PAPER 3
THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
3:0.1 GOD is everywhere present; the Universal
Father rules the circle of eternity. But he rules in the local universes in
the persons of his Paradise Creator Sons, even as he bestows life through
these Sons. "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Sons."
These Creator Sons of God are the personal expression of himself in the
sectors of time and to the children of the whirling planets of the evolving
universes of space.
3:0.2 The highly personalized Sons of God are
clearly discernible by the lower orders of created intelligences, and so do
they compensate for the invisibility of the infinite and therefore less
discernible Father. The Paradise Creator Sons of the Universal Father are a
revelation of an otherwise invisible being, invisible because of the
absoluteness and infinity inherent in the circle of eternity and in the
personalities of the Paradise Deities.
3:0.3 Creatorship is hardly an attribute of God; it
is rather the aggregate of his acting nature. And this universal function of
creatorship is eternally manifested as it is conditioned and controlled by all
the co-ordinated attributes of the infinite and divine reality of the First
Source and Center. We sincerely doubt whether any one characteristic of the
divine nature can be regarded as being antecedent to the others, but if such
were the case, then the creatorship nature of Deity would take precedence over
all other natures, activities, and attributes. And the creatorship of Deity
culminates in the universal truth of the Fatherhood of God.
1. GOD'S EVERYWHERENESS
3:1.1 The ability of the Universal Father to be
everywhere present, and at the same time, constitutes his omnipresence. God
alone can be in two places, in numberless places, at the same time. God is
simultaneously present "in heaven above and on the earth beneath"; as the
Psalmist exclaimed: "Whither shall I go from your spirit? or whither shall I
flee from your presence?"
3:1.2 "`I am a God at hand as well as afar off,'
says the Lord. `Do not I fill heaven and earth?'" The Universal Father is all
the time present in all parts and in all hearts of his far-flung creation. He
is "the fullness of him who fills all and in all," and "who works all in all,"
and further, the concept of his personality is such that "the heaven
(universe) and heaven of heavens (universe of universes) cannot contain him."
It is literally true that God is all and in all. But even that is not all of God. The Infinite can be finally revealed only in infinity; the
cause can never be fully comprehended by an analysis of effects; the living
God is immeasurably greater than the sum total of creation that has come into
being as a result of the creative acts of his unfettered free will. God is
revealed throughout the cosmos, but the cosmos can never contain or encompass
the entirety of the infinity of God.
3:1.3 The Father's presence unceasingly patrols the
master universe. "His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his
circuit to the ends of it; and there is nothing hidden from the light
thereof."
3:1.4 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."
3:1.5 Truly of the human race has it been said, "You
are of God" because "he who dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him."
Even in wrongdoing you torment the indwelling gift of God, for the Thought
Adjuster must needs go through the consequences of evil thinking with the
human mind of its incarceration.
3:1.6 The omnipresence of God is in reality a part
of his infinite nature; space constitutes no barrier to Deity. God is, in
perfection and without limitation, discernibly present only on Paradise and in
the central universe. He is not thus observably present in the creations
encircling Havona, for God has limited his direct and actual presence in
recognition of the sovereignty and the divine prerogatives of the co-ordinate
creators and rulers of the universes of time and space. Hence must the concept
of the divine presence allow for a wide range of both mode and channel of
manifestation embracing the presence circuits of the Eternal Son, the Infinite
Spirit, and the Isle of Paradise. Nor is it always possible to distinguish
between the presence of the Universal Father and the actions of his eternal
co-ordinates and agencies, so perfectly do they fulfill all the infinite
requirements of his unchanging purpose. But not so with the personality
circuit and the Adjusters; here God acts uniquely, directly, and exclusively.
