Evolution is taught as a reality in The Urantia Book ; its nature, Divine purpose, and effective methods are fully explored and revealed to mankind.
In the first section of this study, there are numerous quotes and several categories about evolution, with accompanying links to an appropriate Paper or section that will open up the study for you and put it into proper context. The second half of the study (History) concentrates on the beginnings of the universe, the beginnings of our planet, the beginnings of life on Earth, and the history of the progressive evolutionary ennoblement of mortals. Gaining this larger perspective will help you to deepen your understanding as you explore the history and progressive ministry of evolution.
"Evolution Is..."
"...evolution—on Urantia or elsewhere—is always purposeful and never accidental." ~ The Urantia Book, (65: 0.4)
Evolution is the rule of human development, but the process itself varies greatly on different worlds. ~ The Urantia Book, (49:1.4)
The process of planetary evolution is orderly and controlled. The development of higher organisms from lower groupings of life is not accidental. ~ The Urantia Book, (49:1.7)
Many features of human life afford abundant evidence that the phenomenon of mortal existence was intelligently planned, that organic evolution is not a mere cosmic accident. ~ The Urantia Book, (65:4.3)
The process of evolution is still actively and adaptatively in progress on this planet. ~ The Urantia Book, (65:6.5)
The fact of evolution is not a modern discovery; the ancients understood the slow and evolutionary character of human progress. ~ The Urantia Book, (74:8.5)
Evolution may be slow, but it is terribly effective. ~ The Urantia Book, (81:1.3)
Evolution is a cosmic technique of growth. ~ The Urantia Book, (100:3.7)
Organic evolution is a fact; purposive or progressive evolution is a truth which makes consistent the otherwise contradictory phenomena of the ever-ascending achievements of evolution. The Urantia Book , (102:6.10)
...evolution... is creativity in time ~ The Urantia Book, (105:6.5)
Be not discouraged; human evolution is still in progress, and the revelation of God to the world, in and through Jesus, shall not fail. ~ The Urantia Book, (196:3.33)
Evolution is God's way. The process of evolution is a Divinely inspired technique of growth that constitutes creation in time and space, and that ultimately strives towards perfection - the perfection of God. Evolution is inherently connected to experience, and experience is the cornerstone of all learning and all improvement - God did indeed exhort us to be perfect, and through evolution - physical, mindal, spiritual and religious, we are indeed able to eventually achieve that goal - even where we are, and as we are.
Organic evolution is a fact; purposive or progressive evolution is a truth which makes consistent the otherwise contradictory phenomena of the ever-ascending achievements of evolution. The higher any scientist progresses in his chosen science, the more will he abandon the theories of materialistic fact in favor of the cosmic truth of the dominance of the Supreme Mind. Materialism cheapens human life; the gospel of Jesus tremendously enhances and supernally exalts every mortal. Mortal existence must be visualized as consisting in the intriguing and fascinating experience of the realization of the reality of the meeting of the human upreach and the divine and saving downreach. ~ The Urantia Book, (102:6.10)
When physical conditions are ripe, sudden mental evolutions may take place; when mind status is propitious, sudden spiritual transformations may occur; when spiritual values receive proper recognition, then cosmic meanings become discernible, and increasingly the personality is released from the handicaps of time and delivered from the limitations of space. ~ The Urantia Book, (65:8.6)
Remember that the order of progressive evolution is subjected to sudden and unexpected periodical changes in both the material and the spiritual worlds. The bestowal of Jesus as an incarnated Son was just such a strange and unexpected event in the spiritual life of the world. ~ The Urantia Book, (170:4.14)
Evolution is not exclusive to the physical, or organic realms; other aspects of human life are evolutionary in nature as well. In the following links, you can explore the evolutionary nature of various features of the universe, human life and civilization.
The Universe is an Evolutionary Creation
A local universe is the handiwork of a Creator Son of the Paradise order of Michael. It comprises one hundred constellations, each embracing one hundred systems of inhabited worlds. Each system will eventually contain approximately one thousand inhabited spheres.
These universes of time and space are all evolutionary. The creative plan of the Paradise Michaels always proceeds along the path of gradual evolvement and progressive development of the physical, intellectual, and spiritual natures and capacities of the manifold creatures who inhabit the varied orders of spheres comprising such a local universe. ~ The Urantia Book, (32:0.1)
Religion is an Evolutionary Process which can be Studied here and here
THE EVOLUTION OF religion from the preceding and primitive worship urge is not dependent on revelation. The normal functioning of the human mind under the directive influence of the sixth and seventh mind-adjutants of universal spirit bestowal is wholly sufficient to insure such development.
