P50:1, 3:4.3 And so with wisdom: The fact that mind is so freely distributed to the thinking of the realms in no wise impoverishes the central source of divine wisdom. As the universes multiply, and beings of the realms increase in number to the limits of comprehension, if mind continues without end to be bestowed upon these beings of high and low estate, still will God's central personality continue to embrace the same eternal, infinite, and all-wise mind.
P50:2, 3:4.4 The fact that he sends forth spirit messengers from himself to indwell the men and women of your world and other worlds in no wise lessens his ability to function as a divine and all-powerful spirit personality; and there is absolutely no limit to the extent or number of such spirit Monitors which he can and may send out. This giving of himself to his creatures creates a boundless, almost inconceivable future possibility of progressive and successive existences for these divinely endowed mortals. And this prodigal distribution of himself as these ministering spirit entities in no manner diminishes the wisdom and perfection of truth and knowledge which repose in the person of the all-wise, all-knowing, and all-powerful Father.
P50:3, 3:4.5 To the mortals of time there is a future, but God inhabits eternity. Even though I hail from near the very abiding place of Deity, We cannot presume to speak with perfection of understanding concerning the infinity of many of the divine attributes. Infinity of mind alone can fully comprehend infinity of existence and eternity of action.
P50:4, 3:4.6 Mortal man cannot possibly know the infinitude of the heavenly Father. Finite mind cannot think through such an absolute truth or fact. But this same finite human being can actually feel -- literally experience -- the full and undiminished impact of such an infinite Father's love. Such a love can be truly experienced, albeit while quality of experience is unlimited, quantity of such an experience is strictly limited by the human capacity for spiritual receptivity and by the associated capacity to love the Father in return.
P50:5, 3:4.7 Finite appreciation of infinite qualities far transcends the logically limited capacities of the creature because of the fact that mortal man is made in the image of God -- there lives within him a fragment of infinity. Therefore man's nearest and dearest approach to God is by and through love, for God is love. And all of such a unique relationship is an actual experience in cosmic sociology, the Creator-creature relationship -- the Father-child affection.
Part I. The Central Universe
Chapter 3: Section 5.
The Father Supreme
P50:6, 3:5.1 The Universal Father’s choice is always one of unfailing perfection and infinite wisdom.
P51:2, 3:5.3 In the affairs of men's hearts the Universal Father may not always have his way; but in the conduct and destiny of a planet the divine plan prevails; the eternal purpose of wisdom and love triumphs.
P51:3, 3:5.4 As you glimpse the manifold workings and view the staggering immensity of God's well-nigh limitless creation, you may falter in your concept of his primacy, but you should not fail to accept him as securely and everlastingly enthroned at the Paradise center of all things and as the beneficent Father of all intelligent beings. There is but "one God and Father of all, who is above all and in all," "and he is before all things, and in him all things consist."
P51:4, 3:5.5 The uncertainties of life and the vicissitudes of existence do not in any manner contradict the concept of the universal sovereignty of God. All evolutionary creature life is beset by certain inevitabilities. Consider the following:
P51:5, 3:5.6 1. Is courage -- strength of character -- desirable? Then must man be reared in an environment that necessitates grappling with hardships and reacting to disappointments.
P51:6, 3:5.7 2. Is altruism -- service of one's fellows -- desirable? Then must life experience provide for encountering situations of social inequality.
P51:7, 3:5.8 3. Is hope -- the grandeur of trust -- desirable? Then human existence must constantly be confronted with insecurities and recurrent uncertainties.
P51:8, 3:5.9 4. Is faith -- the supreme assertion of human thought -- desirable? Then must the mind of man find itself in that troublesome predicament where it ever knows less than it can believe.
P51:9, 3:5.10 5. Is the love of truth and the willingness to go wherever it leads, desirable? Then must man grow up in a world where error is present and falsehood always possible?
P51:10, 3:5.11 6. Is idealism -- the approaching concept of the divine -- desirable? Then must man struggle in an environment of relative goodness and beauty, surroundings stimulative of the irrepressible reach for better things.
P51:11, 3:5.12 7. Is loyalty -- devotion to highest duty -- desirable? Then must man carry on amid the possibilities of betrayal and desertion. The valor of devotion to duty consists in the implied danger of default.
P51:12, 3:5.13 8. Is unselfishness -- the spirit of self-forgetfulness -- desirable? Then must mortal man live face to face with the incessant clamoring of an inescapable self for recognition and honor. Man could not dynamically choose the divine life if there were no self-life to forsake. Man could never lay saving hold on righteousness if there were no potential evil to exalt and differentiate the good by contrast.
P51:13, 3:5.14 9. Is pleasure -- the satisfaction of happiness -- desirable? Then must man live in a world where the alternative of pain and the likelihood of suffering are ever-present experiential possibilities.
