Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

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KizzleKat
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Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by KizzleKat »

Hi, folks. I just wanted to share with you some of the wonderful responses I received from people on the Monjoronson site regarding the difficult wordage used in the Urantia Book. You might find this interesting ... and maybe motivating to give the book a try again?

Love to all,

~ Sharon

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************

I don’t think the UB meant to intimidate as much as elevate our minds to more than the everyday experiences of materiality. It forces you to think. And it was written with the next 1000 years in mind, and was written for many worlds, not just our own. Plus, if you look at a 1930’s dictionary, the one that is 8” thick and sits in many libraries, the educational language of that era was more precise than our skimpy, short-cut dictionaries of today. It was an era of trying to build strong character and mind. The UB goal was to portray 1000 of the world’s most profound human concepts as perceived up to that date from our 980,000 years of progress and contribution to the cosmic consciousness. Language had to be precise.

The revelators tried desperately to stick to the phraseology of that time, much as our teachers on this site are trying to do today. Frankly, the educators of higher learning of that day were, in my opinion, just more sophisticated and dedicated to making people think. So, the idea is to learn, and try not to be intimidated, but slowly persevere and understand, each according to his ability. We are all perplexed at the enormity of the revelation, but I am so thankful for the chance to think about things and ideas of an eternal nature that will progressively lead us upward and inward to stand in the glory of Father’s light. This may not be in everyone’s nature, and sometimes I wonder if I’m up for the task, but Father wants to see all of His children return to Him.

Keep plucking away. We don’t have to learn it all right now. Eternity awaits the souls who make that choice. Many schools yet to attend. And we don't all have to learn the same lessons:

141:5.1 One of the most eventful of all the evening conferences at Amathus was the session having to do with the discussion of spiritual unity. James Zebedee had asked, "Master, how shall we learn to see alike and thereby enjoy more harmony among ourselves?" When Jesus heard this question, he was stirred within his spirit, so much so that he replied: "James, James, when did I teach you that you should all see alike? I have come into the world to proclaim spiritual liberty to the end that mortals may be empowered to live individual lives of originality and freedom before God. I do not desire that social harmony and fraternal peace shall be purchased by the sacrifice of free personality and spiritual originality. What I require of you, my apostles, is spirit unity —and that you can experience in the joy of your united dedication to the wholehearted doing of the will of my Father in heaven. You do not have to see alike or feel alike or even think alike in order spiritually to be alike. Spiritual unity is derived from the consciousness that each of you is indwelt, and increasingly dominated, by the spirit gift of the heavenly Father. Your apostolic harmony must grow out of the fact that the spirit hope of each of you is identical in origin, nature, and destiny.

141:5.2 "In this way you may experience a perfected unity of spirit purpose and spirit understanding growing out of the mutual consciousness of the identity of each of your indwelling Paradise spirits; and you may enjoy all of this profound spiritual unity in the very face of the utmost diversity of your individual attitudes of intellectual thinking, temperamental feeling, and social conduct. Your personalities may be refreshingly diverse and markedly different, while your spiritual natures and spirit fruits of divine worship and brotherly love may be so unified that all who behold your lives will of a surety take cognizance of this spirit identity and soul unity; they will recognize that you have been with me and have thereby learned, and acceptably, how to do the will of the Father in heaven. You can achieve the unity of the service of God even while you render such service in accordance with the technique of your own original endowments of mind, body, and soul.

141:5.3 "Your spirit unity implies two things, which always will be found to harmonize in the lives of individual believers: First, you are possessed with a common motive for life service; you all desire above everything to do the will of the Father in heaven. Second, you all have a common goal of existence; you all purpose to find the Father in heaven, thereby proving to the universe that you have become like him."

141:5.4 Many times during the training of the twelve Jesus reverted to this theme. Repeatedly he told them it was not his desire that those who believed in him should become dogmatized and standardized in accordance with the religious interpretations of even good men. Again and again he warned his apostles against the formulation of creeds and the establishment of traditions as a means of guiding and controlling believers in the gospel of the kingdom.