Man's earliest prereligious fear of the forces of nature gradually became religious as nature became personalized, spiritized, and eventually deified in human consciousness. Religion of a primitive type was therefore a natural biologic consequence of the psychologic inertia of evolving animal minds after such minds had once entertained concepts of the supernatural. ~ The Urantia Book, (86:0.1)
Human Government is Evolutionary
Every human institution had a beginning, and civil government is a product of progressive evolution just as much as are marriage, industry, and religion. From the early clans and primitive tribes there gradually developed the successive orders of human government which have come and gone right on down to those forms of social and civil regulation that characterize the second third of the twentieth century. ~ The Urantia Book, (70:5.1)
The Institution of Marriage is Evolutionary
As an institution, marriage, from its early beginnings down to modern times, pictures the social evolution of the biologic propensity for self-perpetuation. The perpetuation of the evolving human species is made certain by the presence of this racial mating impulse, an urge which is loosely called sex attraction. This great biologic urge becomes the impulse hub for all sorts of associated instincts, emotions, and usages—physical, intellectual, moral, and social. ~ The Urantia Book, (82:1.8)
The Human Soul is an Evolutionary Achievement
The mortal career, the soul's evolution, is not so much a probation as an education. Faith in the survival of supreme values is the core of religion; genuine religious experience consists in the union of supreme values and cosmic meanings as a realization of universal reality. ~ The Urantia Book, (111:3.5)
In so far as man's evolving morontia soul becomes permeated by truth, beauty, and goodness as the value-realization of God-consciousness, such a resultant being becomes indestructible. If there is no survival of eternal values in the evolving soul of man, then mortal existence is without meaning, and life itself is a tragic illusion. But it is forever true: What you begin in time you will assuredly finish in eternity—if it is worth finishing. ~ The Urantia Book, (111:3.7)
There is something real, something of human evolution, something additional to the Mystery Monitor, which survives death. This newly appearing entity is the soul, and it survives the death of both your physical body and your material mind. This entity is the conjoint child of the combined life and efforts of the human you in liaison with the divine you, the Adjuster. This child of human and divine parentage constitutes the surviving element of terrestrial origin; it is the morontia self, the immortal soul. ~ The Urantia Book, (112:5.12)
The Mind of Man is Evolutionary
In the inner experience of man, mind is joined to matter. Such material-linked minds cannot survive mortal death. The technique of survival is embraced in those adjustments of the human will and those transformations in the mortal mind whereby such a God-conscious intellect gradually becomes spirit taught and eventually spirit led. This evolution of the human mind from matter association to spirit union results in the transmutation of the potentially spirit phases of the mortal mind into the morontia realities of the immortal soul. Mortal mind subservient to matter is destined to become increasingly material and consequently to suffer eventual personality extinction; mind yielded to spirit is destined to become increasingly spiritual and ultimately to achieve oneness with the surviving and guiding divine spirit and in this way to attain survival and eternity of personality existence. ~ The Urantia Book, (1:3.7)
Mind, on Urantia, is a compromise between the essence of thought perfection and the evolving mentality of your immature human nature. The plan for your intellectual evolution is, indeed, one of sublime perfection, but you are far short of that divine goal as you function in the tabernacles of the flesh. Mind is truly of divine origin, and it does have a divine destiny, but your mortal minds are not yet of divine dignity. ~ The Urantia Book, (9:5.6)
The human mind does not create real values; human experience does not yield universe insight. Concerning insight, the recognition of moral values and the discernment of spiritual meanings, all that the human mind can do is to discover, recognize, interpret, and choose.
The moral values of the universe become intellectual possessions by the exercise of the three basic judgments, or choices, of the mortal mind:
- Self-judgment—moral choice.
- Social-judgment—ethical choice
- God-judgment—religious choice.
Thus it appears that all human progress is effected by a technique of conjoint revelational evolution. ~ The Urantia Book, (196:3.10)
Morals and Spirituality are Evolutionary
As mind evolution is dependent on, and delayed by, the slow development of physical conditions, so is spiritual progress dependent on mental expansion and unfailingly delayed by intellectual retardation. But this does not mean that spiritual evolution is dependent on education, culture, or wisdom. The soul may evolve regardless of mental culture but not in the absence of mental capacity and desire—the choice of survival and the decision to achieve ever-increasing perfection—to do the will of the Father in heaven. Although survival may not depend on the possession of knowledge and wisdom, progression most certainly does. ~ The Urantia Book, (65:8.4)
Moral evolution is not wholly dependent on revelation. High moral concepts can be derived from man's own experience. Man can even evolve spiritual values and derive cosmic insight from his personal experiential living because a divine spirit indwells him. Such natural evolutions of conscience and character were also augmented by the periodic arrival of teachers of truth, in ancient times from the second Eden, later on from Melchizedek's headquarters at Salem. ~ The Urantia Book, (95:3.2)
Man cannot cause growth, but he can supply favorable conditions. Growth is always unconscious, be it physical, intellectual, or spiritual. Love thus grows; it cannot be created, manufactured, or purchased; it must grow. Evolution is a cosmic technique of growth. Social growth cannot be secured by legislation, and moral growth is not had by improved administration. Man may manufacture a machine, but its real value must be derived from human culture and personal appreciation. Man's sole contribution to growth is the mobilization of the total powers of his personality—living faith. ~ The Urantia Book, (100:3.7)
The purpose of cosmic evolution is to achieve unity of personality through increasing spirit dominance, volitional response to the teaching and leading of the Thought Adjuster. Personality, both human and superhuman, is characterized by an inherent cosmic quality which may be called "the evolution of dominance," the expansion of the control of both itself and its environment. ~ The Urantia Book, (112:2.15)
In the time-space creations, free will is hedged about with restraints, with limitations. Material-life evolution is first mechanical, then mind activated, and (after the bestowal of personality) it may become spirit directed. Organic evolution on the inhabited worlds is physically limited by the potentials of the original physical-life implantations of the Life Carriers. ~ The Urantia Book, (118:8.1)
Spiritual evolution is an experience of the increasing and voluntary choice of goodness attended by an equal and progressive diminution of the possibility of evil. With the attainment of finality of choice for goodness and of completed capacity for truth appreciation, there comes into existence a perfection of beauty and holiness whose righteousness eternally inhibits the possibility of the emergence of even the concept of potential evil. Such a God-knowing soul casts no shadow of doubting evil when functioning on such a high spirit level of divine goodness. ~ The Urantia Book, (132:3.8)
The Kingdom of Heaven is Evolutionary, and is "...changing the entire course of human evolution..."
Very plainly Jesus explained that the kingdom of heaven was an evolutionary experience, beginning here on earth and progressing up through successive life stations to Paradise. In the course of the evening he definitely stated that at some future stage of kingdom development he would revisit this world in spiritual power and divine glory. ~ The Urantia Book, (142:7.3)
Jesus never gave a precise definition of the kingdom. At one time he would discourse on one phase of the kingdom, and at another time he would discuss a different aspect of the brotherhood of God's reign in the hearts of men. In the course of this Sabbath afternoon's sermon Jesus noted no less than five phases, or epochs, of the kingdom, and they were:
- The personal and inward experience of the spiritual life of the fellowship of the individual believer with God the Father.
- The enlarging brotherhood of gospel believers, the social aspects of the enhanced morals and quickened ethics resulting from the reign of God's spirit in the hearts of individual believers.
- The supermortal brotherhood of invisible spiritual beings which prevails on earth and in heaven, the superhuman kingdom of God.
- The prospect of the more perfect fulfillment of the will of God, the advance toward the dawn of a new social order in connection with improved spiritual living—the next age of man.
