© 2006 Preston Thomas
© 2006 The Urantia Book Fellowship
| Youth and The Urantia Book | Volume 7, Number 1, 2006 (Summer) — Index | Serving: A Cookbook for the Soul |
In the 1930s, the revelators presented a rather shocking picture of Western thinking and religion. Here is what they reported:
At the time of this revelation the prevailing intellectual and philosophic climate of both European and American life is decidedly secular—humanistic. For three hundred years Western thinking has been progressively secularized.…The majority of professed Christians of Western civilization are unwittingly actual secularists. (My emphasis.) [UB 195:8.3]
Today I would pose this question: Is this also true of us? Are the majority of Urantia Book readers also unwittingly actual secularists?
If this is not so, then why do so many sincere students of The Urantia Book manifest a decidedly secular attitude towards prophecy? Why do so few believe in the validity of prophecy, take it seriously, and recognize its application to both ancient and modern times? The Urantia Book teaches that secularism ignores God or even seeks to replace the religious perspective with its own secular and humanistic worldview. [UB 195:8.5] Likewise, it would seem that many Urantia readers ignore the teachings of prophecy and in its place affirm an attitude of “secular social and political optimism,” a viewpoint the revelators clearly label “an illusion.” [UB 195:8.12]
Webster’s Third International Dictionary, Unabridged (1971) defines secularism as “a view of life or any particular matter based on the premise that religion and religious considerations should be ignored or purposely excluded.” This is the natural secular attitude towards prophecy. Secularists believe the supposedly inspired writings of the prophets are a relic of the past, an ancient and superstitious way of looking at the world that is incompatible with modern science. They also believe the future is not in God’s hands; it is up to us, and unaided human evolution is our only hope for a better world.
A good example of this secular attitude is expressed in the following letter I received from a good friend of mine and sincere student of The Urantia Book back in 1992:
“I’m beginning to have doubt regarding prophecy of any sort. Could prophecy simply be a hoax? Many of the biblical prophecies may have been put into scripture after the fact. Were all of them? Most prophecies seem vague and the natural course of evolving history can be made to appear to fit them any number of ways. The Bible is full of prophecies that are subject to all kinds of interpretation. I can’t think of one single prophecy that says specifically what, when, and where something will occur at a future time and it has actually irrefutably occurred.
“The only so-called prophecy I can recall from The Urantia Book is that Jesus said he will someday return, but that’s not really a prophecy; it’s a statement of Jesus’ intention. The statements about science that we haven’t discovered yet aren’t real prophecies, they’re explanations of natural phenomena that we haven’t uncovered.
“Why should God be interested in giving signs to mortals? Perhaps prophecy is a left over remnant of primitive superstitions still given credence today. For a prophecy to be real wouldn’t it have to show that God is directing the affairs of humanity; God doesn’t really do that, does he?
“So as you can see, I’m toying with the viewpoint that if it’s called a prophecy it’s a superstitious attempt to claim something supernatural, a meaningless figment of the imagination supposedly showing God’s intervention into human affairs.”
The prophetic viewpoint stands in stark contrast to such secular attitudes of skepticism and doubt. It affirms that God is in control of our world. His spiritual forces work behind the scenes, and sometimes openly, to influence events on earth. As The Urantia Book explicitly affirms, “The Most Highs rule in the kingdoms of men.” [UB 114:0.1]
God controls the future and God knows the future. Such knowledge is conveyed to us through the revelations of his inspired prophets. Their words deserve our attention, respect, and study. Prophecy is valuable because through its revelations we gain a higher perspective, an enlarged viewpoint of world affairs. No longer are we limited to our purely human vision.
