88:0.1 (967.1) THE concept of a spirit’s entering into an inanimate object, an animal, or a human being, is a very ancient and honorable belief, having prevailed since the beginning of the evolution of religion. This doctrine of spirit possession is nothing more nor less than fetishism. The savage does not necessarily worship the fetish; he very logically worships and reverences the spirit resident therein. 영(靈)이 무생물, 동물 혹은 인간에게 들어간다는 개념은 종교의 진화가 시작된 이래(以來) 널리 퍼져있는, 아주 오래된 명예로운 믿음입니다. 영(靈)에 사로잡히는 이런 교리는 정확히 주물(呪物)입니다. 야만인(野蠻人)은 반드시 주물을 숭배하는 것이 아닙니다. 그는 그 속에 들어가 사는 영(靈)을 아주 논리적으로 숭배하고 공경합니다.
88:0.2 (967.2) At first, the spirit of a fetish was believed to be the ghost of a dead man; later on, the higher spirits were supposed to reside in fetishes. And so the fetish cult eventually incorporated all of the primitive ideas of ghosts, souls, spirits, and demon possession. 처음에 주물의 영(靈)은 죽은 사람의 유령(幽靈)으로 여겼습니다. 나중에 더 높은 영(靈)들이 주물(呪物)들 안에 산다고 생각했습니다. 그래서 주물(呪物) 종파는 드디어 유령(幽靈), 혼(魂), 영(靈) 및 귀신(악령) 들림의 모든 원시적 관념을 통합했습니다.
1. Belief in Fetishes 주물(呪物) 믿음
88:1.1 (967.3) Primitive man always wanted to make anything extraordinary into a fetish; chance therefore gave origin to many. A man is sick, something happens, and he gets well. The same thing is true of the reputation of many medicines and the chance methods of treating disease. Objects connected with dreams were likely to be converted into fetishes. Volcanoes, but not mountains, became fetishes; comets, but not stars. Early man regarded shooting stars and meteors as indicating the arrival on earth of special visiting spirits. 원시인은 언제나 별난 것을, 주물(呪物)로 만들고 싶어 했습니다. 그래서 많은 것이 우연히 생겼습니다. 한 사람이 아프다가, 무슨 일이 일어나고, 그의 병이 나아집니다. 마찬가지가 여러 약(藥)의 평판과 우연한 질병 치료법에 해당합니다. 꿈과 관련된 물체는 쉽게 주물(呪物)로 바뀌었습니다. 산(山)이 아니라 화산(火山)이 주물(呪物)이 되었고, 별이 아니라 혜성(彗星 살별, 꼬리별)이 주물(呪物)이 되었습니다. 고대인은 유성(流星 별똥별)과 운석(隕石)을 특별히 방문하는 영(靈)들이 지상에 도착하는 표시로 여겼습니다.
88:1.2 (967.4) The first fetishes were peculiarly marked pebbles, and “sacred stones” have ever since been sought by man; a string of beads was once a collection of sacred stones, a battery of charms. Many tribes had fetish stones, but few have survived as have the Kaaba and the Stone of Scone. Fire and water were also among the early fetishes, and fire worship, together with belief in holy water, still survives. 첫 주물은 특이하게 주의를 끄는 자갈이었고, 그 후 계속 사람은 “신성한 돌들”을 찾으려 했습니다. 구슬 끈은 한때 신성한 돌들의 모음, 한 벌의 작은 장식물이었습니다. 여러 부족에게 주물(呪物) 돌들이 있었지만, 카바와 스콘석(대관식 돌)처럼 남아 있는 것은 거의 없었습니다. 불과 물도 초기 주물(呪物) 중에 있었고, 불 숭배는 거룩한 물에 대한 믿음과 함께 여전히 남아 있습니다.
88:1.3 (967.5) Tree fetishes were a later development, but among some tribes the persistence of nature worship led to belief in charms indwelt by some sort of nature spirit. When plants and fruits became fetishes, they were taboo as food. The apple was among the first to fall into this category; it was never eaten by the Levantine peoples. 나무 주물(呪物)은 나중에 개발했지만, 일부 부족 중에 지속된 자연 숭배는 어떤 종류의 자연 영(靈)이 내재한 매력(魅力) 믿음으로 이어졌습니다. 식물과 과일이 주물(呪物)이 되자, 그것들은 음식으로서 금기(禁忌)였습니다. 사과는 이런 범주로 나뉜 최초의 것 중에 속했습니다. 레반트 민족은 결코 그것을 먹지 않았습니다.
88:1.4 (967.6) If an animal ate human flesh, it became a fetish. In this way the dog came to be the sacred animal of the Parsees. If the fetish is an animal and the ghost is permanently resident therein, then fetishism may impinge on reincarnation. In many ways the savages envied the animals; they did not feel superior to them and were often named after their favorite beasts. 동물이 인육(人肉)을 먹으면, 그 동물은 주물(呪物)이 되었습니다. 이렇게 하여 개는 파시교도(敎徒)의 신성한 동물이 되었습니다. 주물(呪物)이 동물이고, 유령(幽靈)이 그 속에 영구적으로 들어가 살면, 주물(呪物)숭배는 환생(幻生)을 침해할 수도 있습니다. 여러모로 야만인들은 동물을 부러워했습니다. 그들은 동물들보다 뛰어나다고 느끼지 못했고, 종종 자신들이 좋아하는 짐승의 이름을 따서 이름을 지었습니다.
88:1.5 (967.7) When animals became fetishes, there ensued the taboos on eating the flesh of the fetish animal. Apes and monkeys, because of resemblance to man, early became fetish animals; later, snakes, birds, and swine were also similarly regarded. At one time the cow was a fetish, the milk being taboo while the excreta were highly esteemed. The serpent was revered in Palestine, especially by the Phoenicians, who, along with the Jews, considered it to be the mouthpiece of evil spirits. Even many moderns believe in the charm powers of reptiles. From Arabia on through India to the snake dance of the Moqui tribe of red men the serpent has been revered. 동물이 주물(呪物)이 되자, 잇따라 주물(呪物) 동물의 고기 먹기에 대한 금기(禁忌)가 일어났습니다. 꼬리 짧은 원숭이와 꼬리 있는 원숭이는 사람과 닮아서 일찍이 주물(呪物) 동물이 되었습니다. 나중에 뱀, 새 그리고 돼지도 마찬가지로 여겼습니다. 한때는 암소가 주물(呪物)이었고 우유가 금기(禁忌)였지만 배설물을 대단히 높이 평가했습니다. 팔레스타인에서, 특히 페니키아인(人)들이 뱀을 숭배했는데, 이들은 유대인(人)들과 함께 뱀을 악령(惡靈)의 대변자로 여겼습니다. 여러 현대인까지 파충류의 매력(魅力)을 믿습니다. 아라비아에서 인도를 거쳐 홍인(紅人) 중 모키 부족의 뱀 춤까지 뱀이 숭배되었습니다.
88:1.6 (968.1) Certain days of the week were fetishes. For ages Friday has been regarded as an unlucky day and the number thirteen as an evil numeral. The lucky numbers three and seven came from later revelations; four was the lucky number of primitive man and was derived from the early recognition of the four points of the compass. It was held unlucky to count cattle or other possessions; the ancients always opposed the taking of a census, “numbering the people.” 한 주의 어떤 날들이 주물(呪物)이었습니다. 금요일을 오랫동안 불길한 날로 여겼고, 숫자 13을 불길한 수(數)로 여겼습니다. 행운 숫자 3과 7은 나중의 계시에서 생겼습니다. 4는 원시인에게 행운의 수(數)였고 나침반의 4방위에 대한 초기 인식에서 유래되었습니다. 가축이나 다른 재산을 계산하는 것은 불길하게 여겨졌습니다. 고대인들은 “사람들의 수(數)를 세는” 인구조사를 언제나 반대했습니다(대상21:1~4).
88:1.7 (968.2) Primitive man did not make an undue fetish out of sex; the reproductive function received only a limited amount of attention. The savage was natural minded, not obscene or prurient. 원시인은 성(性)에서 지나친 주물(呪物)을 만들지 않았습니다. 생식 기능에는 많지 않게 주목할 뿐이었습니다. 야만인은 꾸밈없이 순수한 성격으로, 음란하거나 호색하지 않았습니다.
88:1.8 (968.3) Saliva was a potent fetish; devils could be driven out by spitting on a person. For an elder or superior to spit on one was the highest compliment. Parts of the human body were looked upon as potential fetishes, particularly the hair and nails. The long-growing fingernails of the chiefs were highly prized, and the trimmings thereof were a powerful fetish. Belief in skull fetishes accounts for much of later-day head-hunting. The umbilical cord was a highly prized fetish; even today it is so regarded in Africa. Mankind’s first toy was a preserved umbilical cord. Set with pearls, as was often done, it was man’s first necklace. 타액(唾液 침)은 힘센 주물(呪物)이었습니다. 사람에게 침을 뱉어서 악령을 쫓아낼 수 있었습니다. 연장자나 윗사람이 사람에게 침 뱉는 것은 최고로 경의의 표시였습니다. 인체의 부분, 특히 머리카락과 손톱 및 발톱을 잠재적 주물(呪物)들로 여겼습니다. 추장의 길게-늘어난 손톱을 대단히 소중히 여겼고, 다듬은 그것들은 강력한 주물(呪物)이었습니다. 두개골 주물(呪物) 믿음이 대부분 현대판 사람-사냥의 원인입니다. 탯줄은 대단히 소중히 여긴 주물(呪物)이었습니다. 오늘날에도 아프리카에서 그것을 그렇게 여깁니다. 인류 최초의 장난감은 보존된 탯줄이었습니다. 흔히 그랬듯이, 진주를 엮은 탯줄은 사람의 첫 목걸이였습니다.
88:1.9 (968.4) Hunchbacked and crippled children were regarded as fetishes; lunatics were believed to be moon-struck. Primitive man could not distinguish between genius and insanity; idiots were either beaten to death or revered as fetish personalities. Hysteria increasingly confirmed the popular belief in witchcraft; epileptics often were priests and medicine men. Drunkenness was looked upon as a form of spirit possession; when a savage went on a spree, he put a leaf in his hair for the purpose of disavowing responsibility for his acts. Poisons and intoxicants became fetishes; they were deemed to be possessed. 척추장애아(脊椎障礙兒)와 및 지체부자유아(肢體不自由兒)를 주물(呪物)로 여겼습니다. 정신이상자는 달에 영향을 받아 미친 것으로 생각했습니다. 원시인은 천재와 광기(狂氣)를 구별할 수 없었습니다. 백치(白癡/IQ25 2살 이하, cf. 치우癡愚/IQ 26-50 7살 이하, 노둔魯鈍/IQ51-70 12살 이하)는 맞아 죽거나 주물(呪物) 인격으로 숭배를 받았습니다. 히스테리(병적 흥분)는 마법에 대한 민간 신앙을 점차 뒷받침했습니다. 뇌전증(간질癎疾) 환자들은 대체로 사제와 치료 주술사들이었습니다. 만취(漫醉 술에 잔뜩 취함)는 영(靈)에 사로잡힌 형태로 여겼습니다. 야만인은 실컷 마시면, 자기 행동에 대한 책임을 거부하려고 머리카락에 나뭇잎을 꽂았습니다. 독약과 알코올음료는 주물(呪物)이 되었습니다. 그것들은 빙의(憑依 귀신 들림)로 여겨졌습니다.
88:1.10 (968.5) Many people looked upon geniuses as fetish personalities possessed by a wise spirit. And these talented humans soon learned to resort to fraud and trickery for the advancement of their selfish interests. A fetish man was thought to be more than human; he was divine, even infallible. Thus did chiefs, kings, priests, prophets, and church rulers eventually wield great power and exercise unbounded authority. 많은 사람이 천재들을 현명한 영(靈)에 사로잡힌 주물 존재로 여겼습니다. 그리고 이런 유능한 인간들은 자기 이기적 욕심을 추진하려고 사기(詐欺)와 속임수 쓰기를 쉽게 익혔습니다. 주물인(呪物人)은 인간 이상으로, 심지어 절대로 실수하지 않는 신적으로 여겨졌습니다. 이렇게 추장, 왕, 사제, 선지자와 교회 통치자들은 결국 큰 권세를 휘둘렀고 무한한 권위를 행사했습니다.
2. Evolution of the Fetish 주물(呪物)의 진화
88:2.1 (968.6) It was a supposed preference of ghosts to indwell some object which had belonged to them when alive in the flesh. This belief explains the efficacy of many modern relics. The ancients always revered the bones of their leaders, and the skeletal remains of saints and heroes are still regarded with superstitious awe by many. Even today, pilgrimages are made to the tombs of great men. 유령(幽靈)들이 육체로 살 때 자신들에게 속했던 어떤 물건에 깃들기를 좋아한다고 생각했습니다. 이런 믿음이 여러 현대의 유물 작용의 가치를 설명합니다. 고대인(人)들은 언제나 자기 지도자들의 유골을 숭배했고, 많은 사람이 성인(聖人)들과 영웅들의 유골을 아직도 미신적인 경외감으로 대합니다. 오늘날에도 위인(偉人)들의 무덤으로 성지 순례를 떠납니다.
88:2.2 (968.7) Belief in relics is an outgrowth of the ancient fetish cult. The relics of modern religions represent an attempt to rationalize the fetish of the savage and thus elevate it to a place of dignity and respectability in the modern religious systems. It is heathenish to believe in fetishes and magic but supposedly all right to accept relics and miracles. 유물 믿음은 고대 주물(呪物) 종파의 산물입니다. 현대 종교의 유물은 야만인들의 주물(呪物)을 그럴듯하게 설명하려는 시도를 나타내며 이런 식으로 현대 종교 체계에서 그것을 존엄과 존경할 사회적 지위의 자리로 올립니다. 주물(呪物)과 마술(魔術) 믿음은 교양이 없는 야만적이지만, 유물(遺物)과 기적(奇蹟)의 인정은 괜찮게 생각합니다.
88:2.3 (969.1) The hearth — fireplace — became more or less of a fetish, a sacred spot. The shrines and temples were at first fetish places because the dead were buried there. The fetish hut of the Hebrews was elevated by Moses to that place where it harbored a superfetish, the then existent concept of the law of God. But the Israelites never gave up the peculiar Canaanite belief in the stone altar: “And this stone which I have set up as a pillar shall be God’s house.” They truly believed that the spirit of their God dwelt in such stone altars, which were in reality fetishes. 난로(煖爐)-벽난로-는 거의 주물(呪物), 신성한 장소가 되었습니다. 사당(祠堂)과 신전(神殿)은 거기에 죽은 자들이 묻혀 있어서 처음에는 주물(呪物) 장소였습니다. 모세가 히브리인(人)의 주물(呪物) 막사(幕舍)를 초(超)주물(呪物), 당시에 현존한 하느님의 율법이 간직된, 숨겨진 장소로 높였습니다. 그러나 이스라엘인(人)들은 돌 제단(祭壇)에 대한 독특한 가나안인(人)들의 믿음을 절대로 포기하지 않았습니다. “내가 기둥으로 세운 이 돌이 하느님의 집이 될 것이라(창28:22).” 그들은 자기 하느님의 영(靈)이, 실제로 주물(呪物)이었던, 그런 돌 제단(祭壇)에 거한다고 진심으로 믿었습니다.
88:2.4 (969.2) The earliest images were made to preserve the appearance and memory of the illustrious dead; they were really monuments. Idols were a refinement of fetishism. The primitives believed that a ceremony of consecration caused the spirit to enter the image; likewise, when certain objects were blessed, they became charms. 가장 초기의 형상들은 뛰어난 고인(故人)들의 모습과 기억을 보존하려고 만들어졌습니다. 그것들은 정말 기념물이었습니다. 우상(偶像)은 주물(呪物)숭배의 극치였습니다. 원시인들은 봉헌(奉獻)식으로 영(靈)이 형상 안으로 들어간다고 믿었습니다. 또한 어떤 물건이 축복받으면, 그것들은 부적(符籍)이 되었습니다.
88:2.5 (969.3) Moses, in the addition of the second commandment to the ancient Dalamatian moral code, made an effort to control fetish worship among the Hebrews. He carefully directed that they should make no sort of image that might become consecrated as a fetish. He made it plain, “You shall not make a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters of the earth.” While this commandment did much to retard art among the Jews, it did lessen fetish worship. But Moses was too wise to attempt suddenly to displace the olden fetishes, and he therefore consented to the putting of certain relics alongside the law in the combined war altar and religious shrine which was the ark. 모세는 고대 달라마시아 도덕률에 둘째 계명을 덧붙여, 히브리인(人)들 사이에서 주물(呪物)숭배를 단속하려고 애썼습니다. 그는 히브리인(人)들이 주물(呪物)로 신성하게 될 수도 있는 모든 유형의 형상을 만들지 않도록 신중하게 지시했습니다. 그는 “너는 위로 하늘에 있는 것이나, 아래로 땅에 있는 것이나, 땅의 물속에 있는 어떤 것의 새긴 형상이나 모습을 만들지 말라(출20:4).”라고 분명히 말했습니다. 이 계명으로 유대인들 사이에 예술의 발달이 아주 많이 늦어졌지만, 주물(呪物)숭배가 줄었습니다. 그러나 모세는 너무 지혜로워서 갑자기 옛 주물들을 제거하려 하지 않았기 때문에 전쟁 제단 겸 언약궤였던 종교적 성유물함(聖遺物函) 안에 율법과 나란히 어떤 유물을 두도록 허락했습니다.
88:2.6 (969.4) Words eventually became fetishes, more especially those which were regarded as God’s words; in this way the sacred books of many religions have become fetishistic prisons incarcerating the spiritual imagination of man. Moses’ very effort against fetishes became a supreme fetish; his commandment was later used to stultify art and to retard the enjoyment and adoration of the beautiful. 말씀, 특히 더 하느님의 말씀으로 여겨진 것들이, 결국 주물이 되었습니다. 이런 식으로 여러 종교의 신성한 책들이 사람의 영적 상상력을 가두는 주물 숭배의 감옥이 되었습니다. 주물에 반대한 모세의 바로 그 노력이 최고의 주물이 되었습니다. 그의 계명은 나중에 예술을 의미 없게 하여 아름다움의 즐거움과 찬미의 발달을 방해하는 데에 사용되었습니다.
88:2.7 (969.5) In olden times the fetish word of authority was a fear-inspiring doctrine, the most terrible of all tyrants which enslave men. A doctrinal fetish will lead mortal man to betray himself into the clutches of bigotry, fanaticism, superstition, intolerance, and the most atrocious of barbarous cruelties. Modern respect for wisdom and truth is but the recent escape from the fetish-making tendency up to the higher levels of thinking and reasoning. Concerning the accumulated fetish writings which various religionists hold as sacred books, it is not only believed that what is in the book is true, but also that every truth is contained in the book. If one of these sacred books happens to speak of the earth as being flat, then, for long generations, otherwise sane men and women will refuse to accept positive evidence that the planet is round. 옛날에는 권위 있는 주물(呪物) 언질은 두려움을 일으키는 교리, 사람들을 노예로 삼는 모든 폭군 중 가장 지독했습니다. 교리 주물(呪物)은 필사 사람의 마음을 꼬드겨 자신을 편견(偏見), 광신(狂信), 미신(迷信), 편협(偏狹) 및 아주 지독하게 잔인한 학대의 마수(魔手)에 넘길 것입니다. 지혜와 진리에 대한 현대의 존중은 최근에, 주물(呪物)-제조의 경향에서 더 높은 사고와 추론의 수준까지 도피한 것일 뿐입니다. 여러 종교인이 신성한 책들로 보유한 축적된 주물(呪物) 저작(著作)에 관해, 책의 내용이 참이며 모든 진리가 책 안에 담겨 있다고 여깁니다. 이런 신성한 책 중 하나에서 마침 지구가 편평하다고 말하면(사11:12 땅 사방), 오랜 세대 동안, 다른 점에서 분별 있는 남녀들이 행성이 둥글다는 명확한 증거를 받아들이려 하지 않을 것입니다.
88:2.8 (969.6) The practice of opening one of these sacred books to let the eye chance upon a passage, the following of which may determine important life decisions or projects, is nothing more nor less than arrant fetishism. To take an oath on a “holy book” or to swear by some object of supreme veneration is a form of refined fetishism. 중요한 인생 결정이나 계획을 결심할 수 있는 구절 내용을 우연히 눈으로 찾으려고 이런 신성한 책 중 하나를 열어젖히는 행위는 완전한 주물(呪物) 숭배에 지나지 않습니다. “거룩한 책(성서나 다른 종교 경전)”으로 선서하거나 어떤 최고 숭배의 대상으로 맹세하는 것은, 세련된 주물(呪物) 숭배의 한 형태입니다.
88:2.9 (969.7) But it does represent real evolutionary progress to advance from the fetish fear of a savage chief’s fingernail trimmings to the adoration of a superb collection of letters, laws, legends, allegories, myths, poems, and chronicles which, after all, reflect the winnowed moral wisdom of many centuries, at least up to the time and event of their being assembled as a “sacred book.” 그러나 그것은, 야만인 추장의 손톱 손질의 주물(呪物) 두려움에서, 적어도 “신성한 책”으로 모아 정리한 시절과 사건까지, 결국 여러 세기의 걸러낸 도덕적 지혜를 반영하는, 편지, 율법, 전설, 우의(寓意 빗대어 표현한 풍유), 신화(神話), 시(詩) 및 연대기(年代記)의 훌륭한 수집의 찬미까지 나아간, 실제의 진화적 진보를 드러냅니다.
88:2.10 (970.1) To become fetishes, words had to be considered inspired, and the invocation of supposed divinely inspired writings led directly to the establishment of the authority of the church, while the evolution of civil forms led to the fruition of the authority of the state. 주물(呪物)이 되려면, 말씀은 영감(靈感)받은 것으로 여겨졌고, 신적으로 소위 영감(靈感)받은 저작(著作)을 증거로 삼아 인용(引用)하여 바로 교회의 권위가 확립된 한편, 시민 형태의 진화는 국가 권위의 결실로 이어졌습니다.
3. Totemism 토템 숭배
88:3.1 (970.2) Fetishism ran through all the primitive cults from the earliest belief in sacred stones, through idolatry, cannibalism, and nature worship, to totemism. 주물(呪物)숭배는 신성한 돌에 대한 가장 초기의 믿음으로부터 우상(偶像) 숭배, 식인(食人) 풍습과 자연(自然) 숭배를 거쳐 토템 숭배까지 모든 원시 종파 속으로 번졌습니다.
88:3.2 (970.3) Totemism is a combination of social and religious observances. Originally it was thought that respect for the totem animal of supposed biologic origin insured the food supply. Totems were at one and the same time symbols of the group and their god. Such a god was the clan personified. Totemism was one phase of the attempted socialization of otherwise personal religion. The totem eventually evolved into the flag, or national symbol, of the various modern peoples. 토템 숭배는 사회적 및 종교적 의식의 조합(組合)입니다. 처음에는, 생물학적 기원으로 추정된 토템 동물의 존중이 식량 공급을 보증한다고 믿었습니다. 토템들은 집단의 상징과 동시에 그들에게 신과 같은 존재의 상징이었습니다. 그런 신과 같은 존재는 인격화한 씨족이었습니다. 토템 숭배는 다른 점에서 개인 종교의 사회화를 시도하는 한 단계였습니다. 토템 숭배는 결국 여러 현대 민족의 깃발, 즉 국가 상징으로 진화했습니다.
88:3.3 (970.4) A fetish bag, a medicine bag, was a pouch containing a reputable assortment of ghost-impregnated articles, and the medicine man of old never allowed his bag, the symbol of his power, to touch the ground. Civilized peoples in the twentieth century see to it that their flags, emblems of national consciousness, likewise never touch the ground. 주물 자루, 약 자루는 평판 좋은 유령(幽靈)이 스며든 각종 물건이 들어있는 주머니였고, 옛 치료 주술사는 자기 자루, 자기 권능의 상징을 절대로 땅에 닿지 않게 했습니다. 20세기의 문화 민족들도 똑같이 자신들의 깃발, 국가 의식의 상징이 절대로 땅에 닿지 않도록 조처합니다.
88:3.4 (970.5) The insignia of priestly and kingly office were eventually regarded as fetishes, and the fetish of the state supreme has passed through many stages of development, from clans to tribes, from suzerainty to sovereignty, from totems to flags. Fetish kings have ruled by “divine right,” and many other forms of government have obtained. Men have also made a fetish of democracy, the exaltation and adoration of the common man’s ideas when collectively called “public opinion.” One man’s opinion, when taken by itself, is not regarded as worth much, but when many men are collectively functioning as a democracy, this same mediocre judgment is held to be the arbiter of justice and the standard of righteousness. 사제직과 왕직의 휘장(徽章)은 결국 주물(呪物)로 여겼고, 국가 최고의 주물(呪物)은, 씨족에서 부족으로, 종주권(宗主權)에서 주권(主權)으로, 토템에서 깃발로, 여러 발전 단계를 거쳤습니다. 주물(呪物) 왕들은 “신적 권리”로 통치했고, 다른 여러 형태의 정부가 유행했습니다. 사람들은 또한 사람의 통념(通念)을 높이고 찬미하며 공동으로 “여론”이라고 부르면서 민주주의(民主主義)의 주물(呪物)을 만들었습니다. 한 사람의 의견 그 자체는 높은 가치로 여기지 않지만, 다수가 민주주의로써 공동으로 역할을 하면, 바로 이 평범한 판단은 정의(正義)의 중재(仲裁)자와 공의(公義)의 기준이 됩니다.
4. Magic 마술(魔術)
88:4.1 (970.6) Civilized man attacks the problems of a real environment through his science; savage man attempted to solve the real problems of an illusory ghost environment by magic. Magic was the technique of manipulating the conjectured spirit environment whose machinations endlessly explained the inexplicable; it was the art of obtaining voluntary spirit co-operation and of coercing involuntary spirit aid through the use of fetishes or other and more powerful spirits. 문명인은 자신의 과학을 통해 실제 환경 문제에 달려듭니다. 야만인은 마술(魔術)로 실체 없는 유령(幽靈) 환경의 실제 문제를 풀려고 했습니다. 마술(魔術)은 그 모략(謀略)으로 이해할 수 없는 것을 끝없이 설명했던, 추측된 영(靈) 환경을 조종하는 기법이었습니다. 마술(魔術)은 자발적인 영(靈) 협력을 얻고, 주물(呪物)들이나 더 강력한 다른 영(靈)들을 이용하여 무의식적인 영(靈) 조력을 강요하는 기술이었습니다.
88:4.2 (970.7) The object of magic, sorcery, and necromancy was twofold: 마술(魔術), 마법(魔法)과 강령술(降靈術)의 목적은 이중적(二重的)이었습니다.
88:4.3 (970.8) 1. To secure insight into the future. 미래의 통찰력 확보.
88:4.4 (970.9) 2. Favorably to influence environment. 유리하게 환경을 움직임.
88:4.5 (970.10) The objects of science are identical with those of magic. Mankind is progressing from magic to science, not by meditation and reason, but rather through long experience, gradually and painfully. Man is gradually backing into the truth, beginning in error, progressing in error, and finally attaining the threshold of truth. Only with the arrival of the scientific method has he faced forward. But primitive man had to experiment or perish. 과학의 목적은 모든 점에서 마술의 목적과 같습니다. 인류는 명상(瞑想)과 이성(理性)은커녕 오히려, 오랜 체험을 통해 서서히 고통스럽게, 마술에서 과학으로 진보하고 있습니다. 사람은 서서히 진리로 돌아가, 실수로 시작하여 실수 중에 진보하며 결국 진리의 문턱에 도달하고 있습니다. 과학적 방법의 출현에 의해서만, 사람은 앞을 향했습니다. 그러나 원시인은 실험하거나 멸망해야 했습니다.
88:4.6 (970.11) The fascination of early superstition was the mother of the later scientific curiosity. There was progressive dynamic emotion — fear plus curiosity — in these primitive superstitions; there was progressive driving power in the olden magic. These superstitions represented the emergence of the human desire to know and to control planetary environment. 초기 미신의 매력은 후기 과학적 호기심의 어머니였습니다. 이런 원시적 미신에는 두려움과 호기심을 아우른, 진보적인 역동적 감정이 있었습니다. 옛날의 마술에는 진보적인 추진력이 있었습니다. 이런 미신(迷信)은 행성 환경을 알고 조정하려는 인간 욕망의 출현에 해당했습니다.
88:4.7 (971.1) Magic gained such a strong hold upon the savage because he could not grasp the concept of natural death. The later idea of original sin helped much to weaken the grip of magic on the race in that it accounted for natural death. It was at one time not at all uncommon for ten innocent persons to be put to death because of supposed responsibility for one natural death. This is one reason why ancient peoples did not increase faster, and it is still true of some African tribes. The accused individual usually confessed guilt, even when facing death. 야만인은 자연사(自然死)의 개념을 파악할 수 없어서, 마술(魔術)이 야만인을 아주 강력하게 복종시켰습니다. 나중에 원죄의 개념이 자연사(自然死)의 이유가 되었다는 점에서 인류에 대한 마술(魔術)의 지배가 무력해지도록 큰 도움이 되었습니다. 한때는 하나의 자연사(自然死)에 대한 소위 책임 때문에 전혀 드물지 않게 무고한 열 명이 처형당했습니다. 이것이 고대 민족들이 더 빨리 불어나지 않았던 한 가지 이유이며 여전히 일부 아프리카 부족에 해당합니다. 고발된 개인은 죽음에 직면했을 때도 보통 죄를 자백했습니다.
88:4.8 (971.2) Magic is natural to a savage. He believes that an enemy can actually be killed by practicing sorcery on his shingled hair or fingernail trimmings. The fatality of snake bites was attributed to the magic of the sorcerer. The difficulty in combating magic arises from the fact that fear can kill. Primitive peoples so feared magic that it did actually kill, and such results were sufficient to substantiate this erroneous belief. In case of failure there was always some plausible explanation; the cure for defective magic was more magic. 마술(魔術)은 야만인에게 당연합니다. 그는, 대적의 싱글 커트(치켜 깎기)한 머리카락이나 손톱 부스러기에 마법(魔法)을 쓰면 실제로 그를 죽일 수 있다고 믿습니다. 뱀에 물린 죽음은 마법사의 마술 탓으로 생각했습니다. 마술을 상대로 항쟁하는 어려움은, 두려움이 사람을 죽일 수 있다는 사실에서 생깁니다. 원시 민족은 마술을 너무 두려워해서 마술이 실제로 그들을 죽였고, 이런 잘못된 믿음은 그런 결과로 충분히 입증되었습니다. 실패의 경우, 항상 그럴듯한 어떤 변명이 있었습니다. 결함 있는 마술 치유법은 더 마술적이었습니다.
5. Magical Charms 마술 부적(符籍)
88:5.1 (971.3) Since anything connected with the body could become a fetish, the earliest magic had to do with hair and nails. Secrecy attendant upon body elimination grew up out of fear that an enemy might get possession of something derived from the body and employ it in detrimental magic; all excreta of the body were therefore carefully buried. Public spitting was refrained from because of the fear that saliva would be used in deleterious magic; spittle was always covered. Even food remnants, clothing, and ornaments could become instruments of magic. The savage never left any remnants of his meal on the table. And all this was done through fear that one’s enemies might use these things in magical rites, not from any appreciation of the hygienic value of such practices. 신체와 관련된 무엇이든 주물(呪物)이 될 수 있었기 때문에, 가장 초기의 마술은 머리카락 및 손톱·발톱과 관련이 있었습니다. 신체 배설물에 수반된 비밀성은 대적이 신체에서 나온 어떤 것을 입수해서 해로운 마술로 그것을 사용할 수도 있다는 두려움에서 생겼습니다. 그래서 신체의 모든 배설물을 신중하게 파묻었습니다. 공공장소에서 침 뱉기는 그 타액(唾液)이 해로운 마술에 이용될 수 있다는 두려움 때문에 삼갔습니다. 뱉은 침을 언제나 덮었습니다. 음식 찌꺼기, 의복 및 장신구(裝身具)조차 마술의 도구가 될 수 있었습니다. 야만인들은 식탁에서 자기 식사 찌꺼기를 절대로 남기지 않았습니다. 이 모든 것은, 그런 습관의 위생적 가치 인식 때문이 아니라, 대적이 이런 것들을 마술 의식에 사용할 수도 있다는 두려움에서 이루어졌습니다.
88:5.2 (971.4) Magical charms were concocted from a great variety of things: human flesh, tiger claws, crocodile teeth, poison plant seeds, snake venom, and human hair. The bones of the dead were very magical. Even the dust from footprints could be used in magic. The ancients were great believers in love charms. Blood and other forms of bodily secretions were able to insure the magic influence of love. 마술 부적(簿籍)은 인육(人肉), 호랑이 발톱, 악어 이빨, 독 있는 식물 종자, 뱀독과 사람 머리카락 등 아주 다양하게 혼합하여 만들어졌습니다. 시신(屍身)의 뼈는 아주 마술적이었습니다. 발자국의 먼지조차 마술로 사용될 수 있었습니다. 고대인들은 사랑 부적(簿籍)을 확고하게 믿었습니다. 혈액과 다른 형태의 신체 분비물로 사랑의 마술적 영향력이 보증될 수 있었습니다.
88:5.3 (971.5) Images were supposed to be effective in magic. Effigies were made, and when treated ill or well, the same effects were believed to rest upon the real person. When making purchases, superstitious persons would chew a bit of hard wood in order to soften the heart of the seller. 형상(形像)들은 마술에 효력이 있다고 여겨졌습니다. 조상(彫像)들이 만들어, 그것을 잘 혹은 잘못 다루면, 실제 인물에게 같은 효과가 있다고 믿었습니다. 구매할 때, 미신적 사람들은 판매인의 심정을 부드럽게 하려고 단단한 나무 조각을 씹곤 했습니다.
88:5.4 (971.6) The milk of a black cow was highly magical; so also were black cats. The staff or wand was magical, along with drums, bells, and knots. All ancient objects were magical charms. The practices of a new or higher civilization were looked upon with disfavor because of their supposedly evil magical nature. Writing, printing, and pictures were long so regarded. 검은 젖소의 우유는 아주 마술적이었으며, 검은 고양이도 그랬습니다. 막대기나 지팡이도 북, 종 및 매듭과 마찬가지로 마술적이었습니다. 모든 고대 물건은 마술 부적(簿籍)이었습니다. 새로운 고등 문명의 관습은 소위 그 악한 마술적 본성 때문에 못마땅하게 여겨졌습니다. 저술, 인쇄 및 그림을 오랫동안 그렇게 생각했습니다.
88:5.5 (971.7) Primitive man believed that names must be treated with respect, especially names of the gods. The name was regarded as an entity, an influence distinct from the physical personality; it was esteemed equally with the soul and the shadow. Names were pawned for loans; a man could not use his name until it had been redeemed by payment of the loan. Nowadays one signs his name to a note. An individual’s name soon became important in magic. The savage had two names; the important one was regarded as too sacred to use on ordinary occasions, hence the second or everyday name — a nickname. He never told his real name to strangers. Any experience of an unusual nature caused him to change his name; sometimes it was in an effort to cure disease or to stop bad luck. The savage could get a new name by buying it from the tribal chief; men still invest in titles and degrees. But among the most primitive tribes, such as the African Bushmen, individual names do not exist. 원시인은 이름들, 특히 하느님과 같은 존재들의 이름들을 존중해야 한다고 여겼습니다. 그 이름을 물리적 고유성과 달리, 영향력 있는 개체로 여겼습니다. 그것을 혼(魂)과 그림자와 똑같이 간주했습니다. 이름이 대출(貸出) 저당(抵當)물이어서 대출금 상환(償還)으로 회수(回收)될 때까지 그는 자기 이름을 사용할 수 없었습니다. 오늘날에는 자기 이름을 지폐 증서에 서명합니다. 개인 이름은 곧 마술에서 중요해졌습니다. 야만인들은 두 개의 이름이 있었습니다. 중요한 것은 평상시 사용하기에 너무 신성하다고 여겨서, 두 번째 즉 일상적 이름 – 별명이 있었습니다. 그는 모르는 사람들에게 자기 실명을 절대로 말하지 않았습니다. 유별한 현상을 겪으면 그는 자기 이름을 바꾸었습니다. 때때로 질병의 치유나 불운을 멈추려는 일환이었습니다. 야만인들은 부족장에게서 새 이름을 사서 얻을 수 있었습니다. 사람들은 여전히 직함과 학위에 투자합니다. 그러나 아프리카 부시먼족처럼 가장 원시적인 부족들 사이에 개인 이름은 존재하지 않습니다.
6. The Practice of Magic 마술의 실제
88:6.1 (972.1) Magic was practiced through the use of wands, “medicine” ritual, and incantations, and it was customary for the practitioner to work unclothed. Women outnumbered the men among primitive magicians. In magic, “medicine” means mystery, not treatment. The savage never doctored himself; he never used medicines except on the advice of the specialists in magic. And the voodoo doctors of the twentieth century are typical of the magicians of old. 마술은 지팡이의 사용, “주술(呪術)” 의식 및 주문을 통해 행해졌고, 치료 마술사는 옷을 벗고 일하는 것이 관례였습니다. 원시 마술사 중 여성의 수(數)가 남성보다 많았습니다. 마술에서 “주술(呪術)”은 치료가 아니라 비법(신비 의식)을 의미합니다. 야만인은 절대로 자신을 치료하지 않았습니다. 그는 마술 전문가의 진찰 없이 절대로 약을 사용하지 않았습니다. 그리고 20세기의 부두교 치료 주술사들은 전형적인 고대 마술사들입니다.
88:6.2 (972.2) There was both a public and a private phase to magic. That performed by the medicine man, shaman, or priest was supposed to be for the good of the whole tribe. Witches, sorcerers, and wizards dispensed private magic, personal and selfish magic which was employed as a coercive method of bringing evil on one’s enemies. The concept of dual spiritism, good and bad spirits, gave rise to the later beliefs in white and black magic. And as religion evolved, magic was the term applied to spirit operations outside one’s own cult, and it also referred to older ghost beliefs. 마술에는 공적 및 사적 단계가 있었습니다. 주술사, 무당이나 사제가 행한 것은 부족 전체의 이익을 위한 것으로 여겨졌습니다. 마녀, 마법사와 요술쟁이들은 어떤 사람의 대적에게 재앙을 가져오는 강제적 방법으로 사용된 사적 마술, 개인적인 이기적 마술을 시행했습니다. 이중 심령술(心靈術), 선한 영(靈)과 악한 영(靈)들의 개념이 나중에 백마술과 흑마술에 대한 믿음을 낳았습니다. 그리고 종교가 진화하면서, 마술은 어떤 사람의 자기 종파 외부의 영(靈) 활동에 적용된 용어였으며, 그것은 또한 더 오랜 유령(幽靈) 믿음을 나타냈습니다.
88:6.3 (972.3) Word combinations, the ritual of chants and incantations, were highly magical. Some early incantations finally evolved into prayers. Presently, imitative magic was practiced; prayers were acted out; magical dances were nothing but dramatic prayers. Prayer gradually displaced magic as the associate of sacrifice. 단어 조합, 영창(詠唱)과 주문(呪文)의 의식은 대단히 마술적이었습니다. 일부 초기 주문(呪文)은 결국 기도 문구로 진화했습니다. 즉시 모방 마술이 행해졌습니다. 기도 문구가 실행되었습니다. 마술 춤은 단지 극적인 기도 문구일 뿐이었습니다. 기도는 제물과 밀접하게 관련이 있는 것으로써 점차 마술을 대신하게 되었습니다.
88:6.4 (972.4) Gesture, being older than speech, was the more holy and magical, and mimicry was believed to have strong magical power. The red men often staged a buffalo dance in which one of their number would play the part of a buffalo and, in being caught, would insure the success of the impending hunt. The sex festivities of May Day were simply imitative magic, a suggestive appeal to the sex passions of the plant world. The doll was first employed as a magic talisman by the barren wife. 언어 능력보다 더 오래된 몸짓은 더 거룩하고 마술적이었고, 흉내 내기는 강력한 마술적 능력이 있는 것으로 여겼습니다. 홍인들은 종종, 그들 중 하나가 물소 역할을 하다가 잡혀서, 임박한 사냥의 성공을 보증하곤 했던, 물소 춤을 무대에 올렸습니다. 오월제의 성(性) 행사는, 식물계의 성(性) 열정을 시사하는 호소, 모방 마술에 불과했습니다. 불임(不姙) 아내가 인형을 마술 부적으로 처음 사용했습니다.
88:6.5 (972.5) Magic was the branch off the evolutionary religious tree which eventually bore the fruit of a scientific age. Belief in astrology led to the development of astronomy; belief in a philosopher’s stone led to the mastery of metals, while belief in magic numbers founded the science of mathematics. 마술은 결국 과학 시대의 열매를 맺은 진화적 종교 나무에서 갈라진 가지였습니다. 점성술의 믿음이 천문학의 발전으로 이어졌습니다. 돌에 대한 현자의 믿음이 금속의 숙달로 이어졌고, 마법 수에 대한 믿음이 수학에 속한 과학을 찾아냈습니다.
88:6.6 (972.6) But a world so filled with charms did much to destroy all personal ambition and initiative. The fruits of extra labor or of diligence were looked upon as magical. If a man had more grain in his field than his neighbor, he might be haled before the chief and charged with enticing this extra grain from the indolent neighbor’s field. Indeed, in the days of barbarism it was dangerous to know very much; there was always the chance of being executed as a black artist. 그러나 부적(簿籍)으로 그렇게 가득한 세상이 모든 개인적 포부(抱負)와 독창력을 많이 파괴했습니다. 특별 노동이나 근면의 결과는 마술적으로 여겼습니다. 어떤 사람이 그 이웃보다 자기 밭에 더 많은 곡식이 있으면 그는 추장 앞으로 끌려가 게으른 이웃의 밭에서 이 여분의 곡식을 빼돌렸다고 고발될 수 있었습니다. 실제로 미개한 시절에 아주 많이 아는 것이 위험했습니다. 흑(黑) 사기꾼으로 처형될 가능성이 언제나 있었습니다.
88:6.7 (972.7) Gradually science is removing the gambling element from life. But if modern methods of education should fail, there would be an almost immediate reversion to the primitive beliefs in magic. These superstitions still linger in the minds of many so-called civilized people. Language contains many fossils which testify that the race has long been steeped in magical superstition, such words as spellbound, ill-starred, possessions, inspiration, spirit away, ingenuity, entrancing, thunderstruck, and astonished. And intelligent human beings still believe in good luck, the evil eye, and astrology. 과학은 점차 생활에서 도박 요소를 제거하고 있습니다. 그러나 현대적 교육 방법이 실패하면, 원시적 마술 믿음으로 거의 즉시 되돌아갈 것입니다. 이런 미신이 소위 문명인들의 마음에 아직도 남아 있습니다. 언어는, ‘넋을 잃은,’ ‘팔자가 사나운,’ ‘홀린,’ ‘신통한,’ ‘정신 나간,’ ‘기발한,’ ‘넋 놓은,’ ‘벼락 맞은 것 같은,’ ‘너무 놀란’과 같은, 인류가 오랫동안 마술적 미신에 깊이 빠져 있었음을 입증하는 여러 화석을 담고 있습니다. 그리고 지능적 인간들도 여전히 행운, 악마 눈과 점성술을 믿습니다.
88:6.8 (973.1) Ancient magic was the cocoon of modern science, indispensable in its time but now no longer useful. And so the phantasms of ignorant superstition agitated the primitive minds of men until the concepts of science could be born. Today, Urantia is in the twilight zone of this intellectual evolution. One half the world is grasping eagerly for the light of truth and the facts of scientific discovery, while the other half languishes in the arms of ancient superstition and but thinly disguised magic. 고대 마술은 현대 과학의 고치였으며, 당시에 필수적이었으나 이제는 더 이상 쓸모없습니다. 그래서 무지한 미신의 환상(幻想)이 과학의 개념이 태어날 때까지 인간의 원시적 마음을 선동했습니다. 오늘날 유란시아는 이런 지적 진화의 황혼 지대에 있습니다. 세계의 절반은 진리의 빛과 과학적 발견의 사실을 간절히 파악하고 있지만, 다른 절반은 고대 미신과 아주 얇게 위장된 마술의 품에서 참혹하게 살고 있습니다.
