Thursday, August 24, 2023

Mini Messenger: Insights and Reflections The Urantia Book Fellowship

The “Father” Word Symbol

by Lee Smith

Having recently observed Fathers’ Day, here is an interesting article from “The Conversation” about the linguistic history of the “Father” word symbol:

https://theconversation.com/from-dada-to-darth-vader-why-the-way-we-name-fathers-reminds-us-we-spring-from-the-same-well-184370

For those of us (and probably the majority on this rebellion-seared planet) who have experienced less than ideal earth fathers, The Urantia Book offers a great challenge, a magnificent opportunity, and a wonderful inspiration for all current and future fathers.

4:4.6 (59.2)  In God the Father freewill performances are not ruled by power, nor are they guided by intellect alone; the divine personality is defined as consisting in spirit and manifesting himself to the universes as love. Therefore, in all his personal relations with the creature personalities of the universes, the First Source and Center is always and consistently a loving Father. God is a Father in the highest sense of the term. He is eternally motivated by the perfect idealism of divine love, and that tender nature finds its strongest expression and greatest satisfaction in loving and being loved.

196:3.35 (2097.3)  And God-consciousness is equivalent to the integration of the self with the universe, and on its highest levels of spiritual reality. Only the spirit content of any value is imperishable. Even that which is true, beautiful, and good may not perish in human experience. If man does not choose to survive, then does the surviving Adjuster conserve those realities born of love and nurtured in service. And all these things are a part of the Universal Father. The Father is living love, and this life of the Father is in his Sons. And the spirit of the Father is in his Sons’ sons—mortal men. When all is said and done, the Father idea is still the highest human concept of God.

What Is the Meaning of Life?

What Is the Meaning of Life?

Chat GPT Answers to Questions asked by Cristina Seaborn

As my first experiment using Chat GPT, I asked to summarize the meaning of life from The Urantia Book. What do you think of the answers artificial intelligence came up with?

The meaning of life is a philosophical question that has been debated and discussed throughout human history. There is no single answer that applies to everyone, as the meaning of life can be different for each individual, depending on their beliefs, values, and experiences. Some people find meaning in relationships, others in personal accomplishments, and still others in spirituality or religious beliefs. Ultimately, the meaning of life is something that each person must determine for themselves.

According to The Urantia Book, the meaning of life is to achieve spiritual growth and perfection through a series of progressive stages of development.

The book teaches that human beings are spiritual beings on a journey of self-discovery and self-realization, and that our ultimate destiny is to achieve union with God through the attainment of spiritual perfection. This process involves developing our innate spiritual capacities and attributes, such as love, faith, wisdom, and service, and cultivating a personal relationship with God through prayer, worship, and meditation.

The Urantia Book emphasizes the importance of living a life of purpose, service, and meaning, and encourages individuals to find their unique roles and contributions in the world. It teaches that all individuals have a divine spark within them and that everyone has the potential to make a positive impact on the world.

Overall, the meaning of life according to The Urantia Book is to achieve spiritual growth and perfection, cultivate a personal relationship with God, and make a positive contribution to the world through service and purposeful living.

Then I asked Chat GPT to briefly summarize The Urantia Book:

The Urantia Book is a spiritual text that presents a cosmology and a unique perspective on the nature of God, the universe, and human existence. It aims to provide a comprehensive and harmonious understanding of the universe and to reconcile science, religion, and philosophy. The text covers topics such as the origin and history of the universe, the nature of God, and the relationship between God and human beings, the purpose and meaning of human life, and the nature of reality and the afterlife. It is considered by some to be a spiritual classic, while others view it as a work of fiction. The Urantia Book has a significant following and has been the source of much study and discussion among those interested in spirituality and philosophy.

I believe we all need to have our “elevator speech” about what The Urantia Book is. What is your brief summary of The Urantia Book? Please let me know at publications@urantiabook.org

Conquering Our Intelligent Machines

Conquering Our Intelligent Machines

Joshua J. Wilson

March 7, 2023

(72:5.12 [814.2]) These people are also beginning to foster a new form of social disgust—disgust for both idleness and unearned wealth. Slowly but certainly they are conquering their machines. Once they, too, struggled for political liberty and subsequently for economic freedom. Now are they entering upon the enjoyment of both while in addition they are beginning to appreciate their well-earned leisure, which can be devoted to increased self-realization.

