© 1996 Torsti Äärelä
© 1996 International Urantia Association (IUA)
Torsti Äärelä
Helsinki, Finland
Monopolies now find themselves in a state of dissolution. This is true of social, legislated monopolies as well as of practices which came into being through the exercise of spiritual tyranny. In the following, I shall discuss the shattering of the monopoly of the partaking of holiness. By this term I mean disregard for the imagined hegemony and special privileges of the priesthood. Such a disregard presumes a time when fearless men and women are going to create their own traditions and superimpose a new and better spirit and spiritual content upon the time-honoured feasts and ancient mores. The sacraments, founded on the dogma of the church, will likewise be disregarded. There will be an absence of a special caste of intermediaries between man and God.
Every justification for the monopoly of the partaking of holiness was shattered by Jesus’ lifework and his teachings, whose strength, though, will become manifest only after they have been brought to everyone’s knowledge:
The religion of Jesus is the most dynamic influence ever to activate the human race. Jesus shattered tradition, destroyed dogma, and called mankind to the achievement of its highest ideals in time and eternity - to be perfect, even as the Father in heaven is perfect. UB 99:5.3
Acknowledgement of the fact that religion is a private, personal issue must no longer be a claim made only by ultracritical individuals, not to speak about the readers of The URANTIA Book. It should, instead, be a part of the spiritual capital of every average man and woman. Vestiges of spiritual tyranny are still visible, and they are many. This is true despite the outpouring of the Spirit of Truth and the influence of the Thought Adjusters. Evolution is slow. It is tempting to entertain an idea that we are right now performing a spiritual leap forward (as described in The URANTIA Book, UB 170:4.14). If this is true, it would mean that a great change is taking place in mankind’s spiritual awareness. The confusion which tends to antedate such a leap forward, is anyhow very visible.
It may be timely to attempt an analysis of the spirit and the spiritual setting where an average man of the western world currently finds himself.
I shall first undertake to describe one concept which is employed by the intellectual world of today. The term I have in mind is post-modernism.
The emphatic part of the word ‘post-modernism’ is undoubtedly the prefix ‘post’. The prefix keeps the term separate from the “modern” epoch of the past. The difference between an old and a new modernism is not absolute. This is because the definition of the new epoch seeks support in, and rests upon, the old modern age. Man is not yet moving over to a completely “new age”; he is rather moving away from the old, and is unable accurately to determine the goals he is to achieve.
As regards the content of post-modern culture, it is characterised by a radical pluralism, which is its most prominent feature. In a post-modern world, most variegated life-styles, values, religions, ideologies, schools of art, scientific methods and other endeavours to give shape to reality are co-existing. Pluralism was, of course, not something completely unknown in the old modern world either, but within the framework of post-modern culture, it has been transformed into a programme, a life-style.
Another characteristic of the content of post-modern culture is the overthrow of “great stories”. The great ideas, ideologies and theories designed and devised to explain the whole of the existing reality are losing ground. Not only have Marxist utopias lost their credibility, but the same has happened also to the beliefs in capitalism’s capacity to eradicate poverty and hunger. Neither has man’s trust in human intelligence and morals, as proclaimed in the Age of Enlightenment, fared any better. The same concerns any notions of the nobleness of humanism and the saving power of science and technology. The great visions and the preconceived common goals are vanishing. Each and everyone is in quest of personal objectives and goals, and is going to achieve them the way he finds best. An analysis presented in The URANTIA Book is very much in line with what was stated above:
During the psychologically unsettled times of the twentieth century, amid the economic upheavals, the moral crosscurrents, and the sociologic rip tides of cyclonic transitions of a scientific era, thousands upon thousands of men and women have become humanly dislocated; they are anxious, restless, fearful, uncertain, and unsettled; as never before in the world’s history they need the consolation and stabilization of sound religion. In the face of unprecedented scientific achievement and mechanical development there is spiritual stagnation and philosophic chaos. UB 99:4.6
Rather than call it post-modern, it is more striking to describe the current epoch as a post-rationalistic—individualistic age. In using the term ‘post-rationalistic’ age I refer to the Age of Enlightenment, which became possible in the aftermath of the Reformation with its multiplying effects. This age is characterised by a multitude of isms. It is a time of ideological and religious turmoil. The ideational legacy of the Reformation, as well as the criticism of institutionalised religion, which had its origins in the Age of Enlightenment, have enabled the individualism which is so accentuated in the modern age, the post-URANTIA Book era included. It is precisely the emphatic prominence of the individual that seems to be the fundamental tenet of the current age. Post-modernism is an excellent term, but the term post-rationalistic—individualistic is a better designation of the religious situation of the average man of the Western world.