88:6.9 (973.2) [Presented by a Brilliant Evening Star of Nebadon.][네바돈의 찬란한 저녁별이 제시함]
89:0.1 (974.1) PRIMITIVE man regarded himself as being in debt to the spirits, as standing in need of redemption. As the savages looked at it, in justice the spirits might have visited much more bad luck upon them. As time passed, this concept developed into the doctrine of sin and salvation. The soul was looked upon as coming into the world under forfeit — original sin. The soul must be ransomed; a scapegoat must be provided. The head-hunter, in addition to practicing the cult of skull worship, was able to provide a substitute for his own life, a scapeman. 원시인은 자신을 영(靈)들에게 빚져서, 구속(救贖)이 필요한 상태로 여겼습니다. 야만인들이 그것을 볼 때, 공정하게 평가해서 영(靈)들이 자신들에게 더 많은 불운으로 벌할 수도 있었습니다. 시간이 지남에 따라, 이 개념이 죄(罪)와 구원(救援)의 교리로 발전했습니다. 혼(魂)은 원죄(原罪) 즉 박탈(剝奪)된 상태로 세상에 왔다고 여겼습니다. 혼(魂)은 속량(贖良)되어야 해서, 속죄의 염소가 마련되어야 했습니다. 머리-사냥꾼은, 두개골 숭배 종파의 실천에 덧붙여, 자기 생명의 대용(代用)으로, 속죄의 인간을 마련할 수 있었습니다.
89:0.2 (974.2) The savage was early possessed with the notion that spirits derive supreme satisfaction from the sight of human misery, suffering, and humiliation. At first, man was only concerned with sins of commission, but later he became exercised over sins of omission. And the whole subsequent sacrificial system grew up around these two ideas. This new ritual had to do with the observance of the propitiation ceremonies of sacrifice. Primitive man believed that something special must be done to win the favor of the gods; only advanced civilization recognizes a consistently even-tempered and benevolent God. Propitiation was insurance against immediate ill luck rather than investment in future bliss. And the rituals of avoidance, exorcism, coercion, and propitiation all merge into one another. 야만인은 일찍이 영(靈)들이 인간의 비참, 고통 및 수치를 보면서 최고로 만족한다는 생각에 붙잡혀 있었습니다. 처음에, 인간은 그저 작위(作爲 하지 말아야 할 것을 한) 죄(罪)에 관심을 가졌지만, 나중에 부작위(不作爲 해야 할 일을 하지 않은) 죄(罪)에 대해 걱정하게 되었습니다. 그래서 다음의 모든 희생 제도가 이런 두 개념을 중심으로 서서히 생겼습니다. 이런 새 의식(儀式)은 희생제물의 화해(和解) 의식 준수에 관련되었습니다. 원시인은 신과 같은 존재들의 은혜를 얻기 위해서 특별한 것을 행해야 한다고 여겼습니다. 진보한 문명(文明)만 모순 없이 온화하고 인정 많은 하느님을 알아봅니다. 화해(和解)는 미래 행복에 대한 투자라기보다 당면한 불운에 대비한 보험이었습니다. 회피(回避), 축사(逐邪), 강제(强制) 및 화해(和解) 의식(儀式)은 서서히 모두 서로 합병(合倂)합니다.
1. The Taboo 금기(禁忌)
89:1.1 (974.3) Observance of a taboo was man’s effort to dodge ill luck, to keep from offending the spirit ghosts by the avoidance of something. The taboos were at first nonreligious, but they early acquired ghost or spirit sanction, and when thus reinforced, they became lawmakers and institution builders. The taboo is the source of ceremonial standards and the ancestor of primitive self-control. It was the earliest form of societal regulation and for a long time the only one; it is still a basic unit of the social regulative structure. 금기(禁忌)의 준수(遵守)는 불운을 재빨리 피하고, 무언가를 회피하여 영(靈) 유령(幽靈)의 감정을 해치지 않으려는 인간의 노력이었습니다. 금기(禁忌)들은 처음에 종교적이지 않았지만, 그것들은 일찌감치 유령(幽靈)이나 영(靈)의 지지를 얻었고, 그렇게 강화되자, 그것들은 입법자와 제도를 만드는 자들이 되었습니다. 금기(禁忌)는 예식(禮式) 모범의 근원이며 원시적 자제력의 원형입니다. 그것은 가장 초기 형태의 사회관습 규칙이었고 오랫동안 유일한 형태였습니다. 그것은 여전히 사회 단속 구조의 기본 단위입니다.
89:1.2 (974.4) The respect which these prohibitions commanded in the mind of the savage exactly equaled his fear of the powers who were supposed to enforce them. Taboos first arose because of chance experience with ill luck; later they were proposed by chiefs and shamans — fetish men who were thought to be directed by a spirit ghost, even by a god. The fear of spirit retribution is so great in the mind of a primitive that he sometimes dies of fright when he has violated a taboo, and this dramatic episode enormously strengthens the hold of the taboo on the minds of the survivors. 야만인의 마음에서 이런 금지가 얻은 존중은 소위 금지를 시행하는 권세에 대한 야만인의 두려움과 정확히 같았습니다. 금기(禁忌)는 처음에 우연히 불운을 겪다가 생겨났습니다. 나중에는 영(靈) 유령(幽靈) 및 심지어 신과 같은 존재의 명령을 받는다고 여겨진 주물(呪物)인들, 즉 추장과 주술사들이 그것들을 제안했습니다. 원시인의 마음에 영(靈) 징벌의 두려움이 너무 커서, 금기(禁忌)를 위반했을 때, 그는 무서운 나머지 종종 죽었고, 생존자의 마음에 미치는 금기(禁忌)의 장악력은 이런 극적인 사건으로 대단히 강화됩니다.
89:1.3 (974.5) Among the earliest prohibitions were restrictions on the appropriation of women and other property. As religion began to play a larger part in the evolution of the taboo, the article resting under ban was regarded as unclean, subsequently as unholy. The records of the Hebrews are full of the mention of things clean and unclean, holy and unholy, but their beliefs along these lines were far less cumbersome and extensive than were those of many other peoples. 가장 초기의 금지 규정 중에 여성들 및 다른 재산 횡령에 대한 제한이 있었습니다. 종교가 금기(禁忌)의 진화에서 더 큰 역할을 맡기 시작하면서, 금지된 물건을 불결하게 여기다가 나중에는 부정(不淨)하게 여겼습니다. 히브리인(人)들의 기록은 깨끗한 것과 더러운 것들, 거룩한 것과 거룩하지 않은 것들에 대한 언급으로 가득 차 있지만 이런 방침을 따른 그들의 믿음은 여러 다른 민족의 믿음보다 훨씬 부담이 덜하고 넓지 않았습니다.
89:1.4 (975.1) The seven commandments of Dalamatia and Eden, as well as the ten injunctions of the Hebrews, were definite taboos, all expressed in the same negative form as were the most ancient prohibitions. But these newer codes were truly emancipating in that they took the place of thousands of pre-existent taboos. And more than this, these later commandments definitely promised something in return for obedience. 달라마시아와 에덴의 일곱 계명은 히브리인(人)들의 십계명과 마찬가지로 명확한 금기(禁忌)였고, 가장 오래된 금지들과 똑같이 모두 부정적 형태로 표현되었습니다. 그러나 이렇게 새로운 규칙은 수천 가지 이전(以前)의 금기(禁忌)를 대신했다는 점에서 참으로 해방하고 있었습니다. 그리고 이것 이상으로 이런 후대의 계명은 순종의 답례로 확실히 뭔가를 약속했습니다.
89:1.5 (975.2) The early food taboos originated in fetishism and totemism. The swine was sacred to the Phoenicians, the cow to the Hindus. The Egyptian taboo on pork has been perpetuated by the Hebraic and Islamic faiths. A variant of the food taboo was the belief that a pregnant woman could think so much about a certain food that the child, when born, would be the echo of that food. Such viands would be taboo to the child. 초기 음식 금기(禁忌)는 주물(呪物) 숭배와 토템 숭배에서 생겼습니다. 돼지는 페니키아인(人)들에게, 소는 힌두교도에게 신성시되었습니다. 헤브루인과 이슬람교 신조(信條)가 돼지고기에 대한 이집트인(人)의 금기(禁忌)를 계속 보존했습니다. 음식 금기(禁忌)의 변종은 임신부(姙娠婦)가 특정한 음식에 대해 너무 많이 생각하게 되면, 태어날 때, 그 아이가 그 음식에 대해 영향을 받는다고 믿었습니다. 그런 음식은 아이에게 금기(禁忌)가 되곤 했습니다.
89:1.6 (975.3) Methods of eating soon became taboo, and so originated ancient and modern table etiquette. Caste systems and social levels are vestigial remnants of olden prohibitions. The taboos were highly effective in organizing society, but they were terribly burdensome; the negative-ban system not only maintained useful and constructive regulations but also obsolete, outworn, and useless taboos. 먹는 방법은 곧 금기(禁忌)가 되었고, 그렇게 고대와 현대의 식탁 예절이 시작되었습니다. 카스트 제도와 사회적 수준은 오래된 금지 규정이 남아 있는 자취입니다. 금기(禁忌)는 사회 조직에 대단히 효과적이었지만, 몹시 번거로웠습니다. 부정하는-금지 제도는 유용하고 건설적인 규정뿐만 아니라 진부하고 케케묵은 무익한 금기(禁忌)도 유지했습니다.
89:1.7 (975.4) There would, however, be no civilized society to sit in criticism upon primitive man except for these far-flung and multifarious taboos, and the taboo would never have endured but for the upholding sanctions of primitive religion. Many of the essential factors in man’s evolution have been highly expensive, have cost vast treasure in effort, sacrifice, and self-denial, but these achievements of self-control were the real rungs on which man climbed civilization’s ascending ladder. 그러나 이렇게 널리 퍼져 다양한 금기(禁忌)를 제외하고, 원시인을 비판할 문명사회는 전혀 없을 것이며, 원시 종교의 확정하는 지지가 없었더라면 금기(禁忌)는 절대로 지속되지 않았을 것입니다. 사람이 진화하는 여러 필수 요소는 대단히 값비쌌고, 노력, 희생 및 자제(自制)에서 막대한 보물의 비용이 들었지만, 이런 자제력의 성취는, 사람이 상승하는 문명의 사다리를 기어올랐던 실제 가로대였습니다.
2. The Concept of Sin 죄(罪)의 개념
89:2.1 (975.5) The fear of chance and the dread of bad luck literally drove man into the invention of primitive religion as supposed insurance against these calamities. From magic and ghosts, religion evolved through spirits and fetishes to taboos. Every primitive tribe had its tree of forbidden fruit, literally the apple but figuratively consisting of a thousand branches hanging heavy with all sorts of taboos. And the forbidden tree always said, “Thou shalt not.” 운수(運數)에 대한 두려움과 불운(不運)에 대한 무서움이 이런 불행에 대비한 소위 보험으로써 원시 종교를 고안하도록 액면 그대로 인간을 몰아넣었습니다. 종교는 마술과 유령(幽靈)들로부터 영(靈)들과 주물(呪物)들을 거쳐 금기(禁忌)들로 진화했습니다. 원시 부족마다, 사실 사과나무지만 상징적으로 온갖 종류의 금기(禁忌)가 가득 매달린 수천 가지로 이루어진 금단(禁斷)의 열매 나무가 있었습니다. 그리고 금단(禁斷)의 나무는 항상 “하지 말라.”라고 말했습니다.
89:2.2 (975.6) As the savage mind evolved to that point where it envisaged both good and bad spirits, and when the taboo received the solemn sanction of evolving religion, the stage was all set for the appearance of the new conception of sin. The idea of sin was universally established in the world before revealed religion ever made its entry. It was only by the concept of sin that natural death became logical to the primitive mind. Sin was the transgression of taboo, and death was the penalty of sin. 야만인의 마음이 선한 영(靈)과 악한 영(靈)들을 둘 다 상상하고, 금기(禁忌)가 진화하는 종교의 정식 허가를 인정하는 그런 지점까지 진화하자, 새로운 죄(罪)의 개념이 출현할 무대가 다 준비되었습니다. 죄(罪)에 대한 관념은 계시 종교가 들어오기도 전에 세상에 널리 자리 잡고 있었습니다. 죄(罪)의 개념에 의해서만, 자연사(自然死)가 원시인의 마음에 그리될 수밖에 없었습니다. 죄(罪)는 금기(禁忌)의 위반(違反)이었고, 죽음은 죄(罪)에 대한 형벌이었습니다.
89:2.3 (975.7) Sin was ritual, not rational; an act, not a thought. And this entire concept of sin was fostered by the lingering traditions of Dilmun and the days of a little paradise on earth. The tradition of Adam and the Garden of Eden also lent substance to the dream of a onetime “golden age” of the dawn of the races. And all this confirmed the ideas later expressed in the belief that man had his origin in a special creation, that he started his career in perfection, and that transgression of the taboos — sin — brought him down to his later sorry plight. 죄(罪)는 합리적이지 않고, 의식(儀式 예식)적이었고, 생각이 아니라 행위였습니다. 그리고 딜문의 오랜 전통과 지상의 작은 낙원 시대가 이런 모든 죄의 개념을 촉진했습니다. 아담과 에덴동산의 전통 또한, 한때 인류 여명(黎明)기의 “황금기”에 대한 몽상에 실체를 부여했습니다. 그래서 인간은 특별하게 창조되어, 완전하게 생애를 시작했고, 금기(禁忌)의 위반(違反) – 죄(罪)로 인해 인간은 나중에 비참한 처지에 떨어졌다는 믿음으로 표현된 후일의 사고방식을 이 모든 것이 확증했습니다.
89:2.4 (976.1) The habitual violation of a taboo became a vice; primitive law made vice a crime; religion made it a sin. Among the early tribes the violation of a taboo was a combined crime and sin. Community calamity was always regarded as punishment for tribal sin. To those who believed that prosperity and righteousness went together, the apparent prosperity of the wicked occasioned so much worry that it was necessary to invent hells for the punishment of taboo violators; the numbers of these places of future punishment have varied from one to five. 상습적인 금기(禁忌) 위반(違反)은 악덕(惡德)이 되었습니다. 원시법이 악덕(惡德)을 범죄로 만들었습니다. 종교가 그것을 죄(罪)로 만들었습니다. 초기 부족 중에서 금기(禁忌) 위반(違反)은 결합한 범죄(犯罪)와 죄(罪)였습니다. 공동체의 재난은 언제나 부족의 죄(罪)에 대한 처벌로 여겨졌습니다. 번영과 공의가 함께 간다고 믿던 자들에게, 악인들의 외관상 번영이 아주 많이 걱정스러워서, 금기 위반자들을 처벌하기 위해 지옥들을 고안해야 했습니다. 장차 처벌될 이런 장소의 수(數)는 하나에서 다섯까지 다양했습니다.
89:2.5 (976.2) The idea of confession and forgiveness early appeared in primitive religion. Men would ask forgiveness at a public meeting for sins they intended to commit the following week. Confession was merely a rite of remission, also a public notification of defilement, a ritual of crying “unclean, unclean!” Then followed all the ritualistic schemes of purification. All ancient peoples practiced these meaningless ceremonies. Many apparently hygienic customs of the early tribes were largely ceremonial. 고백과 용서의 개념은 일찍이 원시 종교에 나타났습니다. 사람들은 다음 주에 범하려고 하는 죄에 대해 공개모임에서 용서를 구하곤 했습니다. 고백은 사면(赦免)의 의례(儀禮)에 불과했고, 또한 공개적인 오욕(汚辱) 통지, “부정하다, 부정하다!”라고 외치는 의식(儀式)이었습니다. 그다음에 정화(淨化)의 모든 의식 계획이 뒤를 이었습니다. 모든 고대 민족은 이렇게 의미 없는 의례(儀禮)를 행했습니다. 초기 부족들의 언뜻 보기에 여러 위생 관습은 대부분 의례적이었습니다.
3. Renunciation and Humiliation 금욕(禁慾)과 굴욕(屈辱)
89:3.1 (976.3) Renunciation came as the next step in religious evolution; fasting was a common practice. Soon it became the custom to forgo many forms of physical pleasure, especially of a sexual nature. The ritual of the fast was deeply rooted in many ancient religions and has been handed down to practically all modern theologic systems of thought. 금욕(禁慾)이 종교 진화의 다음 단계로 왔습니다. 금식(禁食)은 흔한 일이었습니다. 그것은 곧 여러 형태의 육체적 쾌락, 특히 성적 본성의 쾌락 없이 지내는 관습이 되었습니다. 금식(禁食)의 관례는 여러 고대 종교에 깊이 뿌리 박고 있으며, 사실 모든 현대 신학 사상 체계에 유전되었습니다.
89:3.2 (976.4) Just about the time barbarian man was recovering from the wasteful practice of burning and burying property with the dead, just as the economic structure of the races was beginning to take shape, this new religious doctrine of renunciation appeared, and tens of thousands of earnest souls began to court poverty. Property was regarded as a spiritual handicap. These notions of the spiritual dangers of material possession were widespreadly entertained in the times of Philo and Paul, and they have markedly influenced European philosophy ever since. 야만인이 죽은 사람의 재산을 태우고 매장하는 비경제적 관행에서 막 회복되고 있을 무렵, 인류의 경제 구조가 바로 형태를 갖추기 시작하자, 금욕(禁慾)에 대한 이런 새로운 종교적 교리가 출현했으며, 수만 명의 진지한 혼(魂)들이 가난의 환심을 사기 시작했습니다. 재산은 영적 장애로 여겨졌습니다. 물질적 소유가 영적 위험 상태라는 이런 개념이 필로와 바울의 시대에 널리 수용되었고, 그것들은 이후 줄곧 유럽의 철학에 뚜렷하게 영향을 미쳤습니다.
89:3.3 (976.5) Poverty was just a part of the ritual of the mortification of the flesh which, unfortunately, became incorporated into the writings and teachings of many religions, notably Christianity. Penance is the negative form of this ofttimes foolish ritual of renunciation. But all this taught the savage self-control, and that was a worth-while advancement in social evolution. Self-denial and self-control were two of the greatest social gains from early evolutionary religion. Self-control gave man a new philosophy of life; it taught him the art of augmenting life’s fraction by lowering the denominator of personal demands instead of always attempting to increase the numerator of selfish gratification. 가난은 공교롭게도 여러 종교 중 특히 기독교의 저작과 가르침들에 편입된 바로 금욕 예식의 일부였습니다. 참회(懺悔)는 종종 이렇게 어리석은 금욕(禁慾) 예식의 부정적 형태입니다. 그러나 이 모든 것이 야만인에게 자제심을 가르쳤고, 그것은 사회 진화에서 상당한 진보였습니다. 극기(克己)와 자제심(自制心)은 초기 진화 종교에서 얻은 가장 큰 두 가지 사회적 수익이었습니다. 자제심은 사람에게 새로운 삶의 철학을 주었습니다. 그것은 사람에게 이기적 충족의 분자(分子)를 언제나 확대하려고 꾀하는 대신에 개인적 요구의 분모(分母)를 낮춰서 삶의 분수(分數)를 증대하는 기술을 가르쳤습니다.
89:3.4 (976.6) These olden ideas of self-discipline embraced flogging and all sorts of physical torture. The priests of the mother cult were especially active in teaching the virtue of physical suffering, setting the example by submitting themselves to castration. The Hebrews, Hindus, and Buddhists were earnest devotees of this doctrine of physical humiliation. 자기 수양의 이런 오래된 관념은 태형(笞刑 매질)과 모든 종류의 육체적 고문을 포함했습니다. 모친 종파의 사제들이 스스로 거세하는 본을 보여서, 육체적 고통의 가치를 적극적으로 가르쳤습니다. 히브리인(人)들, 힌두교도와 불교도들이 이런 육체적 굴종(屈從) 교리의 진지한 추종자들이었습니다.
89:3.5 (976.7) All through the olden times men sought in these ways for extra credits on the self-denial ledgers of their gods. It was once customary, when under some emotional stress, to make vows of self-denial and self-torture. In time these vows assumed the form of contracts with the gods and, in that sense, represented true evolutionary progress in that the gods were supposed to do something definite in return for this self-torture and mortification of the flesh. Vows were both negative and positive. Pledges of this harmful and extreme nature are best observed today among certain groups in India. 옛날부터 줄곧 사람들은 이런 식으로 자신들에게 신과 같은 존재들에 속한 극기(克己) 원장부(元帳簿)에서 추가(追加) 공적(功績)을 얻으려 했습니다. 감정적인 어떤 압박을 받을 때, 극기(克己)와 고행(苦行 자기 학대)의 맹세가 한때 관습이었습니다. 얼마 있다가 이런 맹세(盟誓)는 신과 같은 존재들과 계약의 형태를 취했고, 그런 의미로, 이런 고행(苦行 자기 학대)과 금욕(禁慾) 대신에 신과 같은 존재들이 확실한 뭔가를 하기로 되어 있다는 점에서 진정한 진화적 진보를 나타냈습니다. 맹세(盟誓)는 부정적이면서 긍정적이었습니다. 이렇게 해로운 과격한 종류의 서약이 오늘날 인도의 특정 집단에서 가장 잘 유지되고 있습니다.
89:3.6 (977.1) It was only natural that the cult of renunciation and humiliation should have paid attention to sexual gratification. The continence cult originated as a ritual among soldiers prior to engaging in battle; in later days it became the practice of “saints.” This cult tolerated marriage only as an evil lesser than fornication. Many of the world’s great religions have been adversely influenced by this ancient cult, but none more markedly than Christianity. The Apostle Paul was a devotee of this cult, and his personal views are reflected in the teachings which he fastened onto Christian theology: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” “I would that all men were even as I myself.” “I say, therefore, to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them to abide even as I.” Paul well knew that such teachings were not a part of Jesus’ gospel, and his acknowledgment of this is illustrated by his statement, “I speak this by permission and not by commandment.” But this cult led Paul to look down upon women. And the pity of it all is that his personal opinions have long influenced the teachings of a great world religion. If the advice of the tentmaker-teacher were to be literally and universally obeyed, then would the human race come to a sudden and inglorious end. Furthermore, the involvement of a religion with the ancient continence cult leads directly to a war against marriage and the home, society’s veritable foundation and the basic institution of human progress. And it is not to be wondered at that all such beliefs fostered the formation of celibate priesthoods in the many religions of various peoples. 아주 당연하게 금욕(禁慾)과 굴욕(屈辱)의 종파는 성적 충족에 주의를 기울여야 했습니다. 금욕 종파는 전투에 참여하기 전 군인들 사이에서 의례로서 생겼습니다. 나중에 그것은 “성도들”의 관례가 되었습니다. 이 종파는 간음보다는 덜 나쁜 것으로서 결혼을 묵인할 뿐이었습니다(고전7:2, 9). 세계적으로 위대한 여러 종교가 이런 고대 종파의 악영향(惡影響)을 받았지만, 기독교보다 두드러진 것은 아무것도 없었습니다. 사도 바울은 이 종파의 헌신적인 추종자였고, 그의 개인적 견해가 자신이 기독교 신학으로 고정했던 가르침에 반영되어 있습니다. “남성이 여성을 만지지 않는 것이 좋으니라(고전7:1).” “나는 모든 남성이 심지어 나 자신과 같기를 원하노라(고전7:7).” “그런 까닭에, 내가 미혼자들과 과부들에게 이르노니, 나와 같이 그냥 지내는 것이 그들에게 좋으니라(고전7:8).” 바울은 그런 가르침이 예수 복음의 부분이 아님을 잘 알고 있어서, 이런 그의 자백은, “내가 이렇게 말함은 허락이요 명령은 아니라(고전7:6).”라는 자기 말로 명확히 하고 있습니다. 그러나 이 종파는 바울이 여성을 대수롭지 않게 보도록 이끌었습니다. 그리고 그 모든 것에서 유감스러운 것은, 그의 개인적인 견해가 위대한 세계 종교의 가르침들에 오랫동안 영향을 주었다는 것입니다. 천막을 만드는 교사의 충고를 글자 그대로 널리 따랐다면, 인류는 갑자기 수치스럽게 끝났을 것입니다. 게다가, 고대 금욕 종파에 연루된 종교는 머지않아, 결혼과 가정, 진정한 사회의 토대이며 인간 진보의 기본 제도에 반대하는 전쟁으로 이끕니다. 그리고 그런 모든 믿음이 다양한 민족의 여러 종교에서 독신 사제직의 형성을 촉진했다는 것은 놀랄 일이 아닙니다.
89:3.7 (977.2) Someday man should learn how to enjoy liberty without license, nourishment without gluttony, and pleasure without debauchery. Self-control is a better human policy of behavior regulation than is extreme self-denial. Nor did Jesus ever teach these unreasonable views to his followers. 언젠가 사람은 방종 없는 해방, 과식 없는 영양 상태와 방탕 없이 즐겁게 누리는 법을 배워야 합니다. 자제심은 극단적 극기(克己)보다 더 나은 행동 조절의 인간 방침입니다. 예수는 자기 추종자들에게 이치에 맞지 않는 이런 견해를 절대로 가르치지 않았습니다.
4. Origins of Sacrifice 희생물의 기원
89:4.1 (977.3) Sacrifice as a part of religious devotions, like many other worshipful rituals, did not have a simple and single origin. The tendency to bow down before power and to prostrate oneself in worshipful adoration in the presence of mystery is foreshadowed in the fawning of the dog before its master. It is but one step from the impulse of worship to the act of sacrifice. Primitive man gauged the value of his sacrifice by the pain which he suffered. When the idea of sacrifice first attached itself to religious ceremonial, no offering was contemplated which was not productive of pain. The first sacrifices were such acts as plucking hair, cutting the flesh, mutilations, knocking out teeth, and cutting off fingers. As civilization advanced, these crude concepts of sacrifice were elevated to the level of the rituals of self-abnegation, asceticism, fasting, deprivation, and the later Christian doctrine of sanctification through sorrow, suffering, and the mortification of the flesh. 종교적 헌신의 일부로써 희생물은, 여러 다른 숭배 의식들처럼, 단순한 단일기원을 갖지 않았습니다. 권세 앞에서 굴복하고 신비가 있을 때 숭배의 예찬으로 엎드리는 경향은 개가 주인 앞에서 아양을 부림에 슬쩍 견줄 수 있습니다. 숭배의 자극에서 희생물의 행위까지 한걸음에 불과합니다. 원시인은 자신이 겪은 고통으로 자기 희생물의 가치를 쟀습니다. 희생물의 개념이 종교의식에 처음 부여될 때, 고통이 없는 제물은 생각할 수 없었습니다. 최초의 희생물은 머리채 쥐어뜯기, 살 도려내기, 수족 절단, 치아를 쳐서 뽑기 및 손가락을 잘라내는 그런 행위들이었습니다. 문명이 발전하면서, 이렇게 미숙한 희생물 개념은 자기희생, 금욕주의, 금식(禁食), 궁핍 그리고 나중에는 슬픔, 고통과 금욕(禁慾)을 거쳐 기독교 성화(聖化) 교리의 수준으로 향상했습니다.
89:4.2 (977.4) Early in the evolution of religion there existed two conceptions of the sacrifice: the idea of the gift sacrifice, which connoted the attitude of thanksgiving, and the debt sacrifice, which embraced the idea of redemption. Later there developed the notion of substitution. 종교의 진화 초기에 두 가지 희생물 개념이 있었습니다. 감사의 태도가 포함된 선물 희생물과 구속(救贖 되찾는 상환) 개념이 포함된 빚 희생물의 개념이었습니다. 나중에 대속(代贖 대신 속죄함)의 개념이 발전했습니다.
89:4.3 (977.5) Man still later conceived that his sacrifice of whatever nature might function as a message bearer to the gods; it might be as a sweet savor in the nostrils of deity. This brought incense and other aesthetic features of sacrificial rituals which developed into sacrificial feasting, in time becoming increasingly elaborate and ornate. 인간은 훨씬 나중에, 어떤 종류의 희생물이라도 신과 같은 존재들에게 메시지 전달자로서 역할을 할 수도 있다고 생각했습니다. 그것은 신(神)의 콧구멍에 달콤한 향기와 같을 수도 있었습니다. 이것으로 향내와 희생제의 다른 심미적 특성이 생겼고, 시간이 지나자 점차 더 공들여서 장식한 희생 축제로 발전했습니다.
89:4.4 (978.1) As religion evolved, the sacrificial rites of conciliation and propitiation replaced the older methods of avoidance, placation, and exorcism. 종교가 진화하면서, 회유(懷柔 어루만져서 달램)와 화해(和解)의 희생 의례가 더 오래된 회피, 노여움 삭이기와 축사(逐邪 귀신 내쫓는 액막이)의 방법을 대신하여 들어섰습니다.
89:4.5 (978.2) The earliest idea of the sacrifice was that of a neutrality assessment levied by ancestral spirits; only later did the idea of atonement develop. As man got away from the notion of the evolutionary origin of the race, as the traditions of the days of the Planetary Prince and the sojourn of Adam filtered down through time, the concept of sin and of original sin became widespread, so that sacrifice for accidental and personal sin evolved into the doctrine of sacrifice for the atonement of racial sin. The atonement of the sacrifice was a blanket insurance device which covered even the resentment and jealousy of an unknown god. 가장 초기의 희생물 개념은 조상 전래의 영(靈)들이 부과한 중립 과세의 개념이었습니다. 나중에서야 속죄(贖罪 죄 갚는) 개념이 발전했습니다. 인간이 인류의 진화적 기원에 대한 개념에서 벗어나고, 행성 왕자 시절과 아담이 머물던 전통이 세월 속에 스며들면서, 죄(罪)와 원죄(原罪)의 개념이 퍼지게 되어서, 우발적인 개인적 죄(罪)를 위한 희생물이 종족의 죄(罪)를 위해 속죄(贖罪)하는 희생물 교리로 서서히 발전했습니다. 희생물 속죄는, 알려지지 않은 신과 같은 존재의 분노와 질투까지도 포함하는 전종목보험이었습니다.
89:4.6 (978.3) Surrounded by so many sensitive spirits and grasping gods, primitive man was face to face with such a host of creditor deities that it required all the priests, ritual, and sacrifices throughout an entire lifetime to get him out of spiritual debt. The doctrine of original sin, or racial guilt, started every person out in serious debt to the spirit powers. 그렇게 많은 과민한 영(靈)들과 탐욕스러운 신과 같은 존재들에게 둘러싸인, 원시인은 그렇게 많은 채권자 신(神)들을 대면하고 있어서, 영적 빚을 면하기 위해 한평생 내내 온갖 사제, 의례와 희생물이 필요했습니다. 원죄(原罪) 즉 종족 죄책감의 교리로 모든 사람은 영(靈) 권세에 심각한 빚을 지고 시작했습니다.
89:4.7 (978.4) Gifts and bribes are given to men; but when tendered to the gods, they are described as being dedicated, made sacred, or are called sacrifices. Renunciation was the negative form of propitiation; sacrifice became the positive form. The act of propitiation included praise, glorification, flattery, and even entertainment. And it is the remnants of these positive practices of the olden propitiation cult that constitute the modern forms of divine worship. Present-day forms of worship are simply the ritualization of these ancient sacrificial techniques of positive propitiation. 사람들은 선물과 뇌물을 받지만, 신과 같은 존재들에게 드릴 때, 그것들은 바쳐지고, 신성한 것이라 말하고, 희생물로 불립니다. 금욕(禁慾)은 화해(和解)의 부정적 형태였습니다. 희생물은 긍정적 형태가 되었습니다. 화해(和解)의 행위는 찬양, 영광을 기림, 아첨 및 연회까지도 포함했습니다. 그리고 오래된 화해(和解) 종파의 긍정적 관례의 이런 자취가 현대적 형태의 신적 경배를 구성합니다. 오늘날 경배 형태는 긍정적 화해에 속한 이런 고대 희생물 기법을 단순히 의식(儀式)화한 것입니다.
89:4.8 (978.5) Animal sacrifice meant much more to primitive man than it could ever mean to modern races. These barbarians regarded the animals as their actual and near kin. As time passed, man became shrewd in his sacrificing, ceasing to offer up his work animals. At first he sacrificed the best of everything, including his domesticated animals. 동물 희생물은 원시인에게, 그것이 현대 종족에게 의미할 수 있는 것보다 훨씬 더 많은 것을 뜻했습니다. 이런 야만인들은 그 동물들을 실제로 자기와 가까운 친족으로 여겼습니다. 시간이 흐르자, 사람은 제물로 바칠 때 현명하게 되어서, 일하는 자기 동물을 제물로 바치지 않게 되었습니다. 처음에 그는 자기가 길들인 동물들까지 포함하여 모든 것 중 최고를 제물로 바쳤습니다.
89:4.9 (978.6) It was no empty boast that a certain Egyptian ruler made when he stated that he had sacrificed: 113,433 slaves, 493,386 head of cattle, 88 boats, 2,756 golden images, 331,702 jars of honey and oil, 228,380 jars of wine, 680,714 geese, 6,744,428 loaves of bread, and 5,740,352 sacks of corn. And in order to do this he must needs have sorely taxed his toiling subjects. 어떤 이집트 통치자가 자신이 제물로 바쳤다고 했을 때, 그것은 허풍이 아니었습니다. 노예 113,433명, 소 493,386두, 배 88척, 금 우상 2,756개, 꿀과 기름 331,702단지, 포도주 228,380단지, 거위 680,714마리, 빵6,744,428덩어리, 옥수수 5,740,352부대. 그리고 이렇게 하려고 그는 어떻게든지 수고하는 자기 백성을 심하게 혹사해야 했음이 틀림없습니다.
89:4.10 (978.7) Sheer necessity eventually drove these semisavages to eat the material part of their sacrifices, the gods having enjoyed the soul thereof. And this custom found justification under the pretense of the ancient sacred meal, a communion service according to modern usage. 순전히 어쩔 수 없어서, 이런 반(半)야만인들은 결국 자기 희생물의 물질적 부분을 먹지 않을 수 없었고, 신과 같은 존재들은 그것의 혼(魂)을 누렸습니다. 그리고 이런 관습은 고대 신성한 식사, 현대적 관례에 따르면 성찬식이라는 구실로 정당화되었습니다.
5. Sacrifices and Cannibalism 희생물과 식인(食人) 풍습
89:5.1 (978.8) Modern ideas of early cannibalism are entirely wrong; it was a part of the mores of early society. While cannibalism is traditionally horrible to modern civilization, it was a part of the social and religious structure of primitive society. Group interests dictated the practice of cannibalism. It grew up through the urge of necessity and persisted because of the slavery of superstition and ignorance. It was a social, economic, religious, and military custom. 초기 식인 풍습에 대한 현대적 관념은 완전히 잘못입니다. 그것은 초기 사회적 관습의 부분이었습니다. 식인 풍습은 전통적으로 현대 문명 사회에 끔찍하지만, 원시 사회의 사회 및 종교 구조의 일부였습니다. 집단의 이해관계에 따라 식인 풍습의 관례가 결정되었습니다. 그것은 필요성의 충동을 통해 서서히 생겨나 미신과 무지의 노예 상태 때문에 지속했습니다. 그것은 사회적, 경제적, 종교적, 군사적 관습이었습니다.
89:5.2 (979.1) Early man was a cannibal; he enjoyed human flesh, and therefore he offered it as a food gift to the spirits and his primitive gods. Since ghost spirits were merely modified men, and since food was man’s greatest need, then food must likewise be a spirit’s greatest need. 초기 인간은 식인종이었습니다. 그는 인육(人肉)을 즐겼기 때문에, 그는 영(靈)들과 자신의 원시적인 신과 같은 존재들에게 그것을 음식 선물로 바쳤습니다. 유령(幽靈) 영(靈)들은 그저 수정된 인간들에 불과했고, 음식은 사람의 가장 큰 욕구였기에, 음식이 또한 영(靈)의 가장 큰 욕구였습니다.
89:5.3 (979.2) Cannibalism was once well-nigh universal among the evolving races. The Sangiks were all cannibalistic, but originally the Andonites were not, nor were the Nodites and Adamites; neither were the Andites until after they had become grossly admixed with the evolutionary races. 식인 풍습은 한때 진화 종족들 사이에서 거의 누구나 다 행했습니다. 상긱들은 모두 동족끼리 잡아먹었지만, 원래 안돈-사람들은 그렇지 않았고, 놋-사람들과 아담-사람들도 그렇지 않았습니다. 안드-사람들도 진화 종족들과 철저히 섞이기 전까지는 그렇지 않았습니다.
89:5.4 (979.3) The taste for human flesh grows. Having been started through hunger, friendship, revenge, or religious ritual, the eating of human flesh goes on to habitual cannibalism. Man-eating has arisen through food scarcity, though this has seldom been the underlying reason. The Eskimos and early Andonites, however, seldom were cannibalistic except in times of famine. The red men, especially in Central America, were cannibals. It was once a general practice for primitive mothers to kill and eat their own children in order to renew the strength lost in childbearing, and in Queensland the first child is still frequently thus killed and devoured. In recent times cannibalism has been deliberately resorted to by many African tribes as a war measure, a sort of frightfulness with which to terrorize their neighbors. 인육(人肉)의 취미가 늘어납니다. 굶주림, 친목, 보복이나 종교 예식을 통해 시작되어, 인육(人肉) 먹기는 상습적인 식인 풍습으로 나아갑니다. 식인(食人)은 식량 부족으로 생겼지만, 그래도 이것은 좀처럼 근원적인 이유가 아니었습니다. 한편 에스키모 사람들과 초기 안돈 사람들은 기근의 때 외에는 좀처럼 식인(食人)하지 않았습니다. 특히 중앙 아메리아의 홍인들은 식인종들이었습니다. 한때 원시인 엄마들이 해산 중 잃어버린 힘을 회복하려고 자기 자녀를 죽여서 먹는 것이 일반적 관습이었고, 퀸즐랜드에서는 여전히 이렇게 첫 아이를 종종 죽여서 먹습니다. 최근에 아프리카의 여러 부족은 식인 풍습을 전시 수단으로써, 일부러 자기 이웃들을 협박하는 끔찍한 유형으로 사용했습니다.
89:5.5 (979.4) Some cannibalism resulted from the degeneration of once superior stocks, but it was mostly prevalent among the evolutionary races. Man-eating came on at a time when men experienced intense and bitter emotions regarding their enemies. Eating human flesh became part of a solemn ceremony of revenge; it was believed that an enemy’s ghost could, in this way, be destroyed or fused with that of the eater. It was once a widespread belief that wizards attained their powers by eating human flesh. 일부 식인 풍습은 한때 우수한 혈통의 퇴화로 생겼지만, 그것은 주로 진화 종족 중에서 널리 행해졌습니다. 식인(食人)은 사람들이 자기 대적들에 관해 격앙된 사무치는 감정을 겪었을 때 등장했습니다. 식인(食人)은 엄숙한 보복(報復) 의례의 부분이 되었습니다. 이렇게 하여, 대적의 유령(幽靈)이 죽거나 먹는 사람의 유령(幽靈)과 융합될 수 있다고 여겼습니다. 한때 요술쟁이들이 인육을 먹어서 자기들의 효험을 봤다는 통념이 만연했습니다.
89:5.6 (979.5) Certain groups of man-eaters would consume only members of their own tribes, a pseudospiritual inbreeding which was supposed to accentuate tribal solidarity. But they also ate enemies for revenge with the idea of appropriating their strength. It was considered an honor to the soul of a friend or fellow tribesman if his body were eaten, while it was no more than just punishment to an enemy thus to devour him. The savage mind made no pretensions to being consistent. 어떤 식인(食人)종 집단은 오직 자기 부족원들만 먹곤 했는데, 허위적으로 영적인 동종(同種) 번식이 부족 결속을 강조한다고 생각했습니다. 그러나 그들도 대적들의 힘을 가로챈다는 생각으로 앙갚음하려고 대적들을 먹었습니다. 친구나 동료 부족원의 몸을 먹는 것은, 그 혼(魂)에 영예지만. 이렇게 대적을 먹는 것은 적에게 단지 형벌일 뿐이라고 여겼습니다. 야만인들의 마음에는 일관된 주장이 없었습니다.
89:5.7 (979.6) Among some tribes aged parents would seek to be eaten by their children; among others it was customary to refrain from eating near relations; their bodies were sold or exchanged for those of strangers. There was considerable commerce in women and children who had been fattened for slaughter. When disease or war failed to control population, the surplus was unceremoniously eaten. 어떤 부족 중 나이 든 부모들은 자기 자녀들에게 먹히려고 애쓰곤 했습니다. 다른 부족 중에서는 근친을 먹지 않는 것이, 관습이었습니다. 그들의 시신을 팔거나 낯선 사람들의 시신과 교환했습니다. 도살하려고 살찌운 여성들과 아이들을 꽤 많이 거래했습니다. 질병 혹은 전쟁으로 끝내 주민의 수(數)가 조절되지 않으면, 형식에 얽매이지 않고 잉여 수(數)를 먹었습니다.
89:5.8 (979.7) Cannibalism has been gradually disappearing because of the following influences: 식인 풍습은 다음의 영향력들로 인해 점차 사라지고 있었습니다.
89:5.9 (979.8) 1. It sometimes became a communal ceremony, the assumption of collective responsibility for inflicting the death penalty upon a fellow tribesman. The blood guilt ceases to be a crime when participated in by all, by society. The last of cannibalism in Asia was this eating of executed criminals. 그것은 종종 동료 부족원에게 사형을 선고하는 공동 책임을 인수하는 공동 의식이 되었습니다. 유혈의 죄는 전체, 사회가 참여하면, 범죄가 되지 않습니다. 아시아에서 마지막 식인 풍습은 처형된 범인들을 이렇게 먹는 것이었습니다.
89:5.10 (979.9) 2. It very early became a religious ritual, but the growth of ghost fear did not always operate to reduce man-eating. 식인 풍습은 아주 초기에 종교 의례가 되었지만, 유령(幽靈) 공포의 발달이 언제나 식인(食人)을 줄이도록 영향을 주지 않았습니다.
89:5.11 (979.10) 3. Eventually it progressed to the point where only certain parts or organs of the body were eaten, those parts supposed to contain the soul or portions of the spirit. Blood drinking became common, and it was customary to mix the “edible” parts of the body with medicines. 결국 식인 풍습은 몸의 특정 부분이나 기관(器官)들, 혼(魂)이나 영(靈)의 부분이 들어있다고 생각한 그런 부분들만 먹을 정도로 발달했습니다. 흔히 피를 마시게 되었고, 관습적으로 몸의 “식용” 부분을 약물과 섞었습니다.
89:5.12 (980.1) 4. It became limited to men; women were forbidden to eat human flesh. 식인 풍습은 남성들에게 한정되었고, 여성들은 인육(人肉)을 먹도록 허락하지 않았습니다.
89:5.13 (980.2) 5. It was next limited to the chiefs, priests, and shamans. 다음으로 족장들, 사제들과 무당들로 한정했습니다.
89:5.14 (980.3) 6. Then it became taboo among the higher tribes. The taboo on man-eating originated in Dalamatia and slowly spread over the world. The Nodites encouraged cremation as a means of combating cannibalism since it was once a common practice to dig up buried bodies and eat them. 그러더니 식인 풍습은 더 높은 부족들 사이에서 금기(禁忌)가 되었습니다. 식인(食人) 금기는 달라마시아에서 시작하여 천천히 전 세계로 퍼졌습니다. 한때 일반적 관습으로 매장한 시신을 파내서 먹었기 때문에 놋-사람들은 식인 풍습과 싸우는 수단으로 화장(火葬)을 장려했습니다.
89:5.15 (980.4) 7. Human sacrifice sounded the death knell of cannibalism. Human flesh having become the food of superior men, the chiefs, it was eventually reserved for the still more superior spirits; and thus the offering of human sacrifices effectively put a stop to cannibalism, except among the lowest tribes. When human sacrifice was fully established, man-eating became taboo; human flesh was food only for the gods; man could eat only a small ceremonial bit, a sacrament. 인간 희생물은 식인 풍습의 종말을 알렸습니다. 인육(人肉)은 우월한 사람들, 족장들의 음식이 되었고, 결국 훨씬 더 우월한 영(靈)들을 위한 것이 되었습니다. 그래서 가장 낮은 부족들 사이의 식인 풍습을 제외하고, 인간 희생물의 공물(供物)이 실제로 식인 풍습을 끝냈습니다. 인간 희생물이 완전히 확립되자, 식인(食人)은 금기가 되었습니다. 인육(人肉)은 신과 같은 존재들만을 위한 음식이었습니다. 사람은 의례용 작은 조각, 성찬(聖餐)만 먹을 수 있었습니다.
89:5.16 (980.5) Finally animal substitutes came into general use for sacrificial purposes, and even among the more backward tribes dog-eating greatly reduced man-eating. The dog was the first domesticated animal and was held in high esteem both as such and as food. 마지막에 희생물 용도로 동물 대용물이 일반적으로 사용되었고, 더 퇴보적인 부족 중에서도 구육(狗肉 개고기) 먹기로 식인(食人)이 훨씬 줄었습니다. 개는 가장 먼저 길들인 동물이었고, 그 자체와 음식으로 매우 높게 평가받았습니다.
6. Evolution of Human Sacrifice 인간 희생물의 진화
89:6.1 (980.6) Human sacrifice was an indirect result of cannibalism as well as its cure. Providing spirit escorts to the spirit world also led to the lessening of man-eating as it was never the custom to eat these death sacrifices. No race has been entirely free from the practice of human sacrifice in some form and at some time, even though the Andonites, Nodites, and Adamites were the least addicted to cannibalism. 인간 희생물은 식인 풍습의 간접적 결과뿐만 아니라 그 치료법이었습니다. 이렇게 죽은 희생물을 먹는 것은 결코 관습이 아니었던 것처럼, 영(靈) 세계로 영(靈) 호위자들을 마련하면서 또한 식인(食人)이 줄어들었습니다. 안돈-사람들, 놋-사람들과 아담-사람들이 식인 풍습에 가장 최소로 빠졌다고 해도, 어떤 형태로든 어떤 시기에, 인간 희생물의 관습에서 완전히 벗어난 종족은 없었습니다.