- The kingdom in its fullness, the future spiritual age of light and life on earth.
Wherefore must we always examine the Master's teaching to ascertain which of these five phases he may have reference to when he makes use of the term kingdom of heaven. By this process of gradually changing man's will and thus affecting human decisions, Michael and his associates are likewise gradually but certainly changing the entire course of human evolution, social and otherwise. ~ The Urantia Book, (170:4.1)
This world has never seriously or sincerely or honestly tried out these dynamic ideas and divine ideals of Jesus' doctrine of the kingdom of heaven. But you should not become discouraged by the apparently slow progress of the kingdom idea on Urantia. Remember that the order of progressive evolution is subjected to sudden and unexpected periodical changes in both the material and the spiritual worlds. The bestowal of Jesus as an incarnated Son was just such a strange and unexpected event in the spiritual life of the world. Neither make the fatal mistake, in looking for the age manifestation of the kingdom, of failing to effect its establishment within your own souls. ~ The Urantia Book, (170:4.14)
There Is Even An Aspect of God that is Evolutionary
One aspect of God - the Almighty Supreme is an evolutionary Deity. This is one of the most amazing revelations of The Urantia Book - this idea of an evolutionary God who perfects as a result of the moral choosing of the creatures of a planet, a system and a universe, to one day become "the eternal fusion of the finite and the infinite..." Below are some quotes to whet your appetite, but for the most complete study, click on the link above.
The Supreme Being is not a direct creator, except that he is the father of Majeston, but he is a synthetic co-ordinator of all creature-Creator universe activities. The Supreme Being, now actualizing in the evolutionary universes, is the Deity correlator and synthesizer of time-space divinity, of triune Paradise Deity in experiential association with the Supreme Creators of time and space. When finally actualized, this evolutionary Deity will constitute the eternal fusion of the finite and the infinite—the everlasting and indissoluble union of experiential power and spirit personality ~ The Urantia Book, (0:7.7)
Throughout the grand universe the Supreme struggles for expression. His divine evolution is in measure predicated on the wisdom-action of every personality in existence. When a human being chooses eternal survival, he is cocreating destiny; and in the life of this ascending mortal the finite God finds an increased measure of personality self-realization and an enlargement of experiential sovereignty. ~ The Urantia Book, (117:4.2)
The great challenge that has been given to mortal man is this: Will you decide to personalize the experiencible value meanings of the cosmos into your own evolving selfhood? or by rejecting survival, will you allow these secrets of Supremacy to lie dormant, awaiting the action of another creature at some other time who will in his way attempt a creature contribution to the evolution of the finite God? But that will be his contribution to the Supreme, not yours. ~ The Urantia Book, (117:4.10)
Evolution of the Supreme Being Through Human Personality Identification with the Thought Adjuster
The evolution of Adjuster progress in the spiritualizing and eternalizing of a human personality is directly productive of an enlargement of the sovereignty of the Supreme. Such achievements in human evolution are at the same time achievements in the evolutionary actualization of the Supreme. While it is true that creatures could not evolve without the Supreme, it is probably also true that the evolution of the Supreme can never be fully attained independent of the completed evolution of all creatures. Herein lies the great cosmic responsibility of self-conscious personalities: That Supreme Deity is in a certain sense dependent on the choosing of the mortal will. And the mutual progression of creature evolution and of Supreme evolution is faithfully and fully indicated to the Ancients of Days over the inscrutable mechanisms of universe reflectivity. ~ The Urantia Book, (117:4.9)
As the circles are traversed, the child of material evolution is growing into the mature human of immortal potentiality. The shadowy reality of the embryonic nature of a seventh circler is giving way to the clearer manifestation of the emerging morontia nature of a local universe citizen. ~ The Urantia Book, (110:6.11)
History
Despite scientific discovery and widespread intellectual certainty about the fact of evolution, it is still not accepted by many religionists, and is commonly dismissed by some as simply a "theory." But, like other heretofore confusing subjects which are cleared up for us in The Urantia Book, evolution is a subject upon which much light of reason and religion is shone within its pages.
Much of the confusion and disagreement regarding evolution has its roots in the belief of the inerrancy of Biblical Scripture, particularly the Book of Genesis, which declares that mankind was created as a complete species, as Adam and Eve, (supposedly the first humans) about 6,000 years ago - the culmination of God's creation of not only our planet, but all of the known universe as well. Following the creation of the universe, the planets, the plants, and the animals, the Bible teaches that man was instantly created from the dust of the earth to inhabit God's creation. Adam and Eve were created to live in peace and harmony in the Garden of Eden, to love and serve God, until they sinned and turned God's wrath upon humanity forevermore. And this is the simple story that we have always been told through Biblical Scripture - and yet - The Urantia Book reveals to us quite another viewpoint.
It is understandably difficult for one who believes the Biblical story of Genesis as a literal fact to appreciate the process of evolution; however, the story of evolution can be easily grasped by truth-seekers of all beliefs. The remainder of this study on Evolution traces the establishment of life on our planet - where it came from, why it was brought here, and how evolution works. It is a grand story, and an effort has been made here to somewhat parallel the Biblical story of "Genesis."
There is original endowment of adaptation in living things and beings. In every living plant or animal cell, in every living organism—material or spiritual—there is an insatiable craving for the attainment of ever-increasing perfection of environmental adjustment, organismal adaptation, and augmented life realization. These interminable efforts of all living things evidence the existence within them of an innate striving for perfection. ~ The Urantia Book, (65:6.2)
The Urantia Book provides us with a vast background upon which to place and understand the fact of evolution as it actually is. The entire panorama of creation is outlined for us within its pages, allowing us to see that, rather than a creation that was completed in one week, the creation of God's universe of universes is a process that is even yet unfolding, and which will continue to unfold for millennia to come.
In The Beginning...
"In the eternity of the past...," The Urantia Book reveals, God the Spirit - the third person of the Trinity - came into existence. He is the God of Action
The stage of universal space is set for the manifold and never-ending panorama of the creative unfolding of the purpose of the Universal Fa through the personality of the Eternal Son and by the execution of the God of Action, the executive agency for the reality performances of the Father-Son creator partnership. ~ The Urantia Book, (8:1.3)
The Perfect Worlds of Havona are Created. This is center of the universe of universes.
