The revelations in the Urantia Book (UB) are truly mind expanding and we are encouraged to learn an expanded language to accommodate them. “Today, there is a great need for further linguistic development to facilitate the expression of evolving thought.” (81:6.16; p. 908, Old Ed.)
Almost the very first issue the author raises on page one of the UB is the use of language. Many new UB readers encounter the complaint expressed by the author of the Foreword, a Divine Counselor from Orvonton, that is, if they begin the book at the Foreword (some do!) Of course a new reader also encounters unfamiliar information about the hierarchy of the universe, Orvonton being our Superuniverse, one of seven. These UB descriptions occur alongside modern astronomy’s ongoing discoveries of over fifty new habitable planets in our lifetime. We are learning to live in a larger universe than we were used to. Conceptual categories accrue, and therefore the sheer number of personalities needed to run the universe must also increase.
Returning to our Divine Counselor’s comment, “It is exceedingly difficult to present enlarged concepts and advanced truth, in our endeavor to expand cosmic consciousness and enhance spiritual perception, when we are restricted to the use of a circumscribed language of the realm. But our mandate admonishes us to make every effort to convey our meanings by using the word symbols of the English tongue. We have been instructed to introduce new terms only when the concept to be portrayed finds no terminology in English which can be employed to convey such a new concept partially or even with more or less distortion of meaning.” (0:0.2)
The improvement in the English language’s capacity for portraying divine values and presenting spiritual meanings will also improve our personal relationship, our friendship with God. There has been a tendency in theology for the last few decades to reduce references about God and indwelling spirit to the level where we are speaking symbolically or merely metaphorically. The Urantia Book purposefully sets out to reverse that trend. When the text informs us the divine spirit indwells us, it is meant literally, concretely, expressing it as a “fact that an actual fragment of the living God resides within the intellect of every normal-minded and morally conscious Urantia mortal” (5.0.1).
The UB also gently steers us into adopting more carefully nuanced and discriminated definitions of our terminology. In several places, the book points out where terms specific to the local universe of Nebadon have been used on our planet to designate what are actually Central and Superuniverse personalities. The Holy Spirit of our Christian Trinity is a local universe bestowal of the Mother Spirit (8:5.3, Pg. 95 OE), and does not refer to the Infinite Spirit, “the Third Person of Deity,” of the Paradise Trinity in the UB.
The version of the Trinity I grew up with in the Christian Church also continues to portray Jesus as the Son, one of the three persons of God. However the UB is careful to make a distinction between Jesus/Michael as a Creator Son (with origins in time) and the Eternal Son, the 2nd person of the Trinity. I realize that it will be a long time before these UB depictions may find understanding acceptance among world religions.
Here’s just a few of the many other new uses of language in the UB that will be future topics I’ll deal with separately in this blog:
Our modern dictionaries often present sin, evil, and iniquity as synonymous, but the UB carefully distinguishes sin from evil, error, and iniquity. Whereas evil is an “unconscious transgression,” “Sin is the conscious, knowing, and deliberate transgression of the divine law, the Father’s will.” (148:4.3)
A UB student learns that the Supreme (Being) is not just a synonym for, or another word for God as might be believed from comparing sacred texts around the world.
UB clarifies distinctions between soul and spirit, spiritual growth and progress, faith and trust, will and volition, and more.
Language will be an ongoing issue we will revisit in our discussions on this site. When we eventually come to speak about the Celestial Artisans, for example, we’ll once again encounter the urgent qualification, “Your comprehension is incapable of grasping, and your language is inadequate for conveying, the meaning, value, and relationship of these semispirit activities.” (44:0.13; p. 499)