A friend once asked me, “Why should I study prophecy? I’m a busy person. How is prophecy relevant to me?” In reply, I asked him if he remembered Hurricane Andrew. In 1992 this powerful Category 4 hurricane slammed into southern Florida with sustained winds of 142 miles per hour. It caused $30 billion in damage; and in Dade County alone, it left one-quarter million people homeless. Despite the fact that it was the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, it resulted in only forty deaths. I remember at the time thinking, “What if residents had not known of the approach of this killer hurricane and had not evacuated the predicted areas of impact?” Obviously the death toll would have been much greater. It was their knowledge of the approach of Hurricane Andrew that enabled the people to prepare for it and avoid a far greater calamity. As this example clearly shows, when we know the future we can prepare for that future; this is the vital knowledge that prophecy provides.
Viewing the flow of human events from the standpoint of prophecy can also bring us the comfort, understanding, and stability we need to face the great challenges and dangers of our world. Moreover, prophecy is a most interesting and fascinating study. It not only enlarges our viewpoint; it also deepens our faith. And when we witness events unfold as prophesied, we are strengthened in that faith.
The word prophet comes from “pro” and “phana” and means literally to speak for or to say before. The word’s etymology is clearly reflected in the two major definitions of a prophet given by Webster’s Third International Dictionary, Unabridged: (1) “A person inspired by God…to speak for him” and, (2) “A person who prophesies or foretells future events.”
The Urantia Book defines this first function by characterizing a prophet as one who “taught God’s will or proclaimed the necessity for righteous living.” [UB 135:5.6] The potential of the second function, the ability to know the future from a transcendent perspective, is validated when the revelators affirm that, “true prophetic vision is a superpsychologic presentiment. Such visitations are not pseudo hallucinations, neither are they trancelike ecstasies.” [UB 91:7.3]
Modern secular religionists tend to accept the validity of the first function and reject the second. They do this in spite of the fact that in the writings of the prophets these two functions are intimately associated. Moreover, if one believes that true prophets speak for God it seems unlikely that they should be so deceived as to engage in false prophecy. It would mean that throughout history, prophets who taught God’s will and whom we rightly revere as among the greatest men ever to inhabit the earth, were also at the same time so blinded by “primitive superstition,” that they mistakenly thought their prophecies came from God.
In light of the skepticism and doubt engendered by modern secular attitudes, it is helpful to review a few of the reasons a sincere student of The Urantia Book should be more open to the prophetic viewpoint.
Jesus was a prophet. He performed the two functions of a prophet: he taught the way of righteousness and he predicted the future. He studied the Jewish prophets and sought to understand his mission in terms of their predictions. A striking example of this is found in Jesus’ decision to enter Jerusalem on a donkey rather than a horse.
Having decided upon making a public entrance into Jerusalem, the Master was confronted with the necessity of choosing a proper method of executing such a resolve. Jesus thought over all of the…Messianic prophecies, but there seemed to be only one which was at all appropriate for him to follow…[and which he] thought might consistently be taken as a guide for his projected entry into Jerusalem. This Scripture was found in Zechariah, and it said: ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king comes to you. He is just and he brings salvation. He comes as the lowly one, riding upon an ass, upon a colt, the foal of an ass.’ [UB 172:3.4]
I think this is an excellent and explicit description of the events of Palm Sunday, and it was foretold hundreds of years before its actual occurrence.
Of course, Jesus was not only guided by the prophets of old, he also made numerous predictions himself. These include his own death and resurrection, the destruction of Jerusalem, a future new age, and his own second coming. Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem provides a vivid demonstration of the value of knowing the future through prophecy. Jesus was concerned for the safety of his disciples and clearly told his apostles what was to be and what they should do.
You may remain in the city after I have gone, even through these times of travail and bitter persecution, but when you finally see Jerusalem being encompassed by the Roman armies after the revolt of the false prophets, then will you know that her desolation is at hand; then must you flee to the mountains.…And after you have deserted the city, this disobedient people will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led captive into all nations; and so shall Jerusalem be trodden down by the gentiles. [UB 176:1.4]
Because they believed this astounding prophecy of Jerusalem’s complete destruction, they were able to save themselves. Those who did not know or accept Jesus’ warning suffered a terrible slaughter.