89:6.2 (980.7) Human sacrifice has been virtually universal; it persisted in the religious customs of the Chinese, Hindus, Egyptians, Hebrews, Mesopotamians, Greeks, Romans, and many other peoples, even on to recent times among the backward African and Australian tribes. The later American Indians had a civilization emerging from cannibalism and, therefore, steeped in human sacrifice, especially in Central and South America. The Chaldeans were among the first to abandon the sacrificing of humans for ordinary occasions, substituting therefor animals. About two thousand years ago a tenderhearted Japanese emperor introduced clay images to take the place of human sacrifices, but it was less than a thousand years ago that these sacrifices died out in northern Europe. Among certain backward tribes, human sacrifice is still carried on by volunteers, a sort of religious or ritual suicide. A shaman once ordered the sacrifice of a much respected old man of a certain tribe. The people revolted; they refused to obey. Whereupon the old man had his own son dispatch him; the ancients really believed in this custom. 인간 희생물은 사실상 누구나 다 행했습니다. 그것은 중국인, 힌두인, 이집트인, 히브리인, 메소포타미아인, 그리스인, 로마인과 여러 다른 민족들의 종교 관습으로 지속했고, 심지어 퇴보적인 아프리카인과 오스트레일리아 부족 중에서 최근까지도 지속했습니다. 후대의 아메리카 인디언들은 식인 풍습에서 벗어난 문명을 가지고 있었고 따라서, 특히 중남미에서 인간 희생물에 깊이 빠졌습니다. 칼데아인들은 일상적 행사에 인간 희생물을 그만두고 그 대신에 동물들로 대체한 최초의 사람 중 하나였습니다. 약 2천 년 전, 인정 많은 어느 일본 황제가 인간 희생물 대신에 진흙 형상을 받아들였지만, 이런 희생물이 북유럽에서 자취를 감춘 지, 1천 년이 되지 않았습니다. 퇴보적 부족 중에서 자원자들이 종교적 혹은 관례적 자살 유형의 인간 희생물을 여전히 계속합니다. 무당이 한때 어떤 부족의 아주 훌륭한 노인을 제물로 바치라고 지시했습니다. 사람들이 반란을 일으켜 따르지 않았습니다. 그래서 노인이 자기 아들이 그를 죽이게 했습니다. 고대인들은 이런 관습을 실제로 믿었습니다.
89:6.3 (980.8) There is no more tragic and pathetic experience on record, illustrative of the heart-tearing contentions between ancient and time-honored religious customs and the contrary demands of advancing civilization, than the Hebrew narrative of Jephthah and his only daughter. As was common custom, this well-meaning man had made a foolish vow, had bargained with the “god of battles,” agreeing to pay a certain price for victory over his enemies. And this price was to make a sacrifice of that which first came out of his house to meet him when he returned to his home. Jephthah thought that one of his trusty slaves would thus be on hand to greet him, but it turned out that his daughter and only child came out to welcome him home. And so, even at that late date and among a supposedly civilized people, this beautiful maiden, after two months to mourn her fate, was actually offered as a human sacrifice by her father, and with the approval of his fellow tribesmen. And all this was done in the face of Moses’ stringent rulings against the offering of human sacrifice. But men and women are addicted to making foolish and needless vows, and the men of old held all such pledges to be highly sacred. 고대의 유서(由緖) 깊은 종교적 관습과 상반되는 진보적 문명의 요구 사이에서, 가슴이 미어지는 논쟁의 예증으로 기록(삿11:28-40)에 남아 있는, 입다와 그의 무남독녀에 대한 히브리 이야기보다 더 비통하고 애처로운 경험은 없습니다. 일반적인 관습대로, 좋은 뜻으로 이 사람은 어리석은 맹세를 하여, 자기 적들에게 승리한 대가를 치르기로 응하면서, “전투의 신과 같은 존재”와 약속했습니다. 그리고 이런 대가는 그가 자기 집으로 돌아올 때 자기 집에서 제일 먼저 그를 맞이하러 나온 자를 희생하는 것이었습니다. 입다는 충실한 자기 노예 중 하나가 그렇게 그 자리에서 자신을 맞이하리라고 생각했지만, 결국 자기 외동딸이 그를 집으로 환영하려고 나왔습니다. 그래서 그렇게 후일 문명인으로 여겼던 민족 중에서도, 이 아름다운 소녀는 두 달간 자기 숙명을 슬퍼한 후, 그녀의 아버지와 동료 부족들의 승인을 얻어 실제로 인간 희생물로 바쳐졌습니다. 그리고 인간 희생물을 바치지 말라는 모세의 엄격한 판결에도 불구하고 이 모든 일이 이루어졌습니다. 그러나 남성과 여성들은 어리석고 쓸데없는 맹세에 탐닉(耽溺 즐겨서 빠짐)했고, 옛날 사람들은 그런 모든 서약을 대단히 신성하게 여겼습니다.
89:6.4 (981.1) In olden times, when a new building of any importance was started, it was customary to slay a human being as a “foundation sacrifice.” This provided a ghost spirit to watch over and protect the structure. When the Chinese made ready to cast a bell, custom decreed the sacrifice of at least one maiden for the purpose of improving the tone of the bell; the girl chosen was thrown alive into the molten metal. 옛날에는, 무엇이든 중요한 새 건축을 시작하면, “기초 희생물”로 인간을 죽이는 것이 관습이었습니다. 이렇게 그 건축물을 지켜보고 수호하는 유령(幽靈) 영(靈)이 생겼습니다. 중국인들은 쇳물을 부어 종(鐘)을 만들 준비를 하면서, 관습에 의해 종의 음질 개선을 위해 적어도 처녀 한 명을 희생물로 정했습니다. 선발된 소녀는 녹은 쇳물에 산 채로 던져졌습니다.
89:6.5 (981.2) It was long the practice of many groups to build slaves alive into important walls. In later times the northern European tribes substituted the walling in of the shadow of a passerby for this custom of entombing living persons in the walls of new buildings. The Chinese buried in a wall those workmen who died while constructing it. 노예들을 산 채로 중요한 방벽(防壁)의 일부를 만드는 여러 집단의 관습은 오래되었습니다. 후대에 북유럽 부족들은 새 건물의 방벽에 산 사람들을 매장하는 이런 관습 대신에 남의 눈에 띄지 않은 통행인으로 벽을 쌓았습니다. 중국인들은 건설 중에 죽은 노동자들을 벽에 묻었습니다.
89:6.6 (981.3) A petty king in Palestine, in building the walls of Jericho, “laid the foundation thereof in Abiram, his first-born, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son, Segub.” At that late date, not only did this father put two of his sons alive in the foundation holes of the city’s gates, but his action is also recorded as being “according to the word of the Lord.” Moses had forbidden these foundation sacrifices, but the Israelites reverted to them soon after his death. The twentieth-century ceremony of depositing trinkets and keepsakes in the cornerstone of a new building is reminiscent of the primitive foundation sacrifices. 팔레스타인의 작은 왕은 여리고 성벽을 쌓으면서, “자기 장남 아비람으로 그 토대를 세웠고, 막내아들 세굽으로 그 성문을 세웠습니다.” 후일, 이 아버지는 자기 두 아들을 산 채로 그 도시 성문의 기초 구덩이에 넣었을 뿐 아니라 그 행위는 “주의 말씀을 따른” 것으로, 기록되어 있습니다(왕상16:33 벧엘의 히엘, 수6:26). 모세는 이런 기초 희생물을 금지했지만, 이스라엘 사람들은 그가 죽은 후 바로 기초 희생물로 되돌아갔습니다. 새 건물의 초석(礎石 주춧돌)에 자질구레한 장신구들과 유품들을 두는 20세기의 의례는 원시적 기초 희생물을 생각나게 합니다.
89:6.7 (981.4) It was long the custom of many peoples to dedicate the first fruits to the spirits. And these observances, now more or less symbolic, are all survivals of the early ceremonies involving human sacrifice. The idea of offering the first-born as a sacrifice was widespread among the ancients, especially among the Phoenicians, who were the last to give it up. It used to be said upon sacrificing, “life for life.” Now you say at death, “dust to dust.” 영(靈)들에게 첫 열매를 바치는 것은 여러 민족의 오랜 관습이었습니다. 이제 거의 상징적인 이런 관례들은 모두 인간 희생물과 관련된 초기 의례의 유물들입니다. 첫-아이를 희생물로 바치는 개념은 고대인들, 특히 그것을 마지막에 포기했던, 페니키아인들 사이에 널리 퍼져 있었습니다. 희생물을 바치면서 “생명은 생명으로(출21:23)”라고 말하곤 했습니다. 이제 너희는 죽을 때 “흙은 흙으로(전3:20)”라고 말합니다.
89:6.8 (981.5) The spectacle of Abraham constrained to sacrifice his son Isaac, while shocking to civilized susceptibilities, was not a new or strange idea to the men of those days. It was long a prevalent practice for fathers, at times of great emotional stress, to sacrifice their first-born sons. Many peoples have a tradition analogous to this story, for there once existed a world-wide and profound belief that it was necessary to offer a human sacrifice when anything extraordinary or unusual happened. 아브라함이 자기 아들 이삭을 부득이 희생물로 바치는 광경(창22:9-10)은 문명화된 감수성(感受性)에 충격적이지만, 당시 사람들에게는 새롭거나 이상한 일이 아니었습니다. 감정적으로 극심하게 긴박한 때에, 아버지들이 자신들의 첫 번째 아들들을 희생물로 바치는 것은 널리 퍼져 있는 오랜 관습이었습니다. 특별하거나 이상한 일이 일어나면 인간 희생물을 바치는 일이 필요하다는 세계적으로 뿌리가 깊은 믿음이 한때 있었기 때문에, 여러 민족이 이런 이야기와 비슷한 전통을 가지고 있습니다.
7. Modifications of Human Sacrifice 인간 희생물의 변용(變容)
89:7.1 (981.6) Moses attempted to end human sacrifices by inaugurating the ransom as a substitute. He established a systematic schedule which enabled his people to escape the worst results of their rash and foolish vows. Lands, properties, and children could be redeemed according to the established fees, which were payable to the priests. Those groups which ceased to sacrifice their first-born soon possessed great advantages over less advanced neighbors who continued these atrocious acts. Many such backward tribes were not only greatly weakened by this loss of sons, but even the succession of leadership was often broken. 모세는, 대체물로 몸값을 내고 자유롭게 되는 시대를 열어서 인간 희생물을 끝내려 했습니다. 그는 자기 민족이 자신들의 분별없고 어리석은 맹세로 인한 최악의 결과를 피할 수 있는 체계적인 일정을 확립했습니다. 토지, 재산과 자녀들은, 사제들에게 지급해야 할 정해져 있는 수수료에 따라, 상환될 수 있었습니다. 자신들의 첫째 아이를 희생물로 바치기를 그만둔 그런 집단들은, 이렇게 잔학한 행위를 계속하던 덜 진보한 이웃들보다 커다란 이점을 빨리 갖게 되었습니다. 그렇게 퇴보한 여러 부족은 이렇게 자손들을 잃어버려서 대단히 약해졌을 뿐만 아니라, 종종 지도력의 계승조차 끊어졌습니다.
89:7.2 (982.1) An outgrowth of the passing child sacrifice was the custom of smearing blood on the house doorposts for the protection of the first-born. This was often done in connection with one of the sacred feasts of the year, and this ceremony once obtained over most of the world from Mexico to Egypt. 자녀 희생물을 빠져나가는 결과가 첫째 아이를 보호하기 위해 집 문기둥에 피를 바르는 관습이었습니다. 이런 관습은 종종 그 해의 신성한 절기 중 하나와 관련하여 행해졌고, 이런 의식은 한때 멕시코에서 이집트까지 대부분의 전 세계에서 통용되었습니다.
89:7.3 (982.2) Even after most groups had ceased the ritual killing of children, it was the custom to put an infant away by itself, off in the wilderness or in a little boat on the water. If the child survived, it was thought that the gods had intervened to preserve him, as in the traditions of Sargon, Moses, Cyrus, and Romulus. Then came the practice of dedicating the first-born sons as sacred or sacrificial, allowing them to grow up and then exiling them in lieu of death; this was the origin of colonization. The Romans adhered to this custom in their scheme of colonization. 대부분의 집단이 자녀 살해 의식을 그만둔 뒤에도, 유아(幼兒)를 홀로 멀리 떨어진 광야나 물 위의 작은 배로 처치하는 것이, 관습이었습니다. 아이가 살아남으면, 사르곤(78.8 & 143.4.1), 모세, 키루스와 로물루스의 전승처럼, 하느님과 같은 존재들이 나타나 그를 보호했다고 믿었습니다. 그다음 맨 먼저 태어난 아들들을 신성한, 즉 희생물로 바쳐서, 키운 다음에 죽이는 대신에 그들을 추방하는 관습이 생겼습니다. 이것이 식민지 건설의 기원이었습니다. 로마인들은 자신들의 식민지 건설을 계획하면서 이런 관습을 고수했습니다.
89:7.4 (982.3) Many of the peculiar associations of sex laxity with primitive worship had their origin in connection with human sacrifice. In olden times, if a woman met head-hunters, she could redeem her life by sexual surrender. Later, a maiden consecrated to the gods as a sacrifice might elect to redeem her life by dedicating her body for life to the sacred sex service of the temple; in this way she could earn her redemption money. The ancients regarded it as highly elevating to have sex relations with a woman thus engaged in ransoming her life. It was a religious ceremony to consort with these sacred maidens, and in addition, this whole ritual afforded an acceptable excuse for commonplace sexual gratification. This was a subtle species of self-deception which both the maidens and their consorts delighted to practice upon themselves. The mores always drag behind in the evolutionary advance of civilization, thus providing sanction for the earlier and more savagelike sex practices of the evolving races. 성적 방종이 원시적 숭배와 특이하게 결합한 대부분은 인간 희생물과 관련된 기원이 있습니다. 옛날에, 여성이 사람을 사냥하는 야만인을 만나면, 성적으로 항복하여 자기 목숨을 구할 수 있었습니다. 나중에, 희생물로 신과 같은 존재들에게 바쳐진 처녀는 자기 몸을 평생 성전의 신성한 성적 봉사에 바쳐서 자기 생명을 상환(償還 대신 빚을 갚음)하기로 택할 수도 있었습니다. 이렇게 그녀는 자신의 속전(贖錢 상환금)을 벌 수 있었습니다. 고대인들은 이렇게 자기 생명을 되찾으려고 몸값을 치르는 일에 종사하는 여성과 성관계를 갖는 것을 아주 고상한 것으로 여겼습니다. 이런 신성한 처녀들과 자는 것은, 종교적 예식이었고, 게다가 이런 모든 의식은 평범한 성적 욕구 충족에 용인되는 변명 거리를 제공했습니다. 이런 것은 처녀들과 상대자들 둘 다 자신들을 이용하기 좋아했던 교묘한 유형의 자기-기만이었습니다. 관습은, 이렇게 진화하는 종족의 더 야만인과 같은 초기의 성행위를 용인하면서, 언제나 문명의 진화적 진보 뒤에서 끌려갑니다.
89:7.5 (982.4) Temple harlotry eventually spread throughout southern Europe and Asia. The money earned by the temple prostitutes was held sacred among all peoples — a high gift to present to the gods. The highest types of women thronged the temple sex marts and devoted their earnings to all kinds of sacred services and works of public good. Many of the better classes of women collected their dowries by temporary sex service in the temples, and most men preferred to have such women for wives. 성전 매춘 행위는 결국 남유럽과 아시아에 널리 퍼졌습니다. 성전 매춘으로 번 돈은 – 하느님과 같은 자들에게 드리는 최고의 선물로 – 모든 민족 사이에서 신성하게 여겼습니다. 가장 최고 유형의 여성들이 성전 매춘 시장에 몰려들었고, 그 이득을 온갖 종류의 신성한 봉사와 공익사업에 바쳤습니다. 더 나은 계층의 여러 여성이 성전에서 일시적인 성적 봉사로 신부 지참금을 모았고, 남성의 대다수는 그런 여성들을 아내로 삼는 것을 더 좋게 여겼습니다.
8. Redemption and Covenants 구속(救贖 상환)과 계약(契約)
89:8.1 (982.5) Sacrificial redemption and temple prostitution were in reality modifications of human sacrifice. Next came the mock sacrifice of daughters. This ceremony consisted in bloodletting, with dedication to lifelong virginity, and was a moral reaction to the older temple harlotry. In more recent times virgins dedicated themselves to the service of tending the sacred temple fires. 제물로 바치는 구속(救贖 상환)과 성전 매춘은 실은 인간 희생물의 변용(變容)이었습니다. 다음에 딸들의 모조품 희생물이 있었습니다. 이런 의례(儀禮)는 평생 처녀성을 바치면서 사혈(瀉血 피를 뽑아냄)하는 것이었고, 더 오래된 성전 매춘 행위에 대한 도덕적 반응이었습니다. 더 최근에는 처녀들이 신성한 성전 불을 돌보는 봉사에 일생을 바쳤습니다.
89:8.2 (982.6) Men eventually conceived the idea that the offering of some part of the body could take the place of the older and complete human sacrifice. Physical mutilation was also considered to be an acceptable substitute. Hair, nails, blood, and even fingers and toes were sacrificed. The later and well-nigh universal ancient rite of circumcision was an outgrowth of the cult of partial sacrifice; it was purely sacrificial, no thought of hygiene being attached thereto. Men were circumcised; women had their ears pierced. 사람들은 결국 신체의 어떤 부분을 봉헌하여 더 오래된 철저한 인간 희생물을 대신할 수 있다고 생각했습니다. 신체 절단도 허용되는 대체물로 여겨졌습니다. 머리카락, 손톱·발톱, 피와 심지어 손가락과 발가락까지 제물로 바쳤습니다. 후기에 거의 보편적인 고대의 할례 의식은 부분적인 희생물 종파의 파생물이었습니다. 그것은 순전히 제물로 바치는 것이었고, 거기에는 위생학적인 고려가 전혀 없었습니다. 남성들에게 할례를 행했고 여성들은 그들의 귀를 뚫었습니다.
89:8.3 (983.1) Subsequently it became the custom to bind fingers together instead of cutting them off. Shaving the head and cutting the hair were likewise forms of religious devotion. The making of eunuchs was at first a modification of the idea of human sacrifice. Nose and lip piercing is still practiced in Africa, and tattooing is an artistic evolution of the earlier crude scarring of the body. 그 후 손가락을 자르지 않고 손가락을 함께 묶는 것이, 관습이 되었습니다. 머리털을 밀고 자르기 또한 종교적 헌신의 형태였습니다. 내시(內侍) 만들기는 처음에 인간 희생물 개념의 변형이었습니다. 코와 입술 피어싱(뚫기)은 여전히 아프리카에서 시행되고 있으며, 문신(文身)은 옛날에 대충 몸에 남긴 흉터의 예술적 진화입니다.
89:8.4 (983.2) The custom of sacrifice eventually became associated, as a result of advancing teachings, with the idea of the covenant. At last, the gods were conceived of as entering into real agreements with man; and this was a major step in the stabilization of religion. Law, a covenant, takes the place of luck, fear, and superstition. 희생물의 관습은, 진보한 가르침의 결과로써, 결국 계약의 개념과 연결되었습니다. 마침내 신과 같은 존재들이 실제로 인간과 계약을 맺는 것으로 생각되었습니다. 이것은 종교를 안정시키는 중요한 단계였습니다. 율법(律法), 계약(契約)이 행운, 두려움과 미신을 대신합니다.
89:8.5 (983.3) Man could never even dream of entering into a contract with Deity until his concept of God had advanced to the level whereon the universe controllers were envisioned as dependable. And man’s early idea of God was so anthropomorphic that he was unable to conceive of a dependable Deity until he himself became relatively dependable, moral, and ethical. 사람은, 우주 조정자들이 믿음직하다고 상상하는 수준으로 하느님에 대한 자신의 개념이 진보하기까지, 신(神)과 계약을 맺는 꿈도 꿀 수 없었습니다. 그리고 하느님에 대한 인간의 초기 개념은 너무 사람의 모습과 비슷해서, 인간 스스로 비교적 믿음직하고, 도덕적이며 윤리적으로 되기까지는, 믿음직한 신(神)을 상상할 수 없었습니다.
89:8.6 (983.4) But the idea of making a covenant with the gods did finally arrive. Evolutionary man eventually acquired such moral dignity that he dared to bargain with his gods. And so the business of offering sacrifices gradually developed into the game of man’s philosophic bargaining with God. And all this represented a new device for insuring against bad luck or, rather, an enhanced technique for the more definite purchase of prosperity. Do not entertain the mistaken idea that these early sacrifices were a free gift to the gods, a spontaneous offering of gratitude or thanksgiving; they were not expressions of true worship. 그러나 하느님과 같은 존재들과 계약을 맺는다는 개념이 마침내 왔습니다. 진화 인간이 감히 자기의 신과 같은 존재들과 흥정하는 그런 도덕적 존엄성을 드디어 습득했습니다. 그리고 그렇게 희생물을 바치는 일은 인간이 하느님과 냉철하게 계약하는 흥정으로 서서히 발전했습니다. 그리고 이 모든 것은 불운(不運)을 방지하는 새로운 방책, 혹은 오히려 더 확실하게 번영을 손에 넣는 향상된 기법을 의미했습니다. 이런 초기 희생물들이 신과 같은 존재들에게 무상으로 드리는 선물, 자발적인 보은(報恩 은혜를 갚음) 즉 감사의 공물이었다는 잘못된 생각을 품지 마십시오. 그것들은 참된 경배의 표시가 아니었습니다.
89:8.7 (983.5) Primitive forms of prayer were nothing more nor less than bargaining with the spirits, an argument with the gods. It was a kind of bartering in which pleading and persuasion were substituted for something more tangible and costly. The developing commerce of the races had inculcated the spirit of trade and had developed the shrewdness of barter; and now these traits began to appear in man’s worship methods. And as some men were better traders than others, so some were regarded as better prayers than others. The prayer of a just man was held in high esteem. A just man was one who had paid all accounts to the spirits, had fully discharged every ritual obligation to the gods. 원시적 형태의 기도는 정확히 영(靈)들과 흥정하기, 신과 같은 존재들과 논쟁하기와 아주 똑같았습니다. 그것은 탄원과 설득으로 더 실속있게 값이 비싼 것을 대체하는 일종의 물물 교환이었습니다. 종족들의 발전하는 거래로 교환하는 풍조가 심어졌고 약삭빠른 물물 교환이 발전했습니다. 그리고 이제 이런 특성이 사람의 경배 방식에 나타나기 시작했습니다. 어떤 사람들이 다른 사람들보다 더 나은 상인들이었듯이, 어떤 것들은 다른 것들보다 더 나은 기도로 여겨졌습니다. 올바른 사람의 기도를 높이 존중했습니다. 올바른 사람은 영(靈)들에게 모든 셈을 끝내고, 신과 같은 존재들에게 모든 의식적 채무를 완전히 갚은 사람이었습니다.
89:8.8 (983.6) Early prayer was hardly worship; it was a bargaining petition for health, wealth, and life. And in many respects prayers have not much changed with the passing of the ages. They are still read out of books, recited formally, and written out for emplacement on wheels and for hanging on trees, where the blowing of the winds will save man the trouble of expending his own breath. 초기 기도는 도저히 경배라고 할 수 없었습니다. 그것은 건강, 재산 및 생명을 위한 거래 청원이었습니다. 그리고 여러 면에서 기도는 오랜 세월의 흐름과 함께 많이 변하지 않았습니다. 여전히 그것들을 책에서 골라 읽고, 형식적으로 낭송하며, 바람이 부는 곳에서, 사람이 호흡하는 소비의 수고를 덜게 될, 바퀴에 붙이고 나무에 매달려고 자세히 적고 있습니다.
9. Sacrifices and Sacraments 희생물과 성찬(聖餐)
89:9.1 (983.7) The human sacrifice, throughout the course of the evolution of Urantian rituals, has advanced from the bloody business of man-eating to higher and more symbolic levels. The early rituals of sacrifice bred the later ceremonies of sacrament. In more recent times the priest alone would partake of a bit of the cannibalistic sacrifice or a drop of human blood, and then all would partake of the animal substitute. These early ideas of ransom, redemption, and covenants have evolved into the later-day sacramental services. And all this ceremonial evolution has exerted a mighty socializing influence. 인간 희생물은, 유란시아 관례의 진화 과정을 통해, 식인(食人)의 유혈 과업에서 더 높고 더 상징적인 수준으로 발전했습니다. 희생물을 바치는 초기 관례들이 나중에 성찬(聖餐) 예식을 일으켰습니다. 더 최근에 사제 홀로 식인 희생물의 조각을 먹고 소량의 사람 피를 마신 다음 모두가 동물 대용식을 먹곤 했습니다. 속량(贖良 몸값 상환), 구속(救贖 상환)과 계약(契約)의 이런 초기 관념은 후대에 성찬식(聖餐式)으로 진화했습니다. 그리고 이런 모든 의례적 진화는 강력하게 사회화하는 영향을 미쳤습니다.
89:9.2 (984.1) In connection with the Mother of God cult, in Mexico and elsewhere, a sacrament of cakes and wine was eventually utilized in lieu of the flesh and blood of the older human sacrifices. The Hebrews long practiced this ritual as a part of their Passover ceremonies, and it was from this ceremonial that the later Christian version of the sacrament took its origin. 하느님 어머니 종파와 관련하여, 멕시코와 다른 곳에서, 케이크와 포도주의 성찬(聖餐)이 결국 더 오래된 인간 희생물의 살과 피의 대신으로 활용되었습니다. 히브리인들은 오랫동안 이런 예식을 자기들의 유월절 예식의 부분으로 지켰고, 이 예식에서 나중에 기독교 버전의 성찬(聖餐)이 비롯되었습니다.
89:9.3 (984.2) The ancient social brotherhoods were based on the rite of blood drinking; the early Jewish fraternity was a sacrificial blood affair. Paul started out to build a new Christian cult on “the blood of the everlasting covenant.” And while he may have unnecessarily encumbered Christianity with teachings about blood and sacrifice, he did once and for all make an end of the doctrines of redemption through human or animal sacrifices. His theologic compromises indicate that even revelation must submit to the graduated control of evolution. According to Paul, Christ became the last and all-sufficient human sacrifice; the divine Judge is now fully and forever satisfied. 고대의 사회적 형제 공동체는 피를 마시는 예식에 근거했습니다. 초기 유대교의 형제회(兄弟會)는 희생물의 피를 흘리는 일이었습니다. 바울은 “영원한 계약의 피” 위에 새로운 기독교 종파를 세우기 시작했습니다. 그리고 그가 기독교를 피와 희생물에 대한 가르침으로 헛되어 거치적거리게 했을지 몰라도, 인간이나 동물 희생물을 통한 구속(救贖) 교리를 단번에 영원히 끝냈습니다. 그의 신학적 절충안은 계시조차 점증하는 진화적 조정을 따라야 한다는 것을 나타냅니다. 바울에 의해, 그리스도는 마지막으로 완전히 충분한 인간 희생물이 되었습니다. 신적 심판자는 이제 완전하게 영원히 만족합니다.
89:9.4 (984.3) And so, after long ages the cult of the sacrifice has evolved into the cult of the sacrament. Thus are the sacraments of modern religions the legitimate successors of those shocking early ceremonies of human sacrifice and the still earlier cannibalistic rituals. Many still depend upon blood for salvation, but it has at least become figurative, symbolic, and mystic. 그래서 오랜 세월 후에 희생물의 종파는 성찬(聖餐) 종파로 진화했습니다. 이렇게 현대 종교들의 성찬들은 그렇게 충격적인 인간 희생물의 초기 예식과 더 이른 식인 예식의 합법적인 후계자들입니다. 많은 사람이 여전히 구원을 위해 피를 의지하지만, 그것은 적어도 비유적이며, 상징적이며, 신비적으로 되었습니다.
10. Forgiveness of Sin 죄의 용서
89:10.1 (984.4) Ancient man only attained consciousness of favor with God through sacrifice. Modern man must develop new techniques of achieving the self-consciousness of salvation. The consciousness of sin persists in the mortal mind, but the thought patterns of salvation therefrom have become outworn and antiquated. The reality of the spiritual need persists, but intellectual progress has destroyed the olden ways of securing peace and consolation for mind and soul. 고대인은 희생물을 통해서 하느님의 은총을 겨우 알아챘습니다. 현대인은 스스로 구원을 알아채는데 이르는 새로운 기법을 개발해야 합니다. 죄에 대한 자각은 필사자 마음에 남아 있지만, 거기에서 구원되는 발상 양식은 진부(陳腐)하고 고루(固陋)해졌습니다. 영적 필요의 실체는 지속하지만, 지적 진보가 마음과 혼(魂)을 위해 평화와 위로를 확보하는 오래된 방법을 파괴했습니다.
89:10.2 (984.5) Sin must be redefined as deliberate disloyalty to Deity. There are degrees of disloyalty: the partial loyalty of indecision; the divided loyalty of confliction; the dying loyalty of indifference; and the death of loyalty exhibited in devotion to godless ideals. 죄(罪)는 신(神)에 대한 의도적(意圖的) 불충(不忠)으로 다시 정의(定義)되어야 합니다. 불충(不忠)의 정도가 있습니다. 주저(躊躇)하는 부분적 충성, 충돌하는 분열된 충성, 관심이 없는 죽어 가는 충성과 신을 믿지 않는 이상(理想)에 대한 헌신으로 드러난 죽은 충성이 있습니다.
89:10.3 (984.6) The sense or feeling of guilt is the consciousness of the violation of the mores; it is not necessarily sin. There is no real sin in the absence of conscious disloyalty to Deity. 죄의식(罪意識)이나 죄책감(罪責感)은 관습을 위반했다는 자각입니다. 그것이 반드시 죄는 아닙니다. 신(神)에 대한 의식적인 불충(不忠)이 없으므로 실재하는 죄가 없습니다.
89:10.4 (984.7) The possibility of the recognition of the sense of guilt is a badge of transcendent distinction for mankind. It does not mark man as mean but rather sets him apart as a creature of potential greatness and ever-ascending glory. Such a sense of unworthiness is the initial stimulus that should lead quickly and surely to those faith conquests which translate the mortal mind to the superb levels of moral nobility, cosmic insight, and spiritual living; thus are all the meanings of human existence changed from the temporal to the eternal, and all values are elevated from the human to the divine. 죄의식(罪意識)을 알아보는 가능성은 인류에게 탁월한 특성이 있다는 증표(證票)입니다. 그것은 인간이 하잘것없는 존재가 아니라 오히려 인간을 잠재적 위대성과 늘-향상하는 영광의 창조물로 구분합니다. 무가치하다는 그런 감각은 필사자 마음을 뛰어난 수준의 도덕적 고귀함, 질서 우주의 통찰력과 영적 생활로 바꾸는 그런 신앙적 극복으로 곧 확실하게 이끌어야 하는 초기의 자극입니다. 이렇게 인간 존재의 모든 의미는 일시적인 것에서 영원한 것으로 변경되고, 모든 가치는 인간적인 것에서 신적인 것으로 향상됩니다.
89:10.5 (984.8) The confession of sin is a manful repudiation of disloyalty, but it in no wise mitigates the time-space consequences of such disloyalty. But confession — sincere recognition of the nature of sin — is essential to religious growth and spiritual progress. 죄 고백은 불충(不忠)에 대한 단호한 거절이지만, 그런 불충(不忠)의 시공간 결과를 절대로 누그러뜨리지 못합니다. 그러나 고백, 즉 죄의 본질에 대한 진지한 인정은 종교적 성장과 영적 진보에 필수적입니다.
89:10.6 (985.1) The forgiveness of sin by Deity is the renewal of loyalty relations following a period of the human consciousness of the lapse of such relations as the consequence of conscious rebellion. The forgiveness does not have to be sought, only received as the consciousness of re-establishment of loyalty relations between the creature and the Creator. And all the loyal sons of God are happy, service-loving, and ever-progressive in the Paradise ascent. 신(神)의 죄 용서는, 의식적인 반란(叛亂)의 결과로써 그런 관계의 탈선을 인간적으로 알아채는 기간이 지난 다음에 오는, 충성 관계의 회복입니다. 용서는 구해야 할 것이 아니라, 창조물과 창조주 사이에서 충성 관계의 복구를 알아차림으로써 받게 될 뿐입니다. 그리고 하느님의 모든 충성스러운 아들(자녀)들은 행복하고, 봉사를 사랑하며, 천국으로 상승하면서 언제나 진보합니다.
89:10.7 (985.2) [Presented by a Brilliant Evening Star of Nebadon.][네바돈의 찬란한 저녁별이 제시함]
90:0.1 (986.1) THE evolution of religious observances progressed from placation, avoidance, exorcism, coercion, conciliation, and propitiation to sacrifice, atonement, and redemption. The technique of religious ritual passed from the forms of the primitive cult through fetishes to magic and miracles; and as ritual became more complex in response to man’s increasingly complex concept of the supermaterial realms, it was inevitably dominated by medicine men, shamans, and priests. 종교적 관례의 진화는 노여움 삭이기, 회피, 축사(逐邪 구마驅魔 귀신 내쫓는 액막이), 강제(强制), 회유(懷柔 어루만져서 달램)와 화해(和解)에서 희생물, 속죄(贖罪 죄의 값 치르기) 및 구속(救贖 상환해서 되찾음)으로 진보했습니다. 종교의식의 기법은 원시 종파에서 주물(呪物)을 거쳐 마술(魔術)과 기적(奇蹟)의 형태로 변했습니다. 그리고 초물질(超物質) 영역에 대해 점점 복잡해지는 인간의 개념에 응하여 의식(儀式)이 더 복잡해지면서, 주술사, 무당과 사제들이 불가피하게 의식(儀式)을 지배했습니다.
90:0.2 (986.2) In the advancing concepts of primitive man the spirit world was eventually regarded as being unresponsive to the ordinary mortal. Only the exceptional among humans could catch the ear of the gods; only the extraordinary man or woman would be heard by the spirits. Religion thus enters upon a new phase, a stage wherein it gradually becomes secondhanded; always does a medicine man, a shaman, or a priest intervene between the religionist and the object of worship. And today most Urantia systems of organized religious belief are passing through this level of evolutionary development. 원시인의 발전하는 개념에서, 영(靈) 세계는 결국 보통 사람에게 반응하지 않는다고 생각했습니다. 신과 같은 존재들의 귀에 인간 중에서 예외적인 자들만 들려 왔습니다. 영(靈)들은 비범한 남성이나 여성만 들었습니다. 종교는 이런 식으로 새로운 단계, 점점 간접적으로 듣게 되는 단계로 접어듭니다. 신자(信者)와 예배의 대상 사이에 언제나 주술사, 무당 혹은 사제가 끼어듭니다. 오늘날 유란시아 대부분의 조직된 종교적 믿음 체계는 이렇게 진화적으로 발전하는 수준을 지나가고 있습니다.
90:0.3 (986.3) Evolutionary religion is born of a simple and all-powerful fear, the fear which surges through the human mind when confronted with the unknown, the inexplicable, and the incomprehensible. Religion eventually achieves the profoundly simple realization of an all-powerful love, the love which sweeps irresistibly through the human soul when awakened to the conception of the limitless affection of the Universal Father for the sons of the universe. But in between the beginning and the consummation of religious evolution, there intervene the long ages of the shamans, who presume to stand between man and God as intermediaries, interpreters, and intercessors. 진화 종교는 알려지지 않은 것, 설명할 수 없는 것, 이해할 수 없는 것에 직면했을 때, 인간의 마음을 꿰뚫고 밀려오는 두려움, 순전한 최고의 두려움에서 태어납니다. 종교는 결국, 우주의 아들(자녀)들을 위한 우주 아버지의 제한 없는 애정의 계획을 깨달을 때, 인간 혼(魂)을 꿰뚫고 압도적으로 휘몰아치는 사랑, 전능한 사랑에 대해서 심오하게 순전한 실감에 이르게 합니다. 그러나 종교적 진화의 시작과 완전한 경지 사이에는, 사람과 하느님 사이에서 감히 중개자, 통역자, 그리고 조정자들로서 서 있는 무당들이 오랫동안 나타납니다.
1. The First Shamans — The Medicine Men 첫 무당들 – 주술사들
90:1.1 (986.4) The shaman was the ranking medicine man, the ceremonial fetishman, and the focus personality for all the practices of evolutionary religion. In many groups the shaman outranked the war chief, marking the beginning of the church domination of the state. The shaman sometimes functioned as a priest and even as a priest-king. Some of the later tribes had both the earlier shaman-medicine men (seers) and the later appearing shaman-priests. And in many cases the office of shaman became hereditary. 무당은 상위(上位) 주술사(呪術師), 공식 주물인(呪物人) 및 모든 진화 종교 관례의 중심인물이었습니다. 여러 집단에서 무당은, 교회가 최초로 국가를 지배하는 표시로서, 전쟁 추장의 윗자리에 있었습니다. 무당은 때때로 사제(司祭), 심지어 사제-왕으로서 활동했습니다. 후기 부족 중 일부는 초기 무당-주술사(예언자)들과 후기에 나타난 무당-사제들 모두 가지고 있었습니다. 여러 경우에 무당의 직책은 세습되었습니다.
90:1.2 (986.5) Since in olden times anything abnormal was ascribed to spirit possession, any striking mental or physical abnormality constituted qualification for being a medicine man. Many of these men were epileptic, many of the women hysteric, and these two types accounted for a good deal of ancient inspiration as well as spirit and devil possession. Quite a few of these earliest of priests were of a class which has since been denominated paranoiac. 옛날에 보통과 다른 것은 영(靈)에 사로잡힌 탓으로 돌렸기 때문에, 이목을 끄는 어떤 정신적 혹은 육체적 기형(畸形)이 주술사가 되는 자격이었습니다. 다수의 이런 남성은 간질(뇌전증) 환자였고, 다수의 여성은 히스테리 환자였으며, 이런 두 유형이 영(靈)과 악령(惡靈)에 들린 것뿐만 아니라 여러 고대의 영감(靈感)의 원인이 되었습니다. 이런 최초의 사제 중 상당수는 그 후 편집증(偏執症 망상 장애) 환자로 불리는 분류에 속했습니다.
90:1.3 (987.1) While they may have practiced deception in minor matters, the great majority of the shamans believed in the fact of their spirit possession. Women who were able to throw themselves into a trance or a cataleptic fit became powerful shamanesses; later, such women became prophets and spirit mediums. Their cataleptic trances usually involved alleged communications with the ghosts of the dead. Many female shamans were also professional dancers. 그들은 사소한 문제에서 속임수를 사용했을 수 있지만 무당들 대다수는 자신이 영(靈)에 빙의(憑依 사로잡힘)된 사실을 믿었습니다. 무아경(無我境 혼수상태)이나 강경증(强硬症 갑작스러운 근육경직) 발작에 빠질 수 있던 여성들은 강력한 여성 무당이 되었습니다. 나중에 그런 여성들은 선지자와 영매(靈媒)가 되었습니다. 그들의 강경증(强硬症) 혼수상태는 대개 죽은 자의 유령(幽靈)과 소통한다는 주장을 필요로 했습니다. 여러 여성 무당은 또한 전문적 무희(舞姬)들이었습니다.
90:1.4 (987.2) But not all shamans were self-deceived; many were shrewd and able tricksters. As the profession developed, a novice was required to serve an apprenticeship of ten years of hardship and self-denial to qualify as a medicine man. The shamans developed a professional mode of dress and affected a mysterious conduct. They frequently employed drugs to induce certain physical states which would impress and mystify the tribesmen. Sleight-of-hand feats were regarded as supernatural by the common folk, and ventriloquism was first used by shrewd priests. Many of the olden shamans unwittingly stumbled onto hypnotism; others induced autohypnosis by prolonged staring at their navels. 그러나 모든 무당이 자기기만에 빠지지 않았습니다. 다수는 약삭빠른 재능 있는 사기꾼들이었습니다. 직업이 발전하면서, 초보자는 주술사로서 자격을 얻으려고 10년간 고난과 극기의 수습 기간을 보내야 했습니다. 무당들은 전문적인 의복 양식을 개발했고, 신비한 행동인 체했습니다. 그들은 부족민들에게 감명을 주고 미혹시키곤 했던 특정한 신체적 상태로 이끌려고 약물을 종종 사용했습니다. 보통 사람들은 교묘한 속임수 기술을 초자연적인 것으로 여겼고, 약삭빠른 사제들이 복화술을 처음 사용했습니다. 여러 옛날의 무당들은 뜻하지 않게 우연히 최면술을 발견했습니다. 다른 사람들은 자기 배꼽을 오랫동안 빤히 보면서 스스로 최면에 빠졌습니다.
90:1.5 (987.3) While many resorted to these tricks and deceptions, their reputation as a class, after all, stood on apparent achievement. When a shaman failed in his undertakings, if he could not advance a plausible alibi, he was either demoted or killed. Thus the honest shamans early perished; only the shrewd actors survived. 많은 사람이 이런 요술(妖術)과 속임수를 썼지만, 결국 그들의 탁월한 평판은 명백한 성과에 달려 있었습니다. 무당이 자기 과업에 실패했을 때, 그럴듯한 변명을 내놓을 수 없으면, 그는 좌천(左遷)되거나 살해당했습니다. 따라서 정직한 무당들은 일찍 죽었습니다. 약삭빠른 배우들만 살아남았습니다.
90:1.6 (987.4) It was shamanism that took the exclusive direction of tribal affairs out of the hands of the old and the strong and lodged it in the hands of the shrewd, the clever, and the farsighted. 부족 업무의 독점적 관리를 연장자(年長者)들과 강한 자들의 손에서 빼앗아 그것을 약삭빠르고, 영리하며, 앞을 내다보는 자들의 손에 맡긴 것은 무술(巫術 샤머니즘)이었습니다.
2. Shamanistic Practices 무술(巫術)적 관행
90:2.1 (987.5) Spirit conjuring was a very precise and highly complicated procedure, comparable to present-day church rituals conducted in an ancient tongue. The human race very early sought for superhuman help, for revelation; and men believed that the shaman actually received such revelations. While the shamans utilized the great power of suggestion in their work, it was almost invariably negative suggestion; only in very recent times has the technique of positive suggestion been employed. In the early development of their profession the shamans began to specialize in such vocations as rain making, disease healing, and crime detecting. To heal diseases was not, however, the chief function of a shamanic medicine man; it was, rather, to know and to control the hazards of living. 영(靈) 불러내기는 고대 언어로 행해진 현대 교회 의식에 상당하는, 아주 까다롭고 대단히 복잡한 과정이었습니다. 인류는 아주 초기부터 계시를 위해서 초(超)인간적 도움을 찾았습니다. 그리고 사람들은 무당이 실제로 그런 계시를 받았다고 믿었습니다. 무당들은 자신들의 업무에서 커다란 암시의 권세를 사용했지만, 그것은 거의 언제나 부정적인 암시였습니다. 아주 최근에 와서야 긍정적인 암시의 기법을 사용했습니다. 그들의 직업이 발전하는 초기에, 무당들은 강우(降雨 비 내리기), 질병 치유 및 범죄를 탐지하는 그런 적성(適性)을 전문적으로 취급하기 시작했습니다. 질병 치유가 무술(巫術)적 주술사의 주요 기능이 아니라, 오히려 생활의 위험 요소를 알아서 조정하는 것이었습니다.
90:2.2 (987.6) Ancient black art, both religious and secular, was called white art when practiced by either priests, seers, shamans, or medicine men. The practitioners of the black art were called sorcerers, magicians, wizards, witches, enchanters, necromancers, conjurers, and soothsayers. As time passed, all such purported contact with the supernatural was classified either as witchcraft or shamancraft. 사제들, 예언자들, 무당들이나 주술사들이 종교적이며 세속적인 고대 흑마술을 실행하면 백마술이라고 불렀습니다. 흑마술을 행하는 자들을 마법사, 마술사, 요술쟁이, 마녀, 요술사, 강령술사, 소환(召喚)술사 및 점쟁이들이라고 불렀습니다. 시간이 지나자, 초자연적인 것과 그렇게 접촉한다고 주장하는 모든 것은 마법이나 방술(方術)로 분류되었습니다.
