Preview: a read-only copy of the forum. To post or reply, use the current forum.

The Kingdom of Heaven

255 posts · 11 participants · started May 9, 2017, 12:04 PM

BonitaParticipant
Jun 5, 2017, 12:33 PM
There’s a difference between the spiritual brotherhood and the social brotherhood. Obviously, the spiritual brotherhood comes first followed by an overflow of spirit into the social brotherhood. Personal religious experience, a relationship between creature and Creator is the core of the brotherhood. It is by recognizing this same phenomenon in others, or at least recognizing the right of others to have this relationship on their own, that breaks down the barriers to the social brotherhood of man. The spiritual brotherhood is of God; the social brotherhood is of man. Jesus talked so much about being both the Son of God and the Son of Man. Sonship is at the heart of it all.

155:6.8 Every race of mankind has its own mental outlook upon human existence; therefore must the religion of the mind ever run true to these various racial viewpoints. Never can the religions of authority come to unification. Human unity and mortal brotherhood can be achieved only by and through the superendowment of the religion of the spirit. Racial minds may differ, but all mankind is indwelt by the same divine and eternal spirit. The hope of human brotherhood can only be realized when, and as, the divergent mind religions of authority become impregnated with, and overshadowed by, the unifying and ennobling religion of the spirit—the religion of personal spiritual experience.

195:10.11 Christianity is seriously confronted with the doom embodied in one of its own slogans: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” The non-Christian world will hardly capitulate to a sect-divided Christendom. The living Jesus is the only hope of a possible unification of Christianity. The true church—the Jesus brotherhood—is invisible, spiritual, and is characterized by unity, not necessarily by uniformity. Uniformity is the earmark of the physical world of mechanistic nature. Spiritual unity is the fruit of faith union with the living Jesus. The visible church should refuse longer to handicap the progress of the invisible and spiritual brotherhood of the kingdom of God. And this brotherhood is destined to become a living organism in contrast to an institutionalized social organization. It may well utilize such social organizations, but it must not be supplanted by them.

196:2.11 Jesus offered no rules for social advancement; his was a religious mission, and religion is an exclusively individual experience. The ultimate goal of society’s most advanced achievement can never hope to transcend Jesus’ brotherhood of men based on the recognition of the fatherhood of God. The ideal of all social attainment can be realized only in the coming of this divine kingdom.
MaraParticipant
Jun 5, 2017, 3:04 PM
The invisible and spiritual brotherhood of the kingdom of God cuts across all monotheistic religions, because this divine kingdom is composed of all individuals who desire to do God’s will, those who know God (133:0.3), those who confess their faith in the fatherhood of God. (170:5.11) Brotherhood constitutes a fact of relationship between every personality in universal existence (12:7.11) which includes personality relationships here on earth. While an individual has his/her own religion of personal spiritual experience, which might be associated with that individual’s participation in an institutional religion or not, that individual cannot escape from social interactions and personal relationships in life. I think spirit born individuals seek out social interactions and personal relationships, as do those who are not spirit born. But spirit born individuals have something extra. They have their personal spiritual experience with God, a relationship with him, and this inner experience (5:0.1) leads to the social aspects of religious life – social brotherhood – the more complicated relationships with which all of us are intimately familiar.

99:5.1 While religion is exclusively a personal spiritual experience — knowing God as a Father — the corollary of this experience — knowing man as a brother — entails the adjustment of the self to other selves, and that involves the social or group aspect of religious life.

The cornerstones of the gospel of the kingdom: brotherhood and service and these pertain to outworkings of personality relationships.

178:1.4 Sonship in the kingdom, from the standpoint of advancing civilization, should assist you in becoming the ideal citizens of the kingdoms of this world since brotherhood and service are the cornerstones of the gospel of the kingdom. The love call of the spiritual kingdom should prove to be the effective destroyer of the hate urge of the unbelieving and war-minded citizens of the earthly kingdoms. But these material-minded sons in darkness will never know of your spiritual light of truth unless you draw very near them with that unselfish social service which is the natural outgrowth of the bearing of the fruits of the spirit in the life experience of each individual believer.
BonitaParticipant
Jun 5, 2017, 6:57 PM
I think the cornerstone of Jesus’ gospel is the father-child relationship. Sonship is the cornerstone of service, which brings the realization of brotherhood, but it always begins with the Father. Prayer and meditation are the best mechanisms for approaching the Father-child relationship and the alter-ego approach is the best way to approach prayer.

