What is spiritual brotherhood?

[Vern]

Mara wrote: …the kingdom does not belong to us.

How true, we are ambassadors of the eternal “spiritual brotherhood,” the first chapter of lowly mortals, the furthest time/space manifestation of the Father of creatures with personality capacity to know him and thereby, capable of sharing that knowing with each other.

Likewise, the planet itself does not belong to us. I doubt we will be permitted to destroy it. Our universe family are actively involved, I’m convinced, in saving us from ourselves. At this stage, wisdom is not one of our most outstanding qualities. Many of the lessons to be learned will by necessity be, of the harsh and disappointing kind. Defeat is the mirror of honesty.

The measure of the spiritual capacity of the evolving soul is your faith in truth and your love for man, but the measure of your human strength of character is your ability to resist the holding of grudges and your capacity to withstand brooding in the face of deep sorrow. Defeat is the true mirror in which you may honestly view your real self. ^{[Paper  156:5.17, page 1740:4]}

The lessons of “faith in truth and love for man” are ongoing, the markers along the way are many, the marvelous gift of revelation is one more, the choice is ours, the consequence God’s.

[Vern]

Moving right along going through instances of “spiritual brotherhood” in The Urantia Book we come to this one, relating to the effectiveness of tact and sagacity by the apostle John in promoting spiritual brotherhood.

John was in prison several times and was banished to the Isle of Patmos for a period of four years until another emperor came to power in Rome. Had not John been tactful and sagacious, he would undoubtedly have been killed as was his more outspoken brother James. As the years passed, John, together with James the Lord’s brother, learned to practice wise conciliation when they appeared before the civil magistrates. They found that a “soft answer turns away wrath.” They also learned to represent the church as a “spiritual brotherhood devoted to the social service of mankind” rather than as “the kingdom of heaven.” They taught loving service rather than ruling power — kingdom and king. ^{[Paper 139:4.13, page 1555:6]}

And so it is, “loving service” is to be the means by which the spiritual brotherhood is to grow.

The server is the greater and Jesus teaches this. There are four instances in The Urantia Book that refer to this pronouncement of his.

The universal economy is based on intake and output; throughout the eternal career you will never encounter monotony of inaction or stagnation of personality. Progress is made possible by inherent motion, advancement grows out of the divine capacity for action, and achievement is the child of imaginative adventure. But inherent in this capacity for achievement is the responsibility of ethics, the necessity for recognizing that the world and the universe are filled with a multitude of differing types of beings. All of this magnificent creation, including yourself, was not made just for you. This is not an egocentric universe. The Gods have decreed, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” and said your Master Son, “He who would be greatest among you let him be server of all.” ^{[Paper 28:6.18, page 316:5]}

Every impulse of every electron, thought, or spirit is an acting unit in the whole universe. Only sin is isolated and evil gravity resisting on the mental and spiritual levels. The universe is a whole; no thing or being exists or lives in isolation. Self-realization is potentially evil if it is antisocial. It is literally true: “No man lives by himself.” Cosmic socialization constitutes the highest form of personality unification. Said Jesus: “He who would be greatest among you, let him become server of all.” ^{[Paper 56:10.14, page 647:5]}

“In my Father’s kingdom there shall be neither Jew nor gentile, only those who seek perfection through service, for I declare that he who would be great in my Father’s kingdom must first become server of all. If you are willing to serve your fellows, you shall sit down with me in my kingdom, even as, by serving in the similitude of the creature, I shall presently sit down with my Father in his kingdom.” ^{[paper 137:8.11, page 1536:8]}

“While you should honor your rulers and reverence your teachers, you should call no man Father in the spiritual sense, for there is one who is your Father, even God. Neither should you seek to lord it over your brethren in the kingdom. Remember, I have taught you that he who would be greatest among you should become the server of all. If you presume to exalt yourselves before God, you will certainly be humbled; but whoso truly humbles himself will surely be exalted. Seek in your daily lives, not self-glorification, but the glory of God. Intelligently subordinate your own wills to the will of the Father in heaven.” ^{[Paper 175:1.10, page 1907:2]}

With true humility seek to serve. Do this by intelligent subordination of your own will to that of the Father who lives within your mind. Who leads but never compels.

…Thought Adjuster refuses to compel man to think a single thought or to perform a single act against the choosing of man’s own will. ^{[Paper 66:8.6, page 753.2]}

[Mark Kurtz]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-bc-ml–ramadan-reforming-islam-20150716-story.html

This is a report of calls within Islam for change.  Read it through for a good overview.  Is it possible these calls are evidence of desire for spiritual brotherhood?

