© 2023 Halbert Katzen, JD
By Halbert Katzen J.D.
[Work-in-progress. Most recent revisions and expansion: 4/12/23.]
For thousands of years, religious people have been on the lookout for a contemporary prophet, seer, or herald of the new age. In a world filled with injustice and brutality, naturally, faithful people want to be hopeful and are looking for guidance and leadership.
For Urantia Book students, there are hopeful expectations about the future and possibilities beyond those considered by Judeo-Christian scholars. As well, the unique history of the Urantia movement raises new questions. Specifically, with The Urantia Book, the role of seer was played by an unwilling participant in two respects. The “sleeping subject” did not engage the process from a state of consciousness; it occurred independently of making a conscious choice. And, once informed about the circumstances, the sleeping subject chose to remain anonymous. That’s different.
This new revelatory procedure, this new use of a seer, necessitated the creation of a “Contact Commission.”
Who anticipated that before it happened? This is nothing like stories about God’s law written on stone or gold tablets. Consider the new opportunities and problems inherent with the new communication modality, bearing in mind that choosing a seer requires picking someone who somehow can get some social traction.
New opportunities arise and shine, if you will, when a seer cannot be unfairly treated, personally maligned, threatened, brutalized, or killed. This happens to seers and prophets sometimes when social traction develops. The prophets of old were resurrected during the times of Jesus. Maybe they had some good ideas for how to improve the process of making contact and getting the message out to the world.
Does The Urantia Book establish a new general pattern for working with a seer? A prophet? A herald?
What implications does this new process have when considering post publication developments? How might the implications change, if the originating organizations default in carrying out their assigned roles? Given Caligastia’s betrayal and the default of Adam and Eve, can we fairly expect this humanly led effort to fair better?
Predictably, in large measure, personal criticisms related to Urantia Book content have been projected on to Dr. William Sadler, the most notable person involved with bringing The Urantia Book into publication. Sadly, this trend also comes from within the Urantia Book culture. Would-be adherents, who ride popular social trends, reject the teachings about family, race, and eugenics, giving rise to a new breed of false prophets! From one perspective, it could be said that such individuals more powerfully defame the revelation and discourage honest consideration of its contents than those who reject it outright.
From one perspective, prophets (known for being unpopular) can be seen as people who get pushed into leadership roles because leaders interfere with their ability to act as teachers. Good leadership not only creates a safe space for free speech, which is required for teaching progressive (minority) views, it also fosters the development of progressive ideas. When there is bad leadership, teachers need to become leaders for anything progressive to get accomplished.
But, teachers tend to make reluctant leaders, which makes it hard to get anything accomplished with them. The Most Highs have the challenge of needing to work with leaders, who lose sight of the role of teachers, and working with teachers, who get pushed into leadership roles.
There are distinct communication skill sets related to teachers vs. leaders. They do not mix well because teachers encourage better thinking, which requires open mindedness. In contrast, leaders encourage specific thoughts, which requires a fixation of beliefs.
Appreciating these differences is not intellectually challenging. The thoughts can be expressed clearly and concisely enough. Wisely and tactfully living out this understanding is another matter entirely, of course, especially in a religious context.
Hopefully, this study aid can help with that.
This subjectd is challenging to analyze from an historical perspective because it involves overlapping and evolving roles. Plus, we need to consider how these terms take on new meanings within a The Urantia Book context_._
On top of that, the terminology overlaps in a manner that invites confusion. Seers prophesy based on revelatory insight. Prophets speak in terms of the karmic consequences of wrongdoing. People wear more than one hat, but the hats are different.
Cross-reference studies are incorporated to help manage the scope and complexities of the material. Bold is used both for editorial emphasis and as a visual cue for term identification.
Number of times used:
From the dictionary we have:
Saint: noun 1. A person acknowledged as holy or virtuous and typically regarded as being in heaven after death. “a place dedicated to a seventh-century saint”
The Urantia Book goes well beyond the dictionary definition by providing historical and epochal context. Historically, the review spans from man’s earliest evolutionary development through how this evolutionary foundation influenced the Judeo-Christian tradition. The epochal revelation angle includes distinguishing between “saints of the Most High” and saints of secondhand religion.
How do “saints of the Most High” correlate with the role of prophets, seers. and heralds? Consider what other social roles may sometimes be associated with being a “saint of the Most High.”
In contemporary modern cultures, how do people get an experience of secondhand religion from mainstream religious organizations, from fringe religions and spiritual practices, from musicians, from political leaders, from other secular substitutes for religion, etc.?
Another consideration concerning saints, as the “earlier shaman-medicine men (seers),” is their possible relationship to psychoactive substances. This is the teaching that invites speculations:
The shaman was the ranking medicine man, the ceremonial fetishman, and the focus personality for all the practices of evolutionary religion. In many groups the shaman outranked the war chief, marking the beginning of the church domination of the state. The shaman sometimes functioned as a priest and even as a priest-king. Some of the later tribes had both the earlier shaman-medicine men (seers) and the later appearing shaman-priests. And in many cases the office of shaman became hereditary. (UB 90:1.1)
Additionally, consider this cross-reference study of the for instances when mystics is used:
The great religious teachers and the prophets of past ages were not extreme mystics. They were God-knowing men and women who best served their God by unselfish ministry to their fellow mortals. Jesus often took his apostles away by themselves for short periods to engage in meditation and prayer, but for the most part he kept them in service-contact with the multitudes. The soul of man requires spiritual exercise as well as spiritual nourishment. [All emphasis is added.] (UB 91:7.2)
Does this suggest they might have been moderate mystics?
