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Noah · Urantia Radio

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The well, I'm excited because I get to spend the next 30 minutes
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talking about the Urantia book and some of the exciting things
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that are going on. I want to offer up some producer
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notes before we get going. The time I spent with Byron
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Belitsus was excellent. I hope you will take a listen.
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That's the preceding podcast and it was good to have him in it
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it. It sparked a lot of response.
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We had some great response from listeners, including one that I
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wanted to share with you because I thought it was just so well
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written. You know, the issue of how we
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brand and the Urantia movement. What's next?
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What do we do? You know, how are we to deal
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with the future? How do we make this thing grow?
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Because we believe that the Urantia book offers some real
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assistance to at least culture and humanity and certainly
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spiritual progress. And so I got a an e-mail and I
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got permission to share it. Normally I wouldn't share it
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unless I get permission. So you can always e-mail me and
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I'll never share it unless you give me permission.
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But this one comes from Michael. Michael writes after listening
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to the previous episode with my guest, Byron.
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He says the main issue with the Ranch book, as I see it, is that
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it's intimidating by both its size and by the amount of
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information that it contains. So I propose that the Oranga
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Foundation produce a series of booklets for public
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distribution. Examples would be what the
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Oranga book teaches about physics.
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This would also include topics such as the Ultimaton, which
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would interest particle physicists and could be handed
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out at national, international meetings of physicists.
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I think that's a really good idea for so many different
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reasons, because in, in Michael's right, the, the size
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of the book is very intimidating.
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And then when you start to look at the table of contents, that
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can can also be a bit overwhelming.
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But what if you were able to take the elements of the Urantia
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book and, and sort of order it by section or topic?
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And then you could have what the Urantia book teaches about
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physics, what the Urantia book teaches about all kinds of
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different cosmology about Jesus. It, it kind of reminds me of
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the, if any of you are familiar with Khalil Gibran and he came
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out with a book, he's a Lebanese philosopher guru from the early
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1900s. And he wrote a book called The
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Prophet. And I always made it a habit of
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giving that book the Prophet. It's, it's only about maybe 120
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pages. And anytime I was invited to a
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wedding, I think I must have handed that book out to, you
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know, a few people that I knew that got married.
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I said, this is a good book for your family.
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And why did I do that? Why not?
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Why not hand him the Urantia book?
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Well, the The Prophet is such a well written book.
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And it's this man's opinion on how he feels about love, about
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death. It's easy to read.
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It's very comforting, very deep, and for the most part pretty
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consistent with the teachings of most great religions, including
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the Urantia book. So I think Michael has a good
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point. It we have this book, it's, it's
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obviously complex. It's, it's written with the
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intent of being around for a while.
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I think it's, this book will be studied for centuries perhaps.
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But wouldn't it be great to have a sort of a condensed by topic,
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maybe a, a box set, you know, maybe pick the 10 things that
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most people would be interested in.
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And, and to that end, I started working on a sort of an
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instruction chart. If I were, if I were to teach
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the Urantia book, I would need a syllabus.
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So I'm creating a syllabus kind of based on what, what Michael
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is talking about. And I think he's right.
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These little booklets would be helpful to helping people who
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really probably have a great curiosity about the Urantia
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book. And, and I, I think it's a good
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idea, you know, because I think the, the walk away message I got
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from Byron, which I really appreciate it is he says we have
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to identify who our target audience is.
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And believe me, when, when I do these episodes, I also think
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about, you know, who am I talking to?
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It's one person and it's, it's a, it's a kind of person that
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might be interested in religion to begin with.
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Maybe that person isn't necessarily religious in the way
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that many of us think of people that are religious who go to
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church, get involved in all those kinds of things.
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But I have to be honest, I, I don't think of myself as a, a
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proselytizer. My, my approach to the Urantia
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book is based on the acceptance of, of this being the narrative
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of reality. So I accept my cosmic
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citizenship. I act as if I am part of an
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eternal universe and that this is my job.
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This is, this is my position right now at this juncture of my
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life getting started. And to me it, it's, it's like I
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am a, I'm a Roman citizen. And, and now that I know that
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there is this grand and I'm use that as a metaphor that, that,
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that I've been informed that this is a grand universe of lots
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of things going on, then I, I want to be a part of that
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because what I do here actually contributes to that overall
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mission, doesn't it? I think it does could have a
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section where we talk about what these the Urantia book teach
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about Jesus or what does it teach about the afterlife.
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And there's all these different things that we could not so much
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take the place of the Urantia book, but is one of my favorite
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expressions to provide A to remove the barriers of entry,
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you know, to provide safe harbor, to let people feel
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comfortable, you know, put it on and what does it look like?
