© 2006 Olga López
© 2006 Urantia Association of Spain
The 17th century witnessed a flourishing of science in the West, which finally seemed to have somewhat shaken off the burden of the Christian Church and its entrenched position in completely erroneous scientific theories (to give you an idea, it still refused to accept that the Earth was just another planet orbiting itself and the sun). However, scientists at the time continued to consider God as a postulate, a starting point for their explanations of how the universe works, the great sustainer of all creation.
Among the scientists of that century, I would like to highlight Isaac Newton, one of the most important scientists in the history of science, a brilliant mathematician whose ideas might lead one to think that, in light of the teachings of the UB, he was not far off the mark.
Like Galileo, Newton also believed that the laws of nature were written in mathematical language, and he applied this axiom in all his investigations. Newton was the first to offer a single explanation for phenomena as seemingly disparate as the tides, the motion of the moon, and the motion of the planets, appealing to a force acting at a distance, whose cause he could not explain, but which he could describe. That explanation is his famous theory of universal gravitation.
I would like to comment here on Newton’s conception of space, because it had curious parallels with the conception of space that appears in the UB. Unlike his contemporary Descartes, Newton distinguished between space and matter. In his best-known work, the Principia Mathematica, Newton distinguished between absolute space, time, and motion from the relative ones we normally measure because, he said, the reason and stability of scientific theory require the existence of universal and invariable dimensions “which must correspond to the universal and invariable character of the Supreme Maker.” According to Newton, space and time have an existence independent of the material universe that exists within them.
But what is space, according to the UB? UB 11:5.9 says that space is “neither force, nor energy, nor power.” UB 11:7.4 says: “Space is neither a subabsolute condition within, nor the presence of, the Unqualified Absolute, neither is it a function of the Ultimate. It is a bestowal of Paradise, and the space of the grand universe and that of all outer regions is believed to be actually pervaded by the ancestral space potency of the Unqualified Absolute.”
Space is, from the human viewpoint, nothing—negative; it exists only as related to something positive and nonspatial. Space is, however, real. It contains and conditions motion. It even moves… UB 12:4.7
For the Neoplatonists at Cambridge University, among whom was Newton, God was constantly present in the world, operating either directly or through active agents. Compare these quotes from the University of Cambridge:
… Though the Father does not personally create the evolutionary universes, he does control them in many of their universal relationships and in certain of their manifestations… UB 1:2.9
As a physical controller in the material universe of universes, the First Source and Center functions in the patterns of the eternal Isle of Paradise, and through this absolute gravity center the eternal God exercises cosmic overcontrol of the physical level equally in the central universe and throughout the universe of universes… UB 1:2.10
Within the limits of what is consistent with divine nature, it is literally true that “with God all things are possible.” The slow, protracted process of peoples, planets, and universes is under the perfect control of the universe creators and administrators and is unfolding in accordance with the eternal purpose of the Universal Father, proceeding in harmony and order and in conformity with God’s all-wise plan. There is but one lawgiver. He upholds the worlds in space and turns the universes about the infinite circle of the eternal circuit. UB 3:2.2
… the First Source and Center is the primal cause of the universal physical phenomena of all space. From this divine activity all physical energy and other material manifestations are derived… UB 3:2.3
According to Newton, God was in charge of correcting any disorder that occurred in the universe.
The vast power currents of space and the circuits of spirit energy may seem to operate automatically; they may appear to function without let or hindrance, but such is not the case. All these stupendous systems of energy are under control; they are subject to intelligent supervision. UB 24:1.1
On the other hand, according to Newton, matter was made up of indivisible, massive, impenetrable and mobile particles, endowed with inertia (Newton was the first to conceive of inertia as a force inherent in matter) and possessing certain non-material “active principles” more or less linked to divinity, such as gravitation or magnetism.
