© 2005 Santiago Rodríguez
© 2005 Urantia Association of Spain
Introduction by Santiago Rodríguez
I recognize that this document, like many others, lends itself to many approaches and viewpoints.
In the end I have decided on the one that refers to the physical place it occupies in the work. And it’s not exactly its order number, 196, which I don’t know if it’s coincidental or not, but it happens that the sum of its figures is precisely 7, and honestly, after reading the book and bringing and taking this number from places to others, one doesn’t know what to think anymore, I think there could have been 195 or 197 chapters, but no, they had to be 196, it will be a coincidence.
What has made me reflect is precisely that it is the last chapter in a work that might surprise the fact that it presents a prologue, but does not seem to have an epilogue; I know it would be difficult to make a compilation or synthesis of the entire text, but once again I am inclined to think that the revealers have an intention that goes beyond what we read literally, I mean that the contents are revealed not only in the text itself, but also in the structure of the book.
Despite the title, “The Faith of Jesus” which seems to give us only a description of something belonging to another person (remember that Jesus was also “another person”). I think it really is the epilogue of the whole work, in fact the best epilogue for us; presents us with the summary and the most important of the message contained throughout the book. In short, they are the conclusions of the authors of the work for us, their readers. Let’s not waste them!
Anyone, regardless of their level of religiosity or their beliefs, seems to be clear that what they expect from life is to achieve happiness; a full life, with meaning, with objectives that he can achieve and that will lead him to a self-realization that satisfies him, makes him happy and, if he is a little more generous, that what he wants for himself is extended to the beings he loves, even to those around him and why not, to everyone.
I think we are all looking for the same thing, or something similar. But how is that achieved? The answer is in the UB and the procedure, the recipe to achieve it, is precisely in chapter 196, the last chapter of the book.
The fact of living involves a series of activities, some more or less automated and others that require some reflection, since we could almost reduce the fact of life to an interrelation with the environment in its broadest concept, and it is precisely the reflections that that we believe distinguish us from our environment companions, other living beings.
Both men and animals and plants are capable of interacting with one of the two aspects of reality, with the energy-material aspect, but it seems that only men can understand, even partially and not absolutely, the laws that govern this aspect of reality; It seems that only man has the ability to learn and predict based on his knowledge.
There is something else that separates us from other animals, and it is morality as recognition of duty, and the understanding of the existence of good and evil, which in turn leads us to the recognition of *ethics * as a social duty.
Our western society has great achievements in knowledge of all kinds, morality, even ethics, can be at considerably high levels, but despite this, dissatisfaction and lack of happiness continue to manifest everywhere, something is still missing… We lack recognition, the fact of being aware that there is another aspect of reality, the spiritual aspect.
When we become aware of the two aspects of reality, the need to unify them within us immediately arises.
And it will be with the help of our mind in a more conscious way and with that of the Adjuster from within and in a much more subtle way that we will accept the Revelation, which will reach where our reasoning and knowledge does not reach, thus we will try to integrate the two aspects of reality in our lives.
This integration goes through a constant and continuous evolution and harmonious and parallel growth of three elements, which are equally important and necessary, and if we observe our environment we can realize that the growth of any of them to the detriment of the others entails dire consequences such as some emotional problems, personality disorders, or even perennial unhappiness and an anxious search for material satisfaction, which do not improve our expectations.
These elements that we have to learn to develop receive numerous and different names.
Thus we have as the first element:
The second would be:
And the third:
After revealing to us the importance of religious experience, which accompanies the need to recognize the existence of the spiritual aspect of reality, we are immensely lucky to have an unbeatable model, as well as a teacher: Jesus of Nazareth.
Many of us have read a “Trojan Horse” by Benítez, and surely we longed to reach the passages in which Jesus appeared, and we wanted to be there to ask him endless questions, and if we had him with us today we would surely satisfy our longing. to know and know the material aspect, up to the limit that our own mind was capable of understanding, but then we would be left with a kind of emptiness, a bigger question: What about the spiritual aspect? What do we have to do to be religious beings? How are we to approach the religious experience in our existence?
Everyone, regardless of their beliefs, agrees that Jesus was a true teacher, but in reality he went further, it is true that he taught his contemporaries, since he lived with them, and many of his teachings will undoubtedly enlighten us on our journey. . But there is something more important for us, for all times and ages, for all cultures and societies; the document itself exhorts us to look not so much for what he taught as for what he did, and above all how he did it; certainly the things he did are very enlightening, but they only reveal the result of some specific situations, which were the ones he had to live, but what is of true value regardless of all times or circumstances of life was his way of approaching and cope with the tasks of daily living. Without wishing at any time, no matter how hard or difficult it was, to abandon the fight of life in the flesh, and we all know that it was not easy for him.
Let’s pay all our attention and study in depth how Jesus lived, in addition to what he taught, because these will be the keys to living a full and satisfying life.
The revelators emphasize that Jesus “tasted” a normal life, with its ups and downs, with its lurking frustrations, with its difficulties, with the threat of despair, with the temporary contradictions of mortal existence, with the need to learn and evolve, to adapt to new circumstances sometimes caused by himself, other times because someone had caused them.
