© 2004 Olga López
© 2004 Urantia Association of Spain
Presentation by Olga López at the 3rd Urantia Book Readers’ Meeting in Cáceres, November 2002
The second part of the Book comprises documents 32 through 56. These are 25 documents dealing with our local universe, Nebadon. Like every local universe, it is administratively organized into 100 constellations, each consisting of 100 world systems. Each system has a maximum of 1,000 inhabited spheres. In our system, Satania, the number of inhabited spheres at the moment is 619.
In this second part, we are not only told about the different orders of beings that inhabit our local universe, but we are also given background on the race to Paradise, primarily its initial stages, which we will travel while we remain in the local universe.
The documents follow an order in which this grouping could be established:
Descending from divinity to ascending mortals, we begin with the Creator Son and his associate, the Divine Minister. They both create the Bright and Morning Star, a unique being in each local universe. In our universe, he is Gabriel of Salvington. Finally, we are told of the different orders of angels (the seraphic hosts) and of the ascending sons of God, of whom mortals are only one group. Seraphim, Material Sons, and midwayers, to name a few, also belong to this group.
Among mortals with Adjuster-fusion potential, three types are distinguished: Spirit-fused (who remain in the local universe at the end of their ascendant career), Son-fused (who remain in the superuniverse), and Father-fused (who continue to Paradise). We belong to the latter group. There is no privilege or favoritism in this distinction; they are simply distinct destinies and assignments.
Paper 41 locates us physically with respect to our system, constellation, and local universe: we are situated on the periphery of Satania. With one exception, we are the farthest inhabited world from Jerusem. Satania, in turn, is close to the farthest system in our constellation, Norlatiadek, which itself is currently traversing the outer edge of Nebadon.
“You were truly among the least of all creation until Michael’s bestowal elevated your planet to a position of honor and great universe interest. Sometimes the last is first, while truly the least becomes greatest.” UB 41:10.5
These documents deal with the unique nature of all forms of energy and matter. The physical organization of the universes follows a decimal model (an electron consists of 100 ultimatons; there are 100 distinct forms of matter), but interwoven with a sevenfold organization, characteristic of the spiritual world. In fact, the universe of universes is planned by the Infinite Mind, created by it, and managed by it.
In these documents, the revelators describe, among other things, Edentia, the capital world of our constellation. They also describe Jerusem, the capital world of Satania, where the System Sovereign resides. Initially, he was Lucifer, but after his rebellion, he was replaced by another primary Lanonandek Son, Lanaforge.
These documents are some of my favorites, as it’s very exciting for me to see all the exciting work that awaits us once we cross the threshold of death.
The mansion worlds are actually the seven worlds surrounding world number one, called the world of the finalists, one of the seven major worlds that revolve around Jerusem. With a few exceptions, we must pass through each of them.
Before describing the journey through the seven mansion worlds, the revelators make a series of very revealing observations. On the one hand, they tell us about children who have died before an Adjuster was assigned to them, and about those who, although having an Adjuster in life, have not made the choice regarding their survival. On the other hand, a very interesting discussion is made about the decisive importance of the parenthood experience. So decisive is it that anyone who has not gone through it on a material world must do so on the world of the finaliters. The Book says: “It is an unfortunate and mistaken notion of modern peoples on Urantia that child culture is largely the task of mothers. Children need fathers as well as mothers, and fathers need this parental experience as much as do mothers.” UB 47:1.6
On the first mansion world, we resume our life exactly where it was interrupted by death. There is nothing in death itself that makes us more spiritual or wiser. Indeed, the basic objective of our passage through the first two mansion worlds is to make up for the deficiencies of mortal experience. It is not until the third world that we begin to receive positive instruction, and on the fourth world that we actually enter the morontia career.
In the fifth world, we experience a “preview” of what life on Jerusem will be like, and we begin to acquire cosmic consciousness. In the sixth world, fusion with our Adjuster occurs, and it is there that we choose the route we will follow to Paradise. In the seventh world, the “mark of the beast” is completely eradicated. Jerusem is the next stage of the journey.
