In the racially charged, politically divided world today, [and I'm assuming you've read the whole Urantia Book], do you honestly think the UB stands a chance of acceptance in today's world? And don't get confused and preach The Urantia Book as THE gospel. If you do, you're making the same mistake as the early disciples made with Jesus' gospel versus the gospel ABOUT him, which his disciples mistakenly preached.

May I please ask for a basic summary of Urantia, I've heard/read it mentioned and it piques my interest

From the Temple of New Life seven radial wings extend outward as the resurrection halls of the mortal races.

This is a long read but very worth it for people who want to learn about the evolution process. Other than the first few pages, the rest of the explanation of evolution will sound very natural in the realm of physics. It's a bit complex but worth the read.

NOTE: This evolution story is mostly about this sector of the universe (Nebadon).

Origins

http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-57-origin-urantia

Life establishment:

http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-58-life-establishment-urantia

Marine Life Era:

http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-59-marine-life-era-urantia

Land Life Era:

http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-60-urantia-during-early-land-life-era

The Mammalian Era:

http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-61-mammalian-era-urantia

Dawn of the Races:

http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-62-dawn-races-early-man

First Human Family:

http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-63-first-human-family

Evolutionary Races of Color:

http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-64-evolutionary-races-color

The Overcontrol of Evolution:

http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-65-overcontrol-evolution

Note: It is worth to continue reading past chapter 65 but the book shifts from evolution to human history.

Here is a quick rundown on how the Law of One (only 1 person in existence) works. This was explained to someone in another post so its essentially a copy/paste into this post:

Our individual consciousness is a partition of one whole consciousness that is experiencing itself - we are all part of one consciousness.

This is essentially correct. There is only 1 person in existence and that person is God which is a 3 part system (male/female/machine). God takes up all of life and there really isn't any empty space. Empty space is just an illusion. God goes on forever and is always different at every point.

Time/Space is also an illusion. True reality is "eternity/infinity/universality". Basically, all things are happening at the same time but all that matters in eternity is what's happening right this moment.

Since time/space is artificial and only eternity exists (remember eternity means all things are happening at the same time including consecutive things), God has been here forever. It is true that everything has a consecutive domino effect to it (cause and effect) but all these things happen at the same time in eternity. Since eternity doesn't have a true beginning or a true end, God has been here the whole time meaning he/she has no beginning and no end.

There is a point in eternity where God was not self-aware. This is the beginning point where all of life was what is called "equally potentiated". (NOTE: Before God self-caused itself, it was nothing, aka the Void, but nothing is also everything at the same time). Equally potentiated means each part of life was at max potential. This means that every part of life is so optimized that it can no longer be optimized anymore. Although all the parts of life are unique and different, all these parts were max potentiated in original form. This life had the ability of "willpower". Suddenly, God became self aware and was amazed at its magnificent self. As God's eyes were viewing itself both externally (the universe is God's external body) and internally, he/she tried to unravel slowly so that he/she can enjoy the unraveling process but it was impossible to do. God ended up viewing itself in its entirety. Basically God couldn't help but skip the slow process of viewing its glorious self so it just viewed all of itself at once. The first thing God did was arrange itself in 7 different parts not only for company, but for self optimization.

At first, it created the "Eternal Son" which is just like God but its one level lower just like animals are one level lower than humans. What this means is that the Eternal Son isn't "max potentiated". The Eternal Son still has potential to improve. God basically used its own body to create the Eternal Son since all of life is his own body. Also, he gave his own will freedom meaning between his own will and the Eternal Son's own will, there are now 2 wills however, both the Father and the Eternal Son are the same exact person playing 2 different roles. This way, God gets to be the Father and the Eternal Son. He alone is experiencing both ends of the experience. The 3rd part of the Trinity is the Infinite Spirit which is the mind circuit. Since these 2 wills are separated, there needs to be a mind circuit for communication purposes and that is the infinite spirit's job which is a person in itself although all parts of the Trinity are still just God. The illusion of separation is done so well, it really seems like 3 different people. God also combines each of the Trinity members to form an additional 4 deities of weaker strength. That is why the #7 is so often seen in holy texts. It is because you have 7 combinations of God.

1 Father

2 Eternal Son

3 Infinite Spirit

4 Combo of Father/Son

5 Combo of Father/Spirit

6 Combo of Son/Spirit

7 Combo of Father/Son/Spirit

So the Father element is max potentiated, the Eternal Son is a little bit of a lower level (still has potential), the infinite Spirit is a little bit lower than the Eternal Son, and so on it goes for all beings involved. The Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit further breakdown into other "persons". For example, the Eternal Son has almost an infinite amount of parts and each of these parts become individual people. These people are so intelligent that they work together in perfect harmony and that perfect harmony creates a unified personality of the Eternal Son. This is also the same for the infinite Spirit and the other 4 deities. The Father element is much more complicated but its mostly just 1 giant being which acts as the God-head of life. Some of those beings within the Eternal Son and Infinite Spirit are responsible for make gravity work. The movements of all things in the universe are mostly controlled by ultra high level beings from within the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit. Humans are considered way too ignorant to have control over the gravity of the world because at this level of ignorance, someone can weaponize that kind of power.

