Science in the Urantia Papers

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Science

¾ Scientific Validation of the UB

z By Denver Pearson

z By Phil Calabrese

¾ Seraphic Velocities

¾ Astronomy The Scientific Integrity of the Urantia Book by Denver Pearson As scientifically minded readers first peruse the Urantia Book, it soon occurs to them that many of its statements on the natural sciences conflict with currently held data and theories. In the minds of many this gives rise to doubts about the truthfulness of those statements. Wisdom would lead us to realize that nothing short of perfection is perfect, and anything touched by human hands has fingerprints. This should be our guiding thoughts as we contemplate the accuracy of the scientific content of the Urantia Papers. Several years ago, at the first scientific symposium, it was implied by one of the speakers that the revelation contains errors. This implication is alarming. More recently, at the second symposium held in Oklahoma, an interesting publication named "The Science Content of The Urantia Book" was made available (this document is obtainable from the Brotherhood of Man Library). In this publication is an article entitled "Time Bombs" in which the author suggests that the revelators planted certain inaccurate scientific statements in the book in order to prevent it from becoming a fetish. He states "...the revelators incorporated safeguards in the papers that would form The Urantia Book to diminish the tendency to regard it as an object of worship. What safeguards did they use? Suppose they decided to make sure that mortals reading it understood that some cosmological statements in the book would be found to be inaccurate". After many years of detailed study in The Urantia Book, I can't honestly recall anytime when any of its concepts contradicted themselves, nor did I feel that I was being told something that was untrue. It's one thing to foolishly claim absolute perfection for the book, but it's quite another to lead other readers to believe that by divine mandate the revelators were forced to use erroneous data, or even worse yet, to intentionally plant inaccurate information for any reason, so-called "time bombs". In my own experience and that of others, I'd say that the problem with the scientific inaccuracies we think we find in the book might really be our own preconceived notion that modern science is infallible; or our hang-ups about literature claiming to have divine origins; or even something as simple as not reading the text carefully. We all know there have been a few typographical errors and minor word changes or corrections (fingerprints), and we are also informed in several places that the revelator's concepts are subject to distortion by the limitations of human language and by the comprehension level of the mortal mind. The typos and word changes don't effect the soundness of the revelation and are almost expected with such a voluminous literary work. The distortions referred to are to be found in sections of the book regarding very high spiritual concepts and in areas discussing aspects of the spiritual realm about which humans know nothing, such as the activities of the celestial artisans. Although unfortunately distorted, these concepts are very helpful in enabling us to catch a glimpse of the magnitude of our Father's eternal realities. But we are not talking now about typos and distortions. These are not the problem. The source of the controversy is in the discussion of the natural sciences, in areas where The Urantia Book and modern scientific theories diverge. In becoming aware of the differences between current science and the revelation, we are forced to come to the conclusion that both can't be right, and somehow we must make a decision between them. At once we grapple with the idea of facing the possibility that something is fishy somewhere. How can we test the two sources? What test would be adequate to resolve this horribly annoying problem? How about using our common sense and the track records of The Urantia Book and of science. As gullible children growing up in the new scientific age of discovery we naturally accepted the no nonsense authority of what we were told. Who were we to question these great minds who were probing all the nooks and crannies of known reality. It has always been easier to accept their information as gospel rather than go looking for it ourselves. I generally still do but with a grain of salt. We are told in the UB "...faith does not maintain an unreasoning prejudice toward the discoveries of scientific investigation". So let us be reasonable. Only recently have I become aware that this thing called science is an extremely imperfect process conducted by extremely imperfect individuals. The word "process" is the key word here. Universal reality is a constant, and science is that hit or miss process whereby we attempt to understand that reality. How do we know if we have a hit or miss? Only time will tell, and the art of scientific discovery is still very young. Our contention with some scientists should be that their theories are spun and cast in gold before all the data is in or regardless of contrary data. Yes, there is usually contrary data opposing any theory, but it is usually ignored during publication, which makes the theory appear, to the casual reader, to be unanimously accepted by the world of science. Two current examples of this are the Big Bang theory, which is now losing support, and a rather new theory that claims that the dinosaurs became extinct due to a meteor hitting the earth. I predict that this idea itself will become extinct in a few years. Neither of these theories jive with The Urantia Book. Which do you believe? How could someone come to the conclusion, when The Urantia Book and science don't agree, that the book is the one in error? This is particularly interesting due to the fact that the history of science is plagued with contradictory theories, incompleteness and even deception. Part of the answer may be this. We've been conditioned in this century to judge so-called sacred writings of the past by their physical absurdities and lack of factual accuracies in light of current information. This is because much of their science content is metaphysically based. Metaphysics is that method of explaining reality by means of our mental observations as opposed to the more accurate method of discovery and testing. It is very interesting that modern science does both, many times conjecturing (conjuring up) elaborate theories based on one small shred of flimsy evidence. In my astronomy book the author even admits that the measuring of distant galaxies is based on the assumption of the uniformity of nature. He also admits that present errors in measuring distances may be fifty percent or larger. Amazing, isn't it? We should have a healthy respect for science but not be afraid to scrutinize its findings either. We are all aware of the great contributions the scientific community has made to our world. For one thing, it has reduced superstition to a point where religionists have had to re-evaluate their beliefs and purge themselves of false teachings. This is still in process. Without modern science and its repercussions we wouldn't have The Urantia Book in our midst today. In fact it was the book that really made me aware of our silly superstitious nature. We can have a genuine love for science but still be concerned with its inaccuracies when used as a ruler to measure the revelation. Now, if someone insists that current scientific opinion is right, and The Urantia Book is in error, then they must justify in their mind why this is the case. Here is where the trouble starts. They begin searching for an explanation in the book itself. They search a supposedly inaccurate book for a statement to prove its own inaccuracies. Once they find an explanation, they can relax having found a mental loophole to slip through when confronted with controversial information. Time and again it is stated that the revelators were mandated to use the science of the times, to give preference to the highest existing human concepts. And now that new discoveries have been made, the revelation appears to be in error. The acknowledgment in the beginning of the book seems to be one of the sources for this idea. It says that in coordinating essential knowledge the authors must give preference to the highest concepts pertaining to the subjects to be presented (p.16). No matter how I read that line, I never get the impression that in coordinating essential knowledge there was the need to purposefully include inaccuracies. (In carefully reading the acknowledgment it seems that it is talking mainly about things of spiritual value.) We've already determined that with high spiritual concepts there is some distortion, but when concerned with the mechanical simplicity of the physical sciences this hardly seems sensible. There are too many instances in the book where the science of the time was not used, or in fact was corrected. Continental drift is one example (p.668), and the calculations for the sun's mass is another (p.459). On page 1109, the so-called "disclaimer", the authors also claim that their statements regarding the physical sciences will stand in need of revision because of new discoveries and developments, and that they were forbidden to include these undiscovered facts in these records. Once again, there is no implication that they had to use untrue statements. Limited yes, but not untrue. Because men and angels alike must search and discover the physical nature of the universe (it's not inspired), it would be unfair for angels to reveal information to us that we have yet to discover. The thing that will catch the attention of future students of this revelation will be the noticeable omissions of scientific data. These errors of omission will make certain statements outdated and stand in need of revision as the scientific process rolls on. Does this mean we are actually going to receive a revision at some future date? Not necessarily. During the expansion of the United States maps contained only those states that belonged to the Union. The first maps had only thirteen, and as additional states joined the Federation the maps were revised to include these new states. Now that we have maps with fifty states does it make those early maps untrue? No. They are "in need of revision" and are erroneous only in comparison to current data due to omissions, but they are accurate in context. It has been suggested that the revelators purposefully planted erroneous information in the book, "time bombs" that would explode on the page flawing the content of the book thus making it tainted and unattractive to those readers who would make it a fetish. In all my years of study I've never come across anyone with a Urantia Book fetish. In fact, just the contrary. We mark it up, spill things on it, and leave it lying around on the floor. This is like saying Adam and Eve purposely stumbled and fell constantly so they wouldn't be worshipped as Gods. This an is insult to the intelligence of those individuals who are at a level capable of excepting high truth. We do have a healthy reverence for the book though, because it is a beautiful work of literary art. Even opponents of the book recognize its commanding use of English. One such so-called "time bomb" is contained in a complicated paragraph on page 657. It states "The planets nearest the sun were the first to have their revolutions slowed down by tidal friction. Such gravitational influences also contribute to the stabilization of planetary orbits while acting as a brake on the rate of planetary-axial revolution, causing a planet to revolve ever slower until axial revolution ceases, leaving one hemisphere of the planet always turned toward the sun or larger body, as is illustrated by the planet Mercury and by the moon, which always turns the same face toward Urantia." At the time of the revelation the scientific community believed that Mercury showed the same side toward the sun. In 1965 it was proved to the contrary. A casual reading makes it seem as if the writers were expressing the science of the time. It has been suggested that because the revelators knew this, they must have used erroneous material to create flaws in an otherwise near perfect book to prevent fetishism. The real problem seems to be a misreading of this complicated paragraph. It expresses two ideas in two interrelated sentences. The first sentence introduces the main topic which is planets slowing down by tidal friction. The second is a compound-complex one of parallel construction with several dependent clauses explaining what eventually happens to a planet affected by tidal friction. In it we have two ideas and two examples of those ideas; planets revolving ever slower (Mercury) until axial revolution ceases (the moon). It is easy to see how confusion comes from a sentence so structured with multiple dependent clauses. I'd like to address one other suggested "time bomb" that has been addressed in the past without resolution. The Urantia Book says that those mortals achieving the third psychic circle acquire their own personal pair of guardian angels who, upon the death of their ward, proceed to the mansion worlds there to await the resurrection. For these individuals this resurrection takes place "on the third day" or less frequently stated "on the third period". What is a "period" by the way? Because some readers insist on interpreting "on the third day/period" as only meaning a three day time period, such as occurred with the resurrection of Jesus, they are confronted with the problem of how seraphim, who can proceed at no more than three times the speed of light, are able to arrive on the mansion worlds several light years away within a three day time period. This is a very perplexing problem, but must we resort to distorting time and bending space to make it work out? In my opinion the revelation makes it seem clear that transportation through space is a fairly simple go from this place to that place procedure, except for certain personalities like the Gravity Messengers who seem to be unconditioned by time and space. There are some readers who feel that there might be a manner of transportation yet unrevealed to us for some reason that would account for this problem of seraphic travel over great distances in a relatively short period of time. The best explanation I have heard for this problem is that "on the third day/period" refers to an indefinite time period that is of a short duration rather than a long one. Something similar to the common Jewish expression of Jesus' time, "on the third day", which signified "presently" or "soon thereafter" (p.1872). This is similar to the way we use "a hop, skip, and a jump" to signify a short distance as opposed to a long one. It doesn't stand to reason that the mandates encouraged the placing of inaccurate science and cosmology in a revelation that was designed to "reduce confusion by authoritative elimination of error" (p1109). The idea of divine deception is repugnant, and I hardly think the Ancients of Days would authorize such mandates. The mandates concerning the physical sciences could have been something as simple as this; 1. If any human mind has conceived anything remotely related to the fact, then the authors could re-state it with more clarity. It didn't have to be a common or published idea. This could give rise to many apparently predictive statements. 2. If a certain line of scientific investigation is proceeding toward a definite discovery in the very near future, then the authors could reveal that discovery before its time knowing that scientists wouldn't be reading the revelation, thus not revealing undiscovered facts. This too would produce predictive statements. 3. If current data is incorrect in any known theory, then it can be corrected complying with the first two mandates. This is just a suggestion as to what some of the mandates may have been. If there are verifiable flaws to be found in the revelation, then, in my opinion, they must be due to recording errors, printing errors or some aspect involving the production of the book itself. But how do we really determine what is in error, if anything? Whose ruler do we use? This is my great concern. I'm only confident that we are not being deceived, pampered, or "time bombed" here, for the only thing we can know for certain is that the truth will prevail. We are currently laying the foundation for the future students of the fifth epochal revelation. But if our foundation becomes attached to the authority of a fallible modern science, then this movement will be just as crippled as Christianity is today, which is dragging around Western civilization like a ball and chain. In order to proceed safely into the truth of this revelation and of today's science, we now need the aid of Spirit led investigators with no other motive than to just discover the truth, beauty, and goodness of our fascinating cosmic home, a home filled with wonders yet to be uncovered. QuickTime™ and a TIFF (LZW) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Data Synthesis TheThe ComingComing ScientificScientific San Diego, CA ValidationValidation ofof TheThe UrantiaUrantia BookBook Philip Calabrese, Ph.D.

The Urantia Book Fellowship International Conference (IC’ 05) MAKING SPIRIT MATTER: The Next 50 Years

Villanova University Villanova, Pennsylvania

July 30 - August 4, 2005 OverviewOverview ofof PresentationPresentation

1) The Urantia Book has predicted many implausible and subsequently verified scientific facts better than our scientists while also successfully avoiding untenable systematic errors, unlike our scientists; 2) Therefore, on statistical grounds, only superhumans could have written the science and cosmology of The Urantia Book; 3) The cosmology of The Urantia Book while “transient” (a few hundred years in this context) is also of “immense value” in this transition period and beyond; 4) Examples of immensely valuable “instruction in cosmology” from The Urantia Book; 5) Soon-coming scientific predictions of The Urantia Book; 6) The future value of the cosmology of The Urantia Book. WasWas TheThe UrantiaUrantia BookBook WrittenWritten byby HumanHuman Beings?Beings? PotentiallyPotentially DiscreditingDiscrediting PitfallPitfall AvoidedAvoided

“Piltdown Man” - The 1912 & 1917 “Missing Link” fossils, a hoax finally exposed and discredited after 1950. Even as late as 1947 the fossils were still generally believed to be real. [Har03]

Although the evolution of vegetable life can be traced into animal life, and though there have been found graduated series of plants and animals which progressively lead up from the most simple to the most complex and advanced organisms, you will not be able to find such connecting links between the great divisions of the animal kingdom nor between the highest of the prehuman animal types and the dawn men of the human races. These so-called "missing links" will forever remain missing, for the simple reason that they never existed. The Urantia Book, Page-669 Line-24 Para ContinentalContinental DriftDrift

Pangaea - Alfred Wegener’s 1920’s theory of a single continent that broke apart and “drifted” (largely rejected by 1929, vindicated in the late1950’s and 60’s). [Wag96], [Hug05], [Wei05]

“750,000,000 years ago the first breaks in the continental land mass began as the great north-and-south cracking, which later admitted the ocean waters and prepared the way for the west-ward drift of the continents of North and South America, including Greenland. The long east-and-west cleavage separated Africa from Europe and severed the land masses of Australia, the Pacific Islands, and Antarctica from the Asiatic continent.” Page-663 Line-3 Para-1 MountainsMountains andand EarthquakesEarthquakes

Continents float on liquid rock; allowed “continental drift”; collisions cause mountains; shifting now causes earthquakes; periodic submergence continues. “The outer crust was about forty miles thick. This outer shell was supported by, and rested directly upon, a molten sea of basalt of varying thickness, a mobile layer of molten lava held under high pressure but always tending to flow hither and yon in equalization of shifting planetary pressures, thereby tending to stabilize the earth's crust. Even today the continents continue to float upon this non- crystallized cushiony sea of molten basalt. Were it not for this protective condition, the more severe earthquakes would literally shake the world to pieces. Earthquakes are caused by sliding and shifting of the solid outer crust and not by volcanoes.” Page-668 Line-27 Para-6 & 7 InjuryInjury RepairRepair PredictionPrediction

“In experimental partial resection in the rat, the remaining liver tissue starts to regenerate within a few hours. …dead liver cells are replaced by proliferation of surviving liver cells. Hepatocytes, Kupffer cells, endothelium, bile ducts, vessels, all proliferate.” “The factor(s) stimulating proliferation of remaining hepatocytes are not known. T(h)ey may be humoral. Indeed: 1) blood from a partially hepatectomized animal induces a proliferative response in the liver of a non-operated animal.” [Orf01] Emilio Orfei, Department of Pathology, Loyola University of Chicago, 2001

“When a living cell is injured, it possesses the ability to elaborate certain chemical substances which are empowered so to stimulate and activate the neighboring normal cells that they immediately begin the secretion of certain substances which facilitate healing processes in the wound; and at the same time these normal and uninjured cells begin to proliferate-- they actually start to work creating new cells to replace any fellow cells which may have been destroyed by the accident.” Page-735 Line-7 Para-2 TheThe LimitationsLimitations ofof RevelationRevelation Is all or most of The Urantia Book’s science already outdated - merely transient early 20th century cosmology? Are the numerous differences between contemporary science and The Urantia Book’s cosmology “errors on the face” of The Urantia Book evident after “a few short years”? Since the cosmology of The Urantia Book is “not inspired”, and the revelators were not permitted to reveal “unearned” or pre-mature knowledge, how valuable can its cosmological discourses be? ScientificScientific (&(& Spiritual)Spiritual) ValueValue ofof TheThe UrantiaUrantia BookBook Immense value in reducing confusion by the authoritative elimination of error Immense value in co-ordination of known or about-to- be-known facts and observations Immense value in the restoration of important bits of lost knowledge concerning epochal transactions in the distant past Immense value in supplying information which will fill in vital missing gaps in otherwise earned knowledge Immense value by presenting cosmic data in such a manner as to illuminate the spiritual teachings contained in the accompanying revelation Page-1109 Line-40 Para-7 AstronomicAstronomic PredictionsPredictions FulfilledFulfilled (Billions(Billions ofof Universes)Universes)

“In the not-distant future, new telescopes will reveal to the wondering gaze of Urantian astronomers no less than 375 million new galaxies in the remote stretches of outer space.” Page-130, Line-47

“The relatively quiet zones between the space levels, such as the one separating the seven superuniverses from the first outer space level, are enormous elliptical regions of quiescent space activities. These zones separate the vast galaxies which race around Paradise in orderly procession.” Page-125 Line-6 AstronomicAstronomic PredictionsPredictions ConfirmedConfirmed (Huge(Huge Redshifts)Redshifts)

“Although your spectroscopic estimations of astronomic velocities are fairly reliable when applied to the starry realms belonging to your superuniverse and its associate superuniverses, such reckonings with reference to the realms of outer space are wholly unreliable. Spectral lines are displaced from the normal towards the violet by an approaching star; likewise these lines are displaced towards the red by a receding star. Many influences interpose to make it appear that the recessional velocity of the external universes increases at the rate of more than one hundred miles a second for every million light-years increase in distance. By this method of reckoning, subsequent to the perfection of more powerful telescopes, it will appear that these far-distant systems are in flight from this part of the universe at the unbelievable rate of more than thirty thousand miles a second. But this apparent speed of recession is not real; it results from numerous factors of error embracing angles of observation and other time-space distortions.” Page-134 Line-15 AstronomicAstronomic PredictionsPredictions ConfirmedConfirmed (Outer(Outer SpaceSpace Zones)Zones)

“You may visualize the first outer space level, where untold universes are now in process of formation, as a vast procession of galaxies swinging around Paradise, bounded above and below by the midspace zones of quiescence and bounded on the inner and outer margins by relatively quiet space zones.” Page-125 Para-1 “The Outer Space Levels. Far out in space, at an enormous distance from the seven inhabited superuniverses, there are assembling vast and unbelievably stupendous circuits of force and materializing energies. Between the energy circuits of the seven superuniverses and this gigantic outer belt of force activity, there is a space zone of comparative quiet, which varies in width but averages about four hundred thousand light-years. These space zones are free from star dust--cosmic fog.” Page-129 Line-45 AstronomicAstronomic PredictionsPredictions FulfilledFulfilled (“Walls”(“Walls” andand “Voids”)“Voids”)

“The first maps, published in 1986, were a great surprise to the astrophysicists. They had expected to find relative uniformity above the scale of the already- familiar galaxy clusters. Instead, the first surveys showed--and subsequent surveys have confirmed--that great clusters of galaxies are arranged in thin sheets or long filaments.” Michael Norman, NCSA/Univ. of Illinois North and South, Sheets and Voids, Margaret J. Geller and Emilio E. Falco, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

The Earth is at the center. Each of 9,325 points in this image represents a galaxy in the northern and E southern galactic hemispheres; unmapped a r regions are inaccessible because the plane of the t Milky Way obscures them. Note the “ring of h galaxies” centered around a location in the obscured region. Center of predicted ring of galaxies AstronomicAstronomic PredictionsPredictions FulfilledFulfilled (Rotational(Rotational SpeedSpeed && DarkDark Matter)Matter)

Galactic rotational speeds. As reported in Science Frontiers in 1982, “According to the physical laws governing orbital motion in a central force field, like that of our sun, distant objects should rotate more slowly than those closer to the central mass.” … “Doppler measurements of galaxy rotations made by Vera C. Rubin and her colleagues, at the Carnegie Institution, indicate that most stars out near the galactic rims rotate just as fast or faster than those closer to the hub.” [Cor82] Dark Matter. The Urantia Book Predicted the existence of dark matter holding fast spinning galaxies together. (Page-173 Line-3 Para-1) NeutrinosNeutrinos Neutrinos Exist. • Predicted by W. Pauli in 1931 and incorporated by E. Fermi in 1934 into his theory of atomic decay • First observed in 1959 by Clyde Cowan and Fred Reines. [Bar98] The 1955 Urantia Book affirmed Fermi’s unproved theory: “The mesotronic disintegration is also accompanied by the emission of certain small uncharged particles.” Page-479 Para-3 (Mesotrons are now called mesons.) Neutrinos Have Mass. Only in 1998 did our scientists discover that neutrinos have mass, upsetting their “standard theory”: “A Weighty Discovery in Particle Physics. In June 1998, an international team of Japanese and U.S. physicists unveiled strong evidence that elusive subatomic particles known as neutrinos have mass (or weight).” [Inf05] “The integrity of the nucleus is maintained by the reciprocal cohering function of the mesotron, which is able to hold charged and uncharged particles together because of superior force-mass power and by the further function of causing protons and neutrons constantly to change places.” Page-479 Line-9 Para-2 ProbabilityProbability ofof HumanHuman AuthorshipAuthorship

What is the probability of human authors guessing correctly that: No “missing link” exists: Probability estimate ≤ 1/50 Floating continents drifted; formed mountains: ≤ 1/40 Injured cells secrete chemicals stimulating repair: ≤ 1/50 “No less than 375 million” new galaxies will be seen: ≤ 1/100 “Walls” of galaxies are separated by huge voids: ≤ 1/100 Stronger telescopes will see huge red shifts: ≤ 1/5 Galaxies spin fast; dark matter keeps them together: ≤ 1/5 Neutrinos exist and have mass ≤ 1/4 So the probability of all of these happening by chance is ≤ (1/50)(1/40)(1/50)(1/100)(1/100)(1/5)(1/5)(1/4) ≤ 1/100,000,000,000 = less than 1 chance in 100 billion. Many other examples exist reducing this probability even more. InstructionsInstructions inin CosmologyCosmology • Huge Redshifts - Due to “numerous factors of error” • Space Expansion - Space moves and contains motion • Existence and Universe Location of a Focal Singularity in the Topology of Space - timeless and spaceless Paradise • Local versus Paradise Gravity • The Maturation of Space Potency into Mass Particles • Wavelike Manifestations and the Unqualified Absolute • A Rotating Universe - Einstein and Gödel • Solar System Origin • Solar Internal Temperature and Energy Sources • Physics and Chemistry Alone Cannot Evolve into Life • Garden of Eden - 1 mile down in eastern Mediterranean HugeHuge SpectrographicSpectrographic RedshiftsRedshifts •“The present relationship of your sun and its associated planets, while disclosing many relative and absolute motions in space, tends to convey the impression to astronomic observers that you are comparatively stationary in space, and that the surrounding starry clusters and streams are engaged in outward flight at ever-increasing velocities as your calculations proceed outward in space. But such is not the case.” Page-134 Line-1 Para-1 •“… this apparent speed of recession is not real; it results from numerous factors of error embracing angles of observation and other time-space distortions.” Page-134 Line-15 •“But the greatest of all such distortions arises because the vast universes of outer space in the realms next to the domains of the seven superuniverses seem to be revolving in a direction opposite to that of the grand universe. That is, these myriads of nebulae and their accompanying suns and spheres are at the present time revolving clockwise about the central creation. The seven superuniverses revolve about Paradise in a counterclockwise direction.” Page-134 Para-4 Y (North) Doppler Shift, dS/dt,dS/dt, Doppler Shift, the relative due to Alternating speed of the outer space object with respect to the Rotation position to Earth. Rotating Outer Outer space Space Zone object with combined angular velocity ω R S

θ Center of D Earth X (East) Rotation

Angle θ = ωt, t = time, ωR, RŠ D, ω = angular velocity, Max dS/dt= ± dS/dt = Doppler shift ωD, R D velocity SpaceSpace MotionMotion andand ExpansionExpansion