P52:1, 3:5.15 Throughout the universe, every unit is regarded as a part of the whole. Survival of the part is dependent on co-operation with the plan and purpose of the whole, the wholehearted desire and perfect willingness to do the Father's divine will. The only evolutionary world without error (the possibility of unwise judgment) would be a world without free intelligence. In the universe there are a billion perfect worlds with their perfect inhabitants, but evolving man must be fallible if he is to be free. Free and inexperienced intelligence cannot possibly at first be uniformly wise. The possibility of mistaken judgment (evil) becomes sin only when the human will consciously endorses and knowingly embraces a deliberate immoral judgment.
P52:2, 3:5.16 The full appreciation of truth, beauty, and goodness is inherent in the perfection of the divine universe. The inhabitants of the worlds do not require the potential of relative value levels as a choice stimulus; such perfect beings are able to identify and choose the good in the absence of all contrastive and thought-compelling moral situations. But all such perfect beings are, in moral nature and spiritual status, what they are by virtue of the fact of existence. They have experientially earned advancement only within their inherent status. Mortal man earns even his status as an ascension candidate by his own faith and hope. Everything divine that the human mind grasps and the human soul acquires is an experiential attainment; it is a reality of personal experience and is therefore a unique possession in contrast to the inherent goodness and righteousness of the inerrant personalities.
P52:3, 3:5.17 The creatures of the Heavens are naturally brave, but they are not courageous in the human sense. They are innately kind and considerate, but hardly altruistic in the human way. They are expectant of a pleasant future, but not hopeful in the exquisite manner of the trusting mortal of the uncertain evolutionary spheres. They have faith in the stability of the universe, but they are utter strangers to that saving faith whereby mortal man climbs from the status of an animal up to the portals of Paradise. They love the truth, but they know nothing of its soul-saving qualities. They are idealists, but they were born that way; they are wholly ignorant of the ecstasy of becoming such by exhilarating choice. They are loyal, but they have never experienced the thrill of wholehearted and intelligent devotion to duty in the face of temptation to default. They are unselfish, but they never gained such levels of experience by the magnificent conquest of a belligerent self. They enjoy pleasure, but they do not comprehend the sweetness of the pleasure escape from the pain potential.
Part I. The Central and Universe
Chapter 3: Section 6.
&nbs
p; The Father's Primacy
P52:4, 3:6.1 With divine selflessness, consummate generosity, the Universal Father's hand is on the mighty lever of the circumstances of the universal realms; he wields the all-powerful veto scepter of his eternal purpose with unchallengeable authority over the welfare and destiny of the outstretched, whirling, and ever-circling creation.
P52:5, 3:6.2 The sovereignty of God is unlimited; it is the fundamental fact of all creation. The universe was not inevitable. The universe is not an accident, neither is it self-existent. The universe is a work of creation and is therefore wholly subject to the will of the Creator. The will of God is divine truth, living love; therefore are the perfecting creations of the evolutionary universes characterized by goodness -- nearness to divinity; by potential evil -- remoteness from divinity.
P53:1, 3:6.3 All religious philosophy, sooner or later, arrives at the concept of unified universe rule, of one God. Universe causes cannot be lower than universe effects. The source of the streams of universe life and of the cosmic mind must be above the levels of their manifestation. The human mind cannot be consistently explained in terms of the lower orders of existence. Man's mind can be truly comprehended only by recognizing the reality of higher orders of thought and purposive will. Man as a moral being is inexplicable unless the reality of the Universal Father is acknowledged.
P53:2, 3:6.4 The mechanistic philosopher professes to reject the idea of a universal and sovereign will, the very sovereign will whose activity in the elaboration of universe laws he so deeply reverences. What unintended homage the mechanist pays the law-Creator when he conceives such laws to be self-acting and self-explanatory!
P53:3, 3:6.5 It is a great blunder to humanize God, except in the concept of the indwelling Thought Adjuster, but even that is not so stupid as completely to mechanize the idea of the First Great Source and Center.
P53:4, 3:6.6 Does the Paradise Father suffer? He has said of the mortal races, "In all your afflictions I am afflicted." He unquestionably experiences a fatherly and sympathetic understanding; he may truly suffer, but we cannot comprehend the nature thereof.
P53:5, 3:6.7 The infinite and eternal Ruler of the universe of universes is power, form, energy, process, pattern, principle, presence, and idealized reality. But he is more; he is personal; he experiences self-consciousness of divinity, executes the mandates of a creative mind, pursues the satisfaction of the realization of an eternal purpose, and manifests a Father's love and affection for his universe children.
P53:6, 3:6.8 God the Father loves mankind. God the Spirit inspires the children of the universe to the ever-ascending adventure of finding God the Father by the ways ordained through the ministry of the grace of God the Spirit.
Part I. The Central Universe
Chapter 4
God's Relation To The Universe
P54:1, 4:0.1 The Universal Father has an eternal purpose pertaining to the material, intellectual, and spiritual phenomena of the universes, which he is executing throughout all time. God created the universes of his own free and sovereign will, and he created them in accordance with his all-wise and eternal purpose. It is doubtful whether anyone except the Paradise Residents really knows very much about the eternal purpose of God.