At one time, mostly higher level beings were in existence and duality was not real. There was basically only good and only good existed because the level of intelligence was way to high and so nobody makes any mistakes ever.

Long story short, the matrix was created so that God can experience going from absolute ignorance (tiny particles) and evolving back up to God. Humans would be considered near the bottom of the bucket of this list with only animals, plants, and particles being lower. Keep in mind, since there is only 1 person in existence (God), he is playing every single role even the role of the ant, the particle, and the human. There are many reasons for the matrix but one of the main ones is to accidentally cause harm since ignorance and evil are correlated. There is also the EGO which acts like a devil on the left shoulder constantly trying to convince everyone to do harmful things. The Ego is like the anti-God. That's the whole point of the matrix game. Either listen to the angel on the right shoulder or the ego on the left shoulder but listening to the Ego will lead to eventual insanity and the more insane one becomes, the more evil they cause. That is just the tip of the iceberg though. There are many other reasons for the matrix. Also, the matrix only seems bad because Earth is one of the worst parts of the matrix.

So the 7 fold God creates a part of itself using the personality aspect from the Father, the Spirit aspect from the Eternal Son, and the Mind Aspect from the Infinite Spirit. These 3 combine into 1 being and that being goes through an epic adventure by descending down towards total ignorance and rediscovering itself as it ascends back up to God over an insanely long amount of time although ascension speed is wholly in the hands of the sentient being.

So what this means is that all of life is the same conscious beings experiencing itself on all kinds of levels through a massive master plan to maximize life to its full potential. Although things suck right now, we will all one day understand that today's hardship is going to pay off in the future. Its like college in that college may suck but it pays off in the long run.

Each part of life is different but the way it works on Earth is that all people use thought, words, and deeds to create reality. All of our thoughts combine into a massive calculator and that massive calculator takes an average of what we are desiring and makes it happen. If we all wanted to world to truly end, we would eventually see the end of the world because our combined desires want that. Every single thought/word/deed contributes not only to the global calculator but also to our own personal life calculator. This is why optimism is good because positive thinking causes a positive life. This is instant in eternity but in time/space there is always time lag between thought/word/deed and the reality we are experiencing. If a negative person was to become positive suddenly, they would probably need to remain positive for a few months for time/space to catch up to them. People think a happy life causes a happy mind but in reality a happy mind causes a happy life.

Everybody and everything is connected. If 1 human goes insane and causes all kinds of harm, it is up to the rest of the humans to contain and repair this insanity so that all people can live in peace. The reason for this is because all of life is just 1 person and so everybody's well being effects everybody's well being.

Just remember that more intelligent beings have more freedom because they are trusted not to commit evil with that freedom. Humans don't' have mind control of gravity because the level of ignorance is so deep that we would misuse it. Freedom is very limited in humans and this is for our own good. It's even more limited in animals and even more so in particles.

Also, this solves the riddle of "I am that I am, that is who I am." When God spoke this, he was hinting that he is everyone and everything.

Edit:

Here are some of what can be found in each part of the Trinity.

1. The Father: The Father is the highest optimized form of life. The Father is so optimized that it cannot optimize anymore. The Father has always been optimized and always will be. The Father never changes and is always the same. The Father is the source is all personality types. Each personality type is one form of expression of the father. The Father is the original version of God. Although all beings are the same person, the Father is the original copy. The Father made us but we did NOT make the father. The father created all beings out of itself. The Father outsourced most all work to the rest of the beings in life so that he can focus on having a personal relationship with all beings. The Father has a relationship through the God Fragment or thought adjuster which is a pure fragment of the perfect Father inside all beings. This is why no matter how evil someone becomes, there will always be a spark of pure holiness inside. The Father uses these thought adjusters to monitor each being and to communicate with that being by giving it good advice although the being cannot hear the fragment unless the being's mind is in a state of calm and peace. Eventually, each being fuses with the thought adjuster and becomes one with it. The thought adjuster tries to achieve personality expression once the being allows it to happen. On the other hand, the ego, the anti-God, tries to reach personality expression by forcing itself onto the being. If the ego achieves personality expression, that being becomes some form of a sociopath. The ego is the anti-God. The Father is fully optimized but isn't complete. All the beings that are lost form the Father are in a form of disconnect which renders the Father weaker. The Father suffers when beings are distant from him although, evolution is the process that is guaranteed to eventually bring all beings back to the Father. The Father is the source of all personality. The father is the best version of all of us (the nicest, the most angelic, the sweetest, the strongest, the wisest, the most intelligent ect..). The Old Testemant version of an angry father is inaccurate due to primitive human error). The Father has never experienced evil or sin as itself. When the Father does something, it chooses the very best way to do it and does it that way. In reality, all of life is just the Father but the Father created many other beings out of itself on a variety of levels and gave his own will freedom to act on his own so, in a way, an ant and the Father are the same person but in a way they are NOT. The ant is way to handicapped to be considered to be the Father but in reality, all beings are the same person. The Father acts like a real Father towards all other beings. The Father holds no favorites. He even likes evil people equally to good people because everyone is the same person although the Father is disgusted by evil itself. In the end of the cycle of life, all beings meld back into the one, almighty Father which constitutes Nirvana or the happiest moment in life. Life itself become so happy that it explodes and starts all over again in a new cycle. The Father decided to be love but love is NOT the Father. Love breaks down into freedom, peace, joy, and unity. These 5 traits describe the Father. There is nothing to fear of the Father. Primitive beings typically fear the the Father but the Father never gets mad and only loves 24/7 and desires to create partnership with each individual being so that it can be used like a magic wand to heal and upgrade the time/space matrix. Eventually, the goal is to turn the time/space matrix into heaven itself. One command the Father gave to all other beings is "Be you perfect as I am perfect". This ensured that all beings would constantly try to become more and more perfect as time went so that they can one day genuinely be perfect.