________________________________________
Thank you. That was indeed helpful. Because of my limited readings, I failed to realize the book was written to cover an eon of time, as well as address itself to other worlds.

However, in my mind, it still begs the question of limiting the audience to the (higher) learned vs. the multitudes. Jesus chose to speak in parables in order to reach the greatest number of people -- and yes, to avoid capture by his enemies and to not waste truth on those that chose not to discern truth.

In paper 151 he explains his reasoning to his apostles (I don't know how to reference the book) and, to my interpretation, says the parables are his way of reaching those who truly wish to learn about salvation and the kingdom of heaven, and that the parables are such that the common man could relate to the story as it was about that with which he was familiar.

True, the UB provides considerable advanced concepts and the challenge is to present the information in as succinct a means as possible.

I would like to share with readers on the 11:11 board why the book is written the way it is and to help lessen the fear of the book. Already you've pointed out the intent was for audiences of years to come and for other worlds -- that made sense to me -- and it is suggested it be read slowly to engage (encourage) contemplation as well as comprehension.

~ Sharon
________________________________________
Jesus chose to speak in parables in order to reach the greatest number of people -- and yes, to avoid capture by his enemies and to not waste truth on those that chose not to discern truth.

The only thing I am going to add, at least what I have come to understand of the Master in regards to the reason he used parables:

It is easy to give someone the answers to any question. It is very easy to have someone tell you what you need to do, but does that really help you, or does this provide for an temporary fix?

Parables are simple stories used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson without actually giving you a direct answer. I can be interpreted by many differently, but all give spiritual insight to greater truths.

These provide the individual that hears them the ability to process and to take in the information and reason over it. When you seek the stillness of the Father Fragment within you can and do have all the wisdom you ever need to provide you the answers and interpretations of what applies to you as an individual in the teachings presented.

The UB, on the other hand, is very direct with its information and contains very advanced spiritual truths that has and will continue to be, at least for a while, above the heads of many human ascenders on this world.

Imagine, if you would, dropping this book off to your nearest church and saying this is the truth. The majority of humanity is ready for this information, but is not ready at the same time.

What I have found, at least in my own experience, is that the Father within provides understanding when it is ready to be understood.

Your seraphic guardian and celestial help that Spirit provides you, can bring you to a greater understanding of these advanced truths when you are ready.

If you continue to go into stillness and seek the Fathers wisdom and guidance, it will be provided and if you allow yourself to be lead by spirit, you will find the path to understanding.

Always I admonish those who have a hard time understanding revelatory information advice to not allow your transforming self to get discouraged.

The Father will give you everything and more, especially what you need in regards to your ascension process.

Just try and remember that you cannot rush these things.

I was told by the celestials, especially when I was brought this great revelation that I would have to broaden and expand my mind, along with my consciousness to take the information in and understand it. This took time, and in my meditation and stillness with the Father within, He, when I was ready, made plain all that my restless mortal mind overly processed and did not understand.

A lot of times we are brought to greater understandings and find great truths because we ask to have them presented. Spirit will give you everything you ask for, even if it is to show you that you are not ready and that there are other things that you may need to learn first. I have found this to be true in my own spiritual growth.

There is a time and a season for every thing. Just as in summer there is not snow, so too in winter there is not intense heat of the sun.

________________________________________

Hello and thanks for the question. The gulf between mortals and celestials is wide, but the good news is we all have plenty of time to learn. While some sections of the UB are technical and hard to understand, some areas are easy to read. I would suggest you start with Part IV "The Life and times of Jesus", especially since this is the anniversary of his birth over 2,000 years ago. It is the greatest story ever told, and with the accuracy of the dialogue as it was witnessed by the angels and midwayers who were present, is a great way to understand this one simple philosophy that the Master demonstrated to all, and that He asks us to demonstrate to our brothers and sisters:

The love of the Father for all His creation and the living fact of the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of Man (FOG/BOM).

