Latest / Urantia Radio / If God Is Love What is Evil?
Transcript
- 0:00Well, I don't know how you feel about background noise but I
- 0:07thought it would be refreshing to do a short bit on our podcast
- 0:11today. So here I am at the back end of
- 0:15Sarasota Bay. The Sun is up.
- 0:17It's about 8:30 in the morning and I want to spend some time
- 0:20with you and share with you some of the things that have been
- 0:24going on recently. And a lot of what I've been
- 0:28reading has been centered around evil.
- 0:32You know a lot of people are making the astute observation
- 0:35that there is a lot of evil in the world today and now more
- 0:40than ever people are concerned about evil.
- 0:46And the impact that it's having, a lot of people have asked, you
- 0:50know, is there an acceleration of evil in the world?
- 0:53Is this why we're seeing? You know, I mean, a lot of
- 0:58people I was just watching an interview yesterday with one of
- 1:00my favorite singers songwriters of all time.
- 1:05On The Joe Rogan podcast, Roger Waters, he's been an influence
- 1:10in my thinking and my music appreciation for several
- 1:14decades. And he's talking about the
- 1:17existential threat of World War 3 and how our leaders are.
- 1:23Sending weapons. And Russia.
- 1:28Invading Ukraine, Bloodshed bombs dropping Bridges.
- 1:34People are really concerned. We've got our own president,
- 1:36talking about arm and get for god sakes.
- 1:40Then you know there's there's just so much other hardship with
- 1:43the human trafficking that's going on the drug, use the
- 1:47internal conflicts from each country's, the ideological
- 1:50struggles of each country within each country.
- 1:54The factions that are facing off against each other and this
- 1:58entire US versus them, you know, everyone's a threat to democracy
- 2:03or everyone's a threat to Liberty.
- 2:06I mean, there is a, there is a, there's a tempest.
- 2:10No question. I'm reading, I was lucky enough
- 2:13to have Byron bullets. Owes said me and I hope he
- 2:17doesn't mind me sharing this with some of his writings that
- 2:20are coming up in a book that he's about to publish.
- 2:23And we are going to have him on in the weeks ahead Byron has
- 2:27been with us before talking out his last book having to do with
- 2:32the soul. And Byron is a brilliant man.
- 2:36I'm glad he's a big fan of the Urantia book because when you
- 2:39read his Work. Is indeed an academic, very
- 2:43scholarly in his approach, and his thinking, and his knowledge
- 2:47base. Very, very smart man and it
- 2:51gives me Comfort to know that such a smart intellect.
- 2:55Shares with me, the enthusiasm of the fifth epochal revelation,
- 3:00so, But the subject of evil is the subject of Byron's book,
- 3:06which is I wiii bring it about today, and there's a lot of
- 3:09questions going back to Saint Augustine and the Greeks.
- 3:15They thought a lot about evil. We tried to understand what
- 3:19caused evil, what makes people evil.
- 3:25His evil self originating is sort of force.
- 3:31Why do people behave badly? Now, I often times think of that
- 3:36one pair. Exercise on the ranch a book.
- 3:41I don't know if you remember or recall it but it talks about
- 3:45picturing a man with a club in his hand and he's facing at you
- 3:50and his he's about to kill you. He looks like a Savage man and
- 3:57you take from that that this is not a good thing, this man is
- 4:01evil, but when you widen the picture, You see that the man is
- 4:06actually fighting against a saber-tooth tiger, trying to
- 4:10protect his family and just by having that extra context.
- 4:15Illustrates that perception has a lot to do with evil, I think.
- 4:22And I'm going to share with you some really good Pros here in a
- 4:25moment from the ranch a book from paper to about the love of
- 4:31God because it really illustrates Very well maybe even
- 4:36unintentionally. What God's perception of evil
- 4:40is. As an example, you know, I have
- 4:46a cat at the cat likes to kill things.
- 4:48Small animals, we have these little lizards that run around
- 4:54and my cat naturally likes to kill them and everybody in the
- 5:00family gets really upset, you know, it's a moral indignation.
- 5:07When his cat kills a roach, or a bug or a fly, and I say to
- 5:12myself, it's like, you know, the cat doesn't have any moral,
- 5:14ambiguity about what he's doing. He simply hardwired to kill that
- 5:18thing. So there is no moral equivalence
- 5:21in the mind of a cat, but there is the perception in the mind of
- 5:26a person. Morality.
- 5:30And it is that morality. I think that is instilled in US.
- 5:34Bestowed, only a moral being Would be offended it evil.
- 5:43And so it in that statement lies, the very truth that evil
- 5:49is often a perception, it's transient.
- 5:51But there are also other forms of evil as we've seen and as we
- 5:56see in the world today, with the way that people treat each
- 5:58other, I'll give you a good example.
- 6:02You know, in the abortion debate, you have a group of
- 6:05people on one side who believe that they are, right?
- 6:08And keeping abortion as a protected, right?
- 6:12And they will fight to the death to keep that, right?
- 6:16So they don't see that they're doing anything wrong, but if you
- 6:20look at it from the other perspective, people who believe
- 6:24that they're saving a child and so they act Against the others
- 6:31who are protecting the rights of the mother.
- 6:35And then there's the people protecting the rights of the
- 6:37child. So, who's, right?
- 6:40Both sides. See the other is evil.
- 6:44But for different reasons. So evil, sometimes is in the eye
- 6:47of the beholder. I it all depends I'm reminded
- 6:52that there's this Phil Collins song, both sides of the story,
- 6:56which illustrates in the lyrics, the story of a man who was
- 6:59robbing, someone walking through his neighborhood and the robber
- 7:05explains to the man. Look, I'm powerless.