The God of Action functions and the dead vaults of space are astir. One billion perfect spheres flash into existence. Prior to this hypothetical eternity moment the space-energies inherent in Paradise are existent and potentially operative, but they have no actuality of being; neither can physical gravity be measured except by the reaction of material realities to its incessant pull. There is no material universe at this (assumed) eternally distant moment, but the very instant that one billion worlds materialize, there is in evidence gravity sufficient and adequate to hold them in the everlasting grasp of Paradise. ~ The Urantia Book, (8:1.4)
Gravity, Spirit and Personality in Relation to the Perfect Creation of Havona
There now flashes through the creation of the Gods the second form of energy, and this outflowing spirit is instantly grasped by the spiritual gravity of the Eternal Son. Thus the twofold gravity-embraced universe is touched with the energy of infinity and immersed in the spirit of divinity. In this way is the soil of life prepared for the consciousness of mind made manifest in the associated intelligence circuits of the Infinite Spirit.
Upon these seeds of potential existence, diffused throughout the central creation of the Gods, the Father acts, and creature personality appears. Then does the presence of the Paradise Deities fill all organized space and begin effectively to draw all things and beings Paradiseward. ~ The Urantia Book, (8:1.5)
This is the one and only settled, perfect, and established aggregation of worlds. This is a wholly created and perfect universe; it is not an evolutionary development. This is the eternal core of perfection, about which swirls that endless procession of universes which constitute the tremendous evolutionary experiment, the audacious adventure of the Creator Sons of God, who aspire to duplicate in time and to reproduce in space the pattern universe, the ideal of divine completeness, supreme finality, ultimate reality, and eternal perfection. ~ The Urantia Book, (14:0.2)
Havona is the home of the pattern personality of every mortal type and the home of all superhuman personalities of mortal association who are not native to the creations of time. ~ The Urantia Book, (14:6.34)
In brief, the Infinite Spirit testifies that, since he is eternal, so also is the central universe eternal. And this is the traditional starting point of the history of the universe of universes. ~ The Urantia Book, (8:1.9)
From the Infinite to the Finite - The Time-Space Creations, and the "Growth Cycle"
When the perfect worlds of the Central Universe have been created, there remains the creation of the worlds of time and space - the finite creations whereon mortal beings have their existence. As explained in the following references, this is accomplished by the freewill choosing of God - the First Source and Center.
Finite possibility is inherent in the Infinite, but the transmutation of possibility to probability and inevitability must be attributed to the self-existent free will of the First Source and Center, activating all triunity associations. Only the infinity of the Father's will could ever have so qualified the absolute level of existence as to eventuate an ultimate or to create a finite.
With the appearance of relative and qualified reality there comes into being a new cycle of reality—the growth cycle—a majestic downsweep from the heights of infinity to the domain of the finite, forever swinging inward to Paradise and Deity, always seeking those high destinies commensurate with an infinity source.
These inconceivable transactions mark the beginning of universe history, mark the coming into existence of time itself. To a creature, the beginning of the finite is the genesis of reality; as viewed by creature mind, there is no actuality conceivable prior to the finite. ~ The Urantia Book, (105:5.4)
The universe response involved an activation of the architectural plans for the superuniverse space level, and this evolution is still progressing throughout the physical organization of the seven superuniverses. ~ The Urantia Book, (105:6.3)
Pattern
...the Isle of Paradise is ...the source and center of physical matter, and the absolute master pattern of universal material reality. ~ The Urantia Book, (0:5.5)
Pattern is a master design from which copies are made. Eternal Paradise is the absolute of patterns; the Eternal Son is the pattern personality; the Universal Father is the direct ancestor-source of both. ~ The Urantia Book, (0:6.13)
Life, and Life Carriers
We speak of life as "energy" and as "force," but it is really neither. Force-energy is variously gravity responsive; life is not. Pattern is also nonresponsive to gravity, being a configuration of energies that have already fulfilled all gravity-responsive obligations. Life, as such, constitutes the animation of some pattern-configured or otherwise segregated system of energy—material, mindal, or spiritual. ~ The Urantia Book, (36:6.6)
Life is both mechanistic and vitalistic—material and spiritual. Ever will Urantia physicists and chemists progress in their understanding of the protoplasmic forms of vegetable and animal life, but never will they be able to produce living organisms. Life is something different from all energy manifestations; even the material life of physical creatures is not inherent in matter.
Things material may enjoy an independent existence, but life springs only from life. Mind can be derived only from pre-existent mind. Spirit takes origin only from spirit ancestors. The creature may produce the forms of life, but only a creator personality or a creative force can supply the activating living spark. ~ The Urantia Book, (36:6.1)
The number ten—the decimal system—is inherent in the physical universe but not in the spiritual. The domain of life is characterized by three, seven, and twelve or by multiples and combinations of these basic numbers. There are three primal and essentially different life plans, after the order of the three Paradise Sources and Centers, and in the universe of Nebadon these three basic forms of life are segregated on three different types of planets. There were, originally, twelve distinct and divine concepts of transmissible life. This number twelve, with its subdivisions and multiples, runs throughout all basic life patterns of all seven superuniverses. There are also seven architectural types of life design, fundamental arrangements of the reproducing configurations of living matter. The Orvonton life patterns are configured as twelve inheritance carriers. The differing orders of will creatures are configured as 12, 24, 48, 96, 192, 384, and 768. On Urantia there are forty-eight units of pattern control—trait determiners —in the sex cells of human reproduction. ~ The Urantia Book, (36:2.4)
Life does not spontaneously appear in the universes; the Life Carriers must initiate it on the barren planets. They are the carriers, disseminators, and guardians of life as it appears on the evolutionary worlds of space. All life of the order and forms known on Urantia arises with these Sons, though not all forms of planetary life are existent on Urantia.
The corps of Life Carriers commissioned to plant life upon a new world usually consists of one hundred senior carriers, one hundred assistants, and one thousand custodians. The Life Carriers often carry actual life plasm to a new world, but not always. They sometimes organize the life patterns after arriving on the planet of assignment in accordance with formulas previously approved for a new adventure in life establishment. Such was the origin of the planetary life of Urantia.
