The Supreme Being
By Marian Rowley
What, or who, is the Supreme Being?
Not the same as God, as we know him. Not the same as the Universal Father, or the First Source and Center, although he’s commonly confused by people who don' t know the terminology of the Urantia Book.
The First Source and Center is existential. Always has been and always will be. Perfect, everywhere present, all-powerful, all-knowing. The source of everything.
But the Supreme Being is experiential-evolutionary Deity. How can Deity evolve? It' s difficult to explain. But this being is not existential - actually had a beginning. He will have an eternal future, but not an eternal past. He is not perfect, everywhere present, all-powerful, all-knowing. This Deity is evolving. There is nothing like him in all creation. He is a combination of two diverse elements, unified by a third. Part of him comes from the Trinity - the part that is spirit and personality - this part is divine. This part gets the term "God" applied to it. Remember they don’t use the word "God" unless personality is involved. This is the part of him that is called "God the Supreme."
But the second part of him is coming out of evolving superuniverses. This part is definitely not divine. It is made up of incomplete, unstable, physical universes becoming stabilized and settled. It is made up of incomplete, imperfect, animal origin, evolutionary mortals trying to become complete, perfected, eternal beings. It is made up of Sons of God, Creator Sons and Spirits, Ancients of Days, Master Spirits, all having divine origins, but all working in the evolutionary superuniverses trying to bring order out of chaos and to get the entire grand universe settled in light and life. And to me all of these things represent the "power" part - not only the physical power, but administrative power too - sovereignty. This is the part of the Supreme Being called the "Almighty Supreme."
Every advance made in the stabilization of the physical circuits means one step of growth in the evolutionary part of the Supreme Being, the part called the “Almighty Supreme.” Every vital decision made by a single human being means a tiny bit of growth in the Almighty Supreme. Every planet or system or universe that advances a little in stable administration means a little more growth in the Almighty Supreme
But since the superuniverses and all mortals are so very far from being perfect and settled, it is obvious that the Supreme Being is far from being a complete finished being. He has to wait for our evolution to be complete.
There's a third factor involved in the Supreme Being which is very important. As in all cases where spirit and matter exist together and work in combination, there has to be mind, to make it possible for the two to exist and get along together. So here there is Supreme Mind, bestowed by the Infinite Spirit, which coordinates God the Supreme, the spirit-personality part, and the Almighty Supreme, the power-evolutionary part, and which makes it possible for both parts to exist and grow in this evolutionary age.
Does this remind you of us? Probably an over-simplification, and it doesn't match in all particulars, but this comparison is helpful to me.
We have a spirit part, pure spirit straight from the Father - the Thought Adjuster. We also have a physical, incomplete, imperfect part – our animal-origin bodies and natures, which are evolving, which we are trying to make better. And those two parts couldn't possibly exist together unless we had mind – not Supreme Mind from the Infinite Spirit, but adjutant mind from the daughter of the Infinite Spirit. There are three parts, spirit, matter, and mind, plus, of course, personality.
Someday, through the mediation of mind, spirit will gain the ascendancy over matter, we will fuse with the pure spirit part of us, the Adjuster, and eventually we will become perfected beings - not divine, even though we do have a part of the Father - but perfected evolutionary mortals Each of us can do this fairly quickly, if we want - say a few hundred billion years - but the Supreme Being will have to wait much longer than that, for he will have to wait for every single planet, system, constellation, universe, minor and major sector, and superuniverse to become settled in light and life. When this happens, the Almighty Supreme, the power part, will be complete. And only then will the power part, the Almighty Supreme, and the spirit personality part, God the Supreme, unified by Supreme Mind, operate as one being, the Supreme Being - the completed, unified, evolutionary Deity.
Until that time none of us will actually contact the Supreme Being, although we will come to know him in a sense, because he will be something like us and part of our lives have actually become a part of his. But at that time he will probably become actually visible to us (finaliters) and will probably take up residence on Uversa, the capital of our superuniverse. That will be the end of the evolutionary superuniverse age - and something new and different will start - outer space, the absonite level, the start of the search for the Ultimate, and so on - all of which is a different story.
Now, having given this brief summary of the way I understand the Supreme Being, I'd like to start with some general definitions of the Supreme Being taken directly from the Urantia Book. Then I'll discuss the three separate parts of the Supreme, and finally put them together again as they will someday be unified in the Supreme Being.
Definitions
of the Supreme Being
“The Supreme Being is the unification of three phases of Deity reality: God the Supreme, the spiritual unification of certain finite aspects of the Paradise Trinity; the Almighty Supreme, the power unification of the grand universe Creators; and the Supreme Mind, the individual contribution of the Third Source and Center and his coordinates to the reality of the Supreme Being.” (p. 251:1).