Regarding ultimatons, which have not yet been discovered by science (and which Newton, obviously, was not aware of), the UB establishes their relationship to divinity as follows: “These ancestral forces have a Paradise origin because they forever swing through pervaded space in the exact gigantic outlines of Paradise. Though nonresponsive to Paradise gravity, this force-charge of space, the ancestor of all materialization, does always respond to the presence of nether Paradise, being apparently circuited in and out of the nether Paradise center…” UB 15:4.1
Let’s see what the LU says about gravity and its relationship to space:
Space is nonresponsive to gravity, but it acts as an equilibrant on gravity. Without the space cushion, explosive action would jerk surrounding space bodies. Pervaded space also exerts an antigravity influence upon physical or linear gravity; space can actually neutralize such gravity action even though it cannot delay it. Absolute gravity is Paradise gravity. Local or linear gravity pertains to the electrical stage of energy or matter; it operates within the central, super-, and outer universes, wherever suitable materialization has taken place. UB 11:8.3
The power of space is not subject to the interactions of any form of gravitation. This primordial Paradise endowment is not an effective level of reality, but it is ancestral to all functional nonspiritual relative realities… UB 11:8.8
(The concept of “space power” is, in my opinion, very interesting, and deserves to be considered in a little more detail)
Linear-gravity response is a quantitative measure of nonspirit energy. All mass—organized energy—is subject to this grasp except as motion and mind act upon it. Linear gravity is the short-range cohesive force of the macrocosmos somewhat as the forces of intra-atomic cohesion are the short-range forces of the microcosmos. Physical materialized energy, organized as so-called matter, cannot traverse space without affecting linear-gravity response. Although such gravity response is directly proportional to mass, it is so modified by intervening space that the final result is no more than roughly approximated when expressed as inversely according to the square of the distance. Space eventually conquers linear gravitation because of the presence therein of the antigravity influences of numerous supermaterial forces which operate to neutralize gravity action and all responses thereto. UB 42:11.5
It was Newton who was the first to make a “rough approximation” of the law of gravity, by determining the direct proportion to the mass of bodies and the inverse proportion to the square of the distance.
Regarding the innate energy in matter, we have this interesting paragraph from the LU:
There is innate in matter and present in universal space a form of energy not known on Urantia. When this discovery is finally made, then will physicists feel that they have solved, almost at least, the mystery of matter. And so will they have approached one step nearer the Creator; so will they have mastered one more phase of the divine technique; but in no sense will they have found God, neither will they have established the existence of matter or the operation of natural laws apart from the cosmic technique of Paradise and the motivating purpose of the Universal Father. UB 42:1.3
For Newton, the stationary and immobile entities of the universe were divinity, whose existence constituted time and space.
All units of cosmic energy are in primary revolution, are engaged in the execution of their mission, while swinging around the universal orbit. The universes of space and their component systems and worlds are all revolving spheres, moving along the endless circuits of the master universe space levels. Absolutely nothing is stationary in all the master universe except the very center of Havona, the eternal Isle of Paradise, the center of gravity. UB 12:4.1
According to Newton, absolute space and time are ontologically prior to individual substances and their interactions. Although he was convinced of the existence of absolute space and proposed both theological and physical arguments for its existence, he was unsure of the location of bodies within that space.
In the LU we are told that space cannot be absolute, because that would imply that it is infinite, and it is not, since God (in his infinity) transcends space and time:
This concept of indivisibility in association with the concept of unity implies transcendence of both time and space by the Ultimacy of Deity; therefore neither space nor time can be absolute or infinite. The First Source and Center is that infinity who unqualifiedly transcends all mind, all matter, and all spirit. UB 1:7.7
Space is not infinite, even though it takes origin from Paradise; not absolute, for it is pervaded by the Unqualified Absolute. We do not know the absolute limits of space, but we do know that the absolute of time is eternity. UB 12:5.2
Newton maintained, on theological grounds, that if the universe was created ex nihilo, there must exist a receptacle in which the created matter is distributed. He suggested that absolute space is an “emanating effect” from the Creator. Let’s see what the UB says about the origin of space:
Roughly: space seemingly originates just below nether Paradise; time just above upper Paradise (…) Motion is not inherent on Paradise; it is volitional. But the concept of distance, even absolute distance, has very much meaning as it may be applied to relative locations on Paradise… UB 11:2.11
Here is a paragraph that tells us what the relationships are between some of the manifestations of divinity and space:
The Unqualified Absolute pervades all space. We are not altogether clear as to the exact status of the Deity and Universal Absolutes, but we know the latter functions wherever the Deity and Unqualified Absolutes function. The Deity Absolute may be universally present but hardly space present. The Ultimate is, or sometime will be, space present to the outer margins of the fourth space level. We doubt that the Ultimate will ever have a space presence beyond the periphery of the master universe, but within this limit the Ultimate is progressively integrating the creative organization of the potentials of the three Absolutes. UB 12:6.13
The fact that the Unqualified Absolute permeates all space indicates that the potentials this absolute contains are found within it, which brings us back to the concept of the “potency of space.” As we have seen, space is not limited to a set of coordinates where matter is located and exists, but also includes a series of potentials. Returning to paragraph LU 11:8.8:
… Space potency is a term difficult to define. It does not mean that which is ancestral to space; its meaning should convey the idea of the potencies and potentials existent within space. It may be roughly conceived to include all those absolute influences and potentials which emanate from Paradise and constitute the space presence of the Unqualified Absolute. UB 11:8.8
In short, I wanted to highlight here the concept of space used in the LU, comparing it to a classic like Newton because, just like in the LU, he also related space with divinity and, in general, physics with a creator who intelligently supports his creation with well-defined laws.