Meredith Sprunger's Synopsis of The Urantia Book
Synopsis of Paper 55
THE SPHERES OF LIGHT AND LIFE
1. The age of light and life is the final evolutionary attainment of a world of time and space ...This era of light and life, inaugurated by the Teacher Sons at the conclusion of their final planetary mission, continues indefinitely on the inhabited worlds ...Only those planets which attain existence in the main circuits of the superuniverse are assured of continuous survival, but as far as we know, these worlds settled in light and life are destined to go on throughout the eternal ages of all future time.
2. There are seven stages in the unfoldment of the era of light and life ...These seven stages of light and life are:
1. The first or planetary stage.
2. The second or system stage.
3. The third or constellation stage.
4. The fourth or local universe stage.
5. The fifth or minor sector stage.
6. The sixth or major sector stage.
7. The seventh or superuniverse stage.
3. The presence of a morontia temple at the capital of an inhabited world is the certificate of the admission of such a sphere to the settled ages of light and life...This event...is always honored by the personal presence of the Paradise bestowal Son of that planet, who comes to witness this great day…this bestowal Son of Paradise proclaims the long‑time Planetary Prince as the new Planetary Sovereign...The System Sovereign is also present and speaks in confirmation of these pronouncements
4. The average morontia temple seats about three hundred thousand spectators. These edifices are not used for worship, play, or for receiving broadcasts; they are devoted to the special ceremonies of the planet, such as communications with the System Sovereign or with the Most Highs, special visualization ceremonies designed to reveal the personality presence of spirit beings, and silent cosmic contemplation. The schools of cosmic philosophy here conduct their graduation exercises, and here also do the mortals of the realm receive planetary recognition for achievements of high social service and for other outstanding attainments.
5. Such a morontia temple also serves as the place of assembly for witnessing the translation of living mortals to the morontia existence ...On presettled worlds, planets without morontia temples, these fusion flashes many times occur in the planetary atmosphere, where the material body of a translation candidate is elevated by the midway creatures and the physical controllers.
6. The scenes of weeping and wailing characteristic of earlier epochs of human evolution are now replaced by ecstatic joy and the sublimest enthusiasm as these God‑knowing mortals bid their loved ones a transient farewell as they are removed from their material associations by the spiritual fires of consuming grandeur and ascending glory. On worlds settled in light and life, "funerals" are occasions of supreme joy, profound satisfaction, and inexpressible hope ...And it would be decidedly helpful if less advanced mortals could only learn to view natural death with something of this same cheerfulness and lightheartedness.
7. I know of no system whose inhabited worlds, even though long settled in life, are entirely free from natural death as the technique of escape from the bonds of flesh. And until such a high state of planetary evolution is uniformly attained, the morontia‑training worlds of the local universe must continue in service as educational and cultural spheres for the evolving morontia progressors.
8. The translated souls of the flowering ages of the settled spheres do not pass through the mansion worlds...The initial experience of such Son‑seized mortals in the ascension career is in the services of the progression worlds of the universe headquarters. And from these study worlds of Salvington they go back as teachers to the very worlds they passed by, subsequently going on inward to Paradise by the established route of mortal ascension.
9. The universe is unfailing in the application of these equalizing techniques designed to insure that no ascender shall be deprived of aught which is essential to his ascension experience.
10. But this age is not perfect. These worlds still have well‑appointed hospitals, homes for the care of the sick. There still remain the problems of caring for accidental injuries and the inescapable infirmities attendant upon the decrepitude of old age and the disorders of senility.
11. The public activities of a world in the first stage of light and life which I recently visited were financed, by the tithing technique…it was disbursed as follows:
1. Three per cent was expended in the promotion of truth—science, education, and. philosophy.
2. Three per cent was devoted to beauty—play, social leisure, and art.
3. Three per cent was dedicated to goodness—social service, altruism, and religion
4. One per cent was assigned to the insurance reserves—The natural resources of this planet were administered as social possessions, community property ...The majority of social and administrative posts were held jointly by men and women. Most of the teaching was also done jointly;
12. On these superb worlds the childbearing period is not greatly prolonged. It is not best for too many years to intervene between the ages of a family of children. When close together in age, children are able to contribute much more to their mutual training.
13. When a settled world progresses beyond the third stage of light and life, all ascenders are destined, before attaining the minor sector, to receive some sort of transient assignment on a planet passing through the earlier stages of evolution.
14. The great handicap confronting Urantia in the matter of attaining the high planetary destiny of light and life is embraced in the problems of disease, degeneracy, war, multicolored races, and multilingualism.
15. Upon the formal inauguration of the planetary ministry of the Corps of the Finality, the majority of the celestial hosts withdraw.
16. One of the last acts of the Trinity Teacher Sons on their terminal mission is to liberate the midwayers of the realm and to promote (or restore) them to advanced planetary status, assigning them to responsible places in the new administration of the settled sphere. Such changes have already been made in the range of human vision as enable mortals to recognize these heretofore invisible cousins of the early .Adamic regime.
17. In each succeeding age of settled existence the finaliters function in ever-increasing capacities. There exists a close working connection between the finaliters, the Evening Stars (the superangels), and the Trinity Teacher Sons.
18. During this (third) or the following ages a Teacher Son, assisted by the ministering-spirit quartette, becomes attached to the elective mortal chief executive, who now becomes associated with the Planetary Sovereign as joint administrator of world affairs. These mortal chief executives serve for twenty‑five years.
19. The finaliters are chiefly engaged (fourth) in initiating the new and supermaterial activities of society—social, cultural, philosophic, cosmic, and. spiritual. As far as we can discern, they will continue this ministry far into the seventh epoch of evolutionary stability, when, possibly, they may go forth to minister in outer space; whereupon we conjecture their places may be taken by absonite beings from Paradise.