It is possible to aver that the shattering of the monopoly of partaking of holiness was, in part, effected in the course of the post-rationalistic—individualistic age. A post-rationalistic—individualistic man formulates his own God concept and is happy with his personal religion.
The Christian church is, in a way, a “great story” of the old epoch, one that has not been bidden a definitive farewell as yet. The weight of tradition and the legacies of the old tie the man, who is otherwise very God-conscious, to the cult and ceremonies of the church. Even priesthood is accepted. Rejection of inherited superstitions is, at least subconsciously, an accepted programme. A thought pattern aiming at a holistic explanation of reality, in line with The URANTIA Book, must inevitably suffer from the context and the environment where it is set. Our book, too, is comparable to the “great stories” of the old and seems to have close connections with Christianity. The URANTIA Book is, because of the way it came into existence, mentally associated with a number of other books, such as The Book of Mormon. Yet, in its unprecedented holistic approach, which combines religion, science and philosophy into a magnificent whole, it is the key to the problems of our time. The most important message that this book may proffer is the ideal of a genuine religion:
True religion is a meaningful way of living dynamically face to face with the commonplace realities of everyday life. But if religion is to stimulate individual development of character and augment integration of personality, it must not be standardized. If it is to stimulate evaluation of experience and serve as a value-lure, it must not be stereotyped. If religion is to promote supreme loyalties, it must not be formalized. UB 99:4.3
On the other hand, The URANTIA Book too fosters the individualistic view on man’s religiosity. But this can be counteracted in complementing the mere book-reading with social involvement and service to one’s fellows.
In my view, the primal duty of the URANTIA movement is that of insuring the inviolability and integrity of the Revelation in the post-rationalistic—individualistic age with its long-drawn-out turmoil. Be it, as it is, an epic comparable to the “great stories” of the past, yet its potentials are bound to triumph in the time to come—not necessarily in our generation, however. It will simultaneously be the element which will definitely frustrate every attempt of the Christian church to maintain its spiritual hegemony. This is going to happen through and within the spiritual brotherhoods, through literature, art, even humour, inspired by the teachings of The URANTIA Book, set in motion, put in place, and performed by people who accept the message of this book.
We live in a world of Protestantism, and even if the number of URANTIA Book students should grow tenfold, the same would continue to be the case. To know about the teachings of the Evangelic-Lutheran Church, one of the influential components of our culture, and to be informed about the shortcomings and weaknesses of its dogma is crucial to those who in these circumstances wish to advance the fifth epochal revelation.
My ensuing analysis will focus on the premises and substantiations presented in the fundamental document of the Protestant Church, the Confession of Augsburg (hereafter, CA). It is impossible to peruse all of the Articles of the CA in this short article; consequently, I shall only fleetingly comment on some of them, those which in the light of The URANTIA Book teachings seem to be the most flagrantly mistaken ones, both in their substance and in their assertions. The perused articles are Article II on Original Sin; Article V on the Office of Ecclesiastical Ministers; Article VII on the Church; and Article IX on Baptism. I am going to present the appointed articles, then find a fitting counterargument in The URANTIA Book, and in conclusion I shall present some of my own views and interpretations.
