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NAINConnect 2008 Workshops |
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Theme: Multifaith Challenges We Face
HOW CAN WE TALK THEOLOGICALLY ABOUT THE BIG ISSUES WE FACE?
WORKSHOP SUMMARY
Most traditions take on the 'big' issues – like good & evil, truth, and creation, but do so in their own very particular ways. How can we talk about these important issues in an interfaith context? This workshop is an experiment in theological dialogue. Two students of The Urantia Book will briefly present their own understandings of several ‘big’ issues and then invite those who attend to respond from the context of their own traditions.
PRESENTERS
Susan Cook & Peter Laurence
Susan Cook is a member of the NAIN board of directors and of the Kansas City Interfaith Council, which will host NAIN in 2009. Susan is also chair of the Interfaith Committee of the Urantia Book Fellowship.
Peter Laurence, an honorary member and former chair of the NAIN Board of Directors, has been active in interfaith work for a quarter-century. He is executive director of the Education as Transformation Project at Wellesley College and a member of the Interfaith Committee of the Urantia Book Fellowship.
Workshop is interactive - please post a comment and note your interest
DISCUSSION AND COMMENTS
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OPENING STATEMENT
The Urantia Book is a relatively unknown source of information and inspiration regarding the “big” questions that all traditions address. The presenters have spent many years studying it and feel that it has much to offer in an interfaith context.
Our approach, therefore, will be to present, in a very brief format, what The Urantia Book has to say about some of those burning issues and invite you to respond with their own understandings. As we share these understandings, new insights may emerge that could benefit us all.
This website offers us an opportunity to begin to collect the various perspectives on key questions prior to the conference. Below we list the topics to be covered, along with some initial statements from The Urantia Book regarding those topics. We invite you to respond. Your responses will not be regarded as “officially” representing any particular point of view, but we’d ask that you identify your source or sources where relevant.
Let’s begin.
TRUTH - Physical facts are fairly uniform, but truth is a living and flexible factor in the universe. People are only partially wise and relatively true in their understandings. They can be certain only as far as their personal experience extends. You cannot perceive spiritual truth until you experience it.
THE CREATOR - The creator is the model for the highest ideals of truth, beauty and goodness. The universe was created in imperfection, destined to evolve to the perfection of its creator. To the extent that we aspire and work towards the highest ideals of truth, beauty and goodness, we advance the evolution of the universe towards perfection.
THE UNIVERSE - The Universal Father has not withdrawn from the management of the universes; he is not an inactive Deity. If God should retire as the present upholder of all creation, there would immediately occur a universal collapse. Except for God, there would be no such thing as reality. At this very moment, as during the remote ages of the past and in the eternal future, God continues to uphold. The divine reach extends around the circle of eternity. The universe is not wound up like a clock to run just so long and then cease to function; all things are constantly being renewed. The Father unceasingly pours forth energy, light, and life. The work of God is literal as well as spiritual.
CREATION AND EVOLUTION - The early stages of life evolution are not altogether in conformity with your present-day views. Human life is not an evolutionary accident – it does not originate spontaneously. Life Carriers must initiate life on the barren planets. They are the carriers, disseminators, and guardians of life as it appears on the evolutionary worlds of space. There is a precise system, a universal law, which determines the unfolding of the planetary life plan on the spheres of space. The process of planetary evolution is orderly and controlled. The development of higher organisms from lower groupings of life is not accidental.
PERSONAL EVOLUTION - Evolution implies movement from a less perfected state to a greater one. The purpose of personal evolution is to achieve increasing spirit dominance of the personality. Human existence is designed to facilitate this movement by providing a suitable environment.
DEATH - There is something real, something of human evolution, 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. This child of human and divine parentage constitutes the surviving element of terrestrial origin; it is the immortal soul.