Space moves independently of the matter it contains. (1980’s “adjusted” Big Bang Cosmology) • “When the universes expand and contract, the material masses in pervaded space alternately move against and with the pull of Paradise gravity. The work that is done in moving the material energy mass of creation is space work but not power-energy work.” Page-134 Line-11 Para-2 • “Space is, from the human viewpoint, nothing--negative; it exists only as related to something positive and nonspatial. Space is, however, real. It contains and conditions motion. It even moves. Space motions may be roughly classified as follows: 1. Primary motion--space respiration, the motion of space itself. 2. Secondary motion--the alternate directional swings of the successive space levels. 3. Relative motions--relative in the sense that they are not evaluated with Paradise as a base point. Primary and secondary motions are absolute, motion in relation to unmoving Paradise. 4. Compensatory or correlating movement designed to co-ordinate all other motions.” Page-133 Line-33 Para-7 The Existence and Universe Location of Paradise • “Paradise is the actually motionless nucleus of the relatively quiescent zones existing between pervaded and unpervaded space. Geographically these zones appear to be a relative extension of Paradise, but there probably is some motion in them. We know very little about them, but we observe that these zones of lessened space motion separate pervaded and unpervaded space. Similar zones once existed between the levels of pervaded space, but these are now less quiescent.” Page-124 Line-19 Para-4 • “Space does not exist on any of the surfaces of Paradise. … Space does not touch Paradise; only the quiescent midspace zones come in contact with the central Isle.” (Page-124 Para-3) This fixed reference frame has a “universe location but no position in space.” Page-7 Para-4 • These quiescent zones of space exist both within each ultimate unit of matter (quantum) and also macroscopically between the moving galactic space zones. “The ultimaton, the first measurable form of energy, has Paradise as its nucleus.” Page-467 Para-5 Local and Paradise Gravity

• Ultimate units have a common nucleus – Paradise. “The ultimatons are not subject to local gravity, the interplay of material attraction, but they are fully obedient to absolute or Paradise gravity, to the trend, the swing, of the universal and eternal circle of the universe of universes. Ultimatonic energy does not obey the linear or direct gravity attraction of near-by or remote material masses, but it does ever swing true to the circuit of the great ellipse of the far-flung creation.” Page-465 Para-2 • “Universal Gravity. All forms of force-energy--material, mindal, or spiritual--are alike subject to those grasps, those universal presences, which we call gravity. Page-131 Line-34 Para-5 • “These four circuits are not related to the nether Paradise force center; they are neither force, energy, nor power circuits. They are absolute presence circuits and like God are independent of time and space.” Page-131 Line-44 Para-6 The Maturation of Space Potency into Matter • “The force organizers initiate those changes and institute those modifications of space-force which eventuate in energy; the power directors transmute energy into matter; thus the material worlds are born.” Page-468 Para-2 • “Primary Master Force Organizers are the manipulators of the primordial or basic space-forces of the Unqualified Absolute; they are nebulae creators. They are the living instigators of the energy cyclones of space and the early organizers and directionizers of these gigantic manifestations. These force organizers transmute primordial force (pre-energy not responsive to direct Paradise gravity) into primary or puissant energy, energy transmuting from the exclusive grasp of the Unqualified Absolute to the gravity grasp of the Isle of Paradise. They are thereupon succeeded by the associate force organizers, who continue the process of energy transmutation from the primary through the secondary or gravity-energy stage. Page-329 Line-19 Para-3 100 Ultimatons = 1 Electron

Non-moving midspace zones surrounding pervaded space Ultimatons

100 ultimatons (blue) generate 100 octaves of wavelike energy. Each blue diameter is 1/2 that of the next larger diameter. 3 primary and 7 mixed intermediate diameters exist within each octave allowing for intermediate energy levels - colors or tones. White Background is a “force blanket” of energy, capable of very quick (faster than light) quantum wavelike reactions. Wavelike Manifestations • “The quantity of energy taken in or given out when electronic or other positions are shifted is always a "quantum" or some multiple thereof, but the vibratory or wavelike behavior of such units of energy is wholly determined by the dimensions of the material structures concerned. Such wavelike energy ripples are 860 times the diameters of the ultimatons, electrons, atoms, or other units thus performing.” Page-474 Line-15 Para-4 • “The excitation of the content of space produces a wavelike reaction to the passage of rapidly moving particles of matter, just as the passage of a ship through water initiates waves of varying amplitude and interval.” Page-476 Line-4 Para-1 • Wavelike Manifestations, perfectly synchronized with electronic velocity and ultimatonic revolutions, are a “space-force reaction of the Unqualified Absolute”. Universe reactions “appear between an act and its consequences” (proved by quantum mechanical experiments and J. Bell’s Theorem in 1964). AA RotatingRotating UniverseUniverse -- EinsteinEinstein andand GödelGödel • Einstein’s universe: • “Principle of Relativity”: There is no way to say that one object is really at rest and the other is really moving with constant velocity. • The speed of light is constant in all such moving frames • Gödel’s universes: Everything rotates around every position! • The Urantia Book: • The speed of light is constant and E = mc2, but • All energy rotates around the same Center! • The universe has a non-moving geographic Center; there IS a unique position in the universe! Contradicts Einstein’s “principle of relativity”. Solar System Origin

• “Today, your sun has achieved relative stability, but its eleven and one-half year sunspot cycles betray that it was a variable star in its youth. In the early days of your sun the continued contraction and consequent gradual increase of temperature initiated tremendous convulsions on its surface. These titanic heaves required three and one-half days to complete a cycle of varying brightness. This variable state, this periodic pulsation, rendered your sun highly responsive to certain outside influences which were to be shortly encountered.” Page-655 Line-32 Para-8 • “As the Angona system drew nearer, the solar extrusions grew larger and larger; more and more matter was drawn from the sun to become independent circulating bodies in surrounding space. This situation developed for about five hundred thousand years until Angona made its closest approach to the sun; whereupon the sun, in conjunction with one of its periodic internal convulsions, experienced a partial disruption; from opposite sides and simultaneously, enormous volumes of matter were disgorged. From the Angona side there was drawn out a vast column of solar gases, rather pointed at both ends and markedly bulging at the center, which became permanently detached from the immediate gravity control of the sun.” Page-656 Line-10 Para-2 Solar System Origin (2)

Evidence for the passing “dark island” scenario - an alternate, now discarded theory: • Retrograde (reverse) orbits prove the solar system has foreign objects; therefore a collision occurred • Average plane of orbits of planets is 5+% off the plane of sun’s equator in the plane defined by the line of Angona’s approach. This would not be true in a strictly condensation model • Extremely elongated orbit of recently discovered planetoid, Sedna, corroborates such a passing heavy object • Three outer planets of Angona captured by sun Solar Internal Temperature and Energy Sources •“The internal temperature of many of the suns, even your own, is much higher than is commonly believed.” “The surface temperature of your sun is almost 6,000 degrees, but it rapidly increases as the interior is penetrated until it attains the unbelievable height of about 35,000,000 degrees in the central regions. (All of these temperatures refer to your Fahrenheit scale.)” Page-463 Para-1 and Para- 2 •“…the sources of solar energy, named in the order of their importance, are: 1. Annihilation of atoms and, eventually, of electrons, …” Page-463 Para-3 •“You might try to visualize 35,000,000 degrees of heat, in association with certain gravity pressures, as the electronic boiling point. Under such pressure and at such temperature all atoms are degraded and broken up into their electronic and other ancestral components; even the electrons and other associations of ultimatons may be broken up, but the suns are not able to degrade the ultimatons.” Page-463 Para-5 TeachableTeachable MindMind -- NecessaryNecessary forfor EvolutionaryEvolutionary LifeLife

“Physics and chemistry alone cannot explain how a human being evolved out of the primeval protoplasm of the early seas. The ability to learn, memory and differential response to environment, is the endowment of mind. The laws of physics are not responsive to training; they are immutable and unchanging. The reactions of chemistry are not modified by education; they are uniform and dependable. Aside from the presence of the Unqualified Absolute, electrical and chemical reactions are predictable. But mind can profit from experience, can learn from reactive habits of behavior in response to repetition of stimuli.” Page-738 Line-1 Para-1

‘In the later evolution of mortal creatures the Life Carrier Sons provide the physical body, fabricated out of the existing organized material of the realm, while the Universe Spirit contributes the "breath of life.” ’ Page-376 Para-2 Soon-Coming Validation

• Scientists only respect confirmed predictions. • Without rather spectacular scientific predictions most scientists would never entertain the possibility of an actual communication from “outer space” in the form of a published book.

•Discovery of Atlantis - the First Garden of Eden Soon-Coming Validation (p.2)

• Scientists will say: • There are several (four) outer space “rings of galaxies” (outer space zones) (<5 years) • The Andromeda Galaxy is “closer than we thought” (by a factor of 3). (On May 30, 2005 scientists announced: “The Andromeda Galaxy is three times bigger than we thought”.) • Spectrographic reinterpretation of Hubble’s Law - the redshift to distance linear relationship - does not imply “big bang”. • Overthrow of the big bang cosmology (<15 years) by a rotating universe (<20 years) • Discovery of a world of non-breathing, (electrically powered ?) humanoids “in close proximity” to Earth (Jupiter’s Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system?) The Future

• Time and Space. Time as the moving image of eternity; space as the fleeting shadow (projection) of Paradise realities • Circular simultaneity of experience replacing the linear “flow of events” • The Bestowal of Life - design of life recognized • The Seven Master Spirits and their Seven Different Superuniverses recognized • The Supreme Being - the unity of the universe known • Supreme and Ultimate experience in eternity known • The Spirit Nucleus - that there is One is known TimeTime andand SpaceSpace

• “It is helpful to man's cosmic orientation to attain all possible comprehension of Deity's relation to the cosmos. While absolute Deity is eternal in nature, the Gods are related to time as an experience in eternity. In the evolutionary universes eternity is temporal everlastingness--the everlasting now.” Page-1295 Line-2 Para-1 • Time is the “moving image of eternity” and space is the “reflected shadow” (projection) of Paradise realities. • “Mankind is slow to perceive that, in all that is personal, matter is the skeleton of morontia, and that both are the reflected shadow of enduring spirit reality. How long before you will regard time as the moving image of eternity and space as the fleeting shadow of Paradise realities?” Page-2021 Para-2 CircularCircular SimultaneitySimultaneity

• From Jesus in The Urantia Book, we read, “Animals do not sense time as does man, and even to man, because of his sectional and circumscribed view, time appears as a succession of events; but as man ascends, as he progresses inward, the enlarging view of this event procession is such that it is discerned more and more in its wholeness. That which formerly appeared as a succession of events then will be viewed as a whole and perfectly related cycle; in this way will circular simultaneity increasingly displace the onetime consciousness of the linear sequence of events.” Page-1439 Line-19 Para-3 TheThe BestowalBestowal ofof EnergyEnergy andand LifeLife

• “Subsequent to even still greater progress and further discoveries, after Urantia has advanced immeasurably in comparison with present knowledge, though you should gain control of the energy revolutions of the electrical units of matter to the extent of modifying their physical manifestations--even after all such possible progress, forever will scientists be powerless to create one atom of matter or to originate one flash of energy or ever to add to matter that which we call life.” Page-468 Line-4 Para-1 • “The force organizers initiate those changes and institute those modifications of space-force which eventuate in energy; the power directors transmute energy into matter; thus the material worlds are born. The Life Carriers initiate those processes in dead matter which we call life, material life. The Morontia Power Supervisors likewise perform throughout the transition realms between the material and the spiritual worlds. The higher spirit Creators inaugurate similar processes in divine forms of energy, and there ensue the higher spirit forms of intelligent life.” Page-468 Line-11 Para-2 SevenSeven AbsolutesAbsolutes ofof InfinityInfinity

• The Seven Absolutes of Infinity, the “premise of reality” • Spiritual-mindal-physical, personal-nonpersonal, potential-actual, … all distinctions are therein contained • The Seven Master Spirits - seven different superuniverses • The 49 Reflective Spirits and Majeston – chief of Reflectivity • The Supreme Being - Supreme and Ultimate experience – the Gods are related to time as an experience in eternity • “Matter and spirit and the state intervening between them are three interrelated and interassociated levels of the true unity of the real universe. Regardless of how divergent the universe phenomena of fact and value may appear to be, they are, after all, unified in the Supreme.” Page-1477 Line-23 Para-4 TheThe SpiritSpirit NucleusNucleus

• “Mortal man has a spirit nucleus. The mind is a personal-energy system existing around a divine spirit nucleus and functioning in a material environment. Such a living relationship of personal mind and spirit constitutes the universe potential of eternal personality.” Page-142 Line-1 Para-1 • “Reality of material existence attaches to unrecognized energy as well as to visible matter. When the energies of the universe are so slowed down that they acquire the requisite degree of motion, then under favorable conditions, these same energies become mass. And forget not, the mind which can alone perceive the presence of apparent realities is itself also real. And the fundamental cause of this universe of energy-mass, mind, and spirit, is eternal--it exists and consists in the nature and reactions of the Universal Father and his absolute co-ordinates.” Page-1477 Line-27 Para-5 References • [Aus04] Charles F. Austerberry, In “Evolution of modern cosmology: A brief history”, Dept. of Biology, Creighton University, http://puffin.creighton.edu/Austerberry/SRP420/SRP420_2004/Cosmology.html • [Bar98] Tomasz Barszczak, “Super-Kamiokande detector”, U. of California Irvine, 1998, http://www.ps.uci.edu/~superk/neutrino.html • [Cor82] William R. Corliss, “The Rims Of Galaxies Spin Too Fast”, Science Frontiers #19, JAN-FEB 1982, http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf019/sf019p03.htm • [Göd49] Kurt Gödel, “An Example of a New Type of Cosmological Solutions of Einstein’s Field Equations of Gravitation”, Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol 21, Number 3, July, 1949. • [Har03] Richard Harter, “Piltdown Man”, 2003, http://home.tiac.net/~cri_a/piltdown/piltdown.html#introduction • [Hug05] Patrick Hughes, “On the Shoulders of Giants”, NASA Earth Observatory, 2005, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Giants/Wegener/ • [Inf05] http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762175.html • [Mul00] Larry Mullins with Dr. Meredith Sprunger, A History of the Urantia Papers, Penumbra Press, Boulder, Co., 2000. • [Orf01] Emilio Orfei, Editor, “Review of Pathology of the Liver”, Department of Pathology, Loyola University of Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, Apr 10, 2001. http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/MedEd/orfpath/repair.htm • [Rod05] Rodrigo Ibata, Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg in France, Reuters News Release, May 30, 2005, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/05/30/space.andromeda.reut/ ReferencesReferences (2)(2) • [Rot99] Carl A. Rotter, Department of Physics, University of Dallas, 1999. http://www.as.wvu.edu/coll03/phys/www/rotter/phys201/2_Matter_Space_Time/Ex panding.html • [Sco05] “Redshift”, Donald E. Scott, http://www.electric-cosmos.org/arp.htm, Important Web site for the alternative red shifts • [Sci90] Science Frontiers #67, JAN-FEB 1990. © 1990-2000 William R. Corliss, http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf067/sf067a08.htm • [Svi96] Egils Sviestins, “Rotating Universes and Time Traveling”, http://www.ettnet.se/~egils/essay/essay.html • [Tal02] Stefan Tallqvist, “The electron model”, 2002 http://www.vtt.fi/tte/samba/staff/st/electron.html • [Wag96] Ben Waggoner, “Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)”, University of California, Berkeley, Museum of Paleontology, http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/wegener.html • [Wei05] Anne Weil, “Plate Tectonics: The Rocky History of an Idea”, the University of California Berkeley Museum of Paleontology, 2005, http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/techist.html • [Wik05] “Galaxy”, Wikipedia, 2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy • [Wor97] World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, 1997: 205. The Coming Scientific Validation of the Urantia Book Philip Calabrese

1. Introduction Although The Urantia Book was first published in 1955, already by 1942 it was “fixed” and by 1946 the final versions of the 1st edition plates were in the vault of printer RR Donnelley & Sons of Chicago, ready to produce 10,000 copies. [Mul00] Without fanfare the book was published and copies sent to prominent people of the time. The reaction was a resounding sound of one hand clapping. And so it has been pretty much ever since except for a few people here and there from all over the world who have found a real value, a great value, even an immense value in the pages of what we recognize to be the “Fifth Epochal Revelation” of scientific facts and spiritual truth to our world, Urantia.

Was The Urantia Book written by human beings? Imagine some people cooperating in the endeavor of quietly putting the Urantia Papers together.

That isn’t a laptop computer they are bending over. It’s a typewriter since there were no computers at that time. Their research team was charged to find the best human writers in astronomy, geology, paleontology, chemistry, physics, biology, botany, and other any other field you can think of, and then selectively use their ideas and sometimes even their phrasing but to avoid all of their blunders.

2. Evidence of Superhuman Authorship How could anyone ever scientifically come to the conclusion that a book has superhuman authorship? There is a way. Many contemporary scientists have imagined that the first extra- terrestrial communication would come from some similar civilization in the universe. Therefore they imagined establishing communication, for example, using the ratio of the length of the circumference of any circle to its radius – the non-repeating, non-algebraic (transcendental) number π.

But another possibility has been overlooked, that we would be contacted by superhuman life, be reintroduced to communication with the universe after a long severing of communication due to a rebellion in this part of the local universe, yes the Lucifer Rebellion. That possibility seems to have completely eluded most human scientists. The Urantia Book is primary evidence that we have indeed been recently visited by superhumans, who must be responsible for the existence of the Urantia Book on the planet.

2.1 Potentially discrediting pitfall avoided. A good example of the Urantia Book’s uncanny ability to avoid pitfalls is the Piltdown man double fossil hoax. As told by Wayne Jackson [Jac01]:

“In December of 1912, Charles Dawson, an amateur archaeologist, and Sir Arthur Smith Woodward of the British Museum of Natural History, announced that they had discovered a man-like skull in a pit near Piltdown, England. Along with the skull was a jawbone that appeared to be very ape-like except for the teeth, which were more flattened, as would be expected in humans. …”

When a second fossil Piltdown II later appeared in 1917 almost all scientists in the field were fooled including earlier skeptics Henry F. Osborn and William Gregory. According to master source-book sleuth and superhuman authorship skeptic Matthew Block [Blo05] it was Osborn who was the main source for the Urantia Book’s material on prehistoric man.

According to the University of California Museum of Paleontology “With few exceptions nobody suggested that the finds were a hoax until the very end.” [Har03] That didn’t come until 1953 at an international conference. Even as late as 1947 the fossils were still generally believed to be real. Over the years hundreds of scholarly articles were written about “Piltdown Man”.

“Eventually, it was discovered that the teeth had been ground down artificially to appear human and that it had been a sloppy job at that. Abrasion marks were still evident, the surfaces were flattened at different angles, etc. Moreover, as a result of chemical tests, it was determined that the jawbone had been stained chemically with potassium bichromate and iron salts for the purpose of making it appear ancient. …” [Jac01]

Consider now that had the authors of the Urantia Book swallowed this fraudulent “Piltdown Man” - “Eanthropus dawsoni” - that one blunder would have completely discredited the Urantia Book as divine revelation. It would have been the proverbial “smoking gun” of evidence to conclude that the Urantia Book was itself a fraud, humanly written.

But instead, while acknowledging and describing Neanderthal, Cro-Magnon, Java and Heidelberg Man, and even while affirming evolutionary theory’s main lines of thought, The Urantia Book nevertheless flatly states that no such “missing link” fossil will be found because none exists. The reference follows:

“Although the evolution of vegetable life can be traced into animal life, and though there have been found graduated series of plants and animals which progressively lead up from the most simple to the most complex and advanced organisms, you will not be able to find such connecting links between the great divisions of the animal kingdom nor between the highest of the prehuman animal types and the dawn men of the human races. These so-called "missing links" will forever remain missing, for the simple reason that they never existed.” [Page-669 Line-24 Para-4]

Between 1917 and 1953 only a very few scientists (< 2%) still questioned the Piltdown “missing link” fossils and the most prominent of them swallowed the double hoax. But while affirming most other elements of evolution, the Urantia Book authors chose to positively deny the existence of the “missing link”, a very minority position at the time rather than the majority opinion of their main source, Henry F. Osborn.

The Urantia Book might have conveniently ignored “Missing link man”, as many did, but virtually none who accepted evolution at the time flatly expressed what is in the Urantia Book already in 1946 and earlier, that there is no such missing link and that none will ever be found. The probability of randomly taking this position before 1946 is less than 1/50 to be generous about it. 2.2 Unpopular Positions and Scientific Predictions Confirmed. Many unpopular scientific positions including predictions that might have discredited the Urantia Book have already been corroborated by subsequent scientific progress. a) Pangaea and Continental Drift. Pangaea (“all lands”) was Alfred Wegener’s 1920’s theory of a single continent that broke apart and whose pieces “drifted” apart to form the present continental arrangement. At the time the orthodox theory to explain similar rock deposits and species of life on opposite shores of continents was somehow with hypothetical land bridges that once connected far away continents.

As pointed out by T. Bishop [Bis82] “Reaction to Wegener's theory was almost uniformly hostile, and often exceptionally harsh and scathing”

The University of California Museum of Paleontology writes: “Alfred Wegener (1880-1930). In 1929, about the time Wegener's ideas began to be dismissed, Arthur Holmes elaborated on one of Wegener's many hypotheses; the idea that the mantle undergoes thermal convection.” “Not until the 1960's did Holmes' idea receive any attention.” [Wei05].

But already by 1946 and earlier, and by 1955 at the latest the Urantia Book was on record saying: “750,000,000 years ago the first breaks in the continental land mass began as the great north-and- south cracking, which later admitted the ocean waters and prepared the way for the west-ward drift of the continents of North and South America, including Greenland. The long east-and-west cleavage separated Africa from Europe and severed the land masses of Australia, the Pacific Islands, and Antarctica from the Asiatic continent.” Page-663 Line-3 Para-1

Only a few geologists (< 5%) defended Wegener’s theory of continental drift until the 1960’s. It was largely rejected by 1929 due to Wegener’s offering too many implausible mechanisms to explain the “drift”. By the time he and Holmes suggested something like continents floating on liquid rock, they were ignored. Only later in the late 1950’s and 60’s was “continental drift” vindicated. b) Plate Tectonics. Continents float on liquid rock; this allowed “continental drift”; collisions cause mountains; shifting now causes earthquakes – all these are now accepted facts but were just unpopular conjectures when the Urantia Book said:

“The outer crust was about forty miles thick. This outer shell was supported by, and rested directly upon, a molten sea of basalt of varying thickness, a mobile layer of molten lava held under high pressure but always tending to flow hither and yon in equalization of shifting planetary pressures, thereby tending to stabilize the earth's crust. Even today the continents continue to float upon this non-crystallized cushiony sea of molten basalt. Were it not for this protective condition, the more severe earthquakes would literally shake the world to pieces. Earthquakes are caused by sliding and shifting of the solid outer crust and not by volcanoes.” Page-668 Line-27 Para-6 & 7 Notice that this “shifting” suggests that the “solid outer crust” can rub up against itself, and shift, something we now know occurs on a moving fault line.

We recently learned something at most hinted at in The Urantia Book - a mid-Atlantic ridge from which over time the ocean floor slowly moves up and spreads out in both directions. This movement or flow appears to have been the specific cause of the westward drift of the American continents.

“The land was periodically going up and down due to the shifting sea level occasioned by activities on the ocean bottoms.” Page-681 Line-28 Para-6 c) Mountain formation. Concerning the western American mountain ranges, the Urantia Book Says: “Near the close of the preceding geologic period much of the continental land was up above water, although as yet there were no mountain peaks. But as the continental land drift continued, it met with the first great obstruction on the deep floor of the Pacific. This contention of geologic forces gave impetus to the formation of the whole vast north and south mountain range extending from Alaska down through Mexico to Cape Horn. Page-689 Line-4 Para-1

Wegener had offered such a scenario to explain the western range of mountains in North and South America. This has now been substantiated and greatly elaborated with knowledge that the Urantia Book did not reveal at the time. One might say that the account could now benefit from revision in view of new scientific information learned since 1955.

Had the Urantia Book authors chosen a basically erroneous account, then that would have discredited it. The probability of randomly choosing Wegener’s position and randomly choosing the proper mechanism of continental drift is much less than 1/20. Lack of a detailed description here is not a disqualifier of super-human authorship.

So randomly choosing correctly in both “Piltdown” and “Wegener” is less than (1/50)(1/20)=1/1000. Factor in another 1/2 for mountain formation, and the probability is 1/2000. You see where this is leading. A sequence of likely pitfalls and unpopular positions and other positions can hardly ALL turn out well without superhuman authorship. Therefore the Urantia Book had superhuman authors. More support for this estimate follows. d) Injury Repair Cell Proliferation. “Many features of human life afford abundant evidence that the phenomenon of mortal existence was intelligently planned, that organic evolution is not a mere cosmic accident. When a living cell is injured, it possesses the ability to elaborate certain chemical substances which are empowered so to stimulate and activate the neighboring normal cells that they immediately begin the secretion of certain substances which facilitate healing processes in the wound; and at the same time these normal and uninjured cells begin to proliferate-- they actually start to work creating new cells to replace any fellow cells which may have been destroyed by the accident. Page-735 Line-7 Para-2

In affirming that “creative design” did have a part in evolution, the Urantia Book offers as an example how an injury causes cells to secrete chemicals that cause nearby healthy cells to start proliferating to repair the injury. This mechanism is just now being described, but our scientists only suspect that the blood carries such repair chemicals. For instance in discussing repair of liver cells in 2001 Dr. Emilio Orfei [Orf01], Department of Pathology, Loyola University of Chicago writes

“Reaction to Injury: Repair. The hepatocyte has a florid regenerative potential. In experimental partial resection in the rat, the remaining liver tissue starts to regenerate within a few hours. In 14- 15 hours DNA replication is seen. In 20-21 hours mitoses appear. In 32 hours mitoses are at the pick. In 2 weeks the remaining liver tissue has reached the weight that had before resection. Cell division takes place in the periportal zone. In pathological conditions, dead liver cells are replaced by proliferation of surviving liver cells. Hepatocytes, Kupffer cells, endothelium, bile ducts, vessels, all proliferate.”

