Religion from A Melchizedek Viewpoint—Part 17, Paper 102, Foundations of Faith

It's our 17th week studying religion from The Urantia Book. This week we'll cover the final two sections of Paper 102: 7 - The Certitude of the Divine and 8 - The Evidences of Religion. Some people may seek to escape the rigors of religious activities by retreating to the false shelter of religious dogmas; poorly disciplined souls may use religion as an escape from the demands of living; but the true mission of religion is to prepare religionists to bravely face the vicissitudes of life. True religion must act. Faith stimulates the realization that values can be translated from the material to the spiritual, from the human to the divine, from time into eternity. The certainties of science proceed from the intellect; but the certainties of religion spring from the entire personality. The Divine Indweller promotes a hunger for perfection that can be satisfied only by communion with God. 102:7.9.If the nonreligious approaches to cosmic reality presume to challenge the certainty of faith on the grounds of its unproved status, then the spirit experiencer can likewise resort to the dogmatic challenge of the facts of science and the beliefs of philosophy on the grounds that they are likewise unproved; they are likewise experiences in the consciousness of the scientist or the philosopher. 102:8.7. Religion is ever and always rooted and grounded in personal experience. And your highest religion, the life of Jesus, was just such a personal experience: man, mortal man, seeking God and finding him to the fullness during one short life in the flesh, while in the same human experience there appeared God seeking man and finding him to the full satisfaction of the perfect soul of infinite supremacy. Please join us as we continue this splendid exploration on how The Urantia Book defines the meaning, purpose and value of true religion. As always, we'll have many great cross references and commentary to enhance our study.