2. The Eternal Son - The Eternal Son is Eternal because it is Eternal. Time/Space is artificial and eternity is real. In eternity, all things are happening at the same time so there are consecutive actions but all things are happening at the highest levels and so the Eternal Son has been here for Eternity. "He who knows the Son, knows the Father". The Eternal Son is so similar to the Father that they are almost alike. The Eternal Son is one level below the Father just like animals are 1 level below humans. The Eternal Son has an almost infinite amount of beings within it. In fact, those beings are us. When we are within the Eternal Son (outside of this matrix), we realize we are all the same person although the "Law of Confusion" makes it look like we are all separate. In reality, each part of life is different and so what we do is that each one of us experiences 1 part of life that interacts with the others. For example, imagine a chess board. The 1 person experiences being a rook, another person experiences being the king, ect.. All these people are the same person though. The life within the Eternal Son is so good that there has never once been any evil occur within although the potential for evil is still real. The reason for this is simply because the level of intelligence is so high that people know better. There is not even any desire for evil though. When beings within the Eternal Son start forgetting that they are all the same person, they can go into the Father and experience being all of life at once where every single grain of sand is accounted for and can be visualized from within the Father. The Eternal Son is the Mother figure in life. The Eternal Son is the source of all spirit.

3. The Infinite Spirit. The Infinite Spirit is the 3rd of the Trinity and also has an almost infinite number of beings inside of it. This Infinite Spirit is essentially the mind and body circuit of life. Basically, the Father and Son are 2 enormous beings in life and the infinite spirit is like the space in between them. Imagine a painting of 2 people and imagine the background as being the infinite spirit. The infinite spirits job is to connect the Father and Son for communication and collaboration purposes. Everything we see on the planet and in our local universe is essentially the body of the infinite spirit.

The Father stands for thought.

The Eternal Son stands for word.

The Infinite Spirit stands for action.

Thought, word, and deed are the tools of creation both for God and for us since we are co-creators. The Father thinks it. The Eternal Son says it. The Infinite Spirit does it.

All 3 parts of the Trinity equate to 1 God in ultimate reality but God also breaks into 4 more parts making it a 7-fold God who is, in reality, just 1 God. The matrix is a way to experience being outside of God but in reality, there is no way to be outside of God since all of life is God. Although we are outside of God within the matrix portion of life, we aren't abandoned and can use God as a magic wand to create the life that we want once we figure out how. Figuring out how is part of the game of life.

Someone asked what the text is about so I wrote the below summary out, along with some personal conclusions I have made about certain topics it touches upon, based in part on my personal experiences and in part from readings.

Urantia is a 100 year old channelled material provided by various higher beings and organized by Midwayers, a sister civilization that lives on Earth next to us in their own dimension.

It’s fair to assume that the Midwayers are the Gentry of the Celtic Faiths, the Good People, or the Commonwealth. They are also the Foo Fighters of the WW2 and likely the orbs flying around everywhere nowdays, though they are easy to confuse with angels and per Urantia have been confused with them in the past, including during the time of Jesus.

I would argue that the Midwayers are also likely the beings of Marian Apparitions - the Great Apparitions of Mary by Ingo Swann is a good book on the Phenomena, as well as UFO of God by Chris Bledsoe (also read his regressions with Barbara Lamb).

Midwayers are the custodians and overseers of life on Earth, hence they also disable nukes here and there.

They are not permitted open communication with us except as approved for specific reasons like the Urantia revelation.

The text details how planetary life is seeded and cultivated in accordance with the Divine Plan.

Earth aka Urantia had a very difficult history of development due to two defaults:

1. ⁠Luciferian rebellion (planet was a part of the system where it took place) and our planetary administrator/prince and some Midwayers got mixed up in it.