“The factor(s) stimulating proliferation of remaining hepatocytes are not known. T[h]ey may be humoral. Indeed: 1) blood from a partially hepatectomized animal induces a proliferative response in the liver of a non- operated animal. …”

The Urantia Book also mentions that these chemicals could be used to improve treatment for injuries and to control certain dangerous diseases - cancer. Only a few intrepid medical researchers are just now exploring such approaches to cancer treatment.

Do you think maybe that the medical profession could find “immense value” in the cosmic instructions and scientific assertions of the Urantia Book? What is the probability of some medical paper correctly describing this back 1955? Virtually zero has to be the answer because the inflammation reaction and injury repair mechanism was totally unknown back at that time. [Pri05] If we assign another 1/50 to the probability of there being some human description before 1955 chosen by the authors that was correct, that brings the probability we’ve been estimating to less than (1/2000)(1/50) = 1/100000, one out of a hundred thousand, and we’re just getting started. More evidence will be offered below but first let us consider the “limitations of revelation”. Are we expecting too much from the Urantia Book’s cosmology?

2.3 The Limitations of Revelation. Some readers, and even supposed believers, claim over and over again that most of the Urantia Book’s science is already outdated - merely transient early 20th century cosmology. The numerous differences between contemporary science and the Urantia Book’s cosmology they see as “errors on the face” of the Urantia Book evident after “a few short years”. Since the cosmology of The Urantia Book is “not inspired”, since the Revelators were not permitted to reveal “unearned” or pre-mature knowledge, how factual and how valuable are its cosmological discourses?

These questions are being asked over and over again by certain writers who then answer their own questions by quoting a few favorite paragraphs that seem to imply that the Revelators were not permitted to give us accurate far-reaching cosmic instruction. Nothing could be further from the truth. Consider this statement by the relevant Melchizedek, which should always be quoted in this context: “Truth may be but relatively inspired, even though revelation is invariably a spiritual phenomenon. While statements with reference to cosmology are never inspired, such revelations are of immense value in that they at least transiently clarify knowledge by: 1. The reduction of confusion by the authoritative elimination of error. 2. The co-ordination of known or about-to-be-known facts and observations.

3. The restoration of important bits of lost knowledge concerning epochal transactions in the distant past. 4. The supplying of information which will fill in vital missing gaps in otherwise earned knowledge. 5. Presenting cosmic data in such a manner as to illuminate the spiritual teachings contained in the accompanying revelation.” Page-1109 Line-40 Para-7

Here the writer attempts to carefully qualify the previously described ‘limitations of revelation’ by allowing that the Urantia Book can nevertheless be of “immense value” by temporarily clarifying cosmic knowledge via the accomplishment of the five items above.

But these five immensely valuable items have just begun to occur. Presently very few scientists take the Urantia Book seriously, let alone authoritative, so scientific confusion has not yet been reduced by an authoritative elimination of errors; co-ordination of about to be known facts is just now happening and will continue; lost knowledge about past epochal events is just now being further demonstrated; missing gaps supplied by the Urantia Book are still to be considered by most scientists; and finally cosmic data has yet to be accepted by many scientists as a basis for the accompanying spiritual revelation. We are still quite early, but the times are upon us when many more of these things will be fulfilled.

“Mortal man is passing through a great age of expanding horizons and enlarging concepts on Urantia, and his cosmic philosophy must accelerate in evolution to keep pace with the expansion of the intellectual arena of human thought.” Page-1146 Line-22 Para-5

At this time our human cosmic philosophy needs some divine revelation to make adequate progress. This is when we need some help with our thinking about these matters, and the Urantia Book is the universe’s response! It is the long sought communication we’ve been hoping for, but it is much more than we have been hoping for. Yet, considering the plight of our world of wars and rumors of wars, surely if there is a Universe out there, they will send us a life-savor seeing how we are all in danger each day of drowning in a self-made morass of nuclear destruction and suicide bombing.

2.4 Astronomic Predictions Fulfilled (or Partially). Already much has been fulfilled. Many significant scientific predictions have already been confirmed. a) “No less than 375 million new galaxies”. New cosmic maps of the whole universe are now confirming the bold cosmic predictions made by the Urantia Book before 1955:

Speaking about our astronomical observations, The Urantia Book says, “…with photographic technique the larger telescopes penetrate far beyond the borders of the grand universe into the domains of outer space, where untold universes are in process of organization. And there are yet other millions of universes beyond the range of your present instruments.” “In the not-distant future, new telescopes will reveal to the wondering gaze of Urantian astronomers no less than 375 million new galaxies in the remote stretches of outer space.” Page-130, Para-5 & Para-6

About 1990 with the publication of early deep space photos our scientific estimates of the number of galaxies changed from “5 to 10 million” to “at least 50 to 100 million”. By 1997 World Book was saying "Studies of distant space with optical and radio telescopes indicate that there may be about 100 billion galaxies in the universe." [Wor97]

My how quickly scientific estimates change without hardly a look back or an admission of error in the enthusiasm of “new results”, which are just as proudly asserted with the same certainty as the previous beliefs. The Urantia Book has to live with what it said in 1955, and it beat the galactic science of 1986! b) “Walls” of Galaxies Separated by “Voids”. Before 1986 almost all contemporary astronomers and cosmologists fully expected to see a random distribution of galaxies in the universe as a whole. That was the prediction of our best non-Urantia Book reading cosmologists, consistent with their so-called “big bang cosmology”. With 30 or 40 years of hindsight over the Urantia Book, they still were wrong and the Urantia Book is right. What does that say about whose cosmology is obsolete? Consider the following report in Science Frontiers:

“The discovery of the Great Wall of galaxies and the regular clumping of galactic matter has greatly surprised astronomers, who have been emphasizing how uniformly distributed galactic matter should [be] -- according to theory, at least. Now, D.C. Koo, at the University of California at Santa Cruz, says, "The regularity is just mind-boggling." M. Davis, an astrophysicist at Berkeley, admits that if the distribution of galaxies is truly so regular, "...it is safe to say we understand less than zero about the early universe." (Wilford, John Noble; "Unexpected Order in Universe Confuses Scientists," Pittsburgh Post Gazette, May 28, 1990. Cr. E.D.Fegert)” [Sci90] “And from the University of Tennessee we read: “The first maps, published in 1986, were a great surprise to the astrophysicists. They had expected to find relative uniformity above the scale of the already-familiar galaxy clusters. Instead, the first surveys showed--and subsequent surveys have confirmed--that great clusters of galaxies are arranged in thin sheets or long filaments. The longest sheet detected, called the "Great Wall," extends hundreds of millions of light years across the maps.” [Nor05] These maps were first published by Margaret Geller and John Huchra [Huc01].

On the other hand, the 1955 Urantia Book authors predicted the future observation of a “vast procession of galaxies” bounded by relatively empty zones of space:

“The Outer Space Levels. Far out in space, at an enormous distance from the seven inhabited superuniverses, there are assembling vast and unbelievably stupendous circuits of force and materializing energies. Between the energy circuits of the seven superuniverses and this gigantic outer belt of force activity, there is a space zone of comparative quiet, which varies in width but averages about four hundred thousand light-years. These space zones are free from star dust-- cosmic fog.” (Page-129 Line-45 )

“… the vast universes of outer space in the realms next to the domains of the seven superuniverses seem to be revolving in a direction opposite to that of the grand universe. That is, these myriads of nebulae and their accompanying suns and spheres are at the present time revolving clockwise about the central creation. The seven superuniverses revolve about Paradise in a counterclockwise direction. It appears that the second outer universe of galaxies, like the seven superuniverses, revolves counter-clockwise about Paradise. And the astronomic observers of Uversa think they detect evidence of revolutionary movements in a third outer belt of far-distant space which are beginning to exhibit directional tendencies of a clockwise nature.” Page-134 Line-28 Para-4

The Dept. Physics & Astronomy at University of Tennessee in its Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology lecture notes in Astronomy writing a “The Great Wall” writes

“Redshift surveys have revealed the largest structures yet observed in the Universe. The prominent concentration of galaxies running diagonally across the northern (that is, upper) portion of the adjacent image has been termed the Great Wall. It appears that (Center of Galactic Ring) * It covers at least 85 Mpc in declination and 215 Mpc in right ascension. It is likely to be even larger because it is obscured by dust in the plane of our galaxy on one end and hasn't yet been mapped on the other. * It is less than 7 Mpc thick. * There is a corresponding structure in the southern sky termed the Southern Wall. Because neither the Northern Wall nor the Southern Wall have been mapped fully, it is even possible that the two join each other in the parts of the sky that have not been examined yet and are part of one much larger structure.”

“Preliminary deep space redshift surveys along narrow pencils of direction indicate a periodic structure suggesting that there may be additional Great Wall type structures out there, but we have insufficient information at this point to map them extensively.” [Ten05]. One Mpc = 3.26 million light years. See [Gel93 ] for picture.

These are striking initial confirmations of the very kinds of large-scale galactic structures that the Urantia Book predicted before 1955. But our most prominent contemporary cosmologists prior to recent observations predicted random distributions of galaxies consistent with their “Big Bang” theory of an exploding universe, a theory upon which they have built their reputations and research programs.

These folks will not easily give up their theory of an exploding universe, which is also how they conclude the age of the universe to be less than 15 billion years. They have and will continue to offer a sequence of possible defenses as new information continues to disagree with their theory. Already many claim that the background radiation proves the Big Bang explosion occurred, but there are other possible explanations for the background radiation, including perhaps diffuse matter throughout pervaded space equivalent to 1 electron per cubic inch.

An earlier example of this running adjustment of the Big Bang theory concerns hydrogen: “The relative amounts of hydrogen and helium (and much smaller amounts of deuterium and lithium) in the universe are not in good agreement with those predicted by the Standard Model, unless it is modified by an auxiliary hypothesis called “inflation”, which proposes that the universe expanded at a velocity beyond the speed of light for a short time. Alan Guth, a particle accelerator physicist at Stanford, proposed the inflation hypothesis in 1979.” See The American Physical Society [APS99], National Center for Supercomputing Applications [NCS95], for more information on these “walls”. c) Huge Redshifts. Before they were observed the Urantia Book predicted huge redshifts equivalent to recessional speeds of “more than thirty thousand miles a second”, but it also instructs that this does not mean the universe is flying apart.

“The present relationship of your sun and its associated planets, while disclosing many relative and absolute motions in space, tends to convey the impression to astronomic observers that you are comparatively stationary in space, and that the surrounding starry clusters and streams are engaged in outward flight at ever-increasing velocities as your calculations proceed outward in space. But such is not the case.” Page-134 Line-1 Para-1

Notice in the following table of data [Rot99] provided by Allan Sandage at Mt. Wilson and Las Campanas Observatories that the Hydra galaxy is now estimated to be receding from us at more than 30,000 miles/sec, just as the Urantia Book predicted such would be seen after larger telescopes were built. The recessional speed of Hydra is listed as 61,000 km/sec = (61,000 /1.609) miles/sec = 37,900 miles/sec, which is more than 1/5 the speed of light!

Galaxy Distance from Earth Speed (km/s) (Millions of Light Years- MLY) Milky Way 0 0 Virgo 78 1200 Ursa Major 980 15000 Corona Borealis 1400 21600 Bootes 2500 39000 Hydra 4000 61000 Perseus 350 5400 Hercules 650 10000 Ursa Major II 2700 41000 d) Dark Matter Holds the Universe Together. That dark matter holds luminous bodies together was first noticed in 1970’s. Wikipedia [Wik05], the free encyclopedia tells us, “In the 1970s it was realized that the total visible mass of galaxies (from stars and gas) does not properly account for the speed of the rotating gas, thus leading to the postulation of dark matter.” Similarly, Austerberry [Aus04] says, “The rotation of stars in our galaxy is inconsistent with the gravitational effects predicted for detectable masses in the galaxy. The same anomaly appears in galaxies other than our own. Where is the missing matter? … ”

But already in 1955 The Urantia Book was saying to anyone willing to read it: “The Dark Islands of Space. These are the dead suns and other large aggregations of matter devoid of light and heat. The dark islands are sometimes enormous in mass and exert a powerful influence in universe equilibrium and energy manipulation. The density of some of these large masses is well-nigh unbelievable. And this great concentration of mass enables these dark islands to function as powerful balance wheels, holding large neighboring systems in effective leash. They hold the gravity balance of power in many constellations; many physical systems which would otherwise speedily dive to destruction in near-by suns are held securely in the gravity grasp of these guardian dark islands. It is because of this function that we can locate them accurately. We have measured the gravity pull of the luminous bodies, and we can therefore calculate the exact size and location of the dark islands of space which so effectively function to hold a given system steady in its course.” Page-173 Line-3 Para-1

2.5 Neutrinos. There are many other examples of scientific statements in the Urantia Book that exhibit superhuman knowledge, too numerous to list. Another example is the existence and character of tiny charge-less particles – the so-called neutrinos.

While W. Pauli predicted neutrinos in 1931 and E. Fermi incorporated them into his 1934 theory of atomic decay, they were not actually observed until 1959. [Bar98]

The Urantia Book boldly affirms their existence as “certain small uncharged particles” and their role: “The integrity of the nucleus is maintained by the reciprocal cohering function of the mesotron, which is able to hold charged and uncharged particles together because of superior force-mass power and by the further function of causing protons and neutrons constantly to change places.” Page-479 Line-9 Para-2

“The presence and function of the mesotron also explains another atomic riddle. When atoms perform radioactively, they emit far more energy than would be expected. This excess of radiation is derived from the breaking up of the mesotron "energy carrier," which thereby becomes a mere electron. The mesotronic disintegration is also accompanied by the emission of certain small uncharged particles.” (Mesotrons are now called mesons.) Page-479 Line-21 Para-3

The Urantia Book said in 1955 that neutrinos are held by the “superior force-mass power” of the mesotron and that all energy particles have mass and proceed in straight processional lines. “Energy, whether as light or in other forms, in its flight through space moves straight forward. The actual particles of material existence traverse space like a fusillade. They go in a straight and unbroken line or procession except as they are acted on by superior forces, and except as they ever obey the linear-gravity pull inherent in material mass and the circular-gravity presence of the Isle of Paradise.” Page-461 Line-9 Para-2

But only in 1998 did our scientists discover that neutrinos have mass, and it has upset their “Standard theory”. “A Weighty Discovery in Particle Physics. In June 1998, an international team of Japanese and U.S. physicists unveiled strong evidence that elusive subatomic particles known as neutrinos have mass (or weight). These findings run counter to the standard model of particle physics—the basic theory about the structure of matter—which holds that these electrically neutral, weakly interacting particles have no mass. The discovery means that existing theoretical models of matter must now be revised to include neutrinos with mass.” [Inf05]

2.6 Probability of Human Authorship. While taking all of these unpopular or completely prophetic scientific positions with still no clearly obvious scientific blunders (unlike old science texts and human authors), what is the probability of such a sequence due to correct guesses? What is the probability of a human astronomer in 1955 predicting “no less than 375 million galaxies” in the far reaches of outer space when at the time a few hundred were known and as late as 1985 the estimate was 5 to 10 million? Let’s say 1/100 to be generous. Factor in the probability of predicting the large-scale structures now being seen - the “walls” separated by great “voids” - which until 1987 our scientists expected to be distributed randomly and sparsely. That’s another very low probability event, another 1/100 at best. Then there are the predictions of the huge redshifts now seen and the prediction of dark matter being a balance wheel for luminous bodies, which has now been observed as well. Each of those two have perhaps 1/5 probability to be generous, or 1/25 together. So all four together have probability less than (1/100)(1/100)(1/25) = 1/250,000. Successfully guessing these four and the earlier four with 1/100000 probability yields 1/25,000,000,000 or less than 1 chance in 25 billion.

Some of these may be larger and some smaller than estimated, but they each contribute more or less to make a very small probability of occurrence given The Urantia Book was written by humans. Therefore on statistical grounds I infer that super-humans must have written the Urantia Book and none of these predictions were random or lucky guesses.

These predictions have not been “cherry-picked” while other misses ignored. They have been chosen because they have been subsequently established by human science. Examples that are still open to question due to unreliable data have been left for a later date of evaluation. Some of them such as the time of light travel from Andromeda will come up as part of cosmic instruction from superhumans.

2.7 Scientific Credibility. If The Urantia Book is what it purports to be then the present lack of contemporary scientific interest will not always be the case. What would make scientists sit up and take notice of this “communication from outer space”, this revelatory gift from higher universe life? Only scientific evidence in a book of philosophy can impress a real scientist of the book’s worth when discussing the scientific aspects of the cosmos, not some re-warmed 20th century science ill- suited for the presentation of the spiritual truths of the next 1000 years. No, The Urantia Book must present truly impressive, albeit transient, science alongside of ageless spiritual truth.

The Urantia Book does make many such predictions and when they are scientifically observed they will be a mighty powerful attraction to scientists and others to take The Urantia Book seriously. So far that hasn’t happened, but even now events are gathering for such a spectacular corroboration in the recent explorations in the eastern Mediterranean for Plato’s Atlantis, which due to Robert Sarmast, we now know was also the Garden of Eden. (I know of one famous scientist and there are probably many other “closet UB readers” among professional scientists, who read and utilize the book, but who for obvious reasons prefer to keep that their secret.) But what will happen if Robert’s next expedition brings up sensational evidence just where The Urantia Book says it is? Will most scientists ignore that too? We may soon see. When will prominent scientists publicly give The Urantia Book credit for its scientific predictions?

My own personal favorite in this category is the sensational prediction that there is a non-breathing form of life on a sphere in close proximity to our world. As such we might be looking for the wrong kind of life in our solar system, entertaining too narrow a concept of life. If The Urantia Book is what it says it is, then there must be such a world in close proximity. Some readers think that implies the world must be in our solar system, but I suppose being within easy communication range, like a few light years away, might also be in close proximity in astronomical terms because we could become aware of each other by interstellar communication. Even that would be exciting. More on this later.

Why believe The Urantia Book’s science? Certainly it is not only because The Urantia Book states many spiritual truths. Rather, The Urantia Book’s science must stand on its own as well, at least for a while, during these times when it has yet to be taken seriously by most of the world. The real reason that I believe in the science of The Urantia Book and the authenticity of The Urantia Book as divine revelation to our world is because of its humanly improbable avoidance of error and the meandering convergence over the years of contemporary science to positions taken by the Urantia Book authors.

Summary of Evidence of Superhuman Knowledge. a) Not referencing paleontology fossils later found to be frauds while mentioning most others and asserting that no “missing link” fossil (nickname for the fraudulent fossil) would be found, b). Describing Pangaea, continental drift on molten basalt, and formation of mountains, c) Describing the injury repair chemistry, d) Predicting the existence and large-scale ring shapes of hundreds of millions of star systems, then unknown and unexpected before 1987, e). Predicting the extent of the “Big Bang” cosmic redshifts observed by contemporary science, even while saying that the supposed rapid expansion is due to many factors of error, f) Even before the problem of rapidly spinning galaxies was noticed predicting that dark matter keeps the rapidly spinning galaxies from flying apart and prevents many bodies from plunging into nearby stars, and g) Affirming the existence (before actual discovery) of Neutrinos, including that they have mass.

3. Instruction in Science and Cosmology Still to be Received by Urantia Scientists Given that super-humans wrote the Urantia Book, what were they trying to accomplish? As listed before the authors of the Urantia Book provided “instruction in cosmology” in order to facilitate the human understanding of the accompanying spiritual revelation. The authors were also permitted to reveal some information not otherwise mandated.

3.1 Huge Spectrographic Redshifts Due to “Numerous Factors of Error”.

a) Greatest Spectrographic Distortion. “But the greatest of all such distortions arises because the vast universes of outer space in the realms next to the domains of the seven superuniverses seem to be revolving in a direction opposite to that of the grand universe. That is, these myriads of nebulae and their accompanying suns and spheres are at the present time revolving clockwise about the central creation. The seven superuniverses revolve about Paradise in a counterclockwise direction.” Page-134 Para-4

Being a mathematician, I decided to investigate this possibility analytically. I was able to prove an interesting result. Apparently, such a situation as The Urantia Book describes with galaxies proceeding in orderly fashion in the first outer space zone adds up to a constant red (or blue) shift (depending on the angle of observation) to any object whose distance from the postulated center of rotation is greater than earth’s distance to that center of rotation. (That constant turns out to be the distance from earth to the center of rotation times the difference between the angular velocities of the Earth versus the first outer space object. See [Cal05A] for details.

Looking in directions relatively close to the plane of the Milky Way but far away from its center, no matter how far into an almost uniformly spinning ring of galaxies in the first outer space zone, the maximum redshift on one side would be larger by a constant while on the other side the maximum blue shift would be larger by the same amount. Other angles of observation have intermediate red or blue shifts. A test of this conjecture would involve observing this difference in the frequency shifts in the distant galaxies in the direction of Galactic latitudes on opposite edges of the Milky Way.

“From the outermost system of inhabited worlds to the center of the superuniverse is a trifle less than two hundred and fifty thousand light-years.” (32:2.11) Page-168 Line-6 Para-2

b) Galaxies Not Really Flying Apart - No Big Bang. While predicting the huge redshifts the Urantia Book also instructs: “But this apparent speed of recession is not real; it results from numerous factors of error embracing angles of observation and other time-space distortions.” Page-134 Para-3

Since the redshift is linear with distance, the huge redshifts might be due to the existence of some “reddening influence” in the intervening space. This is the “tired light” theory of redshift, but the light from distant galaxies looks just as clear as that from nearby ones, which presumably would not be the case were the light being changed. Therefore this possibility is downgraded. [Bal] “Time- space distortions” could easily include “tired light”, but it also allows for other distortions like unknown rotational motions and angles of observation. Only a very few poorly-funded and mostly ignored astronomers are courageous enough (and independent enough) to dispute the receding motion interpretation of the huge redshifts of the external galaxies - those beyond the so-called local group of galaxies, which The Urantia Book calls the seven superuniverses. One such astronomer is Halton Arp, who was Hubble’s assistant. Apparently Arp has evidence of gravitationally connected objects in close proximity but with very different redshifts. [Sco05]

Charles Austerberry [Aus04], Creighton University, outlines the history of the universe according to the Standard Model, Big Bang theory as follows:

“t = 0 a singularity 15 b. yrs. Ago - Universe began from a "singularity" The 4 (or 3) basic forces emerge. Before a millionth of a second, fundamental particles emerge & stabilize. Radiation (light and radio waves, and so forth) cannot move far. The universe is quite foggy (opaque) mostly due to the free electrons. Before a thousandth of a second, protons and neutrons form. In a few minutes, primal nuclei form. It takes almost a million years (at least 300,000 )for the universe to cool to 3,000 degrees Kelvin, enough for atoms to form (mostly hydrogen and helium). The universe's opacity dropped abruptly. 10-14 b. yrs. ago - primal stars emerge; giant galaxies evolve; heavier elements are formed in stars, and in supernova explosions. 4.5 b. yrs ago - our sun, planets, & earth are born 4 b. yrs ago - the first prokaryotic cells emerge 2 b. yrs ago - the first eukaryotic cells emerge 5 m. yrs ago - hominids evolve 200,000 yrs ago - archaic Homo sapiens 40,000 yrs ago - modern Homo sapiens” [Aus04]

Hubble’s constant H0 is estimated to be 72 km/s for each Mpc distance from earth. 1 Mpc = 3.086*1019 km, and 1 yr = 3.16*107 seconds.

Therefore the age of the universe = 1/ H0 = 13.6 billion years. [Dod05]

As a scientist and a religionist I can only say that I find this story even harder to believe than the creation story in the Book of Genesis. c) Galactic Rotations Imparted by Living Force Organizers. The Urantia Book instructs that nebular revolutions are added by living force organizers not simply the result of evolution. This answers the nagging question in cosmology and physics of where all the spin in the universe came from. Here the nebular mother of our sun is described:

“875,000,000,000 years ago the enormous Andronover nebula number 876,926 was duly initiated. Only the presence of the force organizer and the liaison staff was required to inaugurate the energy whirl which eventually grew into this vast cyclone of space. Subsequent to the initiation of such nebular revolutions, the living force organizers simply withdraw at right angles to the plane of the revolutionary disk, and from that time forward, the inherent qualities of energy insure the progressive and orderly evolution of such a new physical system.” Page-652 Line-9 Para-2

3.2 Motion of Space Versus Motion of Matter in Space. The Big Bang idea forced contemporary scientists to imagine how the distant galaxies could so quickly start sending light toward us almost 15 billion years ago from a place in space so far away from the “singularity” in space. Their answer is that at first the space itself was quickly moving out there, and that could happen effectively at apparently faster than light speed, almost instantaneously. One might respond ‘in what reference frame does the space move, compared to what? It’s as though all space just blinks into existence in one instant. But The Urantia Book is way ahead of our scientists on this idea of space motion:

“Space is, from the human viewpoint, nothing--negative; it exists only as related to something positive and nonspatial. Space is, however, real. It contains and conditions motion. It even moves. Space motions may be roughly classified as follows: 1. Primary motion--space respiration, the motion of space itself. 2. Secondary motion--the alternate directional swings of the successive space levels.

3. Relative motions--relative in the sense that they are not evaluated with Paradise as a base point. Primary and secondary motions are absolute, motion in relation to unmoving Paradise.