Melchizedek, the priest of Salem, was also a prophet. He predicted that the childless Abraham would become the father of many, that his descendants would sojourn in Egypt, and then would occupy Canaan, “the Promised Land.” And he predicted the future coming of Jesus: “Melchizedek taught that at some future time another Son of God would come in the flesh as he had come, but that he would be born of a woman; and that is why numerous later teachers held that Jesus was a priest, or minister, ‘forever after the order of Melchizedek.’” [UB 93:3.7]
The revelators tell us that after he left, “Machiventa Melchizedek continued to take a great interest in the affairs of the descendants of those men who had believed in his teachings.” [UB 93:10.3] We are also told that Melchizedek has a “comprehensive plan for far-reaching world welfare,” [UB 76:5.6] and most significantly, that he “continued to collaborate throughout the nineteen succeeding centuries with the many prophets and seers. . .” [UB 93:10.4] The fact that Melchizedek has a comprehensive plan for our welfare and that he collaborated with the Jewish prophets suggests that elements of this plan are to be found in their teachings.
The Urantia Book exalts the prophets and affirms the truth of their prophetic viewpoint. They often quote and cast new light on Biblical prophecy. “In the Urantia records it is very difficult at times to know exactly who is referred to by the term ‘Most High.’ But Daniel fully understood these matters. He said, ‘The Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will.’” [UB 43:3.4] And we find this clarification of John’s prophecy of a new heaven and a new earth: “It was of the conclusion of the terminal mission of the Teacher Sons…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.’” [UB 52:7.11]
With the perspective of history we may now find many examples of prophecies that were fulfilled. Jeremiah’s story is one of my favorites. He lived in the sixth century BC, just before the time of the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem for over twenty years before it actually took place in 586 BC. The rulers’ response to his message was to ignore his warnings and put him in prison.
Jeremiah’s prophecies are very specific and right on the money. For example, in Jer. 4:6&7 we find this: “A great lion (Nebuchadnezzar) has gone up from his thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone forth from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant.” And in Jer. 20:4 we read, “I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, he shall carry them captive to Babylon.”
Jeremiah’s prophecies also provide another clear demonstration of the value of prophecy. He warned the rulers that Babylon would conquer Jerusalem and that they should surrender to avoid greater losses. Pause to notice that the entire fate of the Jewish nation was bound up in the rulers’ acceptance of Jeremiah’s prophecy. But they refused to listen and held fast to their purely human viewpoint. Their failure to heed Jeremiah’s counsel resulted in the complete destruction of the Jewish state and seventy years of exile in Babylon.
By the way, this prophecy of Jeremiah is confirmed by The Urantia Book: “it was considered blasphemous treason when during the siege of Jerusalem [Jeremiah] said; ‘And now have I given these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant.’ And when Jeremiah counseled the surrender of the city, the priests and civil rulers cast him into the miry pit of a dismal dungeon.” [UB 97:6.4]
The Urantia Book itself engages in prophecy and contains numerous explicit predictions of what is to come. Following are a few illustrative examples:
Having summarized the teachings of Jesus about the kingdom of heaven, we are permitted to…engage in a prophetic forecast of the kingdom as it may evolve in the age to come. [UB 170:5.1] (Emphasis mine)
. . . Urantia is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment. [UB 195:9.2]
Sooner or later another and greater John the Baptist is due to arise proclaiming, ‘the kingdom of God is at hand.’ . . . [UB 170:5.19]
This new and oncoming social order will not settle down complacently for a millennium. [UB 99:1.1]
If we are open to prophecy and read The Urantia Book with an eye for prophetic content, there is much we can learn about our future. For example, consider the rise of modern secularism and its conflict with religion. What may we learn about the future of this struggle and what will be its final outcome?
The future grows out of the present and to properly understand our future we also need to understand present conditions. One of the reasons I find the prophetic content of The Urantia Book to be particularly helpful is that it actually tells us both the present and the future. And in the case of the secular-spiritual conflict, it offers us an even deeper understanding by also providing the historical factors that lead to our present state of affairs.
