© 2008 Ernesto Veloso
© 2008 Urantia Association of Spain
| More about how many survive (last part) | Luz y Vida — No. 14 — September 2008 — Index | News from Urantia Association of Spain |
Surviving is an idea that always occupied my mind, even before learning about the gospel of Jesus, because in reality, if everything ends with death, life would not only be absurd but even cruel. But I believe that the miracle is not in the continuity but in our very existence. Being here is the true miracle, and if I live today, why won’t I live tomorrow? Jesus demonstrated the fallacy of death, his resurrection is our guarantee, but will we all survive?
No one knows how far God’s mercy can go, and it is reckless for someone to say if this or that person will be lost or saved, but there is something very clear and that is that we will not all survive. In fact, there are beings that will reject life even after having transcended. It is true that we have had to live on an experimental planet, where we really walk blindly in terms of knowledge of the spiritual, but that does not justify us when we deliberately and consciously choose to make the sea, steal, murder, rape… They are execrable acts and those who commit them know that they are harming their neighbor. There are people who wallow in their wickedness; I know this because life put me in places where you learn to what limits human misery can go. I met a man who had sexual relations with his five daughters, whom he threatened on pain of death. With two of them he had offspring, and that man told it with tremendous cynicism and perversity. I met many others who had murdered their parents and friends, another who kept a child tied up for several days to commit sexual abuse. I wonder, 'will these people survive? I’m sure not, because all these people I’m talking about knew they were committing evil acts, even though they don’t know anything about the spiritual world. It is true that for these people the Lord also offers them the opportunity to repent, but if they do not do so, and in fact many people never repent of their wickedness, they themselves will be condemning themselves to spiritual death. On page 1229 the book talks about three types of death, it clarifies that when man consciously rejects this death it is final, even when the energy system continues temporarily.
But now I want to consider some existing theories. For example, I have a Theosophist friend who, in a conversation on this topic, one day told me, and I quote: “I know that I have some defects, that I have problems with drinking, smoking, and that I am unfaithful to my wife.” . These are things that I have to overcome, but I don’t worry because I still have seven hundred-I-don’t-know-how-many reincarnations left».
Let’s see another example, that of those who promote the theory that after life there is nothing, and that therefore it is best to try to live as best as possible, no matter how it is. If total, the good one has to die the same as the bad one.
If any of the aforementioned theories were true, those who promote them would be right and we, as the apostle Paul said, would be the most pitiable in the universe and the truly enlightened would then be the apathetic and materialistic.
Now, I wonder: if the doctrine of universal salvation is true, what advantage would believers have over unbelievers? Why strive to be ethical and look for the good and the beautiful, if in the end the wicked and the just have the same luck as me? If so, we should feel sorry for the first century Christians, who died in the circuses of Rome or were crucified for keeping their faith. If in the end their executioners had the same prize as ourselves, why get involved in so much study and philosophical speculation if in the end survival is guaranteed? It would be better to dedicate ourselves to more practical things.
All serious religions warn us about the possibility of soul loss. On the other hand, if there is true free will, it means that man can decide how to use it, either for good or for bad. God does not condemn man; it is man through his actions who chooses to be saved or lost.
To finish with my idea, I want to do it with a quote found in paper 49, UB 49:6.7: “Thus are the sleeping survivors of a planetary age repersonalized in the dispensational roll calls. But with regard to the nonsalvable personalities of a realm, no immortal spirit is present to function with the group guardians of destiny, and this constitutes cessation of creature existence.” This means clearly that there are people who are going to be lost. In short, that for there to be true free will, man must potentially have the possibility of choice, both to survive and to lose himself because, if we are all going to survive, such free will would be a myth and man would be condemned to survive. .
This is my modest opinion. I may be wrong, but that is also part of the universal plan.
¶ References
- Light and Life Magazine (all old issues): https://aue.urantia-association.org/numeros-antiguos-del-lyv/
| More about how many survive (last part) | Luz y Vida — No. 14 — September 2008 — Index | News from Urantia Association of Spain |