As some of you know, I am an active member of a FB group called Atheist vs Theist. The Urantia Book was eventually presented to them none of whom had heard of it. I have had the opportunity to share it with Christians and Muslims in personal messages as well. A few of the atheists read parts, or skimmed pages, in order to make fun of it authoritatively. The head admin, Zalpha Prime, agreed to my proposal and promised to read a paper of my choosing. He was once a Presbyterian, then became a pagan priest and then an atheist, sort of a downward spiral. So, I pick a paper that I like, not to easy, not too hard, one of spiritual concepts mixed with science, paper 42; Energy – Mind and Matter. If you know this paper well, then you know it is chock full of interesting points. He came back an hour or so later with this evaluation. I immediately responded in a nice way implying it was over his head and gave him something simpler to read. I thought you all might enjoy this. Zalpha Prime; Okay, having read it (I put read in quotes because it is very difficult to read it as I would, say, a novel, with the possible exception of something by Umberto Eco), I find that it seems to me like a mishmash of scientific understanding and extreme spiritualism. Having spent several years as a pagan priest, I will admit that I read my share of spiritualist works, and delved deeply into the various number and symbol systems of the world (I have a well-worn copy of the Magicians Companion on my bookshelf), and this is one of the most highly organized of the lot. It uses a variety of made up terms to obfuscate what is being said, and could have been the proud work of one of the writers of Star Trek (just enough science to sound good, with enough made up woo to make it seem spiritual). From a psychological standpoint, it attempts to convince the reader that there is a deeper knowledge within the text, but to someone like me who has studied both religious and scientific work at the level I have, I can see it is no more than a smokescreen. Like other religious works, it offers a baited hook to the readers mind. In most religions, it is salvation as bait, and following the rules within and the edicts of the priest class that is the hook, in this case it is science that is the bait. It offers up just enough to make the reader feel like they are reading actual science, and sneaks the spiritual woo in using a fictional language. Paper 42 is a series of outrageous and unsupported claims cloaked in a modicum of science; in the end, I remain unconvinced. I can see why it was compared to high Judaism. It reads a bit like the Kabbalah, which also tries to approach spiritualism from the standpoint of applied philosophy. I will say this; it is much more impressive than the Bible or Quran, as far as appearing to be scientific. 13 hours ago Like Denver Pearson: Well, that was like a kite, glad you liked it. How about something more up your alley. Paper 90 - Shamanism- Medicine Men and Priests | Urantia Book | Urantia Foundation
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 15:28:02 +0000
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