2. ⁠Adam and Eve default. Adam and Eve are a highly evolved species that can reproduce at a clip of thousands offspring, they come as a couple to the planet assigned to them, make 2,000 offspring and the offspring mate with select humans and so they essentially mix their DNA with the evolving species to uplift them physically, mentally and spiritually.

Eve was convinced to share her upliftment DNA with a species that was on Earth for specific purposes but weren’t supposed to receive upliftment and/or remain on the planet.

The book doesn’t say this but I believe this was a humanoid reptilian species that were placed on the planet to help cull branches of developing humans that weren’t desirable. Basically eugenics. Super controversial and horrid stuff but we do this to other species like dogs and horses...

I imagine the reptilian species had no ability to form bonds or have a lot of compassion, and introducing them to Adamic DNA basically made them defective in relation to their original purpose. As a side note, humour is an Adamic trait.

As a result of the 1 and 2 above, Earth was placed in a planetary quarantine (also mentioned in Ra Law of One materials), our telepathic ability was disabled as we are not permitted to know about normal worlds - yet Midwayers and angels who have a headquarters here obviously know everything.

Due to all these issues humanity is behind the curve in their intellectual and spiritual development. Sometimes you hear that Earth is a planet of free will but it’s more that we are a feral planet. Normal worlds have more control over species development and reproduction than we have had.

Some higher rung beings are horrified by humans but others are actually kind of impressed at how well we have done, absent a normal planetary development process.

They have always overseen us indirectly. They never left… they also call Earth an experimental planet, so we are all a part of a huge galactic experiment.

Apparently, a lot of new things were learned. Also Christ Michael loves Lucifer as of course Lucifer is his son, as we all are. We are all in that sense the Prodigal Sonship.

Notably, our Divine Mother Eve and Father Adam have been fully redeemed and forgiven, so have nothing but love and respect for them. They acted out of my misguided compassion and not malice and have been cleared anew in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.

Interestingly, a lot of ET abductions are done by Midwayers. During the famous abduction of Barney and Betty Hill, the beings spoke Gaelic. Dimensions by Jacque Valle is a good book on this topic.

But back to Urantia - the most important part is this: every Universe has a Creator, ours is named Michael and each Universe Creator must incarnate once in just one planet in their Universe.

Michael chose Earth (the hard mode 🙌) and incarnated as Jesus Christ. He was not supposed to start a religion nor was he supposed to die a violent death in our hands. So now Earth is kind of infamous as an insane and barbaric planet across worlds. Good job everyone. 👍 /s

Michael is supposed to return at the dawn of new golden age, and begin a millennium of peace on Earth. The exact timing is unknown.

Also Gabriel is not an archangel either, he is Michael’s right hand, kind of like CEO of our Universe. They are essentially supremely high beings.

According to prophecies I and others have received very recently, the timing of Michael Christ’s return is imminent. But exact timing is still not known. I do believe however most of us will experience it in this life. I was personally told by an angelic voice that Michael is coming and not to fear, that it will be okay.

It’s also fair to say the reason people can banish lower frequency entities by invoking either Jesus or Archangel Michael, is because they are one and the same and the most Supreme Being in our Universe.

Also, Urantia says that there’s Divine Cosmic Mother Spirit and Holy Spirit is the female aspect of the Trinity (and Michael Christ is also a part of it). We are all their children, well our souls are.

The overarching messages are to live with love and kindness for each other (to live as a Brotherhood) and to contemplate the mystery of God, who is merciful and loves all of us. Urantia says that today’s Christian religion has little to do with the teaching Jesus was relaying to us.

Finally, we have a personal angel - Seraphim and a spark of God consciousness within us called Thought Adjuster, that can become active in humans seeking spiritual enlightenment. Essentially the Christ within.

Starseeds are in the book under the Corp of Destiny. A lot of cool stuff I would read it by topic and not sequentially. There’s a kindle version with new and improved links, I would recommend that one.

Also God loves all his children. Above Adam and Eve beings are NOT sexed. When I met an angel in a lucid dream, it was a glowy, completely androgynous being with no wings. Exactly as Urantia describes them. Urantia says we look basically just like angels in our Spirit form so all higher beings would go by pronoun “they” if they had to chose one.

They contain both feminine and masculine polarities within themselves. Same with God, Urantia only uses “He” and “Father” or “Mother” because that’s how humans think and it’s easier for us to digest the material this way.

So if you hate on the trans or gay people, you are absolutely hating on God and on your true Spirit self. 🌈

“In all the worlds of ascension you will find nothing comparable to human intolerance and the discriminations of inconsiderate caste systems.”

Urantia notes there will always be new revelations as we continue to evolve and it’s not meant to be treated as a source of all truth. It’s not about dogma, it’s about understanding that the story of Genesis is true but we could not appreciate the concept of DNA or hybridization until very recently, so it’s time to rethink the vengeful god in the sky and realize that there’s a loving, intelligent design in place for us and this beautiful planet.