“God the Supreme in Havona is the personal spirit reflection of the triune Paradise Deity. This associative Deity relationship is now creatively expanding outward in God the Sevenfold and is synthesizing in the experiential power of the Almighty Supreme in the grand universe. Paradise Deity, existential as three persons, is thus experientially evolving in two phases of Supremacy, while these dual phases are power personality unifying as one Lord, the Supreme Being.”
"The Universal Father achieves freewill liberation from the bonds of infinity and the fetters of eternity by the technique of trinitization, three-fold Deity personalization. The Supreme Being is even now evolving as a subeternal personality unification of the sevenfold manifestation of Deity in the time-space segments of the grand universe.”
“The Supreme Being is not a direct creator, except that he is the father of Majeston, but he is a synthetic co-ordinator of all creature - Creator universe activities. The Supreme Being, now actualizing in the evolutionary universes, is the Deity correlator and synthesizer of time-space divinity, of triune Paradise Deity in experiential association with the Supreme Creators of time and space. When finally actualized, this evolutionary Deity will constitute the eternal fusion of the finite and the infinite - the everlasting and indissoluble union of experiential power and spirit personality.”
"All time-space finite reality, under the directive urge of the evolving Supreme Being, is engaged in an ever-ascending mobilization and perfecting unification (power-personality synthesis) of all phases and values of finite reality, in association with varied phases of Paradise reality, to the end and for the purpose of subsequently embarking upon the attempt to reach absonite levels of super-creature attainment.” (p. 11:2-5).
"God the Supreme is potential in the Paradise Trinity, from whom he derives his personality and spirit attributes; but he is now actualizing in the Creator Sons, Ancients of Days, and the Master Spirits, from whom he derives his power as Almighty to the superuniverses of time and space. This power manifestation of the immediate God of evolutionary creatures actually time-space evolves concomitantly with them. The Almighty Supreme, evolving on the value-level of non-personal activities, and the spirit person of God the Supreme are one reality, the Supreme Being.” (p. 12:2).
“The cosmic reality variously designated as the Supreme Being, God the Supreme, and the Almighty Supreme, is the complex and universal synthesis of the emerging phases of all finite realities. The far-flung diversification of eternal energy, divine spirit, and universal mind attains finite culmination in the evolution of the Supreme, who is the sum total of all finite growth, self-realized on deity levels of finite maximum completion.”
"The Supreme is the divine channel through which flows the creative infinity of the triodities that crystallize into the galactic panorama of space, against which takes place the magnificent personality drama of time; the spirit conquest of energy-matter through the mediation of mind.” (p. 1281:4,5).
“The Supreme. This is the deity consequence of the unity of the Paradise Trinity in experiential liaison with the Creator-Creative children of the Paradise Deities. The Supreme is the deity embodiment of the completion of the first stage of finite evolution.” (p. 1171:7)
“The Supreme Being is the deity culmination of grand universe evolution - physical evolution around a spirit nucleus and eventual dominance of the spirit nucleus over the encircling and whirling domains of physical evolution.” (p. 1164:5).
“The concept of the Supreme must provide for the differential recognition of spirit person, evolutionary power, and power-personality synthesis - the unification of evolutionary power with, and its dominance by, spirit personality.” (p. 1164:6).
There are more, but this is enough to give you an idea of the different ways of saying about the same thing. Now I'd like to go back to my first definition. This is my favorite. It seems to have more meaning for me. It speaks more plainly, more succinctly than some of the others.
“The Supreme Being is the unification of three phases of Deity reality: God the Supreme, the spiritual unification of certain finite aspects of the Paradise Trinity; the Almighty Supreme, the power unification of the grand universe Creators; and the Supreme Mind, the individual contribution of the Third Source and Center and his co-ordinates to the reality of the Supreme Being.” (p. 251:1).
This definition occurs not in the papers on the Supreme or in the Foreword, but in the Trinitized Sons of God. For creature trinitization is an exploration of certain aspects of the Deity of the Supreme - but this is another story.
Before we go any further, I should point out that sometimes the use of the various names for this evolutionary Deity is a little ambiguous and confusing. Sometimes they use the term “the Supreme” to refer to any of the parts - but generally it means the Supreme Being. Sometimes they use the term “God the Supreme” when I believe they are referring to the complete “Supreme Being.” But if you understand the different parts of the Supreme Being and read the name in the proper context, it should not cause too much confusion. They sometimes speak of “God the Supreme” as if that were the final name for the completed unified Deity, which in many places they call the Supreme Being. But I think this is because the word God is generally more meaningful, more personal to evolutionary mortals like us. And after all, the personal part of the Deity is the part that we understand best, being personalities ourselves. So their use of the term “God the Supreme” when I think they mean “The Supreme Being” doesn’t bother me. This is my own interpretation and I may be oversimplifying, but it is satisfactory to me, and it may help you.