3:1.7 The Universal Controller is potentially
present in the gravity circuits of the Isle of Paradise in all parts of the
universe at all times and in the same degree, in accordance with the mass, in
response to the physical demands for this presence, and because of the
inherent nature of all creation which causes all things to adhere and consist
in him. Likewise is the First Source and Center potentially present in the
Unqualified Absolute, the repository of the uncreated universes of the eternal
future. God thus potentially pervades the physical universes of the past,
present, and future. He is the primordial foundation of the coherence of the
so-called material creation. This nonspiritual Deity potential becomes actual
here and there throughout the level of physical existences by the inexplicable
intrusion of some one of his exclusive agencies upon the stage of universe
action.
3:1.8 The mind presence of God is correlated with
the absolute mind of the Conjoint Actor, the Infinite Spirit, but in the
finite creations it is better discerned in the everywhere functioning of the
cosmic mind of the Paradise Master Spirits. Just as the First Source and
Center is potentially present in the mind circuits of the Conjoint Actor, so
is he potentially present in the tensions of the Universal Absolute. But mind
of the human order is a bestowal of the Daughters of the Conjoint Actor, the
Divine Ministers of the evolving universes.
3:1.9 The everywhere-present spirit of the Universal
Father is co-ordinated with the function of the universal spirit presence of
the Eternal Son and the everlasting divine potential of the Deity Absolute.
But neither the spiritual activity of the Eternal Son and his Paradise Sons
nor the mind bestowals of the Infinite Spirit seem to exclude the direct
action of the Thought Adjusters, the indwelling fragments of God, in the
hearts of his creature children.
3:1.10 Concerning God's presence in a planet,
system, constellation, or a universe, the degree of such presence in any
creational unit is a measure of the degree of the evolving presence of the
Supreme Being: It is determined by the en masse recognition of God and loyalty
to him on the part of the vast universe organization, running down to the
systems and planets themselves. Therefore it is sometimes with the hope of
conserving and safeguarding these phases of God's precious presence that, when
some planets (or even systems) have plunged far into spiritual darkness, they
are in a certain sense quarantined, or partially isolated from intercourse
with the larger units of creation. And all this, as it operates on Urantia, is
a spiritually defensive reaction of the majority of the worlds to save
themselves, as far as possible, from suffering the isolating consequences of
the alienating acts of a headstrong, wicked, and rebellious
minority.
3:1.11 While the Father parentally encircuits all
his sons -- all personalities -- his influence in them is limited by the
remoteness of their origin from the Second and the Third Persons of Deity and
augmented as their destiny attainment nears such levels. The fact of
God's presence in creature minds is determined by whether or not they are
indwelt by Father fragments, such as the Mystery Monitors, but his
effective presence is determined by the degree of co-operation accorded
these indwelling Adjusters by the minds of their sojourn.
3:1.12 The fluctuations of the Father's presence are
not due to the changeableness of God. The Father does not retire in seclusion
because he has been slighted; his affections are not alienated because of the
creature's wrongdoing. Rather, having been endowed with the power of choice
(concerning Himself), his children, in the exercise of that choice, directly
determine the degree and limitations of the Father's divine influence in their
own hearts and souls. The Father has freely bestowed himself upon us without
limit and without favor. He is no respecter of persons, planets, systems, or
universes. In the sectors of time he confers differential honor only on the
Paradise personalities of God the Sevenfold, the co-ordinate creators of the
finite universes.
2. GOD'S INFINITE POWER
3:2.1 All the universes know that "the Lord God
omnipotent reigns." The affairs of this world and other worlds are divinely
supervised. "He does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth." It is eternally true, "there is no power but of
God."
3:2.2 Within the bounds of that which is consistent
with the divine nature, it is literally true that "with God all things are
possible." The long-drawn-out evolutionary processes of peoples, planets, and
universes are under the perfect control of the universe creators and
administrators and unfold in accordance with the eternal purpose of the
Universal Father, proceeding in harmony and order and in keeping with the
all-wise plan of God. There is only one lawgiver. He upholds the worlds in
space and swings the universes around the endless circle of the eternal
circuit.
3:2.3 Of all the divine attributes, his omnipotence,
especially as it prevails in the material universe, is the best understood.