GOOD AND EVIL - Why does the creator permit evil and sin? Both are inevitable if humans are to be truly free. The human ability to choose good or evil is a universe reality. We are part of a gigantic creation, and it is not strange that everything does not work in perfection; our universe was not created in perfection. Perfection is our eternal goal, not our origin.
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If you’d like to learn more about The Urantia Book Fellowship or access the complete text of the book, go to www.urantiabook.org.
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| Date |
Author |
Title |
Reply |
| 03/06/08 |
Paul Chaffee |
Getting some clarity; and about CREATOR |
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| I love the sound of the things that you say, Peter and Susan, but the words at first feel a bit fudgy. With Creator, it all sounds very abstract, not personal, a framework - but later in your opening, we hear about a personified, active Creator.
Another first reaction - it sounds like spiritual evolution is an underlying substratum to everything else you have written. Is that right, and if so, could you say more about what it means to you. Where evolution comes from, how it got there, and why its leading us towards the light?
For me, CREATOR is one way, one image and set of assumptions, for understanding God and the Creation. My own 'theology' of creation was deeply influenced by mystery writer Dorothy Sayer's extraordinary book on c . . .
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| 03/13/08 |
Peter Laurence |
Response to Paul |
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| THE CREATOR
The Urantia Book, like most other religious texts, is full of technical language. A full reading of the book is required in order to become familiar with the terms used. In this exercise we've modified the language somewhat to substitute common terms for the technical ones. "Creator" is one of those. Every attempt was made to maintain the full meaning of the original, but it's possible that the exerpts we chose for this online discussion may leave some gaps. In the workshop itself we'll provide additional material that should provide more consistency.
SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION
The Urantia Book describes spiritual evolution as our primary task of existence. While some belief systems place such evolution on a continuum he . . .
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| 03/14/08 |
Bettina Gray |
Direct quotes? |
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| It would help clarify the discussion if you could include a clear designation using quotations or markings of paraphrase where pertinent. I find the introduction a bit confusing between what is personal interpretation and what is text.
There is always a difference between the personal life experience of theology and the basic texts. I hope this discussion will make that dividing line clearly.
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| 03/19/08 |
Peter Laurence |
Direct quotes? |
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| Hi Bettina,
The texts I've provided for dialogue are not commentary or interpretation, they are taken directly from The Urantia Book. The only changes I've made are to eliminate wherever possible any technical terms that would be confusing to someone who has not read the original, and to replace that language with similar terms that are more universally understandable. I've tried to preserve the original meaning of the text by not paraphrasing but rather by substituting specific terms. The intent here is to convey the original message in as clear a manner as possible to people who have not read The Urantia Book, so that they can respond with similar concepts from their own traditions or personal understandings.
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| 05/12/08 |
Theodore Timpson |
getting some clarity; and about CREATOR |
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| My understanding of the Creator gained a lot from this conversation:
"How can God be a personal being," a man asked, "when the universe is made of billions of galaxies? How can the individual have any importance?"
"Your concept of God is too limited," Yogananda replied. "He is both infinitely large and infinitely small. He is more aware of you than you are of yourself."
This kind of metaphysical inquiry is certainly appealing to me, but it is hard to fit within the context of traditional religion, which relies on particular texts and assumptions. I wonder if the workshop could focus on a few particular ideas, to engage multiple perspectives. What are the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc. perceptions of evolution, for example?
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| 05/14/08 |
Peter Laurence |
getting some clarity; and about CREATOR |
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| Hi Theodore,
Thanks for your comments. What you're looking for is exactly what this workshop is about. We're presenting one set of perspectives on these "big questions" and hope that the workshop participants will add their understandings to the mix. If we have a diverse group it should provide for a very stimulating conversation. We look forward to seeing you there!
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| 03/02/09 |
jeremy taylor |
type in google dr. jeremy taylor d.min stole the n |
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| type in google dr. jeremy taylor d.min stole the name, rev jeremy taylor stole a God spoken protected christians ministry name and wrote and called ministry above copyrights
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