FURTHERMORE, OUR CHURCHES SHALL TEACH THAT AFTER THE FALL OF ADAM, ALL HUMAN BEINGS WHO ARE REPRODUCED IN THE NATURAL MANNER, ARE BORN IN SIN; THAT IS, THEY ARE BORN IN THE ABSENCE OF THE FEAR OF GOD, WITHOUT CONFIDENCE IN GOD, AND UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE LUST FOR EVIL, AND THAT THIS PRIMORDIAL ILLNESS AND THIS ORIGINAL SIN IS A TRUE SIN, WHICH WILL CONDEMN THEM AND EVEN NOW CONFER ETERNAL DEATH UPON THOSE WHO ARE NOT BORN AGAIN IN THE ACT OF BAPTISM AND THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. [CA II]
The doctrine of the total depravity of man destroyed much of the potential of religion for effecting social repercussions of an uplifting nature and of inspirational value. Jesus sought to restore man’s dignity when he declared that all men are the children of God. UB 99:5.5
As long as the dogma of the church includes the quoted passage, its foundations will be very low indeed. This Article II can only offend any normal-minded person. A learned theologian can only commit an intellectual suicide in accepting it. The entire substance of the Article is openly threatening, frightening, and it is with the power of this article that the church has endeavoured to bind thinking men and women to itself and to justify its hegemony in matters spiritual. This nefarious doctrine has been apt to foster people’s anxieties and to aggravate the imbalance of many a human mind. The church will be unable to elevate itself from barbarism as long as it clings to this Article on the original sin
FOR US TO RECEIVE THIS FAITH, THE OFFICE OF THE TEACHER OF THE GOSPEL AND THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE SACRAMENTS HAS BEEN INSTALLED. THROUGH THE WORD AND THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS, IN USING THEM AS INSTRUMENTS, THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL BE BESTOWED, WHO WILL, IN THOSE WHO HEARKEN TO THE GOSPEL, CALL FORTH THE FAITH - WHEN AND WHERE GOD SO DESIRES. IN OTHER WORDS, GOD JUSTIFIES FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST, AND NOT BECAUSE OF OUR MERITS, THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT THEY, FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST, WILL BE RECEIVED INTO THE MERCY, SO THAT WE, THROUGH FAITH, MAY RECEIVE THE PROMISED SPIRIT. [CA V]
The URANTIA Book view on priesthood is generally critical, although the teachings do present also a favourable view on the existence of priesthood, mindful of the fact that certain types of people seem to need them. The perspectives of the revelators are wider than those of impatient readers. Believers in the fifth epochal revelation have to possess forbearance with Christian priests for many centuries to come. The URANTIA Book has something to say also about the alliance between the church and theology, considering that all prominent theologians have been priests, or representatives of one order or another.
The priesthoods have done much to delay scientific development and to hinder spiritual progress, but they have contributed to the stabilization of civilization and to the enhancement of certain kinds of culture. But many modern priests have ceased to function as directors of the ritual of the worship of God, having turned their attention to theology-the attempt to define God. UB 90:5.7
It is not denied that the priests have been a millstone about the neck of the races, but the true religious leaders have been invaluable in pointing the way to higher and better realities. UB 90:5.8
The latter quotation clearly lets us know that a priest and a true religious teacher are two separate persons. The collapse of the monopoly becomes a fact in this aspect. Another striking quotation sheds more light on this observation:
Pentecost marked the end of special priesthoods and all belief in sacred families. UB 194:3.15
The church does have the office of the administrator of the Word and the Sacraments, but this is true only because the church itself has so determined, and the definition above has unfortunately an enslaving effect on many of our fellows. This is part of the spirit of our epoch: the old “story”, Christianity and its teachings, operates in the background, although it has, in a way, been bidden farewell in a situation where we do not, as yet, know where we are heading.