Abstract: In this essay the following are discussed:

The control problem;
Recent developments in artificial intelligence;
Long-term risks in developing artificial general intelligence (AGI);
Limitations of Deep Learning
The power of narrow AI;
ChatGPT;
A potential misinformation apocalypse;
The problems of instantiating human values;
Using AI to control AI;
Programming human values in AI; and
Prospects of slowing or stopping AI progress

The control problem of artificial intelligence can be immediately and easily highlighted with some current occurrences. For example there was a deep fake "news" item that showed the US president announcing that all twenty to twenty-two year-olds would be called up for military duty....

Click Here to Read More

Intelligent Men and Women

Intelligent Men and Women

by Tom Choquette and Friends

I really could use some perspectives on how to apply the following quote from our revelation in a paper I'm putting together.   

(195:9.6 [2083.2]) Primitive man lived a life of superstitious bondage to religious fear. Modern, civilized men dread the thought of falling under the dominance of strong religious convictions. Thinking man has always feared to be held by a religion. When a strong and moving religion threatens to dominate him, he invariably tries to rationalize, traditionalize, and institutionalize it, thereby hoping to gain control of it. By such procedure, even a revealed religion becomes man-made and man-dominated. Modern men and women of intelligence evade the religion of Jesus because of their fears of what it will do to them–and with them. And all such fears are well founded. The religion of Jesus does, indeed, dominate and transform its believers, demanding that men dedicate their lives to seeking for a knowledge of the will of the Father in heaven and requiring that the energies of living be consecrated to the unselfish service of the brotherhood of man....

Click Here to Read More

ASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite image

Science May Catch Up With The Urantia Book

by Hamid Mazdeh

The Universe is almost twice as old as we thought, according to a new study that challenges the leading cosmological model.

Experts from the University of Ottawa have devised a new model and claim that the Big Bang happened 26.7 billion years ago. 

This is almost twice as old as previous estimates, which suggest that our universe dates back 13.7 billion years.   

I have to add that The Urantia Book numbers for the age of the universe may actually be correct and the science in The Urantia Book may not be inaccurate. As time goes by, science may catch up with The Urantia Book.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12294619/amp/The-Universe-TWICE-old-thought-Big-Bang-happened-26-7-BILLION-years-ago-expert-claims.html

Disclaimer

We strive to publish a variety of views, understanding that students of The Urantia Book can differ significantly in their interpretations of the teachings. The opinions and descriptions of the authors do not necessarily reflect the views of The Urantia Book Fellowship or initiatives that The Urantia Book Fellowship supports. Articles are being published in the interest of allowing the expression of a diversity of viewpoints held within the reader community.

Standard Reference Text Citations

You may see in-text citations for Urantia Book quotations in this publication that look like this: (62:5.1 [707.7]). The “62:5.1” portion can be used to look in a Urantia Book at paper 62, section 5, paragraph 1. The “707.7” portion can be used to look in a Urantia Book published by Urantia Foundation before 2009 on page 707, paragraph 7. These citations may also include an embedded URL link that can take you to the quotation within The Urantia Book.

These citations show the source of the quotation as coming from The Urantia Book Standard Reference Text. The entire notation sequence can be represented as (paper:section.paragraph [page.paragraph]). For more information see

https://www.urantia.org/urantia-book/what-is-the-standard-reference-text and https://www.urantia.org/urantia-book/text-standardization.

This message has been sent to you by The Urantia Book Fellowship. 

The Urantia Book Fellowship, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

1580 Grand Point Way #34743, Reno, NV 89533, USA
1-303-467-7858    
© 2022, The Urantia Book Fellowship. All rights reserved.

If you no longer want to receive these letters, you can unsubscribe at any time 

www.urantiabook.org


No comments:

Post a Comment