 

[Vern]

Mark Kurtz wrote:  …calls within Islam for change.  …Is it possible these calls are evidence of desire for spiritual brotherhood?

Hello Mark, Great to see you adding your voice to this fascinating discussion on spiritual brotherhood. Our Musilm brothers and sisters are waking up to this fact as the article you’ve shared well indicates.

Interesting, that the “thought gem” for today is on finding God. To my understanding Muslims are about to discover God as a loving father.

When men search for God,

they are searching for everything.

When they find God,

they have found everything

Musims are well aware of the damage done by erroneous extremist interpretations of Islam and are actively involved in the process of reform. We are well aware stagnation is death, well…………our Muslim brothers and sisters are aware of it too.

…one of the Arab world’s most famous Muslim televangelists, Amr Khaled, who dedicated his TV show through Ramadan to discussing ways of reform, pointed out that it has been at least 70 years since the last great work on Islamic jurisprudence was written. Some of the most widely sold books of Quranic interpretation today are 1,000 years old, he said.

“Life is running forward, but our understanding of religion is stagnant,” Khaled told viewers.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi called for a revolution in Islam, saying outdated interpretations made the Muslim world a source of destruction.

…the religious reform effort — known in Arabic as “tajdeed,” or “renewal”— is aimed at drawing the faithful away from extremism at a time when militant violence has escalated in the region with the spread of the Islamic State group. A common theme among renewal-minded clerics is a call for greater emphasis on tolerance of others.

In his sermon at an Abu Dhabi mosque, Sheikh Maher Amer, a scholar of Shariah at al-Azhar, underlined traditions of tolerance between Muslims and Christians.

All this indicates the God focussed Muslim religion is primed for discovering God as their loving Father and in turn the father of all mankind. The attempt by Islam to put itself forward as the only true religion has failed and must take the next step of inclusiveness consistent with a Universal God concept, accept that Allah of Islam and Loving Father of Christianity, Yahweh of Judaism are one-and the-same. There simply cannot be a God for each group of believers.

We are simply witnessing the inevitable steps to the acceptance of the truth of Jesus’ greatest pronouncement; “the kingdom is within you.” 

 “The kingdom of God is within you” was probably the greatest pronouncement Jesus ever made, next to the declaration that his Father is a living and loving spirit. ^{[Paper 195:10.4, page 2084:4]}

Muslims are quivering on the threshold of discovering the truth of both declarations.

[Vern]

The spiritual brotherhood is an antidote to miracle mindedness—that vain yearing for “superman” to save us, when we are fully equipped with spiritual power to transcend the material dependency of 21st century secular society ourselves.

In the King Making episode, the dashed hopes of the Messiah obsessed Jews when Jesus refused to fulfil their expectations of an earthly ruler, illustrates the real significance of the spiritual brotherhood with the Paradise Father, its all-wise and all-powerful Ruler.

This mighty shout enthused Peter and those of the apostles who still retained the hope of seeing Jesus assert his right to rule. But these false hopes were not to live for long. This mighty shout of the multitude had hardly ceased to reverberate from the near-by rocks when Jesus stepped upon a huge stone and, lifting up his right hand to command their attention, said: “My children, you mean well, but you are shortsighted and material-minded.” There was a brief pause; this stalwart Galilean was there majestically posed in the enchanting glow of that eastern twilight. Every inch he looked a king as he continued to speak to this breathless multitude: “You would make me king, not because your souls have been lighted with a great truth, but because your stomachs have been filled with bread. How many times have I told you that my kingdom is not of this world? This kingdom of heaven which we proclaim is a spiritual brotherhood, and no man rules over it seated upon a material throne. My Father in heaven is the all-wise and the all-powerful Ruler over this spiritual brotherhood of the sons of God on earth. Have I so failed in revealing to you the Father of spirits that you would make a king of his Son in the flesh! Now all of you go hence to your own homes. If you must have a king, let the Father of lights be enthroned in the heart of each of you as the spirit Ruler of all things.” ^{[Paper 152:3.2, page 1702:3]}

So, let the Father be enthroned in our hearts as we gladly serve him as the spiritual brotherhood—United Agondonters of Urantia.

[Vern]

Many of you stand at the parting of the ways, the times in which we live present ample opportunities to make a sureme choice regarding active participation as willing members of the spiritual brotherhood.