The midwayers tell us that modern secularism was fostered by two world-wide influences: “the narrow-minded and godless attitude of nineteenth and twentieth century so-called science—atheistic science” and “the totalitarian medieval Christian church.” It had its inception as “a rising protest against the almost complete domination of Western civilization by the institutionalized Christian church.” [UB 195:8.2] Secularism has brought us numerous benefits which contributed to its rise and present popularity; it broke the bonds of church control, and has promoted tolerance, social service, democratic government, civil liberties, science, and education.
However, along with these positive results the midwayers also reveal that secularism has brought numerous unintended consequences. As we look at their discussion of these negative results, we need to remember that these words were indited some seventy years ago. With the perspective of history we can now see that their analysis has proven to be an amazingly accurate prediction of the direction of world events in both the twentieth and now the twenty-first centuries. And their prophetic forecasts of the outworking of secularism are even more applicable today; in fact, we may view them as reliable predictors of a future that will be played out in our own lifetimes. We live in a world in which secularism and its struggle with religion is ever growing in prominence, and progressing toward a final climax.
In 1935 the revelators clearly warned us of the devastation secularism would bring; this is what they said: “even after materialism and mechanism has been more or less vanquished, the devastating influence of twentieth century secularism will still blight the spiritual experience of millions of unsuspecting souls.” [UB 195:8.1] (Emphasis mine.)
At the outset, let us clearly understand this great danger that secularism poses;it blights spiritual experience. In the plant world, blight first causes the plant to cease growing, then to decay, and finally to die. And this is an apt description of the effect that modern secularism has on religious faith and spiritual experience. This is the greatest and most insidious effect of modern secularism; without our knowledge it effectively blocks and eventually destroys spiritual experience and religious living. And it does so on a vast scale, affecting “millions of unsuspecting souls.”
A second major effect of secularism is the disintegration of society. Consider the following analysis of conditions in the 1930s, and notice that the midwayers’ warning of coming social disintegration has proven all too true: “Without God, without religion, scientific secularism can never co-ordinate its forces.…This secularistic human society, notwithstanding its unparalleled materialistic achievement, is slowly disintegrating.” [UB 195:8.10]
Now whether we are talking about marriage, family life, communities, ethnic and religious strife, national affairs, or international relations, who can doubt that such social disintegration has taken place and indeed is a defining characteristic of modern times? And if we look to the future we may discern that we face continuing social disintegration until that day when secularism is finally overcome.
A third predicted event of secularism is the rise of totalitarian states. The revelators warn us of this threat:
. . . Secularism did break the bonds of church control, and now in turn it threatens to establish a new and godless type of mastery over the hearts and minds of modern man. The tyrannical and dictatorial political state is the direct offspring of scientific materialism and philosophic secularism. Secularism no sooner frees man from the domination of the institutionalized church than it sells him into slavish bondage to the totalitarian state. . . . [UB 195:8.4]
Totalitarianism is defined as “domination by a government of all political, social, and economic activities in a nation.” It first appeared in the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin, and later in the 1930s under Hitler’s National Socialism. Benito Mussolini was the first to use the word totalitarian to describe his Italian dictatorship. One can distinguish the totalitarian regime from all traditional tyrannies by its mobilization of entire populations in support of the state and its political ideology. Later twentieth century examples of totalitarian societies include Maoist China, the Cambodian Khmer Rouge, the Laotian Pathet Lao, the Taliban in Afghanistan, and Sadam Hussain’s Iraq. Some present day examples include Libya under Qadaffi, Bathist Syria, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and North Korea. This rise of powerful totalitarian states was a distinct feature of the twentieth century that continues to the present day and poses the major political challenge to the twenty-first century. Most ominously, the new century has witnessed a new form of this threat in the rise of a militant and totalitarian Islam. As we look to the future we must have the courage to face the tests that lie before us; and this worldwide struggle between totalitarianism and freedom will characterize the early decades of the twenty-first century.