103:4.1 The atmosphere of the communion provides a refreshing and comforting period of truce in the conflict of the self-seeking ego with the altruistic urge of the indwelling spirit Monitor. And this is the prelude to true worship–the practice of the presence of God which eventuates in the emergence of the brotherhood of man.

99:7.4 Man can never wisely decide temporal issues or transcend the selfishness of personal interests unless he meditates in the presence of the sovereignty of God and reckons with the realities of divine meanings and spiritual values. 1093:01-02
MaraParticipant
Jun 5, 2017, 9:18 PM
‘Tis true the Father comes first, after a person sadly discovers his/her parents are not gods. But a solitary life is fatal to happiness. The rubber and the road meet up in interpersonal relationships and that’s where the real action is in my opinion. It’s about how we treat each other. Relationships are ends in and of themselves. They are not a means to an end. We fellowship with each other not to prove a point, but rather for our mutual edification. One’s inner experience wells up, as in *my cup runneth over* and is palpable not only to citizens of the kingdom of heaven, but also others. Sharing is Godlike. It’s a way of life. A way of relatedness to other human beings who may or may not be members of the kingdom of heaven.

111:4.7 Happiness and joy take origin in the inner life. You cannot experience real joy all by yourself. A solitary life is fatal to happiness. Even families and nations will enjoy life more if they share it with others.

It is natural to give (my opinion) when already so very much has been received.
BonitaParticipant
Jun 6, 2017, 12:03 PM
I agree. Personality relationships are extremely important; they actually have cosmic value. TUB does say that we will be known in the next life by the company we keep here. It’s a wonder people don’t take relationships more seriously . . .

112:5.22 But personality and the relationships between personalities are never scaffolding; mortal memory of personality relationships has cosmic value and will persist. On the mansion worlds you will know and be known, and more, you will remember, and be remembered by, your onetime associates in the short but intriguing life on Urantia.
MaraParticipant
Jun 6, 2017, 4:41 PM
Here’s a gem on Fatherhood, personality and brotherhood:

16:9.14 You become conscious of man as your creature brother because you are already conscious of God as your Creator Father. Fatherhood is the relationship out of which we reason ourselves into the recognition of brotherhood. And Fatherhood becomes, or may become, a universe reality to all moral creatures because the Father has himself bestowed personality upon all such beings and has encircuited them within the grasp of the universal personality circuit. We worship God, first, because he is, then, because he is in us, and last, because we are in him.

And because he is in our neighbor and our neighbor’s neighbor.
MaraParticipant
Jun 7, 2017, 2:59 PM

Bonita wrote:

I think the cornerstone of Jesus’ gospel is the father-child relationship.

Jesus used the father-child relationship as an illustration of a better way to understand the gospel of the kingdom, because the Jewish people were expecting a material deliverer. (176:1.2 ) He he had challenged their ideas of the material Messiah. (153:1.2) (158:4.4)

142:7.4 He next explained that the “kingdom idea” was not the best way to illustrate man’s relation to God; that he employed such figures of speech because the Jewish people were expecting the kingdom, and because John had preached in terms of the coming kingdom. Jesus said: “The people of another age will better understand the gospel of the kingdom when it is presented in terms expressive of the family relationship — when man understands religion as the teaching of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, sonship with God.” Then the Master discoursed at some length on the earthly family as an illustration of the heavenly family, restating the two fundamental laws of living: the first commandment of love for the father, the head of the family, and the second commandment of mutual love among the children, to love your brother as yourself. And then he explained that such a quality of brotherly affection would invariably manifest itself in unselfish and loving social service.