- 7:09But with this gun, I have power. So it's always important to look
- 7:14at evil from the perception. Of what's being done by whom.
- 7:19And for what reason, Evil. I don't believe is spontaneous,
- 7:25or at least, it shouldn't be. It is in some cases, there are
- 7:29people who derive great satisfaction by being evil. or
- 7:36by being selfish, whatever it is whatever, Endeavor they're
- 7:40involved with You know, if you're into pornography or, you
- 7:48know, staying up late every night you getting drunk or
- 7:54harassing people for pleasure. I mean, you may not see what
- 7:57you're doing is being evil. And then at that point, you
- 8:03know, you're Crossing into sin and that eventually inequity
- 8:07when we learn from from not only the Urantia book but also from
- 8:13many different sources. Is that Lucifer fell?
- 8:17Because he fell in love with his own self.
- 8:19His own pride pride is evil derives itself from Pride.
- 8:24I think pride is the impetus for True evil because pride of self
- 8:29pride. Ride of I want this and it only
- 8:32matters to me that I get it at any cost that in itself is evil
- 8:37because you're disregarding the whole selfishness Pride.
- 8:44Ego. Those are all gateways to
- 8:48inequity and remembering that the Rancho book tells us that
- 8:53evil is relative. It is the absence of good just
- 8:58as cold as relative in. It's the absence of heat so let
- 9:03me look and see if I can read. Read a little bit from paper to
- 9:08section 5 paragraph 1, the love of God.
- 9:14God is love therefore his only personal attitude towards the
- 9:18Affairs of the universe is always a reaction of divine
- 9:22affection. The Father loves us,
- 9:24sufficiently to bestow his life upon us.
- 9:28He makes his sun right to rise on the evil and the good and
- 9:33sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
- 9:38It is wrong to think of God as being coaxed into loving his
- 9:42children. Because of the sacrifices of his
- 9:45sons, or the intercession of his subordinate creatures, quote,
- 9:50for the father himself loves you.
- 9:52It is in response to this paternal affection that God
- 9:57sends The Marvelous. Adjuster to add.
- 9:59Well, the minds of men, God's love is universal quote.
- 10:05Whoever will may come, he would quote have all men be saved by
- 10:10coming to the knowledge of the truth.
- 10:12He is, quote not willing that any should perish.
- 10:17The creators are the very first to attempt to save man from the
- 10:21disastrous results of his foolish transgressions of the
- 10:25Divine laws. God's love is by nature, a
- 10:29fatherly affection. Therefore, does he sometimes,
- 10:32quote Chason us for our own profit that we may be partakers
- 10:38of his Holiness in quote, even during your fiery trials,
- 10:43remember that quote in all our affliction, Ins.
- 10:49He is Afflicted with us. God is divinely.
- 10:54Kind to centers. What Rebels turn to
- 10:57righteousness. They are mercifully received
- 11:00quote for our God will abundantly part.
- 11:05I am, he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake
- 11:11and I will not remember your sins and quote Quote behold what
- 11:17manner of love. The father has bestowed upon us
- 11:20that we should be called the sons of God.
- 11:24After all the greatest evidence of the goodness of God and the
- 11:28Supreme reason for loving him is the a dwelling gift of the
- 11:33Father. The adjuster who so patiently
- 11:36awaits the hour when you shall both be eternally, made one.
- 11:41So you cannot find God by searching if you will submit to
- 11:45the leading of the indwelling spirit.
- 11:47You will be unerringly guided step-by-step Life by life,
- 11:52through Universe upon universe and age by age.
- 11:57Until you finally stand the presence of the paradise
- 12:00personality. Of the universal father.
- 12:08This a lot to absorb but the writing just unbelievable, just
- 12:12so inspiring. How unreasonable that you should
- 12:15not worship God. Because the limitations of human
- 12:19nature and the handicaps of your material creation, make it
- 12:23impossible for you to see him between you.
- 12:26And God, there is a tremendous distance, physical space to be
- 12:31traversed. There likewise exists, a great
- 12:35Gulf of Virtual differential, which must be bridged, but
- 12:40notwithstanding all that physically and spiritually
- 12:43separates you from the paradise, personal presence of God, stop
- 12:47and Ponder. The solemn fact that God Lives
- 12:51within you, he has in his own way already, bridged, the Gulf,
- 12:57He has sent of himself his Spirit to live in you and
- 13:01tutorial with you as you pursue your Eternal Universe career.
- 13:10So again that's from paper to section 5 paragraph 1, the love
- 13:16of God. So again and it's perspective it
- 13:20seems to me that Evil is is almost as much about perception
- 13:28as it is, ignorance because we act evil out of ignorance of the
- 13:33light. It's easier to be evil when you
- 13:40don't have God. I think when you have God, you
- 13:45you you instantly recognize when you're about to do something
- 13:49that isn't good. Your moral conscience, lights
- 13:52up. So that's where we'll leave.
- 13:55It will have more continuing conversations about these kinds
- 14:00of things. I asked you to share this
- 14:01podcast but I also want to say thank you.
- 14:05There are some great Communications coming in some of
- 14:10them that I'll share the next podcast.
- 14:12A lot of good questions being asked by people who stopped by
- 14:15to enjoy these podcasts. Don't forget to check out the
- 14:19website as well. You're at your radio dotnet.
- 14:23It's a great intersection of all things.
- 14:25Urantia and my email address, your Rancho book radio at
- 14:29gmail.com. And until next time, thanks
- 14:32again for stopping by, for this brief, your answer Radio
- 14:35podcast. In this world with her.
- 15:04Like a dog without a boat.