90:2.3 (987.7) Witchcraft embraced the magic performed by earlier, irregular, and unrecognized spirits; shamancraft had to do with miracles performed by regular spirits and recognized gods of the tribe. In later times the witch became associated with the devil, and thus was the stage set for the many comparatively recent exhibitions of religious intolerance. Witchcraft was a religion with many primitive tribes. 마법은 초기의 변칙적이며 인식되지 않은 영(靈)들이 행한 마술을 포함했습니다. 방술(方術)은 정식 영(靈)들과 부족이 인정한 신과 같은 존재들이 행하는 기적과 관련이 있었습니다. 나중에 마녀는 악령과 관련되어서 상당히 최근에 드러난 여러 종교적 편협함의 무대가 마련되었습니다. 마법은 여러 원시 부족의 종교였습니다.
90:2.4 (987.8) The shamans were great believers in the mission of chance as revelatory of the will of the spirits; they frequently cast lots to arrive at decisions. Modern survivals of this proclivity for casting lots are illustrated, not only in the many games of chance, but also in the well-known “counting-out” rhymes. Once, the person counted out must die; now, he is only it in some childish game. That which was serious business to primitive man has survived as a diversion of the modern child. 무당들은 영(靈)들의 뜻에 대한 계시로서 운수(運數)의 임무를 굳게 믿었습니다. 그들은 결정을 내리려고 자주 제비를 뽑았습니다. 제비를 뽑는 이런 경향이 현대에 남아있는 것은, 운에 좌우되는 많은 게임만 아니라 잘 알려진, “숫자 세기(무작위로 사람을 선택하는)” 운율에도 나타납니다. 한때 뽑힌 사람은 죽어야 했는데, 이제 그는 유치한 놀이에서만 술래로 죽습니다. 원시인에게 심각한 일이었던 것은 현대 어린이의 오락으로 남아있습니다.
90:2.5 (988.1) The medicine men put great trust in signs and omens, such as, “When you hear the sound of a rustling in the tops of the mulberry trees, then shall you bestir yourself.” Very early in the history of the race the shamans turned their attention to the stars. Primitive astrology was a world-wide belief and practice; dream interpreting also became widespread. All this was soon followed by the appearance of those temperamental shamanesses who professed to be able to communicate with the spirits of the dead. 주술사들은 “뽕나무 꼭대기에서 바스락거리는 소리가 들리면, 너희는 분발할지라(삼하5:24, 대상14:15).”와 같은 징조(徵兆)와 전조(前兆)를 크게 신뢰했습니다. 인류 역사의 아주 초기에 무당들은 별들에 관심을 돌렸습니다. 원시적 점성술은 세계적인 믿음과 관행이었습니다. 해몽(解夢 꿈풀이)도 역시 널리 퍼졌습니다. 곧 이런 모든 것에 뒤이어 죽은 자의 영(靈)들과 소통할 수 있다고 공언하는 신경질적인 여성 무당들이 출현했습니다.
90:2.6 (988.2) Though of ancient origin, the rain makers, or weather shamans, have persisted right on down through the ages. A severe drought meant death to the early agriculturists; weather control was the object of much ancient magic. Civilized man still makes the weather the common topic of conversation. The olden peoples all believed in the power of the shaman as a rain maker, but it was customary to kill him when he failed, unless he could offer a plausible excuse to account for the failure. 기원이 오래되었지만, 강우(降雨 비 내리는) 자들 즉 기상 무당들은 대대로 바로 현재까지 지속하고 있습니다. 모진 가뭄은 초기 농업 종사자들에게 죽음을 의미했습니다. 기상 조절은 여러 고대 마법의 대상이었습니다. 문명인들은 여전히 날씨를 흔히 대화의 주제로 삼습니다. 옛사람들은 모두 비 내리는 자로서 무당의 권세를 믿었지만, 그가 실패했을 때, 실패의 원인을 밝히는 그럴듯한 해명을 내놓지 못하면 그를 죽이는 것이 관례였습니다.
90:2.7 (988.3) Again and again did the Caesars banish the astrologers, but they invariably returned because of the popular belief in their powers. They could not be driven out, and even in the sixteenth century after Christ the directors of Occidental church and state were the patrons of astrology. Thousands of supposedly intelligent people still believe that one may be born under the domination of a lucky or an unlucky star; that the juxtaposition of the heavenly bodies determines the outcome of various terrestrial adventures. Fortunetellers are still patronized by the credulous. 계속해서 로마 황제들이 점성가들을 추방했지만, 대중이 그들의 권세를 믿었기 때문에, 그들은 변함없이 되돌아왔습니다. 그들을 쫓아낼 수 없었고, 그리스도 이후 16세기에도 서양 교회와 국가의 지도자들은 점성술의 후원자였습니다. 현명하다는 수많은 사람이 아직도, 사람은 운 좋거나 불길한 별의 지배하에 태어날 수 있고, 천체의 병렬 상태가 다양한 현세 모험의 과정을 결정한다고 믿고 있습니다. 잘 속는 자들은 여전히 점쟁이들의 고객이 되고 있습니다.
90:2.8 (988.4) The Greeks believed in the efficacy of oracular advice, the Chinese used magic as protection against demons, shamanism flourished in India, and it still openly persists in central Asia. It is an only recently abandoned practice throughout much of the world. 그리스인(人)은 신탁(神託) 충고의 효력을 믿었고, 중국인은 귀신들을 막는 보호책으로 마법을 사용했고 인도에서는 무술(巫術 샤머니즘)이 번성했으며, 그것은 여전히 중앙아시아에서 공공연히 계속됩니다. 그것은 최근에야 세계 여러 곳에서 폐기된 관행입니다.
90:2.9 (988.5) Ever and anon, true prophets and teachers arose to denounce and expose shamanism. Even the vanishing red man had such a prophet within the past hundred years, the Shawnee Tenskwatawa, who predicted the eclipse of the sun in 1806 and denounced the vices of the white man. Many true teachers have appeared among the various tribes and races all through the long ages of evolutionary history. And they will ever continue to appear to challenge the shamans or priests of any age who oppose general education and attempt to thwart scientific progress. 때때로 참 선지자들과 선생들이 나타나 무술(巫術)을 비난하고 폭로했습니다. 사라지는 홍인(紅人)조차 과거 100년 이내에 그런 선지자, 즉 1806년 일식(日蝕 6/6 개기, 12/10 금환)을 예언하고 백인의 악덕을 비난한 쇼니족(族) 텐스콰타와가 있었습니다. 여러 참된 선생이 오랜 진화 역사 내내 다양한 부족과 종족 중에 출현했습니다. 그리고 그들은 일반 교육을 반대하고 과학적 진보를 방해하려는 모든 시대의 무당들이나 사제들에게 도전하려고 늘 계속 나타날 것입니다.
90:2.10 (988.6) In many ways and by devious methods the olden shamans established their reputations as voices of God and custodians of providence. They sprinkled the newborn with water and conferred names upon them; they circumcised the males. They presided over all burial ceremonies and made due announcement of the safe arrival of the dead in spiritland. 여러 방법과 그릇된 방식으로, 옛날의 무당들은 자기 명성을 하느님의 음성과 섭리(攝理 자연계를 지배하는 원리와 법칙)의 관리자로 확고히 굳혔습니다. 그들은 신생아에게 물을 뿌리고 그들에게 이름을 주었습니다. 그들은 남성들에게 할례(割禮)를 행했습니다. 그들은 모든 장례식을 주관하고 죽은 자들이 영(靈) 나라에 무사히 도착했다고 마땅히 공표했습니다.
90:2.11 (988.7) The shamanic priests and medicine men often became very wealthy through the accretion of their various fees which were ostensibly offerings to the spirits. Not infrequently a shaman would accumulate practically all the material wealth of his tribe. Upon the death of a wealthy man it was customary to divide his property equally with the shaman and some public enterprise or charity. This practice still obtains in some parts of Tibet, where one half the male population belongs to this class of nonproducers. 무술(巫術)적 사제들과 주술사들은 표면상 영(靈)들에게 바치는 그들의 다양한 수수료를 축적하여 자주 매우 부유해졌습니다. 종종 무당은 실제로 자기 부족의 모든 물질 재산을 축적하곤 했습니다. 부자가 죽으면, 그의 재산을 무당과 공기업 즉 자선기금과 똑같이 나누는 것이, 관례였습니다. 이런 관행은 남성 인구의 절반이 이런 비(非)생산자 부류에 속하는, 티벳의 일부 지역에서 아직도 통용됩니다.
90:2.12 (989.1) The shamans dressed well and usually had a number of wives; they were the original aristocracy, being exempt from all tribal restrictions. They were very often of low-grade mind and morals. They suppressed their rivals by denominating them witches or sorcerers and very frequently rose to such positions of influence and power that they were able to dominate the chiefs or kings. 무당들은 옷을 잘 차려입고 대개 여러 아내가 있었습니다. 그들은 모든 부족의 제약 규정에서 면제된, 최초의 귀족이었습니다. 그들은 때때로 저급한 마음과 도덕을 갖고 있었습니다. 그들은 자기 경쟁자들을 마녀와 마법사로 불러서 활동을 못 하게 했고, 자신들이 족장이나 왕들을 지배할 수 있는 영향력과 권세의 그런 지위로 아주 빈번하게 높아졌습니다.
90:2.13 (989.2) Primitive man regarded the shaman as a necessary evil; he feared him but did not love him. Early man respected knowledge; he honored and rewarded wisdom. The shaman was mostly fraud, but the veneration for shamanism well illustrates the premium put upon wisdom in the evolution of the race. 원시인은 무당을 필요악(必要惡)으로 여겼습니다. 그는 그를 두려워했지만 사랑하지 않았습니다. 초기 인간은 지식을 존중했습니다. 그는 지혜를 예우하여 보상했습니다. 무당은 대부분 사기꾼이었지만, 무술(巫術 샤머니즘)에 대한 숭배로 인류의 진화에서 지혜를 장려했다는 것을 잘 예증합니다.
3. The Shamanic Theory of Disease and Death 질병과 죽음에 대한 무술(巫術)적 이론
90:3.1 (989.3) Since ancient man regarded himself and his material environment as being directly responsive to the whims of the ghosts and the fancies of the spirits, it is not strange that his religion should have been so exclusively concerned with material affairs. Modern man attacks his material problems directly; he recognizes that matter is responsive to the intelligent manipulation of mind. Primitive man likewise desired to modify and even to control the life and energies of the physical domains; and since his limited comprehension of the cosmos led him to the belief that ghosts, spirits, and gods were personally and immediately concerned with the detailed control of life and matter, he logically directed his efforts to winning the favor and support of these superhuman agencies. 고대인은 자신과 자신의 물질 환경을 유령들의 변덕과 영(靈)들의 기호에 직접 반응하는 것으로 여겼기 때문에, 그의 종교가 오로지 물질적인 일에만 관련되었던 것은 이상하지 않습니다. 현대인은 자신의 물질 문제에 직접 달려듭니다. 그는, 물질이 마음의 지능적 조작에 반응한다는 것을 알아봅니다. 원시인도 똑같이 물리적 영역의 생명과 에너지를 조절하고 조종까지 하고 싶었습니다. 그리고 질서 우주에 대한 그의 제한된 이해력으로 인해 유령들, 영(靈)들 그리고 하느님과 같은 존재들이 생명과 물질의 상세한 조정에 친히, 바로 관여하고 있다는 믿음에 이르렀기 때문에, 그는 논리적으로 이런 초인간적 대리자의 은혜와 지지를 얻으려고 노력했습니다.
90:3.2 (989.4) Viewed in this light, much of the inexplicable and irrational in the ancient cults is understandable. The ceremonies of the cult were primitive man’s attempt to control the material world in which he found himself. And many of his efforts were directed to the end of prolonging life and insuring health. Since all diseases and death itself were originally regarded as spirit phenomena, it was inevitable that the shamans, while functioning as medicine men and priests, should also have labored as doctors and surgeons. 이런 관점으로 보자면, 고대 종파의 여러 설명할 수 없고 불합리한 것들을, 이해할 수 있습니다. 종파의 의식(儀式)은 원시인이 있는 물질 세상을 조정하려는 그의 시도였습니다. 그리고 여러 그의 노력은 생명을 연장하고 건강을 지키는 목적에 쏟았습니다. 모든 질병과 죽음 자체를 원래 영(靈) 현상으로 여겼기 때문에, 무당들은 주술사들과 사제들로 활동하면서 또한 의사와 외과 의사로 불가피하게 수고해야 했습니다.
90:3.3 (989.5) The primitive mind may be handicapped by lack of facts, but it is for all that logical. When thoughtful men observe disease and death, they set about to determine the causes of these visitations, and in accordance with their understanding, the shamans and the scientists have propounded the following theories of affliction: 원시적인 마음은 사실을 몰라서 불리한 입장에 설 수도 있으나, 그것은 모두 논리적입니다. 신중한 사람들은 질병과 죽음을 관찰하면서, 그들은 이런 고난의 원인을 해결해보려고 해서, 자신들의 이해에 따라, 무당들과 과학자들은 고통에 대한 다음의 이론을 제안했습니다.
90:3.4 (989.6) 1. Ghosts — direct spirit influences. The earliest hypothesis advanced in explanation of disease and death was that spirits caused disease by enticing the soul out of the body; if it failed to return, death ensued. The ancients so feared the malevolent action of disease-producing ghosts that ailing individuals would often be deserted without even food or water. Regardless of the erroneous basis for these beliefs, they did effectively isolate afflicted individuals and prevent the spread of contagious disease. 유령(幽靈)들 – 직접적인 영(靈)의 영향력. 질병과 죽음을 진보적으로 설명하는 가장 오래된 가설은 영(靈)들이 혼을 유혹하여 몸 밖으로 나오도록 질병을 일으켰다는 것입니다. 혼(魂)이 끝내 되돌아가지 못한 결과로, 죽음이 일어났습니다. 고대인들은 질병을 일으키는 유령들의 악의적 행위를 너무 두려워해서 병약한 사람들을 음식이나 물조차 주지 않고 자주 버려두곤 했습니다. 이렇게 믿는 잘못된 체제에도 불구하고, 그들은 실제로 앓는 사람들을 격리하여 전염병의 확산을 막았습니다.
90:3.5 (989.7) 2. Violence — obvious causes. The causes for some accidents and deaths were so easy to identify that they were early removed from the category of ghost action. Fatalities and wounds attendant upon war, animal combat, and other readily identifiable agencies were considered as natural occurrences. But it was long believed that the spirits were still responsible for delayed healing or for the infection of wounds of even “natural” causation. If no observable natural agent could be discovered, the spirit ghosts were still held responsible for disease and death. 폭력 – 명백한 원인. 일부 사고 및 사망의 원인은 파악하기 쉬워서 유령 활동의 범주에서 일찌감치 제외되었습니다. 전쟁, 동물과 싸움 및 기타 쉽게 확인할 수 있는 작용에 따르는 재난과 부상은 자연 발생으로 여겼습니다. 회복이 늦어지거나 “자연스러운” 원인이라도 상처의 감염은 여전히 영(靈)들이 책임져야 한다고 오랫동안 믿었습니다. 관찰할 수 있는 자연스러운 작용이 발견되지 않으면, 영(靈) 유령에게 여전히 질병과 죽음에 대한 책임을 지웠습니다.
90:3.6 (990.1) Today, in Africa and elsewhere may be found primitive peoples who kill someone every time a nonviolent death occurs. Their medicine men indicate the guilty parties. If a mother dies in childbirth, the child is immediately strangled — a life for a life. 오늘날, 아프리카와 다른 곳에서 비폭력적인 사망이 발생할 때마다 누군가를 죽이는 원시 민족을 발견할 수 있습니다. 그들의 주술사들은 죄가 있는 공범자들을 지적합니다. 산모가 출산 중에 죽으면, 바로 그 아이를 질식사시켰습니다 – 생명은 생명으로 갚습니다.
90:3.7 (990.2) 3. Magic — the influence of enemies. Much sickness was thought to be caused by bewitchment, the action of the evil eye and the magic pointing bow. At one time it was really dangerous to point a finger at anyone; it is still regarded as ill-mannered to point. In cases of obscure disease and death the ancients would hold a formal inquest, dissect the body, and settle upon some finding as the cause of death; otherwise the death would be laid to witchcraft, thus necessitating the execution of the witch responsible therefor. These ancient coroner’s inquests saved many a supposed witch’s life. Among some it was believed that a tribesman could die as a result of his own witchcraft, in which event no one was accused. 마법 – 적들의 영향력. 많은 질병이 마력(魔力), 악마 눈의 작용과 마법적으로 가리키는 활이 원인이라고 여겼습니다. 한때 누군가를 손가락질하는 것은 정말 위험했습니다. 손가락질은 여전히 무례하게 여깁니다. 분명하지 않은 질병과 죽음의 경우에, 고대인들은 정식으로 검시하여, 시신(屍身)을 해부하고, 일부 발견 사항을 죽음의 원인으로 결정하곤 했습니다. 그렇지 않으면 죽음을 곧잘 마법의 책임으로 돌려서, 그것을 초래한 마녀를 필연적으로 처형했습니다. 이런 고대 검시관의 검시가 마녀로 여겨진 많은 생명을 구했습니다. 일부 사람 중에는, 부족민이 자기 마법의 결과로 죽을 수 있다고 믿었고, 그런 경우 아무도 고발당하지 않았습니다.
90:3.8 (990.3) 4. Sin — punishment for taboo violation. In comparatively recent times it has been believed that sickness is a punishment for sin, personal or racial. Among peoples traversing this level of evolution the prevailing theory is that one cannot be afflicted unless one has violated a taboo. To regard sickness and suffering as “arrows of the Almighty within them” is typical of such beliefs. The Chinese and Mesopotamians long regarded disease as the result of the action of evil demons, although the Chaldeans also looked upon the stars as the cause of suffering. This theory of disease as a consequence of divine wrath is still prevalent among many reputedly civilized groups of Urantians. 죄 – 금기 위반에 대한 처벌. 비교적 근세에 질병은, 개인적이거나 종족적이거나, 죄에 대한 처벌이라고 여겼습니다. 이런 수준의 진화를 통과하는 민족들 사이에 널리 퍼진 이론은, 금기를 위반하지 않는 한 아무도 시달릴 수 없다는 것입니다. 질병과 고통을 “자신들 안에 있는 전능자의 화살(욥6:4, 시38:2)”로 여기는 것은, 전형적인 그런 믿음입니다. 중국인들과 메소포타미아인(人)들은 오랫동안 질병을 악한 귀신들이 활동한 결과로 여겼지만, 갈대아인(人)들은 또한 별들을 고통의 원인으로 여겼습니다. 질병이 신적 진노의 결과라는 이런 이론은 문명화된 평판으로 통하는 유란시아인(人)들의 여러 집단에서 여전히 널리 퍼져 있습니다.
90:3.9 (990.4) 5. Natural causation. Mankind has been very slow to learn the material secrets of the interrelationship of cause and effect in the physical domains of energy, matter, and life. The ancient Greeks, having preserved the traditions of Adamson’s teachings, were among the first to recognize that all disease is the result of natural causes. Slowly and certainly the unfolding of a scientific era is destroying man’s age-old theories of sickness and death. Fever was one of the first human ailments to be removed from the category of supernatural disorders, and progressively the era of science has broken the fetters of ignorance which so long imprisoned the human mind. An understanding of old age and contagion is gradually obliterating man’s fear of ghosts, spirits, and gods as the personal perpetrators of human misery and mortal suffering. 자연적 원인. 인류는 에너지, 물질 및 생명의 물리적 영역에서 원인과 결과의 상호 관계성에 대한 물질적 비밀을 아주 더디게 익혔습니다. 아담선의 가르침에 대한 전통을 보존한 고대 그리스인(人)들은, 모든 질병이 자연적 원인의 결과임을 처음 알아본 사람 중 하나였습니다. 서서히 그리고 확실하게, 과학적 시대가 전개되면서 질병과 죽음에 대한 인간의 아주 오래된 이론들이 파괴되고 있습니다. 발열(發熱)은 초(超)자연적 질환의 범주에서 제거된 최초의 인간 질환 중 하나였고, 점차 과학의 시대가 그렇게 오랫동안 인간 마음을 가두었던 무지의 속박을 깨뜨렸습니다. 노령과 감염(感染)에 대한 이해는 인간의 불행과 죽을 운명적 고통의 직접적인 가해자들로써, 인간이 두려워하는 유령(幽靈)들, 영(靈)들 및 하느님과 같은 존재들의 흔적을 점차 없애고 있습니다.
90:3.10 (990.5) Evolution unerringly achieves its end: It imbues man with that superstitious fear of the unknown and dread of the unseen which is the scaffolding for the God concept. And having witnessed the birth of an advanced comprehension of Deity, through the co-ordinate action of revelation, this same technique of evolution then unerringly sets in motion those forces of thought which will inexorably obliterate the scaffolding, which has served its purpose. 진화는 정확하게 그 목적을 달성합니다. 그것은 인간에게 미지의 미신적 두려움과 하느님 개념의 발판인 영계(靈界)에 대한 두려움을 불어 넣습니다. 그리고 계시의 조정하고 통합하는 작용을 통해서, 신(神)에 대한 진보적 이해의 탄생을 목격하면, 바로 이 진화의 기법이 그다음에 정확히 그런 사고력(思考力)을 움직여 그 목적으로 쓰였던 발판의 흔적을 가차 없이 없앨 것입니다.
4. Medicine Under the Shamans 무당들의 주술(呪術)
90:4.1 (990.6) The entire life of ancient men was prophylactic; their religion was in no small measure a technique for disease prevention. And regardless of the error in their theories, they were wholehearted in putting them into effect; they had unbounded faith in their methods of treatment, and that, in itself, is a powerful remedy. 고대인들의 평생은 질병 예방이었습니다. 그들의 종교는 적지 않게 질병 예방 기법이었습니다. 그들 이론의 오류에 괘념(掛念)치 않고 그들은 전심으로 그것들을 실행했습니다. 그들은 자신들의 치유 방식을 한없이 신뢰했고, 그것은 그 자체로 매우 효과적인 치료였습니다.
90:4.2 (991.1) The faith required to get well under the foolish ministrations of one of these ancient shamans was, after all, not materially different from that which is required to experience healing at the hands of some of his later-day successors who engage in the nonscientific treatment of disease. 이런 고대 무당 중 하나의 분별없는 봉사로 질병 치료에 필요한 신뢰는 어쨌든 후일에 비과학적 질병 치료에 종사하는 일부 그 후계자들의 손에서 경험하는 치유에 요구된 것과 크게 다르지 않았습니다.
90:4.3 (991.2) The more primitive tribes greatly feared the sick, and for long ages they were carefully avoided, shamefully neglected. It was a great advance in humanitarianism when the evolution of shamancraft produced priests and medicine men who consented to treat disease. Then it became customary for the entire clan to crowd into the sickroom to assist the shaman in howling the disease ghosts away. It was not uncommon for a woman to be the diagnosing shaman, while a man would administer treatment. The usual method of diagnosing disease was to examine the entrails of an animal. 더 원시적인 부족들은 환자들을 매우 두려워했고, 아주 오랫동안 그들은 수치스럽게 방치하면서, 신중하게 피했습니다. 무술(巫術 무당의 방술)의 진화로 질병 진료에 찬성한 사제들과 주술사들이 배출되면서 인도주의(人道主義)가 크게 개선되었습니다. 그 후 질병 유령들이 떠나가도록 무당이 아우성치는 일을 도우려고 온 부족이 병실에 밀어닥치는 일이 관습이 되었습니다. 남성이 치료를 하곤 했으며, 여성은 진단하는 무당이 되는 것은 드물지 않았습니다. 평소에 질병을 진단하는 방법은 동물의 내장을 검사하는 것이었습니다.
90:4.4 (991.3) Disease was treated by chanting, howling, laying on of hands, breathing on the patient, and many other techniques. In later times the resort to temple sleep, during which healing supposedly took place, became widespread. The medicine men eventually essayed actual surgery in connection with temple slumber; among the first operations was that of trephining the skull to allow a headache spirit to escape. The shamans learned to treat fractures and dislocations, to open boils and abscesses; the shamanesses became adept at midwifery. 노래 부르기, 아우성, 손을 얹기, 환자에게 입김을 내뿜기 및 여러 다른 기법으로 질병을 치료했습니다. 후대에, 성전에서 잠을 자는 동안 결국 치료가 일어났다는 방법이 널리 퍼졌습니다. 주술사들은 성전 수면과 관련하여 결국 실제로 외과 수술을 시도했습니다. 첫 수술 중 하나는 두통 영(靈)이 달아나도록 두개골에 구멍을 내는 수술이었습니다. 무당들은 골절(骨折 뼈 부러짐)과 탈구(脫臼 뼈 어긋남) 치료와 종기(腫氣)와 농양(膿瘍 고름집) 여는 법을 익혔습니다. 여성 무당들은 해산을 돕는 일에 능숙해졌습니다.
90:4.5 (991.4) It was a common method of treatment to rub something magical on an infected or blemished spot on the body, throw the charm away, and supposedly experience a cure. If anyone should chance to pick up the discarded charm, it was believed he would immediately acquire the infection or blemish. It was a long time before herbs and other real medicines were introduced. Massage was developed in connection with incantation, rubbing the spirit out of the body, and was preceded by efforts to rub medicine in, even as moderns attempt to rub liniments in. Cupping and sucking the affected parts, together with bloodletting, were thought to be of value in getting rid of a disease-producing spirit. 몸의 감염되거나 흠집 난 부분에 마법적인 것을 문지르며, 부적을 던져, 치료를 경험했다고 믿는 것이 흔한 치료법이었습니다. 누구든지 버린 부적을 집어 들면, 즉시 감염되거나 손상을 입을 것이라고 여겼습니다. 약초와 기타 진짜 약을 받아들이기까지 오랜 시간이 걸렸습니다. 안마(按摩)는 문질러서 영(靈)을 몰아내는 주문(呪文) 외우기와 관련하여 발전했고, 바로 현대인들이 바르는 약을 문질러 넣듯이, 약을 문질러 넣으려는 수고가 먼저 있었습니다. 부항법(附缸法)과 환부(患部)를 빠는 것은, 사혈(瀉血 피를 뽑아냄)과 함께 질병을 일으키는 영(靈)의 제거에 가치가 있다고 간주했습니다.
90:4.6 (991.5) Since water was a potent fetish, it was utilized in the treatment of many ailments. For long it was believed that the spirit causing the sickness could be eliminated by sweating. Vapor baths were highly regarded; natural hot springs soon blossomed as primitive health resorts. Early man discovered that heat would relieve pain; he used sunlight, fresh animal organs, hot clay, and hot stones, and many of these methods are still employed. Rhythm was practiced in an effort to influence the spirits; the tom-toms were universal. 물은 강력한 주물(呪物)이어서, 여러 질병 치료법으로 사용되었습니다. 영(靈)이 일으킨 질병은 땀을 흘려서 없앨 수 있다고 오랫동안 믿었습니다. 한증(汗蒸)은 굉장히 중시되었습니다. 천연 온천은 곧 원시적 휴양지로 번성하게 되었습니다. 고대인은 통증이 열로 누그러진다는 사실을 발견했습니다. 그는 햇빛, 싱싱한 동물 장기(臟器), 뜨거운 찰흙과 뜨거운 돌멩이들을 사용했고 이런 방법 중 여러 가지가 아직도 사용됩니다. 영(靈)들에게 영향을 주기 위해서 습관적으로 리듬을 사용했습니다. 드럼은 보편적이었습니다.
90:4.7 (991.6) Among some people disease was thought to be caused by a wicked conspiracy between spirits and animals. This gave rise to the belief that there existed a beneficent plant remedy for every animal-caused disease. The red men were especially devoted to the plant theory of universal remedies; they always put a drop of blood in the root hole left when the plant was pulled up. 일부 사람들 사이에서 질병은 영들과 동물들 사이의 사악한 공모로 생긴다고 여겼습니다. 이것이 동물이 일으킨 모든 질병에 대해 유익한 식물 치료제가 존재한다는 믿음을 낳았습니다. 홍인들은 특히 만병통치의 식물 요법에 몰두했습니다. 그들은 식물이 잡아 뽑힐 때 남겨 놓은 뿌리 구멍에 언제나 피 한 방울을 넣었습니다.
90:4.8 (991.7) Fasting, dieting, and counterirritants were often used as remedial measures. Human secretions, being definitely magical, were highly regarded; blood and urine were thus among the earliest medicines and were soon augmented by roots and various salts. The shamans believed that disease spirits could be driven out of the body by foul-smelling and bad-tasting medicines. Purging very early became a routine treatment, and the values of raw cocoa and quinine were among the earliest pharmaceutical discoveries. 단식, 식이요법 및 반대(유도) 자극제들이 치료책으로 자주 사용되었습니다. 분명히 마법적인, 인간 분비물은 굉장히 중시되었습니다. 혈액과 소변은 이렇게 가장 초기의 약제들에 속했고 이윽고 뿌리들과 다양한 소금으로 늘어났습니다. 무당들은 질병을 일으키는 영(靈)들이 악취 나는 쓴 약으로 몸 밖으로 쫓겨 나갈 수 있다고 믿었습니다. 공기 배기(空氣排氣)는 아주 초기에 일상적 치료법이 되었고 야생 코코아와 퀴닌의 가치는 아주 초기의 약제 발견 중 하나였습니다.
90:4.9 (992.1) The Greeks were the first to evolve truly rational methods of treating the sick. Both the Greeks and the Egyptians received their medical knowledge from the Euphrates valley. Oil and wine was a very early medicine for treating wounds; castor oil and opium were used by the Sumerians. Many of these ancient and effective secret remedies lost their power when they became known; secrecy has always been essential to the successful practice of fraud and superstition. Only facts and truth court the full light of comprehension and rejoice in the illumination and enlightenment of scientific research. 그리스인들은 환자를 치료하는, 정말로 합리적 방법을 개발한 최초의 사람들이었습니다. 그리스인들과 이집트인들은 둘 다 유프라테스 계곡에서 자신들의 의학 지식을 받았습니다. 기름과 포도주는 상처를 치료하는 아주 초기의 약품이었습니다. 수메르인들은 피마자유와 아편을 사용했습니다. 이런 고대의 효력 있는 은밀한 여러 치료법이 알려지게 되자, 그 효력을 잃었습니다. 비밀주의는 사기와 미신의 성공적인 관행에 언제나 필수적이었습니다. 사실과 진실만이 이해의 충만한 시력을 얻으려고 하며 과학 연구의 계몽(啓蒙)과 계발(啓發)을 좋아합니다.
5. Priests and Rituals 사제(司祭)와 의식(儀式)
90:5.1 (992.2) The essence of the ritual is the perfection of its performance; among savages it must be practiced with exact precision. It is only when the ritual has been correctly carried out that the ceremony possesses compelling power over the spirits. If the ritual is faulty, it only arouses the anger and resentment of the gods. Therefore, since man’s slowly evolving mind conceived that the technique of ritual was the decisive factor in its efficacy, it was inevitable that the early shamans should sooner or later evolve into a priesthood trained to direct the meticulous practice of the ritual. And so for tens of thousands of years endless rituals have hampered society and cursed civilization, have been an intolerable burden to every act of life, every racial undertaking. 의식(儀式)의 본질은 완전하게 수행하는 것이어서, 야만인들 사이에서 의식(儀式)은 엄밀한 정확성으로 이루어져야 했습니다. 의식(儀式)이 정확하게 수행되었을 때만, 의례(儀禮)가 영(靈)들에 대해 강력한 힘을 가집니다. 의식(儀式)이 잘못되면, 신과 같은 존재들의 노염과 원한을 불러일으킬 뿐입니다. 따라서 서서히 진화하는 인간의 마음은 의식(儀式)의 기법이 그 효험 있는 결정적 요소라고 생각해서, 초기 무당들이 머잖아 의식(儀式)의 세심한 수행을 관리하도록 훈련된 사제직으로 진화할 수밖에 없었습니다. 그래서 수만 년 동안 끝없는 의식(儀式)이 사회를 방해하고 문명을 저주했으며 모든 삶의 행위, 모든 종족의 일에 견딜 수 없는 부담이었습니다.
90:5.2 (992.3) Ritual is the technique of sanctifying custom; ritual creates and perpetuates myths as well as contributing to the preservation of social and religious customs. Again, ritual itself has been fathered by myths. Rituals are often at first social, later becoming economic and finally acquiring the sanctity and dignity of religious ceremonial. Ritual may be personal or group in practice — or both — as illustrated by prayer, dancing, and drama. 의식(儀式)은 관습을 신성화하는 기법이어서, 의식(儀式)이 신화(神話)를 창조하고 영속시킬 뿐만이 아니라 사회적, 종교적 관습의 보존에 공헌합니다. 게다가 신화(神話)가 의식(儀式) 자체를 돌봤습니다. 의식(儀式)들이 흔히 처음에는 사회적이며, 나중에는 경제적인 것이 되어, 마침내 종교적 의례의 신성(神聖)과 존엄(尊嚴)을 얻게 됩니다. 의식(儀式)은 기도, 춤, 연극에서 볼 수 있듯이 개인적이거나 집단적일 수도 있고, 둘 다일 수도 있습니다.
90:5.3 (992.4) Words become a part of ritual, such as the use of terms like amen and selah. The habit of swearing, profanity, represents a prostitution of former ritualistic repetition of holy names. The making of pilgrimages to sacred shrines is a very ancient ritual. The ritual next grew into elaborate ceremonies of purification, cleansing, and sanctification. The initiation ceremonies of the primitive tribal secret societies were in reality a crude religious rite. The worship technique of the olden mystery cults was just one long performance of accumulated religious ritual. Ritual finally developed into the modern types of social ceremonials and religious worship, services embracing prayer, song, responsive reading, and other individual and group spiritual devotions. 아멘과 셀라(시편 39개의 시에 71회, 하박국에 3회 나옵니다. 찬양과 악기 연주 중에 음성이나 그 음을 높이거나 노래하는 사람들이 연주 중 잠시 침묵한다는 의미)와 같은 용어의 사용처럼, 단어들이 의식(儀式)의 일부가 됩니다. 욕설, 신성 모독의 습관은 성스러운 이름을 반복하는 옛날 의식(儀式)의 타락을 나타냅니다. 신성한 성지(聖地)를 순례하는 것은 아주 오래된 의식(儀式)입니다. 의식(儀式)은 다음에 정화(淨化), 죄 씻음과 성화(聖化)의 정교한 의례로 발전했습니다. 원시 부족의 비밀 공동체의 입회식은 실제로 투박한 종교의식이었습니다. 오래된 신비 종파들의 경배 기법은 축적된 종교의식이 하나로 연결된 긴 공연에 불과했습니다. 의식(儀式)은 마침내 현대적 유형의 공동체적 의례들과 및 종교적 경배, 즉 기도, 노래, 교독(交讀)과 기타 개인과 집단의 영적 헌신을 포함하는 예배로 발전했습니다.
90:5.4 (992.5) The priests evolved from shamans up through oracles, diviners, singers, dancers, weathermakers, guardians of religious relics, temple custodians, and foretellers of events, to the status of actual directors of religious worship. Eventually the office became hereditary; a continuous priestly caste arose. 사제들은 무당들로부터 신탁자, 점쟁이, 가수, 무용가, 날씨 만드는 자, 종교 유물 수호자, 성전 보관자, 사건 예언자들을 거쳐 종교적 예배를 실제로 지도하는 지위로 서서히 발전했습니다. 결국 그 직무가 세습되어서, 지속적인 사제 계급이 생겼습니다.
90:5.5 (992.6) As religion evolved, priests began to specialize according to their innate talents or special predilections. Some became singers, others prayers, and still others sacrificers; later came the orators — preachers. And when religion became institutionalized, these priests claimed to “hold the keys of heaven.” 종교가 진화하면서 사제들은 타고난 재능이나 특별한 애호에 따라 전문화하기 시작했습니다. 어떤 사람들은 가수들로, 다른 사람들은 기도자들로, 또 다른 사람들은 제사하는 자들이 되었고, 나중에 연설자 즉 설교자가 등장했습니다. 종교가 제도화되자, 이런 사제들은 “하늘의 열쇠를 쥐고 있다”라고 주장했습니다.
90:5.6 (992.7) The priests have always sought to impress and awe the common people by conducting the religious ritual in an ancient tongue and by sundry magical passes so to mystify the worshipers as to enhance their own piety and authority. The great danger in all this is that the ritual tends to become a substitute for religion. 사제들은 언제나 고대 언어로 종교의식(儀式)을 인도하고, 잡다한 마법적 손놀림으로, 예배자들을 홀리고 자신들의 경건과 권위를 강화하여, 일반인들에게 깊은 인상과 경외심을 주려고 했습니다. 이 모든 것의 가장 큰 위험은 의식(儀式)이 종교(宗敎)를 대신하는 경향이 있다는 것입니다.
90:5.7 (993.1) The priesthoods have done much to delay scientific development and to hinder spiritual progress, but they have contributed to the stabilization of civilization and to the enhancement of certain kinds of culture. But many modern priests have ceased to function as directors of the ritual of the worship of God, having turned their attention to theology — the attempt to define God. 사제직이 과학 발전을 지연시키고 영적 진보를 방해하는 데 크게 진력했지만, 그들은 문명을 안정시키고 특정한 종류의 문화 향상에 이바지했습니다. 그러나 여러 현대의 사제들이 하느님을 정의(定義)하려는 시도, 즉 신학에 관심을 돌리면서, 하느님을 경배하는 의식(儀式)의 지도자들로서 직분을 중단했습니다.
90:5.8 (993.2) It is not denied that the priests have been a millstone about the neck of the races, but the true religious leaders have been invaluable in pointing the way to higher and better realities. 사제들이 여러 인종의 목에 두른 (마소로 끌어 돌리게 하여 곡식을 찧는 큰) 연자(硏子) 맷돌 역할을 해왔다는 사실을 부인할 수 없지만, 참된 종교 지도자들은 더 높고 더 나은 실체들에 이르는 길을 제시하는 헤아릴 수 없을 만큼 귀중한 역할을 해왔습니다.
90:5.9 (993.3) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.][네바돈의 멜기세덱이 제시함]
91:0.1 (994.1) PRAYER, as an agency of religion, evolved from previous nonreligious monologue and dialogue expressions. With the attainment of self-consciousness by primitive man there occurred the inevitable corollary of other-consciousness, the dual potential of social response and God recognition. 기도는, 종교와 관계 맺는 작용으로서, 이전(以前)의 비종교적(非宗敎的) 독백과 대화 표현들에서 진화했습니다. 원시인이 자의식(自意識 자신에 대한 의식)에 도달하자, 타의식(他意識 타인에 대한 의식)의 필연적인 결과, 즉 사회적 응답과 하느님 인식이라는 이중 잠재력이 생겼습니다.
91:0.2 (994.2) The earliest prayer forms were not addressed to Deity. These expressions were much like what you would say to a friend as you entered upon some important undertaking, “Wish me luck.” Primitive man was enslaved to magic; luck, good and bad, entered into all the affairs of life. At first, these luck petitions were monologues — just a kind of thinking out loud by the magic server. Next, these believers in luck would enlist the support of their friends and families, and presently some form of ceremony would be performed which included the whole clan or tribe. 가장 초기의 기도 형태는 신(神)에게 하지 않았습니다. 이런 표현들은 너희가 중요한 일을 시작할 때 친구에게 “행운을 빌어줘”라고 말하는 것과 아주 비슷했습니다. 원시인은 마법의 노예여서, 좋고, 나쁜 운수(運數)가 생활의 모든 일에 관여했습니다. 처음에 이런 운수(運數)의 청원들은, 마법 종사자가 소리로 생각해 낸 일종의 독백(獨白)들에 불과했습니다. 다음에 운수(運數)를 믿는 이런 사람들이 자기 친구들과 가족들의 지지를 늘 얻으려 했고, 즉시 씨족이나 부족을 포함하는 어떤 형태의 의식(儀式)이 행해졌습니다.
91:0.3 (994.3) When the concepts of ghosts and spirits evolved, these petitions became superhuman in address, and with the consciousness of gods, such expressions attained to the levels of genuine prayer. As an illustration of this, among certain Australian tribes primitive religious prayers antedated their belief in spirits and superhuman personalities. 유령(幽靈)과 영(靈)의 개념이 진화하면서, 이런 청원들은 초인간적으로 표현하게 되었고, 신과 같은 존재들을 의식하면서, 그런 표현들은 진심에서 우러난 기도의 수준에 이르렀습니다. 이런 실례로, 어떤 호주 부족들 사이에서 원시적인 종교적 기도들은 영(靈)들과 초인간 존재(고유성)들에 대한 그들의 믿음보다 더 오래되었습니다.
91:0.4 (994.4) The Toda tribe of India now observes this practice of praying to no one in particular, just as did the early peoples before the times of religious consciousness. Only, among the Todas, this represents a regression of their degenerating religion to this primitive level. The present-day rituals of the dairymen priests of the Todas do not represent a religious ceremony since these impersonal prayers do not contribute anything to the conservation or enhancement of any social, moral, or spiritual values. 인도의 토다 부족은, 종교의식의 시대 이전에 초기 사람들이 했던 것처럼, 지금 특별한 대상이 없이 이런 기도 관습을 지킵니다. 다만 토다족들 사이에서 이것은 그들의 뒤떨어진 종교가 이런 원시적 수준으로 퇴화(退化)했음을 나타냅니다. 이런 비인격적 기도는 사회적, 도덕적, 영적 가치의 보존이나 향상에 도움이 되지 않기 때문에 오늘날 낙농업을 하는 토다족 사제들의 의식(儀式)은 종교 의례(儀禮)에 해당하지 않습니다.
91:0.5 (994.5) Prereligious praying was part of the mana practices of the Melanesians, the oudah beliefs of the African Pygmies, and the manitou superstitions of the North American Indians. The Baganda tribes of Africa have only recently emerged from the mana level of prayer. In this early evolutionary confusion men pray to gods — local and national — to fetishes, amulets, ghosts, rulers, and to ordinary people. 종교 이전(以前)의 기도는 멜라네시아인(人)들의 마나 관습(우주의 생명력과 내면의 잠재력을 연결하는 관행), 아프리카 피그미 공동체의 우다 믿음(보콜라-모든 생명체의 생명력을 의식과 관행으로 활용할 수 있다는 믿음)과 북아메리카 인디언 중 마니토(우주의 모든 것에 존재하는 에너지) 미신들의 일부였습니다. 아프리카의 바간다 부족들은 최근에야 마나 수준의 기도에서 벗어났습니다. 이런 초기의 진화적 혼란 상태에서 사람들은 지역 및 국가의 신과 같은 존재들에게, 주물(呪物), 부적(符籍), 유령(幽靈), 통치자들, 그리고 평범한 사람들에게 기도합니다.
1. Primitive Prayer 원시 기도
91:1.1 (994.6) The function of early evolutionary religion is to conserve and augment the essential social, moral, and spiritual values which are slowly taking form. This mission of religion is not consciously observed by mankind, but it is chiefly effected by the function of prayer. The practice of prayer represents the unintended, but nonetheless personal and collective, effort of any group to secure (to actualize) this conservation of higher values. But for the safeguarding of prayer, all holy days would speedily revert to the status of mere holidays. 초기 진화 종교의 기능은 서서히 형성되고 있는 본질적인 사회적, 도덕적, 영적 가치를 보존하고 강화하는 것입니다. 이런 종교의 사명은 인류가 의식적으로 지킨 것이 아니라, 그것은 주로 기도의 기능으로 성취됩니다. 기도의 실행은 의도하지 않았지만, 이렇게 더 높은 가치의 보존을 확보(실현)하려는 개인적이며 집단적인 어떤 단체의 노력을 나타냅니다. 그러나 기도를 지키려고, 모든 성일(聖日)은 단순한 축일(祝日 휴일)의 상태로 신속히 되돌아갈 것입니다.
91:1.2 (995.1) Religion and its agencies, the chief of which is prayer, are allied only with those values which have general social recognition, group approval. Therefore, when primitive man attempted to gratify his baser emotions or to achieve unmitigated selfish ambitions, he was deprived of the consolation of religion and the assistance of prayer. If the individual sought to accomplish anything antisocial, he was obliged to seek the aid of nonreligious magic, resort to sorcerers, and thus be deprived of the assistance of prayer. Prayer, therefore, very early became a mighty promoter of social evolution, moral progress, and spiritual attainment. 종교 및 그것과 관계를 맺는 주된 작용인 기도는 일반적인 사회적 인정, 집단이 승인하는 그런 가치들에 관련될 뿐입니다. 그러므로 원시인이 자신의 원초적 감정을 채우거나 순전히 이기적인 야망을 이루려 할 때, 그는 종교의 위로와 기도의 지원을 박탈당했습니다. 개인이 반사회적(反社會的)인 일을 이루려 했다면, 그는 비종교적(非宗敎的)인 마법의 도움을 구하고, 마법사들의 힘을 빌릴 수밖에 없었고, 그래서 그는 기도의 지원을 박탈당했습니다. 그러므로 기도는 아주 일찍부터 사회적 진화, 도덕적 진보 및 영적 성취의 강력한 촉진물이 되었습니다.