He said the quality of brotherly affection would manifest in unselfish and loving social service. The quality of earthly families would, it seems to me, reflect the quality of brotherly affection in families, and therefore would be a measure of individual brotherly affection, so it seems to me. As the part, so the whole.
BonitaParticipant
Jun 8, 2017, 1:55 PM
63:4.9 It is impossible to induce such primitive beings long to live together in peace. Man is the descendant of fighting animals, and when closely associated, uncultured people irritate and offend each other.

I think the keyword in the above quote is uncultured. The family concept is the very beginning of culture.

66:7.4 The definite order of family life and the living of one family together in one residence of comparatively settled location date from these times of Dalamatia and were chiefly due to the example and teachings of the one hundred and their pupils. The home as a social unit never became a success until the supermen and superwomen of Dalamatia led mankind to love and plan for their grandchildren and their grandchildren’s children. Savage man loves his child, but civilized man loves also his grandchild.

I think the keyword in the above quote is civilized. The family concept is the beginning of culture and civilized society.

68:2.8 Almost everything of lasting value in civilization has its roots in the family. The family was the first successful peace group, the man and woman learning how to adjust their antagonisms while at the same time teaching the pursuits of peace to their children.

I think the keywords in the above quote are lasting value and teaching the pursuits of peace. Without the traditional family I think culture and civilization are doomed to retrogression.

But again, this is the social brotherhood. The spiritual brotherhood would not be affected at all.
MaraParticipant
Jun 8, 2017, 2:15 PM
I think social brotherhood, racial harmony and social co-operation, human brotherhood, are the fruit of spiritual brotherhood.

39:5.4 2. The Spirits of Brotherhood. It should be apparent that, when an Adam and Eve arrive on an evolutionary world, the task of achieving racial harmony and social co-operation among its diverse races is one of considerable proportions. Seldom do these races of different colors and varied natures take kindly to the plan of human brotherhood. These primitive men only come to realize the wisdom of peaceful interassociation as a result of ripened human experience and through the faithful ministry of the seraphic spirits of brotherhood. Without the work of these seraphim the efforts of the Material Sons to harmonize and advance the races of an evolving world would be greatly delayed. And had your Adam adhered to the original plan for the advancement of Urantia, by this time these spirits of brotherhood would have worked unbelievable transformations in the human race. In view of the Adamic default, it is indeed remarkable that these seraphic orders have been able to foster and bring to realization even as much of brotherhood as you now have on Urantia.

Social brotherhood is an inevitability. The kingdom of heaven is the means to the world-wide realization of the brotherhood of man.

52:6.7 The brotherhood of man is, after all, predicated on the recognition of the fatherhood of God. The quickest way to realize the brotherhood of man on Urantia is to effect the spiritual transformation of present-day humanity. The only technique for accelerating the natural trend of social evolution is that of applying spiritual pressure from above, thus augmenting moral insight while enhancing the soul capacity of every mortal to understand and love every other mortal. Mutual understanding and fraternal love are transcendent civilizers and mighty factors in the world-wide realization of the brotherhood of man.

Mutual understanding and fraternal love are spiritual fruit too, I think.

71:4.16 The appearance of genuine brotherhood signifies that a social order has arrived in which all men delight in bearing one another’s burdens; they actually desire to practice the golden rule.

.

98:7.11 Christianity, today, has become a religion well adapted to the social, economic, and political mores of the white races. It has long since ceased to be the religion of Jesus, although it still valiantly portrays a beautiful religion about Jesus to such individuals as sincerely seek to follow in the way of its teaching. It has glorified Jesus as the Christ, the Messianic anointed one from God, but has largely forgotten the Master’s personal gospel: the Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of all men.
BonitaParticipant
Jun 8, 2017, 2:38 PM
Yes, the brotherhood is the fruit of sonship. But it ain’t gonna happen until the world wakes up to the gospel: The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Fatherhood comes first. Then sonship. Then family relations.

That shouldn’t stop those who recognize sonship and want to live the gospel from doing whatever they can to prosper. In fact, TUB says that it is okay for “golden rulers”(another way of saying those who recognize sonship and practice brotherhood) are permitted to isolate themselves from the rest of the world if necessary.

