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Every human in our world experiences moments of self-reflection, doubt and skepticism. We search for answers that help us define God's role in our lives and our relevance to the universe and beyond. These are not new questions. The Urantia Book can be a valuable source of enlightenment and comfort when a soul is faced with Life's Toughest Questions. Click on a question you've struggled with and discover The Urantia Book's perspective on some of life's most difficult and frequently-asked questions.
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I have noticed that atheism is growing in popularity with the younger generations... [print]    [email] 

Q: I have noticed that atheism is growing in popularity with the younger generations which is understandable from their viewpoint. What are your thoughts on atheism because I don’t see it going away anytime soon? In the back of my mind I wonder if someone who lives their life a sincere atheist will get the chance to see that there is an afterlife and survival is possible. I am worried about this but am not quite sure how to handle such a touchy subject.

A: There is no endorsed system of belief nor any of disbelief that automatically assures or denies one’s survival; God is neither respecter nor condemner of persons. The ticket to heaven is as valid for those who disdain belief as it is for those who profess to believe; it’s the birth of a soul and the development of survival values during this life that provide the vehicle for resurrection on the mansion worlds. All that’s really required here is having a moral nature and a flicker of faith in something greater than oneself.

Our world is more confused than most; does that mean that there’s less likelihood for survival for those unfortunate enough to experience their initial life here? No, I think it’s an indication that if anything, more leniency will be afforded us, that if anything, more may be permitted to experience the mansion worlds just so they’ll be equipped to make the survival decision based on understanding and not on ignorant conjecture.

Belief and faith lead to a more fulfilling, happier, better rounded life. They elevate the outlook on life to positive levels. Knowing that we are God’s children and that everyone is our spiritual brother and sister provides a foundation in reality that unbelievers lack. Studies have shown that on average believers live happier and more satisfying lives than do non-believers. The internet and other sources offer a number of global happiness and fulfillment studies advancing this observation.

Atheists tend to be intellectually bright but lack discernment of the difference between religion and spirituality. When they find dogma, church, or religion dissatisfying they reject God as well as the dogma. As children and adults continue to exist in non-spiritual and secular environments atheism will continue grow in popularity, with people becoming more aimless, less unfulfilled.

The teachings of The Urantia Book can help bridge this gulf because of its truth content, logical integrity, scientific validity and philosophical value. The best approach with unbelievers may be to set the spiritual magnitude of The Urantia Book aside and stress its scientific and philosophical value.

Thank you for your question and best wishes...



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What is GOD's name? [print]    [email] 
Q: What is GOD's name? According to the bible and the Jehova's Witness, his name is Jehova (YHWH in Hebrew). How important is it that we recognize his name?
 
A: Perhaps the best way to look at this is if you have a wonderful father yourself, one you love deeply and respect and look up to and wanted to please you'll probably call him daddy or dad or father. That's what Jesus did... he called God "Father" and God is our Father just like he is Jesus' Father. So why not think of God as your Father or your heavenly Father?
 
Yes, I understand the name thing is big with Jehovah's Witnesses and Jehovah is a perfectly fine name, as are Abba and Allah and Yahweh, or any of the other thousand names for God, but personally I don't think any one name carries more weight than any other. What we call God is less important than our attitude toward God in our hearts and the final sentence in The Urantia Book is, "When all is said and done, the Father idea is still the highest human concept of God." That's good enough for me.
 
Thank you for the question and best wishes. I hope this reply has helped you come to a decision.



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If God is always with us then why are people always making mistakes? [print]    [email] 
Q: Why did God create us? What was the reason to create this world? Why can't every person can't see God? If God is always with us then why are people making mistakes?

A: These are questions that many people ask. The Urantia Book gives us answers, and so I am glad that you wrote.

Why did God create people? Because God is love, and love craves love in return:

p21:2 (1:0.2) The myriads of planetary systems were all made to be eventually inhabited by many different types of intelligent creatures, beings who could know God, receive the divine affection, and love him in return. The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. "God created the heavens and formed the earth; he established the universe and created this world not in vain; he formed it to be inhabited."

All people have it within their power to know God. God is knowable, and he is not in hiding:

p25:3 (1:3.3) The Universal Father is not invisible because he is hiding himself away from the lowly creatures of materialistic handicaps and limited spiritual endowments. The situation rather is: "You cannot see my face, for no mortal can see me and live." No material man could behold the spirit God and preserve his mortal existence ...But it is not necessary to see God with the eyes of the flesh in order to discern him by the faith-vision of the spiritualized mind.