Let’s see how he oriented his life, and we will have the model to follow for ourselves. He had an exceptional tool at his disposal, but one that is also within our reach. This tool is nothing other than a SUBLIME AND UNRESERVED FAITH IN GOD.
There is something that makes it exceptional and is that, contrary to what happens with the tools that we manufacture, it turns out that the more you use it, instead of breaking down or deteriorating, the more powerful it becomes.
Faith presents us with a dilemma analogous to that of which came first, the chicken or the egg, and I personally am not clear if the idea-ideal of God is first reached, and then Faith emerges, or it is the other way around, but what does seem clear to me is that at one time or another in our lives, both concepts appear, and the key is not to separate them from you because, especially at first, they seem disconcerting or unclear.
Jesus saw (at one point in his life, he knew and recognized the idea of a God) God (he conceptualized it) and therefore we have to first learn thanks to revelation, and then understand through reason that God is Holy , Just and Great, as well as True, Beautiful and Good, attributes that Jesus knew how to focus on the idea of a Father who loves all; therefore we are all equal to the Father and all Children of God.
Our mind is capable of discovering the laws of nature, of understanding and amplifying morality and ethics, but it will be the interior Adjuster who will take care of revealing to the evolving human mind the Universal Father, origin of all that is true. , good and beautiful.
We are already on equal terms; we have a completely acceptable concept, albeit partial, of God, and we have Faith as a working tool.
Let’s see how Jesus made his own Faith advance and evolve, let’s see what He provided and once again we will have marked the way.
For Jesus, and therefore for us, Faith (which the dictionary defines as man’s total adherence to an ideal that surpasses him) was something personal, living, original, spontaneous and purely spiritual, in such a way that it allowed him to experience a new kind of religion, based on personal spiritual relationships with the Universal Father.
Mind you, it was also an intellectual reflection, but it was more than just a reflection, and it was certainly not a mystical meditation or a veneration for tradition. IT WAS A DEEP CONVICTION.
And it will be precisely intellectual reflection that will prevent our faith from becoming fanatical. We have to be able to handle this powerful tool with a balanced personality, which forces us to work on the three aforementioned elements, making them develop harmoniously, to achieve an adequate adjustment to the two aspects of reality, both material and spiritual. .
The development of his Faith made him find the goal of his life, which is undoubtedly the same as ours: to do the will of the Father.
And the method has been made clear to us, it is very simple: the secret is that at every moment of our lives, before every decision, we have to think and act fully aware that the Universal Father is with us, next to us and in our interior.
The option is clearly defined, we have to DECIDE, to live human life, in a religious way and always under the prism of Faith. And we can achieve it if we make an effort to ensure that our life is a constant PRAYER and ADORATION to the Universal Father.
What was or what is the religion of Jesus? It also has an easy answer: make the love we receive from the Father translate in us as love for all men and also in selfless service to humanity.
If we want to live a full, satisfactory life and abundant in experiences (jojo! I didn’t want to say easy), we must come to the conviction and make the decision that our life be religious, of the idea of God the Father and the Brotherhood among human beings, and through faith, with the help of the Adjuster, who will reveal part of the truths to us, we will evolve from primitive veneration and fear towards the First Source and Center, to achieve a spiritual communion with Him , which will allow us to achieve an advanced state and a high awareness of our unity with the Father.
The situation is very simple:
In addition, developers present us with two challenges:
And to finish, let me tell you that:
To eradicate the total or permanent doubt about these writings, at least I have not succeeded, nor do I know if I will ever succeed, but the simplicity of the exposed approaches is a new reason that indicates to me personally that what the UB offers us it can come considerably close, if not to the absolute truth, then to one acceptable enough, at least to my mind.
This is the last document of the Book, and it is no coincidence that it deals with the living example of Jesus and his faith. We could consider that faith is the belief in what we do not see, but we could also consider that it is something else: living faith, the confidence of knowing that the Father is there. Faith makes us see future realities, even though we currently do not contemplate them. Faith is the inspiration of creative imagination.
The Book advocates a living, creative, unprejudiced faith. Jesus had a consciousness of the living God. That was his faith. It would be absurd to imitate his life, but we should take him as an example of life.
In other worlds there is not as much faith as in this one. This feature is sure to be highly valued up there in heaven.
Faith cannot be based exclusively on our mind, because in that case it would exclude many people who are not endowed with brilliant minds. Faith comes after rationalizing things. This reasoning process helps consolidate our faith. Those who have the will to believe in a superior being have faith. Faith is a tool that is more powerful the more we use it, and that is maintained throughout the individual’s religious evolution. Although it is also true that faith and doubts always go hand in hand, and that not everyone has the same faith.
We must distinguish faith from belief. The prehistory of faith is at the moment when we make our first moral decision, as soon as the Adjuster appears.
The novel “The Karamazov Brothers” shows us different vital attitudes towards life. One of the characters stated that “if God does not exist, everything is permitted.” But in fact not everything is allowed.
In the document that deals with the attributes of God, in the “inevitabilities”, it is alluded to that “one always knows less than one can believe”.