4. Compensatory or correlating movement designed to co-ordinate all other motions.” Page-133 Line-33 Para-7 “When the universes expand and contract, the material masses in pervaded space alternately move against and with the pull of Paradise gravity. The work that is done in moving the material energy mass of creation is space work but not power-energy work.” Page-134 Line-11 Para-2

By contrast contemporary cosmology measures motion in terms of the average redshift of intergalactic hydrogen. “We now use 21 cm emission from neutral atomic Hydrogen to map the motion of the disk.” [Str05]

3.3 The Existence and Universe Location of a Focal Singularity in the Topology of Space - Paradise. Not only does The Urantia Book describe space motion it also defines a non-moving reference frame in terms of which space motion can be measured, something that contemporary cosmologists can hardly do because they admit no such fixed reference frame to measure the motion of space as a whole. According to The Urantia Book this fixed reference frame is the center of rotation of the whole universe, a place called Paradise:

“Paradise is the actually motionless nucleus of the relatively quiescent zones existing between pervaded and unpervaded space. Geographically these zones appear to be a relative extension of Paradise, but there probably is some motion in them. We know very little about them, but we observe that these zones of lessened space motion separate pervaded and unpervaded space. Similar zones once existed between the levels of pervaded space, but these are now less quiescent.” Page-124 Line-19 Para-4

“Space does not exist on any of the surfaces of Paradise. … Space does not touch Paradise; only the quiescent midspace zones come in contact with the central Isle.” [Page-124 Para-3] This fixed reference frame has a “universe location but no position in space.” [Page-7 Para-4] These quiescent zones of space exist both within each ultimate unit of matter (quantum) and also macroscopically between the moving galactic space zones. “The ultimaton, the first measurable form of energy, has Paradise as its nucleus.” Page-467 Para-5. These ultimatons also swing around Paradise macroscopically. Paradise is the “the most gigantic organized body of cosmic reality in all the master universe”. Page-118 Line-3 Para-1

3.4 Local and Paradise Gravity. Ultimate units have a common nucleus – Paradise. “The ultimatons are not subject to local gravity, the interplay of material attraction, but they are fully obedient to absolute or Paradise gravity, to the trend, the swing, of the universal and eternal circle of the universe of universes. Ultimatonic energy does not obey the linear or direct gravity attraction of near-by or remote material masses, but it does ever swing true to the circuit of the great ellipse of the far-flung creation.” Page-465 Para-2

“Universal Gravity. All forms of force-energy--material, mindal, or spiritual--are alike subject to those grasps, those universal presences, which we call gravity.” Page-131 Line-34 Para-5 “These four circuits are not related to the nether Paradise force center; they are neither force, energy, nor power circuits. They are absolute presence circuits and like God are independent of time and space.” Page-131 Line-44 Para-6

3.5 The Maturation of Space Potency into Matter. “It is indeed difficult to find suitable words in the English language whereby to designate and wherewith to describe the various levels of force and energy--physical, mindal, or spiritual. These narratives cannot altogether follow your accepted definitions of force, energy, and power. There is such paucity of language that we must use these terms in multiple meanings. In this paper, for example, the word energy is used to denote all phases and forms of phenomenal motion, action, and potential, while force is applied to the pregravity, and power to the postgravity, stages of energy.” Page-469 Line-3 Para-1 a) Ultimatons. “The force organizers initiate those changes and institute those modifications of space-force which eventuate in energy; the power directors transmute energy into matter; thus the material worlds are born.” Page-468 Para-2

Not only does The Urantia Book describe the initiation of nebular rotations, it explicitly rejects contemporary definitions of force, energy and power declaring that we need more language. The Urantia Book describes the maturation of the space potency of the Unqualified Absolute (pervading all space) by two orders of living “force organizers” through stages from primordial force, through emergent energy, and finally to the assembly of ultimate material units and atomic systems. All of this is still to be discovered. Skeptics may hold that these are unproved, or that “there is no evidence” of them but not that they are re-warmed 20th century cosmology.

“Primary Master Force Organizers are the manipulators of the primordial or basic space-forces of the Unqualified Absolute; they are nebulae creators. They are the living instigators of the energy cyclones of space and the early organizers and directionizers of these gigantic manifestations. These force organizers transmute primordial force (pre-energy not responsive to direct Paradise gravity) into primary or puissant energy, energy transmuting from the exclusive grasp of the Unqualified Absolute to the gravity grasp of the Isle of Paradise. They are thereupon succeeded by the associate force organizers, who continue the process of energy transmutation from the primary through the secondary or gravity-energy stage. Page-329 Line-19 Para-3 b) Constructing Electrons from Ultimatons. In an early paper presented in 1973 I offered an idea of what an ultimatum looks like, how 100 concentrically arranged ultimatons make up an electron as I had gleaned from my reading of the Urantia Book. Since then Stefan Tallqvist [Tal02] has offered an alternative concept for how 100 ultimatons might aggregate into an electron as a compact stacked arrangement.

However, “The ultimatons are not subject to local gravity, the interplay of material attraction, but they are fully obedient to absolute or Paradise gravity, to the trend, the swing, of the universal and eternal circle of the universe of universes. Ultimatonic energy does not obey the linear or direct gravity attraction of near-by or remote material masses, but it does ever swing true to the circuit of the great ellipse of the far-flung creation. Page-465 Line-11 Para-2

“Ultimatons do not describe orbits or whirl about in circuits within the electrons, but they do spread or cluster in accordance with their axial revolutionary velocities, thus determining the differential electronic dimensions. This same ultimatonic velocity of axial revolution also determines the negative or positive reactions of the several types of electronic units. The entire segregation and grouping of electronic matter, together with the electric differentiation of negative and positive bodies of energy-matter, result from these various functions of the component ultimatonic interassociation.” Page-476 Line-42

Since ultimatons do not describe orbits and are not attracted by near-by matter but respond only to Paradise “circular” gravity, I conceived the 100 ultimatons of an electron arranged concentrically, with Paradise as their common nucleus. This still seems to me to be the right way. However, it may be easier to think of the 100 concentric spheres as 100 concentric donut-shaped rings of rotating space around a common Paradise center of gravity. The rings can slip past each other in 3 dimensions without collision, and by flipping motions can also be a sphere of rotating space. It also seems right to alternate the direction of rotations so that the energy is more balanced and can potentially be explosive.

While commenting on the waves always associated with the individuation of an ultimaton The Urantia Book makes it clear that an ultimaton is a “minute sphere”, not a wave: “The assembly of energy into the minute spheres of the ultimatons occasions vibrations in the content of space which are discernible and measurable. And long before physicists ever discover the ultimaton, they will undoubtedly detect the phenomena of these rays as they shower in upon Urantia. These short and powerful rays represent the initial activity of the ultimatons as they are slowed down to that point where they veer towards the electronic organization of matter.” Paper-42 Section-5 Para-2

“In the superuniverse of Orvonton there are one hundred octaves of wave energy. Of these one hundred groups of energy manifestations, sixty-four are wholly or partially recognized on Urantia. The sun's rays constitute four octaves in the superuniverse scale, the visible rays embracing a single octave, number forty-six in this series. The ultraviolet group comes next, while ten octaves up are the X rays, followed by the gamma rays of radium. Thirty-two octaves above the visible light of the sun are the outer-space energy rays so frequently commingled with their associated highly energized minute particles of matter. Next downward from visible sunlight appear the infrared rays, and thirty octaves below are the radio transmission group.” Page-474 Line-25 Para-6

Since there are 100 octaves of wave energy in the superuniverse and 100 ultimatons in an electron and ultimatonic motions result in waves of different length, but always 860 times the diameter of the particle, I imagine that the 100 concentric ultimatons give rise to 100 octaves of wave energy, and that the ultimatons can attain discrete energy levels between those octaves to expand or contract into, thus giving rise to waves of intermediate length and energy within the octave.

“Matter--energy--for they are but diverse manifestations of the same cosmic reality, as a universe phenomenon is inherent in the Universal Father. "In him all things consist." Matter may appear to manifest inherent energy and to exhibit self-contained powers, but the lines of gravity involved in the energies concerned in all these physical phenomena are derived from, and are dependent on, Paradise. The ultimaton, the first measurable form of energy, has Paradise as its nucleus.” Page-467 Line-26 Para-5

3.6 Wavelike Manifestations. Another area of confusion for Urantia scientists is the issue in quantum mechanics of “wave-particle duality”. In the late 1800’s Clark Maxwell unified electrodynamics with his famous equations that implied that light was always measured to have the same speed in a vacuum no matter the motions of the light emitting objects. Then Max Plank found the need to postulate a quantum for a property called “action”. Albert Einstein used this idea to show that light behaved like quanta in the photoelectric affect. Since then there has been almost continuous controversy about whether light is one or the other, or both a particle and a wave – a “wavicle”.

Later in the 20th century John Bell [Bel1964] proved that experiments already done proved that a measurement of either particle of a pair of widely separated but somehow “entangled particles” affects the state of the other particle at faster than light speeds. This is the “spooky action at a distance” that Einstein railed against to no avail.

The interpretation of these phenomena is still an active controversy in quantum mechanics to this day. It is often confused with the indeterminacy principle of quantum mechanics, which is that any measurement of the position of a particle changes its velocity and vice versa; therefore the position and velocity cannot be directly measured beyond a certain precision. This principle is affirmed by The Urantia Book: “It is impossible accurately to determine, simultaneously, the exact location and the velocity of a moving object; any attempt at measurement of either inevitably involves change in the other.” (Page-737 Line-2 Para-1.) However, this is a problem having to do with the conditions for measurement of position versus velocity, which partially conflict. This indeterminacy can be incorporated into quantum logic by using Boolean fractions to represent conditional quantum measurements and events. [Cal05]

The Urantia Book also throws light onto the “entangled particles”, “wave-particle duality” phenomena of quantum mechanics: “Primordial-force behavior does give rise to phenomena which are in many ways analogous to your postulated ether. Space is not empty; the spheres of all space whirl and plunge on through a vast ocean of outspread force-energy; neither is the space content of an atom empty. Nevertheless there is no ether, and the very absence of this hypothetical ether enables the inhabited planet to escape falling into the sun and the encircling electron to resist falling into the nucleus.” Page-476 Line-7 Para-2

“The excitation of the content of space produces a wavelike reaction to the passage of rapidly moving particles of matter, just as the passage of a ship through water initiates waves of varying amplitude and interval.” Page-476 Line-4 Para-1

The interelectronic space of an atom is not empty. Throughout an atom this interelectronic space is activated by wavelike manifestations which are perfectly synchronized with electronic velocity and ultimatonic revolutions. This force is not wholly dominated by your recognized laws of positive and negative attraction; its behavior is therefore sometimes unpredictable. This unnamed influence seems to be a space-force reaction of the Unqualified Absolute. Page-478 Line-46 Para-7

“The quantity of energy taken in or given out when electronic or other positions are shifted is always a "quantum" or some multiple thereof, but the vibratory or wavelike behavior of such units of energy is wholly determined by the dimensions of the material structures concerned. Such wavelike energy ripples are 860 times the diameters of the ultimatons, electrons, atoms, or other units thus performing.” Page-474 Line-15 Para-4

“The so-called ether is merely a collective name to designate a group of force and energy activities occurring in space. Ultimatons, electrons, and other mass aggregations of energy are uniform particles of matter, and in their transit through space they really proceed in direct lines. Light and all other forms of recognizable energy manifestations consist of a succession of definite energy particles which proceed in direct lines except as modified by gravity and other intervening forces. That these processions of energy due to the resistance of the undifferentiated force blanket of all space, the hypothetical ether, and to the intergravity tension of the associated aggregations of matter. The spacing of the particle-intervals of matter, together with the initial velocity of the energy beams, establishes the undulatory appearance of many forms of energy-matter.” Page-475 Line-38 Para-2

So the Urantia Book says that matter is composed of particles, not waves, but that waves are always generated in the unrecognized force content of space, apparently at faster than light speed. “Human beings are only just beginning to realize that the reactions of existence appear between acts and their consequences.” Page-951 Para-6 3.7 G$del’s “Rotating Universe” Solutions to Einstein’s Field Equations. In the early 20th century scientists were trying hard to interpret the famous Mickleson-Morley interferometer light experiments [Nav04], which looked for evidence of a medium in which light vibrated using the Earth’s motion around the sun. Unlike sound waves, light did not appear to be carried by some medium, some “ether” that did the vibrating and which would serve a fixed reference frame. In 1905 Albert Einstein published his first paper on “special relativity “, which started from scratch concerning the measurement of time and space in relatively moving reference frames.

Einstein based his theory on just two principles: “1) The laws by which the states of physical systems undergo change are not affected, whether these changes of state be referred to the one or the other of two systems of coordinates in uniform translatory (sic) motion. 2) Any ray of light moves in the ‘stationary’ system of co-ordinates with the determined velocity c, whether the ray be emitted by a stationary or a moving body.” [Ein05]

The first law implies that there is no preferred reference frame because they all give the same physical laws. There is no way to say that one object is really at rest and other moving. It could be the other way. Or they are both moving with respect to some other reference frame.

The second law was the experimentally verified fact that speed of light will be the same value when measured in either of two reference frames that are moving with constant velocity with respect to one another.

The Urantia Book seems to affirm the second law but definitely not the first. The Urantia Book affirms the famous equation E = mc2 proved by Einstein in a second short paper in 1905: “The increase of mass in matter is equal to the increase of energy divided by the square of the velocity of light.” [Page-474 Line-1] But it does not follow Einstein’s “principle of relativity”, which holds that there is no fixed reference frame. Instead, The Urantia Book affirms that there is such a fixed reference frame. The Urantia Book points to a “focus of space” that is not in space but located at the limiting surface of the relatively non-moving midspace zones existing between the zones of matter-pervaded space. These midspace zones converge on a non-moving non-spatial location, which can be taken as the fixed frame of reference for the universe. Even the motion of space can be measured relative to this fixed reference frame.

Einstein knew that there were other solutions to his equations that had a center, but he specifically discarded them on the grounds of aesthetics. However another scientist, a mathematical one, the great logician Kurt G$del, as part of a tribute to his friend Einstein, produced a paper [G$d49] showing that there was a class of “rotating universe” solutions to Einstein’s general field equations for his “relativity theory”.

These rotating universe solutions to Einstein’s equations have a peculiar characteristic, everything rotates, and because of the insistence that all positions are equivalent to each other as reference frames, the universe rotates about every position! [Svi96]

Now this sounds suspiciously like The Urantia Book’s claim that everything rotates around Paradise, not just macroscopically, but microscopically as well. By identifying all of the positions around which the universe rotates as being a single fixed place, Paradise becomes the “most gigantic organized body of cosmic reality in all the master universe”. [Page-118 Para-1] If everything rotates around the “focus of space” then Einstein’s equations can be satisfied with a Center. And if light is emitted from this non-moving focus within matter then it will not be affected by the motion of the emitting body.

3.8 Solar System Origin. The contemporary theory of the solar system’s birth starts with a rotating gaseous nebula, which then contracted by gravity, increased its spin, and evolved into the sun and planets. While allowing for this type of solar system birth, the Urantia Book makes a strong case for an alternate but now mostly discarded theory:

“Gravity-explosion Planets. When a sun is born of a spiral or of a barred nebula, not infrequently it is thrown out a considerable distance. Such a sun is highly gaseous, and subsequently, after it has somewhat cooled and condensed, it may chance to swing near some enormous mass of matter, a gigantic sun or a dark island of space. Such an approach may not be near enough to result in collision but still near enough to allow the gravity pull of the greater body to start tidal convulsions in the lesser, thus initiating a series of tidal upheavals which occur simultaneously on opposite sides of the convulsed sun. At their height these explosive eruptions produce a series of varying-sized aggregations of matter which may be projected beyond the gravity-reclamation zone of the erupting sun, thus becoming stabilized in orbits of their own around one of the two bodies concerned in this episode. Later on the larger collections of matter unite and gradually draw the smaller bodies to themselves. In this way many of the solid planets of the lesser systems are brought into existence. Your own solar system had just such an origin.” Page-170 Line-29 Para-6

Scientists are presently reluctant to accept such an origin because 99% of the angular momentum calculated for our solar system seems to reside in the spinning planets rather than in the sun, and that fact is taken as counter to the “passing star” theory, as it is called. They also dispute the possibility of drawing off sufficient matter from the sun by a near pass. This assertion seems unfounded because a tidal disruption of the sun could have fragmented it completely; therefore a partial disruption could have separated a lesser amount from the main solar body.

On the other hand, the Urantia Book states that retrograde motion as observed (and confirmed) in our solar system in some of the moons of Saturn and Jupiter never occurs unless foreign bodies have been introduced into the system. That appears to be a mathematically verifiable assertion, but I have not found mention of it anywhere else. Other evidence cited is that the average plane of orbits of the planets is more than 5% off the plane of our sun’s equator. Instead it is in the plane defined by the line of Angona’s approach.

The extremely elongated orbit of the new planetoid, Sedna, corroborates such a passing heavy object theory. (“a passing star” is now being offered by contemporary scientists to explain how Sedna got such an elongated orbit!) The Urantia Book also says there were three outer planets of Angona captured by our sun with the help of the sun’s nebular mother. Existence of such “foreign matter” has still to be determined, but there is such variation in the character of the solar system bodies that it is not hard to believe. Yet I never read this idea anywhere other than in the Urantia Book.

“Today, your sun has achieved relative stability, but its eleven and one-half year sunspot cycles betray that it was a variable star in its youth. In the early days of your sun the continued contraction and consequent gradual increase of temperature initiated tremendous convulsions on its surface. These titanic heaves required three and one-half days to complete a cycle of varying brightness. This variable state, this periodic pulsation, rendered your sun highly responsive to certain outside influences which were to be shortly encountered.” Page-655 Line-32 Para-8

The scientific jury is still out on the solar system origin, but the Urantia Book poses a scenario that deserves further examination. The Urantia Book asserts that our sun was then a variable star with a 3.5-day period and that the 11.5-year sun spot cycle is a remnant of that state. Variable stars are known to expand and contract periodically making them brighter or less bright accordingly. Add a passing dark gravity body that caused a “partial disruption”, that is, pulled the sun apart by tidal- gravity action. Page-656 Line-10 Para-2

During the maximum expansion period our then variable sun disgorged a huge column of mass on the near side and equal amounts of material on the other side thereby perhaps ridding itself of the angular momentum found now in the large planets and thereby avoiding complete fragmentation. In effect, by stretching out planetary arms the sun was able to reduce its angular momentum like a ballet dancer slows her spinning by stretching out her arms. The sun was thus able to avoid complete disruption, and the “arms” could immediately start circling the sun. The result is a more stable star with much less angular momentum than before, which is now represented in the swing of the planets around the sun and in their orbital spins. This scenario still fits the evidence.

“As the Angona system drew nearer, the solar extrusions grew larger and larger; more and more matter was drawn from the sun to become independent circulating bodies in surrounding space. This situation developed for about five hundred thousand years until Angona made its closest approach to the sun; whereupon the sun, in conjunction with one of its periodic internal convulsions, experienced a partial disruption; from opposite sides and simultaneously, enormous volumes of matter were disgorged. From the Angona side there was drawn out a vast column of solar gases, rather pointed at both ends and markedly bulging at the center, which became permanently detached from the immediate gravity control of the sun.” Page-656 Line-10 Para-2

“The nucleus of the physical system to which your sun and its associated planets belong is the center of the onetime Andronover nebula. This former spiral nebula was slightly distorted by the gravity disruptions associated with the events which were attendant upon the birth of your solar system, and which were occasioned by the near approach of a large neighboring nebula. This near collision changed Andronover into a somewhat globular aggregation but did not wholly destroy the two-way procession of the suns and their associated physical groups. Your solar system now occupies a fairly central position in one of the arms of this distorted spiral, situated about halfway from the center out towards the edge of the star stream.” Page-168 Line-6 Para-2

3.9 Solar Internal Temperature and Energy Sources. The Urantia Book states that the internal temperature of the sun is much higher than is presently thought and indicates that we are missing the most important energy source of the sun. (That might explain why our scientists have been observing only 1/3 as many neutrinos as they expect to account for the sun’s energy expenditures. However in 2002 additional experiments have shone that electron neutrinos change into another type of neutrino en route from the sun and that total is consistent with theory.)

“The internal temperature of many of the suns, even your own, is much higher than is commonly believed.” [Page-463 Para-1] “The surface temperature of your sun is almost 6,000 degrees, but it rapidly increases as the interior is penetrated until it attains the unbelievable height of about 35,000,000 degrees in the central regions. (All of these temperatures refer to your Fahrenheit scale.) “ [Page-463 Para-2] “… the sources of solar energy, named in the order of their importance, are: 1. Annihilation of atoms and, eventually, of electrons, …” Only second does The Urantia Book list “Transmutation of elements, including the radioactive group of energies thus liberated.” Page-463 Para-3

“You might try to visualize 35,000,000 degrees of heat, in association with certain gravity pressures, as the electronic boiling point. Under such pressure and at such temperature all atoms are degraded and broken up into their electronic and other ancestral components; even the electrons and other associations of ultimatons may be broken up, but the suns are not able to degrade the ultimatons.” Page-463 Line-32 Para-5

3.10 Physics and Chemistry Alone Cannot Evolve into Life. “Physics and chemistry alone cannot explain how a human being evolved out of the primeval protoplasm of the early seas. The ability to learn, memory and differential response to environment, is the endowment of mind. The laws of physics are not responsive to training; they are immutable and unchanging. The reactions of chemistry are not modified by education; they are uniform and dependable. Aside from the presence of the Unqualified Absolute, electrical and chemical reactions are predictable. But mind can profit from experience, can learn from reactive habits of behavior in response to repetition of stimuli. Page-738 Line-1 Para-1

This cosmic instruction should not really be necessary, but we are bombarded by mechanists who use their minds to deny that mind and life is anything more than matter and energy. They seek to teach computers how to learn like humans and even attain consciousness; they fail to notice that teachable mind is more than physics and chemistry.

4. Soon-Coming Scientific Validation of the Urantia Book’s Cosmology. If The Urantia Book is what it purports to be then the present lack of contemporary scientific interest will not always be the case. What would make scientists sit up and take notice of this “communication from outer space”, this revelatory gift from higher universe life? Only scientific evidence in a book of philosophy can impress a real scientist of the book’s worth when discussing the scientific aspects of the cosmos, not some re-warmed 20th century science ill-suited for the presentation of the spiritual truths of the next 1000 years. No, The Urantia Book must present truly impressive, albeit transient, science alongside of ageless truth.

The Urantia Book has made many predictions and when they are scientifically observed that will be a mighty powerful attraction to scientists and others to take The Urantia Book seriously, and not just scientifically.

However without a very spectacular prediction most scientists will never entertain the possibility of an actual communication from higher order beings via a published book. Scientists respect confirmed predictions. But typically they wouldn’t take a serious look at a “book of revelation” without some very dramatic fulfilled prediction.

So far that hasn’t happened, but even now events are gathering for such a spectacular corroboration. I refer to the recent explorations in the eastern Mediterranean for Plato’s Atlantis, which due to research scientist Robert Sarmast, we now know was also the first Garden of Eden! That is quite a nice “co-ordination of known or about-to-be-known facts and observations”. What will happen if Robert’s next expedition brings up sensational evidence just where The Urantia Book says it is? Will scientists ignore that too? We may soon see. (I know of one, and there may be many other “closet UB readers” among professional scientists, who read and utilize the book, but who for obvious reasons prefer to keep that their secret.)

My own personal candidate in this category is the Urantia Book’s prediction that there is a rare type of non-breathing humanoid life on a sphere in close proximity to our world. [ As such we might be looking for the wrong kind of life in our solar system, entertaining too narrow a concept of life. If The Urantia Book is what it says it is, then there must be such a world in close proximity. Some people think that implies the world must be in our solar system, but I suppose being within easy communication range, like a few light years away, might also be in close proximity in astronomical terms because we could become aware of each other by interstellar communication. Even that would be exciting.

4.1 Discovery of Atlantis - the First Garden of Eden. Already Robert Sarmast [Sar03] has made on-site discoveries a mile under water near Cyprus. Expect more headlines at any time.

4.2 The Andromeda Galaxy is “Closer than Scientists Thought”. The Andromeda galaxy being visible with the naked eye was designated M31 by Edwin Hubble. Unlike so many other galaxies found by Hubble, it is blue shifted.

a) Distance Measurements. Many people, especially skeptics, but some believers as well, have pointed to The Urantia Book’s statement about the time of light travel from Andromeda being “almost one million years” [Page-170 Para-1] as an error on the face of the cosmology. They assume that the current distance estimate of 2.7 light years is accurate and reliable enough to base further conclusions on it even conclusions about the motivation of the superhuman authors for putting into the Urantia Book what they supposedly knew to be inaccurate! Skeptics have pointed to it as strong evidence of human authorship.

However, the accuracy of distance measurements to celestial objects is still a controversial topic in the scientific community. “While it is well established that M31 is about 15-16 times further away than the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the absolute value of this measure is still uncertain, and in current sources, usually given between 2.4 and 2.9 million light-years - a consequence of the uncertainty in the LMC distance and thus the overall intergalactic distance scale. E.g., the semi- recent correction from data by ESA's astrometrical satellite Hipparcos has pushed this value up by more than 10 percent, from about 2.4-2.5 to the about 2.9 million light-years we use here.” [SED98]

One of the most dependable methods to estimate relative distance utilizes so-called variable stars. These stars expand and contract in regular periods. The longer the period and expansion the brighter the star becomes. Shorter period variable stars are dimmer in all phases than longer period ones. For instance, stars in the LMG are all about the same distance from us and those with equal periods are observed to have equal luminosity. Therefore by determining the period of such a variable star its relative distance can be estimated using the inverse square law. If a star with the same period as another star is 4 times dimmer, then it must be twice as far away as the brighter star.

