© 2014 Simon Orsini
© 2014 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
¶ Science, philosophy, the spiritual, are inseparable in evolution.
Perhaps scientists will one day measure the manifestations of energy or force of the gravitation of light or electricity. But these same scientists will never be able to say what these universal phenomena are. Science deals with physical-energetic activities, religion deals with eternal values, true philosophy comes from wisdom, which correlates quantitative and qualitative observations.
Scientists base their conclusions on purely physical considerations. It is logical to rely on mathematics, but in no case can it be infallible. Mathematics says that if one man can shear a sheep in ten minutes, ten men can do it in one minute. This may be true, but under unfavorable individual circumstances it may prove false.
We can identify quantity as a fact, instead of seeing it as a number, it then becomes a uniform scientific factor.
To be in mental affinity with the universe one must conceive of quantitative facts and qualitative values as having a common cause. We are born on earth and if we want it, our journey will never end.
Jesus said: “We must know human things to love them, we must love divine things to know them; when will men understand that time is the moving image of eternity.”
Postscript: Survival
Human identity is a transitory condition of temporal life in the universe. It is real only to the extent that the personality chooses to become a continuing factor in the universe. This is the essential difference between a man and an energy system, the energy system must continue, it has no choice, but man has everything to do to determine his own destiny. The spirit of God is truly the path to Paradise, but man must follow this path himself by his own decision by the choice of his free will. Human beings possess identity only in the material sense.
This quality of the ego is expressed by material thought functioning in the energy system of the intellect.
When we say that man has an identity, we recognize that he possesses a mental circuit which has been subordinated to the acts and choices of the will of his personality.
This manifestation is, however, purely material and temporary, just as the human embryo is a transitory stage of human life.
In the spiritual perspective human beings are born, live and die in an instant, they are not durable, but by its own choice the human personality has the power to transfer its seat of identity from the transitory physical-mental system to the higher psycho-spiritual system, which is created as a new vehicle for the manifestation of the truth of the personality. It is this same power of choice, this universal distinguishing mark of free-will creatures, which constitutes man’s greatest opportunity and his supreme responsibility.
The eternal destiny of the future depends on the integrity of the human will to acquire eternal personality, the human being depends on the sincerity of his free will. If our intentions and desires have survival value, we will be allowed additional time to demonstrate our worth.
I think God would rather take the risk of rebellion than deprive one individual struggling in the world of continuing his upward career.
A real element, a product of human evolution, which survives death: it is the soul. It survives the death of our physical body, as well as that of our material thought. This child of human and divine belonging constitutes the surviving element of earthly origin, it is the spiritualized ego of the immortal soul. The materials which will form our new body are beyond our understanding, these forms are not energetic archetypes of the material order, however on the new world, they serve the same purpose as our material bodies on the planet of human nativity. The volition of a creature cannot exist without thought, but it persists despite the loss of material intellect. In a universe without time, boredom cannot be felt, this dimension does not exist.
¶ CONCUBSION
True religion is not a system of philosophical beliefs which can be deduced by reasoning and demonstrated by natural evidence. Nor is it a fantastic and mystical experience of indescribable feelings of ecstasy, which can only be enjoyed by the romantic devotees of mysticism. Religion is not the product of reason but, seen from within, it is entirely reasonable. Religion is not derived from the logic of human philosophy but, as a mortal experience, it is entirely logical. Religion is the experiencing of Divinity in the consciousness of a moral being of evolutionary origin. It represents a real experience, with realities eternal in time, and the realization of spiritual satisfactions during incarnation.
True religion is a glimpse of reality, coming from the moral conscience through faith, and not a mere intellectual assent to a body of dogmatic doctrines. True religion consists in experiencing that the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Religion does not consist in theological propositions, but in spiritual insight and the sublimity of the soul’s confidence.
Religion must always be its own critic and judge; it can never be ascertained, much less understood, from without. Our only assurance of a personal God consists in our own insight into our belief and experience of spiritual things.
To all our fellow-men who have a similar experience, no argument about the personality or reality of God is necessary, while to all other men who have not this certainty of God, no argument can ever be really convincing…
It is only through ubiquity that God has been able to unify the manifestations of space-time, for time is a succession of instants, while space is a system of associated points. After all, space is perceived by analysis and time by synthesis. In the world, man alone has the faculty of perceiving space-time; for an animal, movement has meaning, but it only takes on value for a creature with personality status. Whatever the apparent conflict between materialism and the teachings of Jesus, you can be assured that his doctrine will fully triumph in the ages to come. In our time, the worst moments of materialism are past. However, this age of physical realism is only a transitory episode of the human race on earth. Modern science has left true religion intact…
October 2012
Simon Orsini