The fourth predicted effect has the ring of apocalyptic prophecy as the revelators warn us of coming war and world-wide disaster. One of the major barriers to accepting prophecy is fear—especially the fear of facing an unknown and possibly unpleasant future. A prophetic viewpoint requires courage and a willingness to sincerely and honestly follow the truth no matter where it leads, regardless of the consequences. In the case of secularism the revelators explicitly warn us that this godless philosophy will bring a future of fearsome challenges. “Twentieth-century secularism tends to affirm that man does not need God. But beware! this godless philosophy of human society will lead only to unrest, animosity, unhappiness, war, and world-wide disaster.” [UB 195:8.5] (Emphasis mine.)
Notice the verb “will lead only;” this signifies a statement about our future and is a very clear example of prophecy in The Urantia Book. Not only are the revelators foretelling the future; they are warning us about it, just as did the prophets of old. In other words, watch out for what is coming. Secularism will lead to disastrous consequences, and this is what you should expect. The revelators reinforce and emphasize this point later in the same section: “The complete secularization of science, education, industry, and society can lead only to disaster.” [UB 195:8.13] The phrase “can lead only” leaves little room for doubt as to what secularism will mean to our future; the midwayer commission gives this somber assessment: “During the first third of the twentieth century Urantians killed more human beings than were killed during the whole of the Christian dispensation up to that time. And this is only the beginning of the dire harvest of materialism and secularism; still more terrible destruction is yet to come.” [UB 195:8.13] (Emphasis mine.)
With seventy years of history, we can bear witness to the truth of this prophecy. For example, the twentieth century has been characterized in a documentary series on the History Channel as “The Century of Warfare.” Since this prediction of “still more terrible destruction yet to come” America has experienced World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, the Afghanistan war, and two wars against Iraq. There have been other large and small wars around the globe, such as two Arab-Israeli wars, the Russian-Afghanistan war, the Chinese civil war, and the Iran-Iraq war. In World War I eight and a half million soldiers lost their lives. Since the revelators’ prediction that this was only the beginning of the dire harvest of materialism and secularism, some thirty million more soldiers have been killed in war.
As long as secularism rules the hearts and minds of mankind, war and destruction will not end—this is the prophecy of The Urantia Book. We must have the courage to face the future and trust in God to protect, guide, stabilize, and strengthen us through the challenges that lie ahead.
Now if this were the end of the story, we would face a very bleak future, indeed. But this is not the end of the story. There are also many positive prophecies in The Urantia Book alongside these negative predictions. They foretell a very different future; one filled with great hope for our world. Listen as the revelators predict, over and over, the rise of Jesus and the fall of secularism:
When the present superstition revolt is over, the truths of Jesus’ gospel will persist gloriously to illuminate a new and better way. [UB 195:9.1]
A new and fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus is destined to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism and overcome a world sway of mechanistic naturalism. [UB 195:9.2]
No matter what the apparent conflict between materialism and the teachings of Jesus may be, you can rest assured that, in the ages to come, the teachings of the Master will fully triumph. [UB 195:6.2]
Religion is now confronted by the challenge of a new age of scientific minds and materialistic tendencies. In this gigantic struggle between the secular and the spiritual, the religion of Jesus will eventually triumph. [UB 195:4.5]
We have endured the bad news, now finally we hear the good news: There is light at the end of the tunnel! Yes, there are great challenges we must face, but secularism and its effects are not the only factors in our world. The spiritual workings of the life and teachings of Jesus are also present and they will eventually fully triumph over secularism.
There is more good news: We do not have to wait until a future age for the triumph of the spiritual. It is already underway! Even now, at the height of the secular dominance of planetary life, the teachings of Jesus are at work overcoming the entrenched forces of secularism. “The teachings of Jesus…are even now slowly triumphing over the materialism, mechanism, and secularism of the twentieth century.” [UB 195:9.3] (Emphasis mine.)
Thus, if we look to the future with faith in Urantia Book prophecy, we may expect to witness not only increasing conflict between the secular and the spiritual, but also the growing power of the spiritual, and ultimately the full and final triumph of the teachings of Jesus.