When, in accordance with approved formulas, the physical patterns have been provided, then do the Life Carriers catalyze this lifeless material, imparting through their persons the vital spirit spark; and forthwith do the inert patterns become living matter. ~ The Urantia Book, (36:3.1)
Please see Paper 36, The Life Carriers, for a more thorough understanding of these marvelous Sons of God
The Bestowal of Life
The vital spark—the mystery of life—is bestowed through the Life Carriers, not by them. They do indeed supervise such transactions, they formulate the life plasm itself, but it is the Universe Mother Spirit who supplies the essential factor of the living plasm. From the Creative Daughter of the Infinite Spirit comes that energy spark which enlivens the body and presages the mind.
In the bestowal of life the Life Carriers transmit nothing of their personal natures, not even on those spheres where new orders of life are projected. At such times they simply initiate and transmit the spark of life, start the required revolutions of matter in accordance with the physical, chemical, and electrical specifications of the ordained plans and patterns. Life Carriers are living catalytic presences which agitate, organize, and vitalize the otherwise inert elements of the material order of existence. ~ The Urantia Book, (36:3.4)
When the Life Carriers have designed the patterns of life, after they have organized the energy systems, there must occur an additional phenomenon; the "breath of life" must be imparted to these lifeless forms. The Sons of God can construct the forms of life, but it is the Spirit of God who really contributes the vital spark. And when the life thus imparted is spent, then again the remaining material body becomes dead matter. When the bestowed life is exhausted, the body returns to the bosom of the material universe from which it was borrowed by the Life Carriers to serve as a transient vehicle for that life endowment which they conveyed to such a visible association of energy-matter. ~ The Urantia Book, (36:6.4)
There are some things connected with the elaboration of life on the evolutionary planets which are not altogether clear to us. We fully comprehend the physical organization of the electrochemical formulas of the Life Carriers, but we do not wholly understand the nature and source of the life-activation spark. We know that life flows from the Father through the Son and by the Spirit. It is more than possible that the Master Spirits are the sevenfold channel of the river of life which is poured out upon all creation. But we do not comprehend the technique whereby the supervising Master Spirit participates in the initial episode of life bestowal on a new planet. The Ancients of Days, we are confident, also have some part in this inauguration of life on a new world, but we are wholly ignorant of the nature thereof. We do know that the Universe Mother Spirit actually vitalizes the lifeless patterns and imparts to such activated plasm the prerogatives of organismal reproduction. We observe that these three are the levels of God the Sevenfold, sometimes designated as the Supreme Creators of time and space; but otherwise we know little more than Urantia mortals—simply that concept is inherent in the Father, expression in the Son, and life realization in the Spirit. ~ The Urantia Book, (36:6.7)
The Seven Mind Spirits Condition the Course of Organic Evolution
It is the presence of the seven adjutant mind-spirits on the primitive worlds that conditions the course of organic evolution; that explains why evolution is purposeful and not accidental. These adjutants represent that function of the mind ministry of the Infinite Spirit which is extended to the lower orders of intelligent life through the operations of a local universe Mother Spirit. The adjutants are the children of the Universe Mother Spirit and constitute her personal ministry to the material minds of the realms. Wherever and whenever such mind is manifest, these spirits are variously functioning. ~ The Urantia Book, (36:5.1)
The seven adjutant mind-spirits are the creation of the Divine Minister of a local universe. These mind-spirits are similar in character but diverse in power, and all partake alike of the nature of the Universe Spirit, although they are hardly regarded as personalities apart from their Mother Creator. The seven adjutants have been given the following names: the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of worship, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of courage, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of intuition—of quick perception. ~ The Urantia Book, (34:4.7)
The seven adjutant mind-spirits always accompany the Life Carriers to a new planet... ~ The Urantia Book, (36:5.4)
One or more of these mind spirits infuses all life that develops on an evolutionary world such as ours. From the lower to the higher, each spiritual acquirement identifies a higher form of life.
Life is everywhere present in the universes of God, and there is constant effort made to improve upon life, so that higher and higher types of mortal beings may be evolved - beings that have greater capacity for knowing God.
Our planet (Urantia) is a "life-experimentation" planet., meaning that life here was implanted by a celestial group called the Life Carriers - ambassadors of God - who are entrusted with the task of fostering and introducing life to inhabitable worlds. These Divine Life Carriers literally bring life of human potential to worlds such as ours, which are themselves evolutionary creations, born from the whirling galaxies of space matter. Life is not a spontaneous process, but is thoughtfully planned and placed for optimum development.
...some of the less imaginative of your mortal mechanists insist on viewing material creation and human evolution as an accident. The Urantia midwayers have assembled over fifty thousand facts of physics and chemistry which they deem to be incompatible with the laws of accidental chance, and which they contend unmistakably demonstrate the presence of intelligent purpose in the material creation. And all of this takes no account of their catalogue of more than one hundred thousand findings outside the domain of physics and chemistry which they maintain prove the presence of mind in the planning, creation, and maintenance of the material cosmos. ~ The Urantia Book, (58:2.3)
In all Satania there are only sixty-one worlds similar to Urantia, life-modification planets. The majority of inhabited worlds are peopled in accordance with established techniques; on such spheres the Life Carriers are afforded little leeway in their plans for life implantation. But about one world in ten is designated as a decimal planet and assigned to the special registry of the Life Carriers; and on such planets we are permitted to undertake certain life experiments in an effort to modify or possibly improve the standard universe types of living beings. ~ The Urantia Book, (58:0.1)
Urantia is just one of these decimal planets...