The characteristics of the mystical state are diffusion of consciousness with vivid islands of focal attention operating on a comparatively passive intellect. All of this gravitates consciousness toward the subconscious rather than in the direction of the zone of spiritual contact, the superconscious. Many mystics have carried their mental dissociation to the level of abnormal mental manifestations. (UB 100:5.9)
Consider the issue of a passive intellect in the context of the sleeping subject, associated with the production of the Urantia revelation.
A one-eyed person can never hope to visualize depth of perspective. Neither can single-eyed material scientists nor single-eyed spiritual mystics and allegorists correctly visualize and adequately comprehend the true depths of universe reality. All true values of creature experience are concealed in depth of recognition. (UB 130:4.4)
What about two-eyed mystics? How do they fare?
You are not to be passive mystics or colorless ascetics; you should not become dreamers and drifters, supinely trusting in a fictitious Providence to provide even the necessities of life. You are indeed to be gentle in your dealings with erring mortals, patient in your intercourse with ignorant men, and forbearing under provocation; but you are also to be valiant in defense of righteousness, mighty in the promulgation of truth, and aggressive in the preaching of this gospel of the kingdom, even to the ends of the earth. (UB 178:1.14)
Note how congruent this admonition is with the experience of the prophets and seers.
There was both a public and a private phase to magic. That performed by the medicine man, shaman, or priest was supposed to be for the good of the whole tribe. Witches, sorcerers, and wizards dispensed private magic, personal and selfish magic which was employed as a coercive method of bringing evil on one’s enemies. The concept of dual spiritism, good and bad spirits, gave rise to the later beliefs in white and black magic. And as religion evolved, magic was the term applied to spirit operations outside one’s own cult, and it also referred to older ghost beliefs. (UB 88:6.2)
Primitive man regarded the shaman as a necessary evil; he feared him but did not love him. Early man respected knowledge; he honored and rewarded wisdom. The shaman was mostly fraud, but the veneration for shamanism well illustrates the premium put upon wisdom in the evolution of the race. (UB 90:2.13)
While many resorted to these tricks and deceptions, their reputation as a class, after all, stood on apparent achievement. When a shaman failed in his undertakings, if he could not advance a plausible alibi, he was either demoted or killed. Thus the honest shamans early perished; only the shrewd actors survived. (UB 90:1.5)
The shamanic priests and medicine men often became very wealthy through the accretion of their various fees which were ostensibly offerings to the spirits. Not infrequently a shaman would accumulate practically all the material wealth of his tribe. Upon the death of a wealthy man it was customary to divide his property equally with the shaman and some public enterprise or charity. This practice still obtains in some parts of Tibet, where one half the male population belongs to this class of nonproducers. (UB 90:2.11)
These simple-minded Tibetans would not wholly give up their ancient magic and charms. Examination of the religious ceremonials of present-day Tibetan rituals reveals an overgrown brotherhood of priests with shaven heads who practice an elaborate ritual embracing bells, chants, incense, processionals, rosaries, images, charms, pictures, holy water, gorgeous vestments, and elaborate choirs. They have rigid dogmas and crystallized creeds, mystic rites and special fasts. Their hierarchy embraces monks, nuns, abbots, and the Grand Lama. They pray to angels, saints, a Holy Mother, and the gods. They practice confessions and believe in purgatory. Their monasteries are extensive and their cathedrals magnificent. They keep up an endless repetition of sacred rituals and believe that such ceremonials bestow salvation. Prayers are fastened to a wheel, and with its turning they believe the petitions become efficacious. Among no other people of modern times can be found the observance of so much from so many religions; and it is inevitable that such a cumulative liturgy would become inordinately cumbersome and intolerably burdensome. (UB 94:10.2)
It was a supposed preference of ghosts to indwell some object which had belonged to them when alive in the flesh. This belief explains the efficacy of many modern relics. The ancients always revered the bones of their leaders, and the skeletal remains of saints and heroes are still regarded with superstitious awe by many. Even today, pilgrimages are made to the tombs of great men. (UB 88:2.1)
Hindu theology, at present, depicts four descending levels of deity and divinity: (UB 94:4.2)
4. The demigods: supermen, semigods, heroes, demons, ghosts, evil spirits, sprites, monsters, goblins, and saints of the later-day cults. (UB 94:4.7)
The religious initiation of Roman youths was the occasion of their solemn consecration to the service of the state. Oaths and admissions to citizenship were in reality religious ceremonies. The Latin peoples maintained temples, altars, and shrines and, in a crisis, would consult the oracles. They preserved the bones of heroes and later on those of the Christian saints. (UB 98:3.4)
While alive, saints foster an experience of secondhand religion. After they pass, this turns into religious stagnation:
Evolutionary religion makes no provision for change or revision; unlike science, it does not provide for its own progressive correction. Evolved religion commands respect because its followers believe it is The Truth; “the faith once delivered to the saints” must, in theory, be both final and infallible. The cult resists development because real progress is certain to modify or destroy the cult itself; therefore must revision always be forced upon it. (UB 92:3.4)
The quoted phrase above comes from Jude:
1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The outpouring of the Spirit of Truth at Pentecost powerfully helped to spread the gospel message. It created a new source of spiritual power to be used for good or ill. The total combination of new spiritual energy and extraordinary circumstances supercharged and spread the experience of secondhand religion as a Christian experience.