Now let's get down to some details about the Supreme Being and his parts. In this discussion, the book starts, as is its habit, with the big, over-all picture first and then breaks it down into parts. The first of the four papers is “The Supreme Being,” then “The Almighty Supreme,” “God the Supreme,” and finally “Supreme and Ultimate - Time and Space.” Being human, I want to tackle it the other way around - start with the simplest, “God the Supreme,” then go to “The Almighty Supreme,” and then put these together into the completed whole, “The Supreme Being.”
So let's start with God the Supreme – the spirit-personality part.
GOD THE SUPREME
Origin
Derives from the Trinity. To all intents and purposes it is a representation of the Trinity on the finite level. The Paradise Trinity in relation to the finite level is called the Trinity of Supremacy. Here are some direct quotations:
"The source of the Supreme is in the Paradise Trinity - eternal, actual and undivided Deity. The Supreme is first of all a spirit person, and this spirit person stems from the Trinity. But the Supreme is secondly a Deity of growth - evolutionary growth - and this growth derives from the two triodities, actual and potential.” (p.1264:2.)
Actuality Potentiality
Eternal Son Deity Absolute
Paradise Isle Universal Absolute
Conjoint Actor Unqualified Absolute
(Non-father triunities, page 1151)
“God the Supreme in Havona is the personal spirit reflection of the triune Paradise Deity. (p. 11:2)
“God the Supreme, the spiritual unification of certain finite aspects of the Paradise Trinity.” (p. 251:1)
“God the Supreme is potential in the Paradise Trinity, from whom he derives his personality and spirit attributes…” (p. 12:2)
Location
Personally present in Havona right now, but not at present contactible. The Deities are certainly aware of the presence of God the Supreme in Havona and probably certain other personalities are. The Master Spirits are close to him, but especially Master Spirit Number Seven, who speaks for the Supreme.
You will recall that when we get to Havona, on the outer circle, the seventh, we learn to recognize our own Master Spirit. In our case this will be N umber Seven, but ascenders from Superuniverse Number Five will learn to recognize Master Spirit Number Five. However, when we get to the sixth circle, all ascenders will have contact with Master Spirit Number Seven because he speaks for God the Supreme and through him we will have a new appreciation for the Supreme. This is the principal purpose of our sojourn on the sixth circle. The secondary supernaphim who will pilot us through this circle are called “The Supremacy Guides." The "Master Spirit will compensate for our failure to actually contact the person of God the Supreme. Listen to these quotations:
“The Infinite Spirit as the Conjoint Actor functions in many ways which compensate the incompletion of evolutionary Deity and sustains very close relations to the Supreme. This closeness of relationship is shared in measure by all Master Spirits but especially by Master Spirit Number Seven, who speaks for the Supreme. This Master Spirit knows - is in personal contact with - the Supreme.” (p. 1272:1)
The following refers to the sixth circle of Havona.
“It is in this circle that the ascenders achieve a new realization of Supreme Divinity. Through their long careers in the evolutionary universes the pilgrims of time have been experiencing a growing awareness of the reality of an almighty over-control of the time-space creations. Here, on this Havona Circuit, they come near to encountering the central universe source of time-space unity - the spiritual reality of God the Supreme.”
“I am somewhat at a loss to explain what takes place on this circle. No personalized presence of Supremacy is perceptible to the ascenders. In certain respects new relationships with the Seventh Master Spirit compensate this non-contactibility of the Supreme Being. But regardless of our inability to grasp the technique, each ascending creature seems to undergo a transforming growth, a new integration of consciousness, a new spiritualization of purpose, a new sensitivity for divinity, which can hardly be satisfactorily explained without assuming the unrevealed activity of the Supreme Being. To those of us who have observed these mysterious transactions, it appears as if God the Supreme were affectionately bestowing upon his experiential children, up to the very limits of their experiential capacities, those enhancements of intellectual grasp, of spiritual insight, and of personality outreach which they will so need, in all their efforts at penetrating the divinity level of the Trinity of Supremacy, to achieve the eternal and existential Deities of Paradise.” (p. 292:2,3)
Nature
Here are some general quotations about God the Supreme:
“God the Supreme is
the personalization of all universe experience, the focalization of all finite
evolution, the maximation of all creature reality, the consummation of cosmic
wisdom, the embodiment of harmonious beauties of the galaxies of time, the
truth of cosmic mind meanings, and the goodness of supreme spirit values. And God the Supreme will, in the eternal
future synthesize these manifold finite diversities into one experientially
meaningful whole, even as they are now existentially united on absolute levels
in the Paradise Trinity.” (p. 1304:2)
“God the Supreme - the actualizing or evolving God of time and space, Personal Deity associatively realizing the time-space experiential achievement of creature-Creator identity. The Supreme Being is personally experiencing the achievement of Deity unity as the evolving and experiential God of the evolutionary creatures of time and space.” (p. 4:10.)