So, we see that it is only with "faith-vision" that we can see the Father. But this is entirely possible, because God has sent each mortal being a piece of himself - a "pilot light" - to dwell within their mind, helping each of us through our lives to be successful in finding him, and "seeing" him with our spiritual senses.

But we have to choose to find God. It is our freewill choices that sometimes get in the way of our finding God, and doing his will in our lives. God always respects our freewill and does not interfere with our choices. As a result, we often make mistakes, we do the wrong things and sometimes, we sin.

We are spirit beings at our core, but we live in the world, and the world can make a lot of noise - there are a lot of distractions that we all deal with, so it is important to make times of quietness and try to listen to the "still, small voice" of God that is there for us when we really desire to hear it.

Jesus said: "You are in this world, but your lives are not to be worldlike..." So, even though we live in the world, we have to make the effort to go apart from the world on a regular basis - to remember our spiritual identity and to connect with the Source of that identity, which is God. Remember, God is always as near as a thought, for he dwells within your mind.

It can be frustrating to realize that not everyone wants to do the right things, and not everyone desires to know God. We all pay the price for the misdeeds of others at times, but the good news is that each individual person can choose to do good, and to find God within themselves. Sometimes, that is the best any of us can do. And in this way, we can help others by our example. When we, as God's children, do make that effort to stay close to God, we naturally become more like God, who is our spirit-Father. Like Jesus, we can learn to "go about doing good," and this is a powerful way to live a happy life in spite of the troubles that we see around us.

And finally, here's a bit of encouragement from The Urantia Book:

p2097:1 (196:3.30) Be not discouraged; human evolution is still in progress, and the revelation of God to the world, in and through Jesus, shall not fail.

Thanks for this great question. I hope that you will decide to subscribe to our free service - Quote of the Day - which will help you on a daily basis to stay on your own spiritual path. And please feel free to explore the many other features of our Truthbook.com site which will help inspire you to live your best life with God.



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Can the departed soul look back on us and see and feel how much we are thinking of him and missing him? [print]    [email] 
Q: I read your "There is Life after Death" and I have a practical question. Can the departed soul look back on us and see and feel how much we are thinking of him and missing him? And does the departed soul try to help us and comfort us...if so how? Or does the departed soul just keep going onward on his own individual journey oblivious of the people he left behind who love and miss him and cannot go on without him?

A: That's a good question with a difficult answer. If we answer "no" there's no looking back, then that destroys the hope and anticipation so many people carry with them about being comforted and loved by their departed loved ones and their devotion to the memories of those who have died. If we answer "yes" then we're ignoring what The Urantia Book teaches about life and life after death and promoting ghost belief and thoughts of spirit intervention into our daily lives.

The Urantia Book makes it clear that we're under the watchcare of angels; that's the job they're assigned and they fulfill their obligation fully, lovingly, and with compassion. The angels are also responsible for transporting the souls of the departed to the mansion worlds — there are no souls left wandering about earth, they're either placed in a spiritual slumber or they're taken to the mansion worlds which are both physically far away and mindally far removed.

It is possible however that mindal energies that were used by the departed are still active here on earth, at least for a while — that may account in some manner of the experiences people relate about connections with the departed. It is also possible that those starting out on their mansion world careers may wish to assure their loved ones that they're alive and well and such a desire may be carried back by angels to be delivered in such a way that it seems as though there's been contact. It's also possible that the departed are simply in a spiritual sleep state until other loved ones join them before they pass as a group to the mansion worlds. In any case it would still be within the realm of possibility that the angels of our supervision simply provide encouragement and comfort to us in the most meaningful of ways to ease our sorrow, grief, and burden.

So to be specific, we're not told that departed souls can look back and feel how much we are thinking and missing them. There will be meetings of loved ones on the mansion worlds, whether all are resurrected at the same time or whether there's a delay. It's true that the journey is an individual one but we always do it in concert with others and loved ones play an important part in everything we do.

I hope that reply brings you some comfort.



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Why are so many religionists caught up in the terrifying "End of time conspiracy theory" at this time on our planet? [print]    [email] 
For centuries, the Scriptures have provided mankind with the only written records of God's voice and inspiration, and the Scriptures are full of dire warnings regarding the times when the world will come to an end. The certainty that the end of the world is imminent has been present throughout our history. Many an age has been designated as humanity's last, and it is no different now. Those who place all their faith in these supposedly inerrant writings are naturally filled with the fear that they engender, and those who hold to the belief that God is a punishing deity are diligently on the lookout for evidences of God's displeasure and retribution.  And some of these predictions have come to pass in our times...with every fulfillment of these earthly prophecies, more credence is lent to them, part and parcel. But is it real? Does the "end of the world" mean the end of everything? Should we be afraid?