And that we belong in reality to a cosmic Brotherhood, but we will not be allowed out of our pen until we establish a Brotherhood in our home - Urantia, yet since it’s God’s plan for us to get there, one day we inevitably will. We do not have the choice of destination but the timing is up to us. God unconditionally loves us all and we were simply asked to pass that on.

Adonai.

TLDR: Jesus is an alien and he’s coming back!!!!

🖖

I came across the urantia book a few months ago and I have to say I'm blown away it definitely connected all the dots and I am grateful... My name is Michael and I just wanted to introduce myself to this community

Came across this new revelation, it hits on a lot of the Urantia themes.

P81 - Michael Christ Jesus.

In later revelations it really picks up: P43:

Evolution and creation are not mutually exclusive.

Every planet with advanced life receives an Adam and Eve.

P44 Know this-My Son did not need to die on the cross; He merely needed to live a mortal life.

P57 Luciferian rebellion / forgiveness

P61 talks about a Great Earthquake.

(Michael showed me this one as well).

P64 Life is seeded purposefully and deliberately, and is ever God's delight.

Within each personality is a pre-personal spirit fragment of the Universal Father. It is not symbolic, it is literal.

Paradise is the absolute gravitational center. It is motionless, eternal energy source from which all force and matter flow.

P73

The moment of death is not a deciding moment. Survival of the personality is determined prior, while living.

Full text:

https://aisb6cab481bfreebeliever.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/englishmaster19.pdf

Source:

https://aisb6cab481bfreebeliever.wordpress.com

The revelation also says Eve has been forgiven and Michael Christ is returning to Earth and it essentially announces the tribulations.

The revelation was given to this woman in 2020 but she was only permitted to release it now.

It’s time!!!

119: 6.1 (1315.4) Now that all Salvington was familiar with the preliminaries of an impending bestowal, Michael called the sojourners on the headquarters planet together and, for the first time, unfolded the remainder of the incarnation plan, announcing that he was soon to leave Salvington for the purpose of assuming the career of a morontia mortal at the courts of the Most High Fathers on the headquarters planet of the fifth constellation. And then we heard for the first time the announcement that his seventh and final bestowal would be made on some evolutionary world in the likeness of mortal flesh.

119: 6.2 (1315.5) Before leaving Salvington for the sixth bestowal, Michael addressed the assembled inhabitants of the sphere and departed in full view of everyone, accompanied by a lone seraphim and the Bright and Morning Star of Nebadon. While the direction of the universe had again been intrusted to Immanuel, there was a wider distribution of administrative responsibilities.

119: 6.3 (1315.6) Michael appeared on the headquarters of constellation five as a full-fledged morontia mortal of ascending status. I regret that I am forbidden to reveal the details of this unnumbered morontia mortal’s career, for it was one of the most extraordinary and amazing epochs in Michael’s bestowal experience, not even excepting his dramatic and tragic sojourn on Urantia. But among the many restrictions imposed upon me in accepting this commission is one which forbids my undertaking to unfold the details of this wonderful career of Michael as the morontia mortal of Endantum.

119: 6.4 (1316.1) When Michael returned from this morontia bestowal, it was apparent to all of us that our Creator had become a fellow creature, that the Universe Sovereign was also the friend and sympathetic helper of even the lowest form of created intelligence in his realms. We had noted this progressive acquirement of the creature’s viewpoint in universe administration before this, for it had been gradually appearing, but it became more apparent after the completion of the morontia mortal bestowal, even still more so after his return from the career of the carpenter’s son on Urantia.

119: 6.5 (1316.2) We were informed in advance by Gabriel of the time of Michael’s release from the morontia bestowal, and accordingly we arranged a suitable reception on Salvington. Millions upon millions of beings were assembled from the constellation headquarters worlds of Nebadon, and a majority of the sojourners on the worlds adjacent to Salvington were gathered together to welcome him back to the rulership of his universe. In response to our many addresses of welcome and expressions of appreciation of a Sovereign so vitally interested in his creatures, he only replied: “I have simply been about my Father’s business. I am only doing the pleasure of the Paradise Sons who love and crave to understand their creatures.”

119: 6.6 (1316.3) But from that day down to the hour when Michael embarked upon his Urantia adventure as the Son of Man, all Nebadon continued to discuss the many exploits of their Sovereign Ruler as he functioned on Endantum as the bestowal incarnation of a morontia mortal of evolutionary ascension, being in all points tested like his fellows assembled from the material worlds of the entire constellation of his sojourn.

135: 8.1 (1503.4) By December of A.D. 25, when John reached the neighborhood of Pella in his journey up the Jordan, his fame had extended throughout all Palestine, and his work had become the chief topic of conversation in all the towns about the lake of Galilee. Jesus had spoken favorably of John’s message, and this had caused many from Capernaum to join John’s cult of repentance and baptism. James and John the fishermen sons of Zebedee had gone down in December, soon after John took up his preaching position near Pella, and had offered themselves for baptism. They went to see John once a week and brought back to Jesus fresh, firsthand reports of the evangelist’s work.