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How does it feel? And then if it, if it rings
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true, if you read, for example, the section on marriage and what
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it teaches about family life and the importance and the
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contribution, you might find yourself saying, you know what,
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I agree with that too. Maybe you want to know what does
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it talk about when it talks about angels?
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You know, I think I kind of believe in angels.
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I think a lot of people, in fact, I think more people
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believe in angels than probably believe in Christ himself
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because there's something appealing about it, right?
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So I, I guess the point is, is that our audience is really
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twofold people who want an updated, maybe gospel, an
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updated presentation of what the gospel really is.
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What was Jesus really trying to teach and, and not just the
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religion about him that we find in the in the Bible, but the but
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the story of his life and how he lived his life and, and what he
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was attempting to do with his Incarnate bestowal.
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You know, people think that Jesus was when he was a little
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kid knew that he was the Son of God.
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And that's not true. He lived a life just like every
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other human being. But that self-awareness came in
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part because his was a spiritual mission, and as he grew in
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spiritual wisdom and life experience, it was like 2, two
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things coming together and then one course, the day of baptism,
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when the voice came speaking from the sky, that is when we're
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told that Jesus had final confirmation on his relationship
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with the Father and who he was and his mission.
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Now, you may not get that that story from the Bible.
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I've read the Gospels, I've read Matthew, Mark, John, I've read
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Luke. I've read many of the books of
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Paul. And I can tell you that the only
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time I've ever felt like I truly understand what the mission of
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Jesus was, was when I read the Urantia book.
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Now there are other topics that are more complicated, like
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physics and things like that. So I'm just putting it out there
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that, you know, each of us could benefit if, if we're interested
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in sharing the book with people that maybe the approach is to #1
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figure out who it is you think you're, you're appealing to, not
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the world like Byron said. And then the other element of
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that is some people just want to know about the book.
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Some people want about the, about the gospel.
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Some people want to know about what's what's in the book and
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what the book tells us about and and I learn more toward that as
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well. I find many of these podcasts
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are about explaining some of the more exciting concepts of the
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book. For example, we have started our
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new sort of miniseries on personalities of the Urantia
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book. And so far I think we talked
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about in the last episode was Grand Fonda.
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That was my choice. I had another listener say they
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wanted to hear more about Melchizedek, so I think I will
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do that. I did spend an episode or two on
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Macha Venta, but it's worth revisiting again because he's
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such an important part of our history.
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And it's really a shame that the Bible doesn't give him more
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shell space because Macha Venta, the Sage of Salem was really the
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third revelation of epical proportions.
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So he's, he was not the the Jesus revelation, but before him
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setting, setting the way for the 4th epical revelation.
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So he's worth another visit. I got a great request from
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someone who wanted to talk about Noah.
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So I want to get into Noah for two reasons.
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One, because Noah's a fascinating individual on the
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pages of history, and two, it also helps me talk about why the
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Urantia book is is important as a text because it fills in a lot
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of missing pieces of our history.
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But more than that, it also sobers us up to the difference
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between what is known as sacred history and profane history.
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Many of our problems of society today, particularly with the the
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constant battle going on in the Middle East, is a result of that
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sacred history. So let's talk about Noah.
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But before we we do that, let's jump into page 78 and it talks
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about the state of the Jewish people and it talks about the
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early books of the of Scripture, the Old Testament, the Torah
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and, you know, parts of the Hebrew Scripture.
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So from paper 78, we pick up with with this entrance into the
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story. And then we'll get into Noah a
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little bit. The book writes that almost 5000
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years later, as the Hebrew priests in Babylonian captivity
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sought to trace the Jewish people back to Adam, they found
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great difficulty in piercing the story together.
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And it occurred to one of them to abandon the effort to let the
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whole world drown in its wickedness at the time of Noah's
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flood, and thus to be in a better position to trace Abraham
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right back to one of the three surviving sons of Noah.
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Continuing on, the traditions of a time when water covered the
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whole of the Earth's surface are universal.
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Many races harbor the story of a worldwide flood sometime during
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past ages. The biblical story of Noah, the
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Ark, and the flood is an invention of the Hebrew
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priesthood during the Babylonian captivity.
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There has never been a universal flood since life was established
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on Urantia. The only time the surface of the
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earth was completely covered by water was during the Rkozoic
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ages, before the land had begun to appear.
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That's a very important statement that the Urantia book
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is stating, which is that the entire story of Noah, the flood,
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the 40 days and 40 nights. And there are elements of the
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story that are true, but as far as it being because God wanted
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to destroy the wicked of earth, this is actually contesting that
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story. It's saying that's not true.
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And the person who told me about Noah came up with the idea of
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doing a little bit on Noah said to me, you know, that changed my
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life. Learning that truth changed my
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life because I always thought, why would a loving God destroy
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humanity? And think of how much that idea
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is rooted particularly in evangelical circles.