“What is it you seek as evidence of my mission on earth? We have left you undisturbed in your positions of influence and power while we preached glad tidings to the poor and the outcast. We have made no hostile attack upon that which you hold in reverence but have rather proclaimed new liberty for man’s fear-ridden soul. I came into the world to reveal my Father and to establish on earth the spiritual brotherhood of the sons of God, the kingdom of heaven. And notwithstanding that I have so many times reminded you that my kingdom is not of this world, still has my Father granted you many manifestations of material wonders in addition to more evidential spiritual transformations and regenerations.” ^{[Paper 153:2.4, page 1710:2]}

“What new sign is it that you seek at my hands? I declare that you already have sufficient evidence to enable you to make your decision. Verily, verily, I say to many who sit before me this day, you are confronted with the necessity of choosing which way you will go; and I say to you, as Joshua said to your forefathers, ‘choose you this day whom you will serve.’ Today, many of you stand at the parting of the ways.” ^{[Paper 153:2.5, page 1710:3]}

It is all the more incumbent on believers to exhibit spiritual brotherhood because they know exactly what they are doing. When Jesus looked down from the cross—even in physical agony—he was capable of extending the hand of mercy to his tormentors appealing to the Father, to intercede on their behalf, “forgive them for they know not what they do.” I conjecture that such forgiveness would be conditional on each individual acting on their highest light. Once the truth is known, there follows a responsibility to live it to the best of one’s ability.

The kingdom to be proclaimed—God within you—is the highest responsibility for those who have experienced its soul-saving liberation.

 “The new kingdom which my Father is about to set up in the hearts of his earth children is to be an everlasting dominion. There shall be no end of this rule of my Father in the hearts of those who desire to do his divine will. I declare to you that my Father is not the God of Jew or gentile. Many shall come from the east and from the west to sit down with us in the Father’s kingdom, while many of the children of Abraham will refuse to enter this new brotherhood of the rule of the Father’s spirit in the hearts of the children of men. ^{[Paper 140:1.2, page 1568:5]} 

Who are these stubborn children of Abraham? Why to they balk at liberating news of the God within each truth seeking soul? Could it be that the notion of there being no intermediaries between God and the believer, is still a step to far for the tradition bound religious leaders who wish to maintain control within their respective cultures?

“…their system of traditional religion will be overthrown, forever destroyed. Thus will they be deprived of authority over that to which they have devoted their lives since they steadfastly refuse to accept this new and more glorious gospel of the kingdom of God.…” ^{[Paper 162:2.2, page 1790:5]}

“The power of this kingdom shall consist, not in the strength of armies nor in the might of riches, but rather in the glory of the divine spirit that shall come to teach the minds and rule the hearts of the reborn citizens of this heavenly kingdom, the sons of God. This is the brotherhood of love wherein righteousness reigns, and whose battle cry shall be: Peace on earth and good will to all men. This kingdom, which you are so soon to go forth proclaiming, is the desire of the good men of all ages, the hope of all the earth, and the fulfillment of the wise promises of all the prophets.” ^{[Paper 140:1.3, page 1568:6]} 

The spiritual brotherhood is intended to bring about, the desire of the good men of all ages, the hope of all the earth, and the fulfillment of the wise promises of all the prophets.

“But for you, my children, and for all others who would follow you into this kingdom, there is set a severe test. Faith alone will pass you through its portals, but you must bring forth the fruits of my Father’s spirit if you would continue to ascend in the progressive life of the divine fellowship. Verily, verily, I say to you, not every one who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but rather he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” ^{[Paper 140:1.4, page 1569:1]}

With the gift of revelation come service obligations—a severe test—you must bring forth the fruits of the Father’s spirit. One cannot receive so much without giving something in return. Sharing is Godlike.

“Your message to the world shall be: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and in finding these, all other things essential to eternal survival shall be secured therewith. And now would I make it plain to you that this kingdom of my Father will not come with an outward show of power or with unseemly demonstration. You are not to go hence in the proclamation of the kingdom, saying, ‘it is here’ or ‘it is there,’ for this kingdom of which you preach is God within you.” ^{[Paper 140:1.5, page 1569:2]}

Simply stated, we are to share this message with all we meet in the most creative and appropriate way, the Divine Spirit residing within each peron can, in full knowledge, that the listeners spirit is likewise, striving to maximise reception in the mind and soul of the receiver that happiness comes to those who……Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and in finding these, all other things essential to eternal survival shall be secured therewith.

Passing the severe test of spiritual brotherhood and yielding much fruit of the spirit requires exercise of attributes already in place in some measure already—to be augmented by their application. Application of courage, honesty and sincerity.

Successful living is nothing more or less than the art of the mastery of dependable techniques for solving common problems. The first step in the solution of any problem is to locate the difficulty, to isolate the problem, and frankly to recognize its nature and gravity. The great mistake is that, when life problems excite our profound fears, we refuse to recognize them. Likewise, when the acknowledgment of our difficulties entails the reduction of our long-cherished conceit, the admission of envy, or the abandonment of deep-seated prejudices, the average person prefers to cling to the old illusions of safety and to the long-cherished false feelings of security. Only a brave person is willing honestly to admit, and fearlessly to face, what a sincere and logical mind discovers. ^{[Paper 160:1.7, page 1773:4]}

Old and self-inhibiting habits must be substituted for self-empowering actions which liberate the soul for dynamic service.