20. During this (seventh) epoch, if not before, Adam and Eve are always relieved of planetary duties. If there is a Material Son in the finaliter corps, he may become associated with the mortal chief executive, and sometimes it is a Melchizedek who volunteers to function in this capacity. If a midwayer is among the finaliters, all of that order remaining on the planet are immediately released.
21. The advanced stages of a world settled in light and life represent the acme of evolutionary material development. On these cultured worlds, gone are the idleness and friction of the earlier primitive ages. Poverty and social inequality have all but vanished, degeneracy has disappeared, and delinquency is rarely observed. Insanity has practically ceased to exist, and feeble‑mindedness is a rarity.
22. War has become a matter of history, and there are no more armies or police forces. Government is gradually disappearing. Self‑control is slowly rendering laws of human enactment obsolete.
23. Life is refreshingly simple; man has at last co‑ordinated a high state of mechanical development with an inspiring intellectual attainment and has overshadowed both with an exquisite spiritual achievement. The pursuit of happiness is an experience of joy and satisfaction.
24. While we do not really know, we conjecture that there can never be a limit to intellectual evolution and the attainment of wisdom….We observe that on these highly evolved and long seventh‑stage worlds human beings fully learn the local universe language before they are translated; and I have visited a few very old planets where abandonters were teaching the older mortals the tongue of the superuniverse. And on these worlds I have observed the technique whereby the absonite personalities reveal the presence of the finaliters in the morontia temple.
25. If the mortals of distraught Urantia could only view one of these more advanced worlds long settled in light and life, they would nevermore question the wisdom of the evolutionary scheme of creation. Were there no future of eternal creature progression, still the superb evolutionary attainments of the mortal races on such settled worlds of perfected achievement would amply justify man's creation on the worlds of time and space.
26. We often ponder: If the grand universe should be settled in light and life, would the ascending exquisite mortals still be destined to the Corps of the Finality? But we do not know.
27. When such an era is attained on your world, no doubt Machiventa Melchizedek, now the vicegerent Planetary Prince of Urantia, will occupy the seat of the Planetary Sovereign; and it has long been conjectured on Jerusem that he will be accompanied by a son and daughter of the Urantia Adam and Eve who are now held on Edentia as wards of the Most Highs of Norlatiadek.
28. When an entire system becomes settled in life, a new order of government is inaugurated. The Planetary Sovereigns become members of the system conclave, and this new administrative body; subject to the veto of the Constellation Fathers, is supreme in authority. Such a system of inhabited worlds becomes virtually self‑governing.
29. During this epoch of stabilization, for the first time midsoniters come from the universe headquarters worlds ...What the Material Sons did for the mortal races biologically, the midsonite creatures now do for these unified and glorified humans in the ever‑advancing realms of philosophy and spiritualized thinking.
30. The unification of a whole constellation of settled systems is attended by new distributions of executive authority and additional readjustments of universe administration...By the attainment of the sixth stage of stabilization these unified constellations will have reached the position of well‑nigh complete autonomy. Entrance upon the seventh stage of settledness will no doubt witness the exaltation of these rulers to the true dignity signified by their names, the Most Highs. To all intents and purposes the constellations will then deal directly with the superuniverse rulers, while the local universe government will expand to grasp the responsibilities of new grand universe obligations.
31. When a universe becomes settled in light and life, it soon swings into the established superuniverse circuits, and the Ancients of Days proclaim the establishment of the supreme council of unlimited authority. This new governing body consists of the one hundred Faithfuls of Days, presided over by the Union of Days, and the first act of this supreme council is to acknowledge the continued sovereignty of the Master Creator Son.
32. The finaliter corps now, for the first time, acknowledges the jurisdiction of an extra‑Paradise authority, the supreme council. Heretofore the finaliters have recognized no supervision this side of Paradise.
33. We are, however, satisfied regarding two features of our speculations: If the Creator Sons are destined to the outer universes, the Divine Ministers will undoubtedly accompany them. We are equally sure that the Melchizedeks are to remain with the universes of their origin. We hold that the Melchizedeks are destined to play ever‑increasingly responsible parts in local universe government and. administration.
34. Let it be made clear that the administrative mechanisms and governmental techniques of a universe or a superuniverse cannot in any manner limit or retard the evolutionary development or spiritual progress of an individual inhabited planet or of any individual mortal on such a sphere ...Neither can environmental limitations, even on an isolated world, thwart the personal attainment of the individual mortal; Jesus of Nazareth, as a man among men, personally achieved the statue of light and life over nineteen hundred years ago on Urantia.
35. We cannot positively forecast what would occur when a superuniverse became settled in light because such an event has never factualized. From the teachings of the Melchizedeks, which have never been contradicted, we infer that sweeping changes would be made in the entire organization and administration of every unit of the creations of time and space extending from the inhabited worlds to the superuniverse headquarters.
36. None of us entertain a satisfactory concept of what will happen when the grand universe ...becomes entirely settled in light and life ...There are those who hold that the Supreme Being himself will emerge from the Havona mystery enshrouding his spirit person and will become residential on the headquarters of the seventh superuniverse as the almighty and experiential sovereign of the perfected creations of time and space. But we really do now know.
Discussion Questions
1. Why does the evolutionary process create a perfection different than those created perfect?
2. How can material beings use a morontia temple?
3. Why do midway creatures sense adjuster-fusion in individuals before destiny guardians are aware of this state?
4. When will funerals become times of joyful graduation?
5. Would it be good to have a planetary goal to some day have our natural resources as community property?
6. How can we more effectively solve the problems of disease, degeneracy, war, multicolored races, and multilingualism?
7. How will the knowledge of the advanced stages of light and life effect our world?
A Service of
The Urantia Book Fellowship