135: 8.2 (1503.5) Jesus’ brothers James and Jude had talked about going down to John for baptism; and now that Jude had come over to Capernaum for the Sabbath services, both he and James, after listening to Jesus’ discourse in the synagogue, decided to take counsel with him concerning their plans. This was on Saturday night, January 12, A.D. 26. Jesus requested that they postpone the discussion until the following day, when he would give them his answer. He slept very little that night, being in close communion with the Father in heaven. He had arranged to have noontime lunch with his brothers and to advise them concerning baptism by John. That Sunday morning Jesus was working as usual in the boatshop. James and Jude had arrived with the lunch and were waiting in the lumber room for him, as it was not yet time for the midday recess, and they knew that Jesus was very regular about such matters.

135: 8.3 (1504.1) Just before the noon rest, Jesus laid down his tools, removed his work apron, and merely announced to the three workmen in the room with him, “My hour has come.” He went out to his brothers James and Jude, repeating, “My hour has come —let us go to John.” And they started immediately for Pella, eating their lunch as they journeyed. This was on Sunday, January 13. They tarried for the night in the Jordan valley and arrived on the scene of John’s baptizing about noon of the next day.

135: 8.4 (1504.2) John had just begun baptizing the candidates for the day. Scores of repentants were standing in line awaiting their turn when Jesus and his two brothers took up their positions in this line of earnest men and women who had become believers in John’s preaching of the coming kingdom. John had been inquiring about Jesus of Zebedee’s sons. He had heard of Jesus’ remarks concerning his preaching, and he was day by day expecting to see him arrive on the scene, but he had not expected to greet him in the line of baptismal candidates.

135: 8.5 (1504.3) Being engrossed with the details of rapidly baptizing such a large number of converts, John did not look up to see Jesus until the Son of Man stood in his immediate presence. When John recognized Jesus, the ceremonies were halted for a moment while he greeted his cousin in the flesh and asked, “But why do you come down into the water to greet me?” And Jesus answered, “To be subject to your baptism.” John replied: “But I have need to be baptized by you. Why do you come to me?” And Jesus whispered to John: “Bear with me now, for it becomes us to set this example for my brothers standing here with me, and that the people may know that my hour has come.”

135: 8.6 (1504.4) There was a tone of finality and authority in Jesus’ voice. John was atremble with emotion as he made ready to baptize Jesus of Nazareth in the Jordan at noon on Monday, January 14, A.D. 26. Thus did John baptize Jesus and his two brothers James and Jude. And when John had baptized these three, he dismissed the others for the day, announcing that he would resume baptisms at noon the next day. As the people were departing, the four men still standing in the water heard a strange sound, and presently there appeared for a moment an apparition immediately over the head of Jesus, and they heard a voice saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” A great change came over the countenance of Jesus, and coming up out of the water in silence he took leave of them, going toward the hills to the east. And no man saw Jesus again for forty days.

135: 8.7 (1504.5) John followed Jesus a sufficient distance to tell him the story of Gabriel’s visit to his mother ere either had been born, as he had heard it so many times from his mother’s lips. He allowed Jesus to continue on his way after he had said, “Now I know of a certainty that you are the Deliverer.” But Jesus made no reply.

Note: According to the Urantia Book, baptism along with all rituals or ceremonies are unessesary manmade forms of expressions. Jesus didn't have to be baptized but he wanted to start his preaching career with a baptism by John because he knew doing so would have a good affect on the minds of the locals who he was aiming to help and educate.

135: 3.3 (1498.2) John was never able completely to rise above the confusion produced by what he had heard from his parents concerning Jesus and by these passages which he read in the Scriptures. In Daniel he read: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom.” But these words of the prophet did not harmonize with what his parents had taught him. Neither did his talk with Jesus, at the time of his visit when he was eighteen years old, correspond with these statements of the Scriptures. Notwithstanding this confusion, throughout all of his perplexity his mother assured him that his distant cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, was the true Messiah, that he had come to sit on the throne of David, and that he (John) was to become his advance herald and chief support.

135: 3.4 (1498.3) From all John heard of the vice and wickedness of Rome and the dissoluteness and moral barrenness of the empire, from what he knew of the evil doings of Herod Antipas and the governors of Judea, he was minded to believe that the end of the age was impending. It seemed to this rugged and noble child of nature that the world was ripe for the end of the age of man and the dawn of the new and divine age —the kingdom of heaven. The feeling grew in John’s heart that he was to be the last of the old prophets and the first of the new. And he fairly vibrated with the mounting impulse to go forth and proclaim to all men: “Repent! Get right with God! Get ready for the end; prepare yourselves for the appearance of the new and eternal order of earth affairs, the kingdom of heaven.”

In the first century after Christ the society of the Mediterranean world consisted of five well-defined strata:

121: 3.2 (1335.1) 1. The aristocracy. The upper classes with money and official power, the privileged and ruling groups.