During these dark and despairing centuries, religion became virtually secondhanded again. The individual was almost lost before the overshadowing authority, tradition, and dictation of the church. A new spiritual menace arose in the creation of a galaxy of “saints” who were assumed to have special influence at the divine courts, and who, therefore, if effectively appealed to, would be able to intercede in man’s behalf before the Gods. (UB 195:4.2)
The world needs more firsthand religion. Even Christianity—the best of the religions of the twentieth century—is not only a religion about Jesus, but it is so largely one which men experience secondhand. They take their religion wholly as handed down by their accepted religious teachers. What an awakening the world would experience if it could only see Jesus as he really lived on earth and know, firsthand, his life-giving teachings! Descriptive words of things beautiful cannot thrill like the sight thereof, neither can creedal words inspire men’s souls like the experience of knowing the presence of God. But expectant faith will ever keep the hope-door of man’s soul open for the entrance of the eternal spiritual realities of the divine values of the worlds beyond. (UB 195:9.8)
Consider that once the saints of secondhand religion have crystallized culture, then prophets are needed to restore balance and ensure progress. Said another way, when religious leadership becomes misdirected by selfish motivations, then religious leadership eventually surfaces that exposes the problem and works to correct it.
Micah denounced “the rulers who judge for reward and the priests who teach for hire and the prophets who divine for money.” He taught of a day of freedom from superstition and priestcraft, saying: “But every man shall sit under his own vine, and no one shall make him afraid, for all people will live, each one according to his understanding of God.” (UB 97:5.5)
Where does the rubber meet the road on this issue today? What are some of the real costs that go along with this misdirected religious energy? How has the priest class fostered the development of “false sentiment” by passing it off as saintly behavior?
The church, because of overmuch false sentiment, has long ministered to the underprivileged and the unfortunate, and this has all been well, but this same sentiment has led to the unwise perpetuation of racially degenerate stocks which have tremendously retarded the progress of civilization. (UB 99:3.5)
The attainment of a high cultural civilization demands, first, the ideal type of citizen and, then, ideal and adequate social mechanisms wherewith such a citizenry may control the economic and political institutions of such an advanced human society. (UB 99:3.4)
Consider the role played by channelers and other participants in noninstitutionalized New Age spiritual practices. To what degree do they foster interest in secondhand religion experiences? What are the modern-day examples of divining for money?
With the separation of church and state, there are also opportunities for “experts” to create a secondhand experience of life. What does this look like in relationship to science and academia? What is the difference between being an intellectual leader and acting as an intellectual guru?
Saints of the Most High is used twice:
Elizabeth kept John posted about Palestinian and world affairs, and his conviction grew deeper and deeper that the time was fast approaching when the old order was to end; that he was to become the herald of the approach of a new age, “the kingdom of heaven.” This rugged shepherd was very partial to the writings of the Prophet Daniel. He read a thousand times Daniel’s description of the great image, which Zacharias had told him represented the history of the great kingdoms of the world, beginning with Babylon, then Persia, Greece, and finally Rome. John perceived that already was Rome composed of such polyglot peoples and races that it could never become a strongly cemented and firmly consolidated empire. He believed that Rome was even then divided, as Syria, Egypt, Palestine, and other provinces; and then he further read “in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And this kingdom shall not be left to other people but shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” “And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom never shall be destroyed.” “And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” (UB 135:3.2)
In this manner the kingdom became the concept of an age, the idea of a future visitation, and the ideal of the final redemption of the saints of the Most High. The early Christians (and all too many of the later ones) generally lost sight of the Father-and-son idea embodied in Jesus’ teaching of the kingdom, while they substituted therefor the well-organized social fellowship of the church. The church thus became in the main a social brotherhood which effectively displaced Jesus’ concept and ideal of a spiritual brotherhood. (UB 170:5.15)
Consider also this cross-reference study: Most High(s) rule(s).
This same Melchizedek continued to collaborate throughout the nineteen succeeding centuries with the many prophets and seers, thus endeavoring to keep alive the truths of Salem until the fullness of the time for Michael’s appearance on earth. (UB 93:10.4)
For additional perspective, see cross-reference studies: Prophecy and Prophecies, Prophesy and Prophesied, Prophetic, Seer(s), and Herald, Heralds, and Heralded.
Generally, apostles were first in line, of course, to become the early saints of Christianity. However, the “Apostle Paul,” being so individually influential to the birth of Christianity, quickly opened the field for considering those who were not the direct associates of Jesus.
But does that mean the saints of the Most High, the prophets, and the seers did not inject their own evolutionary beliefs into what they were doing? The apostles, we are taught on numerous occasions, had trouble following some of Jesus’ teachings.
To what extent to do people have overly idealistic views of prophets and seers that would make it difficult to identify modern day prophets and seers?