600,000,000 years ago the commission of Life Carriers sent out from Jerusem arrived on Urantia and began the study of physical conditions preparatory to launching life on world number 606 of the Satania system. This was to be our six hundred and sixth experience with the initiation of the Nebadon life patterns in Satania and our sixtieth opportunity to make changes and institute modifications in the basic and standard life designs of the local universe. ~ The Urantia Book, (58:1.1)
The Satania Life Carriers had projected a sodium chloride pattern of life; therefore no steps could be taken toward planting it until the ocean waters had become sufficiently briny. The Urantia type of protoplasm can function only in a suitable salt solution. All ancestral life—vegetable and animal—evolved in a salt-solution habitat. And even the more highly organized land animals could not continue to live did not this same essential salt solution circulate throughout their bodies in the blood stream which freely bathes, literally submerses, every tiny living cell in this "briny deep." ~ The Urantia Book, (58:1.3)
After unimaginable eons of time have elapsed the Life Carriers visit, and by supermaterial means, introduce life to these areas of possible successful implantation and proliferation. This life which is introduced is not native to Earth; it did not spring magically from the dust, but was brought here by purposeful Divine plan. Once introduced, the Life Carriers withdrew, as is their mandate, and the process of evolution then began. Over countless millenia, the forms of the implanted life adapted and changed according to environmental surroundings and conditions.
In the development of planetary life the vegetable form always precedes the animal and is quite fully developed before the animal patterns differentiate. All animal types are developed from the basic patterns of the preceding vegetable kingdom of living things; they are not separately organized.
The early stages of life evolution are not altogether in conformity with your present-day views. Mortal man is not an evolutionary accident. There is a precise system, a universal law, which determines the unfolding of the planetary life plan on the spheres of space. Time and the production of large numbers of a species are not the controlling influences. Mice reproduce much more rapidly than elephants, yet elephants evolve more rapidly than mice.
The process of planetary evolution is orderly and controlled. The development of higher organisms from lower groupings of life is not accidental. Sometimes evolutionary progress is temporarily delayed by the destruction of certain favorable lines of life plasm carried in a selected species. It often requires ages upon ages to recoup the damage occasioned by the loss of a single superior strain of human heredity. These selected and superior strains of living protoplasm should be jealously and intelligently guarded when once they make their appearance. And on most of the inhabited worlds these superior potentials of life are valued much more highly than on Urantia. ~ The Urantia Book, (49:1.5)
450,000,000 years ago the transition from vegetable to animal life occurred. This metamorphosis took place in the shallow waters of the sheltered tropic bays and lagoons of the extensive shore lines of the separating continents. And this development, all of which was inherent in the original life patterns, came about gradually. There were many transitional stages between the early primitive vegetable forms of life and the later well-defined animal organisms. Even today the transition slime molds persist, and they can hardly be classified either as plants or as animals. ~ The Urantia Book, (58:6.1)
The Urantia Book affords the student a unique perspective on the means by which life was first established on our planet:
Please see Life Establishment on Urantia
One of the unique aspects of the revelation regarding the evolution of life on Urantia is that of the sudden development of variations and mutations. Consider these references:
From era to era radically new species of animal life arise. They do not evolve as the result of the gradual accumulation of small variations; they appear as full-fledged and new orders of life, and they appear suddenly.
The sudden appearance of new species and diversified orders of living organisms is wholly biologic, strictly natural. There is nothing supernatural connected with these genetic mutations. ~ The Urantia Book, (58:6.3)
Suddenly and without gradation ancestry the first multicellular animals make their appearance. The trilobites have evolved, and for ages they dominate the seas. From the standpoint of marine life this is the trilobite age. ~ The Urantia Book, (59:1.4)
The earth was being rapidly overrun by the new orders of land vegetation. Heretofore few plants grew on land except about the water's edge. Now, and suddenly, the prolific fern family appeared and quickly spread over the face of the rapidly rising land in all parts of the world. Tree types, two feet thick and forty feet high, soon developed; later on, leaves evolved, but these early varieties had only rudimentary foliage. There were many smaller plants, but their fossils are not found since they were usually destroyed by the still earlier appearing bacteria. ~ The Urantia Book, (59:4.13)
When the seas were at their height, a new evolutionary development suddenly occurred. Abruptly, the first of the land animals appeared. There were numerous species of these animals that were able to live on land or in water. These air-breathing amphibians developed from the arthropods, whose swim bladders had evolved into lungs. ~ The Urantia Book, (59:5.5)
55,000,000 years ago the evolutionary march was marked by the sudden appearance of the first of the true birds, a small pigeonlike creature which was the ancestor of all bird life. ~ The Urantia Book, (60:3.22)
It was from an agile little reptilian dinosaur of carnivorous habits but having a comparatively large brain that the placental mammals suddenly sprang. These mammals developed rapidly and in many different ways, not only giving rise to the common modern varieties but also evolving into marine types, such as whales and seals, and into air navigators like the bat family. ~ The Urantia Book, (65:2.12)
500,000 years ago, during the fifth advance of the ice, a new development accelerated the course of human evolution. Suddenly and in one generation the six colored races mutated from the aboriginal human stock. This is a doubly important date since it also marks the arrival of the Planetary Prince. ~ The Urantia Book, (61:7.4)
From single-celled organisms, multi-celled organisms and organized systems of life appeared in ever-increasing complexity. The Seven Adjutant Mind Spirits pervaded the evolving organisms; eventually, over eons of time, intelligence appeared in the evolving life forms, and following the appearance of intelligence, the capacity for wisdom and worship appeared, ultimately identifying this kind of being as a human of survival capacity - a being who can know God, and who can choose to love God and do his will. And this happened on Earth about 1,000,000 years ago, when our first human ancestors of survival capacity evolved.