Although this is an accurate measure of relative distances, the accuracy of the calibration of this technique is still uncertain and unreliable. That is, we have an accurate measuring stick with the Cepheid variable stars but we still don’t know with much reliability the length of the distance unit on our measuring stick. Consequently we know more accurately that the Andromeda galaxy is about 15 to 16 times as far away as the LMG than we know the actual distance to LMG.

The reason for this is that there are no variable stars close enough on which we can do some relatively accurate and independent parallax distance measurements. If we could independently and reliably measure the distance to even one of these variable stars then we would have a reliable estimate of the actual distance associated with that period and so all periods. But the LMC is too far away to measure distances by the parallax method.

In the parallax method the earth’s orbit around our sun functions as the base of a narrow triangle with the target star at the far away vertex. Seeing the shift of the target against the background stars allows an estimate of the angle between the viewpoints. Unfortunately other methods must be used to estimate the distance to LMG but they too have reliability problems.

In “Astronomy and the Superuniverse”, Troy Bishop [Bis82], documents with references that astronomy has calculated the distance to Andromeda, in 1907 at 19 light years, by stellar parallax in 1911 at over 1600 light years, by observation of novae in the mid-1920's at 800,000 light years, by Cepheid variables in the mid-1950's at 2.7 million light years. See Isaac Asimov’s The Universe From Flat Earth to Black Holes--and Beyond, Walker and Company, New York, 1980, for an account of the early evolution of our Andromeda distance measurements. Recently the distance estimate to Andromeda was changed upward again by 10% due to slight refinements in another distance measuring method used to calibrate the measuring stick. The bottom line is that as scientists we still do not know for sure what unit of distance is on our variable star measuring stick. In this context adjusting by a factor of 3 would not be shocking. There is always a ready explanation making everything reasonable!

b) News on Size of Andromeda. On Monday, May 30 2005, while I was preparing this paper, Reuters released the news from astronomers that the Andromeda galaxy “just got bigger -- three times bigger”. A sprinkle of stars once thought to be part of the central halo were measured to be moving in a way only consistent with their being part of the main arms of the circling star cloud. That means the diameter of the disk is 3 times what was thought last year.

"This giant disk discovery will be very hard to reconcile with computer simulations of forming galaxies. You just don't get giant rotating disks from the accretion of small galaxy fragments," Rodrigo Ibata [Rod05] said in a statement. No, you get them from the initiating actions of living force organizers as detailed earlier.

“The seven superuniverses are still growing; the periphery of each is gradually expanding; new nebulae are constantly being stabilized and organized; and some of the nebulae which Urantian astronomers regard as extragalactic are actually on the fringe of Orvonton and are traveling along with us. Page-130 Para-6

If in 2005 the estimated size of Andromeda can be discovered to be in error by a factor of three, is it hard to believe that there can be a similar error in the estimates of the distance to Andromeda? In deed, if Andromeda is actually 3 times closer than thought, that would mean it is 3 times smaller in each dimension than was thought, which would make the size estimate back shift again. But that is the nature of science, to correct its previous errors with the scientific method – the technique of experiment. A mathematical scientist conducts his experiments purely in the mind.

4.3 The Fourth and Last Outer Space Zone. Expect to hear about four distinct rings, “walls” or concentric rings of galaxies separated by relative empty space. These huge rings of billions of galaxies will also be found to be rotating in alternating directions. The center of these common rotations will be found to be the same center around which travel the “local group”, the 7 great super-galactic elongated elliptical arms of the grand universe circling the same macroscopic Center.

“The Quartan Space Level. This, the final and largest corps, consists of 24,010 Master Architects, and if our former conjectures are valid, it must be related to the fourth and last of the ever- increasing-sized universes of outer space.” Page-351 Line-17 Para-4 These Master Architects are eternal beings working on the ultimate (transcendental) level of reality, prior to all finite beginnings and after all finite endings, thereby joining the finite realms with the eternal realms of eternal Havona. Unifying all of this finite reality with eternal reality is the transcendental job of the Supreme Being and numerous Associates. These outer space universes were begun prior to the present “Local Group” (Grand Universe) of galaxies, not in a Big Bang explosion.

4.4 Spectrographic reinterpretation of the distance & redshift linear relationship.

Numerous “factors of error” in present day spectrographic interpretations will be identified. Look for errors due to: Earth’s angles of observation, Newly recognized rotations within our local group of galaxies (and associated Doppler shift corrections), alternating rotation of the local group (grand universe) and the first outer space zone of galaxies (the largest distortion), and still other space influences that shift light toward the red. The overall picture of the Master Universe of Central Paradise, Surrounding eternal Havona, 7 finite time-space Superuniverses (the local group), and four outer space zones full of billions of galaxies.

Beyond matter there is midspace, and beyond midspace there is the concept periphery of the mind, and beyond mind we are face to face with the Spirit of the Persons of the Eternal Son and our Paradise Father.

4.5 Overthrow of the big bang cosmology. Along with the overthrow of the Big Bang we will hear that the universe is ‘smaller than we thought’, and what seemed like rapid expansion now looks like orderly rotation, not explosive expansion.

“The successive space levels of the master universe constitute the major divisions of pervaded space--total creation, organized and partially inhabited or yet to be organized and inhabited. If the master universe were not a series of elliptical space levels of lessened resistance to motion, alternating with zones of relative quiescence, we conceive that some of the cosmic energies would be observed to shoot off on an infinite range, off on a straight-line path into trackless space; but we never find force, energy, or matter thus behaving; ever they whirl, always swinging onward in the tracks of the great space circuits.” Page-128 Line-34 Para-6

4.6 Discovery of non-breathing, electrically powered humanoids “in close proximity” to Earth

The Urantia Book predicts a non-breathing, intelligent race of people on a sphere close to Earth. Judging by characteristics of such worlds, Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest satellite in the solar system, is a candidate to be the world of the non-breathers. It is also possible that our moon harbors such a race still unnoticed by our still cursory exploration, but this seems less likely than Ganymede.

“Life on the worlds of the nonbreathers is radically different from what it is on Urantia. The nonbreathers do not eat food or drink water as do the Urantia races. The reactions of the nervous system, the heat-regulating mechanism, and the metabolism of these specialized peoples are radically different from such functions of Urantia mortals. Almost every act of living, aside from reproduction, differs, and even the methods of procreation are somewhat different.” Page-563 Line-43 Para-7

“You would be more than interested in the planetary conduct of this type of mortal because such a race of beings inhabits a sphere in close proximity to Urantia.” Page-564 Line-10 Para-2

Ganymede is a moon of Jupiter, the largest moon in our solar system with a diameter of 5,262 km (3,280 miles). It has no known atmosphere.

“The Galileo orbiter's first flyby of Ganymede discovered that Ganymede has its own magnetosphere field embedded inside Jupiter's huge one. This is probably generated in a similar fashion to the Earth's: as a result of motion of conducting material in the interior. It is thought that this conductive material may be a layer of liquid water with a high salt concentration, or it may originate in Ganymede's metallic core. Ganymede is the only moon known to have a magnetosphere.” [WikJ05]

It seems likely that energy intake for non-breathers is similar to the electrical energy intake of the humanoid midwayers elsewhere described. In 1990 Joe Pope [Pop90] published evidence of Ganymede being the likely sphere of the non-breathers.

4.7 Summary. So the soon-coming scientific verifications are:

a) Discovery of Atlantis- the First Garden of Eden (<2 years) b) The Andromeda galaxy is closer than once thought and light from there requires “almost one million years”, not almost 3 million years as is presently believed (<10 years) c) Forth and last outer space zone (<10 years) d) Spectrographic reinterpretation of the distance-redshift linear relationship (<10 yrs) e) Overthrow of “big bang” cosmology; universe is ‘smaller than we thought’ (<15 years) f) Discovery of non-breathing, electrically powered humanoids “in close proximity” to Earth – Ganymede, Jupiter’s satellite largest in the solar system, is candidate (Anytime we look for them, the sooner the better.)

5. The Future. The Urantia Book has much to say about the far distant future, not only the immediate future. Some revelatory information was mandated, and some lost knowledge is resurrected.

Scientists must reminded that not only religion has unproved assumptions: “All divisions of human thought are predicated on certain assumptions which are accepted, though unproved, by the constitutive reality sensitivity of the mind endowment of man. Science starts out on its vaunted career of reasoning by assuming the reality of three things: matter, motion, and life. Religion starts out with the assumption of the validity of three things: mind, spirit, and the universe–the Supreme Being.” Page-1139 Para-3

5.1 Time and Space. “It is helpful to man's cosmic orientation to attain all possible comprehension of Deity's relation to the cosmos. While absolute Deity is eternal in nature, the Gods are related to time as an experience in eternity. In the evolutionary universes eternity is temporal everlastingness-- the everlasting now.” Page-1295 Line-2 Para-1

Time is the “moving image of eternity” and space is the “reflected shadow” (projection) of Paradise realities. “Mankind is slow to perceive that, in all that is personal, matter is the skeleton of morontia, and that both are the reflected shadow of enduring spirit reality. How long before you will regard time as the moving image of eternity and space as the fleeting shadow of Paradise realities?” Page-2021 Para-2

“Throughout the first centuries of the Christian propaganda, the idea of the kingdom of heaven was tremendously influenced by the then rapidly spreading notions of Greek idealism, the idea of the natural as the shadow of the spiritual--the temporal as the time shadow of the eternal.” Page-1864 Line-8 Para-2

“Human personality is the time-space image-shadow cast by the divine Creator personality. And no actuality can ever be adequately comprehended by an examination of its shadow. Shadows should be interpreted in terms of the true substance.” Page-29 Line-44 Para-8

“The brighter the shining of the spiritualized personality (the Father in the universe, the fragment of potential spirit personality in the individual creature), the greater the shadow cast by the intervening mind upon its material investment. In time, man's body is just as real as mind or spirit, but in death, both mind (identity) and spirit survive while the body does not. A cosmic reality can be nonexistent in personality experience. And so your Greek figure of speech-- the material as the shadow of the more real spirit substance--does have a philosophic significance.” Page-141 Line-4 Para-1

If the universe is circular, ever moving around motionless Paradise at the focus of space, ever moving around Paradise in microscopic and macroscopic ways, then the motions we see may just be reflected images of time-less sequentiality on the space-less surfaces of Paradise.

The topology of matter and space is such that there is a (potentially dense) set of foci at the limit of the midspace zones existing within, between, and completely enveloping all moving matter. All of these midspace zones converge on a timeless, spaceless realm – Paradise, at the center of Infinity.

Although the midspace zones are potentially infinite, beyond the boundaries of matter-pervaded space they too end. But like Paradise the Unqualified Absolute and Universal Absolute have no limits. 5.2 Circular Simultaneity. An experience of circular simultaneity will replace the one-time linear “flow of events”. We all recognize that time is more than a moving point; our experience of time always includes an interval of it, a fragment of the never-beginning, never-ending eternal “now”.

“Time, space, and experience constitute barriers to creature concept; and yet, without time, apart from space, and except for experience, no creature could achieve even a limited comprehension of universe reality. Without time sensitivity, no evolutionary creature could possibly perceive the relations of sequence. Without space perception, no creature could fathom the relations of simultaneity. Without experience, no evolutionary creature could even exist; only the Seven Absolutes of Infinity really transcend experience, and even these may be experiential in certain phases. Page-1173 Line-30 Para-4

From Jesus in the Urantia Book, we read, “Animals do not sense time as does man, and even to man, because of his sectional and circumscribed view, time appears as a succession of events; but as man ascends, as he progresses inward, the enlarging view of this event procession is such that it is discerned more and more in its wholeness. That which formerly appeared as a succession of events then will be viewed as a whole and perfectly related cycle; in this way will circular simultaneity increasingly displace the onetime consciousness of the linear sequence of events.” Page-1439 Line- 19 Para-3

How you may ask can we ever imagine that time is not linear? Is it not true that the past is different from the future? Yes, it is different. For instance, we can change the future but not the past by deciding to act in the present. But every “moment” is already a time interval of longer or shorter duration. The theoretically infinitesimal instant has zero duration and the union of all such zero duration instants still has zero duration. There must be something more to a “time line” than points with no length.

Time always comes in intervals that include “now”, the eternally present. Without fragmentation, a time interval includes both the infinite past and also the infinite future. These time intervals also convey logical sequentiality, something that can also be conveyed by “circular simultaneity”.

“Time comes by virtue of motion.” Motion is more basic than time; all measurements of time are done by counting relative motions. One day is one revolution (motion) of the earth on its axis. Time is therefore the experience of periodic motion, and motion appears to be the change of an object from one of position in space to another. Motion in space has logical meaning, but that meaning can be gleaned without the necessity of linear motion.

The Absolutes of Infinity. “The seven prime relationships within the I AM eternalize as the Seven Absolutes of Infinity. But though we may portray reality origins and infinity differentiation by a sequential narrative, in fact all seven Absolutes are unqualifiedly and co-ordinately eternal. It may be necessary for mortal minds to conceive of their beginnings, but always should this conception be overshadowed by the realization that the seven Absolutes had no beginning; they are eternal and as such have always been. The seven Absolutes are the premise of reality.” Page-1155 Line-26 Para-1 Time gives us the intricacies of sequentiality and space gives us the relationships of simultaneity, but they are inseparable in wholeness of human experience.

5.3 The Bestowal of Life. “The force organizers initiate those changes and institute those modifications of space-force which eventuate in energy; the power directors transmute energy into matter; thus the material worlds are born. The Life Carriers initiate those processes in dead matter which we call life, material life. The Morontia Power Supervisors likewise perform throughout the transition realms between the material and the spiritual worlds. The higher spirit Creators inaugurate similar processes in divine forms of energy, and there ensue the higher spirit forms of intelligent life. Page-468 Line-11 Para-2

5.4 The Seven Master Spirits and their Seven Different Superuniverses. “Early in the projection of the superuniverse scheme of creation, the Master Spirits joined with the ancestral Trinity in the cocreation of the forty-nine Reflective Spirits, and concomitantly the Supreme Being functioned creatively as the culminator of the conjoined acts of the Paradise Trinity and the creative children of Paradise Deity. Majeston appeared and ever since has focalized the cosmic presence of the Supreme Mind, while the Master Spirits continue as source-centers for the far-flung ministry of the cosmic mind.” Page-1272 Line-11 Para-2

Each Master spirit has his own superuniverse. We belong to the 7th Superuniverse, Orvonton, while the whole 5th superuniverse among the seven is devoted to the power control beings. “Master Spirit Number Five. This divine personality who exquisitely blends the character of the Universal Father and the Infinite Spirit is the adviser of that enormous group of beings known as the power directors, power centers, and physical controllers. This Spirit also fosters all personalities taking origin in the Father and the Conjoint Actor. In the councils of the Seven Master Spirits, when the Father-Spirit attitude is in question, it is always Master Spirit Number Five who speaks. Page-187 Line-32 Para-4

5.5 The Spirit Nucleus. “Mortal man has a spirit nucleus. The mind is a personal-energy system existing around a divine spirit nucleus and functioning in a material environment. Such a living relationship of personal mind and spirit constitutes the universe potential of eternal personality.” Page-142 Line-1 Para-1 6. References

[APS99] American Physical Society, A Century of Physics Timeline, “The Great Wall of galaxies is found”, http://timeline.aps.org/APS/Timeline/Middle.cfm?EventID=150

[Aus04] Charles F. Austerberry, In “Evolution of modern cosmology: A brief history”, Dept. of Biology, Creighton University, http://puffin.creighton.edu/Austerberry/SRP420/SRP420_2004/Cosmology.html

[Bal05] “Redshifts and the Hubble Law”, Paul Ballard, The Heretical Press, Feb 3, 2005, http://www.heretical.com/science/redshift.html

[Bar98] Tomasz Barszczak, “Super-Kamiokande detector”, U. of California Irvine, 1998, http://www.ps.uci.edu/~superk/neutrino.html

[Bis82] Troy R. Bishop, “Astronomy and the Superuniverse”, http://www.starspring.com/ascender/astron/astron.html

[Blo05] Personal e-mail communication from Mathew Block in 2005

[Cal05] Philip Calabrese, “Toward a More Natural Expression of Quantum Logic with Boolean Fractions”, J. of Philosophical Logic, accepted for publication, 2005

[Cal05A] Philip Calabrese, “Doppler Shifts Due to Alternating Rotations”, 2005

[Dod05] “The Hubble Constant (H0) and the Age of the Universe”, Lecture Notes, Ana V. Dodgen, Department of Physics, California State University, Stanislaus, 2005, http://physics.csustan.edu/Ana/hubblconst.htm

[Ein05] “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies”, Albert Einstein, Annalen der Physik. 17:891, 1905, reprinted in The Principle of Relativity, translated by W. Perrett and G.B. Jeffery, Dover Publications, Inc., 1952. http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/einstein/specrel/www/

[Gel93] (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 1993. Northern data (top)--Margaret Geller and John Huchra, Southern data (bottom)--Luiz da Costa et al. Quoted in Cosmology, a Research Briefing, National Academy of Sciences.) http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/gclusters/soapbubbles-large.gif

[G$d49] “An Example of a New Type of Cosmological Solutions of Einstein’s Field Equations of Gravitation”, Kurt G$del, Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 21, Number 3, July, 1949.

[Har03] “Piltdown Man”, Richard Harter, November 16, 2003, URL = http://home.tiac.net/~cri_a/piltdown/piltdown.html#introduction

[Huc01] “The CfA Redshift Survey”, John Huchra, Harvard University, http://cfa- www.harvard.edu/~huchra/zcat/ [Inf05] http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762175.html

[Jac01] “Frauds in Science”, Wayne Jackson, Christian Courier: Archives, October 3, 2001. http://www.christiancourier.com/archives/scienceFrauds.htm

[Mul00] Larry Mullins with Dr. Meredith Sprunger, A History of the Urantia Papers, Penumbra Press, Boulder, Co., 2000. (Appendix 4 is Merritt Horn’s exhaustive “Changes in the text of Urantia Foundation’s printings of The Urantia Book”.)

[Nav04] “Michelson Interferometer”, Carl R. Nave, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/phyopt/michel.html

[NCS95 ] “Science for the Millennium”, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Expo/cosmos_nav.html

[Nor05] “Walls within Voids”, Michael Norman, NCSA/Univ. of Illinois. http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Cosmos/WallsVoids.html#SheetsVoids

[Orf01] “Review of Pathology of the Liver”, Edited by Dr. Emilio Orfei, Department of Pathology, Loyola University of Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, Apr 10, 2001. http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/MedEd/orfpath/repair.htm

[Pop90] Joe Pope, Notes, 1990, e-mail communications to Norm Du Val, personal e-mail from Norm Du Val, 2005

[Pri05] Dr. Richard Prince, ER physician, personal communication, 2005.

[Rot99] Carl A. Rotter, Department of Physics, University of Dallas, 1999. http://www.as.wvu.edu/coll03/phys/www/rotter/phys201/2_Matter_Space_Time/Expanding.html

[Rod05] Rodrigo Ibata, Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg in France, Reuters News Release, May 30, 2005, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/05/30/space.andromeda.reut/

[Sar03] Discovery of Atlantis, Robert Sarmast, Origin Press, 2003, www.discoveryofatlantis.com

[Sco05] “Redshift”, Donald E. Scott, http://www.electric-cosmos.org/arp.htm, Important Web site for the alternative redshifts

[SED98] University of Arizona, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), 1998, http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m031.html.

[Str05] Nick Strobel, “The Milky Way and Other Galaxies”, University of Washington, Astronomy, 17 Nov 95, http://www.maa.mhn.de/Scholar/galaxies.html

[Svi96] Egils Sviestins, “Rotating Universes and Time Traveling”, http://www.ettnet.se/~egils/essay/essay.html

[Tal02] Stefan Tallqvist, “The electron model”, 2002 http://www.vtt.fi/tte/samba/staff/st/electron.html

[Ten05] “Lecture notes in Astronomy”, Dept. Physics & Astronomy, University of Tennessee, http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/gclusters/gwall.html

[Wag96] “Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)”, Ben Waggoner, University of California, Berkeley, Museum of Paleontology. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/wegener.html

[Wei05] “Plate Tectonics: The Rocky History of an Idea “, Anne Weil, the University of California Berkeley Museum of Paleontology, http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/techist.html

[Wik05] “Galaxy”, Wikipedia, 2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy

[WikJ05] “Ganymede (moon)”, Wikipedia, June 2005, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganymede_(moon)

[Wor97] World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, 1997: 205. Seraphic Velocity

¾ By Troy Bishop

¾ By Merritt Horn

¾ By Bob Hunt Seraphic Velocity

Riddle of the Missing Light Years

by Troy R. Bishop

The Urantia Book description of seraphic velocity has led a number of readers to what could seem like an inconsistency in a book which many of them have embraced chiefly because of its amazing consistency. The problem is that the distances traversed by seraphim, as described in The Urantia Book, do not seem to consume the time that they should, given the velocity of seraphic travel that is also described in The Urantia Book.

The Urantia Book teaches that seraphim can travel at triple velocity: three times the speed of light, or 558,840 miles per second, averaging about 550,000 miles per second (23:2.15; 23:3.2; 39:3.8). This speed, in and of itself, presents no problem, even in view of the theory of relativity, which teaches that the speed of light (186,280 miles per second) is the limit of speed for any object. The Urantia Book also teaches that the speed of light is a limiting speed – for most non-enseraphimed beings (23:3.2). As nonmaterial beings, seraphim might be expected to be exempt from the material speed limit of relativity.

Expected transit times

The seraphim seem to perform activities throughout the confines of the local universe, and even beyond, with an ability that transcends their apparent velocity of transit. The setting for most of these activities is the local universe, composed of one hundred constellations, each constellation composed of one hundred local systems. (The star cloud that is our local universe was organized from components of more than one nebula, which have been adjusted over a period of time to travel as a unit through space) (41:0.3). Our local system, Satania, contains 619 inhabited worlds, in over 500 different physical systems (32:2.10), and over two thousand brilliant suns, of which our sun is average (41:3.1).

Sun is another word for star. According to astronomy, the star nearest our sun is Proxima Centauri, located about four light years away. To traverse this distance – to get from here to the nearest star – would take a seraphim one-third of four, or over one year. Drawing a line around any 2000-star group that includes our sun, in an attempt roughly to outline our system, is sure to set off a distance that would require scores or hundreds of years for a seraphim to traverse at triple velocity. It would seem reasonable that it should take this same amount of time for seraphim to journey between our planet, Urantia, and our system headquarters, Jerusem (and its circling, attendant mansion-world satellites).

The possibility might be raised that regardless of how big the system is, Urantia and Jerusem could be close neighbors inside it, situated only a relatively short journey apart. But The Urantia Book teaches that our solar system is the second-farthest in our local system from Jerusem (41:10.5), and that Urantia is on the outskirts of our system, Satania, (41:10.5), while Jerusem is very close to the astronomical center of Satania, which is occupied by an enormous dark island of space (41:2.2) (not a black hole).

A seraphic journey between Urantia and Jerusem should occupy scores – perhaps hundreds – of years at seraphic triple velocity. And seraphic travel between Jerusem and its constellation capital, Edentia – headquarters world for one hundred systems – should take hundreds or thousands of years.

Third-day question

A question asked by some Urantia Book readers is: how can the Urantia Book teaching that mortals are sometimes resurrected on Jerusem's Mansion World Number 1 on the third day following physical death, after being transported there by guardian seraphim, be reconciled with the fact that thirty years – or maybe three hundred years – would seem the minimum reasonable time for such a journey?

The suggestion is sometimes offered that the exact term is third period, not third day (112:4.6; 112:5.15); and period can denote any amount of time. This makes a little sense to me, although it leaves entirely too many vaguely unexplained activities going on in the economy of the realm for me to feel easy with it.

The argument fell completely apart for me a few years back when Dan Massey kindly sent me a copy of a letter he had written to a Urantia Book reader in France who had inquired into the apparent contradiction involving seraphic velocity and been referred to Dan. In the letter, Dan identified a direct Urantia Book referral to resurrection on the mansion world on the third day following physical death; and since that time, I have seen other such references (49:6.9; 47:8.4; 76:6.2).

With travel to Jerusem identified as definitely occupying no more than three days, the next question often raised is: What is a day? Is it a Urantia day? A Jerusem day? Some other day?

Unless it's a Paradise-Havona day, which is about a thousand years (humor intended: this type of day is not applicable to the superuniverses of time), it couldn't make much difference to the question, for the days in question don't differ much – not nearly enough to explain the discrepancies being examined.

Some information can be gleaned from The Urantia Book about specific instances.

Specific instances

Thirty-seven thousand years ago, Adam and Eve were delivered by seraphic transport to Urantia from Jerusem, in dematerialized form (a combustion body of flesh and blood cannot be transported by seraphim). Ten days later, when their rematerialization into dual human form was completed, they regained consciousness simultaneously (74:0.1).

Soon after their awakening on Urantia, at high noon on their first Urantia day as conscious, functioning beings, they were installed as the custodians and rulers of Urantia (74:2.6).

On their seventh day on Urantia, just before noon – exactly six days after their installation on Urantia – a seraphic messenger brought to Urantia the Jerusem acknowledgment of this installation (74:4.5).