It was only natural that the cult of renunciation and humiliation should have paid attention to sexual gratification. The continence cult originated as a ritual among soldiers prior to engaging in battle; in later days it became the practice of “saints.” This cult tolerated marriage only as an evil lesser than fornication. Many of the world’s great religions have been adversely influenced by this ancient cult, but none more markedly than Christianity. The Apostle Paul was a devotee of this cult, and his personal views are reflected in the teachings which he fastened onto Christian theology: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” “I would that all men were even as I myself.” “I say, therefore, to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them to abide even as I.” Paul well knew that such teachings were not a part of Jesus’ gospel, and his acknowledgment of this is illustrated by his statement, “I speak this by permission and not by commandment.” But this cult led Paul to look down upon women. And the pity of it all is that his personal opinions have long influenced the teachings of a great world religion. If the advice of the tentmaker-teacher were to be literally and universally obeyed, then would the human race come to a sudden and inglorious end. Furthermore, the involvement of a religion with the ancient continence cult leads directly to a war against marriage and the home, society’s veritable foundation and the basic institution of human progress. And it is not to be wondered at that all such beliefs fostered the formation of celibate priesthoods in the many religions of various peoples. (UB 89:3.6)
All were agreed that some drastic purging or purifying discipline would of necessity precede the establishment of the new kingdom on earth. The literalists taught that a world-wide war would ensue which would destroy all unbelievers, while the faithful would sweep on to universal and eternal victory. The spiritists taught that the kingdom would be ushered in by the great judgment of God which would relegate the unrighteous to their well-deserved judgment of punishment and final destruction, at the same time elevating the believing saints of the chosen people to high seats of honor and authority with the Son of Man, who would rule over the redeemed nations in God’s name. And this latter group even believed that many devout gentiles might be admitted to the fellowship of the new kingdom. (UB 135:5.5)
The depiction of prophets in The Urantia Book goes considerably beyond the dictionary definition. Dictionary definitions for prophet, prophecy, and prophesy reveal that the personal role does not specifically mention anything about the future, whereas the thing and the act do specify such a characteristic.
Prophet: noun 1. A person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God. “the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah” 2. (in Christian use) the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve minor prophets.
Prophecy: noun a prediction.
Prophesy: verb say that (a specified thing) will happen in the future.
By comparison and consistent with Urantia Book usage, the role of a seer is to make predictions about the future.
Seer: noun 1. A person who is supposed to be able, through supernatural insight, to see what the future holds. “a seer had foretold that the earl would assume the throne” 2. ARCHAIC a person who sees something specified. “a seer of the future”
Why the conspicuous absence of anything about making predictions in the definition of prophet? Presumably, this leaves the door open to include those who criticize without making specific predictions about the inevitable consequences that do attend the failure to correct bad behavior. As well, the roles of seers and prophets can be more readily distinguished when we respect the limited definition of a prophet.
We need prophets because people attempt to police thought and suppress freedom of speech, an effort which, by its nature, opposes general education and scientific progress. We need prophets because people try to attain and maintain power in ways that are uncivilized.
The phrase freedom of speech is used twice:
The measure of the advance of society is directly determined by the degree to which public opinion can control personal behavior and state regulation through nonviolent expression. The really civilized government had arrived when public opinion was clothed with the powers of personal franchise. Popular elections may not always decide things rightly, but they represent the right way even to do a wrong thing. Evolution does not at once produce superlative perfection but rather comparative and advancing practical adjustment. (UB 71:2.8)
There are ten steps, or stages, to the evolution of a practical and efficient form of representative government, and these are: … (UB 71:2.9)
2. Freedom of the mind. Unless a free people are educated—taught to think intelligently and plan wisely—freedom usually does more harm than good. … (UB 71:2.11)
4. Freedom of speech. Representative government is unthinkable without freedom of all forms of expression for human aspirations and opinions. (UB 71:2.13)
New trouble started when King Ahab tried to buy land from Naboth. His Phoenician wife forged Ahab’s name to papers directing that Naboth’s land be confiscated on the charge that he had blasphemed the names of “Elohim and the king.” He and his sons were promptly executed. The vigorous Elijah appeared on the scene denouncing Ahab for the murder of the Naboths. Thus Elijah, one of the greatest of the prophets, began his teaching as a defender of the old land mores as against the land-selling attitude of the Baalim, against the attempt of the cities to dominate the country. But the reform did not succeed until the country landlord Jehu joined forces with the gypsy chieftain Jehonadab to destroy the prophets (real estate agents) of Baal at Samaria.
New life appeared as Jehoash and his son Jeroboam delivered Israel from its enemies. But by this time there ruled in Samaria a gangster-nobility whose depredations rivaled those of the Davidic dynasty of olden days. State and church went along hand in hand. The attempt to suppress freedom of speech led Elijah, Amos, and Hosea to begin their secret writing, and this was the real beginning of the Jewish and Christian Bibles. (UB 97:9.19-20)
Of course, freedom of speech is directly related to education and science is a subset of education.
Ever and anon, true prophets and teachers arose to denounce and expose shamanism. Even the vanishing red man had such a prophet within the past hundred years, the Shawnee Tenskwatawa, who predicted the eclipse of the sun in 1806 and denounced the vices of the white man. Many true teachers have appeared among the various tribes and races all through the long ages of evolutionary history. And they will ever continue to appear to challenge the shamans or priests of any age who oppose general education and attempt to thwart scientific progress. (UB 90:2.9)
Note that Tenskwatawa is not referred to as a seer. In fact, there is substantial evidence to suggest that he was aware of the coming eclipse through contacts with the British. As well, information about the upcoming eclipse was being distributed in New England, under the title: Darkness at Noon.