The assertion that the Spirit of Truth (the Holy Spirit of the Christians) would be bestowed through the Word and the Sacraments is one of those doctrines whose objective is the spiritual monopoly of the church and its perpetuation. The URANTIA Book view is unambiguous:
Do not overlook the fact that the Spirit of Truth was bestowed upon all sincere believers; this gift of the spirit did not come only to the apostles. The one hundred and twenty men and women assembled in the upper chamber all received the new teacher, as did all the honest of heart throughout the whole world. This new teacher was bestowed upon mankind, and every soul received him in accordance with the love for truth and the capacity to grasp and comprehend spiritual realities. At last, true religion is delivered from the custody of priests and all sacred classes and finds its real manifestation in the individual souls of men. UB 194:3.6
The Lutheran Church, in endorsing a document like the Augsburg Confession and in perpetuating it as a distinctive feature of its dogma, continues to imagine that it acts as an intermediary between Christ Michael and any normal man. That one has to heed to the gospel is considered a precondition for the reception of the Spirit of Truth. Theologians have been exchanging views on the prospects of salvation of a man who has never “hearkened to” the gospel. The Catholic church maintains a doctrine on “anonymous Christians”, and this doctrine maybe gives a positive answer to the question, whether a “non-hearkener” can win salvation. Similar ideas have lately been suggested also within our church and within the ranks of our theologians. These views, however, constitute just a kind of embryonic phase in the transformation of the church instruction. Many average churchgoers, however, appreciate such opinions. Finally and for a change, one can hear something spiritually encouraging issue from within the church. Some theologians, those who have committed the intellectual suicide discussed above, have repented of their having taught people things that they themselves do not believe. It remains to be seen, whether, for example, from within the Catholic church a new theologian will arise, one in command of the courage to revise the age-old dogmas and make them veer towards that overall view on dogmatics which is presented in The URANTIA Book. Not everything need be the work of the theologians. Works of fiction, ordinary literature, for example, would have a much more tangible impact than even a thousand ecclesiastical pronouncements and confessions.
OUR CHURCHES SHALL, FURTHERMORE, INSTRUCT THAT THE ONE AND ONLY HOLY CHURCH SHALL LAST FOR EVER. THE CHURCH IS THE CONGREGATION OF THE HOLY, WHEREIN THE GOSPEL SHALL BE PREACHED IN PURITY AND THE SACRAMENTS ADMINISTERED CORRECTLY. UNANIMITY ABOUT THE DOCTRINE OF THE GOSPEL AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS WILL BE SUFFICIENT TO ENSURE A TRUE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. ON THE OTHER HAND, IT IS NOT NECESSARY THAT THE INHERITED HUMAN TRADITIONS, RITUALS OF THE DIVINE SERVICE, OR THE CEREMONIALS, WHICH ARE REGULATED BY MAN, BE EVERYWHERE UNIFORM. [CA V]
That a church will eventually take shape, evolve from a spiritual brotherhood, is inevitable:
Just as certainly as men share their religious beliefs, they create a religious group of some sort which eventually creates common goals. Someday religionists will get together and actually effect co-operation on the basis of unity of ideals and purposes rather than attempting to do so on the basis of psychological opinions and theological beliefs. UB 99:5.7
An effort to monopolise the religious brotherhood and to rule over it is most evident in the articles of the CA. The notion that a unanimity about the doctrine of the gospel and about the correct way of administering the sacraments would be sufficient for the achievement of genuine unity in the church is refuted in the URANTIA Book quotation above. It is comforting to realise and personally to experience what the quote has to say about co-operation with somebody on the basis of a unity of ideals and purposes. The collapse of the monopoly is an undeniable fact within numerous groups and communities, and has crossed even the boundaries between religions.