91:1.3 (995.2) But the primitive mind was neither logical nor consistent. Early men did not perceive that material things were not the province of prayer. These simple-minded souls reasoned that food, shelter, rain, game, and other material goods enhanced the social welfare, and therefore they began to pray for these physical blessings. While this constituted a perversion of prayer, it encouraged the effort to realize these material objectives by social and ethical actions. Such a prostitution of prayer, while debasing the spiritual values of a people, nevertheless directly elevated their economic, social, and ethical mores. 그러나 원시적 마음은 논리적이지도 일관되지도 않았습니다. 고대인들은 물질적인 것이 기도 분야가 아님을 알아차리지 못했습니다. 이렇게 단순한 혼(사람)들은 음식, 거처, 비, 사냥감 및 기타 물질적 재산이 사회적 행복을 높인다고 생각하여 그들은 이런 물리적 축복을 위해 기도하기 시작했습니다. 이것이 기도를 왜곡하는 요소가 되었지만, 그것은 사회적이며 윤리적인 행동으로 이런 물질적 목표를 실현하려는 노력을 촉진했습니다. 그런 기도의 악용으로 사람들의 영적 가치가 떨어졌지만, 그들의 경제적, 사회적, 윤리적 관습이 직접 향상되었습니다.
91:1.4 (995.3) Prayer is only monologuous in the most primitive type of mind. It early becomes a dialogue and rapidly expands to the level of group worship. Prayer signifies that the premagical incantations of primitive religion have evolved to that level where the human mind recognizes the reality of beneficent powers or beings who are able to enhance social values and to augment moral ideals, and further, that these influences are superhuman and distinct from the ego of the self-conscious human and his fellow mortals. True prayer does not, therefore, appear until the agency of religious ministry is visualized as personal. 기도는 가장 원시적 유형의 마음에서 독백일 뿐입니다. 그것은 일찍부터 대화가 되고, 집단 예배의 수준으로 빠르게 확장됩니다. 기도는, 원시 종교에 속한 마법 이전(以前)의 주문(呪文)이, 인간 마음이 사회적 가치를 향상하고 도덕적 이상(理想)을 늘릴 수 있는 유익한 권세나 존재들의 실체를 알아보는 수준으로 진화했고, 게다가 이런 영향력이 초인간적이며, 자의식(自意識)을 지닌 인간과 동료 필사자들의 자아(自我)와 구별된다는 것을 의미합니다. 그러므로 참된 기도는, 종교적 사역의 매개자가 인격으로 마음에 떠오르기까지, 나타나지 않습니다.
91:1.5 (995.4) Prayer is little associated with animism, but such beliefs may exist alongside emerging religious sentiments. Many times, religion and animism have had entirely separate origins. 기도는 정령 숭배(精靈崇拜 만물에 영혼이 있음)와 거의 관련이 없지만, 그런 믿음은 출현하는 종교적 정서와 함께 존재할 수도 있습니다. 많은 경우, 종교와 정령 숭배는 완전히 별개의 기원을 가졌습니다.
91:1.6 (995.5) With those mortals who have not been delivered from the primitive bondage of fear, there is a real danger that all prayer may lead to a morbid sense of sin, unjustified convictions of guilt, real or fancied. But in modern times it is not likely that many will spend sufficient time at prayer to lead to this harmful brooding over their unworthiness or sinfulness. The dangers attendant upon the distortion and perversion of prayer consist in ignorance, superstition, crystallization, devitalization, materialism, and fanaticism. 원시적인 두려움의 속박에서 벗어나지 못한 그런 필사자들에게, 모든 기도는 병적인 죄의식, 실제적이든 공상적이든, 부당한 죄책감으로 이어지는 실제 위험이 있습니다. 그러나 현대에는 많은 사람이 자신들의 가치 없음과 많은 죄에 대해 곱씹도록, 이렇게 해가 되는 기도에 충분히 시간을 할애하지 않을 것입니다. 기도의 왜곡(歪曲)과 악용에 따르는 위험은 무지(無知), 미신(迷信), 결정화(맹목적 편견), 제활(除活 활력 제거, 기복적 무기력), 물질주의(物質主義), 광신(狂信)에 있습니다.
2. Evolving Prayer 진화 기도
91:2.1 (995.6) The first prayers were merely verbalized wishes, the expression of sincere desires. Prayer next became a technique of achieving spirit co-operation. And then it attained to the higher function of assisting religion in the conservation of all worth-while values. 첫 기도는 말로 나타낸 소원, 진실한 욕망의 표현에 불과했습니다. 다음의 기도는 영(靈) 협력을 이루는 기법이 되었습니다. 그런 다음 기도는 훌륭한 모든 가치를 보존하는 종교를 지원하는 더 높은 기능에 이르렀습니다.
91:2.2 (995.7) Both prayer and magic arose as a result of man’s adjustive reactions to Urantian environment. But aside from this generalized relationship, they have little in common. Prayer has always indicated positive action by the praying ego; it has been always psychic and sometimes spiritual. Magic has usually signified an attempt to manipulate reality without affecting the ego of the manipulator, the practitioner of magic. Despite their independent origins, magic and prayer often have been interrelated in their later stages of development. Magic has sometimes ascended by goal elevation from formulas through rituals and incantations to the threshold of true prayer. Prayer has sometimes become so materialistic that it has degenerated into a pseudomagical technique of avoiding the expenditure of that effort which is requisite for the solution of Urantian problems. 기도와 마법 둘 다 유란시아 환경에 대한 인간의 조절 반응의 결과로 일어났습니다. 그러나 이런 일반화된 관계를 제외하고, 그것들은 공통점이 거의 없습니다. 기도는 언제나 기도하는 자아(自我)가 확신하는 행동을 가리켰으므로, 그것은 언제나 심적(정신적)이고 때로 영적이었습니다. 마법은 대개 조종자의 자아(自我)에 영향을 주지 않으면서 실체를 조종하는 시도를 나타냈습니다. 그것들의 독립적인 기원에도 불구하고, 마법과 기도는 그것들이 발전하는 후기 단계에서 종종 서로 관련되었습니다. 마법은 제문(祭文 죽은 사람을 조상하는 글)에서 의식(儀式)과 마법적 주문(呪文) 외기를 거쳐 참된 기도의 문턱까지 때로 목표를 높여 올라갔습니다. 기도는 종종 너무 물질주의적이 되어 유란시아 문제들의 해결에 필요한 그런 노력의 비용을 회피하는 사이비(似而非) 마법의 기법으로 타락했습니다.
91:2.3 (996.1) When man learned that prayer could not coerce the gods, then it became more of a petition, favor seeking. But the truest prayer is in reality a communion between man and his Maker. 사람들이 기도로 신과 같은 존재들을 강요할 수 없다는 것을 습득한 후에, 그것은 청원, 즉 호의를 구하는 것에 가까워졌습니다. 그러나 가장 참된 기도는 실제로, 사람과 그 조물주 사이의 교제입니다.
91:2.4 (996.2) The appearance of the sacrifice idea in any religion unfailingly detracts from the higher efficacy of true prayer in that men seek to substitute the offerings of material possessions for the offering of their own consecrated wills to the doing of the will of God. 어떤 종교에서든 희생물 개념의 출현은 사람들이 하느님 뜻의 실행에 자신들의 봉헌된 의지를 바치는 대신에 물질적 소유를 바치려 한다는 점에서 높은 참된 기도의 효력을 반드시 떨어뜨립니다.
91:2.5 (996.3) When religion is divested of a personal God, its prayers translate to the levels of theology and philosophy. When the highest God concept of a religion is that of an impersonal Deity, such as in pantheistic idealism, although affording the basis for certain forms of mystic communion, it proves fatal to the potency of true prayer, which always stands for man’s communion with a personal and superior being. 종교가 인격적 하느님을 빼앗기면, 그 종교의 기도는 신학과 철학의 수준으로 바뀝니다. 종교의 최고 하느님 개념이 범신론적 이상주의(理想主義)와 같은 비인격적(非人格的) 신(神)의 개념이면, 특정 형태의 신비주의적 교제의 토대를 제공하지만, 그것은 인간이 인격적이며 우월한 존재와 교제한다는 것을 언제나 의미하는 참된 기도의 잠재력에 치명적인 것으로 판명됩니다.
91:2.6 (996.4) During the earlier times of racial evolution and even at the present time, in the day-by-day experience of the average mortal, prayer is very much a phenomenon of man’s intercourse with his own subconscious. But there is also a domain of prayer wherein the intellectually alert and spiritually progressing individual attains more or less contact with the superconscious levels of the human mind, the domain of the indwelling Thought Adjuster. In addition, there is a definite spiritual phase of true prayer which concerns its reception and recognition by the spiritual forces of the universe, and which is entirely distinct from all human and intellectual association. 인종 진화의 초기 시대와 현재에도, 보통 필사자의 매일 체험에서, 기도는 자기 잠재의식과 교통하는 현상에 아주 가깝습니다. 그러나 지적으로 깨어있고 영적으로 진보하는 개인이 인간 마음의 초(超) 의식 수준, 즉 내주하는 생각 조율자의 영역과 어느 정도의 접촉에 이른 기도의 영역도 있습니다. 게다가, 우주의 영적 세력에 의한 수용과 인식에 관한, 그리고 모든 인간적이며 지능적인 교제와 완전히 별개의, 참된 기도의 명확한 영적 단계가 있습니다.
91:2.7 (996.5) Prayer contributes greatly to the development of the religious sentiment of an evolving human mind. It is a mighty influence working to prevent isolation of personality. 기도는 진화하는 인간 마음의 종교적 정서의 개발에 크게 이바지합니다. 그것은 인격(고유성) 고립의 예방에 효과적인 강력한 영향력입니다.
91:2.8 (996.6) Prayer represents one technique associated with the natural religions of racial evolution which also forms a part of the experiential values of the higher religions of ethical excellence, the religions of revelation. 기도는 인종이 진화하는 자연 종교와 관련된 하나의 기법에 해당하며, 윤리적으로 탁월한 고등 종교, 즉 계시 종교의 체험적인 일부 가치도 형성합니다.
3. Prayer and the Alter Ego 기도와 또 다른 자아
91:3.1 (996.7) Children, when first learning to make use of language, are prone to think out loud, to express their thoughts in words, even if no one is present to hear them. With the dawn of creative imagination they evince a tendency to converse with imaginary companions. In this way a budding ego seeks to hold communion with a fictitious alter ego. By this technique the child early learns to convert his monologue conversations into pseudo dialogues in which this alter ego makes replies to his verbal thinking and wish expression. Very much of an adult’s thinking is mentally carried on in conversational form. 아이들은 언어 사용법을 처음 배울 때, 그들의 생각을 들어주는 사람이 없어도, 큰 소리로 생각해 내고 자신들의 생각을 말로 표현하려는 경향이 있습니다. 창의적인 상상력이 시작되면서 그들은 상상의 동반자와 대화하는 경향을 분명히 나타냅니다. 이런 식으로 싹이 트기 시작한 자아는 가공의 또 다른 자아와 친하게 지내고자 합니다. 이런 기법으로 아이는 자기 독백 대화(혼잣말)를, 이런 또 다른 자아가 그의 말로 표현한 생각 및 소망 표현에 대답하는 의사(擬似 실제와 비슷한) 대화로 전환하는 법을 일찍부터 배웁니다. 성인의 사고(思考) 대부분은 정신적으로 대화 형식으로 이루어집니다.
91:3.2 (996.8) The early and primitive form of prayer was much like the semimagical recitations of the present-day Toda tribe, prayers that were not addressed to anyone in particular. But such techniques of praying tend to evolve into the dialogue type of communication by the emergence of the idea of an alter ego. In time the alter-ego concept is exalted to a superior status of divine dignity, and prayer as an agency of religion has appeared. Through many phases and during long ages this primitive type of praying is destined to evolve before attaining the level of intelligent and truly ethical prayer. 초기 원시적 형태의 기도는 오늘날 토다 부족의 반(半) 마법적인 암송(暗誦), 특별히 누구에게 말하는 것이 아닌 기도와 아주 비슷했습니다. 그러나 그런 기도의 기법은, 또 다른 자아 개념의 출현으로, 대화 형식의 소통으로 진화하는 경향이 있습니다. 머지않아, 또 다른 자아 개념은 신적 존엄성의 우월한 지위로 격상되었고, 종교와 관계하는 작용으로서 기도가 등장했습니다. 이런 원시 유형의 기도는, 지능적인 참된 윤리적 기도의 수준에 도달하기 전에, 여러 단계를 거쳐 오랜 세월 동안 진화할 운명입니다.
91:3.3 (997.1) As it is conceived by successive generations of praying mortals, the alter ego evolves up through ghosts, fetishes, and spirits to polytheistic gods, and eventually to the One God, a divine being embodying the highest ideals and the loftiest aspirations of the praying ego. And thus does prayer function as the most potent agency of religion in the conservation of the highest values and ideals of those who pray. From the moment of the conceiving of an alter ego to the appearance of the concept of a divine and heavenly Father, prayer is always a socializing, moralizing, and spiritualizing practice. 대대로 기도하는 필사자들이 마음에 지어냈듯이, 또 다른 자아는 위로 유령(幽靈), 주물(呪物) 및 영(靈)들을 거쳐 다신교의 신과 같은 존재들로, 결국 기도하는 자아의 최고 이상(理想)들과 가장 고귀한 염원을 구체적으로 나타내는 신(神) 존재인 한 분 하느님으로 진화합니다. 그리고 이렇게 기도는 기도하는 자들의 최고 가치와 이상(理想)을 보존하는 가장 강력한 종교의 작용으로 활동합니다. 또 다른 자아를 상상하는 순간부터 신적인 하늘 아버지의 개념이 출현하기까지, 기도는 언제나 사회생활에 순응시키고, 도덕을 높이며, 영화(靈化)하는 실천입니다.
91:3.4 (997.2) The simple prayer of faith evidences a mighty evolution in human experience whereby the ancient conversations with the fictitious symbol of the alter ego of primitive religion have become exalted to the level of communion with the spirit of the Infinite and to that of a bona fide consciousness of the reality of the eternal God and Paradise Father of all intelligent creation. 신앙의 단순한 기도는, 원시 종교에 속한 또 다른 자아의 허구적 상징과 말하는 고대의 대화가 무한자의 영(靈)과 교제하는 수준과, 모든 지능적 창조계의 영원한 하느님이며 천국 아버지의 실체를 진정으로 알아채는 수준으로 높아진, 인간의 체험에 있어서 강력한 진화의 증거가 됩니다.
91:3.5 (997.3) Aside from all that is superself in the experience of praying, it should be remembered that ethical prayer is a splendid way to elevate one’s ego and reinforce the self for better living and higher attainment. Prayer induces the human ego to look both ways for help: for material aid to the subconscious reservoir of mortal experience, for inspiration and guidance to the superconscious borders of the contact of the material with the spiritual, with the Mystery Monitor. 기도 체험에서 모든 것은 초(超) 자아(自我)일 뿐만 아니라, 윤리 기도는 사람의 자아를 향상하고 더 나은 생활과 더 높이 도달하기 위해 자기(自己)를 강화하는 훌륭한 방법임을 기억해야 합니다. 인간의 자아는 기도를 통해 도움, 즉 필사자 체험의 잠재의식 축적을 향한 물질적 원조와 물질이 영적인 신비 권고자(眷顧者)와 접촉하는 초(超) 의식(意識)의 경계를 향한 영감(靈感)과 안내에 이르는 두 가지 방법을 눈여겨보게 됩니다.
91:3.6 (997.4) Prayer ever has been and ever will be a twofold human experience: a psychologic procedure interassociated with a spiritual technique. And these two functions of prayer can never be fully separated. 기도는 이중적 인간 체험, 즉 영적 기법과 서로 관련된 심리적 절차였고 앞으로도 그럴 것입니다. 그리고 기도의 이런 두 기능은 결코 완전히 분리될 수 없습니다.
91:3.7 (997.5) Enlightened prayer must recognize not only an external and personal God but also an internal and impersonal Divinity, the indwelling Adjuster. It is altogether fitting that man, when he prays, should strive to grasp the concept of the Universal Father on Paradise; but the more effective technique for most practical purposes will be to revert to the concept of a near-by alter ego, just as the primitive mind was wont to do, and then to recognize that the idea of this alter ego has evolved from a mere fiction to the truth of God’s indwelling mortal man in the factual presence of the Adjuster so that man can talk face to face, as it were, with a real and genuine and divine alter ego that indwells him and is the very presence and essence of the living God, the Universal Father. 깨우친 기도는 외부의 인격적인 하느님뿐만 아니라 내부의 비(非)인격적 신성(神性), 즉 내주하는 조율자도 알아봐야 합니다. 사람이 기도할 때, 천국의 우주 아버지 개념을 파악하려고 애써야만 하는 것은 아주 적절합니다. 그러나 가장 실용적인 목적을 위한 더 효과적인 기법은 바로 원시적 마음이 습관적으로 한 것처럼, 가까운 또 다른 자아 개념으로 되돌아가는 것이며, 그 후, 이런 또 다른 자아 개념이 단순한 허구로부터 조율자의 실제 현존 가운데 하느님이 필사 인간에게 내주한다는 진리까지 진화하여, 말하자면 사람이 얼굴을 맞대고 살아있는 하느님, 우주 아버지의 바로 그 현존이며 본질인, 자신에게 내주하는 실제로 참된 신적인 또 다른 자아와 이야기할 수 있음을 인식하는 것입니다.
4. Ethical Praying 윤리적 기도
91:4.1 (997.6) No prayer can be ethical when the petitioner seeks for selfish advantage over his fellows. Selfish and materialistic praying is incompatible with the ethical religions which are predicated on unselfish and divine love. All such unethical praying reverts to the primitive levels of pseudo magic and is unworthy of advancing civilizations and enlightened religions. Selfish praying transgresses the spirit of all ethics founded on loving justice. 청원자가 자기 동료보다 이기적인 이익을 추구할 때 어떤 기도도 윤리적일 수 없습니다. 이기적이고 물질주의(물질적 만족이 삶의 기준)적인 기도는 이타적인 신적 사랑에 근거한 윤리적 종교와 맞지 않습니다. 그런 모든 비윤리적(非倫理的) 기도는 사이비 마법의 수준으로 되돌아가며, 진보 문명 및 계몽된 종교에 알맞지 않습니다. 이기적 기도는 애정 깊은 정의(正義)에 근거한 모든 윤리의 정신을 어깁니다.
91:4.2 (997.7) Prayer must never be so prostituted as to become a substitute for action. All ethical prayer is a stimulus to action and a guide to the progressive striving for idealistic goals of superself-attainment. 기도는 행동의 대용품이 될 정도로 절대로 그렇게 악용(변절)되지 말아야 합니다. 모든 윤리적 기도는 행동의 자극제이며 초(超)자아 달성의 이상주의적 목표를 위한 점진적 분투의 길잡이입니다.
91:4.3 (998.1) In all your praying be fair; do not expect God to show partiality, to love you more than his other children, your friends, neighbors, even enemies. But the prayer of the natural or evolved religions is not at first ethical, as it is in the later revealed religions. All praying, whether individual or communal, may be either egoistic or altruistic. That is, the prayer may be centered upon the self or upon others. When the prayer seeks nothing for the one who prays nor anything for his fellows, then such attitudes of the soul tend to the levels of true worship. Egoistic prayers involve confessions and petitions and often consist in requests for material favors. Prayer is somewhat more ethical when it deals with forgiveness and seeks wisdom for enhanced self-control. 너희 모든 기도에서 공정해야 합니다. 하느님이 편애(偏愛)를 나타내어, 그의 다른 자녀들, 너희 친구들, 이웃들, 심지어 원수들보다 너를 더 사랑하기를 기대하지 마십시오. 그러나 자연 종교나 진화 종교의 기도는, 후대의 계시 종교처럼, 처음에는 윤리적이지 않습니다. 개인적이든 공동적(共同的)이든, 모든 기도는 이기적이거나 이타적일 수 있습니다. 즉 기도는 자기 또는 다른 사람들을 중심에 둘 수도 있습니다. 기도가 기도하는 자나 그의 동료들을 위해 아무것도 구하지 않을 때, 그런 혼(魂)의 태도는 참된 경배의 수준으로 나아갑니다. 이기적 기도는 고백과 청원을 포함하며 대체로 물질적 은혜의 요청으로 이루어집니다. 기도가 용서를 다루고 향상된 자제심을 위한 지혜를 구할 때 약간 더 윤리적입니다.
91:4.4 (998.2) While the nonselfish type of prayer is strengthening and comforting, materialistic praying is destined to bring disappointment and disillusionment as advancing scientific discoveries demonstrate that man lives in a physical universe of law and order. The childhood of an individual or a race is characterized by primitive, selfish, and materialistic praying. And, to a certain extent, all such petitions are efficacious in that they unvaryingly lead to those efforts and exertions which are contributory to achieving the answers to such prayers. The real prayer of faith always contributes to the augmentation of the technique of living, even if such petitions are not worthy of spiritual recognition. But the spiritually advanced person should exercise great caution in attempting to discourage the primitive or immature mind regarding such prayers. 비(非)이기적인 유형의 기도가 튼튼하게 하며 격려하는 반면, 진보하는 과학적 발견으로 사람이 법과 질서의 물질 우주에 살고 있음이 밝혀지면서, 물질주의적 기도는 실망과 환멸을 가져올 수밖에 없습니다. 개인이나 종족의 초기 단계는 원시적이고 이기적이며 물질주의적인 기도가 특징입니다. 그리고 어느 정도 그런 모든 청원은, 그런 기도의 응답을 얻는 데, 그것들이 도움이 되는 그런 노력과 수고로 변함없이 이어진다는 점에서 효과적입니다. 신앙의 실제 기도는, 그런 청원이 영적으로 인정받을 만하지 않아도, 생활 역량의 증대에 언제나 도움이 됩니다. 그러나 영적으로 진보한 사람은 그런 기도에 대해 원시적이거나 미숙한 마음을 단념시키려 할 때 아주 조심해야 합니다.
91:4.5 (998.3) Remember, even if prayer does not change God, it very often effects great and lasting changes in the one who prays in faith and confident expectation. Prayer has been the ancestor of much peace of mind, cheerfulness, calmness, courage, self-mastery, and fair-mindedness in the men and women of the evolving races. 기도가 하느님을 바꾸지 못해도, 그것은 신앙과 확신에 찬 기대로 기도하는 자에게 커다란 지속적 변화를 초래하는 경우가 아주 흔하다는 사실을 기억하십시오. 기도는 진화 인종의 남녀에게 여러 마음의 평화, 쾌활함, 평온, 용기, 자제 및 공정(公正)함의 조상이었습니다.
5. Social Repercussions of Prayer 기도의 사회적 영향
91:5.1 (998.4) In ancestor worship, prayer leads to the cultivation of ancestral ideals. But prayer, as a feature of Deity worship, transcends all other such practices since it leads to the cultivation of divine ideals. As the concept of the alter ego of prayer becomes supreme and divine, so are man’s ideals accordingly elevated from mere human toward supernal and divine levels, and the result of all such praying is the enhancement of human character and the profound unification of human personality. 조상 숭배에서, 기도는 조상(祖上) 이상(理想)의 촉진으로 이어집니다. 그러나 신(神) 경배의 특징으로서, 기도는 신적 이상(理想)의 촉진으로 이어지므로 그것은 다른 모든 그런 관례를 초월합니다. 기도에 속한 또 다른 자아의 개념이 최고 및 신적으로 됨에 따라서, 사람의 이상(理想)도 단순한 인간에서 하늘의 신적 수준을 향해 향상되고, 그런 모든 기도의 결과로 인간 특성이 강화되고 인간의 인격(고유성)이 깊이 통합됩니다.
91:5.2 (998.5) But prayer need not always be individual. Group or congregational praying is very effective in that it is highly socializing in its repercussions. When a group engages in community prayer for moral enhancement and spiritual uplift, such devotions are reactive upon the individuals composing the group; they are all made better because of participation. Even a whole city or an entire nation can be helped by such prayer devotions. Confession, repentance, and prayer have led individuals, cities, nations, and whole races to mighty efforts of reform and courageous deeds of valorous achievement. 그러나 기도가 언제나 개인적일 필요는 없습니다. 집단이나 회중 기도는 그 영향(影響)이 매우 사회화(社會化)한다는 점에서 아주 효과적입니다. 집단이 도덕적 강화와 영적 향상을 위해 공동체 기도에 참여하면, 그런 헌신은 집단을 구성하는 개인에게 반응을 일으킵니다. 개인들은 참여로 인해 모두 더 좋아집니다. 도시 전체나 온 국가도 그런 기도 헌신으로 도움을 받을 수 있습니다. 고백, 회개 및 기도는 개인들, 도시들, 나라들 및 온 인류를 개혁하는 강력한 노력과 씩씩하게 성취하는 용감한 행위로 이끌었습니다.
91:5.3 (998.6) If you truly desire to overcome the habit of criticizing some friend, the quickest and surest way of achieving such a change of attitude is to establish the habit of praying for that person every day of your life. But the social repercussions of such prayers are dependent largely on two conditions: 너희가 어떤 친구를 비난하는 습관을 진실로 극복하기를 원한다면, 그런 태도의 변화에 이르는 가장 빠르고 확실한 방법은 너희 일생에서 매일 그 사람을 위해 기도하는 습관을 자리잡는 것입니다. 그러나 그런 기도의 사회적 영향은 주로 2가지 조건에 달려 있습니다.
91:5.4 (998.7) 1. The person who is prayed for should know that he is being prayed for. 기도를 받는 사람은 자신이 기도를 받고 있다는 사실을 알아야 합니다.
91:5.5 (999.1) 2. The person who prays should come into intimate social contact with the person for whom he is praying. 기도하는 사람은 자기가 기도하는 대상과 친밀하게 사회적으로 접촉하는 상태가 되어야 합니다.
91:5.6 (999.2) Prayer is the technique whereby, sooner or later, every religion becomes institutionalized. And in time prayer becomes associated with numerous secondary agencies, some helpful, others decidedly deleterious, such as priests, holy books, worship rituals, and ceremonials. 기도는 머잖아 모든 종교가 제도화(制度化)하는 기법입니다. 그리고 얼마 있다가 기도는 사제, 거룩한 책, 예배 의식 및 의례들처럼, 일부는 유용하고, 다른 것들은 단호히 해로운, 여러 파생적 수단과 관련됩니다.
91:5.7 (999.3) But the minds of greater spiritual illumination should be patient with, and tolerant of, those less endowed intellects that crave symbolism for the mobilization of their feeble spiritual insight. The strong must not look with disdain upon the weak. Those who are God-conscious without symbolism must not deny the grace-ministry of the symbol to those who find it difficult to worship Deity and to revere truth, beauty, and goodness without form and ritual. In prayerful worship, most mortals envision some symbol of the object-goal of their devotions. 그러나 더 큰 영적 조명을 받은 사람들은, 자신들의 연약한 영적 통찰력을 동원하기 위해 상징적 표현을 요구하는 지적 재질이 부족한 그런 사람들에게 인내심이 있어야 하고, 관대해야 합니다. 강한 자들은 약한 자들을 경멸의 태도로 보지 말아야 합니다. 상징적 표현 없이 하느님을 의식하는 자들은 형식과 의식(儀式) 없이는 신(神)을 경배하고 진리, 아름다움 및 선함을 공경하기 어려운 사람들에게 상징적 표현이 지닌 은혜의 돌봄을 물리치지 말아야 합니다. 기도하는 경배에서, 필사자 대부분은 자신들이 헌신하는 대상 목표를 어떤 상징적 표현으로 마음에 그립니다.
6. The Province of Prayer 기도의 영역
91:6.1 (999.4) Prayer, unless in liaison with the will and actions of the personal spiritual forces and material supervisors of a realm, can have no direct effect upon one’s physical environment. While there is a very definite limit to the province of the petitions of prayer, such limits do not equally apply to the faith of those who pray. 기도는, 영역의 고유한 영적 기세들과 물질 감독자들의 의지 및 행위와 연결되지 않는 한, 자신의 물리적 환경에 직접적인 아무 영향도 미칠 수 없습니다. 기도 청원의 영역에 아주 명백한 한계가 있지만, 그런 한계는 기도하는 자들의 신앙에 똑같이 적용되지 않습니다.
91:6.2 (999.5) Prayer is not a technique for curing real and organic diseases, but it has contributed enormously to the enjoyment of abundant health and to the cure of numerous mental, emotional, and nervous ailments. And even in actual bacterial disease, prayer has many times added to the efficacy of other remedial procedures. Prayer has turned many an irritable and complaining invalid into a paragon of patience and made him an inspiration to all other human sufferers. 기도가 실제로 유기체의 질병 치료 기법은 아니지만, 풍성한 건강을 누리고 수많은 정신적, 감정적 및 신경성 질환의 치료에 대단히 도움이 되었습니다. 그리고 실제로 세균성 질병에서도 기도는 여러 번 다른 치료 과정의 효험을 증가시켰습니다. 기도는 신경과민으로 불평하는 여러 환자를 인내의 모범으로 바꾸어 다른 모든 인간 환자에게 영감(靈感 창조적 자극)을 주었습니다.
91:6.3 (999.6) No matter how difficult it may be to reconcile the scientific doubtings regarding the efficacy of prayer with the ever-present urge to seek help and guidance from divine sources, never forget that the sincere prayer of faith is a mighty force for the promotion of personal happiness, individual self-control, social harmony, moral progress, and spiritual attainment. 기도의 효험에 관한 과학적 의심과 신적 근원에서 도움과 인도를 찾는 그침 없는 충동을 조화시키는 것이 아무리 어려울지라도, 신앙의 신실한 기도는 고유한 행복, 개인적인 자제심, 사회적 조화, 도덕적 진보 및 영적 달성의 증진을 위한 강력한 힘이라는 것을 절대로 잊지 말아야 합니다.
91:6.4 (999.7) Prayer, even as a purely human practice, a dialogue with one’s alter ego, constitutes a technique of the most efficient approach to the realization of those reserve powers of human nature which are stored and conserved in the unconscious realms of the human mind. Prayer is a sound psychologic practice, aside from its religious implications and its spiritual significance. It is a fact of human experience that most persons, if sufficiently hard pressed, will pray in some way to some source of help. 기도는, 순전히 인간적 관행으로서 자신의 또 다른 자아와 대화하는 것이지만, 인간 마음의 무의식적 영역에 저장되어 보존된 인간 본성에 그렇게 비축된 권능의 실현에 가장 효과적으로 접근하는 기법입니다. 기도는, 그 종교에 대한 밀접한 관계와 그 영적 의미를 제외하면, 건전한 심리학적 관행입니다. 대개 사람들이 충분히 지나치게 괴로운 처지에 처하면 어떤 도움의 근원에게 어떤 식으로 기도하는 것은 인간의 체험적 사실입니다.
91:6.5 (999.8) Do not be so slothful as to ask God to solve your difficulties, but never hesitate to ask him for wisdom and spiritual strength to guide and sustain you while you yourself resolutely and courageously attack the problems at hand. 너희 어려움을 해결하려고 하느님께 청할 만큼 게으르지 말아야 하지만, 너희 스스로 단호히 그리고 용감하게 당면한 문제에 달려들면서, 조금도 주저하지 말고 너희를 인도하고 지지하는 지혜와 영적 힘을 그에게 구하라.
91:6.6 (999.9) Prayer has been an indispensable factor in the progress and preservation of religious civilization, and it still has mighty contributions to make to the further enhancement and spiritualization of society if those who pray will only do so in the light of scientific facts, philosophic wisdom, intellectual sincerity, and spiritual faith. Pray as Jesus taught his disciples — honestly, unselfishly, with fairness, and without doubting. 기도는 종교적 문명의 진보와 보존에 절대 필요한 요소였고, 기도하는 사람들이 과학적 사실, 철학적 지혜, 지적 성실 및 영적 신앙의 빛에서 그렇게 하기만 하면, 그것은 사회의 더 나은 향상과 영화(靈化)에 여전히 강력하게 공헌합니다. 예수께서 자기 제자들에게 가르쳤듯이, 정직하게, 이타적으로, 공정하게, 그리고 의심하지 말고 기도하라.
91:6.7 (1000.1) But the efficacy of prayer in the personal spiritual experience of the one who prays is in no way dependent on such a worshiper’s intellectual understanding, philosophic acumen, social level, cultural status, or other mortal acquirements. The psychic and spiritual concomitants of the prayer of faith are immediate, personal, and experiential. There is no other technique whereby every man, regardless of all other mortal accomplishments, can so effectively and immediately approach the threshold of that realm wherein he can communicate with his Maker, where the creature contacts with the reality of the Creator, with the indwelling Thought Adjuster. 그러나 기도하는 사람의 개인적인 영적 체험에서 기도의 효험은 그런 경배자의 지적 이해, 철학적 총명함, 사회적 수준, 문화적 상태 또는 다른 필사자가 습득한 것에 절대로 좌우되지 않습니다. 신앙 기도에 정신적이며 영적으로 따라오는 사정은 즉각적이고, 개인적이며, 체험적입니다. 다른 모든 필사자의 업적과 관계없이, 모든 사람이 자기 조물주와 의사를 소통할 수 있는 곳, 창조물이 창조자의 실체, 내주하는 생각 조율자와 접촉하는 그런 영역의 문턱에 그렇게 사실상 바로 접근할 수 있는 다른 기법은 절대로 없습니다.
7. Mysticism, Ecstasy, and Inspiration 신비주의, 황홀경 및 영감(靈感)
91:7.1 (1000.2) Mysticism, as the technique of the cultivation of the consciousness of the presence of God, is altogether praiseworthy, but when such practices lead to social isolation and culminate in religious fanaticism, they are all but reprehensible. Altogether too frequently that which the overwrought mystic evaluates as divine inspiration is the uprisings of his own deep mind. The contact of the mortal mind with its indwelling Adjuster, while often favored by devoted meditation, is more frequently facilitated by wholehearted and loving service in unselfish ministry to one’s fellow creatures. 하느님의 임재(臨在) 의식을 수련(修練)하는 기법으로서 신비주의(神秘主義 일상에서 벗어나 신과 직접 하나가 되려는 사상)는 전체적으로 칭찬할 만하지만, 그런 관행이 사회적 고립으로 이어져 마침내 종교적 광신 상태가 되면 그것들은 거의 비난 받아야 합니다. 지나치게 공들인 신비주의자가 신적 영감(靈感)으로 평가하는 것은 통틀어 너무 자주 그 자신의 깊은 마음에서 솟아난 것들입니다. 필사자 마음에 내주하는 조율자와 접촉하는 것은, 종종 헌신적 묵상에 알맞지만, 동료 창조물들을 이타적으로 보살필 때 전적으로 애정이 깊게 돌봄으로써 더 자주 촉진됩니다.
91:7.2 (1000.3) The great religious teachers and the prophets of past ages were not extreme mystics. They were God-knowing men and women who best served their God by unselfish ministry to their fellow mortals. Jesus often took his apostles away by themselves for short periods to engage in meditation and prayer, but for the most part he kept them in service-contact with the multitudes. The soul of man requires spiritual exercise as well as spiritual nourishment. 과거 시대의 위대한 종교적 교사들과 선지자들은 극단적인 신비주의자들이 아니었습니다. 그들은 자신들의 동료 필사자들을 이타적으로 보살핌으로 자신들의 하느님을 최고로 섬겼던 하느님을 아는 남녀들이었습니다. 예수는 종종 자기 사도들을 데려가 짧은 기간에 각자 홀로 묵상과 기도로 보내게 했지만, 대개 그는 그들이 군중을 돌보며 접촉하게 했습니다. 사람의 혼(魂)은 영적 영양뿐 아니라 영적 운동이 필요합니다.
91:7.3 (1000.4) Religious ecstasy is permissible when resulting from sane antecedents, but such experiences are more often the outgrowth of purely emotional influences than a manifestation of deep spiritual character. Religious persons must not regard every vivid psychologic presentiment and every intense emotional experience as a divine revelation or a spiritual communication. Genuine spiritual ecstasy is usually associated with great outward calmness and almost perfect emotional control. But true prophetic vision is a superpsychologic presentiment. Such visitations are not pseudo hallucinations, neither are they trancelike ecstasies. 종교적 황홀경(怳惚境)은 제정신의 상황에서 생길 때는 괜찮아도, 그런 체험은 깊은 영적 특성의 표현이라기보다 대개, 순전히 감정적 영향의 결과입니다. 종교인들은 모든 생생한 심리학적 예감(豫感)과 모든 강렬한 감정 체험을 신적 계시나 영적 소통으로 여기지 말아야 합니다. 진짜 영적 황홀경은 대개 큰 외적 평온 및 거의 완전한 감정적 조정과 관련됩니다. 그러나 진정한 예언적 환상은 초(超)심리학적 예감입니다. 그런 방문(訪問)은 가짜 환각이 아니며, 최면 상태 같은 황홀경도 아닙니다.
91:7.4 (1000.5) The human mind may perform in response to so-called inspiration when it is sensitive either to the uprisings of the subconscious or to the stimulus of the superconscious. In either case it appears to the individual that such augmentations of the content of consciousness are more or less foreign. Unrestrained mystical enthusiasm and rampant religious ecstasy are not the credentials of inspiration, supposedly divine credentials. 인간의 마음은 잠재의식의 솟아남이나 초(超) 의식의 자극에 과민할 때, 소위 영감(靈感)에 응답할 수도 있습니다. 어느 경우에나, 그런 의식 내용의 증대는 거의 개인에게 관계없는 것으로 보입니다. 억제되지 않은 신비적 열광과 자유분방한 종교적 황홀경(怳惚境)은 영감(靈感)의 증명서, 소위 신적 보증서가 아닙니다.
91:7.5 (1000.6) The practical test of all these strange religious experiences of mysticism, ecstasy, and inspiration is to observe whether these phenomena cause an individual: 신비주의, 황홀경 및 영감(靈感)에 속한 이 모든 이상한 종교 체험의 실제 검증은 이런 현상이 개인에게 다음의 결과를 가져오는지 관찰하는 것입니다.
91:7.6 (1000.7) 1. To enjoy better and more complete physical health. 더 좋고 더 온전한 육체 건강을 누리게 함.
91:7.7 (1000.8) 2. To function more efficiently and practically in his mental life. 개인의 정신생활이 더 효율적이며 실용적으로 활동함.
91:7.8 (1000.9) 3. More fully and joyfully to socialize his religious experience. 개인의 종교 체험을 더 충만하고 즐겁게 사회화함.
91:7.9 (1000.10) 4. More completely to spiritualize his day-by-day living while faithfully discharging the commonplace duties of routine mortal existence. 일상적 필사자 생활의 평범한 의무를 충실히 이행하는 동시에 그의 일상생활을 더 온전히 영화(靈化)함.
91:7.10 (1001.1) 5. To enhance his love for, and appreciation of, truth, beauty, and goodness. 진리, 아름다움 및 선(善)에 대한 개인의 사랑과 진미선에 대한 올바른 이해가 향상함.
91:7.11 (1001.2) 6. To conserve currently recognized social, moral, ethical, and spiritual values. 널리 알려진 사회적, 도덕적, 윤리적 및 영적 가치를 보존함.
91:7.12 (1001.3) 7. To increase his spiritual insight — God-consciousness. 자신의 영적 통찰력 – 하느님 의식이 늘어남.
91:7.13 (1001.4) But prayer has no real association with these exceptional religious experiences. When prayer becomes overmuch aesthetic, when it consists almost exclusively in beautiful and blissful contemplation of paradisiacal divinity, it loses much of its socializing influence and tends toward mysticism and the isolation of its devotees. There is a certain danger associated with overmuch private praying which is corrected and prevented by group praying, community devotions. 그러나 기도는 이런 비정상적 종교 체험과 실제로 아무 관련이 없습니다. 기도가 과도하게 심미적(審美的)으로 되어, 거의 전적으로 낙원과 같은 신성(神性)에 대해 아름답고 행복에 넘친 사색에만 잠길 때, 그것은 사회화하는 영향력을 많이 잃고, 신비주의와 열성 신자들을 고립에 빠뜨리는 경향이 있습니다. 과도한 사적 기도와 관련된 특정 위험이 있는데, 이는 그룹 기도, 공동체 헌신으로 교정되고 예방됩니다.
8. Praying as a Personal Experience 개인적 체험의 기도
91:8.1 (1001.5) There is a truly spontaneous aspect to prayer, for primitive man found himself praying long before he had any clear concept of a God. Early man was wont to pray in two diverse situations: When in dire need, he experienced the impulse to reach out for help; and when jubilant, he indulged the impulsive expression of joy. 원시인은 하느님에 대한 명확한 개념을 갖기 훨씬 전부터 기도하는 가운데 있었기 때문에, 사실 기도에는 자발적인 면이 있습니다. 초기 인간은 두 가지 다른 상황에서 버릇처럼 기도했습니다. 절실한 도움이 필요할 때, 그는 도움을 청하려는 충동을 경험했고, 환호할 때, 그는 마음껏 기쁨을 표현했습니다.
91:8.2 (1001.6) Prayer is not an evolution of magic; they each arose independently. Magic was an attempt to adjust Deity to conditions; prayer is the effort to adjust the personality to the will of Deity. True prayer is both moral and religious; magic is neither. 기도는 마법의 진화가 아닙니다. 그것들은 서로 관계없이 생겼습니다. 마법은 신(神)을 상황에 조율하려는 시도였습니다. 기도는 인간을 신(神)의 뜻에 조율하려는 노력입니다. 참된 기도는 도덕적이고 종교적이지만, 마법은 둘 다 아닙니다.
91:8.3 (1001.7) Prayer may become an established custom; many pray because others do. Still others pray because they fear something direful may happen if they do not offer their regular supplications. 기도는 정착된 관습이 될 수도 있습니다. 많은 사람은, 다른 사람들이 기도하기 때문에, 기도합니다. 다른 사람들은, 자신들이 정기적으로 간청하지 않으면 불길한 일이 일어날까 봐 두려워서 여전히 기도합니다.
91:8.4 (1001.8) To some individuals prayer is the calm expression of gratitude; to others, a group expression of praise, social devotions; sometimes it is the imitation of another’s religion, while in true praying it is the sincere and trusting communication of the spiritual nature of the creature with the anywhere presence of the spirit of the Creator. 어떤 개인들에게 기도는 차분한 감사의 표현입니다. 다른 사람들에게 찬양, 사회적 헌신의 집단적 표현입니다. 때때로 그것은 다른 종교의 모방이지만, 참된 기도에서, 그것은 창조물의 영적 본성이 어디에나 임재하는 창조주의 영(靈)과 성실하게 신뢰하는 소통입니다.
91:8.5 (1001.9) Prayer may be a spontaneous expression of God-consciousness or a meaningless recitation of theologic formulas. It may be the ecstatic praise of a God-knowing soul or the slavish obeisance of a fear-ridden mortal. It is sometimes the pathetic expression of spiritual craving and sometimes the blatant shouting of pious phrases. Prayer may be joyous praise or a humble plea for forgiveness. 기도는 하느님을 의식하는 자발적인 표현이거나 신학적 공식의 의미 없는 낭독일 수도 있습니다. 그것은 하느님을 아는 혼(魂)의 황홀한 찬양이거나 공포에 떠는 필사자의 노예적 복종일 수도 있습니다. 그것은 때때로 영적 갈망의 애처로운 표현이고 이따금 경건한 구절의 뻔뻔스러운 절규입니다. 기도는 기쁨에 찬 찬양이나 용서를 위한 겸손한 탄원일 수도 있습니다.
91:8.6 (1001.10) Prayer may be the childlike plea for the impossible or the mature entreaty for moral growth and spiritual power. A petition may be for daily bread or may embody a wholehearted yearning to find God and to do his will. It may be a wholly selfish request or a true and magnificent gesture toward the realization of unselfish brotherhood. 기도는 불가능한 것을 찾는 어린애 같은 탄원이거나 도덕적 성장과 영적 권세를 찾는 성숙한 간청일 수도 있습니다. 청원은 일용할 영식을 구하거나 하느님을 찾고 그의 뜻을 행하려는 전심의 열망을 구체적으로 나타낼 수도 있습니다. 그것은 완전히 이기적인 요구나 비이기적인 형제공동체의 실현을 향한 참된 장엄한 태도일 수도 있습니다.
91:8.7 (1001.11) Prayer may be an angry cry for vengeance or a merciful intercession for one’s enemies. It may be the expression of a hope of changing God or the powerful technique of changing one’s self. It may be the cringing plea of a lost sinner before a supposedly stern Judge or the joyful expression of a liberated son of the living and merciful heavenly Father. 기도는 복수를 위한 분노의 외침이거나 원수를 위한 자비로운 중보 기도일 수도 있습니다. 그것은 하느님을 변화시키려는 희망의 표현이거나 자신을 변화시키는 강력한 기법일 수도 있습니다. 그것은 소위 준엄한 심판자 앞에서 타락한 죄인의 비굴한 탄원이거나 살아 계신 자비로운 하늘 아버지의 해방된 아들(자녀)이 표현한 기쁨일 수도 있습니다.