Jerusem could not have used the system circuits to receive news of the planetary installation, for the system circuits were in a severed status due to the rebellion (74:3.1); communication within the system and between the system headquarters and constellation headquarters had to be by messenger (53:6.5; 53:7.3).

Under some conditions, Solitary Messengers, who can travel at speeds of over 800 billion miles per second (23:3.3), are available at the system level (23:3.3; 53:7.3).

Even if a Solitary Messenger bore the news of the Urantia installation to Jerusem, the seraphim traveling from Jerusem could have had six Urantia – earth! – days at most to reach Urantia. Since, from above, this journey should have required scores or hundreds of years for a seraphim to complete, this is a definite instance of an apparent conflict between Urantia Book descriptions of distance, seraphic velocity, and time of travel.

The Melchizedek receivers returned from Jerusem seventy days after the default of Adam and Eve (75:5.8); since the Melchizedek receivers travel by seraphic transport (74:5.2), this is another case of too-rapid seraphic travel.

The Adamic couple left the garden shortly after the Melchizedeks arrived and were met on the third day out (no significance to this figure) by the arrival of seraphic transports who had come from Jerusem for certain of the Adamic offspring (75:6.3). This seraphic journey from Jerusem, after the default of Adam and Eve, took a matter of days – not scores or hundreds of years – to complete (since the seraphim couldn't have begun the journey until the default, the reason for their trip) – a third instance of mysteriously enhanced seraphic travel.

Before the arrival of Adam and Eve on Urantia, in the times of the Planetary Prince, when the rebellion occurred 200,000 years ago, Van and the Loyalists awaited confirmation of their actions in defying the rebels, which came seven years later with the arrival of a Most High of Edentia with the emergency Melchizedeks (67:2.6; 67:3.10) (who travel by seraphic transport – see above – 74:5.2).

This delay of seven years – not seven score or seven hundred – was primarily for the purpose of allowing each personality on Urantia affected by the rebellion to make up his mind on his position (67:3.10).

Note that the Most High was a Most High of Edentia, who, if he came to Urantia from Edentia, should have traveled for probably thousands of years, as stated above. (So few literal facts are available about the Vorondadek order of Sonship, which also includes the Most Highs, that it 's of interest to note that this order of sonship – traveling with the enseraphimed Melchizedeks above – also relies on seraphim for transport.)

Consistent contradiction

Events of similar significance occur elsewhere in The Urantia Book, such as a Most High coming to the planet during Michael's bestowal here as Jesus of Nazareth. A stunning example of the consistency of the apparent contradiction in The Urantia Book between the familiar formulas relating speed, distance, and time is the Urantia Book narration that Solitary Messengers, who travel at incredible speeds (at least 841,621,642,000 miles per second) (23:3.3), sometimes travel as temporary ambassadors from established local universes to newly inhabited local universes until regular ambassadors can arrive (23:2.15).

The reason given for this is that regular ambassadors, who travel by means of seraphic transport, could be required to travel for long periods of time to reach such far-distant local universes (23:2.15). This ambassadorial outreach can span an entire superuniverse, not just the containing minor sector (23:2.14).

Since our superuniverse, Orvonton, is half-a-million light years across (250,000 light year radius) (32:2.11), it should require one-half million years for light to travel between two local universes at opposite ends of the super-universe: the time required for enseraphimed ambassadors to make this same journey should be one- third of that, or one hundred sixty-six thousand years – one-sixth of a million years! In keeping with its consistent contradiction, The Urantia Book refers to this maximum time as hundreds of years (23:2.16).

The writers of The Urantia Book, with its amazing consistency and their incredible intelligence, are undoubtedly aware of this apparent contradiction. They have coped in other areas with (then) impending advances in human knowledge by using wording which seemed innocuous before the new discovery, yet later was seen to contain previously unnoticed ambiguities allowing either the pre- or post -discovery interpretation. (The revelators are forbidden to anticipate the human discoveries of a thousand years) (101:4.2).

Something to learn

It would seem to me that there is a factor yet to be learned, in light of which this "brazen" contradiction will be most acceptable. Until then, the consistent contradiction is a part of The Urantia Book landscape, as the Easter Island statues are a part of the earth’s archeological landscape: conspicuous, challenging – and not explained.

[The Easter Island statues – or rather the people of this island and its use as an Andite religious and administrative center – do happen to be explained in the Urantia Book (74:8.4)]. The idea of a new factor first came to me, again, from Dan Massey, who, during a personal conversation, responded to one of my observations / questions about the problem of seraphic velocity with the view that perhaps that things change in ways other than currently envisioned by science during travel involving speeds very near to – or in this case several times greater than – the speed of light.

Perhaps time, or distance, change in ways other than the commonly envisioned time shift and length contraction of relativity. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity is perhaps too often viewed as "correct" and exempt from the fallibilities of humankind, never needing correction, further development, or interpretation.

The writers of The Urantia Book have possibly left us a hint of the problem – and what is to come – with a little smile. In a discussion of the vulnerability of materialism, near the end of the book, they address the theory of relativity, humankind’s most impressive monument to its greatness, as "dabblings with the faintly glimpsed findings of ‘relativity’" (195:7.5).

The consistent contradiction doesn’t seem to fit the category of statements in accordance with existing scientific knowledge which will later be proven wrong as scientific knowledge advances (101:4.2). It flatly defies present scientific knowledge – just as did other statements in The Urantia Book with which science later has come to concur. It will be interesting to see what new findings will develop in science to show once again that The Urantia Book was right. References for Seraphic Velocity:

23:2.15 (260¶2) 6. Ambassadors and Emissaries of Special Assignment. Local universes situated within the same superuniverse customarily exchange ambassadors selected from their native orders of sonship. But to avoid delay, Solitary Messengers are frequently asked to go as ambassadors from one local creation to another, to represent and interpret one realm to another. For example: When a newly inhabited realm is discovered, it may prove to be so remote in space that a long time will pass before an enseraphimed ambassador can reach this far- distant universe. An enseraphimed being cannot possibly exceed the velocity of 558,840 Urantia miles in one second of your time. Massive stars, crosscurrents, and detours, as well as attraction tangents, will all tend to retard such speed so that on a long journey the velocity will average about 550,000 miles per second.

23:2.16 (260¶3) When it develops that it will require hundreds of years for a native ambassador to reach a far-distant local universe, a Solitary Messenger is often asked to proceed there immediately to act as ambassador ad interim. Solitary Messengers can go in very short order, not independently of time and space as do the Gravity Messengers, but nearly so. They also serve in other circumstances as emissaries of special assignment.

23:3.2 (260¶6) The universe is well supplied with spirits who utilize gravity for purposes of transit; they can go anywhere any time—instanter—but they are not persons. Certain other gravity traversers are personal beings, such as Gravity Messengers and Transcendental Recorders, but they are not available to the super- and the local universe administrators. The worlds teem with angels and men and other highly personal beings, but they are handicapped by time and space: The limit of velocity for most nonenseraphimed beings is 186,280 miles of your world per second of your time; the midway creatures and certain others can, often do, attain double velocity —372,560 miles per second—while the seraphim and others can traverse space at triple velocity, about 558,840 miles per second. There are, however, no transit or messenger personalities who function between the instantaneous velocities of the gravity traversers and the comparatively slow speeds of the seraphim, except the Solitary Messengers.

39:3.8 (433¶2) 5. The Transporters. The fifth group of supervisor seraphim operate as personality transporters, carrying beings to and from the headquarters of the constellations. Such transport seraphim, while in flight from one sphere to another, are fully conscious of their velocity, direction, and astronomic whereabouts. They are not traversing space as would an inanimate projectile. They may pass near one another during space flight without the least danger of collision. They are fully able to vary speed of progression and to alter direction of flight, even to change destinations if their directors should so instruct them at any space junction of the universe intelligence circuits. 39:3.9 (433¶3) These transit personalities are so organized that they can simultaneously utilize all three of the universally distributed lines of energy, each having a clear space velocity of 186,280 miles per second. These transporters are thus able to superimpose velocity of energy upon velocity of power until they attain an average speed on their long journeys varying anywhere from 555,000 to almost 559,000 of your miles per second of your time. The velocity is affected by the mass and proximity of neighboring matter and by the strength and direction of the near-by main circuits of universe power. There are numerous types of beings, similar to the seraphim, who are able to traverse space, and who also are able to transport other beings who have been properly prepared.

41:0.3 (455¶3) One or more—even many—such nebulae may be encompassed within the domain of a single local universe even as Nebadon was physically assembled out of the stellar and planetary progeny of Andronover and other nebulae. The spheres of Nebadon are of diverse nebular ancestry, but they all had a certain minimum commonness of space motion which was so adjusted by the intelligent efforts of the power directors as to produce our present aggregation of space bodies, which travel along together as a contiguous unit over the orbits of the superuniverse.

32:2.10 (359¶7) Satania is not a uniform physical system, a single astronomic unit or organization. Its 619 inhabited worlds are located in over five hundred different physical systems. Only five have more than two inhabited worlds, and of these only one has four peopled planets, while there are forty-six having two inhabited worlds.

41:3.1 (458¶1) There are upward of two thousand brilliant suns pouring forth light and energy in Satania, and your own sun is an average blazing orb. Of the thirty suns nearest yours, only three are brighter. The Universe Power Directors initiate the specialized currents of energy which play between the individual stars and their respective systems. These solar furnaces, together with the dark giants of space, serve the power centers and physical controllers as way stations for the effective concentrating and directionizing of the energy circuits of the material creations. 41:3.2 (458¶2) The suns of Nebadon are not unlike those of other universes. The material composition of all suns, dark islands, planets, and satellites, even meteors, is quite identical. These suns have an average diameter of about one million miles, that of your own solar orb being slightly less. The largest star in the universe, the stellar cloud Antares, is four hundred and fifty times the diameter of your sun and is sixty million times its volume. But there is abundant space to accommodate all of these enormous suns. They have just as much comparative elbow room in space as one dozen oranges would have if they were circulating about throughout the interior of Urantia, and were the planet a hollow globe.

41:10.5 (466¶4) Urantia is comparatively isolated on the outskirts of Satania, your solar system, with one exception, being the farthest removed from Jerusem, while Satania itself is next to the outermost system of Norlatiadek, and this constellation is now traversing the outer fringe of Nebadon. You were truly among the least of all creation until Michael's bestowal elevated your planet to a position of honor and great universe interest. Sometimes the last is first, while truly the least becomes greatest.

41:2.2 (457¶1) Satania itself is composed of over seven thousand astronomical groups, or physical systems, few of which had an origin similar to that of your solar system. The astronomic center of Satania is an enormous dark island of space which, with its attendant spheres, is situated not far from the headquarters of the system government.

112:4.6 (1232¶1) If the human individual survives without delay, the Adjuster, so I am instructed, registers at Divinington, proceeds to the Paradise presence of the Universal Father, returns immediately and is embraced by the Personalized Adjusters of the superuniverse and local universe of assignment, receives the recognition of the chief Personalized Monitor of Divinington, and then, at once, passes into the "realization of identity transition," being summoned therefrom on the third period and on the mansion world in the actual personality form made ready for the reception of the surviving soul of the earth mortal as that form has been projected by the guardian of destiny.

112:5.15 (1234¶4) During the transit of surviving mortals from the world of origin to the mansion worlds, whether they experience personality reassembly on the third period or ascend at the time of a group resurrection, the record of personality constitution is faithfully preserved by the archangels on their worlds of special activities. These beings are not the custodians of personality (as the guardian seraphim are of the soul), but it is nonetheless true that every identifiable factor of personality is effectually safeguarded in the custody of these dependable trustees of mortal survival. As to the exact whereabouts of mortal personality during the time intervening between death and survival, we do not know.

49:6.9 (569¶4) Throughout the earlier ages of an evolutionary world, few mortals go to judgment on the third day. But as the ages pass, more and more the personal guardians of destiny are assigned to the advancing mortals, and thus increasing numbers of these evolving creatures are repersonalized on the first mansion world on the third day after natural death. On such occasions the return of the Adjuster signalizes the awakening of the human soul, and this is the repersonalization of the dead just as literally as when the en masse roll is called at the end of a dispensation on the evolutionary worlds.

47:8.4 (538¶2) The union of the evolving immortal soul with the eternal and divine Adjuster is signalized by the seraphic summoning of the supervising superangel for resurrected survivors and of the archangel of record for those going to judgment on the third day; and then, in the presence of such a survivor's morontia associates, these messengers of confirmation speak: "This is a beloved son in whom I am well pleased." This simple ceremony marks the entrance of an ascending mortal upon the eternal career of Paradise service.

76:6.2 (853¶3) They did not long rest in the oblivion of the unconscious sleep of the mortals of the realm. On the third day after Adam's death, the second following his reverent burial, the orders of Lanaforge, sustained by the acting Most High of Edentia and concurred in by the Union of Days on Salvington, acting for Michael, were placed in Gabriel's hands, directing the special roll call of the distinguished survivors of the Adamic default on Urantia. And in accordance with this mandate of special resurrection, number twenty-six of the Urantia series, Adam and Eve were repersonalized and reassembled in the resurrection halls of the mansion worlds of Satania together with 1,316 of their associates in the experience of the first garden. Many other loyal souls had already been translated at the time of Adam's arrival, which was attended by a dispensational adjudication of both the sleeping survivors and of the living qualified ascenders.

74:0.1 (828¶1) ADAM AND EVE arrived on Urantia, from the year A.D. 1934, 37,848 years ago. It was in midseason when the Garden was in the height of bloom that they arrived. At high noon and unannounced, the two seraphic transports, accompanied by the Jerusem personnel intrusted with the transportation of the biologic uplifters to Urantia, settled slowly to the surface of the revolving planet in the vicinity of the temple of the Universal Father. All the work of rematerializing the bodies of Adam and Eve was carried on within the precincts of this newly created shrine. And from the time of their arrival ten days passed before they were re-created in dual human form for presentation as the world's new rulers. They regained consciousness simultaneously. The Material Sons and Daughters always serve together. It is the essence of their service at all times and in all places never to be separated. They are designed to work in pairs; seldom do they function alone.

74:2.6 (830¶1) The next act was the delivery of the charge of planetary custody to Adam and Eve by the senior Melchizedek, chief of the council of receivership on Urantia. The Material Son and Daughter took the oath of allegiance to the Most Highs of Norlatiadek and to Michael of Nebadon and were proclaimed rulers of Urantia by Van, who thereby relinquished the titular authority which for over one hundred and fifty thousand years he had held by virtue of the action of the Melchizedek receivers.

74:4.5 (832¶5) It was a momentous day, and just before noon, about the time of the arrival of the seraphic messenger bearing the Jerusem acknowledgment of the installation of the world's rulers, Adam and Eve, moving apart from the throng, pointed to the Father's temple and said: "Go you now to the material emblem of the Father's invisible presence and bow down in worship of him who made us all and who keeps us living. And let this act be the sincere pledge that you never will again be tempted to worship anyone but God." They all did as Adam directed. The Material Son and Daughter stood alone on the mount with bowed heads while the people prostrated themselves about the temple.

74:3.1 (830¶4) And now, after their formal installation, Adam and Eve became painfully aware of their planetary isolation. Silent were the familiar broadcasts, and absent were all the circuits of extraplanetary communication. Their Jerusem fellows had gone to worlds running along smoothly with a well-established Planetary Prince and an experienced staff ready to receive them and competent to co-operate with them during their early experience on such worlds. But on Urantia rebellion had changed everything. Here the Planetary Prince was very much present, and though shorn of most of his power to work evil, he was still able to make the task of Adam and Eve difficult and to some extent hazardous. It was a serious and disillusioned Son and Daughter of Jerusem who walked that night through the Garden under the shining of the full moon, discussing plans for the next day.

53:6.5 (606¶8) Manota: "Having been automatically thrown out of the constellation circuits by the secession of Lucifer, we were dependent on the loyalty of our intelligence corps, who forwarded calls for help to Edentia from the near-by system of Rantulia; and we found that the kingdom of order, the intellect of loyalty, and the spirit of truth were inherently triumphant over rebellion, self-assertion, and so- called personal liberty; we were able to carry on until the arrival of the new System Sovereign, the worthy successor of Lucifer. And immediately thereafter I was assigned to the corps of the Melchizedek receivership of Urantia, assuming jurisdiction over the loyal seraphic orders on the world of the traitorous Caligastia, who had proclaimed his sphere a member of the newly projected system of `liberated worlds and emancipated personalities' proposed in the infamous Declaration of Liberty issued by Lucifer in his call to the `libertyloving, free- thinking, and forward-looking intelligences of the misruled and maladministered worlds of Satania.'"

53:7.3 (607¶4) All secession propaganda had to be carried on by personal effort because the broadcast service and all other avenues of interplanetary communication were suspended by the action of the system circuit supervisors. Upon the actual outbreak of the insurrection the entire system of Satania was isolated in both the constellation and the universe circuits. During this time all incoming and outgoing messages were dispatched by seraphic agents and Solitary Messengers. The circuits to the fallen worlds were also cut off, so that Lucifer could not utilize this avenue for the furtherance of his nefarious scheme. And these circuits will not be restored so long as the archrebel lives within the confines of Satania.

23:3.3 (261¶1) Solitary Messengers are, therefore, generally used for dispatch and service in those situations where personality is essential to the achievement of the assignment, and where it is desired to avoid the loss of time which would be occasioned by the sending of any other readily available type of personal messenger. They are the only definitely personalized beings who can synchronize with the combined universal currents of the grand universe. Their velocity in traversing space is variable, depending on a great variety of interfering influences, but the record shows that on the journey to fulfill this mission my associate messenger proceeded at the rate of 841,621,642,000 of your miles per second of your time.

75:5.8 (844¶1) Time passed, but Adam was not certain of the nature of their offense until seventy days after the default of Eve, when the Melchizedek receivers returned to Urantia and assumed jurisdiction over world affairs. And then he knew they had failed.

74:5.2 (833¶2) The farewell of the receivers occupied the whole of a day, and during the evening the individual Melchizedeks gave Adam and Eve their parting advice and best wishes. Adam had several times requested his advisers to remain on earth with him, but always were these petitions denied. The time had come when the Material Sons must assume full responsibility for the conduct of world affairs. And so, at midnight, the seraphic transports of Satania left the planet with fourteen beings for Jerusem, the translation of Van and Amadon occurring simultaneously with the departure of the twelve Melchizedeks.

75:6.3 (844¶5) The Edenic caravan was halted on the third day out from the Garden by the arrival of the seraphic transports from Jerusem. And for the first time Adam and Eve were informed of what was to become of their children. While the transports stood by, those children who had arrived at the age of choice (twenty years) were given the option of remaining on Urantia with their parents or of becoming wards of the Most Highs of Norlatiadek. Two thirds chose to go to Edentia; about one third elected to remain with their parents. All children of prechoice age were taken to Edentia. No one could have beheld the sorrowful parting of this Material Son and Daughter and their children without realizing that the way of the transgressor is hard. These offspring of Adam and Eve are now on Edentia; we do not know what disposition is to be made of them.

67:2.6 (756¶1) For more than seven years this struggle continued. Not until every personality concerned had made a final decision, would or did the authorities of Edentia interfere or intervene. Not until then did Van and his loyal associates receive vindication and release from their prolonged anxiety and intolerable suspense.

67:3.10 (757¶3) There is no end to the recital of the stirring events of these tragic days. But at last the final decision of the last personality was made, and then, but only then, did a Most High of Edentia arrive with the emergency Melchizedeks to seize authority on Urantia. The Caligastia panoramic reign-records on Jerusem were obliterated, and the probationary era of planetary rehabilitation was inaugurated.

23:2.12 (259¶5) 5. Explorers of Undirected Assignment. When the reserve corps of the Solitary Messengers is overrecruited, there issues from one of the Seven Supreme Power Directors a call for exploration volunteers; and there is never a lack of volunteers, for they delight to be dispatched as free and untrammeled explorers, to experience the thrill of finding the organizing nucleuses of new worlds and universes. 23:2.13 (259¶6) They go forth to investigate the clues furnished by the space contemplators of the realms. Undoubtedly the Paradise Deities know of the existence of these undiscovered energy systems of space, but they never divulge such information. If the Solitary Messengers did not explore and chart these newly organizing energy centers, such phenomena would long remain unnoticed even by the intelligences of adjacent realms. Solitary Messengers, as a class, are highly sensitive to gravity; accordingly they can sometimes detect the probable presence of very small dark planets, the very worlds which are best adapted to life experiments.

23:2.14 (260¶1) These messenger-explorers of undirected assignment patrol the master universe. They are constantly out on exploring expeditions to the uncharted regions of all outer space. Very much of the information which we possess of transactions in the realms of outer space, we owe to the explorations of the Solitary Messengers as they often work and study with the celestial astronomers.

32:2.11 (359¶8) The Satania system of inhabited worlds is far removed from Uversa and that great sun cluster which functions as the physical or astronomic center of the seventh superuniverse. From Jerusem, the headquarters of Satania, it is over two hundred thousand light-years to the physical center of the superuniverse of Orvonton, far, far away in the dense diameter of the Milky Way. Satania is on the periphery of the local universe, and Nebadon is now well out towards the edge of Orvonton. From the outermost system of inhabited worlds to the center of the superuniverse is a trifle less than two hundred and fifty thousand light-years.

101:4.2 (1109¶3) Mankind should understand that we who participate in the revelation of truth are very rigorously limited by the instructions of our superiors. We are not at liberty to anticipate the scientific discoveries of a thousand years. Revelators must act in accordance with the instructions which form a part of the revelation mandate. We see no way of overcoming this difficulty, either now or at any future time. We full well know that, while the historic facts and religious truths of this series of revelatory presentations will stand on the records of the ages to come, within a few short years many of our statements regarding the physical sciences will stand in need of revision in consequence of additional scientific developments and new discoveries. These new developments we even now foresee, but we are forbidden to include such humanly undiscovered facts in the revelatory records. Let it be made clear that revelations are not necessarily inspired. The cosmology of these revelations is not inspired. It is limited by our permission for the co-ordination and sorting of present-day knowledge. While divine or spiritual insight is a gift, human wisdom must evolve. 195:7.5 (2078¶8) The realities and values of spiritual progress are not a "psychologic projection"—a mere glorified daydream of the material mind. Such things are the spiritual forecasts of the indwelling Adjuster, the spirit of God living in the mind of man. And let not your dabblings with the faintly glimpsed findings of "relativity" disturb your concepts of the eternity and infinity of God. And in all your solicitation concerning the necessity for self-expression do not make the mistake of failing to provide for Adjuster-expression, the manifestation of your real and better self. SERAPIllC VELOCITIES and Other Related Problems

Merritt C. Horn, Academic Officer The Boulder School for Students of The URANTIA Book

There has been much discussion recently of certain problems regarding the velocities of spiritual beings as revealed in The URANTIA Book. In this article, these problems will be summarized and a solution will be suggested.

A Note on Symbols: In the interest of brevity, the following symbols will be used in this article: 0:.1

C = the speed of light Cy = light-year UD= Urantia day UY = Urantia year JD = .J erusem day JY = Jerusem year Yt = theoretical velocity: N x C Yo = observed velocity in C D = distance in Cy N = a variable, multiple of C T = elapsed time -: Problem #1: How do guardian seraphim on death duty reach Jerusem in three days if they can travel only three times the speed of light, as -Jerusern must be more than 9 (or 27) light-days away from Urantia? . Before we can begin to solve this problem we must first determine the length of the "days" referred to, and second, estimate the distance to Jerusem.

Length of Day: . It should be noted that while we do not know what "day" or "period" refers to,l the revelators could have refrained-rrom using "day" if it 'was misleading; Therefore it must have some recognizable meaning, though the use oi " "period" may indicate that the: day referred to is not the UD. The most likely day would be the JD which is almost exactly (99% of) 3 days of Urantia time.2 (This leads to the 27 light-day figure suggested above: 3C x 3JD = 27 Urantia light days.) It will be assumed, for reasons that will be made clear later, that the "day" referred to in this connection is the Jerusem Day.

Distance to Jerusem: The distance to Jerusem is not revealed to us, but using some clues that are' revealed, and current scientific knowledge, we can make a reasonable estimate: . . We are told 't ha t there are about 2,000 . suns in Satania. 3 .The star population density in our local area of the universe is about one star per 300 cubic light-years.4 The volume of space required for 2000 stars is thus about 600,000 cubic light-years. If Satania is roughly spherical it would therefore be about 104.2Cy in diameter. Jerusem is near the center of Satania 5 and is therefore about 50Cy from planets at the outskirts of the system, and Urantia's solar system is, with one exception, the farthest removed from J erusem in Satania.f The distance from Jerusem to Urantia is thus about 50Cy, though 30Cy to 70Cy would be a reasonable range.

Problem #2: The Mel chizedek receivers arrived on Urantia 70 days after Adam and Eve defaulted. There is no question here about the meaning of "days''." Since the Melchizedeks returned to Jerusem about 7 years after Adam and Eve arrived, we have no reason to suspect that they would return from any other place-at least not from any nearer location. 70 x 3C = 210 light-days which is far less than the 50Cy distance to Jerusem. We do not know if the Melchizedeks departed immediately upon learning of the default; they might have deliberated for some time before leaving Jerusem, but they had no more than 70UD to make the trip.