This is all you need to know and live by in order to attract others to ask of you: Why does your light shine so bright? What do you know and believe? And you tell them about FOGBOM and the Urantia Book and the seeds have been planted. When they are ready, they will seek out the book, all in their own time. All that is required is that each person has the intention to do the will of the Father. That is the route to the Father within.

Michael has a plan to win over the hearts of His creation one person at a time. Welcome to the journey of infinity consisting of love and learning forever.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think you are doing things just right. You feel scattered I think because we have been spoiled by movies, TV, fast food, fast answers, fast everything - "I want my understanding, and I want it now". Movies portray realities visually as completed short stories, but when we go out to complete our own short story, we become disappointed because things just aren't that easy.

Yes, it is most advisable to pick areas of interest first to read as the first parts of the book are intimidating and frankly, unbelievable. But as we read the book, everything starts to fall together, and after you understand the parts that you can, we become led to go to another section that adds to our understanding.

Our sense of direction is much aided by the table of contents and our own inner leading as to what might interest us individually. I prefer to read the UB online at http://urantiabook.org/newbook/ because I can quickly navigate anywhere in the book and have all the advantages of guided electronic searches PLUS AUDIO if you want to be doing other chores while you listen or go to sleep. And you can easily seek definitions. From the table of contents, you are one click away from any point that interests you. You can scroll papers to see topic titles that might be of interest. You can also cut and paste things into a collection of connected sections that, when read together, become a totality of understanding. Each collection will have its own title, and becomes a personal completed concept available to you in one place. I use MSWord to create my collections and try to give them very meaningful titles, so when I want to reference them or add to them, I can easily find them in the appropriate folder I have created entitled Spiritual on my PC desktop. Inside that folder are other folders entitled Monjoronson, Urantia Book, 1111, Teaching Mission, etc.

Also, I will often read an entire UB paper first for a general understanding, and then if I feel compatible and ready, I will take each section of that paper and digest that one section a paragraph at a time, even if it takes days for inner understanding from outside experience and observations with my TA's help. Or, I will skim the paper to view the topic titles and pick one to study.

What really amazes me - I will think I have found a contradiction somewhere in the book, but when I take the time to view it and compare it with all the interconnected parts scattered throughout the book, the revelators have said exactly what they wanted to say without contradiction, and I can achieve a totality of understanding if I have created the collection of ideas that connect all the scattered sections into one document. It is very important to remember that the terms used were as defined in 1930. The term cult in 1930 had no negative meaning. It was simply a term for religious denomination. Today, cult often has ominous overtones related to unsavory practices. When we read about galaxies, universes, nebula, Milky Way - in 1930, they all meant the same thing, there was no distinction. If we don't consider this, misunderstanding and confusion can make it seem as if there is untruth in certain revelations. Here is an astronomer’s explanation of why we have to be careful with terms. About an hour Powerpoint presentation but well worth the time. http://www.ubastronomy.com/topic.php?topic=Topic01

I hope this helps you. There is no need to catch up. You are where you are, and it is what it is in my opinion. Feel whole in every step. If you scatter, take a deep breath and return to the task at hand, realizing - I AM this moment.

Ron C makes a simple, yet profound statement that has helped me time and time again and cannot be stressed enough about the intellectualization of the UB. Referring to the life of Christ: "It is the greatest story ever told, and with the accuracy of the dialogue as it was witnessed by the angels and midwayers who were present, is a great way to understand this one simple philosophy that the Master demonstrated to all, and that He asks us to demonstrate to our brothers and sisters:

The love of the Father for all His creation and the living fact of the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of Man (FOG/BOM).