Fear not the wise counsel that points out wherein you refuse to walk in the way of light—the correction of which—leads to the entrance to the kingdom of heaven.

Those who would do great works and qualify for seraphic assistance must ever act upon their highest light.

…Neither do the celestial beings assist the lower being who refuses to act upon his light of truth. ^{[Paper 48:7.9, page 556:9]}

The Spirit of Truth has a drawing power which gathers believers together.

“…Spirit of Truth who will live with each one of you, in your hearts, and so will all the children of light be made one and be drawn toward one another.…”  ^{[Paper 180:4.5, page 1949:1]}

 

[Mara]

Vern wrote:  “Many of you stand at the parting of the ways. . . .”

I think this refers to when Michael was on earth as Jesus. Many people know God in their heart of hearts, but have not yet discovered the Son there too.  Early on in this discussion I asked this: if an individual does not yet know Jesus, is he or she in the spiritual brotherhood?  We can intellectually reason this out in our minds.  I say yes.  But the “parting of the ways” reference seems to exclude those who love God and who heartfully recognize him within.  Many stood there face-to-face with Jesus and looked him in the eyes and rejected him.  These are the people who parted ways with him.  I think only God knows who is in the spiritual brotherhood.  Or do you think the spiritual brotherhood is only of those who recognize Jesus?  Is the kingdom of heaven only of those who know Jesus?

175:2:1   The fact that the spiritual leaders and the religious teachers of the Jewish nation onetime rejected the teachings of Jesus and conspired to bring about his cruel death, does not in any manner affect the status of any individual Jew in his standing before God. And it should not cause those who profess to be followers of the Christ to be prejudiced against the Jew as a fellow mortal. The Jews, as a nation, as a sociopolitical group, paid in full the terrible price of rejecting the Prince of Peace. Long since they ceased to be the spiritual torchbearers of divine truth to the races of mankind, but this constitutes no valid reason why the individual descendants of these long-ago Jews should be made to suffer the persecutions which have been visited upon them by intolerant, unworthy, and bigoted professed followers of Jesus of Nazareth, who was, himself, a Jew by natural birth.

Christian, Muslim, Jew, etc, can they, too, as individuals, do the will of the Father in heaven?  I say yes.

[Vern]

Mara wrote: …no valid reason why the individual descendants of these long-ago Jews should be made to suffer the persecutions which have been visited upon them by intolerant, unworthy, and bigoted professed followers of Jesus of Nazareth, who was, himself, a Jew by natural birth.

Vern wrote:The Spirit of Truth has a drawing power which gathers believers together. “…Spirit of Truth who will live with each one of you, in your hearts, and so will all the children of light be made one and be drawn toward one another.…”  [Paper 180:4.5, page 1949:1]

The Spirit of Truth is Jesus living through the life of each individual believer, he is the vine we are the branches.

…“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. I am the vine, and you are the branches. And the Father requires of me only that you shall bear much fruit. The vine is pruned only to increase the fruitfulness of its branches. Every branch coming out of me which bears no fruit, the Father will take away. Every branch which bears fruit, the Father will cleanse that it may bear more fruit. Already are you clean through the word I have spoken, but you must continue to be clean. You must abide in me, and I in you; the branch will die if it is separated from the vine. As the branch cannot bear fruit except it abides in the vine, so neither can you yield the fruits of loving service except you abide in me. Remember: I am the real vine, and you are the living branches. He who lives in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit of the spirit and experience the supreme joy of yielding this spiritual harvest. If you will maintain this living spiritual connection with me, you will bear abundant fruit. If you abide in me and my words live in you, you will be able to commune freely with me, and then can my living spirit so infuse you that you may ask whatsoever my spirit wills and do all this with the assurance that the Father will grant us our petition. Herein is the Father glorified: that the vine has many living branches, and that every branch bears much fruit. And when the world sees these fruit-bearing branches — my friends who love one another, even as I have loved them — all men will know that you are truly my disciples. ^{[Paper 180:2.1, page 1945:4]}

It matters not if a person has a professed religion or not, as long as they are open to spirit leading from within. The Spirit of Truth has been poured out on everyone so that Jesus can live anew in the lives of every truth seeking person.