^71:4.16 The appearance of genuine brotherhood signifies that a social order has arrived in which all men delight in bearing one another’s burdens; they actually desire to practice the golden rule. But such an ideal society cannot be realized when either the weak or the wicked lie in wait to take unfair and unholy advantage of those who are chiefly actuated by devotion to the service of truth, beauty, and goodness. In such a situation only one course is practical: The “golden rulers” may establish a progressive society in which they live according to their ideals while maintaining an adequate defense against their benighted fellows who might seek either to exploit their pacific predilections or to destroy their advancing civilization.

Isolation isn’t always bad. The decision by Andon and Fonta to isolate themselves from their tribe turned them into humans. The superior civilization developing on a neighboring planet is geographically. The lemurs who evolved into the human race developed on an isolated Mesopotamian peninsula. I wonder sometimes if the flight of the Pilgrims to the New World wasn’t another superior decision of “golden rulers” isolating themselves. I would think that temporary isolation would actually concentrate the qualities of the brotherhood, making it more envious to outsiders. Isn’t that what happened in Daligastia and the Garden? Maybe it’s time to revisit that idea . . . make a super concentrated example of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Just a thought.
MaraParticipant
Jun 8, 2017, 9:16 PM
This sums it up for me.

196:2.11 Jesus offered no rules for social advancement; his was a religious mission, and religion is an exclusively individual experience. The ultimate goal of society’s most advanced achievement can never hope to transcend Jesus’ brotherhood of men based on the recognition of the fatherhood of God. The ideal of all social attainment can be realized only in the coming of this divine kingdom.
MaraParticipant
Jun 9, 2017, 2:23 PM
A few words about modern Christianity:

195:10.21 The hope of modern Christianity is that it should cease to sponsor the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization while it humbly bows itself before the cross it so valiantly extols, there to learn anew from Jesus of Nazareth the greatest truths mortal man can ever hear — the living gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

.

196:1.5 It should not be the aim of kingdom believers literally to imitate the outward life of Jesus in the flesh but rather to share his faith; to trust God as he trusted God and to believe in men as he believed in men. Jesus never argued about either the fatherhood of God or the brotherhood of men; he was a living illustration of the one and a profound demonstration of the other.

Regarding the life Jesus lived for the spiritual inspiration of every human and superhuman that has lived, now exists or may yet live. . .

120:2.7[Part IV]

“7. In all that you may perform on the world of your bestowal, bear constantly in mind that you are living a life for the instruction and edification of all your universe. You are bestowing this life of mortal incarnation upon Urantia, but you are to live such a life for the spiritual inspiration of every human and superhuman intelligence that has lived, now exists, or may yet live on every inhabited world which has formed, now forms, or may yet form a part of the vast galaxy of your administrative domain. Your earth life in the likeness of mortal flesh shall not be so lived as to constitute an example for the mortals of Urantia in the days of your earthly sojourn nor for any subsequent generation of human beings on Urantia or on any other world. Rather shall your life in the flesh on Urantia be the inspiration for all lives upon all Nebadon worlds throughout all generations in the ages to come.

.

. . . not to set an example for all other human beings to copy.

129:4.7 And this was his true and supreme purpose. He did not come down to live on Urantia as the perfect and detailed example for any child or adult, any man or woman, in that age or any other. True it is, indeed, that in his full, rich, beautiful, and noble life we may all find much that is exquisitely exemplary, divinely inspiring, but this is because he lived a true and genuinely human life. Jesus did not live his life on earth in order to set an example for all other human beings to copy. He lived this life in the flesh by the same mercy ministry that you all may live your lives on earth; and as he lived his mortal life in his day and as he was, so did he thereby set the example for all of us thus to live our lives in our day and as we are. You may not aspire to live his life, but you can resolve to live your lives even as, and by the same means that, he lived his. Jesus may not be the technical and detailed example for all the mortals of all ages on all the realms of this local universe, but he is everlastingly the inspiration and guide of all Paradise pilgrims from the worlds of initial ascension up through a universe of universes and on through Havona to Paradise. Jesus is the new and living way from man to God, from the partial to the perfect, from the earthly to the heavenly, from time to eternity.

.