This is all you need to know and live by in order to attract others to ask of you: Why does your light shine so bright? What do you know and believe?
The oxen are slow but the earth is patient.
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

:sunny: An often overlooked subtlety of the Papers is that many celestial authors participated
in the development of the Papers. The advanced universe status of many participants (along
with the necessary translation to English) may account for much of the "difficult wordage":

Authors/Sponsors of Papers (*=co-author/sponsor)

Archangel: 41,44,46,48,77-81
Brilliant Evening Star: 37,47,85-89
Chief of Archangels: 33,35
Chief of Evening Stars: 119
Chief of Midwayers: 91
Chief of Seraphim: 82-84,113-114
Divine Counselor: Fwd,1-9,17-19,23-24,31*
Life Carrier: 57-65
Machiventa Melchizedek: 56*
Malavatia Melchizedek: 43
Manovandet Melchizedek: 53
Mantutia Melchizedek: 120
Melchizedek: 38-39,45,49,66-72,90,92-106
Midwayer Commission: 121-196
Mighty Messenger: 22,28,30,32,34,40,42,52,54-55,56*,115-118
One High in Authority: 25
One Without Name and Number: 31*
Perfector of Wisdom: 11-14,20-21,26-27
Secondary Lanonandek: 50-51
Solitary Messenger: 107-112
Solonia: 73-76
Universal Censor: 10,15-16,29
Vorondadek Son: 36

Since our modern world is now home to ubiquitous tablet computers, here's a new PDF file
for causal browsing or study of these Papers: http://aitnaru.org/homepage/celestiallight.html
(click on image to view or download attached PDF) 8)

For quality control, the PDF restricts page print or copy. There are no references to printed Book
page numbers and no page breaks within Paper/Section/Paragraph segments. :roll

Rod
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by KizzleKat »

Thank you, Rod. I saved the site to my favorites so I may look at it later. It's nice to see a new posting to this topic as the language seems a common obstruction for folks at the start of their journey.

~ Sharon
The oxen are slow but the earth is patient.
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

Sharon,

The site page was used for convenience, but the site is not directly related to the PDF.
The 9.5 MB PDF can also be downloaded for later viewing by most PDF readers
... or even internet browsers and tablet apps. :D

Rod
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Geoff »

Hi Rod,

Any reason why you did not link to the pdf? If you think its really good, its worth making sure a copy is held somewhere, because things on the Internet have a habit of disappearing. Aah, having gone there I can see why. The pdf is not obviously linkable. Curious the way that site presents, especially as its very slow to open at 10mb. He used <href> tags on the image, (I have NEVER seen that done in over 15 years of web coding stuff and I cant think of any reason why its a good idea to link to a file as opposed to a page as it would not be expected)

The file is here:

http://aitnaru.org/images/Urantia_Papers.pdf

hugs
Geoff
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said Chief Flaming Arrow.
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

Geoff,

:cheers: Yes, better idea for access to the file! Thanks!

Rod
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

A glance at the clock just before this post: 10:10 PM :hithere
Aye aye! The ship will sail - the course is certain!

The Papers PDF is now embellished with bookmarks, one per Paper 8)
Click on the Paper number in the Table of Contents to go to the Paper.

:scratch: Contemplating the first entry in the Captain's Log:
The "Captain's Table" reading challenge was proposed;
read one Paper per day during a 197-day voyage.

Success permits the qualified reader to boldly declare
at the opening of certain events: "I know whereof I speak!" ;)
(at least, regarding their experience in this reading challenge)

And banging one's stein on the table is permitted
... at certain events. :roll:

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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Sandy »

Thanks Rod. :thumright:
I may take up that "Captains Table" reading challenge myself. :mrgreen: Hope I don't run into rough seas with some of "them thar" papers, though. ;)
Is there an official start time or just personal goals for the journey?
love,
Sandy
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

Sandy,

:cheers: Been there - done that! (even twice on a 70-day challenge).
But 197 days is more reasonable ... and I didn't have to become
a social hermit (literally) to find the necessary time.

