© 2022 Neil Francey
… no revelation short of the attainment of the Universal Father can ever be complete. All other celestial ministrations are no more than partial, transient, and practically adapted to local conditions in time and space. (UB 92:4.9)
Revelations to inhabited planets follow a pattern that has no doubt been proven suitably progressive. However, our planet has not enjoyed such stable extra planetary influences.
Rebellion in some form has diminished the intended contribution of the four previous revelations, and this has caused disruption to the most favorable course of to the stage of Light and Life.
Have the seeds of rebellion already been sown in regard to the fifth and current revelation? Is history repeating itself even though the warnings about previous follies have been given to us in the text of The Urantia Book?
We know that the final benefits of revelatory defaults eventually vastly outweigh the negatives in terms of the exposure of the futility of evil, and show demonstrated loyalty by those who stood firm in the face of insurrection.
But there are massive legacies of misery from poor genetic development, turmoil from regressive civilization, countless conflicts, and spiritual darkness attendant upon the rejection of truth. The fifth revelation faces this formidable history and any default could long perpetuate such disastrous legacies.
You should not forget that for two hundred thousand years all the worlds of Satania have rested under the spiritual ban of Norlatiadek in consequence of the Lucifer rebellion. And it will require age upon age to retrieve the resultant handicaps of sin and secession. Your world still continues to pursue an irregular and checkered career as a result of the double tragedy of a rebellious Planetary Prince and a defaulting Material Son. Even the bestowal of Christ Michael on Urantia did not immediately set aside the temporal consequences of these serious blunders in the earlier administration of the world. (UB 50:6.5)
It will be of particular benefit to study the background, implementation, and outcome for previous revelations. We need to heed all such circumstances and related recommendations made by the revelators. In this way, we can be aware of the issues that are expected to impact on the current revelation.
The true concept of the First Source and Center was first promulgated on Urantia by the one hundred corporeal members of Prince Caligastia’s staff. This expanding revelation of Deity went on for more than three hundred thousand years until it was suddenly terminated by the planetary secession and the disruption of the teaching regime. (UB 92:4.5)
There is a carefully designed, implemented, and monitored plan for mortal life on a planet. And as individuals, whatever our station and whenever our time, we can contribute to a better world. However, we can also fail in attaining our full potential, or even fail outright.
When a major revelation defaults, because it is always a possibility for certain levels of sonship, the consequences can be severe and long lasting. The one big family on a planet shares in that destiny. It occurs when individuals attempt to overrule and subjugate the divine plan in favor of a personal plan they assume is superior.
It should be noted that both Lucifer and Caligastia had been patiently instructed and lovingly warned respecting their critical tendencies and the subtle development of their pride of self and its associated exaggeration of the feeling of self-importance. But all of these attempts to help had been misconstrued as unwarranted criticism and as unjustified interference with personal liberties. (UB 66:8.2)
There can be no short cut to Paradise. Real progress has spirit qualities, has to be earned, and leads to a subsequent stage. Unfortunately human nature is susceptible to what seems like a good idea at the time. But we are repeatedly instructed, and given clear evidence, of the seemingly difficult divine way.
Thus does the Lucifer manifesto, masquerading in the habiliments of liberty, stand forth in the clear light of reason as a monumental threat to consummate the theft of personal liberty and to do it on a scale that has been approached only twice in all the history of Nebadon. (UB 54:2.3)
In short, what God had given men and angels Lucifer would have taken away from them, that is, the divine privilege of participating in the creation of their own destinies and of the destiny of this local system of inhabited worlds. (UB 54:2.4)
History is a master teacher if only we are mature enough to learn. Even today we are attempting to create societies on impoverished values: War, family dislocation, poor health and education, population explosion, and the base aspects of materialism. We admit to all of that, but do nothing about it.
The Caligastia scheme for the immediate reconstruction of human society in accordance with his ideas of individual freedom and group liberties, proved a swift and more or less complete failure. (UB 67:5.3)
The fact that we have only a meager idea of interplanetary government is of no consequence as an excuse.