There are two references to God the Supreme down on the local level which are very interesting to me. One concerns a division of the celestial artisans working in the local universe. It’s one of the group of energy manipulators called the compound manipulators:
“This is the adventurous group of well-trained beings who are dedicated to the functional association of the three original phases of divine energy manifested throughout the universes as physical, mindal, and spiritual energies. These are the keen personalities who are in reality seeking to discover the universe presence of God the Supreme, for in this Deity personality there must occur the experiential unification of all grand universe divinity. And to a certain extent, these artisans have in recent times met with some success.” (p. 505:3)
The other reference is in connection with the Most Highs of Edentia. It seems most unusual to me. I would think they would name God the Father. But listen:
The reference here is to the gardens of the Most Highs on Edentia:
“Centrally located in this magnificent garden is the worship shrine of the Most Highs. The Psalmist must have known something about these things for he wrote: “Who shall ascend the hill of the Most Highs? Who shall stand in this holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to vanity not sworn deceitfully.” At this shrine the Most highs, on every tenth day of relaxation, lead all Edentia in the worshipful contemplation of God the Supreme.” (p. 492:3)
Now to the evolving, power part of the Supreme Being - the part called the Almighty Supreme.
THE ALMIGHTY SUPREME
It's difficult to say precisely what the origin is, as we could in the case of God the Supreme - but I think probably the closest answer would be the seven superuniverses. The Almighty Supreme could not start evolving until the evolutionary universes were in existence. And as soon as they were in existence and started evolving, so did he. So I would say his origin was the start of evolution in the seven superuniverses. And this means not just the evolution of physical energy, physical power, but also the evolution of the Supreme Creators - the acts of the Creator Sons and Creative Spirits, the Ancients of Days, and the Master Spirits, as they strive to stabilize and perfect the administration of the superuniverses.
There are two definitions of power in the Foreword:
“Power is ordinarily limited to the designation of the electronic level of material or linear-gravity-responsive matter in the grand universe. Power is also employed to designate sovereignty.” (p.9:5)
“Universe power includes all forms of energy which, while still responding to Paradise gravity, are directly responsive to linear gravity. This is the electronic level of energy-matter and all subsequent evolutions thereof.” (p. 9:10)
Location
Here against it is difficult to say precisely where you could find the Almighty, but again I would say in the superuniverses - and all over the superuniverses. It is difficult for us to conceive of the Almighty as not focalized in one spot. And yet it is difficult to think of the Almighty as a discrete person when we know that he is so very incomplete and far from finished.
Nature
The Almighty Supreme draws his very being from the acts of God the Sevenfold and the Sevenfold Controllers, so a knowledge of those two groups is essential as a foundation for understanding the Almighty Supreme.
To me, God the Sevenfold is difficult to visualize because he is not just one entity. He is a group of beings, a very large group, all working together in the grand universe on the finite level, functioning as the Deity of evolutionary mortals in the Paradise-ascension career.
Here is what the book says about God the Sevenfold:
Definition of God the Sevenfold: “Deity personality anywhere actually functioning in time and space. The personal Paradise Deities and their creative associates functioning in and beyond the borders of the central universe and power-personalizing as the Supreme Being on the first creature level of unifying Deity revelation in time and space. This level, the grand universe, is the sphere of the time-space descension of Paradise personalities in reciprocal association with the time-space ascension of evolutionary creatures," p.4:11
God the Sevenfold:
1. The Paradise Creator Sons.
2. The Ancients of Days.
3. The Seven Master Spirits.
4. The Supreme Being.
5. God the Spirit.
6. God the Son.
7. God the Father.
“This sevenfold Deity, to finite time-space creatures sometimes power personalizing in the Supreme Being, is the functional Deity of the mortal evolutionary creatures of the Paradise ascension career.” (p. 11:7)
“The grand universe is the three fold Deity domain of the Trinity of Supremacy, God the Sevenfold, and the Supreme Being. God the Supreme is potential in the Paradise Trinity, from whom he derives his personality and spirit attributes; but he is now actualizing in the Creator Sons, Ancients of Days, and the Master Spirits, from whom he derives his power as Almighty to the superuniverses of time and space. This power manifestation of the immediate God of evolutionary creatures actually time-space evolves concomitantly with them. The Almighty Supreme, evolving on the value-level of non-personal activities and the spirit person of God the Supreme are one reality - the Supreme Being.” (p. 12:2).
There’s another part of the Sevenfold which is mentioned just once in the book, but it is a very important part - and it is mentioned only in connection with the Almighty. God the Sevenfold consists of spirit personalities. But there is a physical control level of this Deity association - and the Sevenfold Controllers embrace the following:
1. The Master Physical Controllers.
2. The Supreme Power Centers.
3. The Supreme Power Directors.
4. The Almighty Supreme.
5. The God of Action – the Infinite Spirit.
6. The Isle of Paradise.
7. The Source of Paradise – the Universal Father
“These seven groups are functionally inseparable from God the Sevenfold and constitute the physical-control level of this Deity association.” (p. 1273:7,3).