;) Best advice: ASAP, get one week ahead of schedule and maintain that lead.
So much can (and does) happen in 197 days to interrupt your goal.

Personal projects now, but more formality and group coordination later
should be possible once the experiences accumulate. :finger:

:D Also, the goal is to make it through the Papers quickly
and as attentively as possible - study is a different task.

BTW: Who's the "Captain?" :salut: Machiventa, I suspect.
... and he would know who's qualified to declare:
"I know whereof I speak!"

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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Sandy »

Hi Rod,
That sounds like a plan and I should start as soon as possible as I have a tendency to drift off if I read after dinner. :oops
I can't imagine managing the whole book in 70 days! ...and then more than once! Well done!
BTW: Who's the "Captain?" :salut: Machiventa, I suspect.
... and he would know who's qualified to declare:
"I know whereof I speak!"
Yep, Machiventa seems the logical choice for captain of this endeavour. :) ( why do I have the feeling I am going to be swabbing the decks! :lol: )
xx Sandy
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

Project secret:

:geek: Both 70-day challenges were to verify the text of the file (which eventually became this PDF). I read the text while listening to the respective audio ... and would not allow any interruption during a Paper (to force adherence to the schedule). The only in-Paper delays were to double check the SRT 2010 changes that were applied to the text. "Hermit" is not an understatement :!:

Rod ... :bike: ...
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

:geek: A link to the Papers PDF file was added to this page: http://www.theub.org/

Click on the "nosepiece" of the upper Just Browsing emoticon o~o
to view/download the file. 8)

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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

:sunny: Who knew? The UB has "Bible code" (that is not complex)

2:6.1. In the physical universe we may see the divine beauty, in the intellectual world we may
discern eternal truth, but the goodness of God is found only in the spiritual world of personal
religious experience. In its true essence, religion is a faith-trust in the goodness of God. God
could be great and absolute, somehow even intelligent and personal, in philosophy, but in
religion God must also be moral; he must be good. Man might fear a great God, but he trusts and
loves only a good God. This goodness of God is a part of the personality of God, and its full
revelation appears only in the personal religious experience of the believing sons of God.

:geek: When this paragraph is sorted ascending on its words, with duplicates removed,
"God In Man" are the first three capitalized words in the sorted list.

... and there are 111 spaces in the total paragraph. :hithere

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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

Re: Urantia Papers PDF

:idea: The "0 I II III IV" at the top of the first page provides convenient links
to the Table of Contents for each Part; "0" links directly to the Foreword. 8)

Also, text copy is now permitted. :roll

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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Sandy »

:sunny: Who knew? The UB has "Bible code" (that is not complex)

2:6.1. In the physical universe we may see the divine beauty, in the intellectual world we may
discern eternal truth, but the goodness of God is found only in the spiritual world of personal
religious experience. In its true essence, religion is a faith-trust in the goodness of God. God
could be great and absolute, somehow even intelligent and personal, in philosophy, but in
religion God must also be moral; he must be good. Man might fear a great God, but he trusts and
loves only a good God. This goodness of God is a part of the personality of God, and its full
revelation appears only in the personal religious experience of the believing sons of God.

:geek: When this paragraph is sorted ascending on its words, with duplicates removed,
"God In Man" are the first three capitalized words in the sorted list.

... and there are 111 spaces in the total paragraph. :hithere

Rod
Thanks for that, Rod. It has me grinning from ear to ear! 8)
:sunny:
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

Re: http://aitnaru.org/images/Urantia_Papers.pdf

:geek: Explanation of the legend 0 I II III IV @
at the top of the first page of this file:

0 - links to the Paper "Foreword"
I II III IV - links to TOC for Parts I, II, III, IV
@ - links to Authors/Sponsors, Acknowledgments

:roll The collection of links on the Authors page
answers the question: "Who wrote the Urantia Book?" 8)
Acknowledgments help explain this authorship.