91:8.8 (1001.12) Modern man is perplexed by the thought of talking things over with God in a purely personal way. Many have abandoned regular praying; they only pray when under unusual pressure — in emergencies. Man should be unafraid to talk to God, but only a spiritual child would undertake to persuade, or presume to change, God. 현대인은 아주 개인적인 방식으로 하느님과 상황을 의논한다는 생각으로 난처해합니다. 많은 사람이 정기적인 기도를 포기했습니다. 그들은 비상시, 특이한 압력을 받을 때만 기도합니다. 사람은 하느님께 말하기를 두려워하지 말아야 하지만, 영적인 자녀만 하느님을 설득하려 하거나 감히 변화시키려 할 것입니다.
91:8.9 (1002.1) But real praying does attain reality. Even when the air currents are ascending, no bird can soar except by outstretched wings. Prayer elevates man because it is a technique of progressing by the utilization of the ascending spiritual currents of the universe. 그러나 진짜 기도는 실체에 도달합니다. 기류(氣流)가 상승할 때도, 새가 날개를 펼치지 않으면 절대로 날아오를 수 없습니다. 기도는 우주의 상승하는 영적 기류를 이용하여 전진하는 기법이므로 그것이 사람을 고상하게 합니다.
91:8.10 (1002.2) Genuine prayer adds to spiritual growth, modifies attitudes, and yields that satisfaction which comes from communion with divinity. It is a spontaneous outburst of God-consciousness. 진짜 기도는 영적 성장을 늘려, 태도를 변화시키며, 신성(神性)과 사귐에서 생기는 만족을 낳습니다. 그것이 하느님-의식을 무의식적으로 쏟아져 나오게 합니다.
91:8.11 (1002.3) God answers man’s prayer by giving him an increased revelation of truth, an enhanced appreciation of beauty, and an augmented concept of goodness. Prayer is a subjective gesture, but it contacts with mighty objective realities on the spiritual levels of human experience; it is a meaningful reach by the human for superhuman values. It is the most potent spiritual-growth stimulus. 하느님은 진리에 대해 늘어난 계시, 아름다움에 대해 향상된 인식과 선함에 대해 확대된 개념을 제공하여 인간의 기도에 응답합니다. 기도는 주관적인 태도이지만, 그것은 인간 체험의 영적 수준에서 강력한 객관적 실체들과 접촉합니다. 그것은 인간이 초(超)인간적 가치를 위한 의미 있는 발돋움입니다. 그것은 가장 강력한 영적-성장의 자극입니다.
91:8.12 (1002.4) Words are irrelevant to prayer; they are merely the intellectual channel in which the river of spiritual supplication may chance to flow. The word value of a prayer is purely autosuggestive in private devotions and sociosuggestive in group devotions. God answers the soul’s attitude, not the words. 말은 기도와 상관이 없습니다. 그것들은 영적 간청의 강물이 우연히 흐를 수도 있는 지적인 통로에 불과합니다. 기도에서 말의 가치는 개인적 헌신에서는 순전히 자기 암시적이며 집단적 헌신에서는 사회 암시적입니다. 하느님은 말이 아니라 혼의 태도에 응답합니다.
91:8.13 (1002.5) Prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth in the very face of conflict. Pray only for values, not things; for growth, not for gratification. 기도는 갈등에서 회피하는 기법이 아니라 오히려 갈등에 직면하여 성장하게 하는 자극제입니다. 원하는 것들이 아니라 오직 가치를 위해 기도하라. 욕구 충족이 아니라 성장을 위해 기도하라.
9. Conditions of Effective Prayer 효과적 기도의 조건
91:9.1 (1002.6) If you would engage in effective praying, you should bear in mind the laws of prevailing petitions: 너희가 효과적으로 기도하려면 효과적인 청원의 법칙을 명심해야 합니다.
91:9.2 (1002.7) 1. You must qualify as a potent prayer by sincerely and courageously facing the problems of universe reality. You must possess cosmic stamina.너희는 우주 실체의 문제에 진지하고 용감하게 직면하여 설득력 있는 기도에 적합해야 합니다. 너희는 질서 우주적 활동력(체력, 지구력)을 갖춰야 합니다.
91:9.3 (1002.8) 2. You must have honestly exhausted the human capacity for human adjustment. You must have been industrious. 너희는 인간적으로 적응하는 인간 용량을 정말로 다 써버렸습니다. 너희는 틀림없이 부지런했을 것입니다.
91:9.4 (1002.9) 3. You must surrender every wish of mind and every craving of soul to the transforming embrace of spiritual growth. You must have experienced an enhancement of meanings and an elevation of values. 너희는 모든 마음의 소원과 혼의 갈망을 영적 성장(成長)의 변환하는 수용에 넘겨줘야 합니다. 너희는 의미의 증진과 가치의 고양을 틀림없이 경험했을 것입니다.
91:9.5 (1002.10) 4. You must make a wholehearted choice of the divine will. You must obliterate the dead center of indecision. 너희는 전심으로 신적 뜻을 선택해야 합니다. 너희는 주저하는 사점(死點 주저앉고 싶은 순간)을 제거해야 합니다.
91:9.6 (1002.11) 5. You not only recognize the Father’s will and choose to do it, but you have effected an unqualified consecration, and a dynamic dedication, to the actual doing of the Father’s will. 너희는 아버지의 뜻을 알아보고 그것을 행하려고 결정할 뿐 아니라, 아버지 뜻의 현실적 실행에 절대적으로 헌신하고 활동적으로 전념했습니다.
91:9.7 (1002.12) 6. Your prayer will be directed exclusively for divine wisdom to solve the specific human problems encountered in the Paradise ascension — the attainment of divine perfection. 너희 기도는 천국 상승-신적 완전성에 이르는 가운데 마주치는 특정한 인간적 문제를 해결하기 위해 전적으로 신적 지혜에 쏟을 것입니다.
91:9.8 (1002.13) 7. And you must have faith — living faith. 그리고 너희는 반드시 신앙-살아있는 신앙을 가져야 합니다.
91:9.9 (1002.14) [Presented by the Chief of the Urantia Midwayers.][유란시아 중도자들의 수석이 제시함]
92:0.1 (1003.1) MAN possessed a religion of natural origin as a part of his evolutionary experience long before any systematic revelations were made on Urantia. But this religion of natural origin was, in itself, the product of man’s superanimal endowments. Evolutionary religion arose slowly throughout the millenniums of mankind’s experiential career through the ministry of the following influences operating within, and impinging upon, savage, barbarian, and civilized man: 사람은 유란시아에 체계적인 계시가 있기 훨씬 전부터 진화 체험의 일부로서 자연적 기원의 종교를 가지고 있었습니다. 그러나 이런 자연적 기원의 종교는 그 자체로 사람의 초(超)동물적 자질의 산물이었습니다. 진화 종교는 야만인, 미개인과 문명인 내부에서 작용하고 그들에게 닥쳤던 다음의 영향력을 힘입어 수천 년간의 인류 체험적 생애 내내 점차 일어났습니다.
92:0.2 (1003.2) 1. The adjutant of worship — the appearance in animal consciousness of superanimal potentials for reality perception. This might be termed the primordial human instinct for Deity. 경배의 보조자 – 실체 인식을 위한 초(超)동물적 잠재력이 동물적 의식에 출현. 이것은 신(神)에 대한 인간의 원초적 본능이라고 할 수도 있습니다.
92:0.3 (1003.3) 2. The adjutant of wisdom — the manifestation in a worshipful mind of the tendency to direct its adoration in higher channels of expression and toward ever-expanding concepts of Deity reality. 지혜의 보조자 – 경배 마음에서 고등 표현의 통로로 신(神) 실체에 대해 계속 확장되는 개념을 향해 예배로 이끄는 경향의 표현.
92:0.4 (1003.4) 3. The Holy Spirit — this is the initial supermind bestowal, and it unfailingly appears in all bona fide human personalities. This ministry to a worship-craving and wisdom-desiring mind creates the capacity to self-realize the postulate of human survival, both in theologic concept and as an actual and factual personality experience. 성령(聖靈) – 이것은 최초의 초(超) 마음 증여이며, 모든 진실한 인간의 인격(고유성)에 확실히 나타납니다. 경배를 갈망하고 지혜를 바라는 마음에 대한 이런 보살핌이, 신학 개념으로 또한 현실적 사실의 인격(고유성) 체험으로서 모두, 인간 생존의 선결 요건을 스스로 실현하는 수용력을 만들어 냅니다.
92:0.5 (1003.5) The co-ordinate functioning of these three divine ministrations is quite sufficient to initiate and prosecute the growth of evolutionary religion. These influences are later augmented by Thought Adjusters, seraphim, and the Spirit of Truth, all of which accelerate the rate of religious development. These agencies have long functioned on Urantia, and they will continue here as long as this planet remains an inhabited sphere. Much of the potential of these divine agencies has never yet had opportunity for expression; much will be revealed in the ages to come as mortal religion ascends, level by level, toward the supernal heights of morontia value and spirit truth. 이런 세 가지 신적 돌봄을 조정-통합하는 기능이 진화 종교의 성장을 시작하여 추진하기에 아주 충분합니다. 이런 영향력은 나중에 생각 조율자들, 세라핌들과 진리의 영(靈)으로 증대되어, 이 모두가 종교 발전의 속도를 촉진합니다. 이런 작용이 유란시아에서 오랫동안 역할을 했고, 이 행성이 거주 구체로 남아 있는 한, 그것들은 여기에서 계속될 것입니다. 이런 신적 대리자들의 많은 잠재력은 아직도 표현될 기회를 가진 적이 없었지만, 필사자 종교가 모론시아 가치와 영(靈) 진리의 고상한 높이를 향해, 단계적으로 상승함에 따라 다가오는 시대에 많이 드러날 것입니다.
1. The Evolutionary Nature of Religion 종교의 진화적 본성
92:1.1 (1003.6) The evolution of religion has been traced from early fear and ghosts down through many successive stages of development, including those efforts first to coerce and then to cajole the spirits. Tribal fetishes grew into totems and tribal gods; magic formulas became modern prayers. Circumcision, at first a sacrifice, became a hygienic procedure. 종교의 진화는 초기 공포와 유령으로부터 처음에는 영(靈)들을 강요한 다음 부추기는 그런 노력을 포함하여 연속적인 여러 발전 단계를 거쳐 내려왔습니다. 부족의 주물(呪物)은 토템(종교적인 동·식물 상징)과 부족의 신과 같은 존재들로 성장했습니다. 마법의 상투어는 현대 기도문이 되었습니다. 처음에 희생 제물이었던 할례는 위생 절차가 되었습니다.
92:1.2 (1003.7) Religion progressed from nature worship up through ghost worship to fetishism throughout the savage childhood of the races. With the dawn of civilization the human race espoused the more mystic and symbolic beliefs, while now, with approaching maturity, mankind is ripening for the appreciation of real religion, even a beginning of the revelation of truth itself. 종교는 자연 숭배에서 유령 숭배를 거쳐 인류의 야만적 요람기 내내 주물 숭배까지 진보했습니다. 문명이 시작되면서 인류는 더 신비적인 상징적 믿음을 신봉했지만, 이제 성숙기에 이르러 인류는 참된 종교의 진가를 이해하고, 심지어 진리 자체의 계시를 시작하기 위해 원숙해지고 있습니다.
92:1.3 (1004.1) Religion arises as a biologic reaction of mind to spiritual beliefs and the environment; it is the last thing to perish or change in a race. Religion is society’s adjustment, in any age, to that which is mysterious. As a social institution it embraces rites, symbols, cults, scriptures, altars, shrines, and temples. Holy water, relics, fetishes, charms, vestments, bells, drums, and priesthoods are common to all religions. And it is impossible entirely to divorce purely evolved religion from either magic or sorcery. 종교는 영적인 믿음과 환경에 대한 마음의 생물학적 반응으로 발생합니다. 그것은 한 종족에서 사라지거나 변하지 않는 최후의 것입니다. 종교는 어느 시대나 설명할 수 없는 것에 대한 사회의 조율입니다. 그것은 사회 제도로서 의례(儀禮), 상징, 종파, 경전, 제단, 사당(祠堂) 및 신전(神殿)을 포함합니다. 성수(聖水), 유물, 주물, 부적, 예복, 종, 북 및 사제직은 모든 종교에 공통적입니다. 그리고 순전히 진화된 종교를 마법이나 마술에서 완전히 분리하는 것은 불가능합니다.
92:1.4 (1004.2) Mystery and power have always stimulated religious feelings and fears, while emotion has ever functioned as a powerful conditioning factor in their development. Fear has always been the basic religious stimulus. Fear fashions the gods of evolutionary religion and motivates the religious ritual of the primitive believers. As civilization advances, fear becomes modified by reverence, admiration, respect, and sympathy and is then further conditioned by remorse and repentance. 신비와 권능은 언제나 종교적 느낌과 두려움을 자극했고, 한편 감정은 늘 종교적 느낌과 두려움이 발전하는 강력한 조절 요소로 작용했습니다. 두려움은 언제나 기본적인 종교적 자극이었습니다. 두려움이 진화 종교에서 신과 같은 존재들을 만들어내고, 원시 신자들의 종교 예식(禮式)을 일으킵니다. 문명이 진보하면서, 두려움은 경의(敬意), 감탄, 존경 및 공감으로 변경된 후 후회와 회개로 조절됩니다.
92:1.5 (1004.3) One Asiatic people taught that “God is a great fear”; that is the outgrowth of purely evolutionary religion. Jesus, the revelation of the highest type of religious living, proclaimed that “God is love.” 아시아의 한 민족은 “하느님은 커다란 두려움이시다.”라고 가르쳤습니다. 그것은 순전히 진화 종교의 산물입니다. 최고 유형의 종교적 생활의 계시(啓示)인 예수께서 “하느님은 사랑이시다.”라고 선포했습니다.
2. Religion and the Mores 종교와 관습
92:2.1 (1004.4) Religion is the most rigid and unyielding of all human institutions, but it does tardily adjust to changing society. Eventually, evolutionary religion does reflect the changing mores, which, in turn, may have been affected by revealed religion. Slowly, surely, but grudgingly, does religion (worship) follow in the wake of wisdom — knowledge directed by experiential reason and illuminated by divine revelation. 종교는 모든 인간 제도 중에서 가장 엄정하고 단호하지만, 변화하는 사회에 마지못해 조율합니다. 결국 진화 종교는 변화하는 관습을 반영하며, 이는 교대로 계시 종교의 영향을 받았을 수 있습니다. 점차, 확실히, 그러나 마지못해, 종교(경배)는 지혜 – 체험적 이성으로 관리되고 신적 계시로 조명되는 지식을 뒤따릅니다.
92:2.2 (1004.5) Religion clings to the mores; that which was is ancient and supposedly sacred. For this reason and no other, stone implements persisted long into the age of bronze and iron. This statement is of record: “And if you will make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for, if you use your tools in making it, you have polluted it.” Even today, the Hindus kindle their altar fires by using a primitive fire drill. In the course of evolutionary religion, novelty has always been regarded as sacrilege. The sacrament must consist, not of new and manufactured food, but of the most primitive of viands: “The flesh roasted with fire and unleavened bread served with bitter herbs.” All types of social usage and even legal procedures cling to the old forms. 종교는 관습을 고수합니다. 있던 것은 아주 오래되어 이른바 신성시됩니다. 단지 이런 이유만으로 석기(石器)가 청동기(靑銅器)와 철기(鐵器) 시대까지 오랫동안 이어졌습니다. 이런 말이 기록되어 있습니다. “너희가 내게 돌로 제단을 쌓거든, 다듬은 돌로 쌓지 말라, 너희가 도구를 사용하여 그것을 만들면, 그것을 더럽히는 것이라(출20:25, 신27:5).” 오늘날에도 힌두교도들은 원시적인 불송곳을 이용하여 자신들의 제단에 불을 지핍니다. 진화 종교의 과정에서 새로운 것은 언제나 신성 모독으로 여겨졌습니다. 성찬(聖餐)은 새로운 가공 음식이 아니라 가장 원시적인 음식, 즉“불에 구운 고기와 무교병(누룩을 넣지 않은 빵)에 쓴 나물을 곁들인 것(출12:8)”으로 이루어져야 합니다. 모든 유형의 사회적 관례와 법적 절차도 옛 형식을 고수합니다.
92:2.3 (1004.6) When modern man wonders at the presentation of so much in the scriptures of different religions that may be regarded as obscene, he should pause to consider that passing generations have feared to eliminate what their ancestors deemed to be holy and sacred. A great deal that one generation might look upon as obscene, preceding generations have considered a part of their accepted mores, even as approved religious rituals. A considerable amount of religious controversy has been occasioned by the never-ending attempts to reconcile olden but reprehensible practices with newly advanced reason, to find plausible theories in justification of creedal perpetuation of ancient and outworn customs. 현대인이 다른 종교의 경전에서 외설(猥褻)로 여길 수도 있는 여러 내용의 표현을 의아하게 여길 때, 잠시 멈춰서, 지나가는 세대들은 그들의 조상들이 거룩하고 신성하게 여긴 것을 없애기에 두려워했다는 것을 생각해봐야 합니다. 한 세대가 외설로 여길 수 있는 많은 것을, 이전 세대들은 자신들이 인정한 관습의 부분, 심지어 승인된 종교의식(儀式)으로 여겼습니다. 오래되었지만 비난할 만한 관행을 새롭게 진보한 이성과 조화시키고, 고대의 낡은 관습을 신조적 영구 보존으로 정당화할 타당한 이론을 찾으려는 끝없는 시도로, 상당히 많은 종교적 논쟁이 일어났습니다.
92:2.4 (1004.7) But it is only foolish to attempt the too sudden acceleration of religious growth. A race or nation can only assimilate from any advanced religion that which is reasonably consistent and compatible with its current evolutionary status, plus its genius for adaptation. Social, climatic, political, and economic conditions are all influential in determining the course and progress of religious evolution. Social morality is not determined by religion, that is, by evolutionary religion; rather are the forms of religion dictated by the racial morality. 그러나 너무 급격한 종교적 성장을 가속하려는 시도는 어리석은 일뿐입니다. 어떤 종족이나 국가는 현재 진화 상태와 합리적으로 일치하고 적합하며, 게다가 적응력이 뛰어난, 진보 종교로부터 제 것으로 받아들일 수 있을 뿐입니다. 사회적, 기후적, 정치적, 경제적 조건은 모두 종교 진화의 과정과 진보의 결정에 영향을 미칩니다. 사회적 도덕성은 종교, 즉 진화 종교에 의해 결정되지 않고, 오히려 종교의 형태가 인종의 도덕성으로 결정됩니다.
92:2.5 (1005.1) Races of men only superficially accept a strange and new religion; they actually adjust it to their mores and old ways of believing. This is well illustrated by the example of a certain New Zealand tribe whose priests, after nominally accepting Christianity, professed to have received direct revelations from Gabriel to the effect that this selfsame tribe had become the chosen people of God and directing that they be permitted freely to indulge in loose sex relations and numerous other of their olden and reprehensible customs. And immediately all of the new-made Christians went over to this new and less exacting version of Christianity. 인간 종족은 낯설고 새로운 종교는 피상적으로만 받아들입니다. 그들은 실제로 자신들의 관습과 오래된 믿음의 방식에 그것을 조율합니다. 이것은 명목상 기독교를 받아들인 후, 사제들이 이런 자기 부족이 하느님이 택한 민족이 되었다는 취지로 가브리엘로부터 직접 계시를 받았다고 공언하고, 그들이 느슨한 성적 관계와 자신들의 비난할 만한 다른 수많은 옛 관습에 자유롭게 빠져들도록 허용했다고 지시한 뉴질랜드의 어떤 부족의 예로 잘 설명됩니다. 그리고 즉시 새로 믿은 모든 기독교인은 이렇게 새로운, 덜 엄격한 기독교 변형으로 넘어갔습니다.
92:2.6 (1005.2) Religion has at one time or another sanctioned all sorts of contrary and inconsistent behavior, has at some time approved of practically all that is now regarded as immoral or sinful. Conscience, untaught by experience and unaided by reason, never has been, and never can be, a safe and unerring guide to human conduct. Conscience is not a divine voice speaking to the human soul. It is merely the sum total of the moral and ethical content of the mores of any current stage of existence; it simply represents the humanly conceived ideal of reaction in any given set of circumstances. 종교는 한때 모든 유형의 모순되고 일관성이 없는 행위를 인정했고, 어떤 때는 지금 부도덕하거나 죄 있는 것으로 여기는 모든 것을 실제로 승인했습니다. 체험으로 배우지 않고 이성의 도움이 없는 양심은 인간 행동에 대해 안전하고 아주 바른 지침이 된 적이 없고, 될 수도 없습니다. 양심은 인간 혼(魂)에 말하는 신적 음성이 아닙니다. 양심은 현존하는 모든 단계의 관습에 속한 도덕적, 윤리적 내용의 총합에 불과합니다. 그것은 주어진 상황에서 인간이 생각하는 반응의 이상(理想)을 나타낼 뿐입니다.
3. The Nature of Evolutionary Religion 진화 종교의 본성
92:3.1 (1005.3) The study of human religion is the examination of the fossil-bearing social strata of past ages. The mores of the anthropomorphic gods are a truthful reflection of the morals of the men who first conceived such deities. Ancient religions and mythology faithfully portray the beliefs and traditions of peoples long since lost in obscurity. These olden cult practices persist alongside newer economic customs and social evolutions and, of course, appear grossly inconsistent. The remnants of the cult present a true picture of the racial religions of the past. Always remember, the cults are formed, not to discover truth, but rather to promulgate their creeds. 인간 종교의 연구는 과거 시대의 화석이 담긴 사회 계층의 고찰입니다. 사람 모습을 닮은 신과 같은 존재들의 관습은, 그런 신(神)들을 처음 생각해 낸 사람들의 도덕을 진실하게 반영합니다. 고대 종교와 신화는 오래전에 이름 없이 사라진 민족들의 믿음과 전통을 충실하게 묘사합니다. 이렇게 오래된 종파의 관습은 새로운 경제 관습 및 사회 진화와 나란히 지속하며, 물론 모두 일치하지는 않습니다. 종파의 자취는 과거 종족 종교의 참된 상황을 말해 줍니다. 종파들의 형성은 진리의 발견이 아니라, 도리어 그들 신조의 선전임을 언제나 기억하십시오.
92:3.2 (1005.4) Religion has always been largely a matter of rites, rituals, observances, ceremonies, and dogmas. It has usually become tainted with that persistently mischief-making error, the chosen-people delusion. The cardinal religious ideas of incantation, inspiration, revelation, propitiation, repentance, atonement, intercession, sacrifice, prayer, confession, worship, survival after death, sacrament, ritual, ransom, salvation, redemption, covenant, uncleanness, purification, prophecy, original sin — they all go back to the early times of primordial ghost fear. 종교는 언제나 대부분 의례(儀禮), 의식(儀式), 식전(式典), 제전(祭典) 및 교리의 문제였습니다. 그것은 대개 끊임없이 사람들을 갈라놓는 잘못, 선민 망상으로 오염되었습니다. 주문, 영감, 계시, 화해(和解), 회개, 속죄(贖罪), 중보(대도代禱), 희생, 기도, 고백, 예배, 사후(死後) 생존, 성례(聖禮), 의식(儀式), 대속(代贖 속량贖良), 구원(救援), 구속(救贖), 계약, 불결함, 정화(淨化 깨끗하게 함), 예언, 원죄(原罪)의 중요한 종교 관념들은 모두 원시 유령 공포의 초기 시대로 거슬러 올라갑니다.
92:3.3 (1005.5) Primitive religion is nothing more nor less than the struggle for material existence extended to embrace existence beyond the grave. The observances of such a creed represented the extension of the self-maintenance struggle into the domain of an imagined ghost-spirit world. But when tempted to criticize evolutionary religion, be careful. Remember, that is what happened; it is a historical fact. And further recall that the power of any idea lies, not in its certainty or truth, but rather in the vividness of its human appeal. 원시 종교는 정확히 저승에서 생존하려고 물질 존재를 확장하려는 분투입니다. 그런 신조(信條)의 준수는 자기-유지의 분투를 상상한 유령-영(靈) 세계의 영역으로 확장한다는 표현입니다. 그러나 진화 종교를 비난하려면 조심하십시오. 그것은 일어난 일이며, 역사적인 사실임을 기억하십시오. 그리고 게다가, 어떤 생각의 권능은 그 확실성이나 진실성이 아니라 도리어 그것이 인간의 흥미를 끄는 생생함에 있음을 상기하십시오.
92:3.4 (1006.1) Evolutionary religion makes no provision for change or revision; unlike science, it does not provide for its own progressive correction. Evolved religion commands respect because its followers believe it is The Truth; “the faith once delivered to the saints” must, in theory, be both final and infallible. The cult resists development because real progress is certain to modify or destroy the cult itself; therefore must revision always be forced upon it. 진화 종교는 변경이나 개정을 위한 조항이 없으며, 과학과 달라서, 그것은 그 자체의 진보적 교정을 마련하지 않습니다. 진화된 종교는 그 추종자들이 그것을 진리로 믿기 때문에, 존중을 요구합니다. “성도들에게 한때 전달된 신앙”은 원칙적으로 확정적이고 결코 잘못이 없어야 합니다. 종파가 발전에 저항하는 것은, 참된 진보가 그 종파 자체를 확실히 변경하거나 파괴하기 때문입니다. 그러므로 개정(改定)은 언제나 그 종파에 강요되어야 합니다.
92:3.5 (1006.2) Only two influences can modify and uplift the dogmas of natural religion: the pressure of the slowly advancing mores and the periodic illumination of epochal revelation. And it is not strange that progress was slow; in ancient days, to be progressive or inventive meant to be killed as a sorcerer. The cult advances slowly in generation epochs and agelong cycles. But it does move forward. Evolutionary belief in ghosts laid the foundation for a philosophy of revealed religion which will eventually destroy the superstition of its origin. 두 가지 영향력, 서서히 전진하는 관습의 압력과 획기적 계시의 주기적 조명만이 자연 종교의 교리를 수정하고 향상할 수 있습니다. 그리고 진보가 느린 것은 이상한 일이 아닙니다. 고대에는 진보적이거나 창의력이 풍부하다는 것은 마법사로서 살해된다는 의미였습니다. 종파는 세대로 이어진 시대와 오랜 세월 계속되는 반복 가운데 서서히 진보합니다. 그러나 그것은 전진합니다. 유령(幽靈)에 대한 진화 믿음은, 결국 그것이 발생한 미신적 행위를 파괴할 계시 종교 철학의 토대를 놓았습니다.
92:3.6 (1006.3) Religion has handicapped social development in many ways, but without religion there would have been no enduring morality nor ethics, no worth-while civilization. Religion enmothered much nonreligious culture: Sculpture originated in idol making, architecture in temple building, poetry in incantations, music in worship chants, drama in the acting for spirit guidance, and dancing in the seasonal worship festivals. 종교는 여러 면에서 사회적 발전에 방해되었지만, 종교가 없었다면 지속적인 도덕이나, 윤리, 훌륭한 문명도 없었을 것입니다. 종교는 여러 비(非)종교적 문화를 낳았습니다. 조각술(彫刻術)은 우상 제작에서, 건축학은 신전 건축에서, 시(詩)는 주문(呪文)에서, 음악은 예배 성가에서, 연극은 영(靈)을 안내하는 행위에서, 춤은 계절의 예배 잔치에서 비롯되었습니다.
92:3.7 (1006.4) But while calling attention to the fact that religion was essential to the development and preservation of civilization, it should be recorded that natural religion has also done much to cripple and handicap the very civilization which it otherwise fostered and maintained. Religion has hampered industrial activities and economic development; it has been wasteful of labor and has squandered capital; it has not always been helpful to the family; it has not adequately fostered peace and good will; it has sometimes neglected education and retarded science; it has unduly impoverished life for the pretended enrichment of death. Evolutionary religion, human religion, has indeed been guilty of all these and many more mistakes, errors, and blunders; nevertheless, it did maintain cultural ethics, civilized morality, and social coherence, and made it possible for later revealed religion to compensate for these many evolutionary shortcomings. 그러나 종교가 문명의 발전과 보존에 필수적이었다는 사실에 주의를 환기하면서, 자연 종교는 또한 다른 점에서 그것이 육성하고 유지해 온 바로 그 문명에 심각한 손상이 되어 많이 방해되었음이 기록되어야 합니다. 종교는 산업 활동과 경제 발전을 방해했습니다. 그것은 노동력을 낭비했고 자본을 탕진했습니다. 그것은 가정에 언제나 도움이 되지는 않았습니다. 그것은 평화와 친선(親善)을 충분히 촉진하지 않았습니다. 그것은 때때로 교육을 소홀히 하고 과학을 지체시켰습니다. 그것은 겉치레로 죽음의 질을 향상하려고 삶을 지나치도록 무력하게 만들었습니다. 진화 종교, 인간 종교는 실로 이런 모든 것과 더 많은 잘못, 실수, 실책의 결점이 있습니다. 그렇지만 그것이 문화 윤리성, 문명화된 도덕성 및 사회적 응집성을 유지했고, 나중에 계시 종교가 이런 여러 진화적 결점을 보충할 수 있게 했습니다.
92:3.8 (1006.5) Evolutionary religion has been man’s most expensive but incomparably effective institution. Human religion can be justified only in the light of evolutionary civilization. If man were not the ascendant product of animal evolution, then would such a course of religious development stand without justification. 진화 종교는 인간에게 가장 값비쌌지만 견줄 데 없이 효과적인 제도였습니다. 인간의 종교는 진화 문명을 고려할 때만 용인될 수 있습니다. 인간이 동물 진화에서 상승하는 소산이 아니라면, 그런 종교 발전의 과정은 정당성이 입증되지 않을 것입니다.
92:3.9 (1006.6) Religion facilitated the accumulation of capital; it fostered work of certain kinds; the leisure of the priests promoted art and knowledge; the race, in the end, gained much as a result of all these early errors in ethical technique. The shamans, honest and dishonest, were terribly expensive, but they were worth all they cost. The learned professions and science itself emerged from the parasitical priesthoods. Religion fostered civilization and provided societal continuity; it has been the moral police force of all time. Religion provided that human discipline and self-control which made wisdom possible. Religion is the efficient scourge of evolution which ruthlessly drives indolent and suffering humanity from its natural state of intellectual inertia forward and upward to the higher levels of reason and wisdom. 종교는 자본의 축적을 촉진했고, 특정한 종류의 일을 조장했으며, 사제들의 여가로 예술과 지식이 증진되었습니다. 결국 인류는 윤리적 기법에서 이런 모든 초기 오류의 결과로 많이 얻었습니다. 정직하고 부정직한 무당들은 대단히 값비쌌지만, 그들은 모두 값을 치를 가치가 있었습니다. 학문적 직업과 과학 자체는 기생하는 사제직에서 출현했습니다. 종교는 문명을 촉진했고 사회의 연속성을 제공했으며, 그것은 역대의 도덕적 경찰이었습니다. 종교는 지혜가 일어날 수 있었던 인간 훈련과 자제력을 제공했습니다. 종교는, 게을러 고통을 겪는 인간성을, 지적 관성의 자연스러운 상태로부터 앞쪽과 위쪽으로 더 높은 이성과 지혜의 수준까지, 무자비하게 휘두르는, 진화의 효율적인 징벌의 수단입니다.
92:3.10 (1006.7) And this sacred heritage of animal ascent, evolutionary religion, must ever continue to be refined and ennobled by the continuous censorship of revealed religion and by the fiery furnace of genuine science. 그리고 동물적 상승에서 출현한 이런 신성한 유산, 진화 종교는 계시 종교의 부단한 검열과 진실한 과학의 불같은 용광로로 늘 변함없이 불순물이 제거되고 품위가 높아져야 합니다.
4. The Gift of Revelation 계시의 선물
92:4.1 (1007.1) Revelation is evolutionary but always progressive. Down through the ages of a world’s history, the revelations of religion are ever-expanding and successively more enlightening. It is the mission of revelation to sort and censor the successive religions of evolution. But if revelation is to exalt and upstep the religions of evolution, then must such divine visitations portray teachings which are not too far removed from the thought and reactions of the age in which they are presented. Thus must and does revelation always keep in touch with evolution. Always must the religion of revelation be limited by man’s capacity of receptivity. 계시는 진화적이지만 언제나 진보적입니다. 세계 역사의 여러 시대에 걸쳐 내려오면서 종교의 계시는 언제나 확장되고 계속해서 더 계몽적입니다. 계시의 임무는 계속되는 진화 종교들을 가려내고 살펴서 검사하는 것입니다. 그러나 계시가 진화 종교들을 고상하게 증진하는 것이면, 그런 신적 나타남은 그것이 제시된 시대의 생각과 반응에서 너무 차이 나지 않은 가르침으로 표현되어야 합니다. 그래서 계시는 언제나 진화와 관련되어야 하고 또 그렇습니다. 계시 종교는 언제나 인간의 수용 능력에 의해 제한되어야 합니다.
92:4.2 (1007.2) But regardless of apparent connection or derivation, the religions of revelation are always characterized by a belief in some Deity of final value and in some concept of the survival of personality identity after death. 그러나 분명한 관련이나 유래와 관계없이, 언제나 최종 가치에 속한 어떤 신(神)과 사후(死後) 인격(고유성) 정체성이 생존한다는 개념에 대한 믿음이 계시 종교의 특징입니다.
92:4.3 (1007.3) Evolutionary religion is sentimental, not logical. It is man’s reaction to belief in a hypothetical ghost-spirit world — the human belief-reflex, excited by the realization and fear of the unknown. Revelatory religion is propounded by the real spiritual world; it is the response of the superintellectual cosmos to the mortal hunger to believe in, and depend upon, the universal Deities. Evolutionary religion pictures the circuitous gropings of humanity in quest of truth; revelatory religion is that very truth. 진화 종교는 논리적이지 않고 감정적입니다. 그것은 가설적 유령(幽靈)-영(靈) 세계를 믿는 인간의 반응, 즉 미지의 세계를 깨닫고 두려움으로 흥분한, 인간의 믿음-반사 작용입니다. 실제 영적 세계가 계시 종교를 제안합니다. 그것은 우주적 신(神)들을 믿고 의존하려는 필사자 갈망에 대한 초(超) 지적 질서 우주의 응답입니다. 진화 종교는 진리를 찾아 손으로 더듬으며 멀리 돌아서 가는 인류의 모습입니다. 계시 종교는 바로 그 진리입니다.
92:4.4 (1007.4) There have been many events of religious revelation but only five of epochal significance. These were as follows: 종교적 계시의 여러 사건이 있었지만, 획기적 시대의 의미가 있는 사건은 다섯 번뿐이었습니다. 이것들은 다음과 같습니다.
92:4.5 (1007.5) 1. The Dalamatian teachings. The true concept of the First Source and Center was first promulgated on Urantia by the one hundred corporeal members of Prince Caligastia’s staff. This expanding revelation of Deity went on for more than three hundred thousand years until it was suddenly terminated by the planetary secession and the disruption of the teaching regime. Except for the work of Van, the influence of the Dalamatian revelation was practically lost to the whole world. Even the Nodites had forgotten this truth by the time of Adam’s arrival. Of all who received the teachings of the one hundred, the red men held them longest, but the idea of the Great Spirit was but a hazy concept in Amerindian religion when contact with Christianity greatly clarified and strengthened it. 달라마시아의 가르침. 첫째 근원 중심의 참된 개념은 칼리가스티아 왕자의 육체를 지닌 참모진 일백 명이 유란시아에 처음으로 널리 알렸습니다. 이렇게 확장된 신(神)의 계시는, 행성의 탈퇴와 교육 체제의 붕괴로 갑자기 끝날 때까지 30 만 년 이상 계속되었습니다. 반의 노력을 제외하고, 달라마시아 계시의 영향력은 전 세계에서 사라진 것과 다름없었습니다. 아담이 도착할 무렵 놋-사람들까지 이 진리를 잊어버렸습니다. 일백 명의 가르침을 받은 모든 사람 중 홍인(紅人)들이 그것들을 가장 오래 간직했지만, 아메리카 원주민 종교의 위대한 영(靈) 사상은 모호한 개념에 불과했으나, 기독교와 접촉하자 그 사상은 대단히 명쾌하게 강화되었습니다.
92:4.6 (1007.6) 2. The Edenic teachings. Adam and Eve again portrayed the concept of the Father of all to the evolutionary peoples. The disruption of the first Eden halted the course of the Adamic revelation before it had ever fully started. But the aborted teachings of Adam were carried on by the Sethite priests, and some of these truths have never been entirely lost to the world. The entire trend of Levantine religious evolution was modified by the teachings of the Sethites. But by 2500 B.C. mankind had largely lost sight of the revelation sponsored in the days of Eden. 에덴의 가르침. 아담과 이브는 진화 민족들에게 모두의 아버지 개념을 다시 보여주었습니다. 아담의 계시가 완전히 시작되기도 전에 첫 번째 에덴의 붕괴로 아담 계시의 과정이 중지되었습니다. 그러나 셋-사람 사제들이 좌절된 아담의 가르침을 유지했고, 이런 진리 중 일부는 세상에서 완전히 사라진 적이 없었습니다. 셋-사람들의 가르침으로 레반트 종교 진화의 전체 경향이 부분적으로 수정되었습니다. 그러나 BC 2,500년에 인류는 에덴 시대에 지지받았던 계시를 대부분 잃었습니다.
92:4.7 (1007.7) 3. Melchizedek of Salem. This emergency Son of Nebadon inaugurated the third revelation of truth on Urantia. The cardinal precepts of his teachings were trust and faith. He taught trust in the omnipotent beneficence of God and proclaimed that faith was the act by which men earned God’s favor. His teachings gradually commingled with the beliefs and practices of various evolutionary religions and finally developed into those theologic systems present on Urantia at the opening of the first millennium after Christ. 살렘의 멜기세덱. 네바돈의 이런 비상시 아들이 유란시아에 세 번째 진리의 계시 시대를 열었습니다. 그 가르침의 기본 교훈은 신뢰와 신앙이었습니다. 그는 하느님의 전능한 은혜를 신뢰하도록 가르쳤고 신앙은 인간이 하느님의 은혜를 얻는 행위라고 선포했습니다. 그의 가르침은 점차 다양한 진화 종교의 믿음 및 관습과 섞였고 마침내 그리스도 이후 첫 번째 1천 년이 시작될 때 유란시아에 나타난 그런 신학 체계들로 발전했습니다.
92:4.8 (1008.1) 4. Jesus of Nazareth. Christ Michael presented for the fourth time to Urantia the concept of God as the Universal Father, and this teaching has generally persisted ever since. The essence of his teaching was love and service, the loving worship which a creature son voluntarily gives in recognition of, and response to, the loving ministry of God his Father; the freewill service which such creature sons bestow upon their brethren in the joyous realization that in this service they are likewise serving God the Father. 나사렛 예수. 그리스도 미가엘은 우주 아버지로서 하느님 개념을 유란시아에 네 번째로 제시했으며, 이런 가르침은 널리 그 이후로 줄곧 이어져 오고 있습니다. 그 가르침의 본질은 사랑과 봉사, 즉 창조물 아들이 자기 아버지 하느님의 애정이 깊은 돌봄을 인정하고 응답하여 자발적으로 드리는 애정이 깊은 경배와, 그런 창조물 아들(자녀)들이 이렇게 봉사하면서 자신들도 마찬가지로 하느님 아버지를 섬기고 있다는 기쁨을 실감하면서 자기 형제들에게 베푸는 자발적인 봉사였습니다.
92:4.9 (1008.2) 5. The Urantia Papers. The papers, of which this is one, constitute the most recent presentation of truth to the mortals of Urantia. These papers differ from all previous revelations, for they are not the work of a single universe personality but a composite presentation by many beings. But no revelation short of the attainment of the Universal Father can ever be complete. All other celestial ministrations are no more than partial, transient, and practically adapted to local conditions in time and space. While such admissions as this may possibly detract from the immediate force and authority of all revelations, the time has arrived on Urantia when it is advisable to make such frank statements, even at the risk of weakening the future influence and authority of this, the most recent of the revelations of truth to the mortal races of Urantia. 유란시아 문서. 이것이 그중 하나인 문서는 유란시아의 필사자들에게 가장 최근에 제시한 진리입니다. 이런 문서는 하나뿐인 우주 인격(고유성)의 작품이 아니라 여러 존재가 합작하여 제시했기 때문에, 이전의 모든 계시와 다릅니다. 그러나 우주 아버지께 속한 달성에 못 미치는 어떤 계시도 결코 전부 갖추고 있을 수 없습니다. 다른 모든 천상의 사역은 부분적이고, 일시적이며, 시간과 공간의 지역적 조건에 실제로 적응하는 것일 뿐입니다. 이처럼 그렇게 인정해서 모든 계시의 직접적 영향력과 권위를 떨어뜨릴 수도 있지만, 유란시아의 필사 인류에게 가장 최근의 진리 계시, 이 계시의 미래 영향력과 권위가 약해질 위험을 무릅쓰고, 그렇게 솔직하게 진술하는 것이 바람직한 때가 유란시아에 이르렀습니다.
5. The Great Religious Leaders 위대한 종교 지도자들
92:5.1 (1008.3) In evolutionary religion, the gods are conceived to exist in the likeness of man’s image; in revelatory religion, men are taught that they are God’s sons — even fashioned in the finite image of divinity; in the synthesized beliefs compounded from the teachings of revelation and the products of evolution, the God concept is a blend of: 진화 종교에서 신과 같은 존재들은 인간 형상의 모습으로 존재한다고 생각됩니다. 계시 종교에서 인간들은 하느님의 아들(자녀)들이며 심지어 신성(神性)의 유한한 형상으로 만들어졌다고 배웁니다. 계시의 가르침과 진화의 산물에서 형성된 통합 믿음에서 하느님 개념은 다음 것들이 혼합되어 있습니다.
92:5.2 (1008.4) 1. The pre-existent ideas of the evolutionary cults. 진화 종파들의 기존 관념들.
92:5.3 (1008.5) 2. The sublime ideals of revealed religion. 계시 종교의 숭고한 이상(理想)들.
92:5.4 (1008.6) 3. The personal viewpoints of the great religious leaders, the prophets and teachers of mankind. 인류의 위대한 종교 지도자들, 선지자들과 선생들의 개인적 관점들.
92:5.5 (1008.7) Most great religious epochs have been inaugurated by the life and teachings of some outstanding personality; leadership has originated a majority of the worth-while moral movements of history. And men have always tended to venerate the leader, even at the expense of his teachings; to revere his personality, even though losing sight of the truths which he proclaimed. And this is not without reason; there is an instinctive longing in the heart of evolutionary man for help from above and beyond. This craving is designed to anticipate the appearance on earth of the Planetary Prince and the later Material Sons. On Urantia man has been deprived of these superhuman leaders and rulers, and therefore does he constantly seek to make good this loss by enshrouding his human leaders with legends pertaining to supernatural origins and miraculous careers. 대부분의 위대한 종교적 획 시대는 어떤 뛰어난 인물의 삶과 가르침으로 시작되었습니다. 지도력이 역사에서 가치 있는 도덕적 운동의 대부분을 일으켰습니다. 그리고 사람들은 언제나 지도자의 가르침까지 희생하면서, 지도자를 존경하고, 그가 선포한 진리를 잃어도, 그의 인간성을 숭배하는 경향이 있었습니다. 그리고 이것은 이유가 없지 않습니다. 진화 인간의 심정에는 하늘과 그 너머로부터 도움을 바라는 본능적 갈망이 있습니다. 이런 갈망은 이 세상에 행성 왕자와 후대 물질 아들들의 출현을 기대하도록 의도되었습니다. 유란시아에서 사람은 이런 초인간 지도자들과 통치자들을 빼앗겼기 때문에 사람은 자기 인간 지도자들을 초자연적 기원과 기적의 생애에 속한 전설들로 감싸서 이런 손실을 계속 만회(挽回)하려 합니다.
92:5.6 (1008.8) Many races have conceived of their leaders as being born of virgins; their careers are liberally sprinkled with miraculous episodes, and their return is always expected by their respective groups. In central Asia the tribesmen still look for the return of Genghis Khan; in Tibet, China, and India it is Buddha; in Islam it is Mohammed; among the Amerinds it was Hesunanin Onamonalonton; with the Hebrews it was, in general, Adam’s return as a material ruler. In Babylon the god Marduk was a perpetuation of the Adam legend, the son-of-God idea, the connecting link between man and God. Following the appearance of Adam on earth, so-called sons of God were common among the world races. 여러 종족은 자기 지도자들이 처녀에게서 태어났다고 생각했습니다. 그들의 생애는 대체로 숨어 있는 기적 이야기들로 간간이 섞여 있고 그들 각 집단은 언제나 그들의 귀환(歸還)을 기다립니다. 중앙아시아의 부족민들은 여전히 칭기즈칸의 귀환을 기대합니다. 티베트, 중국과 인도에서는 부처입니다. 이슬람 세계에서는 마호메트입니다. 아메리카 원주민 사이에는 헤수나닌 오나모나론톤이었습니다. 히브리인들에게 그것은 대체로 물질 통치자로서 아담의 귀환이었습니다. 바빌론에서 마르두크 신(神)은 아담 전설, 하느님의 아들 관념, 사람과 하느님 사이를 잇는 고리의 영속화(永續化)였습니다. 아담이 지상에 출현한 이후, 소위 하느님의 아들들은 세계 종족들 사이에 흔히 볼 수 있었습니다.