“The Almighty Supreme is evolving as the overcontroller of the physical power of the grand universe. In the present universe ago this potential of physical power appears to be centered in the Seven Supreme Power Directors, who operate through the fixed locations of the power centers and through the mobile presences of the physical controllers.” (p. 1274:2)
Now just a few more quotations about the Almighty Supreme:
“The Almighty Supreme is a living and evolving Deity of power and personality. His present domain, the grand universe, is also a growing realm of power and personality. His destiny is perfection, but his present experience encompasses the elements of growth and incomplete status.”
“…the
spirit person of Supremacy requires the evolutionary power of the Almighty to
achieve completion of Deity and to attain destiny of Trinity association. The effort is made by the personalities of
time and space, but the culmination and consummation of this effort is the act
of the Almighty Supreme. And while the
growth of the whole is thus a totalizing of the collective growth of the parts,
it equally follows that the evolution of the parts is a segmented reflection of
the purposive growth of the whole.”
(p.1275:7)
“And it is
conjectured that the final attainment of material equilibrium will signify the
completed evolution of the physical control of the Almighty.” (p. 1274).
SUPREME MIND
Now, having discussed the spirit part of the Supreme, God the Supreme, and the power part, the Almighty Supreme, we come to the part which makes it possible for the other two to exist at the same time, the part which is unifying the two - namely, Supreme Mind. We’re not told much about it. There's no paper devoted entirely to this. Only the first section of the paper on the Almighty and a few other scattered mentions.
Origin
This at least is very definite. It is a bestowal of the Infinite Spirit.
“…the Supreme Mind, the individual contribution of the Third Source and Center and his co-ordinates to the reality of the Supreme Being.” (p. 251.1)
Location
This is impossible to pin down, but I would say probably the grand universe.
Nature
Here is about all we know of Supreme Mind, its nature and function:
1. The mind focalizations of the Third Source and Center. The finite domains of energy and spirit are literally held together by the mind presences of the Conjoint Actor. This is true from the Creative Spirit in a local universe through the Reflective Spirits of a Superuniverse to the Master Spirits in the grand universe. The mind circuits emanating from these varied intelligences focuses represent the cosmic arena of creature choice. Mind is the flexible reality which creatures and Creators can so readily manipulate; it is the vital link connecting matter and spirit. The mind bestowal of the Third Source and Center unifies the spirit person of God the Supreme with the experiential power of the evolutionary Almighty.” (p. 1270:7)
“The creative synthesis of power and personality is a part of the creative urge of the Supreme Mind and is the very essence of the evolutionary Almighty.” (p. 1270:7)
“The creative synthesis of power and personality attributes of Supremacy is the function of Supreme Mind; and the completed evolution of the Almighty Supreme will result in one unified and personal Deity - not in any loosely co-ordinated association of divine attributes.
“Throughout the evolutionary ages the physical power potential of the Supreme is vested in the Seven Supreme Power Directors, and the mind potential reposes in the Seven Master Spirits. The Infinite Mind is the function of the Infinite Spirit; the cosmic mind, the ministry of the Seven Master Spirits; the Supreme Mind is in process of actualizing in the co-ordination of the grand universe and in functional association with the revelation and attainment of God the Sevenfold.”
Because reflectivity is a mind phenomenon and is very definitely hooked up with the Supreme, particularly with Supreme Mind, it seems appropriate to discuss it briefly in this spot. You will remember that the 49 Reflective Spirits were created by the Trinity in collaboration with each one of the Master Spirits separately so that there are seven different kinds of Reflective Spirits. And then Majeston appeared. Here are the quotations:
Reflectivity
– Majeston The Head
49 Reflective Spirits - Trinity with one of Master Spirits – Then Majeston
“This union of the creative power of the Supreme Creators with the creative potentials of the Trinity is the very source of the actuality of the Supreme Being. Therefore, when the cycle of reflective creation had run its course, when each of the Seven Master Spirits had found perfect creative synchrony with the Paradise Trinity, when the forty-ninth Reflective Spirit had personalized, then a new and far-reaching reaction occurred in the Deity Absolute which imparted new personality prerogatives to the Supreme Being and culminated in the personalization of Majeston, the reflectivity chief and Paradise center of all the work of the forty-nine Reflective Spirits and their associates throughout the universe of universes.” (p. 199:7)
“The creation of Majeston signalized the first supreme creative act of the Supreme Being. This will to action was volitional in the Supreme Being, but the stupendous reaction of the Deity Absolute was not foreknown. Not since the eternity-appearance of Havona had the universe witnessed such a tremendous factualization of such a gigantic and far-flung alignment of power and coordination of functional spirit activities. The Deity response to the creative wills of the Supreme Being and his associates was vastly beyond their purposeful intent and greatly in excess of their conceptual forecasts.” (p. 200:3)
“Majeston appeared and ever since has focalized the cosmic presence of the Supreme Mind, while the Master Spirits continue as source-centers for the for-flung ministry of the cosmic mind.” (p. 1272:2)
“During the present universe age the Supreme Being is apparently unable to function directly as a creator except in those instances where the finite possibilities of action have been exhausted by the creative agencies of time and space. Thus far in universe history this has transpired but once; when the possibilities of finite action in the matter of universe reflectivity had been exhausted, then did the Supreme function as the creative culminator of all antecedent creator actions. And we believe he will again function as a culminator in future ages whenever antecedent creatorship has completed an appropriate cycle of creative activity.” (p. 1282:7)
“The relationship between the finite cosmic mind and the divine absolute mind appears to be evolving in the experiential mind of the Supreme. We are taught that, in the dawn of time, this experiential mind bestowed upon the Supreme by the Infinite Spirit, and we conjecture that certain features of the phenomenon of reflectivity can be accounted for only by postulating the activity of the Supreme Mind. If the Supreme is not concerned in reflectivity, we are at a loss to explain the intricate transactions and unerring operations of this consciousness of the cosmos.”