Mankind has long believed in a mysterious god who really has it in for humanity. We are naturally afraid of such a deity, and we feel powerless to survive his awful wrath. Here we are, sitting ducks, wating for the other shoe to drop. Fear is the enemy here - not God. Unreasoned fear is a trap into which we all can fall, and it is to be studiously avoided with the antidotal balm of faith and trust in the God of Love.

So, why are so many caught up in this cycle of fear? Probably because they do not know a better way. The Urantia Book provides 21st century wisdom with which to navigate the sea of negativity and fear in which we find ourselves. Rather than an inevitable, destructive outcome that we must face, the revelatory teachings of The Urantia Book, and especially the teachings of Jesus, give us great hope and a new way of viewing the panorama of human existence - free of fear, and with the light of reason based on the revelation of a merciful God of Love, and a new religion based on personal spiritual experience. It is man himself who has created the state of the world in which we find ourselves, and it is man, guided by God's love and wisdom, who can, and will, co-create with God a new kind of world - a world based on the Fatherhood of God and the resultant brotherhood of man - a world that will be regenerated by the adoption of the true religion of Jesus. The Urantia Book calls this wonderful time of renewal the Age of Light and Life, the "acme of evolutionary material development." It will take us a long time to reach this stage, but we can, and  WILL reach it.

Little in God's creation is set in stone. Humanity may be hurtling into the end of an age, but this does not necessarily mean that the world is coming to an end, or that all are doomed. Ages come and ages go. Man still maintains the power of freewill, and can form his destiny day-to-day in co-creation with God, who is Love. Whether we as a species will turn the present tide of materialism and destruction - or not - depends wholly on the spiritual regeneration of individual religionists. The outcome may seem iffy at times, but we have it within our power to change the outcome from one of death and destruction to one of spiritual regeneration and progress.

Please see  The Modern Problem  

Jesus promised:

p1608:1(143:1.4) "I have come into this world to do the will of my Father and to reveal his loving character to all mankind. That, my brethren, is my mission. And this one thing I will do, regardless of the misunderstanding of my teachings by Jews or gentiles of this day or of another generation. But you should not overlook the fact that even divine love has its severe disciplines. A father's love for his son oftentimes impels the father to restrain the unwise acts of his thoughtless offspring. The child does not always comprehend the wise and loving motives of the father's restraining discipline. But I declare to you that my Father in Paradise does rule a universe of universes by the compelling power of his love. Love is the greatest of all spirit realities. Truth is a liberating revelation, but love is the supreme relationship. And no matter what blunders your fellow men make in their world management of today, in an age to come the gospel which I declare to you will rule this very world. The ultimate goal of human progress is the reverent recognition of the fatherhood of God and the loving materialization of the brotherhood of man."

p2093:5(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.

To Thomas:

p1916:2(176:3.2) "And even you, Thomas, fail to comprehend what I have been saying. Have I not all this time taught you that your connection with the kingdom is spiritual and individual, wholly a matter of personal experience in the spirit by the faith-realization that you are a son of God? What more shall I say? The downfall of nations, the crash of empires, the destruction of the unbelieving Jews, the end of an age, even the end of the world, what have these things to do with one who believes this gospel, and who has hid his life in the surety of the eternal kingdom? You who are God-knowing and gospel-believing have already received the assurances of eternal life. Since your lives have been lived in the spirit and for the Father, nothing can be of serious concern to you . Kingdom builders, the accredited citizens of the heavenly worlds, are not to be disturbed by temporal upheavals or perturbed by terrestrial cataclysms. What does it matter to you who believe this gospel of the kingdom if nations overturn, the age ends, or all things visible crash, since you know that your life is the gift of the Son, and that it is eternally secure in the Father? Having lived the temporal life by faith and having yielded the fruits of the spirit as the righteousness of loving service for your fellows, you can confidently look forward to the next step in the eternal career with the same survival faith that has carried you through your first and earthly adventure in sonship with God.

Associated with end-times prophecy is the promise of the return of the Master to the earth. In this, the Bible and The Urantia Book agree. Jesus WILL one day return here. But does this event signal the end of the world?

Jesus said:

 p1915:3(176:2.6) "...concerning the times of the coming again of the Son of Man, no one in heaven or on earth may presume to speak. But you should be wise regarding the ripening of an age; you should be alert to discern the signs of the times. You know when the fig tree shows its tender branches and puts forth its leaves that summer is near. Likewise, when the world has passed through the long winter of material-mindedness and you discern the coming of the spiritual springtime of a new dispensation, should you know that the summertime of a new visitation draws near.