Viewed as an unspiritual phenomenon, God is energy. This declaration of
physical fact is predicated on the incomprehensible truth that the First
Source and Center is the primal cause of the universal physical phenomena of
all space. From this divine activity all physical energy and other material
manifestations are derived. Light, that is, light without heat, is another of
the nonspiritual manifestations of the Deities. And there is still another
form of nonspiritual energy which is virtually unknown on Urantia; it is as
yet unrecognized.
3:2.4 God controls all power; he has made "a way for
the lightning"; he has ordained the circuits of all energy. He has decreed the
time and manner of the manifestation of all forms of energy-matter. And all
these things are held forever in his everlasting grasp -- in the gravitational
control centering on nether Paradise. The light and energy of the eternal God
thus swing on forever around his majestic circuit, the endless but orderly
procession of the starry hosts composing the universe of universes. All
creation circles eternally around the Paradise-Personality center of all
things and beings.
3:2.5 The omnipotence of the Father pertains to the
everywhere dominance of the absolute level, whereon the three energies,
material, mindal, and spiritual, are indistinguishable in close proximity to
him -- the Source of all things. Creature mind, being neither Paradise monota
nor Paradise spirit, is not directly responsive to the Universal Father. God
adjusts with the mind of imperfection -- with Urantia mortals through
the Thought Adjusters.
3:2.6 The Universal Father is not a transient force,
a shifting power, or a fluctuating energy. The power and wisdom of the Father
are wholly adequate to cope with any and all universe exigencies. As the
emergencies of human experience arise, he has foreseen them all, and therefore
he does not react to the affairs of the universe in a detached way but rather
in accordance with the dictates of eternal wisdom and in consonance with the
mandates of infinite judgment. Regardless of appearances, the power of God is
not functioning in the universe as a blind force.
3:2.7 Situations do arise in which it appears that
emergency rulings have been made, that natural laws have been suspended, that
misadaptations have been recognized, and that an effort is being made to
rectify the situation; but such is not the case. Such concepts of God have
their origin in the limited range of your viewpoint, in the finiteness of your
comprehension, and in the circumscribed scope of your survey; such
misunderstanding of God is due to the profound ignorance you enjoy regarding
the existence of the higher laws of the realm, the magnitude of the Father's
character, the infinity of his attributes, and the fact of his
free-willness.
3:2.8 The planetary creatures of God's spirit
indwelling, scattered hither and yon throughout the universes of space, are so
nearly infinite in number and order, their intellects are so diverse, their
minds are so limited and sometimes so gross, their vision is so curtailed and
localized, that it is almost impossible to formulate generalizations of law
adequately expressive of the Father's infinite attributes and at the same time
to any degree comprehensible to these created intelligences. Therefore, to you
the creature, many of the acts of the all-powerful Creator seem to be
arbitrary, detached, and not infrequently heartless and cruel. But again I
assure you that this is not true. God's doings are all purposeful,
intelligent, wise, kind, and eternally considerate of the best good, not
always of an individual being, an individual race, an individual planet, or
even an individual universe; but they are for the welfare and best good of all
concerned, from the lowest to the highest. In the epochs of time the welfare
of the part may sometimes appear to differ from the welfare of the whole; in
the circle of eternity such apparent differences are nonexistent.
3:2.9 We are all a part of the family of God, and we
must therefore sometimes share in the family discipline. Many of the acts of
God which so disturb and confuse us are the result of the decisions and final
rulings of all-wisdom, empowering the Conjoint Actor to execute the choosing
of the infallible will of the infinite mind, to enforce the decisions of the
personality of perfection, whose survey, vision, and solicitude embrace the
highest and eternal welfare of all his vast and far-flung creation.
