The Cosmic Citizen

Can you believe it? This week is our 16th week of a study on religion from The Urantia Book. We are in Paper 102, The Foundations of Religious Faith. This week we'll cover the following sections: 5 - THE SUPREMACY OF PURPOSIVE POTENTIAL, 6 - THE CERTAINTY OF RELIGIOUS FAITH and 7 - THE CERTITUDE OF THE DIVINE Faith stimulates the realization that values can be translated from the material to the spiritual, from the human to the divine, from time into eternity. The certainties of science proceed from the intellect; but the certainties of religion spring from the entire personality. The Divine Indweller promotes a hunger for perfection that can be satisfied only by communion with God. Prayer is part of religious experience, but it has been wrongly emphasized by modern religions to the neglect of the more essential communion of worship. The reflective powers of the mind are deepened and broadened by worship. Prayer enriches life, but worship illuminates destiny. 102:6.7 Belief may not be able to resist doubt and withstand fear, but faith is always triumphant over doubting, for faith is both positive and living. The positive always has the advantage over the negative, truth over error, experience over theory, spiritual realities over the isolated facts of time and space. 102:7.10 Of God, the most inescapable of all presences, the most real of all facts, the most living of all truths, the most loving of all friends, and the most divine of all values, we have the right to be the most certain of all universe experiences. Please join us as we continue this splendid exploration on how The Urantia Book defines the meaning, purpose and value of true religion and the significance of living faith. It's a delight to share Melchizedek teachings on religion with interested persons. As always, we'll have many great cross references and commentary to enhance our study.

Week 15 of our study on religion from The Urantia Book, we recently began Paper 102, The Foundations of Religious Faith. This week we'll cover Section 3. Knowledge, Wisdom, and Insight and 4. The Fact of Experience. Religious experience requires spiritual growth, intellectual expansion, factual enlargement, and social service. No real religious growth can be accomplished without a highly active personality. Lazy people may seek to escape the rigors of religious activities by retreating to the false shelter of religious dogmas; poorly disciplined souls may use religion as an escape from the demands of living; but the true mission of religion is to prepare religionists to bravely face the vicissitudes of life. True religion must act. The pursuit of knowledge constitutes science; the search for wisdom is philosophy; the love of God is religion; the hunger for truth is revelation. Revelation unifies history and coordinates science. Religion is to morality as love is to duty, sonship is to servitude, essence is to substance. The relation between an individual and his Creator is a living experience. To isolate religion as one part of life is a disintegration of life and a distortion of religion. 102:3.15.Science is only satisfied with first causes, religion with supreme personality, and philosophy with unity. Revelation affirms that these three are one, and that all are good. The eternal real is the good of the universe and not the time illusions of space evil. In the spiritual experience of all personalities, always is it true that the real is the good and the good is the real. Please join us as we continue this exploration on how The Urantia Book defines the meaning, purpose and value of true religion and the significance of living faith. It's a delight to share these amazing Melchizedek teachings on religion together. As always, many great cross references will enhance our study,

Special Edition of The Cosmic Citizen! Join us tomorrow as we host our good friends, Josh Wilson and Diane Labrecque, who will fill us in on the inaugural earth celebration of The Jubilee of Jubilees to take place simultaneously in Jerusalem and the United States, on May 18, 2020. The Jubilee of Jubilees is an unprecedented event in the history of our Local Universe. Itis celebrated throughout the Local Universe and is a Celebration of Celebrations! The event was combined with the official Proclamation of Equality, pronounced right after Jesus completed his ascension and earned unquestioned sovereignty of our universe as a Master Creator Son. With the official Proclamation of Equality our Divine Mother Spirit became directly contactable to each and every universe being. This milestone celebration is monumental and unique and we should join the universal celebration. A momentous inaugural celebration is planned for this May 18th. It will be streamed live from Jerusalem and the US, allowing revelation believers from around the world to join in the celebration. In America contact Josh Wilson, the initiator of this event, at [email protected], for more information. Anyone who feels called to join the pilgrimage to Israel can visit The United Urantia Family website at www.tuuff.org and read all about this uniquely Urantian journey. Questions about this special trip to the Holy Land can be directed to the organizer, Diane Labrecque, at [email protected]. She will be happy to help you join the Jubilee of Jubilees inauguration in Israel. Hallelujah! Please join Paula, Andre, Chuck, Marvin, Josh and Diane for this special episode for the Jubilee of Jubilees on The Cosmic Citizen!