If Tenskwatawa got information about the eclipse from the white man, then the story is rich with irony. Christopher Columbus in 1504, in an effort to extract food and other material provisions from the Jamaican natives, used the work of a Jewish astronomer from Spain to predict a full lunar eclipse, which turns the moon “blood” red. Columbus successfully used this to assert that the white man’s God was angry with the Jamaicans for not helping Columbus.
To secure the blessings of peace, The Urantia Book teaches:
The evolution of statehood entails progress from level to level, as follows:
The creation of a threefold government of executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
The freedom of social, political, and religious activities. (UB 71:8.2-4)
The general rule is that interfaith dispositions are a good. Freedom of religious belief and thought go hand-in-hand with embracing interfaith values. But when the system has become corrupted, then all bets are off and a prophet has got to do what a prophet has got to do.
Samuel was a rough-and-ready type of man, a practical reformer who could go out in one day with his associates and overthrow a score of Baal sites. The progress he made was by sheer force of compulsion; he did little preaching, less teaching, but he did act. One day he was mocking the priest of Baal; the next, chopping in pieces a captive king. He devotedly believed in the one God, and he had a clear concept of that one God as creator of heaven and earth: “The pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he has set the world upon them.” (UB 97:1.3)
In the tenth century before Christ the Hebrew nation became divided into two kingdoms. In both of these political divisions many truth teachers endeavored to stem the reactionary tide of spiritual decadence that had set in, and which continued disastrously after the war of separation. But these efforts to advance the Hebraic religion did not prosper until that determined and fearless warrior for righteousness, Elijah, began his teaching. Elijah restored to the northern kingdom a concept of God comparable with that held in the days of Samuel. Elijah had little opportunity to present an advanced concept of God; he was kept busy, as Samuel had been before him, overthrowing the altars of Baal and demolishing the idols of false gods. And he carried forward his reforms in the face of the opposition of an idolatrous monarch; his task was even more gigantic and difficult than that which Samuel had faced. (UB 97:2.1)
So, freedom of speech issues started the whole process of writing down the thoughts of prophets and the visions of seers. Church and state becoming entwined is mentioned. And now, modern society experiences the separation of church and state.
Who are the secular “shamans or priests of any age who oppose general education and attempt to thwart scientific progress” and freedom of speech? Who are the priests of materialism and agnosticism? Who are the New Age shamans that now compete for social status through social media and/or start personality cults and/or divining for money? Who are the high priests of the universities? Certainly, the issues with education and science are widespread across the spectrum of modern-day leadership.
What are the forces and who are the people working against freedom of speech and Urantia Book teachings about race and gender? How do these questions help us answer who is who, what is what, when, and why?
With respect to a prophet being an “inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God,” consider what one interviewer got as last words from Bob Marley to his fans:
“The voice to the people that love life, inside of them that talks to them, you know, that is the voice that these people must listen to. Because in everything you’re going to do, there’s a wrong way and a right way. And if you listen good, you will know the right way. You know? Because there’s a voice inside talking to everyone … seeing … seeing …”
This section includes all ten references (five each) to seer(s).
Seer: noun 1. A person who is supposed to be able, through supernatural insight, to see what the future holds. “a seer had foretold that the earl would assume the throne” 2. ARCHAIC a person who sees something specified. “a seer of the future”
Entheogen: noun
The questions and commentaries being provided here for educational purposes are not to be taken as reflecting personal beliefs, practices, experiences, (dis)encouragements, opinions, etc.
However, some questions needs to be asked. For example, are entheogens preprogrammed into the evolutionary development of plant life to spiritual development (for some, if not generally)? And/or are the especially important as part of a back up plan for rebellions and defaults?
The Urantia Book teaches that the early evolution of shamans tended to go in one of two directions. They either became a priest-king or a medicine man/seer.
The shaman was the ranking medicine man, the ceremonial fetishman, and the focus personality for all the practices of evolutionary religion. In many groups the shaman outranked the war chief, marking the beginning of the church domination of the state. The shaman sometimes functioned as a priest and even as a priest-king. Some of the later tribes had both the earlier shaman-medicine men (seers) and the later appearing shaman-priests. And in many cases the office of shaman became hereditary. (UB 90:1.1)
Ancient black art, both religious and secular, was called white art when practiced by either priests, seers, shamans, or medicine men. The practitioners of the black art were called sorcerers, magicians, wizards, witches, enchanters, necromancers, conjurers, and soothsayers. As time passed, all such purported contact with the supernatural was classified either as witchcraft or shamancraft. (UB 90:2.2)
What medicines and methods might the medicine-men have used to foster prophetic consciousness?
Disease was treated by chanting, howling, laying on of hands, breathing on the patient, and many other techniques. In later times the resort to temple sleep, during which healing supposedly took place, became widespread. The medicine men eventually essayed actual surgery in connection with temple slumber; among the first operations was that of trephining the skull to allow a headache spirit to escape. The shamans learned to treat fractures and dislocations, to open boils and abscesses; the shamanesses became adept at midwifery. (UB 90:4.4)
For a quick and valuable understanding of what temple sleep means, see Wikipedia: Sleep temple.