3:2.10 Thus it is that your detached, sectional,
finite, gross, and highly materialistic viewpoint and the limitations inherent
in the nature of your being constitute such a handicap that you are unable to
see, comprehend, or know the wisdom and kindness of many of the divine acts
which to you seem fraught with such crushing cruelty, and which seem to be
characterized by such utter indifference to the comfort and welfare, to the
planetary happiness and personal prosperity, of your fellow creatures. It is
because of the limits of human vision, it is because of your circumscribed
understanding and finite comprehension, that you misunderstand the motives,
and pervert the purposes, of God. But many things occur on the evolutionary
worlds which are not the personal doings of the Universal Father.
3:2.11 The divine omnipotence is perfectly
co-ordinated with the other attributes of the personality of God. The power of
God is, ordinarily, only limited in its universe spiritual manifestation by
three conditions or situations:
1. By the nature of God, especially by his
infinite love, by truth, beauty, and goodness.
2. By the will of God, by his mercy ministry and
fatherly relationship with the personalities of the universe.
3. By the law of God, by the righteousness and
justice of the eternal Paradise Trinity.
3:2.12 God is unlimited in power, divine in nature,
final in will, infinite in attributes, eternal in wisdom, and absolute in
reality. But all these characteristics of the Universal Father are unified in
Deity and universally expressed in the Paradise Trinity and in the divine Sons
of the Trinity. Otherwise, outside of Paradise and the central universe of
Havona, everything pertaining to God is limited by the evolutionary presence
of the Supreme, conditioned by the eventuating presence of the Ultimate, and
co-ordinated by the three existential Absolutes -- Deity, Universal, and
Unqualified. And God's presence is thus limited because such is the will of
God.
3. GOD'S UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE
3:3.1 "God knows all things." The divine mind is
conscious of, and conversant with, the thought of all creation. His knowledge
of events is universal and perfect. The divine entities going out from him are
a part of him; he who "balances the clouds" is also "perfect in knowledge."
"The eyes of the Lord are in every place." Said your great teacher of the
insignificant sparrow, "One of them shall not fall to the ground without my
Father's knowledge," and also, "The very hairs of your head are numbered." "He
tells the number of the stars; he calls them all by their names."
3:3.2 The Universal Father is the only personality
in all the universe who does actually know the number of the stars and planets
of space. All the worlds of every universe are constantly within the
consciousness of God. He also says: "I have surely seen the affliction of my
people, I have heard their cry, and I know their sorrows." For "the Lord looks
from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men; from the place of his habitation
he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth." Every creature child may
truly say: "He knows the way I take, and when he has tried me, I shall come
forth as gold." "God knows our downsittings and our uprisings; he understands
our thoughts afar off and is acquainted with all our ways." "All things are
naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do." And it should be a
real comfort to every human being to understand that "he knows your frame; he
remembers that you are dust." Jesus, speaking of the living God, said, "Your
Father knows what you have need of even before you ask him."
3:3.3 God is possessed of unlimited power to know
all things; his consciousness is universal. His personal circuit encompasses
all personalities, and his knowledge of even the lowly creatures is
supplemented indirectly through the descending series of divine Sons and
directly through the indwelling Thought Adjusters. And furthermore, the
Infinite Spirit is all the time everywhere present.
3:3.4 We are not wholly certain as to whether or not
God chooses to foreknow events of sin. But even if God should foreknow the
freewill acts of his children, such foreknowledge does not in the least
abrogate their freedom. One thing is certain: God is never subjected to
surprise.
3:3.5 Omnipotence does not imply the power to do the
nondoable, the ungodlike act. Neither does omniscience imply the knowing of
the unknowable. But such statements can hardly be made comprehensible to the
finite mind. The creature can hardly understand the range and limitations of
the will of the Creator.
4. GOD'S LIMITLESSNESS
3:4.1 The successive bestowal of himself upon the
universes as they are brought into being in no wise lessens the potential of
power or the store of wisdom as they continue to reside and repose in the
central personality of Deity. In potential of force, wisdom, and love, the
Father has never lessened aught of his possession nor become divested of any
attribute of his glorious personality as the result of the unstinted bestowal
of himself upon the Paradise Sons, upon his subordinate creations, and upon
the manifold creatures thereof.
