Paper 49 Paper 51
See Etymology of Coined Terminology.
Introduction
Section 1: Mission of the Princes
p2: See The Lucifer Rebellion: Adjudication Time Frame by Chuck Thurston.
p4: See Behzad (Robert) Sarmast’s study on Magisterial Missions.
Section 2: Planetary Administration
p6: Most Highs rule See cross-reference study: Most High(s) rule(s).
Section 3: The Prince’s Corporeal Staff
p4-6: See Topical Studies section: Prophecy, Melchizedek, and the Bald Knob Cross of Peace.
p5: See cross-reference study: Fourth Creatures.
Section 4: The Planetary Headquarters and Schools
p3,4: See Topical Study: Food For Though.
p9: See cross-reference study: Fourth Creatures.
p12: See The Lucifer Rebellion: Adjudication Time Frame by Chuck Thurston.
Section 5: Progressive Civilization
p6: See cross-reference study: Such An Age.
Section 6: Planetary Culture
p4: See Topical Study: Genetic Introductions, Mutations, and Evolution: a Urantia Book perspective, and subtopic: “Were the Alpheus twins subnormal?“.
Section 7: The Rewards of Isolation
[A perspective on this section from your Editor.]
I never had faith until I found The Urantia Book. And from my first experiences perusing it, I thought the text exhibited a superhuman quality in the writing. Because of this, I thought of myself as no longer being an agondonter. For me it was a combined transition experience—being born of the spirit and experiencing a sense of connection to the celestial administration.
I did not have to research how new discoveries are catching up to history in The Urantia Book to have an experience of its superhuman qualities. Like most of us, it seems, I experienced this in the quality of the writing itself. And I see a high degree of universality of interpretation amongst people who say they believe it is authentic—reader-believers have a very strong tendency towards asserting that the quality of the writing itself bears witness to its superhuman authorship.
When I chose to have faith, I understood and experienced that as distinct from my experience of The Urantia Book. I was not pinning my faith on The Urantia Book; I experienced that choice as its own separate thing, even if it did make the choice a lot easier.
So, for me, those who chose faith without being influenced by The Urantia Book exhibit “what it really means” to be an agondonters. They more purely express the distinguishing characteristics of agondonter status by something akin to an order of magnitude, relative to my experience.
I do not mean to take the wind out of anyone’s sails. But I do think we should give credit where it is due. Maybe the people today who “are not ready for the book” will turn out to have certain experiential advantages in the long run over reader-believers, advantages like those discussed in the section about agondonters. God works in strange ways, including irony.