"But what is the significance of this teaching having to do with the coming of the Sons of God? Do you not perceive that, when each of you is called to lay down his life struggle and pass through the portal of death, you stand in the immediate presence of judgment, and that you are face to face with the facts of a new dispensation of service in the eternal plan of the infinite Father? What the whole world must face as a literal fact at the end of an age, you, as individuals, must each most certainly face as a personal experience when you reach the end of your natural life and thereby pass on to be confronted with the conditions and demands inherent in the next revelation of the eternal progression of the Father's kingdom."

Instead of gnawing over the dire predictions of Biblical prophecy, we all might be better served to anticipate this coming "spiritual springtime;"  to discern the signs of its advent, and contribute to it by our personal dedication to the ideals of truth, beauty and goodness in our lives. When this season of renewal does come to pass, we may indeed see an end of the world as we now know it (which may not be the worst that could happen, in my opinion!), and the inauguration of a new, and better world to come - a world ruled through the supremacy of God, the Universal Father of Love - and the final realization of  the kingdom of heaven.

Thanks for this great question. I hope it has been helpful to you. Be of good cheer!



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Are we reincarnated in the sense that Buddhists believe? [print]    [email] 
In a word - no.

Here is a quote from The Urantia Book. This is taken from the life of Jesus:

There was, throughout all these regions, a lingering belief in reincarnation. The older Jewish teachers, together with Plato, Philo, and many of the Essenes, tolerated the theory that men may reap in one incarnation what they have sown in a previous existence; thus in one life they were believed to be expiating the sins committed in preceding lives. The Master found it difficult to make men believe that their souls had not had previous existences. p1811:5 (164:3.4)

Buddhism and Urantia Book teachings are similar in some ways, but not in regards to reincarnation. The closest The Urantia Book comes to Buddhism in the matters of life and death is the Buddhist teaching of Nirvana - final liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth, and the end of suffering.

The Urantia Book teaches that we will enjoy a true resurrection following our death, never to return to the Earth. In our new life on the Mansion Worlds, there will be no suffering, and we will be faced with the prospect of an "eternal adventure." True, we do enjoy successive lives - but never will we lose our personalities or our identities - and we always keep our memories. Our successive lives reflect our gradual transformation from a purely mortal being to a bona fide spirit, and our destiny lies in the worlds of Paradise and beyond...

Please take a few minutes and enjoy one of our flash movies which will help you to understand some Urantia Book teachings regarding what happens After You Die.

And here is another page that will give you much more information about the subject of Life After Death.

Thanks for this great question!



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I have many questions about life, I need his guidance, I don't know what to do... [print]    [email] 
You may not always feel his guidance, but never doubt or wonder about God's PRESENCE in your mind. He is as close as a thought, and he wants to help you. Quiet down your mind, and let yourself relax enough to hear that "still, small voice..." Return yourself to this present moment only, for that is where you'll find God - and think only about your breath for awhile. This will help you to remain in the minute. Relax.

(160:3.1)...meditation makes the contact of mind with spirit; relaxation determines the capacity for spiritual receptivity. 

It is a challenge sometimes to really relax in body and mind, but every time you try, you'll get better at it. This will help you feel calmer, and will help you to be more open to what God has to say to you.

You are dearly loved by your heavenly Father. He knows what you are going through. You may not know what to do, but your Father does. Do your best to try some quiet times to practice relaxing, but even when you can't, you CAN turn your thoughts to God in any moment. 

The answers to your questions will come...

Please write back if we can help with any questions about The Urantia Book. and in the meantime, I hope you'll take about three minutes, relax yourself, and have a look at one of our flash videos called You'll Never Walk Alone

Thank you for writing with your concerns.

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I am a born again christian and lately I can't pray. Every time I try to pray there are no words i can say and sometimes i feel so empty inside and I can't even understand what I am saying when I pray. How can I improve my prayer life? [print]    [email] 
When I read your question, this quote from The Urantia Book immediately came to mind:

(91:8.12) Words are irrelevant to prayer; they are merely the intellectual channel in which the river of spiritual supplication may chance to flow...God answers the soul's attitude, not the words.

Try to just BE in the presence of God for a while without saying any memorized prayer words. Just reach out to God with your inmost soul, and he'll surely help you to know what to do about your concern. Just doing that will possibly help you to feel better connected to God.