“Reflectivity appears to be omniscience within the limits of the experiential finite and may represent the emergence of the presence-consciousness of the Supreme Being. If this assumption is true, then the utilization of reflectivity in any of its phases is equivalent to partial contact with the consciousness of the Supreme.” (p. 105: 4,5).
Now, having discussed the three parts of the Supreme Being; God the Supreme, the Almighty Supreme, and Supreme Mind, let's put them together again into one unified Deity and try to get some feeling for the whole and for what is ahead - for him and for us.
The following are a series of quotations from the Urantia Book which I hope will clarify and amplify our understanding of the Supreme Being.
“The
personality realities of the Supreme Being come forth from the Paradise Deities
and on the pilot world of the outer Havona circuit unify with the power
prerogatives of the Almighty Supreme coming up from the Creator divinities of
the grand universe. God the Supreme as a
person existed in Havona before the creation of the seven superuniverses, but
he functioned only on spiritual levels.
The evolution of the Almighty power of Supremacy by diverse divinity
synthesis in the evolving universes eventuated in a new power presence of Deity
which co-ordinated with the spiritual person of the Supreme Mind, which
concomitantly translated from the potential resident in the infinite mind of
the Infinite Spirit to the active functional mind of the Supreme Being.” (p. 641:1)
“Always is the finite Deity seeking for dual correlation, inward toward Paradise and the Deities thereof and outward toward infinity and the Absolutes therein. The mighty eruption of the Paradise-creative divinity personalizing in the Creator Sons and powerizing in the power controllers, signifies the vast outsurge of Supremacy into the domains of potentiality, while the endless procession of the ascending creatures of the grand universe witnesses the mighty insurge of Supremacy toward unity with Paradise Deity.” (p. 1265:8)
“The growth of Supremacy derives from the triodities, the spirit person of the Supreme, from the Trinity; but the power prerogatives of the Almighty are predicated on the divinity successes of God the Sevenfold, while the conjoining of the power prerogatives of the Almighty Supreme with the spirit person of God the Supreme takes place by virtue of the ministry of the Conjoint Actor, who bestowed the mind of the Supreme as the conjoining factor in this evolutionary Deity.” (p. 1264:7)
“The spirit struggles of time and space have to do with the evolution of spirit dominance over matter by the mediation of (personal) mind; the physical (non-personal) evolution of the universes has to do with bringing cosmic energy into harmony with the equilibrium concepts of mind subject to the overcontrol of spirit. The total evolution of the entire grand universe is a matter of the Personality unification of the energy-controlling mind with the spirit coordinated intellect and will be revealed in the full appearance of the almighty power of the Supreme.” (p. 1274:6)
“The Supreme is the beauty of physical harmony, the truth of intellectual meaning and the goodness of spiritual value. He is the sweetness of true success and the joy of everlasting achievement. He is the oversoul of the grand universe, the consciousness of the finite cosmos, the completion of finite reality, and the personification of Creator-creature experience. Throughout all future eternity God the Supreme will voice the reality of volitional experience in the trinity relationships of Deity.” (p. 1278:5)
“The Paradise Trinity is considered to be the absolute inevitability; the Seven Master Spirits are apparently Trinity inevitabilities; the power-mind-spirit-personality actualization of the Supreme must be the evolutionary inevitability.”