We are not without such guidance. And this can be applied to all revelations:
Throughout the seven crucial years of the Caligastia rebellion, Van was wholly devoted to the work of ministry to his loyal army of men, midwayers, and angels. The spiritual insight and moral steadfastness which enabled Van to maintain such an unshakable attitude of loyalty to the universe government was the product of clear thinking, wise reasoning, logical judgment, sincere motivation, unselfish purpose, intelligent loyalty, experiential memory, disciplined character, and the unquestioning dedication of his personality to the doing of the will of the Father in Paradise. (UB 67:3.6)
Adam and Eve again portrayed the concept of the Father of all to the evolutionary peoples. The disruption of the first Eden halted the course of the Adamic revelation before it had ever fully started. … by 2500 B.C. mankind had largely lost sight of the revelation sponsored in the days of Eden. (UB 92:4.6)
The challenges on an evolving world are never underestimated by the universe administration. Every effort is made to assist us, even though they are currently hampered because of defaults on a grand scale. This Material Son and Daughter were made totally aware of the dangers they would face.
The revelators have yet again lovingly and carefully given us likewise instructions in The Urantia Book.
Adam and Eve had remained loyal to Michael during the Lucifer rebellion; nevertheless, the pair were called before the System Sovereign and his entire cabinet for examination and instruction. The details of Urantia affairs were fully presented; they were exhaustively instructed as to the plans to be pursued in accepting the responsibilities of rulership on such a strife-torn world. They were put under joint oaths of allegiance to the Most Highs of Edentia_and to Michael of Salvington. (UB 74:1.4)
… the Melchizedeks, before departing, had especially enjoined Eve as to the peculiar dangers besetting their isolated position on the planet and had in particular warned her never to stray from the side of her mate, that is, to attempt no personal or secret methods of furthering their mutual undertakings. (UB 75:2.4)
There can be no excuse for claiming ignorance.
The plans for race upstepping are prepared by the Planetary Prince and his staff and are executed by Adam and Eve. And this was where your Material Son and his companion were placed at great disadvantage when they arrived on Urantia. Caligastia offered crafty and effective opposition to the Adamic mission; and notwithstanding that the Melchizedek receivers of Urantia had duly warned both Adam and Eve concerning the planetary dangers inherent in the presence of the rebellious Planetary Prince, this archrebel, by a wily stratagem, outmaneuvered the Edenic pair and entrapped them into a violation of the covenant of their trusteeship as the visible rulers of your world. (UB 51:3.4)
Caligastia then and now seeks nothing less than to deprive susceptible souls of the supernal privilege of making the Paradise ascent to perfection. He has sought to accomplish this goal by destabilizing the revelations received on Urantia. The cumulative effects impact upon the fifth revelation. Shall we be mindful and recognize his nefarious ways?
Even though this project of modifying the divine plan had been conceived and executed with entire sincerity and with only the highest motives concerning the welfare of the world, it constituted evil because it represented the wrong way to achieve righteous ends, because it departed from the right way, the divine plan. (UB 75:4.6)
Once again default occurred because people listened to insidious propaganda of personal liberty and planetary freedom of action. And not only Eve, but Serapatatia was honest and sincere in his intentions. Like him, perhaps we would be unaware that we aiding and abetting Caligastia. He will be targeting his victims yet again. And the quote about modifying the divine plan can already be applied to the fifth major revelation.
This emergency Son of Nebadon inaugurated the third revelation of truth on Urantia. The cardinal precepts of his teachings were trust and faith. He taught trust in the omnipotent beneficence of God and proclaimed that faith was the act by which men earned God’s favor. (UB 92:4.7)
The supermaterial government of Urantia, under the direction of the Melchizedeks, continued, but direct physical contact with the evolutionary races had been severed. From the distant days of the arrival of the corporeal staff of the Planetary Prince, down through the times of Van and Amadon to the arrival of Adam and Eve, physical representatives of the universe government had been stationed on the planet. But with the Adamic default this regime, extending over a period of more than four hundred and fifty thousand years, came to an end. In the spiritual spheres, angelic helpers continued to struggle in conjunction with the Thought Adjusters, both working heroically for the salvage of the individual; but no comprehensive plan for farreaching world welfare was promulgated to the mortals of earth until the arrival of Machiventa Melchizedek … (UB 76:5.6)
Revelatory truth now had to contend with the self-interest and resistance of the priest caste.
The teaching of Melchizedek was full and replete, but the records of these days seemed impossible and fantastic to the later Hebrew priests … (UB 93:9.6)
The rejection of the Melchizedek gospel of trust in God and salvation through faith marked a vital turning point for India. The Salem missionaries had contributed much to the loss of faith in all the ancient Vedic gods, but the leaders, the priests of Vedism, refused to accept the Melchizedek teaching of one God and one simple faith. (UB 94:1.6)
In their efforts at self-preservation the Brahmans had rejected the one God of Melchizedek, and now they found themselves with the hypothesis of Brahman, that indefinite and illusive philosophic self, that impersonal and impotent it which has left the spiritual life of India helpless and prostrate from that unfortunate day to the twentieth century. (UB 94:2.7)
The leaders of organized and hierarchical religion resisted the teachings of Melchizedek, and so it has been in regard to the teachings of Jesus. Religious and organizational movements that are infiltrated and hijacked by the parasitic human priest caste inevitably deteriorate into the most serious competitors to the epochal revelations they circumvent.