140:10.3 It was not apparent to the apostles that their Master was engaged in living a life of spiritual inspiration for every person of every age on every world of a far-flung universe. Notwithstanding what Jesus told them from time to time, the apostles did not grasp the idea that he was doing a work on this world but for all other worlds in his vast creation. Jesus lived his earth life on Urantia, not to set a personal example of mortal living for the men and women of this world, but rather to create a high spiritual and inspirational ideal for all mortal beings on all worlds.

.

141:7.7 The Master was teaching these apostles the essentials of truth for an entire age on earth. They often listened to his teachings when in reality what he said was intended for the inspiration and edification of other worlds. He exemplified a new and original plan of life. From the human standpoint he was indeed a Jew, but he lived his life for all the world as a mortal of the realm.

Did you ever wonder what is meant by *an entire age on earth*?
MaraParticipant
Jun 11, 2017, 4:36 PM

Mara wrote:

. . . what is meant by *an entire age on earth*? (141:7.7 )

The final planetary age is the age of light and life. (49:5.27) The first planetary age was the pre-Planetary Prince age. (45:4.3) (64:0.2) Right now we are in the postbestowal Son age on Urantia. (45:4.20) (55:0.1 ) “[G]reat teachers of other and subsequent ages undoubtedly will follow the present age” (45:4.21) on Urantia. Our postbestowal Son is our one and only Creator Son, Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus was teaching the apostles the essentials of truth for an entire age on earth.

52:5.8 The postbestowal Son age may extend from ten thousand to a hundred thousand years. There is no arbitrary time allotted to any of these dispensational eras. This is a time of great ethical and spiritual progress. Under the spiritual influence of these ages, human character undergoes tremendous transformations and experiences phenomenal development. It becomes possible to put the golden rule into practical operation. The teachings of Jesus are really applicable to a mortal world which has had the preliminary training of the prebestowal Sons with their dispensations of character ennoblement and culture augmentation.

Machiventa Melchizedek was the only Son whose mission didn’t go haywire prior to our bestowal Son. But I digress. I bring forward the planetary ages of earth, as the backdrop of this topic – the kingdom of heaven – and to point out that we are in the early period of this age, an age which is out of the normal order of progressing worlds we are told. (52:2.1) (49:5.24) (51:5.4) (51:6.2) (51:7.2)

52:6.1 The bestowal Son is the Prince of Peace. He arrives with the message, “Peace on earth and good will among men.” On normal worlds this is a dispensation of world-wide peace; the nations no more learn war. But such salutary influences did not attend the coming of your bestowal Son, Christ Michael. Urantia is not proceeding in the normal order. Your world is out of step in the planetary procession. Your Master, when on earth, warned his disciples that his advent would not bring the usual reign of peace on Urantia. He distinctly told them that there would be “wars and rumors of wars,” and that nation would rise against nation. At another time he said, “Think not that I have come to bring peace upon earth.”

.

52:5.1 When a certain standard of intellectual and spiritual development is attained on an inhabited world, a Paradise bestowal Son always arrives. On normal worlds he does not appear in the flesh until the races have ascended to the highest levels of intellectual development and ethical attainment. But on Urantia the bestowal Son, even your own Creator Son, appeared at the close of the Adamic dispensation, but that is not the usual order of events on the worlds of space.

.

52:6.8 If you could be transplanted from your backward and confused world to some normal planet now in the postbestowal Son age, you would think you had been translated to the heaven of your traditions. You would hardly believe that you were observing the normal evolutionary workings of a mortal sphere of human habitation. These worlds are in the spiritual circuits of their realm, and they enjoy all the advantages of the universe broadcasts and the reflectivity services of the superuniverse.