Week 14 of our study of religion, brings us to a new Urantia Paper, Paper 102, The Foundations of Religious Faith. Please join Paula, André, Chuck and Marvin as we start our exploration of a brand new Urantia Paper on religion, written by an amazing Melchizedek, our universe brother and friend. Faith stimulates the realization that values can be translated from the material to the spiritual, from the human to the divine, from time into eternity. The certainties of science proceed from the intellect; but the certainties of religion spring from the entire personality. The indwelling fragment of God promotes a hunger for perfection that can be satisfied only by communion with God. Religious experience requires spiritual growth, intellectual expansion, factual enlargement, and social service. No real religious growth can be accomplished without a highly active personality. Lazy people may seek to escape the rigors of religious activities by retreating to the false shelter of religious dogmas; poorly disciplined souls may use religion as an escape from the demands of living; but the true mission of religion is to prepare religionists to bravely face the vicissitudes of life. True religion must act. Consider: Human things must be known in order to be loved, but divine things must be loved in order to be known. (102:1.1) This saving faith has its birth in the human heart when the moral consciousness of man realizes that human values may be translated in mortal experience from the material to the spiritual, from the human to the divine, from time to eternity. (102:0.3) As always, many great cross references will enhance our study, We hope you can join us on The Cosmic Citizen as we continue this exploration on how The Urantia Book defines the meaning, purpose and value of true religion and the significance of living faith.

Week 13 of our study of religion, Paper 101. The Real Nature of Religion presented by a Melchizedek.  This week, Paula, André, Chuck and Marvin will be taking a look at sections 9. Religion and Morality and 10. Religion as Man’s Liberator.  The source of morality is the individual's personal relationship with God and therein lies the secret of one aspect of each human being's potential to be truly liberated in this life. When you presume to sit in critical judgment on the primitive religion of man (or on the religion of primitive man), ... Do not make the mistake of judging another’s religion by your own standards of knowledge and truth. [(1115.3) 101:9.2]  Faith becomes the connection between moral consciousness and the spiritual concept of enduring reality. [(1116.1) 101:9.9] Only in the spiritual sense is man a child of God. And this is true because it is only in the spiritual sense that man is at present endowed and indwelt by the Paradise Father. Mankind can never discover divinity except through the avenue of religious experience and by the exercise of true faith. The faith acceptance of the truth of God enables man to escape from the circumscribed confines of material limitations and affords him a rational hope of achieving safe conduct from the material realm, whereon is death, to the spiritual realm, wherein is life eternal. [(1116.5) 101:10.4] This series of rich and insightful papers are often called the Religion Papers. Many great cross references will enhance our study, We hope you can join us on The Cosmic Citizen as we continue this exploration on how The Urantia Book defines the meaning, purpose and value of true religion.  http://tobtr.com/11629729

Last week we continued our study of religion, Paper 101. The Real Nature of Religion presented by a Melchizedek.  Paper 101 is a remarkable account of religion as a reality in human experience.This week, Paula, André, Chuck and Marvin will be taking a look at sections 7. A Personal Philosophy of Religion and 8. Faith and Belief.  Religion is very personal. The acid test for any religious philosophy consists in whether or not it distinguishes between the realities of the material and the spiritual worlds while at the same moment recognizing their unification in intellectual striving and in social serving. A sound religious philosophy does not confound the things of God with the things of Caesar. Neither does it recognize the aesthetic cult of pure wonder as a substitute for religion. [101:7.5] Belief has attained the level of faith when it motivates life and shapes the mode of living. [101:8.1] Faith does not shackle the creative imagination, neither does it maintain an unreasoning prejudice toward the discoveries of scientific investigation. Faith vitalizes religion and constrains the religionist heroically to live the golden rule. The zeal of faith is according to knowledge, and its strivings are the preludes to sublime peace. [101:8.4] Do not make the mistake of judging another’s religion by your own standards of knowledge and truth. [101:9.2] This series of rich and insightful papers are often called the Religion Papers. Many great cross references will enhance our study, We hope you can join us on The Cosmic Citizen as we continue this exploration on how The Urantia Book defines the meaning, purpose and value of true religion. http://tobtr.com/11622347

Last week we continued our study of religion, Paper 101. The Real Nature of Religion presented by a Melchizedek.  Paper 101 is a remarkable account of religion as a reality in human experience.This week, Paula, André, Chuck and Marvin will be taking a look at sections  6. Progressive Religious Experience and 7. A Personal Philosophy of Religion. This paper has much to say about the necessity and importance of REVELATION in religious evolution. Sections 6 expounds on religious experience and the attainment of knowledge, wisdom, morality and salvation. Consider this: Moral will embraces decisions based on reasoned knowledge, augmented by wisdom, and sanctioned by religious faith. Such choices are acts of moral nature and evidence the existence of moral personality, the forerunner of morontia [soul-level] personality and eventually of true spirit status. [101:6.3] Revelation teaches mortal man that, to start such a magnificent and intriguing adventure through space by means of the progression of time, he should begin by the organization of knowledge into idea-decisions; next, mandate wisdom to labor unremittingly at its noble task of transforming self-possessed ideas into increasingly practical but nonetheless supernal ideals, ... as will constitute them the actual human complement thus made ready for the action of the Truth Spirit of the Sons, the time-space manifestations of Paradise truth — universal truth. [101:6.7] This series of rich and insightful papers are often called the Religion Papers. Many great cross references will enhance our study, We hope you can join us on The Cosmic Citizen as we continue this exploration on how The Urantia Book defines the meaning, purpose and value of true religion. http://tobtr.com/11614405