3:4.2 The creation of every new universe calls for a
new adjustment of gravity; but even if creation should continue indefinitely,
eternally, even to infinity, so that eventually the material creation would
exist without limitations, still the power of control and co-ordination
reposing in the Isle of Paradise would be found equal to, and adequate for,
the mastery, control, and co-ordination of such an infinite universe. And
subsequent to this bestowal of limitless force and power upon a boundless
universe, the Infinite would still be surcharged with the same degree of force
and energy; the Unqualified Absolute would still be undiminished; God would
still possess the same infinite potential, just as if force, energy, and power
had never been poured forth for the endowment of universe upon
universe.
3:4.3 And so with wisdom: The fact that mind is so
freely distributed to the thinking of the realms in no wise impoverishes the
central source of divine wisdom. As the universes multiply, and beings of the
realms increase in number to the limits of comprehension, if mind continues
without end to be bestowed upon these beings of high and low estate, still
will God's central personality continue to embrace the same eternal, infinite,
and all-wise mind.
3:4.4 The fact that he sends forth spirit messengers
from himself to indwell the men and women of your world and other worlds in no
wise lessens his ability to function as a divine and all-powerful spirit
personality; and there is absolutely no limit to the extent or number of such
spirit Monitors which he can and may send out. This giving of himself to his
creatures creates a boundless, almost inconceivable future possibility of
progressive and successive existences for these divinely endowed mortals. And
this prodigal distribution of himself as these ministering spirit entities in
no manner diminishes the wisdom and perfection of truth and knowledge which
repose in the person of the all-wise, all-knowing, and all-powerful Father.
3:4.5 To the mortals of time there is a future, but
God inhabits eternity. Even though I hail from near the very abiding place of
Deity, I cannot presume to speak with perfection of understanding concerning
the infinity of many of the divine attributes. Infinity of mind alone can
fully comprehend infinity of existence and eternity of action.
3:4.6 Mortal man cannot possibly know the infinitude
of the heavenly Father. Finite mind cannot think through such an absolute
truth or fact. But this same finite human being can actually feel --
literally experience -- the full and undiminished impact of such an infinite
Father's LOVE. Such a love can be truly experienced, albeit while quality of
experience is unlimited, quantity of such an experience is strictly limited by
the human capacity for spiritual receptivity and by the associated capacity to
love the Father in return.
3:4.7 Finite appreciation of infinite qualities far
transcends the logically limited capacities of the creature because of the
fact that mortal man is made in the image of God -- there lives within him a
fragment of infinity. Therefore man's nearest and dearest approach to God is
by and through love, for God is love. And all of such a unique relationship is
an actual experience in cosmic sociology, the Creator-creature relationship --
the Father-child affection.
5. THE FATHER'S SUPREME RULE
3:5.1 In his contact with the post-Havona creations,
the Universal Father does not exercise his infinite power and final authority
by direct transmittal but rather through his Sons and their subordinate
personalities. And God does all this of his own free will. Any and all powers
delegated, if occasion should arise, if it should become the choice of the
divine mind, could be exercised direct; but, as a rule, such action only takes
place as a result of the failure of the delegated personality to fulfill the
divine trust. At such times and in the face of such default and within the
limits of the reservation of divine power and potential, the Father does act
independently and in accordance with the mandates of his own choice; and that
choice is always one of unfailing perfection and infinite wisdom.
3:5.2 The Father rules through his Sons; on down
through the universe organization there is an unbroken chain of rulers ending
with the Planetary Princes, who direct the destinies of the evolutionary
spheres of the Father's vast domains. It is no mere poetic expression that
exclaims: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." "He removes
kings and sets up kings." "The Most Highs rule in the kingdoms of
men."
3:5.3 In the affairs of men's hearts the Universal
Father may not always have his way; but in the conduct and destiny of a planet
the divine plan prevails; the eternal purpose of wisdom and love
triumphs.