For an excellent understanding of how this topic relates to the development Judeo-Christian culture, here is an interview by professor and well-known author Jordan Peterson. He starts with author Brain Muraresku—The Immorality Key. And then he brings in author and professor Carl Ruck—The Road to Eleusis.
Some combination of hypnosis and entheogens seem to be involved as catalysts in this process—at least for some seers to some degree. The chemistry behind this seems related to the pineal gland, which relates to the pine cone and handbag often seen held-in-hand on stone carved images of ancient Egyptian and Sumerian Godheads. (For examples of handbags, see the UBtheNEWS: Gobekli Tepe Report. For the pine cone, see the annotation at UB 49:5.19 (comparable to the pituitary bodies: Consider the pineal gland in relationship to this teaching and how it appears in ancient carvings in the hands of Godheads and many other artistic representations of religious and cultural significance. link).)
Traditions related to the use of psychoactive substances are widespread and go back to ancient times. Sometimes complex processes are required to create the effect. Perhaps we should speculate more about the degree to which this type of activity has been used during ancient times and how they can be used beneficially today. For instance, promising studies are being conducted with psilocybin mushrooms involving a range of conditions, including terminally ill cancer patients.
Consider that those who “divine for money” and otherwise foster a secondhand experience of religion outside of institutionalized religion are tapping into a disenchanted attraction to the institutional experience of secondhand religion.
In contrast, some people take money for assisting people with their efforts to use psychoactive substances as part of a spiritual and healing process. Are “guides” used in the context of gaining a firsthand experience in some sort of a hybrid category?
Machiventa Melchizedek worked with prophets and seers. Exactly how he worked with them remains a mystery.
This same Melchizedek continued to collaborate throughout the nineteen succeeding centuries with the many prophets and seers, thus endeavoring to keep alive the truths of Salem until the fullness of the time for Michael’s appearance on earth. (UB 93:10.4)
Beyond being mysterious, the process clearly lacked clarity. Even Jesus was challenged in his efforts to interpret the texts available to him:
In the course of this year Jesus found a passage in the so-called Book of Enoch which influenced him in the later adoption of the term “Son of Man” as a designation for his bestowal mission on Urantia. He had thoroughly considered the idea of the Jewish Messiah and was firmly convinced that he was not to be that Messiah. He longed to help his father’s people, but he never expected to lead Jewish armies in overthrowing the foreign domination of Palestine. He knew he would never sit on the throne of David at Jerusalem. Neither did he believe that his mission was that of a spiritual deliverer or moral teacher solely to the Jewish people. In no sense, therefore, could his life mission be the fulfillment of the intense longings and supposed Messianic prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures; at least, not as the Jews understood these predictions of the prophets. Likewise he was certain he was never to appear as the Son of Man depicted by the Prophet Daniel. (UB 126:3.6)
But when the time came for him to go forth as a world teacher, what would he call himself? What claim should he make concerning his mission? By what name would he be called by the people who would become believers in his teachings? (UB 126:3.7)
While turning all these problems over in his mind, he found in the synagogue library at Nazareth, among the apocalyptic books which he had been studying, this manuscript called “The Book of Enoch”; and though he was certain that it had not been written by Enoch of old, it proved very intriguing to him, and he read and reread it many times. There was one passage which particularly impressed him, a passage in which this term “Son of Man” appeared. The writer of this so-called Book of Enoch went on to tell about this Son of Man, describing the work he would do on earth and explaining that this Son of Man, before coming down on this earth to bring salvation to mankind, had walked through the courts of heavenly glory with his Father, the Father of all; and that he had turned his back upon all this grandeur and glory to come down on earth to proclaim salvation to needy mortals. As Jesus would read these passages (well understanding that much of the Eastern mysticism which had become admixed with these teachings was erroneous), he responded in his heart and recognized in his mind that of all the Messianic predictions of the Hebrew scriptures and of all the theories about the Jewish deliverer, none was so near the truth as this story tucked away in this only partially accredited Book of Enoch; and he then and there decided to adopt as his inaugural title “the Son of Man.” And this he did when he subsequently began his public work. Jesus had an unerring ability for the recognition of truth, and truth he never hesitated to embrace, no matter from what source it appeared to emanate. (UB 126:3.8)
The great confusion of Jesus’ younger days now arose. Having settled something about the nature of his mission on earth, “to be about his Father’s business”—to show forth his Father’s loving nature to all mankind—he began to ponder anew the many statements in the Scriptures referring to the coming of a national deliverer, a Jewish teacher or king. To what event did these prophecies refer? Was not he a Jew? or was he? Was he or was he not of the house of David? His mother averred he was; his father had ruled that he was not. He decided he was not. But had the prophets confused the nature and mission of the Messiah? (UB 126:3.10)
… If he were a new teacher and not the Messiah, then how should he recognize the Jewish Messiah if such a one should appear in Jerusalem during the time of his earth mission; and, further, what should be his relation to this Jewish Messiah? And what should be his relation, after embarking on his life mission, to his family? to the Jewish commonwealth and religion? to the Roman Empire? to the gentiles and their religions? (UB 126:3.11)
That night Jesus did not sleep. Donning his evening wraps, he sat out on the lake shore thinking, thinking until the dawn of the next day. In the long hours of that night of meditation Jesus came clearly to comprehend that he never would be able to make his followers see him in any other light than as the long-expected Messiah. At last he recognized that there was no way to launch his message of the kingdom except as the fulfillment of John’s prediction and as the one for whom the Jews were looking. After all, though he was not the Davidic type of Messiah, he was truly the fulfillment of the prophetic utterances of the more spiritually minded of the olden seers. Never again did he wholly deny that he was the Messiah. He decided to leave the final untangling of this complicated situation to the outworking of the Father’s will. (UB 137:5.3)
This review of Jewish history acknowledges the historic challenge confronting them.