92:5.7 (1009.1) But regardless of the superstitious awe in which they were often held, it remains a fact that these teachers were the temporal personality fulcrums on which the levers of revealed truth depended for the advancement of the morality, philosophy, and religion of mankind. 그러나 그들이 종종 품었던 미신적인 경외(敬畏)와 관계없이 이런 선생들은, 인류의 도덕성, 철학 및 종교 발전을 위해 계시 진리의 지렛대들이 의존하는 일시적 인격(고유성) 받침대들이었다는 사실은 없어지지 않고 있습니다.
92:5.8 (1009.2) There have been hundreds upon hundreds of religious leaders in the million-year human history of Urantia from Onagar to Guru Nanak. During this time there have been many ebbs and flows of the tide of religious truth and spiritual faith, and each renaissance of Urantian religion has, in the past, been identified with the life and teachings of some religious leader. In considering the teachers of recent times, it may prove helpful to group them into the seven major religious epochs of post-Adamic Urantia: 오나가에서 구루 나낙까지 유란시아의 백만 년 인간 역사에 수백 명의 종교 지도자들이 있었습니다. 이런 기간에 종교적 진리와 영적 신앙의 조류는 여러 번 성쇠를 되풀이했으며, 유란시아 종교의 각 부흥은 과거 어떤 종교적 지도자의 생애 및 가르침으로 확인되었습니다. 최근의 선생들을 고려할 때 아담 이후 유란시아의 일곱 주요 종교적 획 시대로 그것들을 분류하는 것이 도움이 될 수 있습니다.
92:5.9 (1009.3) 1. The Sethite period. The Sethite priests, as regenerated under the leadership of Amosad, became the great post-Adamic teachers. They functioned throughout the lands of the Andites, and their influence persisted longest among the Greeks, Sumerians, and Hindus. Among the latter they have continued to the present time as the Brahmans of the Hindu faith. The Sethites and their followers never entirely lost the Trinity concept revealed by Adam. 셋-사람 시대, 아모사드의 지도력으로 재건된 셋-사람 사제들은 아담-이후 위대한 선생들이 되었습니다. 그들은 안드-사람들의 땅 전역에서 활동했으며(78) 그들의 영향력은 그리스인, 수메르인, 힌두교도 사이에서 가장 오래 지속되었습니다. 후자 중에서 그들은 힌두교 신앙의 브라만으로서 현재까지 계속되고 있습니다. 셋-사람들과 그 추종자들은 아담이 계시한 삼위일체 개념을 결코 완전히 잃어버리지 않았습니다.
92:5.10 (1009.4) 2. Era of the Melchizedek missionaries. Urantia religion was in no small measure regenerated by the efforts of those teachers who were commissioned by Machiventa Melchizedek when he lived and taught at Salem almost two thousand years before Christ. These missionaries proclaimed faith as the price of favor with God, and their teachings, though unproductive of any immediately appearing religions, nevertheless formed the foundations on which later teachers of truth were to build the religions of Urantia. 멜기세덱 선교사들의 시대. 유란시아 종교는 그리스도 보다 거의 2,000년 전 살렘에 살면서 가르쳤던 마키벤타 멜기세덱이 위임한 그런 선생들의 노력으로 상당히 재생되었습니다. 이런 선교사들은 신앙을 하느님의 은혜를 얻는 대가(代價)로 선포했고, 그들의 가르침으로 어떤 종교들이 즉시 출현하지는 않았지만, 나중에 진리의 선생들이 유란시아의 종교들을 세웠던 기초를 형성했습니다.
92:5.11 (1009.5) 3. The post-Melchizedek era. Though Amenemope and Ikhnaton both taught in this period, the outstanding religious genius of the post-Melchizedek era was the leader of a group of Levantine Bedouins and the founder of the Hebrew religion — Moses. Moses taught monotheism. Said he: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God.” “The Lord he is God. There is none beside him.” He persistently sought to uproot the remnants of the ghost cult among his people, even prescribing the death penalty for its practitioners. The monotheism of Moses was adulterated by his successors, but in later times they did return to many of his teachings. The greatness of Moses lies in his wisdom and sagacity. Other men have had greater concepts of God, but no one man was ever so successful in inducing large numbers of people to adopt such advanced beliefs. 멜기세덱 이후 시대. 아메니모페(BC10세기)와 이크나톤(아멘호텝 4세, BC14세기)은 둘 다 이 시대에 가르쳤지만, 멜기세덱 이후 뛰어난 종교적 천재는 레반트의 베두인 집단의 지도자이며 히브리 종교의 창시자, 모세였습니다. 모세는 유일신교(唯一神敎 오직 하나의 신만 존재한다는 믿음)를 가르쳤습니다. 그가 말했습니다. “오 이스라엘아, 들으라, 주 우리 하느님은 하나밖에 없는 하느님이시라(신6:4).” “주 그는 하느님이시라. 그 외에는 다른 신이 없느니라(신4:35).” 그는 자기 백성 중 유령(幽靈) 종파의 잔재(殘滓)를 근절하려고 끊임없이 애썼고 그 수행자들에게 사형까지 명했습니다. 모세의 유일신교는 그의 후계자들이 변질시켰지만, 후대에 그들은 여러 그의 가르침으로 되돌아갔습니다. 모세의 위대함은 그의 지혜와 총명에 있습니다. 다른 사람들이 더 위대한 하느님 개념을 지녔지만, 많은 사람이 그렇게 진보한 믿음들을 채택하도록 그렇게 성공적으로 이끈 사람은 아무도 없었습니다.
92:5.12 (1009.6) 4. The sixth century before Christ. Many men arose to proclaim truth in this, one of the greatest centuries of religious awakening ever witnessed on Urantia. Among these should be recorded Gautama, Confucius, Lao-tse, Zoroaster, and the Jainist teachers. The teachings of Gautama have become widespread in Asia, and he is revered as the Buddha by millions. Confucius was to Chinese morality what Plato was to Greek philosophy, and while there were religious repercussions to the teachings of both, strictly speaking, neither was a religious teacher; Lao-tse envisioned more of God in Tao than did Confucius in humanity or Plato in idealism. Zoroaster, while much affected by the prevalent concept of dual spiritism, the good and the bad, at the same time definitely exalted the idea of one eternal Deity and of the ultimate victory of light over darkness. 그리스도 이전 6세기. 유란시아에서 일찍이 목격된 가장 위대한 종교적 각성의 세기 중 하나인, 이때 여러 사람이 진리를 선포하려고 일어났습니다. 이들 중 고타마, 공자, 노자, 조로아스터 그리고 자이나교 선생들이 진술되어야 합니다. 고타마의 가르침은 아시아에 널리 퍼졌고, 수백만의 사람들이 그를 부처로 존경합니다. 중국 도덕성에서 공자(孔子)는, 그리스 철학에서 플라톤과 같은 존재였고, 둘의 가르침에 종교적 영향이 있었지만, 엄밀히 말해서 둘 다 종교적 선생은 아니었습니다. 노자(老子)는 공자의 인간성(人間性)이나 플라톤의 이상주의(理想主義)보다 도(道)에서 하느님을 마음에 더 그렸습니다. 조로아스터는 선(善)한 영(靈)과 악(惡)한 영(靈)이라는 널리 퍼진 이중 심령술(心靈術) 개념으로 많은 영향을 받았지만, 동시에 하나의 영원한 신(神)과 어둠에 대한 빛의 궁극적 승리라는 개념을 명확히 강화했습니다.
92:5.13 (1010.1) 5. The first century after Christ. As a religious teacher, Jesus of Nazareth started out with the cult which had been established by John the Baptist and progressed as far as he could away from fasts and forms. Aside from Jesus, Paul of Tarsus and Philo of Alexandria were the greatest teachers of this era. Their concepts of religion have played a dominant part in the evolution of that faith which bears the name of Christ. 그리스도 이후 1세기. 종교 선생으로서 나사렛 예수는 세례 요한이 세운 종파에서 시작하여 금식과 형식으로부터 자신이 할 수 있는 한 멀리까지 전진했습니다. 예수를 제외하고, 다소의 바울과 알렉산드리아의 필로는 이 시대의 가장 위대한 선생들이었습니다. 그들의 종교 개념은 그리스도의 이름을 지닌 그런 신앙의 발전에 지배적인 역할을 했습니다.
92:5.14 (1010.2) 6. The sixth century after Christ. Mohammed founded a religion which was superior to many of the creeds of his time. His was a protest against the social demands of the faiths of foreigners and against the incoherence of the religious life of his own people. 그리스도 이후 6세기. 마호메트는 자기 시대의 여러 신조(信條)보다 우월한 종교를 세웠습니다. 그의 종교는 외국인들 신앙의 사회적 요구와 자기 백성의 모순된 종교 생활에 반대한 항의였습니다.
92:5.15 (1010.3) 7. The fifteenth century after Christ. This period witnessed two religious movements: the disruption of the unity of Christianity in the Occident and the synthesis of a new religion in the Orient. In Europe institutionalized Christianity had attained that degree of inelasticity which rendered further growth incompatible with unity. In the Orient the combined teachings of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism were synthesized by Nanak and his followers into Sikhism, one of the most advanced religions of Asia. 그리스도 이후 15세기. 이 시기에는 2가지 종교 운동이 있었습니다. 서양에서 기독교 통일성이 분열되었고, 동양에서 새로운 종교가 종합되었습니다. 유럽에서 제도화된 기독교는 더 이상의 성장이 통일성과 맞지 않아서 회복력을 잃을 정도에 이르렀습니다. 동양에서 나낙과 그의 추종자들이 이슬람교, 힌두교 그리고 불교를 결합한 가르침을 아시아에서 가장 진보적 종교 중 하나, 시크교로 종합했습니다.
92:5.16 (1010.4) The future of Urantia will doubtless be characterized by the appearance of teachers of religious truth — the Fatherhood of God and the fraternity of all creatures. But it is to be hoped that the ardent and sincere efforts of these future prophets will be directed less toward the strengthening of interreligious barriers and more toward the augmentation of the religious brotherhood of spiritual worship among the many followers of the differing intellectual theologies which so characterize Urantia of Satania. 유란시아의 미래는 의심할 바 없이 종교 진리, 즉 하느님의 아버지 되심과 모든 창조물의 형제 사랑을 가르치는 선생들의 출현이 특징적일 것입니다. 그래서 이런 미래 선지자들의 열렬하고 신실한 노력은 종교 간(間) 장벽을 강화하는 쪽으로 덜 향하고, 사타니아에서 그렇게 유란시아의 특색인 다른 지적 신학의 여러 추종자 사이에서 영적으로 경배하는 종교적 형제공동체가 증가하는 쪽으로 더 향하게 될 것을 바랍니다.
6. The Composite Religions 합성 종교
92:6.1 (1010.5) Twentieth-century Urantia religions present an interesting study of the social evolution of man’s worship impulse. Many faiths have progressed very little since the days of the ghost cult. The Pygmies of Africa have no religious reactions as a class, although some of them believe slightly in a spirit environment. They are today just where primitive man was when the evolution of religion began. The basic belief of primitive religion was survival after death. The idea of worshiping a personal God indicates advanced evolutionary development, even the first stage of revelation. The Dyaks have evolved only the most primitive religious practices. The comparatively recent Eskimos and Amerinds had very meager concepts of God; they believed in ghosts and had an indefinite idea of survival of some sort after death. Present-day native Australians have only a ghost fear, dread of the dark, and a crude ancestor veneration. The Zulus are just evolving a religion of ghost fear and sacrifice. Many African tribes, except through missionary work of Christians and Mohammedans, are not yet beyond the fetish stage of religious evolution. But some groups have long held to the idea of monotheism, like the onetime Thracians, who also believed in immortality. 20세기 유란시아 종교들은 인간 숭배 충동의 사회적 진화에 관한 흥미 있는 연구를 제공합니다. 여러 신앙은 유령(幽靈) 종파의 시대 이후로 거의 발전하지 못했습니다. 아프리카의 피그미족들(150cm이하 소인)은 그중 일부가 영적 환경을 약간 믿지만, 전체로서는 종교적 반응이 없습니다. 그들은 종교의 진화가 시작되었을 때 원시인들이 있던 바로 그 자리에 오늘날 있습니다. 원시 종교의 기본 믿음은 사후(死後) 생존이었습니다. 인격(고유)적 하느님을 경배하는 사상(思想)은 계시의 첫 단계까지, 나아간 진화적 발전을 가리킵니다. 다야크족(보르네오 섬)은 가장 원시적인 종교 관습만 서서히 발전시켰습니다. 비교적 최근에 에스키모인(人)들과 아메리카 원주민들은 아주 빈약한 하느님의 개념을 가졌습니다. 그들은 유령(幽靈)들을 믿었고 사후(死後) 어떤 종류의 막연한 생존 개념을 지녔습니다. 오늘날 호주 원주민들은 유령(幽靈)에 대한 두려움, 어둠에 대한 공포 그리고 미숙한 조상 숭배만 가지고 있습니다. 줄루족(남아프리카)들은 유령(幽靈) 공포와 희생물의 종교를 서서히 발전시킬 뿐입니다. 기독교인들과 이슬람교도의 선교 활동을 제외하고, 여러 아프리카 부족은 아직 종교적 진화의 주물(呪物) 단계를 넘어서지 못합니다. 그러나 일부 집단은, 한때 불멸도 믿었던 트라키아인(人 발칸반도 남동부)들처럼, 오랫동안 유일신교(唯一神敎 오직 하나의 신만 존재한다는 믿음)의 사상을 갖고 있었습니다.
92:6.2 (1010.6) On Urantia, evolutionary and revelatory religion are progressing side by side while they blend and coalesce into the diversified theologic systems found in the world in the times of the inditement of these papers. These religions, the religions of twentieth-century Urantia, may be enumerated as follows: 유란시아에서 진화 및 계시 종교는 나란히 진보하고 있으면서 그것들은 이런 문서들이 쓰인 시대에, 세상에서 발견된 다양한 신학적 체계로 뒤섞여 합체됩니다. 이런 종교들, 20세기 유란시아의 종교들은 다음과 같이 열거될 수도 있습니다.
92:6.3 (1011.1) 1. Hinduism — the most ancient. 힌두교-가장 고대의 것.
92:6.4 (1011.2) 2. The Hebrew religion. 히브리 종교.
92:6.5 (1011.3) 3. Buddhism. 불교(佛敎).
92:6.6 (1011.4) 4. The Confucian teachings. 유교(儒敎)의 가르침.
92:6.7 (1011.5) 5. The Taoist beliefs. 도교(道敎) 믿음.
92:6.8 (1011.6) 6. Zoroastrianism. 조로아스터교.
92:6.9 (1011.7) 7. Shinto. 신도(神道).
92:6.10 (1011.8) 8. Jainism. 자이나교.
92:6.11 (1011.9) 9. Christianity. 기독교(基督敎).
92:6.12 (1011.10) 10. Islam. 이슬람교.
92:6.13 (1011.11) 11. Sikhism — the most recent. 시크교-가장 최근의 것.
92:6.14 (1011.12) The most advanced religions of ancient times were Judaism and Hinduism, and each respectively has greatly influenced the course of religious development in Orient and Occident. Both Hindus and Hebrews believed that their religions were inspired and revealed, and they believed all others to be decadent forms of the one true faith. 고대에 가장 진보한 종교들은 유대교와 힌두교였으며, 저마다 동양과 서양에서 종교 발전의 과정에 큰 영향을 미쳤습니다. 힌두교도와 히브리인 모두 자신들의 종교가 영감을 받아 계시받았다고 믿었고, 다른 모든 종교는 하나의 참된 신앙이 타락한 형태라고 믿었습니다.
92:6.15 (1011.13) India is divided among Hindu, Sikh, Mohammedan, and Jain, each picturing God, man, and the universe as these are variously conceived. China follows the Taoist and the Confucian teachings; Shinto is revered in Japan. 인도는 힌두교도, 시크교도, 회교(回敎)도 및 자이나 교도로 나누어지고, 이 종교들이 다양하게 상상한 대로 각각 하느님, 인간 및 우주를 묘사합니다. 중국은 도교(道敎)와 유교(儒敎)의 가르침을 따라갑니다. 신도(神道)는 일본에서 숭배됩니다.
92:6.16 (1011.14) The great international, interracial faiths are the Hebraic, Buddhist, Christian, and Islamic. Buddhism stretches from Ceylon and Burma through Tibet and China to Japan. It has shown an adaptability to the mores of many peoples that has been equaled only by Christianity. 커다란 국제적, 인종 혼합적 신앙들은 히브리인, 불교도, 기독교인 및 회교(回敎) 신앙들입니다. 불교(佛敎)는 실론(스리랑카)과 버마(미얀마)에서 티벳과 중국을 거쳐 일본에 이릅니다. 불교는 여러 민족의 관습에 적응하는 능력을 보였는데, 기독교만이 그것에 필적할 수 있습니다.
92:6.17 (1011.15) The Hebrew religion encompasses the philosophic transition from polytheism to monotheism; it is an evolutionary link between the religions of evolution and the religions of revelation. The Hebrews were the only western people to follow their early evolutionary gods straight through to the God of revelation. But this truth never became widely accepted until the days of Isaiah, who once again taught the blended idea of a racial deity combined with a Universal Creator: “O Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, you are God, even you alone; you have made heaven and earth.” At one time the hope of the survival of Occidental civilization lay in the sublime Hebraic concepts of goodness and the advanced Hellenic concepts of beauty. 히브리 종교는 다신교(多神敎)에서 유일신교(唯一神敎)로 넘어가는 철학적 과도기를 포함합니다. 그것은 진화 종교와 계시 종교 사이의 진화적 연결고리입니다. 히브리인들은 자신들의 초기 진화적 신과 같은 존재들을 따라서 곧바로 계시의 하느님과 연결되는 유일한 서양 민족입니다. 그러나 이 진리는 이사야의 시대까지 널리 받아들여진 적이 없었는데, 그는 우주 창조자와 결합한 민족의 혼합된 신(神)개념을 또다시 가르쳤습니다. “오 만군의 주(主)여, 이스라엘의 하느님, 당신 홀로만 하느님입니다. 당신께서 하늘과 땅을 만드셨나이다(사37:16).” 한때 서양 문명의 생존 희망은 선(善)에 대한 숭고한 히브리 개념과 아름다움에 대한 진보한 그리스 개념에 있었습니다.
92:6.18 (1011.16) The Christian religion is the religion about the life and teachings of Christ based upon the theology of Judaism, modified further through the assimilation of certain Zoroastrian teachings and Greek philosophy, and formulated primarily by three individuals: Philo, Peter, and Paul. It has passed through many phases of evolution since the time of Paul and has become so thoroughly Occidentalized that many non-European peoples very naturally look upon Christianity as a strange revelation of a strange God and for strangers. 기독교는 그리스도의 생애와 가르침에 관한 종교이며, 기독교는 유대교 신학에 근거하여, 조로아스터교의 특정한 가르침과 그리스 철학을 흡수하여 더 변경되었고, 주로 세 사람, 필로, 베드로와 바울이 공식화했습니다. 기독교는 바울의 시대 이후로 여러 진화의 단계를 거쳤고 너무 철저히 서구화하여서 여러 비(非)유럽 민족은 기독교를 아주 당연하게, 낯선 하느님의 이상한 계시로, 낯선 사람들을 위한 것으로 여깁니다.
92:6.19 (1011.17) Islam is the religio-cultural connective of North Africa, the Levant, and southeastern Asia. It was Jewish theology in connection with the later Christian teachings that made Islam monotheistic. The followers of Mohammed stumbled at the advanced teachings of the Trinity; they could not comprehend the doctrine of three divine personalities and one Deity. It is always difficult to induce evolutionary minds suddenly to accept advanced revealed truth. Man is an evolutionary creature and in the main must get his religion by evolutionary techniques. 이슬람교는 북아프리카, 레반트 및 동남(東南)아시아의 종교-문화적 연결고리입니다. 이슬람교를 유일신교로 만든 것은 후대의 기독교적 가르침과 관련된 유대교 신학이었습니다. 모하메드의 추종자들은 삼위일체의 진보한 가르침에서 넘어졌습니다. 그들은 세 신적 인격(고유성)과 하나의 신(神)에 대한 교리를 파악할 수 없었습니다. 진화 마음들이 진보한 계시 진리를 갑자기 받아들이도록 설득하기는 언제나 어렵습니다. 인간은 진화 창조물이며 대부분 진화 기법으로 자기 종교를 가져야 합니다.
92:6.20 (1012.1) Ancestor worship onetime constituted a decided advance in religious evolution, but it is both amazing and regrettable that this primitive concept persists in China, Japan, and India amidst so much that is relatively more advanced, such as Buddhism and Hinduism. In the Occident, ancestor worship developed into the veneration of national gods and respect for racial heroes. In the twentieth century this hero-venerating nationalistic religion makes its appearance in the various radical and nationalistic secularisms which characterize many races and nations of the Occident. Much of this same attitude is also found in the great universities and the larger industrial communities of the English-speaking peoples. Not very different from these concepts is the idea that religion is but “a shared quest of the good life.” The “national religions” are nothing more than a reversion to the early Roman emperor worship and to Shinto — worship of the state in the imperial family. 조상 숭배는 한때 종교 진화에서 결정적 향상을 이루었지만, 이런 원시적 개념이 불교와 힌두교처럼 상대적으로 더 발전된 종교가 많은 중국, 일본 및 인도에서 지속하는 것은 어처구니없이 유감스럽습니다. 서양에서, 조상 숭배는 국가적 신과 같은 존재들에 대한 숭배와 종족의 영웅들에 대한 존경으로 발전했습니다. 20세기에 이런 영웅을 숭배하는 민족주의적 종교는 서양의 여러 인종과 국가를 특징짓는 다양한 급진적인 민족주의적 세속주의로 출현합니다. 이와 같은 태도의 대부분이 영어권 민족들의 큰 대학들과 대규모 산업 공동체에서도 발견됩니다. 이런 개념과 아주 다르지 않은 것은 종교가 단지 “좋은 삶을 공유하는 추구”라는 생각입니다. “국가 종교들”은 초기 로마 황제 숭배와 황실에서 국가를 숭배하는 신도(神道)로 되돌아가는 것에 불과합니다.
7. The Further Evolution of Religion 종교의 추후 진화
92:7.1 (1012.2) Religion can never become a scientific fact. Philosophy may, indeed, rest on a scientific basis, but religion will ever remain either evolutionary or revelatory, or a possible combination of both, as it is in the world today. 종교는 결코 과학적 사실이 될 수 없습니다. 철학은 실로 과학적 근거에 달려 있을 수도 있지만, 종교는 오늘날 세상에서처럼, 늘 진화적이거나 계시적이든지, 또는 이 둘의 가능한 배합으로 남아있을 것입니다.
92:7.2 (1012.3) New religions cannot be invented; they are either evolved, or else they are suddenly revealed. All new evolutionary religions are merely advancing expressions of the old beliefs, new adaptations and adjustments. The old does not cease to exist; it is merged with the new, even as Sikhism budded and blossomed out of the soil and forms of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and other contemporary cults. Primitive religion was very democratic; the savage was quick to borrow or lend. Only with revealed religion did autocratic and intolerant theologic egotism appear. 새 종교들은 고안(考案)될 수 없습니다. 그것들은 진화되거나, 아니면 갑자기 나타납니다. 모든 새 진화 종교는 오랜 믿음의 표현을 개선하여 새롭게 적응하고 조율한 것일 뿐입니다. 시크교가 힌두교, 불교, 이슬람교 및 당시 다른 종파의 토양과 형태로부터 싹터서 꽃을 피운 것처럼, 옛것은 없어지지 않고, 새것으로 융합됩니다. 원시 종교는 아주 민주적이었습니다. 야만인들은 신속히 빌리거나 빌려주었습니다. 계시 종교에서만 독재적인 편협한 신학적 이기주의가 나타납니다.
92:7.3 (1012.4) The many religions of Urantia are all good to the extent that they bring man to God and bring the realization of the Father to man. It is a fallacy for any group of religionists to conceive of their creed as The Truth; such attitudes bespeak more of theological arrogance than of certainty of faith. There is not a Urantia religion that could not profitably study and assimilate the best of the truths contained in every other faith, for all contain truth. Religionists would do better to borrow the best in their neighbors’ living spiritual faith rather than to denounce the worst in their lingering superstitions and outworn rituals.유란시아의 여러 종교는 사람을 하느님께로 이끌어 사람에게 아버지의 실상을 알도록 이끄는 한 문제가 없습니다. 어떤 집단의 종교인들이 자신들의 신조(信條)를 진리로 생각하는 것은 그릇된 생각입니다. 그런 태도는 신앙의 확신이라기보다는 신학적 오만의 증거가 됩니다. 모두가 진리를 담고 있어서 다른 모든 신앙에 포함된 최고의 진리를 유익하게 연구하여 흡수할 수 없는 유란시아 종교는 없습니다. 종교인들은 자기 이웃의 꾸물거리는 미신(迷信)과 시대에 뒤진 의식(儀式)에서 최악의 것을 비난하기보다 차라리 그들의 살아있는 최고의 영적 신앙을 빌리는 것이 더 낫습니다.
92:7.4 (1012.5) All these religions have arisen as a result of man’s variable intellectual response to his identical spiritual leading. They can never hope to attain a uniformity of creeds, dogmas, and rituals — these are intellectual; but they can, and some day will, realize a unity in true worship of the Father of all, for this is spiritual, and it is forever true, in the spirit all men are equal. 이런 모든 종교는 인간의 똑같은 영적 인도에 대한 인간의 다양한 지적 응답의 결과로 일어났습니다. 그것들이 획일적 신조, 교리 및 의식(儀式)에 이르기를 절대로 바랄 수 없습니다. – 이것들은 지적(知的)입니다. 그러나 그것들은 언젠가 모두의 아버지를 참되게 경배하는 통일성을 실감할 수 있고 실현할 것인데, 이것은 영적이며, 영(靈) 안에서 모든 사람이 동등하다는 것은 영원히 참되기 때문입니다.
92:7.5 (1012.6) Primitive religion was largely a material-value consciousness, but civilization elevates religious values, for true religion is the devotion of the self to the service of meaningful and supreme values. As religion evolves, ethics becomes the philosophy of morals, and morality becomes the discipline of self by the standards of highest meanings and supreme values — divine and spiritual ideals. And thus religion becomes a spontaneous and exquisite devotion, the living experience of the loyalty of love. 원시 종교는 주로 물질적-가치를 의식했지만, 문명은 종교적 가치를 높이는데, 참된 종교는 자신을 의미 있는 최상의 가치에 쓰는 헌신이기 때문입니다. 종교가 진화하면서 윤리는 도덕 철학이 되고, 도덕성은 최고 의미와 최상 가치 – 신적인 영적 이상(理想)들의 기준에 따라 자기 훈련이 됩니다. 이렇게 종교는 자발적인 절묘한 헌신, 사랑으로 충성하는 살아있는 체험이 됩니다.
92:7.6 (1013.1) The quality of a religion is indicated by: 종교의 특성은 다음의 것으로 드러납니다.
92:7.7 (1013.2) 1. Level of values — loyalties. 가치의 수준 – 충성심.
92:7.8 (1013.3) 2. Depth of meanings — the sensitization of the individual to the idealistic appreciation of these highest values. 의미의 깊이 – 이런 최고 가치의 이상주의적(理想主義的) 진가 이해에 대한 개인의 민감성.
92:7.9 (1013.4) 3. Consecration intensity — the degree of devotion to these divine values. 봉헌 강도 – 이런 신적 가치에 대한 헌신의 정도.
92:7.10 (1013.5) 4. The unfettered progress of the personality in this cosmic path of idealistic spiritual living, realization of sonship with God and never-ending progressive citizenship in the universe. 이상주의적(理想主義的) 영적 생활, 즉 하느님의 아들(자녀) 됨의 실현과 끝없이 진보하는 우주 시민권의 이런 질서 우주 경로에 있는 인격(고유성)의 속박 없는 진보.
92:7.11 (1013.6) Religious meanings progress in self-consciousness when the child transfers his ideas of omnipotence from his parents to God. And the entire religious experience of such a child is largely dependent on whether fear or love has dominated the parent-child relationship. Slaves have always experienced great difficulty in transferring their master-fear into concepts of God-love. Civilization, science, and advanced religions must deliver mankind from those fears born of the dread of natural phenomena. And so should greater enlightenment deliver educated mortals from all dependence on intermediaries in communion with Deity. 종교적 의미는 자녀가 자신의 전능(全能) 개념을 자기 부모로부터 하느님께로 바꿀 때 자의식(自意識)에서 발달합니다. 그리고 그런 자녀의 전체적 종교 체험은 두려움이나 사랑 중 어떤 것이 부모-자녀 관계를 좌우했는지에 주로 달려 있습니다. 노예들은 자신들의 주인에 대한 두려움을 하느님-사랑의 개념으로 바꾸면서 언제나 커다란 어려움을 겪었습니다. 문명, 과학 및 진보한 종교는 자연 현상의 공포에서 생긴 그런 두려움에서 인류를 구해내야 합니다. 그렇게 더 커다란 계몽(啓蒙)으로, 교양 있는 필사자들을 신(神)과 영적인 친교에 있어서 중재자에 대한 모든 의존으로부터 구해내야 합니다.
92:7.12 (1013.7) These intermediate stages of idolatrous hesitation in the transfer of veneration from the human and the visible to the divine and invisible are inevitable, but they should be shortened by the consciousness of the facilitating ministry of the indwelling divine spirit. Nevertheless, man has been profoundly influenced, not only by his concepts of Deity, but also by the character of the heroes whom he has chosen to honor. It is most unfortunate that those who have come to venerate the divine and risen Christ should have overlooked the man — the valiant and courageous hero — Joshua ben Joseph. 인간다운 눈에 보이는 것으로부터 신적인 눈에 보이지 않는 것으로 바꾸는 이런 우상 숭배의 중간 단계적 망설임은 불가피하지만, 그런 단계들은 내주하는 신적 영(靈)의 촉진 사역에 대한 의식으로 축소되어야 합니다. 그렇지만 사람은 자기 신(神)개념뿐만 아니라 자신이 존경하기로 택한 영웅들의 성격에 의해서도 깊이 영향을 받았습니다. 신적으로 부활한 그리스도를 공경하게 된 자들이 용감하고 용기 있는 영웅 – 요셉의 아들 여호수아, 그분을 못 보고 넘어가는 것이 가장 애처롭습니다.
92:7.13 (1013.8) Modern man is adequately self-conscious of religion, but his worshipful customs are confused and discredited by his accelerated social metamorphosis and unprecedented scientific developments. Thinking men and women want religion redefined, and this demand will compel religion to re-evaluate itself. 현대인은 충분히 종교에 대해 스스로 의식하고 있지만, 가속된 사회적 변형과 전례 없는 과학적 발전으로 인해 자신의 경배 습관은 혼란을 겪으며 의심받고 있습니다. 생각할 힘이 있는 남녀는 종교가 재정립되기를 원하며, 이런 요구로 종교는 스스로 재평가하지 않을 수 없을 것입니다.
92:7.14 (1013.9) Modern man is confronted with the task of making more readjustments of human values in one generation than have been made in two thousand years. And this all influences the social attitude toward religion, for religion is a way of living as well as a technique of thinking. 현대인은 한 세대에 2천 년간 이룬 것보다 더 많은 인간적 가치를 재조정해야 하는 업무에 직면해 있습니다. 그리고 이 모든 것은 종교를 향한 사회적 태도에 영향을 미치는데, 종교는 생각의 기법뿐만 아니라 생활 방식이기 때문입니다.
92:7.15 (1013.10) True religion must ever be, at one and the same time, the eternal foundation and the guiding star of all enduring civilizations. 참 종교는 언제나 지속적인 모든 문명의 영원한 토대인 동시에 길잡이별이어야 합니다.
92:7.16 (1013.11) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.][네바돈의 멜기세덱이 제시함]
93:0.1 (1014.1) THE Melchizedeks are widely known as emergency Sons, for they engage in an amazing range of activities on the worlds of a local universe. When any extraordinary problem arises, or when something unusual is to be attempted, it is quite often a Melchizedek who accepts the assignment. The ability of the Melchizedek Sons to function in emergencies and on widely divergent levels of the universe, even on the physical level of personality manifestation, is peculiar to their order. Only the Life Carriers share to any degree this metamorphic range of personality function. 멜기세덱들은 지역 우주의 세계에서 놀랍도록 광범위한 활동에 종사하기 때문에 비상 아들들로 널리 알려져 있습니다. 어떤 특별한 문제가 일어나거나 이상한 일이 시도되면, 상당히 자주 멜기세덱이 그 임무를 맡습니다. 비상시와 우주의 널리 확장하는 수준에서, 그리고 인격(고유성)이 나타나는 물리적 수준에서조차 활동하는 멜기세덱 아들들의 능력은 그들 계층 특유의 것입니다. 생명 운반자들만이 이렇게 광범위하게 변형하는 인격(고유성) 활동을 어느 정도 공유합니다.
93:0.2 (1014.2) The Melchizedek order of universe sonship has been exceedingly active on Urantia. A corps of twelve served in conjunction with the Life Carriers. A later corps of twelve became receivers for your world shortly after the Caligastia secession and continued in authority until the time of Adam and Eve. These twelve Melchizedeks returned to Urantia upon the default of Adam and Eve, and they continued thereafter as planetary receivers on down to the day when Jesus of Nazareth, as the Son of Man, became the titular Planetary Prince of Urantia. 우주 아들인 멜기세덱 계층은 유란시아에서 매우 활동적이었습니다. 열두 명의 집단이 생명 운반자들과 함께 섬겼습니다. 나중에 열두 명의 집단은 칼리가스티아 이탈 직후 너희 세계의 수령자들이 되어 아담과 이브의 시대까지 계속 중요한 자리에 있었습니다. 이런 열두 멜기세덱은 아담과 이브의 의무 불이행(不履行) 직후 유란시아로 되돌아왔고, 그후 나사렛 예수가 인자(人子 사람의 아들)로서 유란시아의 정식 행성 왕자가 되던 그날까지 행성 수령자들로 있었습니다.
1. The Machiventa Incarnation 마키벤타의 성육신(成肉身)
93:1.1 (1014.3) Revealed truth was threatened with extinction during the millenniums which followed the miscarriage of the Adamic mission on Urantia. Though making progress intellectually, the human races were slowly losing ground spiritually. About 3000 B.C. the concept of God had grown very hazy in the minds of men. 유란시아에서 아담 사명의 실패 후 수천 년간 계시 진리는 소멸의 위기에 처해 있었습니다. 지적으로 진보했지만, 인류는 영적으로 서서히 물러서고 있었습니다. BC 3,000년경에 하느님의 개념은 인간의 마음에서 매우 흐릿해졌습니다.
93:1.2 (1014.4) The twelve Melchizedek receivers knew of Michael’s impending bestowal on their planet, but they did not know how soon it would occur; therefore they convened in solemn council and petitioned the Most Highs of Edentia that some provision be made for maintaining the light of truth on Urantia. This plea was dismissed with the mandate that “the conduct of affairs on 606 of Satania is fully in the hands of the Melchizedek custodians.” The receivers then appealed to the Father Melchizedek for help but only received word that they should continue to uphold truth in the manner of their own election “until the arrival of a bestowal Son,” who “would rescue the planetary titles from forfeiture and uncertainty.” 열두 멜기세덱 수령자들은 자신들의 행성에서 미가엘의 증여가 곧 일어날지 알았지만, 그들은 얼마나 빨리 일어날지 몰랐습니다. 따라서 그들은 엄숙한 회의를 소집하고 유란시아에 진리의 빛이 지속되도록 대비해달라고 에덴시아의 지고자(至高者)들에게 청원했습니다. 이 청원은 “사타니아의 606번 관련 업무는 오로지 멜기세덱 보관자(保管者)들의 관리에 있다.”라는 명령과 함께 기각(棄却 무시)되었습니다. 그 후 수령자들은 아버지 멜기세덱에게 도움을 호소했지만, “상실과 불안정의 파괴에서 행성의 소유권을 구출해줄” “증여 아들이 도착할 때까지” 자신들이 선택한 방식대로 진리를 계속 유지해야 한다는 말만 받았습니다.
93:1.3 (1014.5) And it was in consequence of having been thrown so completely on their own resources that Machiventa Melchizedek, one of the twelve planetary receivers, volunteered to do that which had been done only six times in all the history of Nebadon: to personalize on earth as a temporary man of the realm, to bestow himself as an emergency Son of world ministry. Permission was granted for this adventure by the Salvington authorities, and the actual incarnation of Machiventa Melchizedek was consummated near what was to become the city of Salem, in Palestine. The entire transaction of the materialization of this Melchizedek Son was completed by the planetary receivers with the co-operation of the Life Carriers, certain of the Master Physical Controllers, and other celestial personalities resident on Urantia. 그리고 열두 행성 수령자 중 하나인 마키벤타 멜기세덱이, 네바돈의 전(全) 역사에서 여섯 번만 행해졌던 일, 영역의 임시 사람으로 지상에서 인격(고유성)화하여 세상을 돌보는 비상 아들로서 자진해서 자신을 증여한 것은 철저히 자신들이 힘으로 타개하지 않으면 안 될 처지가 된 결과였습니다. 샐빙톤 당국이 이 모험에 대해 허락했고, 실제로 마키벤타 멜기세덱의 성육신(成肉身)은 팔레스타인의 살렘이라는 도시가 될 곳 근처에서 이루어졌습니다. 이 멜기세덱 아들이 물질화하는 전체 집행은 생명 운반자들, 몇몇 주(主)물리 조정자들 및 유란시아에 거주한 다른 천상 인격(고유성)들의 협력으로 행성 수령자들에 의해 이루어졌습니다.
2. The Sage of Salem 살렘의 현인(賢人)
93:2.1 (1015.1) It was 1,973 years before the birth of Jesus that Machiventa was bestowed upon the human races of Urantia. His coming was unspectacular; his materialization was not witnessed by human eyes. He was first observed by mortal man on that eventful day when he entered the tent of Amdon, a Chaldean herder of Sumerian extraction. And the proclamation of his mission was embodied in the simple statement which he made to this shepherd, “I am Melchizedek, priest of El Elyon, the Most High, the one and only God.” 예수께서 탄생하기 1,973년 전, 유란시아의 인류에게 마키벤타가 증여되었습니다. 그의 도래(到來)는 평범했습니다. 인간의 눈으로 그의 물질화를 목격하지 못했습니다. 그가 수메르 혈통의 칼데아 목자, 암돈의 천막으로 들어간 중요한 그날 필사 인간이 처음 그를 알아차렸습니다. 그리고 그의 사명 선언은 이 목자에게 그가 “나는 멜기세덱이며, 엘 엘리온, 지고(至高)자, 유일한 하느님의 사제라.”고 했던 단순한 문장에 구체적으로 표현되었습니다.
93:2.2 (1015.2) When the herder had recovered from his astonishment, and after he had plied this stranger with many questions, he asked Melchizedek to sup with him, and this was the first time in his long universe career that Machiventa had partaken of material food, the nourishment which was to sustain him throughout his ninety-four years of life as a material being. 목자가 놀랐다가 회복하자, 그는 이 낯선 사람에게 여러 질문을 퍼부은 후, 그는 멜기세덱에게 자기와 함께 저녁을 먹자고 청했고, 이것은 마키벤타가 자기의 긴 우주 생애에서 처음 물질 음식을 함께 먹은 것으로, 물질 존재로서 94년 내내 그의 생명을 유지한 음식물이었습니다.
93:2.3 (1015.3) And that night, as they talked out under the stars, Melchizedek began his mission of the revelation of the truth of the reality of God when, with a sweep of his arm, he turned to Amdon, saying, “El Elyon, the Most High, is the divine creator of the stars of the firmament and even of this very earth on which we live, and he is also the supreme God of heaven.” 그리고 그날 밤 그들이 별들 아래에서 이야기할 때, 멜기세덱이 자기 팔을 펼치며 암돈을 향해 “엘 엘리온, 지고(至高)자는 하늘에 있는 별들과 심지어 우리가 살고 있는 바로 이 지상의 신적 창조자이며, 그는 또한 하늘의 최극 하느님이다.”라고 말하면서 하느님의 실체에 대한 진리를 계시하는 그의 사명을 시작했습니다.
93:2.4 (1015.4) Within a few years Melchizedek had gathered around himself a group of pupils, disciples, and believers who formed the nucleus of the later community of Salem. He was soon known throughout Palestine as the priest of El Elyon, the Most High, and as the sage of Salem. Among some of the surrounding tribes he was often referred to as the sheik, or king, of Salem. Salem was the site which after the disappearance of Melchizedek became the city of Jebus, subsequently being called Jerusalem. 멜기세덱은 몇 년 안에, 나중에 살렘 공동체의 핵심이 된 한 무리의 학생, 제자 및 신자(信者)를 자기 주위에 모았습니다. 그는 곧 팔레스타인 전체에 엘 엘리온, 지고(至高)자의 사제 및 살렘의 현인(賢人)으로 알려졌습니다. 주변 부족 중 일부 사이에서 그는 자주 살렘의 교주(敎主), 즉 왕으로 불렸습니다. 살렘은 멜기세덱이 실종된 후 여부스의 도시가 되었고 나중에 예루살렘이라고 부른 장소였습니다.
93:2.5 (1015.5) In personal appearance, Melchizedek resembled the then blended Nodite and Sumerian peoples, being almost six feet in height and possessing a commanding presence. He spoke Chaldean and a half dozen other languages. He dressed much as did the Canaanite priests except that on his breast he wore an emblem of three concentric circles, the Satania symbol of the Paradise Trinity. In the course of his ministry this insignia of three concentric circles became regarded as so sacred by his followers that they never dared to use it, and it was soon forgotten with the passing of a few generations. 멜기세덱은 직접 보면 당시 혼합된 놋-사람과 수메르 민족을 닮았고, 키는 거의 6피트(183센치)였고 당당한 풍채(風采)를 지녔습니다. 그는 칼데아 말을 했고 6가지 다른 언어를 구사(驅使)했습니다. 그는 가슴에 세 동심원의 표상, 천국 삼위일체의 사타니아 상징을 달고 있다는 것 이외는, 가나안 사제들처럼 옷을 입었습니다. 그가 사역하던 때에 그의 추종자들은 세 동심원의 표지를 너무 신성하게 여겨서 그들은 그것을 감히 한 번도 사용한 적이 없었고, 그것은 몇 세대가 지나면서 곧 잊혔습니다.
93:2.6 (1015.6) Though Machiventa lived after the manner of the men of the realm, he never married, nor could he have left offspring on earth. His physical body, while resembling that of the human male, was in reality on the order of those especially constructed bodies used by the one hundred materialized members of Prince Caligastia’s staff except that it did not carry the life plasm of any human race. Nor was there available on Urantia the tree of life. Had Machiventa remained for any long period on earth, his physical mechanism would have gradually deteriorated; as it was, he terminated his bestowal mission in ninety-four years long before his material body had begun to disintegrate. 마키벤타가 영역의 사람들 방식을 따라서 살았지만, 그는 결혼하지 않았고 지상에 후손을 남겨두지도 않았습니다. 그의 신체는 인간 남자의 것을 닮았지만, 어떤 인간 종족의 생명 원형질을 지니지 않았다는 것 이외에, 실제로는, 왕자 칼리가스티아의 참모진 중 물질화 요원 100명이 사용한, 특별히 그렇게 만들어진 신체 계층이었습니다. 유란시아에서 생명의 나무도 이용할 수 없었습니다. 마키벤타가 지상에 오랜 기간 남아 있었다면, 그의 신체 작용은 점차 저하되었을 것입니다. 그런 사정으로, 그는 자신의 물질 몸이 분해되기 시작하기 훨씬 전, 94년 만에 자신의 증여 사명을 끝냈습니다.
93:2.7 (1016.1) This incarnated Melchizedek received a Thought Adjuster, who indwelt his superhuman personality as the monitor of time and the mentor of the flesh, thus gaining that experience and practical introduction to Urantian problems and to the technique of indwelling an incarnated Son which enabled this spirit of the Father to function so valiantly in the human mind of the later Son of God, Michael, when he appeared on earth in the likeness of mortal flesh. And this is the only Thought Adjuster who ever functioned in two minds on Urantia, but both minds were divine as well as human. 성육신(成肉身)한 이 멜기세덱은 시간의 권고(勸告)자이며 육신의 조언자로서 자신의 초인간적 인격(고유성)에 내주했던 생각 조율자를 받아서, 유란시아의 문제들과 나중에 하느님의 아들 미가엘이 필사 육신의 모습으로 지상에 나타났을 때, 아버지의 이 영(靈)이 그의 인간 마음에서 그렇게 훌륭하게 활동하게 한, 성육신(成肉身) 아들에게 내주한 기법에 대한 그런 체험과 실용적 도입부에 도달했습니다. 그리고 이는 일찍이 유란시아에서 두 마음으로 활동했던 유일한 생각 조율자였지만 두 마음 다 인간적인 동시에 신적이었습니다.