There appears to be a natural tendency to protect vested interests by denigrating opposition, rather than assessing revelation as a higher authority and therefore worthy of recognition and integration. Jesus incorporated the best of the existing scriptures into his teachings.
And thus, in losing sight of Melchizedek, they also lost sight of the teaching of this emergency Son regarding the spiritual mission of the promised bestowal Son; lost sight of the nature of this mission so fully and completely that very few of their progeny were able or willing to recognize and receive Michael when he appeared on earth and in the flesh as Machiventa had foretold. (UB 93:9.10)
Christ Michael presented for the fourth time to Urantia the concept of God as the Universal Father, and this teaching has generally persisted ever since. The essence of his teaching was love and service, the loving worship which a creature son voluntarily gives in recognition of, and response to, the loving ministry of God his Father; the freewill service which such creature sons bestow upon their brethren in the joyous realization that in this service they are likewise serving God the Father. (UB 92:4.8)
“Throughout your Urantia bestowal you need be concerned with but one thing, the unbroken communion between you and your Paradise Father; and it will be by the perfection of such a relationship that the world of your bestowal, even all the universe of your creation, will behold a new and more understandable revelation of your Father and my Father, the Universal Father of all.” (UB 120:1.4)
“Your great mission to be realized and experienced in the mortal incarnation is embraced in your decision to live a life wholeheartedly motivated to do the will of your Paradise Father, thus to reveal God, your Father, in the flesh and especially to the creatures of the flesh.” (UB 120:2.8)
From a human and universal standpoint, when considering these mandates, Jesus in no way defaulted in his mission.
“And now, my brother, in taking leave of you as you prepare to depart for Urantia and after counseling you regarding the general conduct of your bestowal, allow me to present certain advices that have been arrived at in consultation with Gabriel, and which concern minor phases of your mortal life.” (UB 120:3.1)
The inclusion of this quote reminds us that counsel and advice is similarly given to us in the fifth revelation. And it is there because we are susceptible to errors of judgment, as have previous recipients of revelation. It is a big task to reconcile our mortal status with an expanded vista of worlds and values.
And thus did Melchizedek prepare the way and set the monotheistic stage of world tendency for the bestowal of an actual Paradise Son of the one God, whom he so vividly portrayed as the Father of all, and whom he represented to Abraham as a God who would accept man on the simple terms of personal faith. (UB 93:3.8)
Here we see that one revelation is the forerunner to the next. And the fifth in turn is confirming all that Michael presented. What we do with the fifth will surely somehow determine the next revelatory event. We are playing a high stakes game. Questions will one day be asked of us.
In the weeks following the baptism of Jesus the character of John’s preaching gradually changed into a proclamation of mercy for the common people, while he denounced with renewed vehemence the corrupt political and religious rulers. (UB 135:10.2)
This cleansing of the temple discloses the Master’s attitude toward commercializing the practices of religion as well as his detestation of all forms of unfairness and profiteering at the expense of the poor and the unlearned. This episode also demonstrates that Jesus did not look with approval upon the refusal to employ force to protect the majority of any given human group against the unfair and enslaving practices of unjust minorities who may be able to entrench themselves behind political, financial, or ecclesiastical power. (UB 173:1.11)
Revelation challenges the prevailing conditions so it is likely that its acceptance will only be partial. Lessor Sons and mortals seem to look for easy ways to interpret the divine plan. It is easier still to resist or ignore it.
Again we see that mortals who sat in authority at the time of a revelation failed to see the dawn of a new springtime. And the world of today is in a far greater state of transition. So it will require worldly wisdom to pilot the fifth revelation through rapidly changing times. Circumscribed viewpoints will not do it.
And all of this false hope led to such a degree of racial disappointment and frustration that the leaders of the Jews were so confused they failed to recognize and accept the mission and ministry of a divine Son of Paradise when he presently came to them in the likeness of mortal flesh - incarnated as the Son of Man. (UB 97:8.4)
How these chief priests, scribes, Sadducees, and some of the Pharisees flattered themselves that Jesus, the disturber of their position and the challenger of their authority, was now securely in their hands! And they were resolved that he should never live to escape their vengeful clutches. (UB 184:3.3)
The fact that the fifth revelation is in written form presents an interesting circumstance. It can be readily subjected to the conspiracies of a hostile world. The quotations above illustrate how that can be done. But in another way, it should prevent the many errors that are described in the quotes below.