But five hundred years of the overlordship of alien rulers was too much for even the patient and long-suffering Jews. The prophets and priests began to cry: “How long, O Lord, how long?” As the honest Jew searched the Scriptures, his confusion became worse confounded. An olden seer promised that God would protect and deliver his “chosen people.” Amos had threatened that God would abandon Israel unless they re-established their standards of national righteousness. The scribe of Deuteronomy had portrayed the Great Choice—as between the good and the evil, the blessing and the curse. Isaiah the first had preached a beneficent king-deliverer. Jeremiah had proclaimed an era of inner righteousness—the covenant written on the tablets of the heart. The second Isaiah talked about salvation by sacrifice and redemption. Ezekiel proclaimed deliverance through the service of devotion, and Ezra promised prosperity by adherence to the law. But in spite of all this they lingered on in bondage, and deliverance was deferred. Then Daniel presented the drama of the impending “crisis”—the smiting of the great image and the immediate establishment of the everlasting reign of righteousness, the Messianic kingdom. (UB 97:8.3)
Consider these passages from the Book of Daniel 7:
Daniel’s Vision of the Ancient of Days
9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. 12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.Daniel’s Visions Interpreted
15 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. 17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; 20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
28 Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
In contrast, note how this epochal revelation guides us to specific passages of importance from the Old and New Testaments and contextualizes them for us:
It was of the conclusion of the terminal mission of the Teacher Sons (at least that would be the chronology on a normal world) that John wrote: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth and the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a princess adorned for the prince.”
This is the same renovated earth, the advanced planetary stage, that the olden seer envisioned when he wrote: “‘For, as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, so shall you and your children survive; and it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another all flesh shall come to worship before me,’ says the Lord.”
It is the mortals of such an age who are described as “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, an exalted people; and you shall show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into this marvelous light.”
No matter what the special natural history of an individual planet may be, no difference whether a realm has been wholly loyal, tainted with evil, or cursed by sin—no matter what the antecedents may be—sooner or later the grace of God and the ministry of angels will usher in the day of the advent of the Trinity Teacher Sons; and their departure, following their final mission, will inaugurate this superb era of light and life.
All the worlds . . . [in our region of the cosmos] can join in the hope of the one who wrote: “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.” [Note: Melchizedek means “king of righteousness.” Might this allude to the return of Melchizedek?] (UB 52:7.11-15)
The olden seer referenced above is Isaiah. Here are some of the verses that precede what was quoted:
Isaiah 66:
7 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her pain came,
She delivered a male child.
8 Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.
9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord.
“Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem,
And be glad with her, all you who love her;
Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
11 That you may feed and be satisfied
With the consolation of her bosom,
That you may drink deeply and be delighted
With the abundance of her glory.”12 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.
Then you shall feed;
On her sides shall you be carried,
And be dandled on her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforts,
So I will comfort you;
And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” …22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord,
“So shall your descendants and your name remain.
22 And it shall come to pass
That from one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.
This use of the word seer comes from Revelation:
You do well to love them, but you should not adore them; angels are not objects of worship. The great seraphim, Loyalatia, when your seer “fell down to worship before the feet of the angel,” said: “See that you do it not; I am a fellow servant with you and with your races, who are all enjoined to worship God.” (UB 38:2.5)
Revelation 19:
The Marriage of the Lamb6 **And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Revelation 22:
The Time Is Near6** Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.
7 “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
9 Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” 10 And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
Even though being a seer is generally about visions of the future, they also function as revelators of the nature of God.
The first use of the word seer is in Paper 1. It does not provide the seer’s name, but the quote is apparently from the Book of Job.
Said the seer of old: “Lo, he goes by me, and I see him not; he passes on also, but I perceive him not.” (UB 1:3.2)
Job 9 Then Job answered and said,
2 I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?
3 If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
5 Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.
6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
11 Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
Who might have written that portion of Job?