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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

Re: "Will the 'God particle' destroy the world?" :scratch: (recently in the news)

:geek: Papers 41 and 42 suggest that only God and his forces/agents decide
which of his particles populate (or depopulate) the universes.

As for this planet, humans are making good progress in learning how to depopulate it. :roll:

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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by pointman19 »

I just wanted to give a heads up, a PDF on a tablet is one way to read the UB. But also, for android operating systems, you can go on the google play store and download the Urantia for free, and it asks for ZERO extra permissions on your phone/tablet...as it should be :)

The Urantia App is outstanding, not missing a word and is split into every chapter for ease. You guys should check it out, i have it and thats how i can read the UB when im out on my travels for my job.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... QQIF&hl=en
www.historyrunamok.blogspot.com

www.elevensrunamok.blogspot.com

“A better world starts with the thoughts of each individual. Do have ‘better thoughts.’ --Teacher Monjoronson

It so simple...so easy..so life changing. --Sandra Barnard
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

I'm pleasantly surprised at the increasing number of devices and resources for reading this revelation, but favor devices with larger display screens because of my bifocals. Some handheld Android devices and apps permit text size increase but a 2000+ page book is quite challenging to read a few sentences per screen display (and some UB sentences are very long*). My retirement eyes now prefer a 10" screen size or larger.

* http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_lo ... antia_Book :shock:

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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Sandy »

Thanks for that Jason! That will be very helpful to many people...especially the young -eyed folk. ;) :)

Whoa!!! That is one Huge Urantia book sentence, Rod! :shock:
Love,
Sandy
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Amigoo »

Speaking of complexity in the Urantia Book, is this evidence of intentional subtlety?
(from another chat board) Today's discussion about a possible tyographical error in the UB: :o

:scratch: Should this sentence read "Jesus of Nazareth"?
Here's the sentence and my opinion:

:study: "When his first convert, Nathaniel, wanted to argue about the merits and demerits of Jesus and Nazareth ..." ( 139:5.8 )

Since the preceding paragraphs in this Section refer to "Jesus" - not "Jesus of Nazareth", to write "Jesus of Nazareth" in this paragraph would be inconsistent with the Section's style. Interestingly, in 139:5.7, "Philip of Bethsaida" hints that "Jesus of Nazareth" (in quotes) might be appropriate; otherwise "Jesus and Nazareth" appears to be the intended wording.

Further, 123:5.7 ("And of all the cities of Galilee, the Jews of Nazareth were most liberal in their interpretation of the social restrictions based on the fears of contamination as a result of contact with the gentiles. And these conditions gave rise to the common saying in Jerusalem, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?'") emphasizes that "Nazareth" itself was a common discussion topic.

:idea: Later, I reread that sentence in 139:5.8 and noticed a seeming subtlety:

There's something poetic* about the expression "merits and demerits of Jesus and Nazareth",
with "merits of Jesus" and "demerits of Nazareth" an easy allusion in this writing
... and suggesting midwayer-quality authorship." 8)

* Notice the number of syllables in the allusion: 2~2 and 3~3. ;)

Rod
Last edited by Amigoo on Fri Apr 24, 2015 3:20 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Complexity of Language in the Urantia Book

Post by Sandy »

What an interesting sentence....
I am sure my mind would have skimmed right over it, reading "Jesus of Nazareth" despite the reality of the word "and" in black and white... and without deep thought as to possible subtle meanings such as you wrote here...
There's something poetic about the expression "merits and demerits of Jesus and Nazareth",
with "merits of Jesus" and "demerits of Nazareth" an easy allusion in this writing
... and suggesting midwayer-quality authorship." 8)
8) They are so clever!!!
love,
Sandy
“We measure and evaluate your Spiritual Progress on the Wall of Eternity." – Guardian of Destiny, Alverana.
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