The gospel of the kingdom, the message of Jesus, had been suddenly changed into the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They now proclaimed the facts of his life, death, and resurrection and preached the hope of his speedy return to this world to finish the work he began. (UB 194:4.5)
New Testament authors and later Christian writers further complicated the distortion of Hebrew history by their well-meant attempts to transcendentalize the Jewish prophets. Thus has Hebrew history been disastrously exploited by both Jewish and Christian writers. (UB 97:8.6)
In the enthusiasm of Pentecost, Peter unintentionally inaugurated a new religion, the religion of the risen and glorified Christ. The Apostle Paul later on transformed this new gospel into Christianity, a religion embodying his own theologic views and portraying his own personal experience with the Jesus of the Damascus road. (UB 196:2.1)
The papers, of which this is one, constitute the most recent presentation of truth to the mortals of Urantia. These papers differ from all previous revelations, for they are not the work of a single universe personality but a composite presentation by many beings. (UB 92:4.9)
It is claimed in historical archives that the following early warning was given to recipients of the Urantia revelation: 'Many strange isms and queer groups will seek to attach themselves to The Urantia Book and its far-flung influence. Your most trying experiences will be with such groups who so loudly acclaim their belief in the teachings of the Book and who will so persistently seek to attach themselves to the movement.
‘Great wisdom will be required to guard against the distracting and distorting influence of these multifarious groups and from equally distracting and disturbing individuals, some well intentioned and some sinister, who will strive to become a part of the authentic constituency of the Urantia movement.’
The great challenge for an organization is to present its spiritual mission while disassociating itself from the society it wishes to influence. Jesus managed to do so by limiting the size of his group. When an organization becomes too large and formalized, nonspiritual trends emerge. Then it begins to die.
So-called Christianity has become a social and cultural movement as well as a religious belief and practice. (UB 195:9.11)
But there is no excuse for the involvement of the church in commerce and politics; such unholy alliances are a flagrant betrayal of the Master. (UB 195:10.13)
Christianity suffers under a great handicap because it has become identified in the minds of all the world as a part of the social system, the industrial life, and the moral standards of Western civilization … (UB 195:10.20)
The priest caste will continue to defy the fifth revelation, as will other associated interests in politics, law, and business. However, we are not only warned about this, but we are told what we need to do.
Indeed, the social readjustments, the economic transformations, the moral rejuvenations, and the religious revisions of Christian civilization would be drastic and revolutionary if the living religion of Jesus should suddenly supplant the theologic religion about Jesus. (UB 196:1.2)
The partial successes of previous revelations have resulted in limited progress on this planet. And while many mortals have demonstrated a priceless harvest of loyalty to Deity amid insurrection, the wisdom to learn from past mistakes still seems to be largely lacking.
The record shows that extensive counsel and advice, even as we have been given in The Urantia Book, is of no use if it is not heeded. And the history of revelations shows that counsel and advice is easily overlooked.
It took 500,000 years after human will was first registered on this planet, before the first revelation of epochal significance was inaugurated. During the next 500,000 years, only one further such revelation occurred. Now, in the space of the last 4,000 years, three such revelations have eventuated.
The first of those three revelations was by Melchizedek, Abraham’s mentor, but it did not suit the existing concepts of evolutionary religions.
And then Jesus did not fit the concept of the expected Messiah. Today, over 20,000 pitifully sub-divided organizational sects currently trade upon his name and tragically, though understandably, most choose to keep their distance from him, and never really get to know him.
Now, the Urantia revelation is the content of the original Urantia Papers. It is not any human group or organization associated with the Book. Such groups and organizations will expand and contend for authority and control over the revelation. There will be division within and between them. Problems that disrupted previous revelations are beginning to emerge. But always, the Urantia revelation itself must stand aloof and increasingly apart from all human efforts to control or distort it.
Newcomers to the revelation may see a faltering and fallible organizational movement. They may even see The Urantia Book’s ideological antithesis in self-assertion and unbridled personal liberty, as groups and people interpret the revelation in ways that conflict with the original text.
But if people can see beyond to the labor of love of the revelators, the entire human race would likely fall in love with the carpenter of Nazareth and his heart-warming and world-saving teachings.
This being the case, and knowing the background to previous revelations, it is important to look more closely at the implications specifically for Revelations Four and Five.