Jesus was living a life designed to instruct and inspire the manifold creatures of a far-flung universe. (136:6.3)
MaraParticipant
Jun 12, 2017, 3:13 PM

170:2.1 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. The acceptance of such a teaching, Jesus declared, would liberate man from the age-long bondage of animal fear and at the same time enrich human living with the following endowments of the new life of spiritual liberty:

Here is the last sentence in the UB – the greatest truths mortal man can ever hear:

195:10.21 The hope of modern Christianity is that it should cease to sponsor the social systems and industrial policies of Western civilization while it humbly bows itself before the cross it so valiantly extols, there to learn anew from Jesus of Nazareth the greatest truths mortal man can ever hear — the living gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.
MaraParticipant
Jun 14, 2017, 4:16 PM
The early communities of *believers*did show forth brotherly love and good will, but not from the recognition of the brotherhood of mortal man, but rather “. . . a fellowship of believers in Jesus, not a fellowship of brothers in the family Kingdom of the Father in heaven.” They missed the message that God is the Father of all men and women. Maybe they preferred to be an in-group- a chosen group – an us v. them sort of group – those who are with us versus those who are not.

194:4.6 Christ was about to become the creed of the rapidly forming church. Jesus lives; he died for men; he gave the spirit; he is coming again. Jesus filled all their thoughts and determined all their new concept of God and everything else. They were too much enthused over the new doctrine that “God is the Father of the Lord Jesus” to be concerned with the old message that “God is the loving Father of all men,” even of every single individual. True, a marvelous manifestation of brotherly love and unexampled good will did spring up in these early communities of believers. But it was a fellowship of believers in Jesus, not a fellowship of brothers in the family kingdom of the Father in heaven. Their good will arose from the love born of the concept of Jesus’ bestowal and not from the recognition of the brotherhood of mortal man. Nevertheless, they were filled with joy, and they lived such new and unique lives that all men were attracted to their teachings about Jesus. They made the great mistake of using the living and illustrative commentary on the gospel of the kingdom for that gospel, but even that represented the greatest religion mankind had ever known.
MaraParticipant
Jun 15, 2017, 2:37 PM
But the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven endured through the centuries in spite of various erroneous beliefs that became attached to the Jesus cult – he died for our sins, etc. Jesus warned the apostles not to formulate creeds and establish traditions as a way to control or guide believers. I think he knew they would be overawed by him and that they would inevitably put him center-front in the religion about him.

141:5.4 Many times during the training of the twelve Jesus reverted to this theme. Repeatedly he told them it was not his desire that those who believed in him should become dogmatized and standardized in accordance with the religious interpretations of even good men. Again and again he warned his apostles against the formulation of creeds and the establishment of traditions as a means of guiding and controlling believers in the gospel of the kingdom.

.

140:8.29 The teaching of Jesus is a religion for everybody, not alone for weaklings and slaves. His religion never became crystallized (during his day) into creeds and theological laws; he left not a line of writing behind him. His life and teachings were bequeathed the universe as an inspirational and idealistic inheritance suitable for the spiritual guidance and moral instruction of all ages on all worlds. And even today, Jesus‘ teaching stands apart from all religions, as such, albeit it is the living hope of every one of them.

I’ve been thinking about this: Why is it that after some 2,000 years, a mere blink of time in history since the bestowal of our Creator Son, did Urantia receive the 5th Epochal Revelation? They do tell us on page one. Beyond that, could it be that we people needed an emergency revelation to reinforce the kingdom of heaven encompassing the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man? Were we sliding down? Did our unseen friends on high get permissions for the papers, because we were doing very poorly, due to religious crystallization about the kingdom of heaven?
MaraParticipant
Jun 17, 2017, 3:54 PM
I’ve been thinking about my question,

Mara wrote:

Why is it that after some 2,000 years, a mere blink of time in history since the bestowal of our Creator Son, did Urantia receive the 5th Epochal Revelation?

. . . and the relationship between this question and the kingdom of heaven. And I think I have an idea of an answer, as found in the 5th Epochal, as concerns *words* – both spoken words and written words. We cannot survive without words.

4:5.1 Religious tradition is the imperfectly preserved record of the experiences of the God-knowing men of past ages, but such records are untrustworthy as guides for religious living or as the source of true information about the Universal Father. Such ancient beliefs have been invariably altered by the fact that primitive man was a mythmaker.

.