Last week we continued our study of religion, Paper 101. The Real Nature of Religion presented by a Melchizedek.  Paper 101 is a remarkable account of religion as a reality in human experience. Last week, Paula, Marvin and Chick covered the parts3. The Characteristics of Religion and 4. The Limitations of Revelation, of Paper 101, it was a great conversation. This week, Andre, Chuck and Marvin will be taking a look at sections 5. Religion Expanded by Revelation, and 6. Progressive Religious Experience. These teachings are invaluable for anyone who questions religion and religious practices. This paper has much to say about the necessity and importance of REVELATION in religious evolution. Section 5 delves into the different characteristics and distinct values of Science, Religion and Philosophy. Consider this: 101:5.9. Scientists assemble facts, philosophers co-ordinate ideas, while prophets exalt ideals. Feeling and emotion are invariable concomitants of religion, but they are not religion. Religion may be the feeling of experience, but it is hardly the experience of feeling. Sections 6 expounds on religious experience and the attainment of knowledge, wisdom, morality and salvation. Consider this: 101:6.3. Moral will embraces decisions based on reasoned knowledge, augmented by wisdom, and sanctioned by religious faith. Such choices are acts of moral nature and evidence the existence of moral personality, the forerunner of morontia personality and eventually of true spirit status. This series of Urantia Papers are often called the Religion Papers. They are amazingly rich and insightful. We'll also provide many great cross references to enhance our study, We hope you can join us on The Cosmic Citizen as we continue this exploration on how The Urantia Book defines the meaning, purpose and value of true religion.

Last week we started a new paper in our study of religion, Paper 101. The Real Nature of Religion presented by a Melchizedek.  Paper 101 dives deeply into religion as a reality in human experience. Last week, Paula, Andre and Chick covered the first two parts of Paper 101, 1.True Religion, 2.The Fact of Religion. This week we'll tackle 3.The Characteristics of Religion and 4.The Limitations of Revelation. In coming weeks will study 5.Religion Expanded by Revelation, 6.Progressive Religious Experience, 7.A Personal Philosophy of Religion, 8.Faith and Belief, 9.Religion and Morality,10.Religion as Man's Liberator. This is certainly one of the longer papers. Section 3 begins with this intriguing statement: 101:3.1.Religion is so vital that it persists in the absence of learning. It lives in spite of its contamination with erroneous cosmologies and false philosophies; it survives even the confusion of metaphysics. In and through all the historic vicissitudes of religion there ever persists that which is indispensable to human progress and survival: the ethical conscience and the moral consciousness. Section 4 provides this tidbit: 101:4.3.Truth is always a revelation: autorevelation when it emerges as a result of the work of the indwelling Adjuster; epochal revelation when it is presented by the function of some other celestial agency, group, or personality. Does religion mean following rigid codes of conduct or fear based doctrines? The Urantia Book refutes that. It tells us what it really means to live a religious life and it's probably not what most people think. Consider this: "True religion is to know God as your Father and man as your brother. Religion is not a slavish belief in threats of punishment or magical promises of future mystical rewards." Please come and explore with us how The Urantia Book defines true personal religion on The Cosmic Citizen!

This week we begin a new study of religion, Paper 101. The Real Nature of Religion presented by a Melchizedek.  Like Paper 100, Paper 101 continues to explore religion as a reality in human experience. Here are the wonderful sections we'll covering in the coming weeks: 1.True Religion, 2.The Fact of Religion, 3.The Characteristics of Religion, 4.The Limitations of Revelation, 5.Religion Expanded by Revelation, 6.Progressive Religious Experience, 7.A Personal Philosophy of Religion, 8.Faith and Belief, 9.Religion and Morality,10.Religion as Man's Liberator. Here's a taste from Section 1: 101:1.3.The divine spirit makes contact with mortal man, not by feelings or emotions, but in the realm of the highest and most spiritualized thinking. It is your thoughts, not your feelings, that lead you Godward. Here's a taste from Section 2: 101:2.13.True religion is an insight into reality, the faith-child of the moral consciousness, and not a mere intellectual assent to any body of dogmatic doctrines. True religion consists in the experience that "the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." Religion consists not in theologic propositions but in spiritual insight and the sublimity of the soul's trust. Please join Paula, Andre, Chuck and Marvin this week, as we dive as deep as we can into these two sections. We hope that you can come join in and plumb the depths of revelation with us. What good is it for us to understand the nature of our own religious longings? Why do we long for and strive for perfection? Why do we need to find a balance between science, religion and philosophy? What role does true religion play in all of our human struggles? Please join us and we'll explore these questions, ideas and insights together on The Cosmic Citizen.