The variegated picture of Deity presented in the Book of Job was the product of more than a score of Mesopotamian religious teachers extending over a period of almost three hundred years. And when you read the lofty concept of divinity found in this compilation of Mesopotamian beliefs, you will recognize that it was in the neighborhood of Ur of Chaldea that the idea of a real God was best preserved during the dark days in Palestine. (UB 96:7.5)
In Palestine the wisdom and all-pervasiveness of God was often grasped but seldom his love and mercy. … (UB 96:7.6)
Only at Ur did a voice arise to cry out the mercy of God, saying: “He shall pray to God and shall find favor with him and shall see his face with joy, for God will give to man divine righteousness.” Thus from Ur there is preached salvation, divine favor, by faith: “He is gracious to the repentant and says, ‘Deliver him from going down in the pit, for I have found a ransom.’ If any say, ‘I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not,’ God will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and he shall see the light.” Not since the times of Melchizedek had the Levantine world heard such a ringing and cheering message of human salvation as this extraordinary teaching of Elihu, the prophet of Ur and priest of the Salem believers, that is, the remnant of the onetime Melchizedek colony in Mesopotamia. (UB 96:7.7)
And thus did the remnants of the Salem missionaries in Mesopotamia maintain the light of truth during the period of the disorganization of the Hebrew peoples until the appearance of the first of that long line of the teachers of Israel who never stopped as they built, concept upon concept, until they had achieved the realization of the ideal of the Universal and Creator Father of all, the acme of the evolution of the Yahweh concept. (UB 96:7.8)
Given the records that we have, The Urantia Book seems to confirm that Elihu, an acknowledged contributor to the Book of Job, was responsible for this quote.
The higher intellectual teachers and the transition ministers freely and effectively utilize these various groups of reproducers in their morontia educational activities. But not all of their efforts are devoted to transient illustration; much, very much, of their work is of a permanent nature and will forever remain as a legacy to all future time. So versatile are these artisans that, when they function en masse, they are able to re-enact an age, and in collaboration with the seraphic ministers they can actually portray the eternal values of the spirit world to the mortal seers of time. (UB 44:2.11)
The authors devote an entire section to the Teachings of Amenemope, referring to him as a seer in the first paragraph:
In due time there grew up in Egypt a teacher called by many the “son of man” and by others Amenemope. This seer exalted conscience to its highest pinnacle of arbitrament between right and wrong, taught punishment for sin, and proclaimed salvation through calling upon the solar deity. (UB 95:4.1)
Of note is a 1933 publication by James Henry Breasted titled The Dawn of Conscience. In it he states:
“This new attitude is revealed to us in a remarkable treatise which we may call the `Wisdom of Amenemope.’ Written by a sage named Amenemope, it is now preserved to us in a papyrus in the British Museum. [Published by Sir E.A. Wallis Budge. Facimiles of Egyptian Hieratic Papyri in the British Museum, etc., Pls. I-XIV, Columns I-XXVII, “The Admonition of Amenemapt, the Son of Kanekht.” Second Series, London, 1923.] As so often in such counsel of the Egyptian wise men, these utterances of Amenemope are said to have been delivered by the sage to his son …
“To his son, therefore, Amenemope constantly holds up this attitude towards life, that it is to be lived both in personal and official relations, in full ecognizen of momentary responsibility to God. This ultimate intensity of conscience and God-consciousness in the teachings of an Egyptian thinker in the Tenth Century B.C., before any of the Old Testament was written, is the more remarkable, because we now know that the `Wisdom of Amenemope’ was translated into Hebrew, it was read by Hebrews, and an important part of it found its way into the Old Testament …
“In the wise conclusion that riches `make themselves wings’ and fly away, Amenemope’s graphic picture of the uncertainty and perishability of earthly good, we ecognize a figure which has come down to us through the editor of the Hebrew Book of Porverbs …
“The contrast is obviously between `the words of men’ and `the acts of God,’ and when it is stated that they both `diverge’ the meaning evidently is `from each other.’ We thus have here in its oldest form the world-wide proverb, `Man proposes, God disposes.’” (pps. 320-330)
From Wiki:
Instruction of Amenemope (also called Instructions of Amenemopet, Wisdom of Amenemopet) is a literary work composed in Ancient Egypt, most likely during the Ramesside Period (ca. 1300–1075 BCE); it contains thirty chapters of advice for successful living, ostensibly written by the scribe Amenemope son of Kanakht as a legacy for his son. A characteristic product of the New Kingdom “Age of Personal Piety”, the work reflects on the inner qualities, attitudes, and behaviors required for a happy life in the face of increasingly difficult social and economic circumstances. It is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of ancient near-eastern wisdom literature and has been of particular interest to modern scholars because of its relationship to the biblical Book of Proverbs. …
It was [Adolph] Erman who used Amenemope to emend a difficult reading in the text of Proverbs 22:20, where the Hebrew word shilshom (“three days ago”) appeared to be a copyist’s error that could be meaningfully translated only with difficulty. Erman pointed out that substituting the similar word sheloshim (“thirty”) not only made good sense in context, but yielded the following close parallel between the two texts, with the now-restored “thirty sayings” in Proverbs 22:20 corresponding exactly to the thirty numbered chapters in Amenemope:
- Proverbs 22:20: “Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge?” (ESV)
- Amenemope, ch. 30, line 539: “Look to these thirty chapters; they inform, they educate.”
Erman also argued that this correspondence demonstrated that the Hebrew text had been influenced by the Egyptian instead of the other way around, since the Egyptian text of Amenemope explicitly enumerates thirty chapters whereas the Hebrew text of Proverbs does not have such clear-cut divisions, and would therefore be more likely to lose the original meaning during copying. Since Erman’s time there has been a near consensus among scholars that there exists a literary connection between the two works, although the direction of influence remains contentious even today. The majority has concluded that Proverbs 22:17–23:10 was dependent on Amenemope; a minority is split between viewing the Hebrew text as the original inspiration for Amenemope and viewing both works as dependent on a now lost Semitic source.