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It is under that that same feeling, that same thought
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process of of having national or ethnic guilt, believing that
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your race or your tribe is suffering because God is angry
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at you. In many ways and in many
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respects, the Arantia book informs us that we have to move
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away from that thinking. It's it's not any different from
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if you had an earth father who was abusive, if you thought that
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your earth father was going to whip you because you were evil.
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That's what you're likening God to be like, that he is punishing
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us because we're evil and because Eve created the first
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sin and we had that sinful nature.
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And the Hebrew condition arose because for hundreds and
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hundreds, 800 years, they were under the captivity of the
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Babylonians. I mean, they, they essentially,
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they went from being, you know, Bedouins to Egyptian slaves.
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And then they started to sort of form their own little nation,
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promoting monotheism in the teachings of Abraham.
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And they suffered for it. But that sort of explains why in
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the Bible and in the Old Testament, we have the story of
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the universal flood of of being punished.
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And because it's rooted in this, this sense of racial guilt.
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Now Paper 78 goes on and says, but Noah really lived.
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He was a wine maker of Arum, a river settlement near Eric or
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Iraq. He kept a written record of the
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days of the river's rise from year to year.
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He brought much ridicule upon himself by going up and down the
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River Valley, advocating that all houses be built of wood boat
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fashion, and that the family animals might be put up on board
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each night as the flood season approached.
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He would go to the neighboring river settlements every year and
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warn them that in so many days the floods would come.
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Finally, a year came in which the annual floods were greatly
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augmented by unusually heavy rainfall.
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So that was the sudden rise of the waters that wiped out the
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entire village. Only Noah and his immediate
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family were saved in their houseboat.
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So there's the story. It's a short story, really.
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It's interesting that the revelators knew about him and
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knew about the fact that the story in the Bible comes from
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this man. And I'm, I'm putting the age at
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around maybe 6-7 thousand years ago, probably about 5000 BC.
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I'm guessing that's probably, you know, geologists could
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probably make that determination if and also that area, which is
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basically Syria moving eastward towards Iraq or what was
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Babylonia, That whole area is, is always subjected to those
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kinds of flooding. It's, it's very flat.
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And if you, if you looked at any geography, you can see that
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there's been plenty of water flow from floods.
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They sort of dredge out into the Gulf if you're looking at it
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from like a bird's eye view. But I, I just want to ask you
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before we conclude, how does this idea sit with you?
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Does it make you feel less close to God?
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Or does it challenge the authority of the Bible to, to
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think of the fact that the whole story of the universal flood,
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which is so much a fabric of, of our religion.
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If you're born Christian or raised in a Christian
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environment, I think I felt like relieved, like Janie, I felt
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like, you know what that story And really I think I like the
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story better. It's it's more grounded in
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reality really here, let me continue reading.
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It says 500 years of overlordship of alien rulers was
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too much for even the patient and long-suffering Jews.
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This is you be talking about the difference between sacred
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history and profane history. The prophets and priests began
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to cry. How long, O Lord, how long as?
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As the honest Jews searched the Scriptures, his confusion became
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worse confounded. An old and seer promised that
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God would protect and deliver His chosen people.
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All modern religions have seriously blundered in the
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attempt to put a miraculous interpretation on certain epochs
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or epochs of human history. While it is true that God has
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many times thrust a Father's hand of providential
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intervention into the streams of human affairs, it is a mistake
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to regard theologic dogmas and religious superstition as a
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supernatural sedimentation appearing by miraculous action
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in this stream of human history. The fact that the Most Highs
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rule in the kingdoms of men does not convert secular history into
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so-called sacred history. So much of our belief and faith
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and honor really honor. Is aimed more at the prophets in
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the fact that they carried the truth of monotheism forward.
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You know they deserve great respect and honor to be sure.
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But in that emotion came the the sacred element of of turning
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these stories, many of them, into supernatural events.
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Noah is a good example of history being made sacred.
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There was the event Noah did exist, he warned his followers
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about rising waters and they ignored him.
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But the story then gets expanded to include the destruction of
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humanity, God's earth destroyed because of wickedness.
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The essence of this seems to portray that stories of the
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miraculous should not be the pretext for believing in God,
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especially the kind of creator who may harm his kids in Mass
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because they have become spoiled little brats and nothing more
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than petulant and spoiled children and whom refused to
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clean up their mess. As I conclude, and I think we
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all know who we're talking about.
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So your personality profile suggestion?
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e-mail me at urantiabookradio@gmail.com.
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Also, let me know if you like some of the edition of some of
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the jazz music I've been throwing in.
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I'm a big, I'm a fond, the lover of jazz music, and I think it
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adds a little spark. Let me know what you think.
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We'll be back soon. Another edition of the Your
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Rancho Radio podcast, soon to come.
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Be well and be a good cheer. Music.