 “…this new teacher, the Spirit of Truth. As I have lived with you in person, then shall I live in you; I shall be one with your personal experience in the spirit kingdom. And when this has come to pass, you shall surely know that I am in the Father, and that, while your life is hid with the Father in me, I am also in you.… ^{[Paper 180:4.2, page 1948:3]}

…And this spirit friend will bring to your remembrance everything I have taught you.”^{[Paper 180:4.3, page 1948:4]}

“…And in this very manner will my Father and I be able to live in the souls of each one of you and also in the hearts of all other men who love us and make that love real in their experiences by loving one another, even as I am now loving you.” ^{[Paper 180:4.5, page 1949:1]}

It is my personal view that there are a world of believers out there—millions of them—who do not have words adequate enough to articulate the truth of the experience of the soul they are living as decent average fellow citizens. Lifeless slogans of traditional religion have no appeal to the real spirit hunger that seeks nourishment of these estranged brothers and sisters.

It is much better for a sane balanced life to live as if there is nothing going on beyond the “dead level of consciousness,” than to imagine things that you do not have the capacity to be certain of.

The Thought Adjuster is engaged in a constant effort so to spiritualize your mind as to evolve your morontia soul; but you yourself are mostly unconscious of this inner ministry. You are quite incapable of distinguishing the product of your own material intellect from that of the conjoint activities of your soul and the Adjuster. ^{[Paper110:4.2, page 1207:2]}

Certain abrupt presentations of thoughts, conclusions, and other pictures of mind are sometimes the direct or indirect work of the Adjuster; but far more often they are the sudden emergence into consciousness of ideas which have been grouping themselves together in the submerged mental levels, natural and everyday occurrences of normal and ordinary psychic function inherent in the circuits of the evolving animal mind. (In contrast with these subconscious emanations, the revelations of the Adjuster appear through the realms of the superconscious.) ^{[Paper110:4.3, page 1207:3]}

Trust all matters of mind beyond the dead level of consciousness to the custody of the Adjusters. In due time, if not in this world then on the mansion worlds, they will give good account of their stewardship, and eventually will they bring forth those meanings and values intrusted to their care and keeping. They will resurrect every worthy treasure of the mortal mind if you survive. ^{[Paper110:4.4, page 1207:4]}

Because of this incapability of distinguishing the product of your own material intellect from that of the conjoint activities of your soul and the Adjuster, it’s wiser to err on the side that maintains nothing in particular is going on. That is why many of our “atheist” friends are in reality long time members of the spiritual brotherhood because they bear much spiritual fruit already in the way they care for one another, often, way more than professed believers. They are in fact, living the golden rule already.

[Mara]

Vern wrote:  The Spirit of Truth is Jesus living through the life of each individual believer….

Vern wrote: :The Spirit of Truth has a drawing power which gathers believers together.

Does the spiritual brotherhood consist only of “believers”?

[Mara]

Vern wrote:  Because of this incapability of distinguishing the product of your own material intellect from that of the conjoint activities of your soul and the Adjuster, it’s wiser to err on the side that maintains nothing in particular is going on. That is why many of our “atheist” friends are in reality long time members of the spiritual brotherhood because they bear much spiritual fruit already in the way they care for one another, often, way more than professed believers. They are in fact, living the golden rule already.

 

I strongly disagree with what you stated and what I have marked in red.  The godless person can behave in ways that seem “spiritual” to others who know him or her, but such is not the case, as only social fruits, not the divine fruits of the spirit, are forthcoming.  To a person who does not want to know God – who says quite frankly God does not exist – his or her experience is devoid of survival values.  Such people are not in the spiritual brotherhood.

 

102:7:4  True, many apparently religious traits can grow out of nonreligious roots. Man can, intellectually, deny God and yet be morally good, loyal, filial, honest, and even idealistic. Man may graft many purely humanistic branches onto his basic spiritual nature and thus apparently prove his contentions in behalf of a godless religion, but such an experience is devoid of survival values, God-knowingness and God-ascension. In such a mortal experience only social fruits are forthcoming, not spiritual. The graft determines the nature of the fruit, notwithstanding that the living sustenance is drawn from the roots of original divine endowment of both mind and spirit.

 

To the unbelieving materialist life is an accident. There is no afterlife – men are doomed to be extinguished when they die.  What horrible ideas to explain life.  Such empty theories, such impoverished explanations.

 

P.1118 – §1 To the unbelieving materialist, man is simply an evolutionary accident. His hopes of survival are strung on a figment of mortal imagination; his fears, loves, longings, and beliefs are but the reaction of the incidental juxtaposition of certain lifeless atoms of matter. No display of energy nor expression of trust can carry him beyond the grave. The devotional labors and inspirational genius of the best of men are doomed to be extinguished by death, the long and lonely night of eternal oblivion and soul extinction. Nameless despair is man’s only reward for living and toiling under the temporal sun of mortal existence. Each day of life slowly and surely tightens the grasp of a pitiless doom which a hostile and relentless universe of matter has decreed shall be the crowning insult to everything in human desire which is beautiful, noble, lofty, and good.