There is more good news, and it is particularly relevant to our present generation: We are told that we live in a time and a future that will witness a new and powerful revival of the true teachings of Jesus. This will be the next step in our religious evolution. The time is now!
The hour is striking for a rediscovery of the true and original foundations of present-day distorted and compromised Christianity—the real life and teachings of Jesus. [UB 195:9.5]
The time is ripe to witness the figurative resurrection of the human Jesus from his burial tomb amidst the theological traditions and the religious dogmas of nineteen centuries. [UB 196:1.2]
Modern culture must become spiritually baptized with a new revelation of Jesus’ life and illuminated with a new understanding of his gospel of eternal salvation. [UB 195:10.1]
Notice the dramatic imagery used by the authors to emphasize the significance of our times; they tell us the hour is striking, that the time is ripe, and they speak of modern culture. Can there be any doubt that now is the time for this new revelation of Jesus? The fostering of this revival of Jesus and his actual teachings is, in fact, the great goal of the Urantia revelation.
What a transcendent service if, through this revelation, the Son of Man should be recovered from the tomb of traditional theology and be presented as the living Jesus to the church that bears his name, and to all other religions! [UB 196:1.2]
We are told that this new revelation of Jesus will uplift our world and bring about a new age of spiritual striving. Our destiny is not final destruction, but rather a great new spiritual renaissance that will completely transform and renovate the entire planet. The Urantia Book gives us a prophetic clue to the coming of this spiritual renaissance regarding secular education: “Even secular education could help in this great spiritual renaissance if it would pay more attention to the work of teaching youth how to engage in life planning and character progression.” [UB 195:10.17]
The authors clearly predict this new era and emphasize that this spiritual renaissance is not in some far away future, it lies directly ahead. One of the most positive and hopeful prophecies in the entire book, foretelling a very encouraging and exciting future was made seventy years ago: “Urantia is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment.” [UB 195:9.2]
What part will we play in this great struggle between the teachings of Jesus and the secular attitudes that dominate our world? Will we have the courage to live a spirit-born life and espouse Jesus’ teachings? The revelators assure us that it is precisely in such times of crisis as we now face that a great new revelation can spring forth.
The Urantia Book actually calls us to join in this new revelation of Jesus; and the midwayers inspire us with a very positive view of our future and a unique opportunity to personally participate in it.
The call to the adventure of building a new and transformed human society by means of the spiritual rebirth of Jesus’ brotherhood of the kingdom should thrill all who believe in him as men have not been stirred since the days when they walked about on earth as his companions in the flesh. [UB 195:10.6] (Emphasis mine.)
What an adventure! What a thrilling opportunity! Think about it: we are called to be part of a new revelation of Jesus which will transform our society, triumph over secularism, and lead the world into a bright new age.
Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings. If Christianity persists in neglecting its spiritual mission while it continues to busy itself with social and material problems, the spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new teachers of Jesus’ religion who will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. [UB 195:9.4]
As unprepared as we are, The Urantia Book appears to be calling us to function as the new teachers and leaders who will help bring about this spiritual renaissance. After all, it is we who have received the new revelation of Jesus, and it is the revival of his actual teachings that will transform our world.
Notice especially that we are called to depend solely on Jesus and to be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. This is a far greater task than merely disseminating The Urantia Book. That is a noble undertaking, but we should understand that it is not what The Urantia Book calls us to do. The midwayers could have told us that what is needed now is the dissemination of The Urantia Book, that we are called to do this work, and that the world-wide acceptance of The Urantia Book will bring about the new age. But they do not! Instead, they call us to depend solely on Jesus, achieve spiritual transformation in ourselves, and spiritual regeneration in others.
For those who answer this call for spirit-born leaders, we again find that great success is predicted. And this success will not be limited to the spiritual world. These new leaders will also help bring about fundamental change throughout the entire spectrum of human life on earth. As we observe the sad state of planetary affairs this is indeed welcome news. Here is what is foretold: “And then will these spirit-born souls quickly supply the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social, moral, economic, and political reorganization of the world.” [UB 195:9.4]
For more than three hundred years western thinking has become more and more secularized. This unconscious and unrecognized secular attitude is so pervasive that it is found in the majority of professed religionistsboth Christian and Urantian. This “thoughtless secularism” leads many to ignore prophecy and doubt its validity and usefulness.