Problem #3: Six Urantia Days after Adam and Eve were installed, a messenger seraphim arrived from Jerusem bearing acknowledgement of the installation.S We do not know how or when the Jerusem authorities received notice of this action (more on this later), but it must be possible to travel to Jeruseni in 6UD or less at a velocity of 3C.9

Problem #4: Weare told that Solitary Messengers sometimes serve as ambassadors ad-interim for a Local Universe "when it develops that it will require hundreds of years for a native ambassador to reach a far-distant universe.FThese ambassadors travel by serap'ric transport at ~C,10 We do pot know what "year" the:r~!'e referring to, but usually if they. are referring to other than Urantia standards of measurement they give us some indication to that effect. We will assume UY because the velocities are also given in Urantian time. units, . The' superuniverse is approximately 500,000Cyin diameter.llTherefore a being travelling at 3C should take 166,000 years to cross it. This, is 200 to 1,000 times the length of time that "hundreds" of years would seem to indicate. (Again, we must assume that the revelators said "hundreds" because they meant "hundreds".)

Problem #5: The Divine Counselor writing Paper 19 tells us that he travelled from Uversa to Urantia in 109 days of Urantia time.12 This distance is approximately 200,000Cy.13 If you calculate the velocity that this Divine Counselor attained in his flight, you will find that it was about 671;141C. This velocity, while astounding, is not of itself a problem as the Diyine Counselor tell us that he is able to move about "fr-eely and quickly".14 ' . . A problem does arise, however, when that velocity is compared to that recorded for a Solitary Messenger: 841,621,642,000 miles per second.If This velocity is approximately 4.5 million ' times C, or only about 6.7 times · the speed of the Divine Counselor. This difference-s-analogous to a car moving 10 miles per hour being passed by another going 67-While great, is not of an order that would .evoke the Divine Counselor's musings in Paper 23 as to how a being can move as fast as the Solitary Messenger and still remain personal. The Divine Counselor's attitude implies a relative difference of a far higher magnitude,

Problem #6: We are told that Lucifer expressed open disloyalty to Michael's rule to Gabriel just a few "days" (presumably JD) prior to open rebellion and that Gabriel therefore went directly to Edentia to confer with the Most Highs "regarding the measures to be employed in case of open rebellion".16 This statement leads us to believe that Gabriel was able to travel to Edentia in less than "a few days" or at least that he believed he could reach Edentia before the outbreak of the rebellion which he regarded as certain and "impending". We do not know how fast Gabriel can travel through space, though we can assume that his velocity is no less than that of a seraphim and perhaps more, though probably less than that of the Divine Counselor. How far is Edentia from J erusem? Using the same star density figures referred to above, and assuming that the proportion. of stars to inhabited planets is about the same in Norlatiadek as in Satania, Norlatiadek in volume would be equivalent to a sphere with a radius of about 241C. Because Satania is near the outskirts of Norlatiadek, we will use 250Cy as the distance rr orn Jerusem to Edentia. This is admittedly a gross .est imate , but .it is probably of the correct magnitude. If we calculate the length of time that we would expect a seraphim to take to make this journey, we obtain 83.3UY or 101.4JY! A Divine Counselor could make the sam e journey in .14JD which is ' quite fast enough to satisfy our requirements except for the problem noted above that this speed appears to be much too close to that of a Solitary Messenger to be correct. If we simply calculate the velocity required to travel between Jerusem and Edentia in 3JD we get 10,145.8C which is 0.2% of the Solitary Messenger's speed-a very high number.

Problem Summary: Revealed As Calculate·s as Being

1) Death-duty seraphim 3JD or 3UD 16.7UY 2)· Melchizedeks from J erusem 70UD 16.7UY 3) Messenger from Jerusem 6UD 16-32UY 4) Transport 'across Orvonton "hundreds of years" up to 166,000UY 5) a) Divine Counselor not revealed 671,141C b) Solitary Messenger not revealed 4.5 million C 6) Gabriel Jerusem to Edentia not revealed 10,145.8C

Interptetation:

These problems apparently have in common a misunderstanding of the relation between velocity and time when travelling faster than the speed of light. Science gives us little assistance here, as our only source of information is the activity of light itself under certain conditions. The velocity of light appears to remain constant no matter what the velocity of its source-even as the source velocity approaches C. We cannot therefore project what the .result of the superimposition of two, three, or more of these constant velocities will be. The way that these velocities are presented in The URANTIA Book: leads us to believe that they can be simply added together, :probably because this . addition gives a fairly clear idea of the nature ' of seraphic propulsion without -, ' getting into the problems of time and velocity relativity that are involved in travel beyond the speed of light. The numbers presented to us must be related to observed velocity in some way, and the revelators give enough clues for us to formulate a predictive theory about such relationships. Solution:

It will be suggested here that velocities which are faster than C can be measured in miles per second only theoretically, that is, instantaneously. If you could measure the velocity 3C without the traveller moving any distance during that measurement, you would describe the velocity as about 558,000 miles per second. But if you attempt to calculate the time actually required to cover a specified distance at this speed, you run into serious trouble, as found in the problems outlined above. Therefore, the velocities presented in The URANTIA Book will be described as lItheoreticalll .velocities (Vt) based on the velocity of certain basic currents in space which are to be contrasted with observed velocities (Vo) which predict the time required to make a journey between two points. There must be a relation between Vt and Yo and I suggest that a serviceable formula is this (where Vt = N x C by definition): -N)

. 1) Yo = N(lO(N-{l/NN)))C,. ·· ~ /tic. (/0 /f}- N

By definition, Vo = D/T, and from these formulae, we can solve for the other variables:

2) T = DIVo

3) Vt = Vo(lO-(N-(l/NN)))

Unfortunately, equation #3 has the variable N on both sides so it is not actually serviceable. A direct solution for N has eluded me though it is fairly easy to : _ - ~ ~ ,,",",,"::)"'L.- .• J ljCLl.~ (1."",u.accurat.... c'v";;. . .,,. (<::M>L"l - - GrR'1h... -L in_ _ ,

Vo is constant for each Vt as shown here:

When Vt = Ie, Vo = IC When Vt = 4C, Vo = 39,642C When Vt = ·2C, Vo = 112.47C When Vt = 5C,, Vo = 499,632C When vr = 3C, Vo = 2754.8C

If we use these equations to solve the problems listed earlier, we obtain some interesting results:

#1: "l'he travel time for seraphim from Urantia to Jerusem.

T = DIVo T = 50Cy/2754.8C = .OI82UY = 6.64 UD = 2.24JD This answer is well within our parameters.

#2: Melchizedek travel from Jerusem to Urantia. - This journey would, presumably, also take 2.24 Jerusem Days .which .means that the Melchizedeks did not leave Jerusem immediately upon receiving news of the default, but delayed departure for some reason-probably in order to consider the various courses of action available to them. #3: The seraphic messenger from Jerusem. The velocity of seraphim allows them to travel between Jerusem and Urantia in 2.24JD or 6.64 Urantia days. This calculated interval is almost exactly equal to the the time which elapsed between the installation of Adam and Eve and the arrival of the messenger. . While a small modification of the formula would allow for a round trip in that time, it is not necessary to do so based on .t he information available to us. Though it is true that the system circuits of intercommunication were cut at' the time of the Lucifer Rebellion, .and that communication could only be had within the system by seraphic messengers for that reason (suggesting the need for a round trip by seraphim to inform J erusem of the installati on and to return with the acknowledgement), it was possible for Gabriel to broadcast to Urantia his decree ending the Prince's dispensation and beginning the Adarnie age.17 It would seem reasonable that if the Gabriel broadcast could be received on Urantia, it could also be received on Jerusem. Thus, the news of the installation of Adam and Eve probably came by way of this broadcast to J erusern,' and-no messenger was require d to travel to J erusem from Urantia to so inform the System:,Sovereign.' If the Sovereign sent his acknowledgement upon receipt offhe broadcast, ' the messenger bearing that acknowledgement would arrive on Urantia about 6 Urantia, days later-the interval revealed in The URANTIA Book. '

#4: Seraphic travel across Orvonton, - Because we are told that on very long journeys ' the seraphic velocity drops to about 550,000mps,18 we will change the value for Yo , accordingly:

T = DIVa

T = 500,000Cy/2412C = 207.3UY or 252.4JY

This magnitude is now also correct: hundreds of years rather than hundreds of thousands of years.

#5: The Divine Counselor and Solitary Messenger velocities. - The Divine Counselor's Vt can be, estimated from his Vousing Graph ttl. An accurate estimate is 5.12C. ,This velocity could 'certainly .be decribed as "quickly", and is now far below the Solitary Messenger'sYt which is 4.5 million C. The Solitary Messenger's Vo is of an incomprehensible magnitude (8.3 x 10 to the 10,000,000th power x C), but he would still not be classified as an instantaneous space traverser. At this velocity a Solitary Messenger would begin to be hampered by space only in the inconceivable reaches of the Cosmos Infinite.

#6: Gabriel's velocity from Jerusem to Edentia. In order to reach Bdentla in exactly the required' 3JD, Gabriel would have to .tra vel at 3.48C-only slightly' faster thanjransporfseraphlrn• .Hemay well travel even faster, but probably not quite so fast as the 5.12C· of the Divine ' Counselor, If we assign a velocity of 4C to him arbitrarily" . we find that he , would -b e able to travel from Jerusem to Edentia in about.77JD-a. ' very reasonable number. Conclusion: The suggested formula thus seems to solve, in a consistent manner, all of the .problems which were presented at the beginning of the article, showing that all of the problems grew from a single misunderstanding; and that if this misinterpretation is accounted for, The URANTIA Book velocities which had seemed so confusing and conflicting are shown to be mutuauy consistent and intelligible.

It is not possible to explore here the implications of this solution, but I will suggest an explanation: Apparently, in a certain sense, time itself travels at the speed of light, so that when a being's velocity exceeds that of light, the relationship of that velocity to time changes, so that miles per second of velocity does not convert directly into elapsed time of travel over some distance. It appears from the predictive accuracy of the formula herein presented, that no longer is elapsed time inversely proportional to the velocity, but inversely proportional to the velocity multipled by a variable which is dependent on ' the ' multiple of the speed of light at which that being is travelling. . '.

As to Why this may be true, .we can only 'conjecture, but it .appears to be so, and we can now predict with reasonable accuracy certain time and velocity. magnitudes which previously eluded us. It should.benoted In this connection that the accuracy of the formula is very likely thegr-eatest .a t Vt 'values .of about 3C because tha t is the velocity from which mostLofitha evidenceiused in, the derivation of the formula was taken. To what extent; 'and. how quickly .the formula's predictive capabilities are exhausted as the magnitudeiof.ivelocity departs .from this value are not known. For all practical purposes, howeve.r,;it is probably. accurate fer any velocity below that of the Solitary Messenger, and can only be Romp-what suggestive of the magnitude of that being's ability to nearly transcend time.

Graph #1: vt-Vo Conversion

This graph may be used to estimate either .Yt or Vo if the other is. known, but because the Vo scale is calibrated to the log of. Vo, . estimation of Vo from known Vt values is rather difficult. The reverse procedure can be accomplished'with . greater accuracy. " . ,

: . , " (See attached sheet) :.. .

#2: Travel Time at Various Velocities

This graph may be used' to compare the time it :would take' beings travelling at various Vt's to go any distance from 1 :t o 100,000 'light -:- ye ar s. As .this graph also uses logarithmic scales, it is difficult to .estimate .. accurately ' from it, but you can get an idea of the magnitudes involved. ..'

(See attached sheet) Footnotes: 1. The VRANTIA Book, URANTIA Foundation, Chicago, .n., 1955, (to ,be hereinafter abbreviated as VB), pp. 569:4, 1232:1, 1234:'4. 2. VB p. 519:3. 3. VB p. 458:2. 4. Astronomy, August 1980, p. 15. (Thanks to St8nH~t:man for this . reference.) . 5. VB p. 457:l. 6. VB p. 466:4. 7. VB p. 844:l. 8. VB p, 832:5. 9. Thanks to Troy Bishop for bringing this problem to my attention.' . 10. VB p. 260:2&3. 11. VB p. 360:0. 12. VB p. 222:5. 13. VB p. 359:8. 14. VB p. ' 222:5. 15. VB p. 261:l. 16. VB p. 602:7. 17. VB p. 830:3. 18. VB p. 260:2. 7 ..... "1 lei

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Time and Space

by Bob Hunt, Ph.D.

I have always been intrigued and challenged by The URANTIA Book discussions of time and space. These presentations have motivated me to seek out books and articles on these subjects. Many of these are consistent with the information in The URANTIA Book and offer examples or theories that provide further insight into the sometimes tantalizing possibilities suggested in various places in The URANTIA Book. I have selected some examples that illustrate this as the basis for this presentation.

I will juxtapose URANTIA Book quotations with related discussions from a variety of recent sources, most of which are on the accompanying bibliography. At the same time, I am attempting here to better understand the associated concepts by the selection and organization of the material. I will begin by examining some descriptions of time and space from The URANTIA Book and elsewhere. Please note that all quotations with a page number indicated and no other attribution are from The URANTIA Book. In some instances, these are not complete sentences, only phrases.

TIME--the moving image of eternity (*2021)

SPACE--the fleeting shadow of Paradise realities (*2021)

These are poetic, but lacking in specificity.

TIME--a succession of instants (*1297)

SPACE--a system of associated points (*1297)

These are more specific but still in need of development.

TIME--the succession-arrangement whereby events are recognized and segregated (*1439)

SPACE--a property of all material bodies when a body moves through space, it also takes all its properties with it, even the space which is in and of such a moving body (*1297)

Suppose we travel back in time about three centuries and note what the 17th century German mathematician Leibniz wrote:

SPACE is the order of coexistence whereas TIME is the order of successive existence. (Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, 1646-1716)

Two URANTIA Book references deal with the combination of time and space. From Paper 106, Universe Levels of Reality, it states:

Time and space (are) man's greatest aids to relative reality perception and yet his most formidable obstacles to complete reality perception. (*1173)

From Paper 118, Supreme and Ultimate--Time and Space:

Time and Space--a conjoined mechanism of the master universethe devices whereby finite creatures are enabled to coexist in the cosmos with the Infinite. Finite creatures are effectively insulated from the absolute levels by time and space. (*1303)

Let's focus briefly on "time" and some recent writings from physicists. Fred Wolf, in his 1984 book Star Wave, which is subtitled Mind, Consciousness and Quantum Physics, writes:

There has never been an adequate definition, a clear metaphor, or even a good physical picture of what time is.

He goes on to say, "In quantum mechanics, time is not an observable phenomenon; it is only an extraneous ordering parameter."

Paul Davies in his book, The Cosmic Blueprint, published this year, in a section called "Whatever happened to time?" observes:

Time exists merely as a parameter for gauging the interval between events.

David R. Griffin, in the Preface to Physics and the Ultimate Significance of Time, a 1986 publication of essays and discussion, states:

The notion that physics is in some fundamental sense `timeless' has been widely accepted.

It may be helpful before moving on to space to mention a time interval of significance in quantum physics.

Shortest meaningful lapse of time:

Planck Time = 5.36 x 10-44sec

Chronon = 10-23sec

The time required for light to travel the radius of an electron

Suppose we turn for a brief, but somewhat longer, time interval to space. First, another statement from Fred Wolf and then one from Paper 12, The Universe of Universes:

In quantum mechanics, space is an observable. To observe space, we need the observer and the observed. Their separation is `space.'

Space is, from the human viewpoint, nothing--negative; it exists only as related to something positive and nonspatial. Space is, however, real. (*133)

In his discourse at Carthage on time and space, Jesus stated:

Space is not merely an intellectual concept of the variation in relatedness of universe objects. (*1439)

Then, from Paper 118, Supreme and Ultimate --Time and Space:

The real difficulty we have in understanding space on the material level is due to the fact that, while material bodies exist in space, space also exists in these same material bodies. (*1297)

The concept of space includes extension and measure. For the quantum level, we should know this:

Shortest meaningful space measurement:

Planck Length = 1.61 x 1033 cm

(21 powers of 10 smaller than the diameter of an atomic nucleus)

Planck, by the way, is Max Planck who, in 1899, discovered Planck's constant which, when combined with the velocity of light and Newton's gravitational constant, establishes a system of units that sets the scale for quantum gravity.

Planck's Constant, /h

Newton's Gravitational Constant, g

Velocity of Light, c

System of units for Quantum Gravity

In reference to this scale, Bryce DeWitt makes this observation in an article entitled "Quantum Gravity" that appeared in Scientific American in December, 1983:

To probe these scales of distance and time experimentally, using instruments built with present technology, one would need a particle accelerator the size of the galaxy!

In his 1980 book, Quantum Theory and Gravitation, John Wheeler writes:

At Planck length, the effects of quantum gravity make our notions of `before' and `after' meaningless.

At Planck length, all geometric concepts break down, including connectedness, containment, locality, and especially order, and one is therefore forced into a set of assumptions prior to any kind of geometry.

Now let's explore some connections between time and space. In Paper 196, Universe Levels of Reality, we read:

Without time sensitivity, no evolutionary creature could possibly perceive the relations of sequence. (*1173) and

Without space sensitivity, no creature could fathom the relations of simultaneity. (*1173)

This is a puzzling statement since "simultaneity" means, basically, "at the same time." A quotation from Fred Wolf is helpful. "When we say we are measuring space, we are simultaneously measuring two or more locations. It would not make sense to measure the distance between a point where one end of an object is at noon and a point where the other end is at midnight. Thus, the measure of space implies the single instant. It implies what we call `now.'" Then, Wolf makes these connections:

NOW = SPACE = THE OBSERVED

HERE = TIME = THE OBSERVER

He also offers this geometrical analogy:

NOW is a line, surface or solid

HERE is a point.

All lines, surfaces and solids can be generated from a point. Thus:

SPACE IS GENERATABLE FROM TIME.

The latter statement is consistent with one made by Jesus in his discourse on time and space:

Space is measured by time, not time by space. (*1439)

Jesus goes on to say:

The confusion of the scientist grows out of failure to recognize the reality of space. (*1439)

The concept of motion is a link between time and space. From Paper 12:

Time comes by virtue of motion and because mind is inherently aware of sequentiality. (*134)

Wolf writes that "We do not observe time we observe motionwe infer time by comparing movementsthe sweep second hand does not sweep time; it sweeps space periodically." He goes on to say:

When we say we are observing the passing of timewe are observing the 'movement' of our own thought processes.

Two additional quotations from Paper 12 are helpful here:

Relationships to time do not exist without motion in space, but consciousness of time does. Sequentiality can consciousize time even in the absence of motion. (*135)

Man's mind is less time-bound than space-bound because of the inherent nature of mind. (*135)

Some of the difficulties associated with analysis of time are discussed by physicist David Bohm in his book Wholeness and the Implicate Order and in a recent paper, "Time, the Implicate Order, and Pre-Space." I regard Bohm as the leading theorist on this and related topics. His ideas are consistent with information and suggestions in The URANTIA Book.

Consider the distinction of past, present, and future. In general, what we are conscious of as now is already past, even if only by a fraction of a second. The conscious content of the moment is therefore of that which is past and gone. The future is not yet. The present is but it cannot be specified in words or thoughts, without its slipping into the past. When a future moment comes a similar situation will prevail. Therefore, from the past of the present we may be able to predict, at most, the past of the future. The actual immediate present is always the unknown.

All possibilities of prediction evidently depend on the assumption that the movement is sufficiently slow, regular, and unambiguously related to what comes next, that the difference between the time to which our perceptions and knowledge actually refer and the present makes no significant difference.

[However] according to modern physics, microprocesses are very fast, irregular, and ambiguously related to what comes next. Indeed, it is not in general possible to relate the specifiable information content unambiguously to succeeding events (this is just the essential meaning of the Heisenberg uncertainty relations). The relevance of the usual motions of time may be questioned. What seems to be called for is that we recognize the "point event" of relativity theory cannot in general have an unambiguous meaning.

To expand on both the concept and the experience of time, consider this excerpt from Jesus' discourse: to mantime appears as a succession of events; but as man ascends, as he progresses inward, the enlarging view of this event procession is such that it is discerned more and more in its wholeness. That which formerly appeared as a succession of events then will be viewed as a whole and perfectly related cycle; in this way will circular simultaneity increasingly displace the onetime consciousness of the linear sequence of events. (*1439)

This ties in with the following statement from Paper 118:

"The Gods are related to time as an experience in eternity. In the evolutionary universes eternity is temporal everlastingness--the everlasting now." (*1295)

Fred Wolf writes that "The closest we come to observing time is observing what Buddhists call 'being-time.' Everything that is, is, was and will be. Every moment remains motionless and frozen. Past, present and future represent a map for the perusal of the all-seeing being-time."

When I mentioned to a friend that I was preparing this talk, he gave me this definition of time:

TIME IS THE STUFF THAT KEEPS EVERYTHING FROM HAPPENING AT ONCE. --Anonymous

Returning to the observations of David Bohm, he writes, in comparing the points of view of relativity theory and quantum theory:

Relativity theory describes time-space as completely analyzable down to dimensionless points related by absolute causal lawsthere is no possibility of giving meaning to a moment 'now'.

However, quantum theory suggests a concept of overlapping moments with extension and duration in space and time, embedded in a broader context, and governed by the quantum-mechanical wave function.

Thus, as with a motion picture, our experience has a sense of movement, or becoming. Bohm states that:

In the time aspect, [we comprehend] the BECOMING OF BEING, while in the 'timeless' aspect, [we comprehend] the BEING OF BECOMING.

Going back to Paper 118, we are told by a Mighty Messenger that we: perceive time by analysis. (*1297)

[perceive] space by synthesis. (*1297)

Briefly, these words may be interpreted with these meanings:

● ANALYSIS--separating the whole into parts to find out the nature of the whole; working from the unknown to the known.

● SYNTHESIS--putting parts together to form the whole; working from the known to the unknown.

Suppose we now consider some more advanced concepts and ideas associated with transcending time and space. From Paper 106:

Mortals and other creatures find it necessary to think of potentials as being actualized in space and evolving to fruition in time, but this entire process is a time-space phenomenon which does not actually take place on Paradise and in eternity. On the absolute level there is neither time nor space; all potentials may be perceived as actuals. (*1173)

With this information about Paradise, recall this statement, to me one of the most intriguing in The URANTIA Book:

The ultimaton, the first measurable form of energy, has Paradise as its nucleus. (*467)

Then, of course, we know from the Foreword that:

The Isle of Paradise has a universe location but no position in space. (*7)

And from Paper 11, The Eternal Isle of Paradise:

Paradise exists without time and has no location in space. (*120)

Consider how David Bohm may be making some discoveries that support this UB information. He writes that, in physics, we find that: atomic structure dissolves into electrons, protons, neutrons, quarks, subquarks, etc., and eventually into dynamically changing forms in an all- pervasive and universal set of fields. When these fields are treated quantum-mechanically, we find that even in what is called a vacuum there are 'zero-point' fluctuations, giving 'empty space' an energy that is immensely beyond that contained in what is recognized as matter.

Also, In the vacuum state the 'state function' (which represents the whole of space and time) oscillates uniformly at a frequency so high that it is utterly beyond any known physical interpretation. Further, "we would be justified in saying that the vacuum state is, in a certain sense, 'timeless' or 'beyond time,' at least as time is now known, measured and experienced."

With this in mind, it is less than surprising that science is confused about what occurs at the quantum level. For example, L. Beynam, in a paper called "The Emergent Paradigm in Science" that appeared in Revision in 1978, gave a formulation of the well-known Bell's Theorem:

Basic principles of quantum theory spatially separated parts of reality cannot be independent

He goes on to say that this "opens up avenues of scientific development for which the classical constructs of space and time prove almost totally useless and meaningless."

Paul Davies in God and the New Physics reports on a 1982 experiment by Aspect, Dalibard, and Roger at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Optics in Paris. From this experiment, this conclusion is drawn:

Either objective reality does not exist and it is meaningless for us to speak of things or objects as having any reality above and beyond the mind of an observer OR faster-than-light communication with the future and the past is possible.

In a recent book called Time--The Familiar Stranger, J.T. Fraser writes:

For a photon traveling at the speed of light, the passage of time has no reality. In the "life" of a photon, all events happen at onceand all distances shrink to zero.

Returning briefly to Paradise, we read in Paper 11:

The eternal Isle is composed of a single form of materialization--stationary systems of reality. This literal substance of Paradise is a homogeneous organization of space potency(called) absolutum. (*120)

Space potency is a term difficult to define -- its meaning should convey the idea of potencies and potentials existent within space. (*126)

David Bohm seems to be coming up with theories along these lines when he states this:

The implicate order leads to the notion of a pre-space expressed in terms of algebraic relationships, out of which ordinary space-time emerges as a special case.

A few other glimpses into the mysteries of space and time should be mentioned here. From Paper 9, Relation of the Infinite Spirit to the Universe, we have this:

Infinite mind ignores time, ultimate mind transcends time, cosmic mind is conditioned by time. And so with space: the Infinite Mind is independent of space, but as descent is made from the infinite to the Adjutant levels of mind, intellect must increasingly reckon with the fact and limitations of space. (*102)

And from Paper 12:

Time and space are inseparable only in the time-space creations, the seven superuniverses. Nontemporal space (space without time) theoretically exists, but the only truly nontemporal place is Paradise area. Nonspatial time (time without space) exists in mind of the Paradise level of function. (*135)

During our time-space careers, there are many areas ripe for exploration. Perhaps time is the concept most closely related to personal experience. For example, in Paper 12, we are presented with the "three levels of time cognizance."

● 1. Mind-perceived time consciousness of sequence, motion, and a sense of duration.