I think we all go through dry spells in our spiritual life - at least I do. It is uncomfortable to say the least, when we feel as though we are not able to talk to God as we once could; worse, that perhaps we are not being heard. We feel that emptiness so deeply. Refuse to yield to anxiety over this issue, but know that there is a light at the end of this tunnel that you are in...God knows your desire.

Here are a couple of Urantia Book quotes to help you through this time in your life.
 Jesus' Discourse on Prayer  This link will inspire you to look at prayer as Jesus did.

And THIS is a link to a section of The Urantia Book which has always been of help to me with my prayer life. It deals with praying and the "alter ego," that part of us that comes into play when we "talk to ourselves..." Maybe it will be helpful to you right now.

In addition, you might go to our topical study on Prayer for more advice and inspiration from The Urantia Book.

Don't give up. I will agree with you right now in prayer that you'll turn the corner soon.

Thanks for this great question...



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Is it wrong to want to acquire material wealth and possessions? [print]    [email] 
It is not wrong to want material wealth or possessions. Nowhere did Jesus teach that we have to renounce material success in order to be his followers; only to his apostles, and those who would be his apostles, did he counsel a renunciation of material possessions in order to live in spiritual community.  It is one's inmost motivation that matters in this regard.

Here are some Urantia Book references that will give you more information about Jesus' attitude towards wealth, and those who possess it:

After Jesus had counseled the rich young man, Matadormus, Jesus and Peter had this exchange:

(163:3.3) As they went off by themselves, Jesus was grieved that Matadormus did not remain with them, for he greatly loved him. And when they had walked down by the lake, they sat there beside the water, and Peter, speaking for the twelve (who were all present by this time), said: "We are troubled by your words to the rich young man. Shall we require those who would follow you to give up all their worldly goods?" And Jesus said: "No, Peter, only those who would become apostles, and who desire to live with me as you do and as one family. But the Father requires that the affections of his children be pure and undivided. Whatever thing or person comes between you and the love of the truths of the kingdom, must be surrendered. If one's wealth does not invade the precincts of the soul, it is of no consequence in the spiritual life of those who would enter the kingdom."

(163:2.10) Riches have nothing directly to do with entrance into the kingdom of heaven, but the love of wealth does. The spiritual loyalties of the kingdom are incompatible with servility to materialistic mammon. Man may not share his supreme loyalty to a spiritual ideal with a material devotion.

Further, Jesus said:

(165:4.5)" ... it is not a sin to have honorable wealth; but it is a sin if you convert the wealth of material possessions into treasures which may absorb your interests and divert your affections from devotion to the spiritual pursuits of the kingdom. There is no sin in having honest possessions on earth provided your treasure is in heaven, for where your treasure is there will your heart be also. "

Jesus spoke further on wealth and its uses and drawbacks in his parable called Dividing the Inheritance .

And, Jesus did offer a good deal of advice to his followers regarding the proper use of material wealth, if we should chance to acquire it.

In the study of the above links, you should be able to clearly see the proper attitude that a spiritually inclined soul shoul have towards the desire for material wealth and possessions.

Thank you for this important question.



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Our degree of self-control is the measure of our soul. Is it cheating to use medications to increase ones control of emotions like anger, sexual lust, anxiety or any other emotional unbalance? [print]    [email] 
It may be a measure of a person's soul that they think enough of themselves and other people to want to do whatever they can to get help if they feel out of control in the way of harmful emotional states. These states can be due to so many things - environmental, inherited, or simple imbalance, some of which can be addressed through medications. Sometimes people are not thinking of anything but relief from their symptoms...getting that relief may help them in their spiritual life.

Whether or not such a person is "cheating" because they may be getting help with harmful emotions seems a very subjective and personal matter which is none of my business. If it helps people to navigate in this world a little better for awhile, where's the harm? And why pass any kind of judgment?

Is it cheating to take a tranquilizer to keep from getting an anxiety attack? Drugs are drugs; some are intended to normalize abnormal behavior. To not use them when they're available and intended to correct a particular behavior pattern would be ignorant.

Jesus taught us that self-mastery is an ideal worth striving for. Those of us who are lucky enough to have this revelation know that true self-mastery is a spiritual achievement which can be had through perseverance, determination, faith, trust, and prayer. But even so, just because a person takes medication to help them through a rough time in their life does not mean that they are failing at self-mastery. Seeking help may, in itself, be evidence of self-mastery. And spiritual work can surely be done even with medication.

How you get to self-mastery not be not the important thing - THAT you get there seems more important.