In contrast to such secular attitudes of doubt and skepticism, the prophetic viewpoint affirms that God, not man, is ultimately in control of human destiny. God knows the future and reveals it to us through prophetic revelation Prophecy is useful to us because it allows us to reach beyond our circumscribed human viewpoint, and provides a higher and divine perspective on world affairs. Through prophecy we are better able to understand and accept the unfolding of world events. And, most significantly, by knowing the future we may better prepare for that future.
If sincere students of The Urantia Book honestly examine the evidence, they will find powerful and persuasive reasons for embracing prophecy including the following:
Jesus was a prophet. He made numerous predictions, including the destruction of Jerusalem and his own second coming. As a youth he studied the Jewish prophets and as an adult he conducted his life mission in the light of their pronouncements
Melchizedek was also a prophet. He predicted that the childless Abraham would become the father of the Jews and the future coming of Jesus. Of special significance is the fact that he has a plan for the rehabilitation of our planet, and that he actually collaborated with the Old Testament prophets.
In the light of history we may now recognize many clear examples of fulfilled prophecy. Jeremiah’s prediction of Jerusalem’s destruction and the Babylonian captivity is one such example.
The Urantia Book exalts the prophets, affirms the validity of prophecy, and often confirms and clarifies specific prophecies.
The Urantia Book itself makes numerous “prophetic forecasts.” One that is especially meaningful to us is its prediction of an impending new age, a better time to come.
These and other considerations suggest that we should guard against the secular bias of modern times and open ourselves to the validity and value of prophecy.
If we study The Urantia Book with an eye for prophetic content we can discover much about our future. If we look at the secular-spiritual conflict we will find the past, present, and future of this great struggle opened before our wondering gaze. Secularism, which once served positive purposes, has grown to a point where it now dominates our world. We live in a time where the dire consequences of materialistic secularism are everywhere evident. This bitter fruit of twentieth-century secularism includes the blighting of spiritual experience, social disintegration, the rise of totalitarian states, animosity, war, and worldwide disaster. Facing the challenges of such a future calls for courage and trust in God for protection, guidance, stability, comfort, and strength.
However, secularism and its evil effects are not the only forces operating in our world, and we are not called to merely endure its devastations. Jesus’ life teachings are even now at work, combating and overcoming the secular menace. A new revelation of Jesus is destined to fully triumph over the present empire of secularism. This revival of the actual teachings of Jesus will be the next stage in the religious evolution of our planet. As it unfolds we will enter a new age that will be characterized by spiritual enlightenment, moral uplift, and social progress, and will witness the economic and political reorganization of the world. This new era is not far off; it is impending, at the door. Urantia is quivering on the very brink of a great new spiritual renaissance.
The Urantia Book clearly tells us to join in this great spiritual undertaking and assures us that it is precisely in such troublous times as we now face that great new revelations spring forth. If we meet the three specific requirements, to be born of the spirit, to depend solely on Jesus and his teachings, and to be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of others, we have a unique opportunity. We may become the new teachers and leaders prophesied by The Urantia Book who will bring light to our darkened planet and help usher in a bright and glorious new age, a spiritual renaissance!
In 1965 Preston Thomas graduated from UVA with a Masters degree in Philosophy. He discovered The Urantia Book in 1970 and has been a devoted student ever since. In 1981 he founded the Einstein School and has served as its director for the past 25 years. This school provides special help for children with learning problems and teaches the way of Jesus. In 1992 Preston published The Life and Teachings of Jesus which harmonizes the gospel account of Jesus with The Urantia Book. It is presented to each departing student and is available at www.ltjesus.org.
| Youth and The Urantia Book | Volume 7, Number 1, 2006 (Summer) — Index | Serving: A Cookbook for the Soul |