Urantia Association International’s latest Journal is now available on the website. The Journal is a quarterly publication of articles and study aids by readers and for readers of The Urantia Book. Click here and choose 2015 No.1 to view and download.
Following is an editorial summary by Suzanne Kelly:
In our second issue of the Journal for 2015 there are two excellent and provocative articles guaranteed to make you think. Each one nicely timed to help shed a little light and put into perspective who we are, and where we are – spiritually and physically. In these tumultuous and trying times of 2015 – the age of instant information, it is almost euphoric to get a snapshot of both. (Cautionary note here, they will both require a good bit of your time and intellect and may result in a new point of reference.)
Our first article The Kingdom of Heaven in the 21st Century, by Olga Lopez, was presented in the chat room of the Urantia Association of Brazil on Easter Sunday last year. As important as it was then, it seems more important now that we rediscover where the Kingdom of Heaven has gone. Olga skillfully leads us through “the origin, history, and destiny of this concept. That is, what the origin of the concept of kingdom was, how it evolved during Jesus’ public life and the later Christianity, and what the future of its realization might be, under the light of The Urantia Book teachings.” One thing however has not lost its meaning through time or the mores of questionably progressing civilization, and that is the definition given by Jesus himself:
The Master made it clear that the kingdom of heaven must begin with, and be centered in, the dual concept of the truth of the fatherhood of God and the correlated fact of the brotherhood of man… [Paper 170:2.1, page 1859:11]
What has been lost is the understanding of the brotherhood of man and Olga helps us map our way back to this knowledge – by reminding us … we all have the keys to enter the kingdom; “The unconditional faith of a little child who accepts to do the Father’s will with no conditions, no ‘buts’, no prejudices, no questions, resting assured that, if we give ourselves to the Father, then we are in the best hands. And, what is the act of God accepting our faith as the price of admission in the kingdom? It’s forgiveness.” And as for the return of Jesus, when we ALL ask him – he will return…
Our next essay by Israel Dix Urantia, 606 of Satania is a well stated and dazzling endeavor at numbering the stars. Buckle up, and let Israel be your tour guide as you are about to take “a journey over some steep, rocky terrain, number-crunching math, and, out of necessity I’m afraid, plenty of interesting quotes. Lots of them. However, there is the added energy boost in knowing that, staying the course, there is at the end of our trek a beautiful picture, a surprisingly organized structure—the Satania System of worlds. So bear with me up this hill we are about to climb.” Starting with the decimal planet status we enjoy on Urantia his clarification of 606 vs. 610 had me in orbit briefly – but when I realized also that one in ten is different than “about one in ten” – it all made sense J. For all you astronomers and mathematicians reading this excellent foray into formulas you will be giddy with the philosophy of it all. For all you other readers you will be dizzy with the philosophy of it all, so either way it is a wonderful and fun roller-coaster of intellectual, hints, clues and discoveries, and at every turn, he makes macros out of micros and micros out of us all… whew! What a spatial outing that was!
Happy and enlightened reading!!
Suzanne Kelly
Journal Editor