From Paper 48, which discusses morontia life and the beings who inhabit the mansion worlds in general, I am particularly struck by the emphasis placed on a sense of humor to “release the tensions inherent in the ascendant career,” in the words of the Book. It’s not all hard work; there is also room for relaxation and fun.
Humor is related to “looking back” and reliving experiences in other worlds and other times. Humor will always be with us, and it’s necessary to avoid falling into complacency and an exaggerated sense of our own importance. Furthermore, when we feel important, we lose the energy we need to perform our tasks. Because it’s not the task itself that exhausts us, but our ego.
One of the purposes of the morontia career is to eradicate the pursuit of ease. There are no shortcuts in the race to Paradise. On the other hand, we are completely free to choose our path, as long as it doesn’t harm us or others. We are also instructed in new values that help us “see with two eyes instead of one.” The morontia mote would be responsible for broadening our cosmic vision.
At the end of the document, there is a clear reference to a belief widely held by monotheistic religions: “You are not the recipients of all this divine labor and painstaking training only that you may survive just to enjoy endless bliss and eternal ease. There is a goal of transcendent service concealed beyond the horizon of the present universe age” UB 48:8.3. And this is precisely the exciting thing about these documents: that in our race toward Paradise, there is no idleness or inactivity, no harp sessions floating on a cloud, no Nirvanas, no mere fusion with Divinity, but there is a purpose, a task awaiting us beyond, in the new universes in formation.
This document deals with inhabited worlds, the “ultimate units” of which systems are composed. Satania, as I’ve already mentioned, is composed of 619 inhabited spheres. We are, therefore, in a system that is not yet complete.
Each planet has its own scale of life: no two worlds are identical in terms of fauna and flora. Evolution on the worlds is orderly and controlled: mortal man is not an evolutionary accident, as some claim. This uniqueness, according to the Revelators, should lead us to value the higher potentials of life more, since “ages are required to overcome its losses.”
The normal evolution of life on a world follows these stages: Life Carriers → Planetary Prince → Material Sons → Paradise Bestowal Son → Trinity Teacher Sons → stage of light and life.
I would highlight a very interesting observation from Paper 49, which I hope we heed in this world: “We do not consider a planet to have emerged from barbarism until one sex continues to attempt to tyrannize the other. This feature of creature experience greatly improves after the arrival of a Material Son and Daughter.” Unfortunately, given the “abnormal” nature of evolution on Urantia, we still suffer from this scourge, many thousands of years after the arrival of Adam and Eve.
Both Planetary Princes and Planetary Adams are two types of decisive personalities on every inhabited world. In our case, the prince assigned to our world, Caligastia, joined the Lucifer rebellion, which caused our world to deviate from the evolution of a normal world. This was contributed to by the absence of Adam and Eve, who, although they did not join the rebellion, as Caligastia intended, definitively disrupted the plans for the improvement of the human races, which were deprived of much of the contribution of the violet race.
This document describes the stages that human life follows on a planetary scale. There are seven:
Here are other extremely interesting and fascinating documents, not only because they help us understand the “why” of our world’s troubles, but because they describe the true personality of Lucifer. A brilliant personality, a being of light, who succumbed to his own importance and fell into deliberate Evil.
There has been great confusion in our world about his identity. He has been confused with Satan, his lieutenant, with Beelzebub, the leader of the rebel midwayers, and even with Caligastia. What these documents do make clear is that none of them can possess us or harm us, if that is truly our will.
Lucifer expressed the reasons for his rebellion in 3 points:
Ultimately, 37 worlds succumbed to the rebellion, including ours. Caligastia remains on our world, but has no power to enter and corrupt our minds. “Generally, when weak and dissolute mortals are supposed to be under the influence of devils and demons, it is because they are merely dominated by their own inherent and vile tendencies… The devil has been credited with much evil that does not belong to him. Caligastia has been comparatively powerless since the cross of Christ.”
Lucifer has been chained on the prison world of Jerusem since Michael became ruler of Nebadon by divine right. Satan is also imprisoned. The final verdict against them is unknown, but it is presumed to be annihilation, as they have shown no sign of repentance and have rejected all offers of mercy.