 

“The peace of Jesus is the joy and satisfaction of a God-knowing individual who has achieved the triumph of learning fully how to do the will of God while living the mortal life in the flesh.” ( 181:1:8 )

 

181:1:7   Jesus gives peace to his fellow doers of the will of God but not on the order of the joys and satisfactions of this material world. Unbelieving materialists and fatalists can hope to enjoy only two kinds of peace and soul comfort: Either they must be stoics, with steadfast resolution determined to face the inevitable and to endure the worst; or they must be optimists, ever indulging that hope which springs eternal in the human breast, vainly longing for a peace which never really comes.

 

[Vern]

Mara wrote:  The godless person can behave in ways that seem “spiritual” to others who know him or her, but such is not the case, as only social fruits, not the divine fruits of the spirit, are forthcoming.

Mara, imperfect mortals as we are, are in no position to determine who is godless and who is not.

In my previous post I specifically drew attention to the largely unconscious work of the Thought Adjuster in the mind of the indwelt person. Accordingly, I maintain most people are responding co-operatively to inner spirit leading but do not have words sufficient to define such an intimate and personal experience. Current religious terminology, justifiably questioned and duly found wanting, and consequently rejected by spiritually motivated people, does not qualify them as godless.

Anyway, it is not for you or I to judge on the worth of any soul.

…The nearest he came to making sociological pronouncements was to say, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” ^{[Paper 140:8.12, page 1580:7]}

^…it was the practice of Jesus always to say, “Be as wise as serpents but as harmless as doves.” It seemed to be his purpose in all social situations to teach patience, tolerance, and forgiveness. ^{[Paper 140:8.13, page 1580:8]}

Have we not been instructed of the spiritual value of love in human relationships? Fruits of the spirit selflessly given are evidence of the Father’s leading irrespective of stated beliefs. We even have the example in The Urantia Book of Cymboyton who never disclosed his beliefs and kept this to himself all his life. If you have faith, have it to yourself.

…“Have you faith? Then have it to yourself.” ^{[Paper 99:5.7, page 1091.6]}

Mara, I read again that section you quoted and know social fruits have spiritual antecedents. Ignorance of God is not so great a problem as active denial of him. Many of our fellows probably fall more into the category of ignorance rather than rebellious denial.

Those who would invent a religion without God are like those who would gather fruit without trees, have children without parents. You cannot have effects without causes; only the I AM is causeless. The fact of religious experience implies God, and such a God of personal experience must be a personal Deity. ^{[Paper 102:7.3, page 1126.3]}

Mara, most people who are sincerely led by the Spirit of Truth have already found what they are seeking, the….. God of personal experience and have no need to invent a religion, nor belong to a traditional one which is spiritually dead. In this way what Jesus said, “the Truth shall set you free” has come to pass. Between God and man there are no intermediaries—the connection is direct, Pre-person to person.

 “…But I have come to show you that, while you are seeking to find God, God is likewise seeking to find you.” ^{[Paper 169:1.2, page 1850:9]}

Up to Pentecost, religion had revealed only man seeking for God; since Pentecost, man is still searching for God, but there shines out over the world the spectacle of God also seeking for man and sending his spirit to dwell within him when he has found him.  ^{[Paper 194:3.13, page 12065:1]}

…Pentecost obliterated all religious discrimination founded on racial distinction, cultural differences, social caste, or sex prejudice. No wonder these believers in the new religion would cry out, “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”  ^{[Paper 194:3.14, page 12065:2]}

Co-operation with the Thought Adjuster is being in harmony with cosmic mind and testifies, that in actively seeking, the Father has already found you.

Freedom or initiative in any realm of existence is directly proportional to the degree of spiritual influence and cosmic-mind control; that is, in human experience, the degree of the actuality of doing “the Father’s will.” And so, when you once start out to find God, that is the conclusive proof that God has already found you. ^{[Paper 195:6.16, page 2078:2]}

It is not required that believers of the invisible spiritual brotherhood declare themselves, for by fruits of the spirit of selfless service are they known. Jesus said “let not the left hand know what the right hand does.”

“…Do your good deeds in secret; when you give alms, let not the left hand know what the right hand does. …for the service of the kingdom, lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, but by your unselfish service lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, for where your treasures are, there will your hearts be also.” ^{[Paper 140:6.11, page 1577:5]}

Doing good to others is the unconscious action of a generous soul.