4:5.2 One of the greatest sources of confusion on Urantia concerning the nature of God grows out of the failure of your sacred books clearly to distinguish between the personalities of the Paradise Trinity and between Paradise Deity and the local universe creators and administrators. During the past dispensations of partial understanding, your priests and prophets failed clearly to differentiate between Planetary Princes, System Sovereigns, Constellation Fathers, Creator Sons, Superuniverse Rulers, the Supreme Being, and the Universal Father. Many of the messages of subordinate personalities, such as Life Carriers and various orders of angels, have been, in your records, presented as coming from God himself. Urantian religious thought still confuses the associate personalities of Deity with the Universal Father himself, so that all are included under one appellation.

Jesus used *words* to convey the gospel of the kingdom of heaven (142:5.2), but while he “. . . scrupulously avoided leaving written records behind him, Andrew steadfastly refused to multiply copies of his written narrative.” “A similar attitude on the part of the other apostles of Jesus greatly delayed the writing of the Gospel.” (121:0.1) In part Jesus said, “‘The Scriptures contain much that is true, very much, but in the light of your present teaching, you know that these writings also contain much that is misrepresentative of the Father in heaven, the loving God I have come to reveal to all the worlds.'” (159:4.4) I think the evolution of Christianity is due to the worldwide influence of the Spirit of Truth, which Spirit ministers to all truth-seekers now and forever more.

146:3.6“[. . .] At first you believe that you are sons of God because my teaching has made you more conscious of the inner leadings of our Father’s indwelling presence; but presently the Spirit of Truth shall be poured out upon all flesh, and it will live among men and teach all men, even as I now live among you and speak to you the words of truth. And this Spirit of Truth, speaking for the spiritual endowments of your souls, will help you to know that you are the sons of God. It will unfailingly bear witness with the Father’s indwelling presence, your spirit, then dwelling in all men as it now dwells in some, telling you that you are in reality the sons of God.”

Said Jesus, “‘. . . even though heaven and earth shall pass away, my words of truth shall not.'” (156:2.5) He used parables (words of a story) to convey a teaching about the kingdom of heaven, so that a hearer or reader of them “. . .will be able to make his own interpretation of your parable in accordance with his own intellectual and spiritual endowments.” (151:3.1)

.

The 5th Epochal is a record of words! meaningful or meaningless depending upon one’s own desserts of the heart and in accordance with one’s hunger and thirst for truth. The written record of the 5th Epochal stands as an elucidation of the 4th Epochal when man first ever heard of the *kingdom of heaven*. And the 5th Epochal expands the 4th. No longer do inquiring minds need to puzzle out the meanings of the written record of the 4th Epochal, as concerns the kingdom, or anything else. Now we can compare the record of the 4th to the 5th, and we can read the gracious words of Jesus as they appear in the 4th and marvel over the power the 4th had and has on truth seekers. Perhaps the 4th went as far as it could go in spiritually elevating mankind, thus the gift of the 5th Epochal – a written record, the original of which is forever available digitally.
BonitaParticipant
Jun 17, 2017, 4:18 PM
Funny you should bring this up Mara. I’m working on a new mini-book called The Word. Words are a fascinating topic, but I don’t think it has anything to do with the kingdom of heaven. Let’s start another topic because I find it fascinating too. There’s lots to say . . . lots of words to type, on that subject. I think you’re onto something.
MaraParticipant
Jun 17, 2017, 4:48 PM

Bonita wrote:

I don’t think it has anything to do with the kingdom of heaven.

Not even in the respect that the big picture – the Word made flesh – revealing the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man?

20:5.1 The Eternal Son is the eternal Word of God. The Eternal Son is the perfect expression of the “first” absolute and infinite thought of his eternal Father. When a personal duplication or divine extension of this Original Son starts on a bestowal mission of mortal incarnation, it becomes literally true that the divine “Word is made flesh,” and that the Word thus dwells among the lowly beings of animal origin.

.

6:2.2 “He who has seen the Son has seen the Father.”

Anyhow, I’m still thinking about this.

Bonita wrote:

Let’s start another topic. . . .

Ok.

.
Mark KurtzParticipant
Jun 17, 2017, 5:32 PM
Hmmmmmm. A big hint for the Word topic is progress. The watchword for the Universe of Universes is progress. Recall?

Yeah you are onto something good.

MK

Reply on the current forum