Human Evolution
Mortal man first experiences the ministry of the Spirit in conjunction with mind when the purely animal mind of evolutionary creatures develops reception capacity for the adjutants of worship and of wisdom. This ministry of the sixth and seventh adjutants indicates mind evolution crossing the threshold of spiritual ministry. And immediately are such minds of worship- and wisdom-function included in the spiritual circuits of the Divine Minister. ~ The Urantia Book, (34:5.3)
The great event of this glacial period was the evolution of primitive man. Slightly to the west of India, on land now under water and among the offspring of Asiatic migrants of the older North American lemur types, the dawn mammals suddenly appeared. These small animals walked mostly on their hind legs, and they possessed large brains in proportion to their size and in comparison with the brains of other animals. In the seventieth generation of this order of life a new and higher group of animals suddenly differentiated. These new mid-mammals—almost twice the size and height of their ancestors and possessing proportionately increased brain power—had only well established themselves when the Primates, the third vital mutation, suddenly appeared. (At this same time, a retrograde development within the mid-mammal stock gave origin to the simian ancestry; and from that day to this the human branch has gone forward by progressive evolution, while the simian tribes have remained stationary or have actually retrogressed.) ~ The Urantia Book, (61:6.1)
A little more than one million years ago the Mesopotamian dawn mammals, the direct descendants of the North American lemur type of placental mammal, suddenly appeared. They were active little creatures, almost three feet tall; and while they did not habitually walk on their hind legs, they could easily stand erect. They were hairy and agile and chattered in monkeylike fashion, but unlike the simian tribes, they were flesh eaters. They had a primitive opposable thumb as well as a highly useful grasping big toe. From this point onward the prehuman species successively developed the opposable thumb while they progressively lost the grasping power of the great toe. The later ape tribes retained the grasping big toe but never developed the human type of thumb. ~ The Urantia Book, (62:2.1)
Modern man and the simians did spring from the same tribe and species but not from the same parents. Man's ancestors are descended from the superior strains of the selected remnant of this mid-mammal tribe, whereas the modern simians (excepting certain pre-existent types of lemurs, gibbons, apes, and other monkeylike creatures) are the descendants of the most inferior couple of this mid-mammal group, a couple who only survived by hiding themselves in a subterranean food-storage retreat for more than two weeks during the last fierce battle of their tribe, emerging only after the hostilities were well over. ~ The Urantia Book, (62:3.13)
From the year A.D. 1934 back to the birth of the first two human beings is just 993,419 years.
These two remarkable creatures were true human beings. They possessed perfect human thumbs, as had many of their ancestors, while they had just as perfect feet as the present-day human races. They were walkers and runners, not climbers; the grasping function of the big toe was absent, completely absent. When danger drove them to the treetops, they climbed just like the humans of today would. They would climb up the trunk of a tree like a bear and not as would a chimpanzee or a gorilla, swinging up by the branches. ~ The Urantia Book, ( 62:5.1 )
It is just 993,408 years ago (from the year A.D. 1934) that Urantia was formally recognized as a planet of human habitation in the universe of Nebadon. Biologic evolution had once again achieved the human levels of will dignity; man had arrived on planet 606 of Satania. ~ The Urantia Book, (62:7.7)
Please see Evolution of the Human Mind for the amazing narrative of the evolution and emergence of mind in these first two human beings.
When the Life Carriers operating on a new world have once succeeded in producing a being with will, with the power of moral decision and spiritual choice, then and there their work terminates—they are through; they may manipulate the evolving life no further. From this point forward the evolution of living things must proceed in accordance with the endowment of the inherent nature and tendencies which have already been imparted to, and established in, the planetary life formulas and patterns. The Life Carriers are not permitted to experiment or to interfere with will; they are not allowed to dominate or arbitrarily influence moral creatures. ~ The Urantia Book, (36:3.8)
Mankind on Urantia must solve its problems of mortal development with the human stocks it has—no more races will evolve from prehuman sources throughout all future time. But this fact does not preclude the possibility of the attainment of vastly higher levels of human development through the intelligent fostering of the evolutionary potentials still resident in the mortal races. That which we, the Life Carriers, do toward fostering and conserving the life strains before the appearance of human will, man must do for himself after such an event and subsequent to our retirement from active participation in evolution. In a general way, man's evolutionary destiny is in his own hands, and scientific intelligence must sooner or later supersede the random functioning of uncontrolled natural selection and chance survival. ~ The Urantia Book, (65:3.6)
Far from being a negative or distasteful process, evolution is an intelligent, creative process planned by God. There is no shame in the knowledge that our distant ancestors of ages ago were tree-dwellers, or even further back, that our "primordial ancestors were literally the slime and ooze of the ocean bed in the sluggish and warm-water bays and lagoons of the vast shore lines of the ancient inland seas." When viewing the Revelation of The Urantia Book , we see the truly "big picture," and understand that even though we are evolutionary beings, that we are ennobled time-space creations of God, and possess the capacity to one day return to him, as his spirit children. Only man develops in this way. The branches of the evolutionary tree contain a myriad of beings, but only one who has evolved to know and love God - the human being. And this same human being, evolved from the lowest of the lowly organisms, can achieve the highest of destinies - the sometime fusion with the indwelling fragment of God and the return to Paradise to stand in the very presence of the Creator.
Evolution is nothing more nor less than God's creative process in time and space. God is an infinite Upholder who does not exist in time or space; but he has created worlds of time and space upon which he has chosen to place beings who ARE finite, and who ARE subject to time and space. And part of this time-space existence includes the fact of evolution - the gradual improvement of beings from lower states to higher states. God could have created our world perfect, as he has done in the worlds of the Central Universe, but he chose this technique of evolution for us, whereby mortal man is gradually elevated to the status of a son or daughter of God through spirit-identification with God. And it is through this very process of evolution that God is enabled to share with us this life of finite nobility by the bestowal mission of the Thought Adjusters - those "sparks" of the Universal Father - that indwell the mind of every normal human being.
Please take some time to read Paper 65: The Overcontrol of Evolution so that you can begin to glimpse the Divine Plan at work on our Earth, and learn a more detailed explanation of the evolutionary techniques which have been, and are being, used on our planet.
Two Problems That Have Affected Evolutionary Progress on Urantia
It was a source of regret to the Life Carriers that our special efforts to modify intelligent life on Urantia should have been so handicapped by tragic perversions beyond our control: the Caligastia betrayal and the Adamic default ~ The Urantia Book, (65:5.1)
The Planetary Prince's Default
Between the time of the emergence of the first beings designated true humans, and our modern conception of humanity, there ensues the long struggle of primitive man for further physical, mental and spiritual development. Within one hundred thousand years of this evolutionary progress, a Planetary Prince arrives with his staff to inaugurate a new era of progress upon the planet.