And again, the revelators, who in this case are our cousins, the midwayers, recognise the needs of those people who are incapable of real progress:
It is all too true that such a church would not have survived unless there had been men in the world who preferred such a style of worship. Many spiritually indolent souls crave an ancient and authoritative religion of ritual and sacred traditions. Human evolution and spiritual progress are hardly sufficient to enable all men to dispense with religious authority. UB 195:10.14
About the bewilderment which rules within the Christian church, it is said:
And so, for centuries, the Christian church has labored under great embarrassment because it dared to lay claim to those mysterious powers and privileges of the kingdom, powers and privileges which can be exercised and experienced only between Jesus and his spiritual believer brothers. And thus it becomes apparent that membership in the church does not necessarily mean fellowship in the kingdom; one is spiritual, the other mainly social. UB 170:5.18
This quotation very well highlights the subject matter of this my writing, viz. the attempt of the church to monopolise the religious experience and the partaking of holiness. The efforts of the church to define itself as the congregation of the holy are ambiguous, as much as they are spiritually and intellectually utterly unattractive to men of the post-rationalistic-individualistic age, to men guided by the Spirit of Truth and orientated by their Thought Adjusters.
ABOUT BAPTISM OUR CONGREGATIONS SHALL TEACH THAT BAPTISM IS INDISPENSABLE TO SALVATION, AND THAT THE MERCY OF GOD IS CONFERRED THROUGH BAPTISMCHILDREN HAVE TO BE BAPTISED SO TO COMMIT THEM TO GOD’S KEEPING AND BE TAKEN INTO GOD’S MERCIES. [CA IX]
To a reader of The URANTIA Book it is evident that, contrary to the claims of the church, and in contravention of what has been ascribed to Jesus in his missionary assignment as it is taught by the church, Jesus did not install baptism.
Baptism is a feature that became attached to the Jesus movement through the actions of John’s apostles. We read in The URANTIA Book:
But the most serious of all their problems was the question of baptism. Their difficulties were all the more aggravated because Jesus had refused to make any pronouncement upon the subject. They finally agreed: As long as John lived, or until they might jointly modify this decision, only the apostles of John would baptize believers, and only the apostles of Jesus would finally instruct the new disciples. Accordingly, from that time until after the death of John, two of the apostles of John accompanied Jesus and his apostles to baptize believers, for the joint council had unanimously voted that baptism was to become the initial step in the outward alliance with the affairs of the kingdom. UB 144:6.7
As a matter of fact, the decision was a compromise which Jesus made with purpose:
Jesus foresaw that a social organization, or church, would follow the progress of the true spiritual kingdom, and that is why he never opposed the apostles’ practicing the rite of John’s baptism. He taught that the truth-loving soul, the one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, for God, is admitted by faith to the spiritual kingdom; at the same time the apostles taught that such a believer is admitted to the social organization of disciples by the outward rite of baptism. UB 170:5.13
Baptism, as we may read, is not a prerequisite for admission to the spiritual brotherhood. It is an instrument in the hands of the priests wherewith to get parents, under the pressure of traditions, to yield to a baptism of their children. In this aspect, the monopoly is still very strong.
The church goes on instructing that baptism is the precondition for the reception of the Holy Spirit. In a way, one may say that Jesus’ view on baptism was qualifiedly positive. A new meaning should perhaps be attached to baptism. The future will show what the attitude of The URANTIA Book readers towards this issue is going to be.
Christians are prone to say: “Christ has done this and has done that for me, after I espoused the faith.” This represents a puerile, primitive view based on reward mentality. A true follower of Jesus can never make such a statement. He has liberated himself from materialistic concepts and from egotism. He is God’s dynamic servant, who meets all people without fear. Should he say something about his relationship with Christ, he might say: “Do not boast about what Christ has done for you, rather contemplate what you could do for Christ and for your fellow men today.” In conclusion, we might one more time quote the blue book and give a thought to this intriguing assertion and promise:
Sooner or later another and greater John the Baptist is due to arise proclaiming “the kingdom of God is at hand”—meaning a return to the high spiritual concept of Jesus, who proclaimed that the kingdom is the will of his heavenly Father dominant and transcendent in the heart of the believer—and doing all this without in any way referring either to the visible church on earth or to the anticipated second coming of Christ. UB 170:5.19
Last but not least, I may state that we shall hardly be around to see the monopoly of the partaking of holiness broken, to the extent that we would possibly like to see it happen. But the progress is steady. We remain in anticipation of better times, as promised in the book.