Jesus knew men were different, and he so taught his apostles. He constantly exhorted them to refrain from trying to mold the disciples and believers according to some set pattern. He sought to allow each soul to develop in its own way, a perfecting and separate individual before God. In answer to one of Peter’s many questions, the Master said: “I want to set men free so that they can start out afresh as little children upon the new and better life.” Jesus always insisted that true goodness must be unconscious, in bestowing charity not allowing the left hand to know what the right hand does. ^{[Paper 140:8.26, page 1582:7]}

It is good to extend help to our fellows without thought of reward.

…Always remember that God does not reward man for what he does but for what he is; therefore should you extend help to your fellows without the thought of rewards. Do good without thought of benefit to the self.^{[Paper131:8.5, page 1452:3]}

Surely any person who shows the qualities of a “great soul” is an active member of the spiritual brotherhood, irrespective of group affiliations.

…Tact is the fulcrum of social leverage, and tolerance is the earmark of a great soul.… ^{[Paper 156:5.18, page 1740:5]}

Mara, when you highlighted the section in red please take into account, the word “atheist” was intentionally in inverted commas to bring attention that such a superficial label is not an accurate measure of the deeper inner spiritual life of the person. To know a person you have to spend time with them. As readers of The Urantia Book we are well informed regarding the flaws of materialism, the inherent weakness of such an attitude, that a self stated label as “atheist” is in reality a confession of ignorance, a plea for help, one which invokes a sympathetic response in accord with Jesus’ intercession for forgiveness. Believers know the validity of “personal experience” and the keys to the kingdom are sincerity, and all men and women have these keys.

The keys of the kingdom of heaven are: sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity. All men have these keys. Men use them — advance in spirit status — by decisions, by more decisions, and by more decisions. The highest moral choice is the choice of the highest possible value, and always — in any sphere, in all of them — this is to choose to do the will of God. If man thus chooses, he is great, though he be the humblest citizen of Jerusem or even the least of mortals on Urantia. ^{[Paper 39:4.14, page 435:7]}

A sincere person is a spiritually fragrant person.

[Mara]

Vern wrote:

Mara, imperfect mortals as we are, are in no position to determine who is godless and who is not.

The word “godless” is a word of your choice. It is not a word I have used in this discussion.  You brought up the “atheist” term as well, and claim such people are “Vern wrote: . . . in reality long time members of the spiritual brotherhood because they bear much spiritual fruit already in the way they care for one another, often, way more than professed believers. They are in fact, living the golden rule already.”  It seems to me you believe everyone, even the atheist, is a member of the spiritual brotherhood!  I disagree.  I think the spiritual brotherhood is very specific.  Faith is the price of admission.  The atheist, the secularist, the humanist, the materialist, and others who frankly say God does not exist are not members of the spiritual brotherhood.

 

 

Vern wrote:In my previous post I specifically drew attention to the largely unconscious work of the Thought Adjuster in the mind of the indwelt person. Accordingly, I maintain most people are responding co-operatively to inner spirit leading but do not have words sufficient to define such an intimate and personal experience.

It is unreasonable to assume people don’t have the words for such an intimate experience. And how do you know whether or not they are responding to spirit leading?  You make an assumption on this point.

Vern wrote:Current religious terminology, justifiably questioned and duly found wanting, and consequently rejected by spiritually motivated people, does not qualify them as godless.

By your way of thinking the whole lot of humanity is in the spiritual brotherhood.  I do not agree with this.  I do think the potential exists for all humanity to fellowship in the kingdom of heaven.  This does not now exist in actuality.  It is for the distant future when the actuality of the spiritual brotherhood will prevail.  I think spiritual brotherhood is a specific concept.  A new concept.  A new revelation.  I  ask this question again to those of you who are following along in this discussion: Does the spiritual brotherhood consist only of “believers”?

 

 

 

[Mara]

Mara wrote:  I think spiritual brotherhood is a specific concept. A new concept. A new revelation.

The new gospel of the kingdom:

( 140:6:2 )  When he had entered the garden, he gathered the apostles around him and taught them further, saying: “You find it difficult to receive my message because you would build the new teaching directly upon the old, but I declare that you must be reborn. You must start out afresh as little children and be willing to trust my teaching and believe in God. The new gospel of the kingdom cannot be made to conform to that which is. You have wrong ideas of the Son of Man and his mission on earth. But do not make the mistake of thinking that I have come to set aside the law and the prophets; I have not come to destroy but to fulfill, to enlarge and illuminate. I come not to transgress the law but rather to write these new commandments on the tablets of your hearts.