● 2. Spirit-perceived time insight into motion Godward and the awareness of the motion of ascent to levels of increasing divinity.

● 3. Personality creates a unique time sense out of insight into Reality plus a consciousness of presence and an awareness of duration. (*135)

As you know, The URANTIA Book often refers to advancement as being "inward" and "upward." In the light of this discussion of time and space, here is an interpretation of one meaning of these terms:

Inward/Inner Space Transcendence of Time

Upward/Outer Space Transcendence of Space

Now, consider this statement from Jesus' discourse:

There are seven different conceptions of space as it is conditioned by time. (*1439)

I will close with this conjecture: Perhaps "inward" and "upward" are higher space dimensions; and each of us has an independent, personal time scale for these dimensions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Beynam, Laurence M. "The Emergent Paradigm in Science," Revision, Spring, 1978.

2. Bohm, David. Wholeness and the Implicate Order. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980.

3. Davies, Paul. The Cosmic Blueprint. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988.

4. Flood, Raymond and Lockwood, Michael (Editors). The Nature of Time. New York: Basil Blackwell, Inc., 1986.

5. Fraser, J.T. Time, The Familiar Stranger. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1987.

6. Griffin, David R. (Editor). Physics and the Ultimate Significance of Time. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986.

7. Ramsey, Norman F. "Precise Measurement of Time," American Scientist, Vol. 76, pages 42-49, January-February, 1988.

8. Talbot, Michael. Beyond the Quantum. New York: Macmillan, 1986.

9. The URANTIA Book. Uversa Press, Chicago, 1996.

10. Wolf, Fred Alan. Star Wave. New York: Macmillan, 1984. AstronomyAstronomy

¾¾ Space Respiration, by Dane Hartman

zz (this is an animated AVI file he did at age 14!) ¾¾ 7E7 Evo lv ing Un iverses ¾¾ Time & Space

zz by Bob Hunt ¾¾ CallistoCallisto

zz bCiCby Craig Carm ihlichael ¾¾ MonmatiaMonmatia

zz by Craig Carmichael ¾¾ Stars, Galaxies, & Superuniverses

zz by Fred FredbyFred BecknerBeckner ¾¾ The Big Bang Never Happened

zz by Michael Wisenbaker ¾¾ How Large is OrvontonOrvonton,, ReallyReally??

zz by Norm Du Val ¾¾ EarthEarth--MoonMoon Evolution

zz by Phil Calabrese ¾¾ Dynamics of the Ultimaton

zz by Stua r t K err ¾¾ Astronomy & the Superuniverse

zz by Troy Bishop Astronomy Places Named in the Urantia Papers

Andromeda (nebula) ...... (15:4.7) (41:8.3) Antares (largest stellar cloud in Nebadon) ...... (41:3.2) asteroids ...... (57:6.5)

+(not mentioned) Callisto (moon of Jupiter) ...... comets ...... (15:6.1) constellations ...... (Paper 43) Crab nebula ...... (41:8.4) galaxies ...... (11:7.7) Jupiter (planet) ...... (57:5.9) (57:5.10) Magellanic Cloud (star cluster in Milky Way galaxy) ...... (15:4.8) Mars (planet) ...... (49:2.6) Mercury (planet) ...... (57:6.2) meteors ...... (15:5.10) (57:4.2) Milky Way (galaxy) ...... (15:3.1–3) (42:5.5) moon (Urantia's) ...... (57:6.2) nebulae ...... (57:1.1) Pisces (constellation) ...... (122:8.7) planets ...... (49:0sec) Pole Star (North Star) ...... (95:2.7) Sagittarius (constellation center of our minor sector, Ensa) ...... (15:3.5–7) (41:0.4) Saturn (planet) ...... (41:10.1) (57:5.9–10) stars ...... (41:0.4) sun (Urantia's) ...... (57:1.1) Urantia (earth, our planet) ...... (15:7.8) (15:14.7) Uranus (planet) ...... (57:5.13–14) Venus (planet) ...... (57:5.13–14) (* means term is not used outside the Urantia Papers)

*Alvoring (neighboring universe) ...... (32:2.12) *Andronover (nebula) ...... (57:1sec) *Angona (system) ...... (41:10.1) (57:5.4–14) *Anova (world in Satania) ...... (49:0.5) *Ascendington (Paradise satellite sphere) ...... (13:1.21) *Assuntia (local system in the constellation of Norlatiadek) ...... (41:2.1) *Avalon (neighboring universe) ...... (32:2.12) *dark gravity bodies (belt of) ...... (14:1.8) *Divington ...... (13:1.2) (13:2.7–8) (107:3.1,3–5) *Edentia (headquarters of constellation) ...... (43:1sec) *Endantum ...... (119:6.3,6) *Ensa ...... (15:7.8) *Fanoving ...... (32:2.12) *Glantonia (neighboring system) ...... (41:2.1) *Havona (see Paradise Isle) ...... (14:3sec) *Henselon ...... (32:2.12) *Jerusem ...... (46:5.22) *Mansion worlds ...... (45:0.2) *Mansonia ...... (47:3.5) *Monmatia ...... (57:5sec) *morontia worlds ...... (45:1.3–4) *Nebadon ...... (34:4.9–10) *Norlatiadek ...... (15:14.6) *Orvonton ...... (17:1.5) *Palonia (system) ...... (119:2.5–6) *Panoptia (world) ...... (53:7.1) *Paradise Isle (Havona) ...... (14:1sec) *Porogia (system) ...... (41:2.1) *Portalon (neighboring universe) ...... (32:2.12) *Rantulia (system) ...... (41:2.1) (53:6.5) *Salvington (headquarters of Nebadon) ...... (15:7.7) *Sandmatia (neighboring system) ...... (41:2.1) *Sanselon (neighboring universe) ...... (32:2.12) *Satania (system) ...... (15:14.5) *Seraphington (sphere orbiting Paradise) ...... (13:1.19) *Solitarington (sphere orbiting Paradise) ...... (13:1.16) *Sonarington (sphere orbiting Paradise) ...... (13:1.7) *Sortoria (system) ...... (41:2.1) *Spiritington (sphere orbiting Paradise) ...... (13:1.9) *Splandon (major sector of Orvonton) ...... (15:14.7) (18:4.7) *Umajor the fifth (headquarters of major sector) ...... (15:7.9) (15:13.3) (15:14.7) *Uminor the third (headquarters of minor sector) ...... (15:7.8) (15:14.7) *Uversa (headquarters world of Orvonton) ...... (18:3.6) *Veluntia (a sun) ...... (41:4.6) *Vicegerington (sphere orbiting Paradise) ...... (13:1.11) *Wolvering (neighboring universe) ...... (32:2.12) The Seven Evolving Universes ofTime and Space That exist within the Grand Universe, Within the Master Universe! Where life begins!

The 7 Superuniverses revolve around Paradise Isle in the gigantic "space path" within "unpervaded or quiescent" space that surrounds the great Isle.

They travel at a speed, whirling around at a speed, as they travel in the space path that is not comprehensible to humans!

Our Superuniverse, number 7, named "Orvonton" contains; • 10 Major Sectors, • 1,000 Minor Sectors, • 100,000 Local Universes, • 10,000,000 Constellations, • 1,000,000,000 (one billion} Systems, • 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) inhabited • Or habitable Worlds to be inhabited.

• Ifwe somehow back offinto space and could see the whole Superuniverse with its alternate clockwise and counterclockwise flow of galaxies all at one time the following is how it would look:

At our level of reality, there are the one trillion inhabitable worlds whirling in perfectly kept control within their Systems by the Power Directors and beings who control the force and energy in our gigantic Superuniverse. And countless suns and stars and black holes!

If we could see the whole Superuniverse at a time, we would only see the worlds whirling in their assigned orbits along with the suns, stars, and various other aggregations of matter. (Our world is number 606 in the System of Satania and number 5,342,482,337,666 as registered in the Grand Universe records.) • Now we move to another level of reality and look at the Systems:

At the System level of reality we would see the Systems-as systems, one billion, whirling in formation around each architectural headquarters world in the center, like tiny whirling dots on the massive panorama of our superuniverse, each system containing the 1,000 inhabited worlds that whirl in formation around each system headquarter world-s-our system is Jerusem of the System Satania, number 24 of 100 in the constellation ofNorlatiadek. These are administrative domains under the direction of their Creator, Michael ofNebadon and Gabriel the chiefexecutive officer ofthis Local Universe.

• Now we move to another level of reality to look at the Constellations:

At the Constellation level of realitv we would see the massive Constellations, ten million in number all whirling around their architectural headquarters worlds in the center of each constellation. Our Constellation is number 70 of 100 in "our Local Universe of Nebadon" and our constellation's name is Norlatiadek. Again these are administrative domains under the supervision of their Creator, Michael of Nebadon and answering to Gabriel the CEO with Paradise Ambassadors in each called the Faithfuls ofDays.

• Now we move to the most interesting level ofreality to the Local Universes where all creation takes place and look at the overall magnificent creations that comprise the superuniverses:

At the Local Universe level ofrealitv we would see one hundred thousand aggregations of whirling galaxies whirling in perfect orbits within the superuniverse confmes. This is the actual "creation, construction" level of a superuniverse as to matter, worlds, suns, stars, and architectural worlds---at no other level is there "creation" of worlds, systems, or constellations, or humans. This is where the Michael Sons build their Universes per the patterns of Paradise Isle with the help of the powerful beings that manipulate and control the energies of space. This level of reality is where the Creator Sons and Creative Mother Spirits reside and create the "Garden of God"---in which the worlds, humans and life that we know and much more that we do not know offlourish.

Our Local Universe is called Nebadon and our Creator Son is called Michael, but to the world he is known as Jesus Christ. Our Local Universe is number 84 of 100 in our minor sector, in our superuniverse and its headquarters world is called Salvington. It contains 10,000,000 potential inhabited worlds with only approximately 3.8 million currently inhabited. We are a young universe ofthe Local order.

• Now we move into the "administrative Domains"-- levels ofreality, the Minor Sectors:

At the Minor Sector Level of reality, of which there are there are 1,000 in our Superuniverse, we would see 1,000 huge whirling aggregations of Local Universes whirling around their central architectural headquarters worlds. Our Minor Sector is Ensa, and its headquarters world is called "U Minor the Td 3 ." It is number 3 of 100 in our Minor Sector, Ensa. Each minor sector contains 100 Local Universes.

It is at this level of reality that a large majority of the "control and manipulation" of energies and force and the beings that control these are administered as well as many other administrative and control factors----- and each individual only has to achieve one of these great administrative centers instead of all 1,000 on our way to Paradise, because all Minor Sectors administer the same forces and energies throughout their domain. These are "domains" of control and administration only, not creating worlds and systems and local universes. This has already been accomplished or is being accomplished by the Creator Sons in the Local Universes.

• Now we move to the 10 Major Sectors, their levels of reality, and view the scope of/heir domain in the superuniverse: At the Major Sector Level of reality, of which there are 10 in our Superuniverse, again we enter a "Domain" of control and administration in which each Major Sector contains 100 Minor Sectors.

Each of these Minor Sectors appears as enormous whirling galaxies spinning around the central architectural world of the Major Sector. Our Major Sector is called Splandon and its headquarters world is called U th Major the 5 . It is number 5 of the 10 Major Sectors in our superuniverse of Orvonton, number 7 of7.

• And finally, at the Superuniverse level of reality, we see our beautiful superuniverse Orvonton as we leave for Havona:

At the Superuniverse Level of reality, of which there are 7 and in which we are contained within our number 7, Orvonton. These superuniverses would appear as seven unbelievably huge galaxy-appearing aggregations of worlds, systems, constellations, local universes, minor sectors, major sectors all in constant controlled whirling opposite movements at speeds which we cannot comprehend as they whirl in the space path around the great Isle of Paradise. All we could see would be these seven huge galaxies speeding around Paradise Isle.

• All ofthe above are within the confines ofGod the Supreme to become the perfected "Supreme Being" ofthe future.

• The following are levels ofreality • Mostly beyond our comprehension • And certainly not described in detailfor us. • Getting through the Supreme is our current challenge • Andthen these will unfold.

• God the Ultimate Level of reality is a level of reality in the Four Outer Space Levels and is existent in supertime and absonite reality, of which we have little information. The worlds are already forming out here and can be seen by astronomers. They are each level twice as large as the previous and here we would see nothing except vague images of galaxies. • At the Havona Level of reality, of which there are seven circuits in concentric formation around the Isle of Paradise in a level of reality we cannot know of containing one billion perfect worlds, the outer containing 245,000,000 worlds or levels within levels of reality, and the inner circuit containing 35,000.000 worlds, each of which we must traverse and adjust and absorb as a degree or level of reality prior to achieving Paradise Isle. This is a level of reality all its own called triata but does contain some absonite levels. If we could see this level ---it would be incrediblely beautiful and perfect! Havona is the exhibit ofthe potentials actualized.

• The 21 Worlds of the Father, Son, and Spirit level of reality is near Paradise Isle constitution level or is Paradise level-we do not know more. Cannot be described except as in your book.

• At the Paradise Isle Levels of reality, which we know almost nothing about, there are infinite numbers of levels of reality here because it is the fulcrum between the Infmite-I AM and the fmite eternity, and the Infmite is without limitations. Here we are told that Paradise Isle is one sixth longer in the north-south than east-west there fore slightly-egg shaped. Not much else is given to us as real descriptions that we could understand that would be important here.

• At the "God the Absolute" Level of reality, all eternities are existent but accessible only to those beings that have achieved levels of experience, eventuation, trinitization and completion of specifics, See Levels of Reality paper attached. This is our fmal goal and never ends! Time and Space

Time and Space

by Bob Hunt, Ph.D.

I have always been intrigued and challenged by the Urantia book discussions of time and space. These presentations have motivated me to seek out books and articles on these subjects. Many of these are consistent with the information in the Urantia book and offer examples or theories that provide further insight into the sometimes tantalizing possibilities suggested in various places in the Urantia book. I have selected some examples that illustrate this as the basis for this presentation.

I will juxtapose Urantia book quotations with related discussions from a variety of recent sources, most of which are on the accompanying bibliography. At the same time, I am attempting here to better understand the associated concepts by the selection and organization of the material. I will begin by examining some descriptions of time and space from the Urantia book and elsewhere. Please note that all quotations with a page number indicated and no other attribution are from the Urantia book. In some instances, these are not complete sentences, only phrases.

TIME--the moving image of eternity (*2021; 189:1.3)

SPACE--the fleeting shadow of Paradise realities (*2021; 189:1.3)

These are poetic, but lacking in specificity.

TIME--a succession of instants (*1297; 118:3.1)

SPACE--a system of associated points (*1297; 118:3.1)

These are more specific but still in need of development.

TIME--the succession-arrangement whereby events are recognized and segregated (*1439; 130:7.4)

SPACE--a property of all material bodies when a body moves through space, it also takes all its properties with it, even the space which is in and of such a moving body (*1297; 118:3.6)

Suppose we travel back in time about three centuries and note what the 17th century German mathematician Leibniz wrote:

SPACE is the order of coexistence whereas TIME is the order of successive existence. (Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, 1646-1716)

Two URANTIA Book references deal with the combination of time and space. From Paper 106, Universe Levels of Reality, it states:

Time and space (are) man's greatest aids to relative reality perception and yet his most formidable obstacles to complete reality perception. (*1173; 106:9.3)

From Paper 118, Supreme and Ultimate--Time and Space:

Time and Space--a conjoined mechanism of the master universe, the devices whereby finite creatures are enabled to coexist in the cosmos with the Infinite. Finite creatures are effectively insulated from the absolute levels by time and space. (*1303; 118:9.1)

Let's focus briefly on "time" and some recent writings from physicists. Fred Wolf, in his 1984 book Star Wave, which is subtitled Mind, Consciousness and Quantum Physics, writes:

"There has never been an adequate definition, a clear metaphor, or even a good physical picture of what time is."

He goes on to say, "In quantum mechanics, time is not an observable phenomenon; it is only an extraneous ordering parameter."

Paul Davies in his book, The Cosmic Blueprint, published this year, in a section called "Whatever happened to time?" observes:

"Time exists merely as a parameter for gauging the interval between events."

David R. Griffin, in the Preface to Physics and the Ultimate Significance of Time, a 1986 publication of essays and discussion, states:

"The notion that physics is in some fundamental sense `timeless' has been widely accepted."

It may be helpful before moving on to space to mention a time interval of significance in quantum physics.

Shortest meaningful lapse of time:

Planck Time = 5.36 x 10-44sec

Chronon = 10-23sec

The time required for light to travel the radius of an electron

Suppose we turn for a brief, but somewhat longer, time interval to space. First, another statement from Fred Wolf and then one from Paper 12, The Universe of Universes:

"In quantum mechanics, space is an observable. To observe space, we need the observer and the observed. Their separation is `space.'"

Space is, from the human viewpoint, nothing--negative; it exists only as related to something positive and nonspatial. Space is, however, real. (*133; 12:4.7)

In his discourse at Carthage on time and space, Jesus stated:

Space is not merely an intellectual concept of the variation in relatedness of universe objects. (*1439; 130:7.6)

Then, from Paper 118, Supreme and Ultimate --Time and Space:

The real difficulty we have in understanding space on the material level is due to the fact that, while material bodies exist in space, space also exists in these same material bodies. (*1297; 118:3.5)

The concept of space includes extension and measure. For the quantum level, we should know this:

Shortest meaningful space measurement:

Planck Length = 1.61 x 1033 cm

(21 powers of 10 smaller than the diameter of an atomic nucleus)

Planck's Constant, /h

Newton's Gravitational Constant, g

Velocity of Light, c

System of units for Quantum Gravity

In reference to this scale, Bryce DeWitt makes this observation in an article entitled "Quantum Gravity" that appeared in Scientific American in December, 1983:

"To probe these scales of distance and time experimentally, using instruments built with present technology, one would need a particle accelerator the size of the galaxy!"

In his 1980 book, Quantum Theory and Gravitation, John Wheeler writes:

At Planck length, the effects of quantum gravity make our notions of `before' and `after' meaningless.

Now let's explore some connections between time and space. In Paper 196, Universe Levels of Reality, we read:

Without time sensitivity, no evolutionary creature could possibly perceive the relations of sequence. (*1173; 106:9.2) and

Without space sensitivity, no creature could fathom the relations of simultaneity. (*1173: 106:9.2)

NOW = SPACE = THE OBSERVED

HERE = TIME = THE OBSERVER

He also offers this geometrical analogy:

NOW is a line, surface or solid

HERE is a point.

All lines, surfaces and solids can be generated from a point. Thus:

SPACE IS GENERATABLE FROM TIME.

The latter statement is consistent with one made by Jesus in his discourse on time and space:

Space is measured by time, not time by space. (*1439; 130:7.6)

Jesus goes on to say:

The confusion of the scientist grows out of failure to recognize the reality of space. (*1439: 130:7.6)

The concept of motion is a link between time and space. From Paper 12:

Time comes by virtue of motion and because mind is inherently aware of sequentiality. (*134; 12:5.1)

Wolf writes that "We do not observe time, we observe motion--we infer time by comparing movements--the sweep second hand does not sweep time; it sweeps space periodically." He goes on to say:

"When we say we are observing the passing of time, we are observing the 'movement' of our own thought processes."

Two additional quotations from Paper 12 are helpful here:

Relationships to time do not exist without motion in space, but consciousness of time does. Sequentiality can consciousize time even in the absence of motion. (*135: 12:5.5)

Man's mind is less time-bound than space-bound because of the inherent nature of mind. (*135: 12:5.5)

"Consider the distinction of past, present, and future. In general, what we are conscious of as now is already past, even if only by a fraction of a second. The conscious content of the moment is therefore of that which is past and gone. The future is not yet. The present is but it cannot be specified in words or thoughts, without its slipping into the past. When a future moment comes a similar situation will prevail. Therefore, from the past of the present we may be able to predict, at most, the past of the future. The actual immediate present is always the unknown.

"All possibilities of prediction evidently depend on the assumption that the movement is sufficiently slow, regular, and unambiguously related to what comes next, that the difference between the time to which our perceptions and knowledge actually refer and the present makes no significant difference.

"[However] according to modern physics, microprocesses are very fast, irregular, and ambiguously related to what comes next. Indeed, it is not in general possible to relate the specifiable information content unambiguously to succeeding events (this is just the essential meaning of the Heisenberg uncertainty relations). The relevance of the usual motions of time may be questioned. What seems to be called for is that we recognize the "point event" of relativity theory cannot in general have an unambiguous meaning."

To expand on both the concept and the experience of time, consider this excerpt from Jesus' discourse:

To man, time appears as a succession of events; but as man ascends, as he progresses inward, the enlarging view of this event procession is such that it is discerned more and more in its wholeness. That which formerly appeared as a succession of events then will be viewed as a whole and perfectly related cycle; in this way will circular simultaneity increasingly displace the onetime consciousness of the linear sequence of events. (*1439; 130:7.5)

This ties in with the following statement from Paper 118:

"The Gods are related to time as an experience in eternity. In the evolutionary universes eternity is temporal everlastingness--the everlasting now." (*1295: 118:1.1)

When I mentioned to a friend that I was preparing this talk, he gave me this definition of time:

TIME IS THE STUFF THAT KEEPS EVERYTHING FROM HAPPENING AT ONCE. --Anonymous

Returning to the observations of David Bohm, he writes, in comparing the points of view of relativity theory and quantum theory:

"Relativity theory describes time-space as completely analyzable down to dimensionless points related by absolute causal lawsthere is no possibility of giving meaning to a moment 'now'."

However, quantum theory suggests a concept of overlapping moments with extension and duration in space and time, embedded in a broader context, and governed by the quantum-mechanical wave function.

Thus, as with a motion picture, our experience has a sense of movement, or becoming. Bohm states that:

"In the time aspect, [we comprehend] the BECOMING OF BEING, while in the 'timeless' aspect, [we comprehend] the BEING OF BECOMING.

Going back to Paper 118, we are told by a Mighty Messenger that we:

perceive time by analysis. (*1297; 118:3.1)

[perceive] space by synthesis. (*1297; 118:3.1)

Briefly, these words may be interpreted with these meanings:

● ANALYSIS--separating the whole into parts to find out the nature of the whole; working from the unknown to the known.

● SYNTHESIS--putting parts together to form the whole; working from the known to the unknown.

Suppose we now consider some more advanced concepts and ideas associated with transcending time and space. From Paper 106:

With this information about Paradise, recall this statement, to me one of the most intriguing in the Urantia book:

The ultimaton, the first measurable form of energy, has Paradise as its nucleus. (*467; 42:1.2)

Then, of course, we know from the Foreword that:

The Isle of Paradise has a universe location but no position in space. (*7; 0:4.12)

And from Paper 11, The Eternal Isle of Paradise:

Paradise exists without time and has no location in space. (*120; 11:2.7)

Consider how David Bohm may be making some discoveries that support this Urantia information. He writes that, in physics, we find that:

"atomic structure dissolves into electrons, protons, neutrons, quarks, subquarks, etc., and eventually into dynamically changing forms in an all- pervasive and universal set of fields. When these fields are treated quantum-mechanically, we find that even in what is called a vacuum there are 'zero-point' fluctuations, giving 'empty space' an energy that is immensely beyond that contained in what is recognized as matter.

"Also, In the vacuum state the 'state function' (which represents the whole of space and time) oscillates uniformly at a frequency so high that it is utterly beyond any known physical interpretation. Further, 'we would be justified in saying that the vacuum state is, in a certain sense, 'timeless' or 'beyond time,' at least as time is now known, measured and experienced.'"

Basic principles of quantum theory spatially separated parts of reality cannot be independent

He goes on to say that this "opens up avenues of scientific development for which the classical constructs of space and time prove almost totally useless and meaningless."

"Either objective reality does not exist and it is meaningless for us to speak of things or objects as having any reality above and beyond the mind of an observer OR faster-than-light communication with the future and the past is possible."

In a recent book called Time--The Familiar Stranger, J.T. Fraser writes:

"For a photon traveling at the speed of light, the passage of time has no reality. In the "life" of a photon, all events happen at once, and all distances shrink to zero."

Returning briefly to Paradise, we read in Paper 11:

Space potency is a term difficult to define -- its meaning should convey the idea of potencies and potentials existent within space. (*126; 11:8.8)

David Bohm seems to be coming up with theories along these lines when he states this:

"The implicate order leads to the notion of a pre-space expressed in terms of algebraic relationships, out of which ordinary space-time emerges as a special case."

A few other glimpses into the mysteries of space and time should be mentioned here. From Paper 9, Relation of the Infinite Spirit to the Universe, we have this:

And from Paper 12:

● 1. Mind-perceived time consciousness of sequence, motion, and a sense of duration.

● 2. Spirit-perceived time insight into motion Godward and the awareness of the motion of ascent to levels of increasing divinity.

● 3. Personality creates a unique time sense out of insight into Reality plus a consciousness of presence and an awareness of duration. (*135)

As you know, The URANTIA Book often refers to advancement as being "inward" and "upward." In the light of this discussion of time and space, here is an interpretation of one meaning of these terms:

Inward/Inner Space Transcendence of Time

Upward/Outer Space Transcendence of Space

Now, consider this statement from Jesus' discourse:

There are seven different conceptions of space as it is conditioned by time. (*1439; 130:7.6)

I will close with this conjecture: Perhaps "inward" and "upward" are higher space dimensions; and each of us has an independent, personal time scale for these dimensions. BIBLIOGRAPHY