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How is it possible for a first time personality to even be mature enough, wise enough to make eternal decisions? [print]    [email] 
Q: The Urantia Book describes the process by which we will eventually become one with our Thought Adjuster through "cooperating", submitting our will to God's will; making decisions, choices etc.... How is it possible for a first time personality to even be mature enough, wise enough to make eternal decisions?

A: It may not be possible to make eternal decisions in this earth life, although we can certainly make decisions that contribute to our eternal life. Like the process you describe in your question, we can choose to cooperate with our Thought Adjuster, we can decide that God's will is what we want in our lives, and we can reinforce those basic decisions with the every-day kinds of choices that we all face. By doing this, we grow our soul - the immortal part of us that will survive the death experience. And that is the eternal part of us that will eventually fuse with the TA. Even if we haven't made the "final decision" here - still, by contributing to our soul's growth, we are just that much better able to eventually make that decision when we are really ready.

Here's an abbreviated quote that might be helpful:

p449:4(40:8.1) ...practically all surviving mortals are fused with their Adjusters on one of the mansion worlds or immediately upon their arrival on the higher morontia spheres...

And this:

p538:1(47:8.3) This is a brilliant age for ascending mortals and usually witnesses the perfect fusion of the human mind and the divine Adjuster. In potential, this fusion may have occurred previously, but the actual working identity many times is not achieved until the time of the sojourn on the fifth mansion world or even the sixth.

For me, it is enough of a hope that my faith is sufficient to ensure that I will survive to wake up on the Mansion Worlds, and I think that is the best that most us can wish for at this juncture in our lives. And that's pretty good news! The Urantia Book teaches that fusion with the TA may be a long way off, even after we survive. That kind of decision is not made lightly, even though we may feel that we want it while we are here. As far as I know, only Enoch was able to achieve it here on Urantia, when he went up in a "flash of fire." The Urantia Book says that he was "the first," so maybe there have been others since then, but I don't know...Through our continuing purification, spirit identification, and education on the Mansion Worlds, we can hope to become far better equipped to make that kind of eternal decision when the time is right.

Just for interest, you might like to read about Death and Translation on the Spheres of Light and Life. I think we here on Urantia are going to be waiting a long time before that becomes a reality, but someday...

Thanks for this interesting question!




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Since the Adam and Eve failure, why not simply scrap the project and do it over? And as to the Calagastia upheaval, why not simply send a new resident planetary prince in the old one's stead? [print]    [email] 
It's hard to answer for the decisions of the administrators of life development on this world; we have limited and short sighted vision while they understand the outworkings of events far beyond our understanding. So I'll have to guess.
 
By scrapping the project and doing it over I'm assuming you mean send Adam and Eve back to clean up after themselves. That does seem to be a possibility, although an unlikely one. It may be that more good will come from allowing us to work our own way through this predicament by ourselves, if possible. Also, having a highly advanced culture imposed on us from the outside now presents its own set of problems. I don't expect the vast majority of humanity would take kindly to being invaded by aliens and having their will imposed upon us. UB readers like the prospects... most everyone else would resist I imagine.
 
As for the Planetary Prince -- I believe Jesus fills that function for now and he some day will return, whether invisible or in person we don't know. It just doesn't look like we're in line for outside help beyond whatever's already being provided. It would be great if the plan had been carried out, if we had a visible and invisible 500,000 year old seat of planetary administration and a 38,000 year old Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve running worldly affairs but it looks like the life on this experimental world will continue to unfold along the lines of the predominantly material driven promptings of our own doing, leaving it up to ourselves to discover the spiritual underpinnings of reality.
 
Thank you for your question. Hope the answer was of some help.  




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What happens to the majority of humans after death? [print]    [email] 
The Urantia Book has quite a lot of information regarding eternal life, e.g., what an ascension candidate is, what happens to us after we die, and what the eternal career has in store. Much time is spent in the discussion and revelation of the ascension plan for humans. Just as Jesus died a mortal death and resurrected in three days' time, so we, too, can anticipate resurrection - not here on earth, as in the case of Jesus, but in one of the Father's seven mansion worlds that Jesus told us about, and about which The Urantia Book devotes a great deal of its teachings

We are told that "Mortals are all animal-origin evolutionary beings of ascendant potential." (underline is mine) And as Adjuster-indwelt mortals, all of us here on Urantia have as our destiny the adventure of one day returning to the Father on Paradise.