(141:2:2 )  “When you are the subjects of this kingdom, you indeed are made to hear the law of the Universe Ruler; but when, because of the gospel of the kingdom which I have come to declare, you faith-discover yourselves as sons, you henceforth look not upon yourselves as law-subject creatures of an all-powerful king but as privileged sons of a loving and divine Father. Verily, verily, I say to you, when the Father’s will is your law, you are hardly in the kingdom. But when the Father’s will becomes truly your will, then are you in very truth in the kingdom because the kingdom has thereby become an established experience in you. When God’s will is your law, you are noble slave subjects; but when you believe in this new gospel of divine sonship, my Father’s will becomes your will, and you are elevated to the high position of the free children of God, liberated sons of the kingdom.”

(138:5:2 )  […] Always would they [the apostles] make the mistake of trying to fit Jesus’ new gospel into their old forms of religious belief. They could not grasp the idea that Jesus had come to proclaim a new gospel of salvation and to establish a new way of finding God; they did not perceive that he was a new revelation of the Father in heaven.

159:5:7  And this is illustrative of the way Jesus, day by day, appropriated the cream of the Hebrew scriptures for the instruction of his followers and for inclusion in the teachings of the new gospel of the kingdom. Other religions had suggested the thought of the nearness of God to man, but Jesus made the care of God for man like the solicitude of a loving father for the welfare of his dependent children and then made this teaching the cornerstone of his religion. And thus did the doctrine of the fatherhood of God make imperative the practice of the brotherhood of man. The worship of God and the service of man became the sum and substance of his religion. Jesus took the best of the Jewish religion and translated it to a worthy setting in the new teachings of the gospel of the kingdom.

[Sabinatu]

This has been a very interesting thread.

I wanted to introduce a different perspective on the atheist question – whether they are in the spiritual brotherhood, or not – based on the Andon and Fonta story, one of the unique revelations of human history that has been lost to us until now…here is some of the story as presented in TUB:

“6. Evolution of the Human Mind

^{62:6.1 (709.2)} We, the Life Carriers on Urantia, had passed through the long vigil of watchful waiting since the day we first planted the life plasm in the planetary waters, and naturally the appearance of the first really intelligent and volitional beings brought to us great joy and supreme satisfaction.

^{62:6.2 (709.3)} We had been watching the twins develop mentally through our observation of the functioning of the seven adjutant mind-spirits assigned to Urantia at the time of our arrival on the planet. Throughout the long evolutionary development of planetary life, these tireless mind ministers had ever registered their increasing ability to contact with the successively expanding brain capacities of the progressively superior animal creatures.

^{62:6.3 (709.4)} At first only the spirit of intuition could function in the instinctive and reflex behavior of the primordial animal life. With the differentiation of higher types, the spirit of understanding was able to endow such creatures with the gift of spontaneous association of ideas. Later on we observed the spirit of courage in operation; evolving animals really developed a crude form of protective self-consciousness. Subsequent to the appearance of the mammalian groups, we beheld the spirit of knowledge manifesting itself in increased measure. And the evolution of the higher mammals brought the function of the spirit of counsel, with the resulting growth of the herd instinct and the beginnings of primitive social development.

^{62:6.4 (709.5)} Increasingly, on down through the dawn mammals, the mid-mammals, and the Primates, we had observed the augmented service of the first five adjutants. But never had the remaining two, the highest mind ministers, been able to function in the Urantia type of evolutionary mind.

^{62:6.5 (709.6)} Imagine our joy one day — the twins were about ten years old — when the spirit of worship made its first contact with the mind of the female twin and shortly thereafter with the male. We knew that something closely akin to human mind was approaching culmination; and when, about a year later, they finally resolved, as a result of meditative thought and purposeful decision, to flee from home and journey north, then did the spirit of wisdom begin to function on Urantia and in these two now recognized human minds.

^{62:6.6 (709.7)} There was an immediate and new order of mobilization of the seven adjutant mind-spirits. We were alive with expectation; we realized that the long-waited-for hour was approaching; we knew we were upon the threshold of the realization of our protracted effort to evolve will creatures on Urantia.”

So is atheism a biologic retrogression of the human mind, or is it a choice?  The answer might be different for each atheist, but we should all be concerned if it is a biologic retrogression that is erasing an evolutionary achievement made about a million years ago.

[Vern]

Mara wrote: The word “godless” is a word of your choice. It is not a word I have used in this discussion.

Hi Mara, “godless” was the word you used, see below.

Mara wrote:  The godless person can behave in ways that seem “spiritual” to others who know him or her…

Anyway, no worries. Each person works things out as best they can. The once rebellious teenager becomes a stable respectable citizen, home-maker and parent of the next generation.

[Author]

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