3:5.4 Said Jesus: "My Father, who gave them to me,
is greater than all; and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father's
hand." As you glimpse the manifold workings and view the staggering immensity
of God's well-nigh limitless creation, you may falter in your concept of his
primacy, but you should not fail to accept him as securely and everlastingly
enthroned at the Paradise center of all things and as the beneficent Father of
all intelligent beings. There is but "one God and Father of all, who is above
all and in all," "and he is before all things, and in him all things consist."
3:5.5 The uncertainties of life and the vicissitudes
of existence do not in any manner contradict the concept of the universal
sovereignty of God. All evolutionary creature life is beset by certain
inevitabilities. Consider the following:
3:5.6 1. Is courage -- strength of character
-- desirable? Then must man be reared in an environment which necessitates
grappling with hardships and reacting to disappointments.
3:5.7 2. Is altruism -- service of one's
fellows -- desirable? Then must life experience provide for encountering
situations of social inequality.
3:5.8 3. Is hope -- the grandeur of trust --
desirable? Then human existence must constantly be confronted with
insecurities and recurrent uncertainties.
3:5.9 4. Is faith -- the supreme assertion of
human thought -- desirable? Then must the mind of man find itself in that
troublesome predicament where it ever knows less than it can believe.
3:5.10 5. Is the love of truth and the
willingness to go wherever it leads, desirable? Then must man grow up in a
world where error is present and falsehood always possible.
3:5.11 6. Is idealism -- the approaching
concept of the divine -- desirable? Then must man struggle in an environment
of relative goodness and beauty, surroundings stimulative of the irrepressible
reach for better things.
3:5.12 7. Is loyalty -- devotion to highest
duty -- desirable? Then must man carry on amid the possibilities of betrayal
and desertion. The valor of devotion to duty consists in the implied danger of
default.
3:5.13 8. Is unselfishness -- the spirit of
self-forgetfulness -- desirable? Then must mortal man live face to face with
the incessant clamoring of an inescapable self for recognition and honor. Man
could not dynamically choose the divine life if there were no self-life to
forsake. Man could never lay saving hold on righteousness if there were no
potential evil to exalt and differentiate the good by contrast.
3:5.14 9. Is pleasure -- the satisfaction of
happiness -- desirable? Then must man live in a world where the alternative of
pain and the likelihood of suffering are ever-present experiential
possibilities.
3:5.15 Throughout the universe, every unit is
regarded as a part of the whole. Survival of the part is dependent on
co-operation with the plan and purpose of the whole, the wholehearted desire
and perfect willingness to do the Father's divine will. The only evolutionary
world without error (the possibility of unwise judgment) would be a world
without free intelligence. In the Havona universe there are a billion
perfect worlds with their perfect inhabitants, but evolving man must be
fallible if he is to be free. Free and inexperienced intelligence cannot
possibly at first be uniformly wise. The possibility of mistaken judgment
(evil) becomes sin only when the human will consciously endorses and knowingly
embraces a deliberate immoral judgment.
3:5.16 The full appreciation of truth, beauty, and
goodness is inherent in the perfection of the divine universe. The inhabitants
of the Havona worlds do not require the potential of relative value levels as
a choice stimulus; such perfect beings are able to identify and choose the
good in the absence of all contrastive and thought-compelling moral
situations. But all such perfect beings are, in moral nature and spiritual
status, what they are by virtue of the fact of existence. They have
experientially earned advancement only within their inherent status. Mortal
man earns even his status as an ascension candidate by his own faith and hope.
Everything divine which the human mind grasps and the human soul acquires is
an experiential attainment; it is a reality of personal experience and
is therefore a unique possession in contrast to the inherent goodness and
righteousness of the inerrant personalities of Havona.
