BB – I hope you will forgive this tangent of thought on a broader topic that impinges upon the discussion at hand. The following has nothing at all to do with any of your words posted or your beliefs or intentions expressed here or elsewhere….it is not directed AT you Brother but I think it is important. Our recent discussion on the meaning of “revelation” and its source(s) and expression(s) is what brought my mind to the issues below.
I’d like to discuss the topic of channeling and why the Association has a zero tolerance for it at study groups, conferences, and here at the site (the “why” is my expression and not “policy” or stated by the organization….so this is my personal take on it only). It has to do with the claim in the UB that there are only two forms of revelation, especially so since Pentacost; Epochal Revelation and Auto/Personal Revelation (auto means “self” interestingly enough). There is no provision given for the second hand or person to person form of “revelation” claimed by those who hear, speak to, or speak for Deity or celestials. This does not mean that people don’t receive revelation but it does mean IF they receive TRUE revelation, then it is meant for THEM personally.
Such claimants are not peculiar to nor originate with the Urantia Book readership. Mediumship is ancient in its origin and has persisted in many different forms since time began and still does today. Those who participate in it as practitioners claim the ability to hear and often speak to angels, spirits, celestials, even dead or divine persons and feel it their role/calling to share this with others and on their behalf….messages from celestials and for other mortals. The Urantia movement has had a small fringe element of such ones for many decades and they have caused endless confusions and conflicts with these claims and practices. This is an example of the slippery slope that can come if the term revelation is not rather precisely defined and why, I think, the authors took such care to be precise and redundant in their discussions on what revelation is and is not….to eliminate error and reduce confusion about topics filled with error and confusion for most all mortals.
Why do people think they receive revelation? Because we do of course. But the authors admonish and instruct us repeatedly and clearly that any mind in contact with the Adjutants of worship and wisdom and with intuition and imagination has the unfortunate, but quite natural, ability for self delusion, confusion, and all manner of error. A mind that can ascend and transcend MUST ALSO provide the capacity for these other potentials as well. We are taught it is difficult for the mind to sort the wheat and chaff without significant experience in discernment and acquired wisdom by the fruits of the spirit. We are also taught that ONLY the Spirits of Deity (and NOT celestials – Guardians are agents of the Mother’s Spirit remember and they DO work with the TA in some form) speak to mind and that we cannot differentiate one of them from another.
So you see, those who claim authority FOR their mediumship FROM the UB are wrong in multiple ways that contradict that which they claim as their authority to CONTINUE or CORRECT epochal revelation….and that is their claim. They speak to celestials (individually and by name), they speak for those celestials to other mortals giving instruction and news, and they claim this to be revelation….second hand revelation as I call it……or they claim they continue the 5th by “writing about it” – ongoing scripture. Others believe that the UB is revelation but that it requires an unlocking by certain keys of “understanding” and “interpretation” of its “figurative” contents. Truly, there is one on a forum I attend which claims the UB is a metaphorical fairy tale which can only be decoded by charting the stars with astrology. Some who are mediums are gathering “other” reservists for the next epochal upheaval and return of Michael or some other form of “end of times” predictions. The no channeling policy of the Association is really only about the clear declaration that there simply is no provision for such practices and claims in the Revelation itself.
I only say these things to help others understand that long time readers who come to share a “literal” appreciation for the teachings as given and specified therein, have lived with the results of those who believe in the figurative interpretation of an epochal revelation or any continuation of such a revelation by mortal mind and hand. We feel blessed to have been given and to have discovered this truthbook. Now, let me reiterate that it is not important to me or any others I know that readers and students and truthseekers should come to believe the book’s claim about itself because we have come to do so…..none of us believed it either for some period of time – sometimes a long period of time. It is fabled that Sadler was the last forumite to believe it!! So all are welcome here regardless of belief or disbelief, doubt or skepticism, preconception and misconception (we all had plenty of those when we found the UB and we still do to a degree no doubt).
This is what I mean though when I say, the book says what it says and don’t say what it don’t say!! For if this book is not a revelation or if it were written as metaphor, then it is nothing more than words printed on paper. And while a book is truly only words printed on paper, this book has the power to transform lives within its words, if they say what they mean and if the authors meant what they wrote. So we can truly only discuss that which is written and what is written is that this is the 5th Epochal Revelation gifted to our world and the first ever in writing, and that it is authored by celestials, and that they wrote as clearly and precisely as possible given the constraints and limitations acknowledged, and its purpose is to eliminate error and reduce confusion while harmonizing spiritual, scientific, and philosophical realities for believers.
Again….just one tadpole’s opinion and perspective. Cheers!! 
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