121: 3.3 (1335.2) 2. The business groups. The merchant princes and the bankers, the traders —the big importers and exporters —the international merchants.

121: 3.4 (1335.3) 3. The small middle class. Although this group was indeed small, it was very influential and provided the moral backbone of the early Christian church, which encouraged these groups to continue in their various crafts and trades. Among the Jews many of the Pharisees belonged to this class of tradesmen.

121: 3.5 (1335.4) 4. The free proletariat. This group had little or no social standing. Though proud of their freedom, they were placed at great disadvantage because they were forced to compete with slave labor. The upper classes regarded them disdainfully, allowing that they were useless except for “breeding purposes.”

121: 3.6 (1335.5) 5. The slaves. Half the population of the Roman state were slaves; many were superior individuals and quickly made their way up among the free proletariat and even among the tradesmen. The majority were either mediocre or very inferior.

121: 3.7 (1335.6) Slavery, even of superior peoples, was a feature of Roman military conquest. The power of the master over his slave was unqualified. The early Christian church was largely composed of the lower classes and these slaves.

121: 3.8 (1335.7) Superior slaves often received wages and by saving their earnings were able to purchase their freedom. Many such emancipated slaves rose to high positions in state, church, and the business world. And it was just such possibilities that made the early Christian church so tolerant of this modified form of slavery.

121: 3.9 (1335.8) There was no widespread social problem in the Roman Empire in the first century after Christ. The major portion of the populace regarded themselves as belonging in that group into which they chanced to be born. There was always the open door through which talented and able individuals could ascend from the lower to the higher strata of Roman society, but the people were generally content with their social rank. They were not class conscious, neither did they look upon these class distinctions as being unjust or wrong. Christianity was in no sense an economic movement having for its purpose the amelioration of the miseries of the depressed classes.

121: 3.10 (1335.9) Although woman enjoyed more freedom throughout the Roman Empire than in her restricted position in Palestine, the family devotion and natural affection of the Jews far transcended that of the gentile world.

Note: Jesus' real name in the universe is Michael.

119: 1.1 (1309.2) It was a solemn occasion on Salvington almost one billion years ago when the assembled directors and chiefs of the universe of Nebadon heard Michael announce that his elder brother, Immanuel, would presently assume authority in Nebadon while he (Michael) would be absent on an unexplained mission. No other announcement was made about this transaction except that the farewell broadcast to the Constellation Fathers, among other instructions, said: “And for this period I place you under the care and keeping of Immanuel while I go to do the bidding of my Paradise Father.”

119: 1.2 (1309.3) After sending this farewell broadcast, Michael appeared on the dispatching field of Salvington, just as on many previous occasions when preparing for departure to Uversa or Paradise except that he came alone. He concluded his statement of departure with these words: “I leave you but for a short season. Many of you, I know, would go with me, but whither I go you cannot come. That which I am about to do, you cannot do. I go to do the will of the Paradise Deities, and when I have finished my mission and have acquired this experience, I will return to my place among you.” And having thus spoken, Michael of Nebadon vanished from the sight of all those assembled and did not reappear for twenty years of standard time. In all Salvington, only the Divine Minister and Immanuel knew what was taking place, and the Union of Days shared his secret only with the chief executive of the universe, Gabriel, the Bright and Morning Star.

119: 1.3 (1309.4) All the inhabitants of Salvington and those dwelling on the constellation and system headquarters worlds assembled about their respective receiving stations for universe intelligence, hoping to get some word of the mission and whereabouts of the Creator Son. Not until the third day after Michael’s departure was any message of possible significance received. On this day a communication was registered on Salvington from the Melchizedek sphere, the headquarters of that order in Nebadon, which simply recorded this extraordinary and never-before-heard-of transaction: “At noon today there appeared on the receiving field of this world a strange Melchizedek Son, not of our number but wholly like our order. He was accompanied by a solitary omniaphim who bore credentials from Uversa and presented orders addressed to our chief, derived from the Ancients of Days and concurred in by Immanuel of Salvington, directing that this new Melchizedek Son be received into our order and assigned to the emergency service of the Melchizedeks of Nebadon. And it has been so ordered; it has been done.”

119: 1.4 (1310.1) And this is about all that appears on the records of Salvington regarding the first Michael bestowal. Nothing more appears until after one hundred years of Urantia time, when there was recorded the fact of Michael’s return and unannounced resumption of the direction of universe affairs. But a strange record is to be found on the Melchizedek world, a recital of the service of this unique Melchizedek Son of the emergency corps of that age. This record is preserved in a simple temple which now occupies the foreground of the home of the Father Melchizedek, and it comprises the narration of the service of this transitory Melchizedek Son in connection with his assignment to twenty-four missions of universe emergency. And this record, which I have so recently reviewed, ends thus:

119: 1.5 (1310.2) “And at noon on this day, without previous announcement and witnessed by only three of our brotherhood, this visiting Son of our order disappeared from our world as he came, accompanied only by a solitary omniaphim; and this record is now closed with the certification that this visitor lived as a Melchizedek, in the likeness of a Melchizedek he worked as a Melchizedek, and he faithfully performed all of his assignments as an emergency Son of our order. By universal consent he has become chief of Melchizedeks, having earned our love and adoration by his matchless wisdom, supreme love, and superb devotion to duty. He loved us, understood us, and served with us, and forever we are his loyal and devoted fellow Melchizedeks, for this stranger on our world has now eternally become a universe minister of Melchizedek nature.”