3:5.17 The creatures of Havona are naturally brave,
but they are not courageous in the human sense. They are innately kind and
considerate, but hardly altruistic in the human way. They are expectant of a
pleasant future, but not hopeful in the exquisite manner of the trusting
mortal of the uncertain evolutionary spheres. They have faith in the stability
of the universe, but they are utter strangers to that saving faith whereby
mortal man climbs from the status of an animal up to the portals of Paradise.
They love the truth, but they know nothing of its soul-saving qualities. They
are idealists, but they were born that way; they are wholly ignorant of the
ecstasy of becoming such by exhilarating choice. They are loyal, but they have
never experienced the thrill of wholehearted and intelligent devotion to duty
in the face of temptation to default. They are unselfish, but they never
gained such levels of experience by the magnificent conquest of a belligerent
self. They enjoy pleasure, but they do not comprehend the sweetness of the
pleasure escape from the pain potential.
6. THE FATHER'S PRIMACY
3:6.1 With divine selflessness, consummate
generosity, the Universal Father relinquishes authority and delegates power,
but he is still primal; his hand is on the mighty lever of the circumstances
of the universal realms; he has reserved all final decisions and unerringly
wields the all-powerful veto scepter of his eternal purpose with
unchallengeable authority over the welfare and destiny of the outstretched,
whirling, and ever-circling creation.
3:6.2 The sovereignty of God is unlimited; it is the
fundamental fact of all creation. The universe was not inevitable. The
universe is not an accident, neither is it self-existent. The universe is a
work of creation and is therefore wholly subject to the will of the Creator.
The will of God is divine truth, living love; therefore are the perfecting
creations of the evolutionary universes characterized by goodness -- nearness
to divinity; by potential evil -- remoteness from divinity.
3:6.3 All religious philosophy, sooner or later,
arrives at the concept of unified universe rule, of one God. Universe causes
cannot be lower than universe effects. The source of the streams of universe
life and of the cosmic mind must be above the levels of their manifestation.
The human mind cannot be consistently explained in terms of the lower orders
of existence. Man's mind can be truly comprehended only by recognizing the
reality of higher orders of thought and purposive will. Man as a moral being
is inexplicable unless the reality of the Universal Father is
acknowledged.
3:6.4 The mechanistic philosopher professes to
reject the idea of a universal and sovereign will, the very sovereign will
whose activity in the elaboration of universe laws he so deeply reverences.
What unintended homage the mechanist pays the law-Creator when he conceives
such laws to be self-acting and self-explanatory!
3:6.5 It is a great blunder to humanize God, except
in the concept of the indwelling Thought Adjuster, but even that is not so
stupid as completely to mechanize the idea of the First Great Source
and Center.
3:6.6 Does the Paradise Father suffer? I do not
know. The Creator Sons most certainly can and sometimes do, even as do
mortals. The Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit suffer in a modified sense. I
think the Universal Father does, but I cannot understand how; perhaps
through the personality circuit or through the individuality of the Thought
Adjusters and other bestowals of his eternal nature. He has said of the mortal
races, "In all your afflictions I am afflicted." He unquestionably experiences
a fatherly and sympathetic understanding; he may truly suffer, but I do not
comprehend the nature thereof.
3:6.7 The infinite and eternal Ruler of the universe
of universes is power, form, energy, process, pattern, principle, presence,
and idealized reality. But he is more; he is personal; he exercises a
sovereign will, experiences self-consciousness of divinity, executes the
mandates of a creative mind, pursues the satisfaction of the realization of an
eternal purpose, and manifests a Father's love and affection for his universe
children. And all these more personal traits of the Father can be better
understood by observing them as they were revealed in the bestowal life of
Michael, your Creator Son, while he was incarnated on Urantia.
3:6.8 God the Father loves men; God the Son serves
men; God the Spirit inspires the children of the universe to the
ever-ascending adventure of finding God the Father by the ways ordained by God
the Sons through the ministry of the grace of God the Spirit.
3:6.9[Being the
Divine Counselor assigned to the presentation of the revelation of the
Universal Father, I have continued with this statement of the attributes of
Deity.]
