© 2020 Stevie Shaefer
© 2020 The Urantia Book Fellowship
by Stevie Shaefer
“Someday religionists will get together and actually affect cooperation on the basis of ideals and purposes rather than attempting to do so on the basis of psychological opinions and theological beliefs.” (The Urantia Book, Paper UB 99:5.7)
In order to properly interact with other faiths, it seemed appropriate to first try to understand those faiths. Stevie Shaefer had already made a great start on detailing the commonalities of the various religions with The Urantia Book teachings when we had a wonderful opportunity of speaking directly with many of the various religionists at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto in 2018. The document and the Interfaith Committee have benefited greatly from this process and we continue to grow in the understanding and appreciation of the common goals and aspirations of the various religions. Just as our understanding of other religions grows, so should this document. The Interfaith Committee welcomes everyone to add more common ground to this already fertile soil that it may bloom as brotherly love.
As we live the teachings of The Urantia Book, we often find that we are in step with the highest ideals of the other religions. The common “faith” ground of most religions is often the most deeply rooted and the core values are often the most fertile soil for a beautiful spirit garden. Various “beliefs” and “dogma” weeds grow in this soil and overshadow our similarities.
Geoff Taylor, Interfaith Chair
The Urantia Book Fellowship Interfaith Committee is participating in an ongoing project entitled “Commonality Among Faiths.” In order to encourage interfaith empathy, understanding and dialogue, we plan to share one to two major faith groups each month, focusing on ideals and purposes as much as possible, while correlating quotes from The Urantia Book for each faith group. We will start with faith groups that harmonize religions in this issue, The Baha’i Faith (Progressive Revelation and the Oneness of Religion), and Sufism (A Bridge Between Religions - A Mystical Path Branching from Islam).
¶ Notebook of Major Tenets of Some World Religions With Comparative Passages from The Urantia Book
¶ BAHA’I - Progressive Revelation and the Oneness of Religion
| MAJOR TENETS OF BAHA’I | COMPARATIVE PASSAGES FROM THE URANTIA BOOK |
|---|---|
| The Oneness of God/Progressive Revelation: “The spiritual part [of religion] never changes. All the Manifestations of God and His Prophets have taught the same truths…They all teach the one code of morality. There is no division in truth.” |
“… Revelation …affirms that this First Cause of science and religion’s God of salvation are one and the same Deity." (Paper UB 101:2.5 - The Real Nature of Religion). |
| The Essential Unity of Religion: “All religions teach that we must do good, that we must be generous, sincere, truthful, law-abiding, and faithful; all this is reasonable and logically the only way in which humanity will progress.” |
“The many religions of Urantia are all good to the extent that they bring man to God and the realization of the Father to man." (Paper UB 92:7.3 - The Later Evolution of Religion). |
| The Unity of Mankind | “All these religions …can never hope to attain a uniformity of creeds, dogmas, and rituals - these are intellectual; but they can, and someday will, realize a unity in true worship of the Father of all, for this is spiritual, and it is forever true, in spirit all men are equal” (Paper UB 92:7.4 - The Later Evolution of Religion). |
| Elimination of all Forms of Prejudice | “There is not a Urantia religion that could not profitably study and assimilate the best of truths contained in every other faith, for all contain truth. Religions would do better to borrow the best of the truths contained in their neighbors’ living spiritual faith rather than to denounce the worst in their lingering superstitions and outworn Rituals” (Paper UB 92:7.3 - The Further Evolution of Religion). |
| The Light of God - “The Sun has sent forth many rays to illumine human intelligence, the light is always the same.” |
“There really is a true and genuine inner voice, that ”true light which lights every man who comes into the world" (Paper UB 101:0.3 The Real Nature of Religion). |
| Harmony of Religion and Science - “If religion were in harmony with science and they walked together, much of the hatred and bitterness now bringing misery to the human race would be at an end…Religion and science are the two wings upon which man’s intelligence can soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress. It is not possible to fly with one wing alone!” |
“True science can have no lasting quarrel with true religion” (Paper UB 195:7.2). “The highest attainable philosophy of mortal man must be logically based on the reason of science, the faith of religion, and the truth insight afforded by revelation” (Paper UB 103:6.15 - The Reality of Religious Experience). |