This dispensation witnesses a spiritual dawn, and the different races and their various tribes tend to develop specialized systems of religious and philosophic thought. There uniformly run through all of these racial religions two strains: the early fears of primitive men and the later revelations of the Planetary Prince. In some respects Urantians do not seem to have wholly emerged from this stage of planetary evolution. As you pursue this study, you will the more clearly discern how far your world departs from the average course of evolutionary progress and development. ~ The Urantia Book, (52:2.4)
On Urantia, this bestowal of the Planetary Prince ended in default through the alliance of our Prince Caligastia with Lucifer and Satan in the terrible times of the Lucifer Rebellion.
With the emergence of human groupings, this Planetary Prince arrives to inaugurate human civilization and to focalize human society. Your world of confusion is no criterion of the early days of the reign of the Planetary Princes, for it was near the beginning of such an administration on Urantia that your Planetary Prince, Caligastia, cast his lot with the rebellion of the System Sovereign, Lucifer. Your planet has pursued a stormy course ever since. ~ The Urantia Book, (49:5.16)
Adam and Eve - A Grand Plan Which Went Awry
When the planetary course of human evolution is attaining its highest biologic level, there always appear the Material Sons and Daughters, the Adams and Eves, to augment the further evolution of the races by an actual contribution of their superior life plasm. The planetary headquarters of such an Adam and Eve is usually denominated the Garden of Eden... ~ The Urantia Book, (39:5.3)
Upon receipt of the news that another inhabited world has attained the height of physical evolution, the System Sovereign convenes the corps of Material Sons and Daughters on the system capital; and following the discussion of the needs of such an evolutionary world, two of the volunteering group—an Adam and an Eve of the senior corps of Material Sons—are selected to undertake the adventure, to submit to the deep sleep preparatory to being enseraphimed and transported from their home of associated service to the new realm of new opportunities and new dangers. ~ The Urantia Book, (51:2.1)
Among the other reasons that Adam and Eve are bestowed upon a planet such as Earth, it is the purpose of Adam and Eve to procreate. On a normally-evolving planet, together they produce upwards of one million offspring - immortal beings like themselves - members of the Violet race. These superior children of Adam and Eve eventually are meant to procreate with the higher strains of humanity, thereby producing an amalgamated race infused with the Adamic blood, thus quickening and upstepping all of the evolutionary races of mankind.
On our planet, this mission enjoyed only limited success, owing to twin tragedies - the disloyalty of our Planetary Prince Caligastia and the default of Adam and Eve.
Please see Planetary Mortal Epochs. Through this study, you will be able to understand how and why our planet has not progressed according to the normal unfolding of the seven epochs which mark the progress of normal planetary development and evolution.
From a Life Carrier resident on our planet
There are, of course, certain compensations for tribulation, such as Michael's bestowal on Urantia. But irrespective of all such considerations, the later celestial supervisors of this planet express complete confidence in the ultimate evolutionary triumph of the human race and in the eventual vindication of our original plans and life patterns. ~ The Urantia Book, (65:5.4)
Why is Evolution Such a Slow Process?
The whole principle of biologic evolution makes it impossible for primitive man to appear on the inhabited worlds with any large endowment of self-restraint. Therefore does the same creative design which purposed evolution likewise provide those external restraints of time and space, hunger and fear, which effectively circumscribe the subspiritual choice range of such uncultured creatures. As man's mind successfully overstrides increasingly difficult barriers, this same creative design has also provided for the slow accumulation of the racial heritage of painfully garnered experiential wisdom—in other words, for the maintenance of a balance between the diminishing external restraints and the augmenting internal restraints.
The slowness of evolution, of human cultural progress, testifies to the effectiveness of that brake—material inertia—which so efficiently operates to retard dangerous velocities of progress. Thus does time itself cushion and distribute the otherwise lethal results of premature escape from the next-encompassing barriers to human action. For when culture advances overfast, when material achievement outruns the evolution of worship-wisdom, then does civilization contain within itself the seeds of retrogression; and unless buttressed by the swift augmentation of experiential wisdom, such human societies will recede from high but premature levels of attainment, and the "dark ages" of the interregnum of wisdom will bear witness to the inexorable restoration of the imbalance between self-liberty and self-control. ~ The Urantia Book, (118:8.5)
If this were a mechanistic universe, if the First Great Source and Center were only a force and not also a personality, if all creation were a vast aggregation of physical matter dominated by precise laws characterized by unvarying energy actions, then might perfection obtain, even despite the incompleteness of universe status. There would be no disagreement; there would be no friction. But in our evolving universe of relative perfection and imperfection we rejoice that disagreement and misunderstanding are possible, for thereby is evidenced the fact and the act of personality in the universe. And if our creation is an existence dominated by personality, then can you be assured of the possibilities of personality survival, advancement, and achievement; we can be confident of personality growth, experience, and adventure. What a glorious universe, in that it is personal and progressive, not merely mechanical or even passively perfect! ~ The Urantia Book, (75:8.7)
Organic evolution is a fact; purposive or progressive evolution is a truth which makes consistent the otherwise contradictory phenomena of the ever-ascending achievements of evolution. The higher any scientist progresses in his chosen science, the more will he abandon the theories of materialistic fact in favor of the cosmic truth of the dominance of the Supreme Mind. Materialism cheapens human life; the gospel of Jesus tremendously enhances and supernally exalts every mortal. Mortal existence must be visualized as consisting in the intriguing and fascinating experience of the realization of the reality of the meeting of the human upreach and the divine and saving downreach. ~ The Urantia Book, (102:6.10)
The Wisdom of Slow Growth
The divinity response to the imperfection inherent in the time lag of evolution is disclosed in the compensating presence of God the Sevenfold, by whose activities that which is perfecting is integrated with both the perfect and the perfected. This time lag is inseparable from evolution, which is creativity in time. Because of it, as well as for other reasons, the almighty power of the Supreme is predicated on the divinity successes of God the Sevenfold. This time lag makes possible creature participation in divine creation by permitting creature personalities to become partners with Deity in the attainment of maximum development. Even the material mind of the mortal creature thus becomes partner with the divine Adjuster in the dualization of the immortal soul. God the Sevenfold also provides techniques of compensation for the experiential limitations of inherent perfection as well as compensating the preascension limitations of imperfection. ~ The Urantia Book, (105:6.5)