P54:2, 4:0.2 It is easy to deduce that the purpose in creating the perfect central universe and Heaven was purely the satisfaction of the divine nature. Heaven may serve as the pattern creation for all other universes and as the finishing school for the pilgrims of time on their way to Paradise; however, such a supernal creation must exist primarily for the satisfaction of the perfect and infinite Creator.
P54:3, 4:0.3 The amazing plan for perfecting evolutionary mortals and, after their attainment of Paradise is by no means the exclusive occupation of the universe intelligences. There are, indeed, many other fascinating pursuits that occupy the time and enlist the energies of the celestial hosts.
Part I. The Central and Universe
Chapter 4: Section 1.
The Universe Attitude Of The Father
P54:4, 4:1.1 For ages the inhabitants of Earth have misunderstood the providence of God. There is a providence of divine outworking on your world, but it is not the childish, arbitrary, and material ministry many mortals have conceived it to be. The providence of God consists in the interlocking activities of the celestial beings and the divine spirits who, in accordance with cosmic law, unceasingly work in the unity of God and for the spiritual advancement of his universe children.
P54:5, 4:1.2 Can you not advance in your concept of God's dealing with man to that level where you recognize that the watchword of the universe is progress? Through long ages the human race has struggled to reach its present position. Throughout all these millenniums Providence has been working out the plan of progressive evolution. The two thoughts are not opposed in practice, only in man's mistaken concepts. Divine providence is never arrayed in opposition to true human progress, either temporal or spiritual. Providence is always consistent with the unchanging and perfect nature of the supreme God.
P55:1, 4:1.3 "God is faithful and just." "His faithfulness is established in the very skies." "Your faithfulness is to all generations; you have established the earth and it abides." "He is a faithful Creator."
P55:2, 4:1.4 There is no limitation of the forces that the Father may use to uphold his purpose and sustain his creatures. "The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." "Behold, he who keeps us shall neither slumber nor sleep." "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God," "for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers."
P55:3, 4:1.5 God upholds "all things by the word of his power." And when new worlds are born, God not only creates, but he "preserves them all." God constantly upholds all things material and all beings spiritual. The universes are eternally stable. There is stability in the midst of apparent instability. There is an underlying order and security in the midst of the energy upheavals and the physical cataclysms of the starry realms.
P55:4, 4:1.6 The Universal Father has not withdrawn from the management of the universes; he is not an inactive Deity. If God should retire as the present upholder of all creation, there would immediately occur a universal collapse. Except for God, there would be no such thing as reality. At this very moment, as during the remote ages of the past and in the eternal future, God continues to uphold. The divine reach extends around the circle of eternity. The universe is not wound up like a clock to run just so long and then cease to function; all things are constantly being renewed. The Father unceasingly pours forth energy, light, and life. The work of God is literal as well as spiritual. "He stretches out the north over the empty space and hangs the earth upon nothing."
P55:5, 4:1.7 A being of my order is able to discover ultimate harmony and to detect far-reaching and profound co-ordination in the routine affairs of universe administration. Much that seems disjointed and haphazard to the mortal mind appears orderly and constructive to my understanding. But there is very much going on in the universes that we do not fully comprehend. We have a general understanding of how these agencies and personalities operate and intimately familiarity with the workings of the accredited spirit intelligences of the grand universe. Notwithstanding our knowledge of the phenomena of the universes, we are constantly confronted with cosmic reactions that we cannot fully fathom. We are continually encountering apparently fortuitous conspiracies of the interassociation of forces, energies, intellects, and spirits, which we cannot satisfactorily explain.
P55:6, 4:1.8 We may be competent to trace out and to analyze the working of all phenomena directly resulting from the functioning of the Universal Father and the Infinite Spirit, and, to a large extent, the Isle of Paradise but often our perplexity is occasioned by encountering what appears to be the performance of their mysterious co-ordinates, the three Absolutes of pot
entiality. These Absolutes seem to supersede matter, to transcend mind, and to supervene spirit. We may be constantly confused and often perplexed by our inability to comprehend these complex transactions that we attribute to the presences and performances of the Unqualified Absolute, the Deity Absolute, and the Universal Absolute.
P56:1, 4:1.9 These Absolutes must be the not-fully-revealed presences abroad in the universe which, in the phenomena of space potency and in the function of other superultimates, render it impossible for physicists, philosophers, or even religionists to predict with certainty as to just how the primordials of force, concept, or spirit will respond to demands made in a complex reality situation involving supreme adjustments and ultimate values.
P56:2, 4:1.10 There is also an organic unity in the universes of time and space which seems to underlie the whole fabric of cosmic events. This living presence of the evolving Supreme Being, this Immanence of the Projected Incomplete, is inexplicably manifested ever and anon by what appears to be an amazingly fortuitous co-ordination of apparently unrelated universe happenings. This must be the function of Providence -- the realm of the Supreme Being and the Conjoint Actor.
P56:3, 4:1.11 We are inclined to believe that it is this far-flung and generally unrecognizable control of the co-ordination and interassociation of all phases and forms of universe activity that causes such a variegated and apparent medley of physical, mental, moral, and spiritual phenomena so unerringly to work out to the glory of God and for the good of men.