The section titled The Ascending Mortals begins:

"The following narrative presents the universe career of an Adjuster-indwelt mortal. The Son- and Spirit-fused mortals share portions of this career, but we have elected to tell this story as it pertains to the Adjuster-fused mortals, for such a destiny may be anticipated by all of the human races of Urantia." (underline is mine)

I think it is safe to say that the majority of humans will follow this career. Of course, there are those who may not, but that remains an individual choice, and one which may not be able to be finally and rightly made until we have passed from death on this planet to the status of survivor.

As to the immediate experience of life after death, I would invite you to view our short and beautiful flash video called After You Die, which outlines in great detail the teachings of The Urantia Book about this fascinating subject.



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How can I continually do what is right and also please the lord? I always find myself doing what i do not want to do, and it is killing me. Please help me. [print]    [email] 
I understand what you're asking... how to do the right thing when the wrong thing is easier. There is no magic thought or deed that can force you to do right, because God has endowed you with free will which is the freedom to choose between good and bad, right and wrong -- you're just as free to choose either one. Since you want to do what is right then you are already able to discern what is good/bad or right/wrong and you're having difficulty making the choice to do the good thing. You're fortunate, because some people seem unable to discern which is which.
 
This is where character comes into play. Is your character strong or weak? If it's weak then you have to begin to strengthen it through making a series of simple/easy choices and stick with them; for example... no chocolate for the rest of the week; no smoking or drinking for the next 10 days, go to bed before 10pm this month, give 25 cents to every needy person you see for the next two weeks, no swearing for 5 days... these kinds of simple decisions will require you to concentrate on following through with your decision. As the simple decisions become easier to stick to then the more difficult ones will be come easier too.
 
If you already have a strong character and you're just not making good choices it's because you're lazy. To improve on that use a similar technique to the above but choose to do the kind of things that combat laziness. You may also have to make some choices regarding who your real friends and associates should be.
 
Basically, what you have to do is to strengthen your sense of morality, your integrity, your virtue. The only gift you have to give to God is your decision to do his will in your life.
 
Morality has its origin in self-consciousness. The physical environment entails the battle for existence; social surroundings necessitate ethical adjustments; moral situations require making choices in the highest realms of reason.
 
Limitations of intellect, curtailment of education, deprivation of culture, impoverishment of social status, even inferiority of the standards of morality resulting from the lack of educational, cultural, and social advantages, cannot invalidate the presence of the divine spirit in such unfortunate and handicapped but believing individuals.
 
Morality can never be advanced by law or by force. It is a personal and freewill matter and must be disseminated by the contagion of the contact of morally fragrant persons with those who are less morally responsive, but who are also in some measure desirous of doing the Father's will.


What does The Urantia Book say about the practice of euthanasia? [print]    [email] 
There are no references to euthanasia (mercy-killing) in The Urantia Book. But knowing what I do, I hope can form an opinion that will be in line with its teachings.

Euthanasia is an interesting subject, and once again in the news of the day. I can't tell you what to think - whether it is right or wrong. I suspect that every case is different. But it is my personal opinion that if a person has been in a vegetative state for some amount of time (in the recent case I read of, the person has been in such a state for over ten years!) and shows no sign of recovery, and no sign of brain activity, I would say that euthanasia would be justified. I know that if it was me in that bed, that I would not want to be kept alive if my Thought Adjuster had left. And we are told that when brain activity ceases, that is the equivalent of death, at which time the Adjuster returns to Divinington to await the personality and soul reunion. Do the soul and personality remain with the body until it is allowed to die? 

The Urantia Book says this:

    2.     Intellectual (mind) death. When the vital circuits of higher adjutant ministry are disrupted through the aberrations of intellect or because of the partial destruction of the mechanism of the brain, and if these conditions pass a certain critical point of irreparability, the indwelling Adjuster is immediately released to depart for Divinington. On the universe records a mortal personality is considered to have met with death whenever the essential mind circuits of human will-action have been destroyed. And again, this is death, irrespective of the continuing function of the living mechanism of the physical body. The body minus the volitional mind is no longer human, but according to the prior choosing of the human will, the soul of such an individual may survive.

   3.     Physical (body and mind) death. When death overtakes a human being, the Adjuster remains in the citadel of the mind until it ceases to function as an intelligent mechanism, about the time that the measurable brain energies cease their rhythmic vital pulsations. Following this dissolution the Adjuster takes leave of the vanishing mind, just as unceremoniously as entry was made years before, and proceeds to Divinington by way of Uversa. p1230:1(112:3.3)

In days past, this was not ever thought about much, because a person who had sustained a serious injury would have naturally passed away, but in our times of amazing medical miracles and cutting-edge technologies, doctors have the power to keep a person alive undefinitely. But is that always wise? To me it seems like a case of science without the moderation of spirit.