| The three central figures of the Baha’i religion: 1. The Bab (the “gate” or equivalent to John the Baptist). 2. The Founder of the Baha’i Faith Baha’u’llah, a “manifestation of God” (considered to be equivalent to Jesus and other prophets), and 3. Abdu’l-Baha (1844-1921, the eldest son of Baha’u’llah, thought to be the embodiment of “living the teachings”, his writings and talks are regarded as a source of Baha’i sacred literature). His Paris talks are considered amongst his best lectures and quotes from that are compared to quotes from The Urantia Book above. | Other important Bahai concepts include: World peace, Equality of men and women, Independent investigation of truth, The need for universal compulsory education, The need for a universal auxiliary language, Obedience to government and noninvolvement in partisan politics, and Elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty. |
¶ SUFISM - A Bridge Between Religions A Mystical Path branching from Islam
| MAJOR TENETS OF SUFISM | COMPARATIVE PASSAGES FROM THE URANTIA BOOK |
|---|---|
| Sufism (in Arabic Tasawwuf) often defined as “Islamic mysticism” or “the Inward dimension of Islam” - identifies the practice of Sufism. | “Doing the will of God… willingness to share your inner life with God.” (Paper UB 111:5.1). “Although the approach to the Paradise presence of the Father must await your attainment of the highest finite levels of spirit progression, you should rejoice in the recognition of the ever-present possibility of immediate communion with the bestowal spirit of the Father so intimately associated with your inner soul and your spiritualizing self.” (Paper UB 5:1.3 God’s Relation to the Individual). |
| The important contribution of the Sufi movement to religious thought is that God is an inner experience | “The creature not only exists in God, but God also lives in the creature.” “We know we dwell in him because he lives in us; he has given us his spirit. This gift from the Paradise Father is man’s inseparable companion.” “He is the ever-present and all-pervading God.” “The spirit of the everlasting Father is concealed in the mind of every mortal child.” “Man goes forth searching for a friend while that very friend lives within his own heart.” “The true God is not afar off; he is a part of us; his spirit speaks from within us.” “The Father lives in the child. God is always with us. He is the guiding spirit of eternal destiny. (Paper UB 3:1.4 - The Attributes of God). |
| Sufis are characterized by their practice of “dhikr”, the practice of the remembrance of God, often performed after prayers. | Remember to listen to God’s response after praying. “Jesus taught his followers that, when they had made their prayers to the Father, they should remain for a time in silent receptivity to afford the indwelling spirit the better opportunity to speak.” |
| Sufis strive for “ihsan” (or perfection of Worship), as detailed in a “hadith”. “Ihsan is to worship Allah as you see Him: if you can’t see him, surely He sees you.” | Worship and prayer: “Although the approach to the Paradise presence of the Father must await your attainment of the highest finite levels of spirit progression, you should rejoice in the recognition of the ever-present possibility of immediate communion with the bestowal spirit of the Father so intimately associated with your inner soul and your spiritualizing self. Paper UB 5:1.3… the greatest evidence of the goodness of God and the supreme reason for loving him is the indwelling gift of the Father-the Adjuster who so patiently awaits the hour when you both shall be eternally made one. Though you cannot find God by searching, if you will submit to the leading of the indwelling spirit, you will be unerringly guided, step by step, life by life, through universe upon universe, and age by age, until you finally stand in the presence of the Paradise personality of the Universal Father.”(Paper UB 2:5.5 -The Nature and Love of God). |
| Sufism has been described as the “interiorization and intensification of Islamic faith and practice.” | “Those who have received and recognized the indwelling of God have been born of the Spirit. ‘You are the temple of God, and the spirit of God dwells in you.’ It is not enough that this spirit be poured out upon you; the divine Spirit must dominate and control every phase of human experience. It is the presence of the divine Spirit…” (Paper 34.6 - The Spirit in… UB 34:6.7) |
| Sufi monastic practice emphasizes discipline, poverty, abstinence, and sometimes celibacy. The practice of the “whirling dervish” is worship to “The One”. | “Prayer, when indited by the spirit, leads to cooperative spiritual progress. The ideal prayer is a form of spiritual communion which leads to intelligent worship. True praying is the sincere attitude of reaching heavenward for the attainment of your ideals.” (Paper UB 144:2.2 - The Discourse on Prayer). |