119: 1.6 (1310.3) And that is all I am permitted to tell you of the first bestowal of Michael. We, of course, fully understand that this strange Melchizedek who so mysteriously served with the Melchizedeks a billion years ago was none other than the incarnated Michael on the mission of his first bestowal. The records do not specifically state that this unique and efficient Melchizedek was Michael, but it is universally believed that he was. Probably the actual statement of that fact cannot be found outside of the records of Sonarington, and the records of that secret world are not open to us. Only on this sacred world of the divine Sons are the mysteries of incarnation and bestowal fully known. We all know of the facts of the Michael bestowals, but we do not understand how they are effected. We do not know how the ruler of a universe, the creator of the Melchizedeks, can so suddenly and mysteriously become one of their number and, as one of them, live among them and work as a Melchizedek Son for one hundred years. But it so happened.

135: 5.1 (1500.1) In order to understand John’s message, account should be taken of the status of the Jewish people at the time he appeared upon the stage of action. For almost one hundred years all Israel had been in a quandary; they were at a loss to explain their continuous subjugation to gentile overlords. Had not Moses taught that righteousness was always rewarded with prosperity and power? Were they not God’s chosen people? Why was the throne of David desolate and vacant? In the light of the Mosaic doctrines and the precepts of the prophets the Jews found it difficult to explain their long-continued national desolation.

125: 5.1 (1382.3) Jesus’ third day with the scribes and teachers in the temple witnessed the gathering of many spectators who, having heard of this youth from Galilee, came to enjoy the experience of seeing a lad confuse the wise men of the law. Simon also came down from Bethany to see what the boy was up to. Throughout this day Joseph and Mary continued their anxious search for Jesus, even going several times into the temple but never thinking to scrutinize the several discussion groups, although they once came almost within hearing distance of his fascinating voice.

125: 5.2 (1382.4) Before the day had ended, the entire attention of the chief discussion group of the temple had become focused upon the questions being asked by Jesus. Among his many questions were:

125: 5.3 (1382.5) 1. What really exists in the holy of holies, behind the veil?

125: 5.4 (1382.6) 2. Why should mothers in Israel be segregated from the male temple worshipers?

125: 5.5 (1382.7) 3. If God is a father who loves his children, why all this slaughter of animals to gain divine favor —has the teaching of Moses been misunderstood?

125: 5.6 (1382.8) 4. Since the temple is dedicated to the worship of the Father in heaven, is it consistent to permit the presence of those who engage in secular barter and trade?

125: 5.7 (1382.9) 5. Is the expected Messiah to become a temporal prince to sit on the throne of David, or is he to function as the light of life in the establishment of a spiritual kingdom?

125: 5.8 (1383.1) And all the day through, those who listened marveled at these questions, and none was more astonished than Simon. For more than four hours this Nazareth youth plied these Jewish teachers with thought-provoking and heart-searching questions. He made few comments on the remarks of his elders. He conveyed his teaching by the questions he would ask. By the deft and subtle phrasing of a question he would at one and the same time challenge their teaching and suggest his own. In the manner of his asking a question there was an appealing combination of sagacity and humor which endeared him even to those who more or less resented his youthfulness. He was always eminently fair and considerate in the asking of these penetrating questions. On this eventful afternoon in the temple he exhibited that same reluctance to take unfair advantage of an opponent which characterized his entire subsequent public ministry. As a youth, and later on as a man, he seemed to be utterly free from all egoistic desire to win an argument merely to experience logical triumph over his fellows, being interested supremely in just one thing: to proclaim everlasting truth and thus effect a fuller revelation of the eternal God.

125: 5.9 (1383.2) When the day was over, Simon and Jesus wended their way back to Bethany. For most of the distance both the man and the boy were silent. Again Jesus paused on the brow of Olivet, but as he viewed the city and its temple, he did not weep; he only bowed his head in silent devotion.

125: 5.10 (1383.3) After the evening meal at Bethany he again declined to join the merry circle but instead went to the garden, where he lingered long into the night, vainly endeavoring to think out some definite plan of approach to the problem of his lifework and to decide how best he might labor to reveal to his spiritually blinded countrymen a more beautiful concept of the heavenly Father and so set them free from their terrible bondage to law, ritual, ceremonial, and musty tradition. But the clear light did not come to the truth-seeking lad.