“God the Supreme does not appear to have been inevitable in unqualified infinity, but he seems to be on all relativity levels. He is the indispensable focalizer, summarizer, and encompasser of evolutionary experience, effectively unifying the results of this mode of reality perception in his Deity nature. And all this he appears to do for the purpose of contributing to the appearance of the inevitable eventuation, the superexperience and superfinite manifestation of God the Ultimate.” (p. 1266:7,8)
“As things appear to the mortal on the finite level, the Paradise Trinity, like the Supreme Being, is concerned only with the total; total planet, total universe, total superuniverse, total grand universe. This totality attitude exists because Trinity is the total Deity and for many other reasons.”
“The Supreme Being is something less and something other than the Trinity functioning in the finite universes; but within certain limits and during the present era of incomplete power-personalization, this evolutionary Deity does appear to reflect the attitude of the Trinity of Supremacy. The Father, Son, and Spirit do not personally function with the Supreme Being but during the present universe age they collaborate with him as the Trinity. We understand that they sustain a similar relationship to the Ultimate. We often conjecture as to what will be the personal relationship between the Paradise Deities and God the Supreme when he has finally evolved but we do not really know.” (p. 115:4,5)
“The grand universe is mechanism as well as organism, mechanical and living – a living mechanism activated by a Supreme Mind, co-ordinating with a Supreme Spirit, and finding expression on maximum levels of power and personality unification as the Supreme Being. But to deny the mechanism of the finite creation is to deny fact and to disregard reality.” (p. 1303:5)
“With God the Father, sonship is the great relationship. With God the Supreme achievement is the prerequisite to status - one must do something as well as be something.” (p. 1260:1)
RELATION OF THE SUPREME TO UNIVERSE CREATURES
“Mortal man, being a creature, is not exactly like the Supreme Being, who is deity, but man’s evolution does in some ways resemble the growth of the Supreme. Man consciously grows from the material toward the spiritual by the strength power, and persistency of his own decisions; he also grows as his Thought Adjuster develops new techniques for reaching down from the spiritual to the morontial soul levels; and once the soul comes into being, it begins to grow in and of itself.”
“This
is somewhat like the way in which the Supreme Being expands. His sovereignty grows in and out of the acts
and achievements of the Supreme Creator Personalities; that is the evolution of
the majesty of his power as the ruler of the grand universe. His deity nature is likewise dependent on the
pre-existent unity of the Paradise Trinity.
But there is still another aspect to the evolution of God the Supreme:
He is not only Creator-evolved and Trinity-derived: he is also self-evolved and
self-derived. God the Supreme is himself
a volitional, creative participant in his own deity actualization. The human morontial soul is likewise a
volitional, cocreative partner in its own immortalization.” (p. 1282:2,3)
“The Supreme Being evolves by virtue of his liaison with the Paradise Trinity and in consequence of the divinity successes of the creator and administrator children of that Trinity. Man’s immortal soul evolves its own eternal destiny by association with the divine presence of the Paradise Father and in accordance with the personality decisions of the human mind. What the Trinity is to God the Supreme, the Adjuster is to evolving man.” (p. 1282:6)
“Man's urge for Paradise perfection, his striving for God-attainment, creates a genuine divinity tension in the living cosmos which can only he resolved by the evolution of an immortal soul; this is what happens in the experience of a single mortal creature. But when all creatures and all Creators in the grand universe likewise strive for God-attainment and divine perfection, there is built up a profound cosmic tension which can only find resolution in the sublime synthesis of almighty power with the spirit person of the evolving God of all creatures, the Supreme Being.” (p. 1276:8)
“While ascending mortals achieve power comprehension of the Almighty on the capitals of the superuniverses and personality comprehension of the Supreme on the outer circuits of Havona, they do not actually find the Supreme Being as they are destined to find the Paradise Deities. Even the finaliters, sixth stage spirits, have not found the Supreme Being, nor are they likely to until they have achieved seventh-stage-spirit status, and until the Supreme has become actually functional in the activities of the future outer universes.” (p.641:6)
Regarding seraphic ministry:
“We do not really know, but we conjecture that this phenomenal ministry is in some undisclosed manner facilitated by the unrecognized and unrevealed working of the Supreme Being, the actualizing Deity of the evolving universes of time and space. Throughout the entire realm of progressive survival in and through the Supreme Being, seraphim are an essential part of continuing mortal progression.” (p. 1244:7)
“The completion of these seven bestowals resulted in the liberation of Michael’s supreme sovereignty and also in the creation of the possibility for the sovereignty of the Supreme in Nebadon. On none of Michael’s bestowals did he reveal God the Supreme, but the sum total of all seven bestowals is a new Nebadon revelation of the Supreme Being…”
“In passing through
the experience of revealing the Seven Master Spirit wills of the Trinity, the
Creator Son has passed through the experience of revealing the will of the
Supreme. In functioning as a revelator
of the will of Supremacy, Michael, together with all other Master Sons, has
identified himself eternally with the Supreme. In this universe age he reveals the Supreme
and participates in the actualization of the sovereignty of Supremacy. But in the next universe age we believe he
will be collaborating with the Supreme Being in the first experiential Trinity
for and in the universes of outer space."