Euthanasia comes from two Greek words meaning "good death." Lingering in a hospital bed, waiting for someone to "pull the plug" does not seems like a very merciful way to treat someone. Allowing them to have a "good death" seems to be, in these extreme sorts of cases, the best course of action.

This is a question that has prompted the rise of "living wills," which allow a person beforehand, to say how they would like such a situation handled if they are not able to speak or act on their own. "Natural death," as understood in The Urantia Book may not be possible in such a situation, and so a person has to demand it these days.

Thanks for this thought-provoking question.



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We had a dear friend pass away 5 days ago from lung and head cancer. He passed away suddenly... [print]    [email] 
Q: We had a dear friend pass away 5 days ago from cancer. He passed away suddenly. We had not talked to him since late December. He was going to do one more chemo treatment in December. He passed in the Hospital. He had not called His former spouse or us. We don’t know details. He died at the hospital. He had been staying at his residence. Does he see us or hear us? Does he remember us?

A: I am so sorry to hear of your loss. It must be hard to realize that your friend is gone so suddenly. Death seems always to take us by surprise, doesn't it?...it sounds as if he may have isolated himself in his final weeks and months, and I am sure that that adds to your sense of loss. Please accept my condolences.

The good news is that you seem to believe that it is possible for your friend to still be "somewhere," and you are exactly right. He is embarking on the supreme adventure, and it could be that he is right now awakening to his new life after death.

The Urantia Book teaches us that "death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery." I hope you can be cheered to imagine that this voyage has now started in earnest, and your friend is happy. Of course, this will be the privelege of all of us eventually - to pass from the death of the material body to a new life in the never-ending quest for God.

In the Urantia Book, we learn that our loved ones DO rmember us, and their life in the flesh. As to whether he can see you, that is not possible, as his new residence is quite far away. But as you remember him, so does he remember you, and he'll be waiting to greet you and all of his other friends and family as they leave the planet, too, as a result of natural death. At that time you will most certainly see each other, so that is something that can give you great hope.

The Urantia Book contains a wealth of comforting material about the subject of Life after Death; Please feel free to visit  HERE for much more information - you may especially like to see our videos "After You Die," and "You Can Live Forever," found on the same link.

Again, my sympathies are with you in this difficult time.


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Forgiving is one of the hardest thing to do to be able to fully submit yourself to God. What is the first step that I should do that will lead me in forgiving someone? [print]    [email] 
You are right that forgiving can be the hardest thing to do. All of us can relate to this...I guess the first thing you must do is to decide whether your un-forgiveness is helping you to achieve the kind of relationship you desire with God - your desire to willingly submit to his will. Is your unwillingness to forgive helping you in your search for peace and happiness in your inner life? Is your anger doing anything to right the situation? Is carrying the burdens of hurt and anger worth the effort?

When we have been sinned against by another - when our sense of right and wrong has been violated by another's words or actions, we recognize it, and we feel anger or indignation against that person - often rightly so. It is a very human response. Sometimes, we dream of revenge or retaliation - our anger burns bright, and we can fan the flames by harboring these feelings - sometimes for long periods of time. But is that helpful? The feelings of anger and hurt are heavy burdens to the heart, and usually do not in any way affect the offender, only the one who harbors them.

The Urantia Book tells us that "anger is like a stone hurled into a hornet's nest." It is a "mental poison" that can "interfere with the spiritual progress of the evolving soul."

So, what is one to do? Jesus was one of the most sinned-against persons we know. He was betrayed, he was deserted by his friends, he was wrongly put to death. And yet, through all of his trials, he remained loving, tolerant and forgiving. He said: "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do."

We must learn to forgive in this life. The first step is to realize the harm that unforgiveness can do to YOU, and that may lead you to make a decision to forgive. Ask God to show you the way to achieve it in your heart. Accept the fact that you are also in need of forgiveness, and pray to realize it. As you learn to forgive everyone who has ever wronged you, you will in turn start to experience forgiveness of your own misdeeds as well. This can be a very liberating experience.

From The Urantia Book:

The Father in heaven has forgiven you even before you have thought to ask him, but such forgiveness is not available in your personal religious experience until such a time as you forgive your fellow men. God's forgiveness in fact is not conditioned upon your forgiving your fellows, but in experience it is exactly so conditioned. And this fact of the synchrony of divine and human forgiveness was thus recognized and linked together in the prayer which Jesus taught the