Document 54 offers a series of very interesting reflections on this rebellion, especially regarding its consequences and possible end. The revelators offer a very clarifying discussion about true freedom, contrasting it with the false freedom advocated by Lucifer. The worst aspect of his rebellion was his attempt to leapfrog time in an experiential universe like the one we live in. Evil and sin are inevitable if the creature is to be truly free, and nothing and no one can deprive us of that freedom of choice, just as Lucifer intended.
The revelators understand that, given our narrow-mindedness, we might think the final resolution is taking too long. They give us some very understandable reasons to argue otherwise. First, Michael himself has done everything possible to delay the execution of justice, not out of weakness or permissiveness, but to give Lucifer (his son, let us not forget) every opportunity to repent of his actions. This, the restraint of justice by mercy, is further proof that God is love.
On the other hand, time doesn’t pass the same way for us as it does for beings who enjoy immortality. In fact, according to them, the trial proceeded very quickly. And the verdict won’t be long in coming. It may seem slow to us, but it will be certain.
It’s also true that when one family member becomes disruptive, the rest of the family suffers from this problem, but it’s also true that this rebellion won’t prevent us from ascending to Paradise and attaining God. Indeed, we are told that “the good that came out of Satania’s rebellion is more than a thousand times the sum of all the bad.” Having lived on a planet troubled by rebellion gives us an experiential background that other, more “normal” worlds lack, and this can provide us with very valuable spiritual baggage.
Document 55 speaks more extensively about those worlds of time and space that have reached their fullness, the most advanced stage of evolution, and which were already mentioned in the document on the planetary stages of mortals.
The certificate of admission to the ages of light and life is the presence of the morontia temple. There, mortals pass into morontia existence without undergoing physical death, a phenomenon that is gradually disappearing from these worlds, though it is not entirely extinct. Death on these worlds ceases to be tragic and becomes a cause for celebration and joy. “It would be very helpful if less advanced mortals could only learn to view natural death with something of this same cheerfulness and lightheartedness” UB 55:2.6.
On these worlds, souls leaving the planet do not pass through the mansion worlds, but go directly to Salvington, the capital of the local universe. However, these individuals return to the mansion worlds as masters; they are not deprived of anything essential to their ascension experience.
Although there is still much potential for evil, and there are everyday problems to resolve, these worlds would be something like “heaven on earth” for us. In worlds that have reached the seventh and final stage of light and life, wisdom can exhaust even material potentials and attain mota and even absonite discernment. There is no limit to intellectual evolution and the attainment of wisdom.
The stage of light and life does not concern the worlds alone, but, as it expands, it encompasses the systems, the constellations, the local universes, and the minor and major sectors of the superuniverse. No one knows what will happen when the seven superuniverses are established in light and life, but it will surely be the most important event since the appearance of the central universe.
The second part concludes with this document, which is in a sense a recapitulation document in which, despite having detailed all the elements that make up the local universes, we are reminded again that everything is created, conceived, organized, and administered in a unified manner. We must not let the trees obscure the forest. Ultimately, the purpose of the existence of the local universes, given their evolutionary nature, is unity with the I AM.
These paragraphs speak for themselves about the idea of unity that this document conveys to us:
“The universe of universes is one vast integrated mechanism which is absolutely controlled by one infinite mind. The physical, intellectual, and spiritual domains of universal creation are divinely correlated.” UB 56:0.1
“The Universal Father is a divinely unified personality; consequently, all his ascending sons will also be fully unified personalities before they reach Havona.” UB 56:4.1
“To personality God cannot be plural. God is Father to each of his creatures, and it is literally impossible for any child to have more than one father.” UB 56:4.4
“God is all and in all; nothing and no being exist without him.” UB 56:9.14
Once again, we are reminded of the three values of truth, beauty, and goodness as revealers of the reality of divinity, which must be combined into a unified concept of the supreme and divine ideal. The document (and, with it, the second part) concludes with three beautiful phrases about love, with which I conclude this introduction:
“Love is the greatest thing in the universe”
“God is love”
“Love is the desire to do good to others.” UB 56:10.21