(p. 1318:5,7)
“Providence is in part the overcontrol of the incomplete Supreme manifested in the incomplete universes, and it must therefore ever be:
"1. Partial - due to the incompleteness of the actualization of the Supreme Being, and
"2. Unpredictable - due to the fluctuations in creature attitude, which ever varies from level to level, thus causing apparently variable reciprocal response in the Supreme.
“When
men pray for providential intervention in the circumstances of life, many times
the answer to their prayer is their own changed attitudes toward life. But providence is not whimsical, neither is
it fantastic nor magical. It is the slow
and sure emergence of the mighty sovereign of the finite universes, whose
majestic presence the evolving creatures occasionally detect in their universe
progressions. Providence is the sure and
certain march of the galaxies of space and the personalities of time toward the
goals of eternity, first in the Supreme, then in the Ultimate, and perhaps in
the Absolute. And in infinity we believe
there is the same providence, and this is the will, the actions, the purpose of
the Paradise Trinity thus motivating the cosmic panorama of universes upon universes.” (p. 1307:2,3)
THE FUTURE
“The Supreme is God-in-time; his is the secret of creature growth in time; his also is the conquest of the incomplete present and the consummation of the perfecting future. And the final fruits of all finite growth are power controlled through mind by spirit by virtue of the unifying and creative presence of personality. The culminating consequence of all this growth is the Supreme Being.” (p. 12801:1)
“The present goal of the superuniverses is to become, as they are and within their potentials, perfect, even as is Havona. This perfection pertains to physical and spiritual attainment even to administrative, governmental, and fraternal development. It is believed that, in the ages to come, the possibilities for disharmony, maladjustment, and misadaptation will be eventually exhausted in the superuniverses. The energy circuits will be in perfect balance and in complete subjugation to mind, while spirit, in the presence of personality, will have achieved the dominance of mind.
“It is conjectured that at this far-distant time the spirit person of the Supreme and attained power of the Almighty will have achieved co-ordinate development, and that both, as unified in and by the Supreme Mind, will factualize as the Supreme Being, a completed actuality in the universes - an actuality which will be observable by all creature intelligences, reacted to by all created energies, co-ordinated in all spiritual entities, and experienced by all universe personalities.” (p. 1292: 5,6).
“The Supreme Being has a threefold function in the experience of mortal man:
First, he is the unifier of time-space divinity, God the Sevenfold; second, he is the maximum of Deity which finite creatures can actually comprehend; third, he is mortal man’s only avenue of approach to the transcendental experience of consorting with absonite mind, eternal spirit, and Paradise personality.
“Ascendant finaliters, having been born in the local universes, nurtured in the superuniverses, and trained in the central universe, embrace in their personal experiences the full potential of the comprehension of the time-space divinity of God the Sevenfold unifying in the Supreme. Finaliters serve successively in superuniverses other than those of nativity, thereby superimposing experience upon experience until the fullness of the sevenfold diversity of possible creature experience has been encompassed. Through the ministry of the indwelling Adjusters the finaliters are enabled to find the Universal Father, but it is by these techniques of experience that such finaliters come really to know the Supreme Being, and they are destined to the service and the revelation of this Supreme Deity in and to the future universes of outer space.”
“Bear in mind, all that God the Father and his Paradise Sons do for us, we in turn and in spirit have the opportunity to do for and in the emerging Supreme Being. The experience of love, joy, and service in the universe is mutual. God the Father does not need that his sons should return to him all that he bestows upon them, but they do (or may) in turn bestow all of this upon their fellows and upon the evolving Supreme Being.” (p. 643:5,6 and 644:1.)
“The Supreme Being functions primarily in the central universe as a spirit personality; secondarily in the grand universe as God the Almighty, a personality of power. The tertiary function of the Supreme in the master universe is now latent, existing only as an unknown mind potential. No one knows just what this third development of the Supreme Being will disclose. Some believe that, when the superuniverses are settled in light and life, the Supreme will become functional from Uversa as the almighty and experiential sovereign of the grand universe while expanding in power as the superalmighty of the outer universes. Others speculate that the third stage of Supremacy will involve the third level of Deity manifestation. But none of us really know.” (p. 1268:5)
“This experiential power arising out of the divinity achievements of God the Sevenfold itself manifests the cohesive qualities of divinity by synthesizing – totalizing – the almighty power of the attained experiential mastery of the evolving creations. And this almighty power in turn finds spirit-personality cohesion on the pilot sphere of the outer belt of Havona worlds in union with the spirit personality of the Havona presence of God the Supreme. Thus does experiential Deity culminate the long evolutionary struggle by investing the power product of time and space with the spirit presence and divine personality resident in the central creation.