of the world religions is that while they promise eternal life, their practitioners have no real understanding of it on a personal level. It is very difficult for most people to understand the consequences of life beyond mortal death. It is not until after resurrection that many truly begin to understand the nature of ascendant life. This expansion of human vision is a potentially powerful kernel in the modern renaissance because it represents an entirely new understanding of the role each individual has in the universe. This understanding is directly experiential, is truly life changing, and leads to citizenship in a universal kingdom that is very real.
The problem with any intellectual kernel is that it threatens traditional systems. Throughout human history every kernel that changes the foundations of human behavior has met with significant resistance. During the European Renaissance the Roman Catholic Church was not at all excited about the concept of Humanism. Their reaction to the Protestant Reformation was one of persecution and bloodshed.
While the fact of ascendant life is understood by most of the major religions, the practical implications of ascendant living as presented in The Urantia Book is threatening to orthodoxy. It should not surprise us that after 46 years of publication Christian theologians, clergy and intellectuals have rejected The Urantia Book using the most contemporary form of persecution the world has to offer: indifference and ambivalence. Most religionists in the modern world would like to see the fifth epochal revelation simply disappear by attempting to ignore it. Therefore, many who preach in the name of Jesus Christ are unable to embrace the new revelation of Christ’s universe because to recognize its existence threatens to do what they fear the most: change them and alter some of the basic tenants of their faith.
I too have suffered persecution at the hands of the church, and I do not find their teeth to be particularly sharp. Though I could hardly compare my suffering to the tortured souls burned at the stake, the new renaissance offers the opportunity for all of the citizens of Christ’s universe to rise up from our wounds, learn, and work even harder for Jesus’ universal kingdom. The movement working with The Urantia Book will have ample opportunity to learn the lessons that will enable us to overcome any persecution the church and society can dish out while becoming effective ambassadors for the kingdom.
During the European Renaissance the Protestants were able to develop a public identity because of the confluence of a number of factors: the philosophical and political groundwork was already established, the emergence of a powerful new technology enabled communications to cross geographic borders, and the obsessive persecution of the established church. While the first two of these conditions are in place today, nobody is actively seeking to initiate a modern inquisition. If The Urantia Book is to be effectively presented to the world, we will need to develop an identity that is uniquely our own. We cannot count on the persecution by the established church to place our name on the map of human consciousness. In many ways this is a more difficult order than the challenge faced by the Protestant Reformation.
A study of the Harlem Renaissance (ca. 1920 -1935) offers us a modern solution: the development of a clearly defined self-identity. During this short and very localized renaissance African Americans were struggling to develop a public identity that clearly expressed their creative uniqueness, their heritage, and their culture to a largely hostile white world. They did this with new music, art, and literature that presented their case in their own terms. They changed the music industry through the establishment of a new form of popular music: jazz. In art they introduced the world to the images of Africa combined with a fresh new urban attitude. In literature they developed the philosophical groundwork for the civil rights movement.
The Urantia Book clearly states that the Fifth Epochal Revelation will spread in a surprising fashion. A study of renaissance indicates that it will take the cooperative efforts of many artisans to do this. Our musicians, artists, writers, philosophers, and scholars must labor together to shape the identity of the fifth epochal revelation into a sharply focused and simple kernel that the rest of the world will be able to understand. This high level of communication between artisans is found in every renaissance and is absolutely essential for the establishment of a public identity.
Cooperation amongst the readers of The Urantia Book is essential for the presentation of The Urantia Book to the larger world. If we are divided we will remain weak and will continue to be ignored. We must develop effective methods of working out our various opinions and beliefs through a celebration of our diversity. This is what the book means by developing unity of purpose without a uniformity of method.
In promoting a cooperative spirit we must learn how to communicate with each other in a way that strengthens our cause. We must learn to control our propensity to refuse to cooperate and compromise simply because it might violate some “fundamental principle” that we hold dear.
If we are to have any hope of being heard in the “mega din” of the modern world, we must forge our message into a simple and easily understandable concept that communicates truths that every human being already intuitively understands but may interpret differently. One of the basic tenants of missions is that those who hear the new message tend to reinterpret it into their own terms. The result of a missionary effort may turn out to be what the missionary considers to be “heresy.”
We must learn to accept the fact that the kernel of truth that we wish to share with the world is already inherent in most of the religions of the world. Acceptance of the truth we offer the world may not require any knowledge of The Urantia Book. Just getting the kernel of ascendant life into the mainstream of human consciousness is challenge enough.
This is indeed a tall order. Are we ready to make the effort? The fields are white with the harvest but the laborers are few. Let us pray that our artisans are up for the monumental task that is at hand.
Bruce Jackson is Assistant Professor of Humanities at Lincoln University of Missouri. He performs and composes jazz, popular and church music for his family band with his three sons (17, 15, and 12). This native of Arkansas currently lives in Columbia, MO.
| The Family — Birthplace of Cosmic Citizenship | Fall 2001 — Index | A Sincere “Spiritual Attitude” = “Positive Doing” |