93:2.8 (1016.2) During the incarnation in the flesh, Machiventa was in full contact with his eleven fellows of the corps of planetary custodians, but he could not communicate with other orders of celestial personalities. Aside from the Melchizedek receivers, he had no more contact with superhuman intelligences than a human being. 육신으로 성육신(成肉身)하는 동안, 마키벤타는 행성 보관자 무리에 속한 자신의 열 한 동료와 충분히 접촉했지만 다른 계층의 천상 인격(고유성)들과 소통할 수 없었습니다. 멜기세덱 수령자들 외에는, 그가 인간 이상으로 더 초인간적인 지능들과 접촉하지 않았습니다.
3. Melchizedek’s Teachings 멜기세덱의 가르침
93:3.1 (1016.3) With the passing of a decade, Melchizedek organized his schools at Salem, patterning them on the olden system which had been developed by the early Sethite priests of the second Eden. Even the idea of a tithing system, which was introduced by his later convert Abraham, was also derived from the lingering traditions of the methods of the ancient Sethites. 10년이 지나면서, 멜기세덱은 둘째 에덴의 초기 셋-사람 사제들이 개발했던 옛 제도를 본떠 살렘에서 자기 학교를 조직했습니다. 나중에 개종한 아브라함이 도입한 십일조 제도의 개념까지 또한 고대 셋-사람들의 오래 묵은 전통에서 시작되었습니다.
93:3.2 (1016.4) Melchizedek taught the concept of one God, a universal Deity, but he allowed the people to associate this teaching with the Constellation Father of Norlatiadek, whom he termed El Elyon — the Most High. Melchizedek remained all but silent as to the status of Lucifer and the state of affairs on Jerusem. Lanaforge, the System Sovereign, had little to do with Urantia until after the completion of Michael’s bestowal. To a majority of the Salem students Edentia was heaven and the Most High was God. 멜기세덱은 한 분밖에 없는 하느님, 우주 신(神)의 개념을 가르쳤지만, 그는 사람들이 이런 가르침을 자신이 엘 엘리온-지고자(至高者)라고 불렀던 놀라시아덱의 성좌(星座) 아버지를 떠올려도 그대로 놔두었습니다. 멜기세덱은 루시퍼의 상태와 예루셈의 정세에 관해서 거의 침묵을 지켰습니다. 체계 주권자, 라나포지는 미가엘의 증여가 완료될 때까지 유란시아와 거의 관계가 없었습니다. 살렘 학생들 대다수에게 에덴시아는 낙원이었고 지고자(至高者)가 하느님이었습니다.
93:3.3 (1016.5) The symbol of the three concentric circles, which Melchizedek adopted as the insignia of his bestowal, a majority of the people interpreted as standing for the three kingdoms of men, angels, and God. And they were allowed to continue in that belief; very few of his followers ever knew that these three circles were emblematic of the infinity, eternity, and universality of the Paradise Trinity of divine maintenance and direction; even Abraham rather regarded this symbol as standing for the three Most Highs of Edentia, as he had been instructed that the three Most Highs functioned as one. To the extent that Melchizedek taught the Trinity concept symbolized in his insignia, he usually associated it with the three Vorondadek rulers of the constellation of Norlatiadek. 사람들 대다수는 멜기세덱이 자기 증여의 표지로 채택한 세 동심원의 상징을 사람들, 천사들 및 하느님의 세 왕국을 나타내는 것으로 해석했습니다. 그리고 그들이 그렇게 믿도록 계속 놔두었습니다. 그의 추종자 중 극소수만 이런 세 동심원이, 신적으로 유지하고 지도하는 천국 삼위일체의 무한성, 영원성 및 우주성의 표상임을 알았습니다. 아브라함조차 세 지고자(至高者)가 하나로 활동한다고 교육을 받았기 때문에, 이 상징이 에덴시아의 세 지고자(至高者)를 나타낸다고 여겼습니다. 멜기세덱은 자신의 표지로 나타낸 삼위일체 개념을 가르칠 경우, 그는 대개 그것을 놀라시아덱 성좌(星座)의 세 보론다덱 통치자들과 관련시켰습니다.
93:3.4 (1016.6) To the rank and file of his followers he made no effort to present teaching beyond the fact of the rulership of the Most Highs of Edentia — Gods of Urantia. But to some, Melchizedek taught advanced truth, embracing the conduct and organization of the local universe, while to his brilliant disciple Nordan the Kenite and his band of earnest students he taught the truths of the superuniverse and even of Havona. 그는 평범한 자기 추종자들에게 에덴시아의 지고자(至高者)들 – 유란시아 하느님들의 통치권의 사실을 초월한 가르침을 제시하려고 애쓰지 않았습니다. 그러나 멜기세덱은 일부에게 지역 우주의 경영 조직을 포함한 고급 진리를 가르쳤고, 한편으로 그는 자신의 훌륭한 제자 켄-사람(겐 족속) 노르단과 그가 속한 일단(一團)의 진지한 자기 학생들에게 초우주와 심지어 하보나의 진리를 가르쳤습니다.
93:3.5 (1016.7) The members of the family of Katro, with whom Melchizedek lived for more than thirty years, knew many of these higher truths and long perpetuated them in their family, even to the days of their illustrious descendant Moses, who thus had a compelling tradition of the days of Melchizedek handed down to him on this, his father’s side, as well as through other sources on his mother’s side. 멜기세덱이 30년 이상 함께 살았던 카트로 가족원들은 이런 고등 진리를 많이 알았고, 자신들의 뛰어난 후손 모세의 시대까지도 자기 가족 안에 이런 진리를 오래 간직하여서, 모세는 자기 어머니 쪽의 출처를 통해서 뿐만이 아니라 이렇게 자기 아버지 쪽으로 멜기세덱 시대의 강력한 전통을 물려받았습니다.
93:3.6 (1016.8) Melchizedek taught his followers all they had capacity to receive and assimilate. Even many modern religious ideas about heaven and earth, of man, God, and angels, are not far removed from these teachings of Melchizedek. But this great teacher subordinated everything to the doctrine of one God, a universe Deity, a heavenly Creator, a divine Father. Emphasis was placed upon this teaching for the purpose of appealing to man’s adoration and of preparing the way for the subsequent appearance of Michael as the Son of this same Universal Father. 멜기세덱은 자기 추종자들이 받아들여 흡수할 수용 능력이 있는 모두를 그들에게 가르쳤습니다. 하늘과 땅에 관한, 인간, 하느님 및 천사들에 속한 여러 현대 종교적 개념들조차 멜기세덱의 이런 가르침들에서 크게 틀리지 않습니다. 그러나 이 위대한 선생은 모든 것을 하나밖에 없는 하느님, 우주 신(神), 하늘의 창조자, 신적 아버지 교리에 종속시켰습니다. 이런 가르침은 인간의 동경(憧憬)에 호소하고, 바로 이런 우주 아버지의 아들로서 미가엘이 나중에 출현할 길을 예비하는 목적으로 강조되었습니다.
93:3.7 (1017.1) Melchizedek taught that at some future time another Son of God would come in the flesh as he had come, but that he would be born of a woman; and that is why numerous later teachers held that Jesus was a priest, or minister, “forever after the order of Melchizedek.” 멜기세덱은 앞으로 언젠가 또 다른 하느님의 아들이 자신이 왔던 것처럼 육체로 오지만 여인에게서 태어날 것이라고 가르쳤습니다. 그것이 수많은 후대 선생이, 예수가 “영원히 멜기세덱의 계열을 따른” 사제, 즉 성직자라고 주장했던 이유였습니다(히5:6, 10, 6:20, 7:11, 17).
93:3.8 (1017.2) And thus did Melchizedek prepare the way and set the monotheistic stage of world tendency for the bestowal of an actual Paradise Son of the one God, whom he so vividly portrayed as the Father of all, and whom he represented to Abraham as a God who would accept man on the simple terms of personal faith. And Michael, when he appeared on earth, confirmed all that Melchizedek had taught concerning the Paradise Father. 이렇게 멜기세덱은 모든 이의 아버지로서 그토록 생생하게 묘사하고 아브라함에게 단순한 개인적 신앙으로 사람을 받아들이는 하느님으로 대표했던 하나밖에 없는 하느님의 실제 천국 아들의 증여를 위한 길을 예비하고 그런 세상 경향을 유일신교(唯一神敎)의 단계로 세웠습니다. 그리고 미가엘이 지상에 출현하자, 그는 천국 아버지에 관해 멜기세덱이 가르친 모든 것이 옳다고 증명했습니다.
4. The Salem Religion 살렘 종교
93:4.1 (1017.3) The ceremonies of the Salem worship were very simple. Every person who signed or marked the clay-tablet rolls of the Melchizedek church committed to memory, and subscribed to, the following belief: 살렘의 경배 의식은 매우 간소했습니다. 멜기세덱 교회의 진흙-서판 명부에 서명(署名)하거나 인장을 찍은 사람마다 다음의 신조(信條)를 암기하고 동의(同意)했습니다.
93:4.2 (1017.4) 1. I believe in El Elyon, the Most High God, the only Universal Father and Creator of all things. 나는 엘리온, 지고자(至高者) 하느님, 유일한 우주 아버지이신, 만유의 창조자를 믿습니다.
93:4.3 (1017.5) 2. I accept the Melchizedek covenant with the Most High, which bestows the favor of God on my faith, not on sacrifices and burnt offerings. 나는 희생물과 번제(燔祭)물이 아니라, 내 신앙에 하느님의 은혜를 주시는 지고자(至高者)와 맺은 멜기세덱 계약(契約)을 받아들입니다.
93:4.4 (1017.6) 3. I promise to obey the seven commandments of Melchizedek and to tell the good news of this covenant with the Most High to all men. 나는 멜기세덱의 7계명에 순종하고 지고자(至高者)와 맺은 이 계약의 복음을 모든 사람에게 전할 것을 약속합니다.
93:4.5 (1017.7) And that was the whole of the creed of the Salem colony. But even such a short and simple declaration of faith was altogether too much and too advanced for the men of those days. They simply could not grasp the idea of getting divine favor for nothing — by faith. They were too deeply confirmed in the belief that man was born under forfeit to the gods. Too long and too earnestly had they sacrificed and made gifts to the priests to be able to comprehend the good news that salvation, divine favor, was a free gift to all who would believe in the Melchizedek covenant. But Abraham did believe halfheartedly, and even that was “counted for righteousness.” 그리고 그것이 살렘 집단의 전체 신조였습니다. 그러나 그렇게 짧고 간단한 신앙의 선언조차 당시 사람들에게 대체로 너무 많고 너무 앞섰습니다. 그들은 거저 신앙으로 신적 은혜를 얻는다는 개념을 전혀 파악할 수 없었습니다. 그들은 사람이 신과 같은 존재들에게 몰수(沒收)된 상태로 태어난다고 너무 철저히 굳게 믿었습니다. 그들은 너무 오래 너무 열심히 사제들에게 희생물을 바치고 선물했기 때문에, 구원, 신적 은혜가 멜기세덱 계약을 믿고자 하는 모두에게 무료라는 복음을 이해할 수 없었습니다. 그러나 아브라함은 마지못해 믿었는데, 그것조차 “의로 여겨졌습니다(창15:6, 롬4:3, 5, 갈3:6, 약2:23).”
93:4.6 (1017.8) The seven commandments promulgated by Melchizedek were patterned along the lines of the ancient Dalamatian supreme law and very much resembled the seven commands taught in the first and second Edens. These commands of the Salem religion were: 멜기세덱이 보급한 일곱 계명은 고대 달라마시아의 최고 법률의 방침(66.5.13, 66.7.8~15)을 따라 만들었고 첫째(74.7.19)와 둘째 에덴에서 가르친 일곱 명령과 아주 많이 닮았습니다. 살렘 종교의 이런 명령은 다음과 같습니다.
93:4.7 (1017.9) 1. You shall not serve any God but the Most High Creator of heaven and earth. 너희는 하늘과 땅의 지고(至高) 창조자 외에 어떤 하느님도 섬기지 말라.
93:4.8 (1017.10) 2. You shall not doubt that faith is the only requirement for eternal salvation. 너희는 신앙이 영원한 구원을 위한 유일한 요건임을 의심하지 말라.
93:4.9 (1017.11) 3. You shall not bear false witness. 너희는 거짓 증언을 하지 말라.
93:4.10 (1017.12) 4. You shall not kill. 너희는 살인하지 말라.
93:4.11 (1017.13) 5. You shall not steal. 너희는 도둑질하지 말라.
93:4.12 (1018.1) 6. You shall not commit adultery. 너희는 간통하지 말라.
93:4.13 (1018.2) 7. You shall not show disrespect for your parents and elders. 너희는 너희 부모와 어른들에게 무례를 보이지 말라.
93:4.14 (1018.3) While no sacrifices were permitted within the colony, Melchizedek well knew how difficult it is to suddenly uproot long-established customs and accordingly had wisely offered these people the substitute of a sacrament of bread and wine for the older sacrifice of flesh and blood. It is of record, “Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine.” But even this cautious innovation was not altogether successful; the various tribes all maintained auxiliary centers on the outskirts of Salem where they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings. Even Abraham resorted to this barbarous practice after his victory over Chedorlaomer; he simply did not feel quite at ease until he had offered a conventional sacrifice. And Melchizedek never did succeed in fully eradicating this proclivity to sacrifice from the religious practices of his followers, even of Abraham. 거류지 내에서 희생 제사는 절대로 허용되지 않았지만, 멜기세덱은 오래-확립된 관습을 갑자기 뿌리 뽑는 것이 얼마나 어려운지 알았으므로 살과 피의 옛 희생물 대신에 빵과 포도주의 성찬으로 대체하도록 이 사람들에게 현명하게 제안했습니다. 기록에 의하면 “살렘의 왕, 멜기세덱이 빵과 포도주를 가져왔습니다(창14:18).” 그러나 이렇게 신중한 혁신조차 완전하게 성공하지 못했습니다. 다양한 부족 모두가 살렘의 변두리에 유지했던 보조 중심지에서 그들의 희생물과 번제(燔祭)를 드렸습니다. 아브라함조차 크돌라오멜을 이긴 후 이런 야만스러운 관행을 행했습니다. 그는 정말로 관습적인 희생제물을 바치기까지 아주 편하지 않았습니다. 멜기세덱은 자기 추종자들, 아브라함조차 종교적 관습에서 희생물을 바치는 이런 경향을 완전히 근절하는 데 결코 성공하지 못했습니다(창15:9-10, 22:2-13).
93:4.15 (1018.4) Like Jesus, Melchizedek attended strictly to the fulfillment of the mission of his bestowal. He did not attempt to reform the mores, to change the habits of the world, nor to promulgate even advanced sanitary practices or scientific truths. He came to achieve two tasks: to keep alive on earth the truth of the one God and to prepare the way for the subsequent mortal bestowal of a Paradise Son of that Universal Father. 예수와 마찬가지로, 멜기세덱은 자신이 증여된 사명의 완수에 엄밀하게 정성을 다했습니다. 그는 사회적 관행을 개혁하고, 세상의 습관을 바꾸어보려 하지 않았고, 상급 위생 관례나 과학적 진리조차 보급해보려 하지 않았습니다. 그는 두 가지 임무를 이루려고 왔습니다. 하나밖에 없는 하느님이라는 진리가 지상에서 꺼지지 않게 하고, 그 우주 아버지의 천국 아들이 나중에 필사자로 증여되기 위한 길을 준비하는 것입니다.
93:4.16 (1018.5) Melchizedek taught elementary revealed truth at Salem for ninety-four years, and during this time Abraham attended the Salem school three different times. He finally became a convert to the Salem teachings, becoming one of Melchizedek’s most brilliant pupils and chief supporters. 멜기세덱은 94년간 살렘에서 기본적 계시 진리를 가르쳤고, 이 기간에 아브라함은 세 번 서로 다른 시간에 살렘 학교에 다녔습니다. 그는 결국 살렘의 가르침으로 개종하여 멜기세덱의 가장 훌륭한 문하생이자 수석 후원자 중 하나가 되었습니다.
5. The Selection of Abraham 선택받은 아브라함
93:5.1 (1018.6) Although it may be an error to speak of “chosen people,” it is not a mistake to refer to Abraham as a chosen individual. Melchizedek did lay upon Abraham the responsibility of keeping alive the truth of one God as distinguished from the prevailing belief in plural deities. “선민(選民 택한 민족)”이라는 말을 쓰는 것이 잘못일 수 있지만, 아브라함을 선택받은 개인으로 일컫는 것은 잘못이 아닙니다. 멜기세덱은 아브라함에게 복수(複數)의 신(神)에 대한 일반적인 믿음과 구별된 하나밖에 없는 하느님의 진리가 꺼지지 않게 하는 책임을 맡겼습니다.
93:5.2 (1018.7) The choice of Palestine as the site for Machiventa’s activities was in part predicated upon the desire to establish contact with some human family embodying the potentials of leadership. At the time of the incarnation of Melchizedek there were many families on earth just as well prepared to receive the doctrine of Salem as was that of Abraham. There were equally endowed families among the red men, the yellow men, and the descendants of the Andites to the west and north. But, again, none of these localities were so favorably situated for Michael’s subsequent appearance on earth as was the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The Melchizedek mission in Palestine and the subsequent appearance of Michael among the Hebrew people were in no small measure determined by geography, by the fact that Palestine was centrally located with reference to the then existent trade, travel, and civilization of the world. 마키벤타의 활동 장소로 팔레스타인을 선택한 것은 지도력의 잠재력을 실현할 어떤 인간 가족과 확고히 접촉하려는 열망에 어느 정도 근거를 두었습니다. 멜기세덱이 성육신(成肉身)할 때 아브라함의 가족처럼 살렘의 교리를 받아들일 준비가 잘된 여러 가족이 지상에 있었습니다. 홍인(紅人)들, 황인(黃人)들 및 서쪽과 북쪽으로 안드-사람 후손들 사이에 똑같이 자질이 있는 가족들이 있었습니다. 그러나 한편으로, 이런 장소 중 어떤 곳도, 지중해의 동쪽 해안처럼 미가엘이 나중에 지상에 출현하기에 그렇게 알맞은 자리가 없었습니다. 팔레스타인에서 멜기세덱 임무와 나중에 히브리 민족에서 미가엘이 출현한 것은 상당히 지형(地形), 그 당시 무역, 교통량 및 세상의 문명에 관해 팔레스타인이 중앙에 놓여 있다는 사실로 결정되었습니다.
93:5.3 (1018.8) For some time the Melchizedek receivers had been observing the ancestors of Abraham, and they confidently expected offspring in a certain generation who would be characterized by intelligence, initiative, sagacity, and sincerity. The children of Terah, the father of Abraham, in every way met these expectations. It was this possibility of contact with these versatile children of Terah that had considerable to do with the appearance of Machiventa at Salem, rather than in Egypt, China, India, or among the northern tribes. 한동안 멜기세덱 수령자들이 아브라함의 조상들을 주목했고, 그들은 특정 세대에 지능, 창의력, 총명과 신실함의 특성이 있는 후손이 나오리라고 자신 있게 기대했습니다. 아브라함의 아버지, 테라의 자녀들이 모든 면에서 이런 기대를 채웠습니다. 테라의 이런 다재다능한 자녀와 이렇게 접촉하는 가능성은 마키벤타가 이집트, 중국, 인도나 북쪽의 부족들 사이가 아니라 살렘에 출현한 것과 상당한 관련이 있었습니다.
93:5.4 (1019.1) Terah and his whole family were halfhearted converts to the Salem religion, which had been preached in Chaldea; they learned of Melchizedek through the preaching of Ovid, a Phoenician teacher who proclaimed the Salem doctrines in Ur. They left Ur intending to go directly through to Salem, but Nahor, Abraham’s brother, not having seen Melchizedek, was lukewarm and persuaded them to tarry at Haran. And it was a long time after they arrived in Palestine before they were willing to destroy all of the household gods they had brought with them; they were slow to give up the many gods of Mesopotamia for the one God of Salem. 테라와 그의 온 가족은 칼데아에 전파된 살렘 종교에 대해 마지못해 개종한 자들이었습니다. 그들은 우르에서 살렘 교리를 선포했던 페니키아의 선생, 오비드의 설교를 통해 멜기세덱을 들어서 알았습니다. 그들은 곧장 살렘으로 가려고 우르를 떠났지만, 멜기세덱을 본 적이 없는, 아브라함의 형제 나홀은 마음이 내키지 않아서 그들을 재촉하여 하란에 머물렀습니다(창11:31). 그들이 팔레스타인에 도착한 후 자신들이 가져온 집안의 신과 같은 존재들 모두를 기꺼이 부수는 데 오랜 시간이 걸렸습니다. 그들이 살렘의 하나밖에 없는 하느님을 위해 메소포타미아의 여러 신과 같은 존재들을 서서히 버렸습니다.
93:5.5 (1019.2) A few weeks after the death of Abraham’s father, Terah, Melchizedek sent one of his students, Jaram the Hittite, to extend this invitation to both Abraham and Nahor: “Come to Salem, where you shall hear our teachings of the truth of the eternal Creator, and in the enlightened offspring of you two brothers shall all the world be blessed.” Now Nahor had not wholly accepted the Melchizedek gospel; he remained behind and built up a strong city-state which bore his name; but Lot, Abraham’s nephew, decided to go with his uncle to Salem. 아브라함의 아버지 테라가 죽은 지(창11:32) 몇 주 후에, 멜기세덱은 자기 학생 중 하나, 히타이트족(族) 야람을 보내서 아브라함과 나홀 둘 다 이런 초청의 뜻을 표했습니다. “살렘에 와서, 영원한 창조자의 진리에 대한 우리 가르침을 들으면 당신들 두 형제의 개화된 자손으로 인해 온 세상이 복을 받을 것입니다.” 그런데 나홀은 멜기세덱 복음을 완전히 받아들이지 않았습니다. 그는 뒤에 남아서 자기 이름을 딴 강력한 도시-국가를 세웠습니다. 그러나 아브라함의 조카, 롯은 자기 삼촌과 함께 살렘에 가기로 결심했습니다(창12:1-4).
93:5.6 (1019.3) Upon arriving at Salem, Abraham and Lot chose a hilly fastness near the city where they could defend themselves against the many surprise attacks of northern raiders. At this time the Hittites, Assyrians, Philistines, and other groups were constantly raiding the tribes of central and southern Palestine. From their stronghold in the hills Abraham and Lot made frequent pilgrimages to Salem. 살렘에 도착하자, 아브라함과 롯은 북쪽 침략자들의 여러 기습에 대비하여 자신들을 방어할 수 있는 도시 근처의 험한 요새를 골랐습니다. 이때에 히타이트족(族), 아시리아-사람들, 필리스틴-사람들 및 다른 집단들이 팔레스타인 중부와 남부의 부족들을 계속 급습하고 있었습니다. 아브라함과 롯은 언덕에 있는 자신들 요새로부터 살렘으로 자주 순례를 떠났습니다(창12:5-6).
93:5.7 (1019.4) Not long after they had established themselves near Salem, Abraham and Lot journeyed to the valley of the Nile to obtain food supplies as there was then a drought in Palestine. During his brief sojourn in Egypt Abraham found a distant relative on the Egyptian throne, and he served as the commander of two very successful military expeditions for this king. During the latter part of his sojourn on the Nile he and his wife, Sarah, lived at court, and when leaving Egypt, he was given a share of the spoils of his military campaigns. 그들이 살렘 근처에 자리를 잡은 지 오래지 않아, 아브라함과 롯은 그때 팔레스타인에 가뭄이 들어 음식 필수품을 얻으려고 나일강 유역(流域)으로 여행했습니다. 이집트에 잠깐 머무는 동안, 아브라함은 이집트 왕으로 있는 먼 친척을 발견하여 그는 이 왕을 위해 사령관으로서 두 차례의 군사 원정을 아주 성공적으로 수행했습니다. 그가 나일강에 머물던 후반기에, 그와 그의 아내 사라는 궁전에 살았고, 이집트를 떠날 때, 그는 자기 군사 작전의 전리품 중 일부를 받았습니다(창12:10, 16, 13:1-2).
93:5.8 (1019.5) It required great determination for Abraham to forgo the honors of the Egyptian court and return to the more spiritual work sponsored by Machiventa. But Melchizedek was revered even in Egypt, and when the full story was laid before Pharaoh, he strongly urged Abraham to return to the execution of his vows to the cause of Salem. 아브라함이 이집트 궁전의 영예를 그만두고 마키벤타가 보증하는 더 영적인 과업으로 돌아가는 것은 엄청난 결단력이 필요했습니다. 그러나 멜기세덱은 이집트에서도 존경받고 있었고, 파라오 앞에 모든 이야기를 제시하자, 그는 강하게 아브라함을 재촉하여 살렘의 대의(大義)에 대한 그의 서약을 이행하도록 돌아가게 했습니다.
93:5.9 (1019.6) Abraham had kingly ambitions, and on the way back from Egypt he laid before Lot his plan to subdue all Canaan and bring its people under the rule of Salem. Lot was more bent on business; so, after a later disagreement, he went to Sodom to engage in trade and animal husbandry. Lot liked neither a military nor a herder’s life. 아브라함은 왕의 야망이 있었고, 이집트에서 돌아오는 도중에, 그는 가나안 전체를 정복하여 그 민족을 살렘의 지배 아래에 두자는 자기 계획을 롯 앞에 제시했습니다. 롯은 사업에 더 열중했습니다. 그래서 나중에 의견 충돌이 있고 난 뒤, 그는 무역과 축산업에 종사(從事)하려고 소돔에 갔습니다. 롯은 군인이나 목자(牧者)의 생활도 좋아하지 않았습니다(창13:5-12).
93:5.10 (1019.7) Upon returning with his family to Salem, Abraham began to mature his military projects. He was soon recognized as the civil ruler of the Salem territory and had confederated under his leadership seven near-by tribes. Indeed, it was with great difficulty that Melchizedek restrained Abraham, who was fired with a zeal to go forth and round up the neighboring tribes with the sword that they might thus more quickly be brought to a knowledge of the Salem truths. 자기 가족과 함께 살렘으로 돌아오자, 아브라함은 자기 군사적 계획을 완성하기 시작했습니다. 그는 곧 살렘 지역의 시민 통치자로 인정받았고, 바로 가까운 일곱 부족을 자기 지도력 아래에 연합시켰습니다. 아브라함의 마음은 나가서 칼로 이웃 부족들을 소탕하여 이렇게 그들을 살렘 진리의 지식으로 더 빨리 이끌려는 열의로 불이 붙어 있어서 멜기세덱이 아브라함을 말리기가 아주 어려웠습니다.
93:5.11 (1019.8) Melchizedek maintained peaceful relations with all the surrounding tribes; he was not militaristic and was never attacked by any of the armies as they moved back and forth. He was entirely willing that Abraham should formulate a defensive policy for Salem such as was subsequently put into effect, but he would not approve of his pupil’s ambitious schemes for conquest; so there occurred a friendly severance of relationship, Abraham going over to Hebron to establish his military capital. 멜기세덱은 주위의 모든 부족과 평화로운 관계를 유지했습니다. 그는 군사 우선주의가 아니었고, 왕래하는 군대로부터 공격을 받은 적이 없었습니다. 그는, 아브라함이 나중에 실행했듯이 살렘을 위한 방어 정책 수립을 아주 마음에 들었지만, 정복하려는 자기 문하생의 야심 있는 계획은 찬성하려 하지 않았습니다. 그렇게 아브라함이 자기 군사 중심지를 세우려고 헤브론으로 건너가면서, 우호적 관계가 끊어졌습니다(창13:18).
93:5.12 (1020.1) Abraham, because of his close connection with the illustrious Melchizedek, possessed great advantage over the surrounding petty kings; they all revered Melchizedek and unduly feared Abraham. Abraham knew of this fear and only awaited an opportune occasion to attack his neighbors, and this excuse came when some of these rulers presumed to raid the property of his nephew Lot, who dwelt in Sodom. Upon hearing of this, Abraham, at the head of his seven confederated tribes, moved on the enemy. His own bodyguard of 318 officered the army, numbering more than 4,000, which struck at this time. 아브라함은 저명한 멜기세덱과 친밀한 관계가 있어서 주변의 소규모 왕들보다 큰 이점이 있었습니다. 그들은 모두 멜기세덱을 존경했고 아브라함을 지나치게 두려워했습니다. 아브라함은 이런 두려움을 알고 있어서, 자기 이웃을 공격할 적절한 기회를 기다릴 뿐이었는데, 이런 통치자 중 일부가 대담하게 소돔에 살던 그의 조카 롯의 재산을 습격하자, 이런 핑계가 생겼습니다. 이런 소식을 듣고, 아브라함은, 자기 일곱 연합 부족의 선두에서 적을 공격했습니다. 그 자신의 호위대 318명이 4,000명이 넘는 군대를 이끌고 이때 공격했습니다(창14:8-16).
93:5.13 (1020.2) When Melchizedek heard of Abraham’s declaration of war, he went forth to dissuade him but only caught up with his former disciple as he returned victorious from the battle. Abraham insisted that the God of Salem had given him victory over his enemies and persisted in giving a tenth of his spoils to the Salem treasury. The other ninety per cent he removed to his capital at Hebron. 멜기세덱이 아브라함의 전쟁 선포에 대해 듣고, 그가 그를 말리려고 출발했지만 자기 옛 제자가 전투에서 승리를 거두고 돌아올 때, 그를 따라잡았을 뿐입니다. 아브라함은 살렘의 하느님이 자신에게 자기 대적들을 이기게 했다고 단언하며 자기 전리품 중 10분의 1을 살렘 기금에 드리겠다고 주장했습니다. 그는 나머지 90퍼센트를 헤브론에 있는 자기 중심지로 옮겼습니다(창14:18-20, 히7:2).
93:5.14 (1020.3) After this battle of Siddim, Abraham became leader of a second confederation of eleven tribes and not only paid tithes to Melchizedek but saw to it that all others in that vicinity did the same. His diplomatic dealings with the king of Sodom, together with the fear in which he was so generally held, resulted in the king of Sodom and others joining the Hebron military confederation; Abraham was really well on the way to establishing a powerful state in Palestine. 이 싯딤 전투 후에, 아브라함은 11개 부족으로 구성된 두 번째 연방의 지도자가 되었고 멜기세덱에게 십일조를 드릴 뿐 아니라 그 부근의 다른 모든 부족도 반드시 똑같이 하게 했습니다. 매우 널리 그에 대한 두려움과 더불어 소돔 왕과 맺은 그의 외교 관계의 결과, 소돔 왕과 다른 왕들도 헤브론 군사 연방에 가입했습니다. 아브라함이 팔레스타인에서 강력한 국가를 세우는 일이 아주 잘 진행되고 있었습니다.
6. Melchizedek’s Covenant with Abraham 멜기세덱이 아브라함과 맺은 계약
93:6.1 (1020.4) Abraham envisaged the conquest of all Canaan. His determination was only weakened by the fact that Melchizedek would not sanction the undertaking. But Abraham had about decided to embark upon the enterprise when the thought that he had no son to succeed him as ruler of this proposed kingdom began to worry him. He arranged another conference with Melchizedek; and it was in the course of this interview that the priest of Salem, the visible Son of God, persuaded Abraham to abandon his scheme of material conquest and temporal rule in favor of the spiritual concept of the kingdom of heaven. 아브라함은 가나안 전체의 정복을 구상했습니다. 멜기세덱이 그 일을 인정하려 하지 않는다는 사실이 그의 결정을 약하게 할 뿐이었습니다. 그러나 아브라함이 그 기획에 착수하려고 거의 결정했을 때, 그는 자신에게 이렇게 작정한 왕국의 통치자로서 자신의 뒤를 이을 아들이 없다는 생각으로 고민하기 시작했습니다. 그는 멜기세덱과 또 다른 회담을 준비했습니다. 이런 면담 과정에서 살렘의 사제, 눈에 보이는 하느님의 아들이 아브라함을 설득하여 하늘나라의 영적 개념을 위해서 물질적으로 정복하여 잠시 다스리는 아브라함의 기획을 포기하게 했습니다(창15:1-3).
93:6.2 (1020.5) Melchizedek explained to Abraham the futility of contending with the Amorite confederation but made it equally clear that these backward clans were certainly committing suicide by their foolish practices so that in a few generations they would be so weakened that the descendants of Abraham, meanwhile greatly increased, could easily overcome them. 멜기세덱은 아브라함에게 아모리인(人) 연방과 다투는 것이 쓸데없다고 설명했고, 이렇게 퇴보적인 부족들은 자신들의 어리석은 관행으로 확실히 자멸(自滅)하고 있어서 몇 세대가 지나면 그들이 아주 약해져서, 그동안 매우 늘어난, 아브라함이 자손이 쉽게 그들을 정복할 수 있기 때문이라고 똑같이 분명히 했습니다.
93:6.3 (1020.6) And Melchizedek made a formal covenant with Abraham at Salem. Said he to Abraham: “Look now up to the heavens and number the stars if you are able; so numerous shall your seed be.” And Abraham believed Melchizedek, “and it was counted to him for righteousness.” And then Melchizedek told Abraham the story of the future occupation of Canaan by his offspring after their sojourn in Egypt. 멜기세덱은 살렘에서 아브라함과 공식적으로 계약했습니다. “이제 하늘을 보고 할 수 있으면 별의 수를 세어보라. 네 자손이 그렇게 많아질 것이라(창15:5).” 아브라함은 멜기세덱을 믿었고, “그것이 그에게 고결한 행위로 여겨졌습니다(창15:6).” 그러자 멜기세덱이 아브라함에게 이집트에 머물렀던 아브라함의 후손이 장차 가나안을 차지한다고 이야기했습니다(창13:14-17, 15:13-16).
93:6.4 (1020.7) This covenant of Melchizedek with Abraham represents the great Urantian agreement between divinity and humanity whereby God agrees to do everything; man only agrees to believe God’s promises and follow his instructions. Heretofore it had been believed that salvation could be secured only by works — sacrifices and offerings; now, Melchizedek again brought to Urantia the good news that salvation, favor with God, is to be had by faith. But this gospel of simple faith in God was too advanced; the Semitic tribesmen subsequently preferred to go back to the older sacrifices and atonement for sin by the shedding of blood. 아브라함과 맺은 멜기세덱의 이 계약은 신과 인간 사이에서 하느님이 모든 것을 하기로 동의한 위대한 유란시아 협정을 뜻합니다. 사람은 하느님의 약속을 믿고 그의 명령을 따르기로 동의할 뿐입니다. 이전에는 행위 즉 희생물과 제물로만 구원이 보증된다고 믿었습니다. 이제 멜기세덱은 유란시아에 다시, 구원, 하느님의 은총은 신앙으로 얻는다는 복음을 가져왔습니다. 그러나 하느님을 순전히 신앙하라는 이 복음은 너무 진보적이었습니다. 나중에 셈 부족은 더 오래된 희생 제사와 피를 흘려서 죄를 갚는 일로 되돌아가기를 좋게 여겼습니다.
93:6.5 (1021.1) It was not long after the establishment of this covenant that Isaac, the son of Abraham, was born in accordance with the promise of Melchizedek. After the birth of Isaac, Abraham took a very solemn attitude toward his covenant with Melchizedek, going over to Salem to have it stated in writing. It was at this public and formal acceptance of the covenant that he changed his name from Abram to Abraham. 이 계약 수립 후, 오래되지 않아, 멜기세덱의 약속대로 아브라함의 아들 이삭이 태어났습니다. 이삭이 태어난 후, 아브라함은 살렘으로 건너가 계약을 문서로 작성하면서, 멜기세덱과 맺은 자기 계약에 대해 매우 진지한 마음가짐을 취했습니다. 이렇게 공개적이며 공식적으로 계약을 받아들여서 그는 자기 이름을 아브람(큰 아버지)에서 아브라함(많은 무리의 아버지)으로 바꾸었습니다(창17:1-9).
93:6.6 (1021.2) Most of the Salem believers had practiced circumcision, though it had never been made obligatory by Melchizedek. Now Abraham had always so opposed circumcision that on this occasion he decided to solemnize the event by formally accepting this rite in token of the ratification of the Salem covenant. 멜기세덱은 결코 할례를 의무적으로 만들지 않았지만, 살렘 신자(信者) 대다수는 할례를 실행했습니다. 아브라함은 언제나 할례를 반대해 왔기에, 그는 이제 이 기회에 살렘 계약을 비준(批准 확인하고 동의)하는 증거로 이런 의례를 공식적으로 받아들여서 그 사건을 집행하기로 결심했습니다(창17:10-14, 23-27).
93:6.7 (1021.3) It was following this real and public surrender of his personal ambitions in behalf of the larger plans of Melchizedek that the three celestial beings appeared to him on the plains of Mamre. This was an appearance of fact, notwithstanding its association with the subsequently fabricated narratives relating to the natural destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. And these legends of the happenings of those days indicate how retarded were the morals and ethics of even so recent a time. 멜기세덱의 더 큰 계획을 위해 그의 개인적인 야망을 이렇게 실제로 공개적으로 포기한 후에 천상의 세 존재가 마므레 평원에서 그에게 나타났습니다. 이것이, 나중에 소돔과 고모라의 자연 파괴에 관해 꾸며낸 이야기와 관련이 있음에도, 사실의 모습이었습니다. 그리고 당시 사건에 대한 이런 전설은 도덕과 윤리가 아주 최근에도 얼마나 지연(遲延)되었는지 알려줍니다(창18-19장).
93:6.8 (1021.4) Upon the consummation of the solemn covenant, the reconciliation between Abraham and Melchizedek was complete. Abraham again assumed the civil and military leadership of the Salem colony, which at its height carried over one hundred thousand regular tithe payers on the rolls of the Melchizedek brotherhood. Abraham greatly improved the Salem temple and provided new tents for the entire school. He not only extended the tithing system but also instituted many improved methods of conducting the business of the school, besides contributing greatly to the better handling of the department of missionary propaganda. He also did much to effect improvement of the herds and the reorganization of the Salem dairying projects. Abraham was a shrewd and efficient business man, a wealthy man for his day; he was not overly pious, but he was thoroughly sincere, and he did believe in Machiventa Melchizedek. 엄숙한 계약이 완성되자, 아브라함과 멜기세덱 사이에 화해가 이행되었습니다. 아브라함은 살렘 거류지의 민사(民事) 및 군사 지도력을 다시 떠맡았는데, 그 절정기에 멜기세덱 형제공동체의 명부(名簿)에는 정기적으로 십일조를 내는 10만 명 이상이 기재(記載)되었습니다. 아브라함은 살렘 성전을 크게 개량했고, 모든 학교에 새 천막을 제공했습니다. 그는 십일조 제도를 확대할 뿐 아니라, 선교사 포교부서를 잘 다루는 일에 크게 공헌하는 것에 더해서, 학교 업무를 수행하는 여러 개선된 방법을 실시했습니다. 그는 또한 목축 개량의 실행과 살렘 낙농업 사업의 재편에 크게 진력했습니다. 아브라함은 영리하고 유능한 사업가, 당시 부자였습니다. 그는 지나치게 신앙심이 깊지 않았지만, 그는 철저히 신실했고, 그는 마키벤타 멜기세덱을 믿었습니다.
7. The Melchizedek Missionaries 멜기세덱 선교사들
93:7.1 (1021.5) Melchizedek continued for some years to instruct his students and to train the Salem missionaries, who penetrated to all the surrounding tribes, especially to Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor. And as the decades passed, these teachers journeyed farther and farther from Salem, carrying with them Machiventa’s gospel of belief and faith in God. 멜기세덱은 수년간 계속해서 자기 학생들을 가르치고, 모든 주변 부족 특히 이집트, 메소포타미아 및 소아시아로 침투한 살렘 선교사들을 훈련했습니다. 수십 년이 지나자, 이런 선생들은 하느님을 믿고 신앙하는 마키벤타의 복음을 가지고 살렘에서 점점 더 멀리 여행했습니다.
93:7.2 (1021.6) The descendants of Adamson, clustered about the shores of the lake of Van, were willing listeners to the Hittite teachers of the Salem cult. From this onetime Andite center, teachers were dispatched to the remote regions of both Europe and Asia. Salem missionaries penetrated all Europe, even to the British Isles. One group went by way of the Faroes to the Andonites of Iceland, while another traversed China and reached the Japanese of the eastern islands. The lives and experiences of the men and women who ventured forth from Salem, Mesopotamia, and Lake Van to enlighten the tribes of the Eastern Hemisphere present a heroic chapter in the annals of the human race. 반 호수 기슭에 모여 살던 아담선의 후손들은 살렘 종파에 속한 히타이트족(族) 선생들의 자발적인 경청자들이었습니다. 일찍이 안드-사람 중심지였던 이곳에서, 선생들이 유럽과 아시아의 외딴 지역으로 파송되었습니다. 살렘 선교사들은 전(全) 유럽, 영국 제도(諸島)까지 파고들었습니다. 한 무리는 페로스 제도(諸島)를 거쳐 아이슬란드의 안돈-사람들에게 갔고, 한편 다른 무리는 중국을 가로질러 동쪽 섬들의 일본인(日本人)들에게 이르렀습니다. 살렘, 메소포타미아 및 반 호수에서 동반구(東半球 유럽 아시아 아프리카 오스트레일리아)의 부족들에게 중요한 사항을 알리려고 힘차게 떠난 남녀의 생애와 체험은 인류의 연대기(年代記)에서 영웅적인 중요한 장(章 사건)을 나타냅니다.
93:7.3 (1022.1) But the task was so great and the tribes were so backward that the results were vague and indefinite. From one generation to another the Salem gospel found lodgment here and there, but except in Palestine, never was the idea of one God able to claim the continued allegiance of a whole tribe or race. Long before the coming of Jesus the teachings of the early Salem missionaries had become generally submerged in the older and more universal superstitions and beliefs. The original Melchizedek gospel had been almost wholly absorbed in the beliefs in the Great Mother, the Sun, and other ancient cults. 그러나 과업은 너무 크고 부족들은 매우 퇴보해있어서 그 결과는 모호하고 막연했습니다. 한 세대에서 다른 세대로 넘어가면서 살렘 복음은 여기저기에 거점을 마련했지만, 팔레스타인을 제외하고, 하나밖에 없는 하느님 개념이 결코 부족이나 종족 전체의 지속적인 헌신을 요구할 수 없었습니다. 예수께서 오시기 오래전에 초기 살렘 선교사들의 가르침은 대체로 더 오래된 전반적인 미신과 믿음들 안에 가라앉았습니다. 원래의 멜기세덱 복음은 대모(大母 위대한 어머니), 태양 및 기타 고대 종파를 믿는 믿음 안에 거의 모두 흡수되었습니다.
93:7.4 (1022.2) You who today enjoy the advantages of the art of printing little understand how difficult it was to perpetuate truth during these earlier times; how easy it was to lose sight of a new doctrine from one generation to another. There was always a tendency for the new doctrine to become absorbed into the older body of religious teaching and magical practice. A new revelation is always contaminated by the older evolutionary beliefs. 오늘날 인쇄술의 혜택을 누리는 너희는, 이런 초기 시대에 진리를 지속하는 것이 얼마나 어려웠는지, 한 세대에서 다른 세대로 넘어가면서 얼마나 쉽게 새로운 교리를 잊어버렸는지, 전혀 이해하지 못합니다. 새로운 교리는 언제나 대부분 더 오래된 종교적 가르침과 마술적 관행에 흡수되는 경향이 있었습니다. 새로운 계시는 더 오래된 진화 믿음에 의해서 언제나 오염됩니다.
8. Departure of Melchizedek 멜기세덱의 떠남
93:8.1 (1022.3) It was shortly after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah that Machiventa decided to end his emergency bestowal on Urantia. Melchizedek’s decision to terminate his sojourn in the flesh was influenced by numerous conditions, chief of which was the growing tendency of the surrounding tribes, and even of his immediate associates, to regard him as a demigod, to look upon him as a supernatural being, which indeed he was; but they were beginning to reverence him unduly and with a highly superstitious fear. In addition to these reasons, Melchizedek wanted to leave the scene of his earthly activities a sufficient length of time before Abraham’s death to insure that the truth of the one and only God would become strongly established in the minds of his followers. Accordingly Machiventa retired one night to his tent at Salem, having said good night to his human companions, and when they went to call him in the morning, he was not there, for his fellows had taken him. 마키벤타가 유란시아에 자신의 긴급 증여를 끝내기로 결심한 것은 소돔과 고모라의 멸망 직후였습니다. 멜기세덱은 여러 사정으로 인해 육신으로 머물기를 마치기로 결심했는데 그중 주된 사정은 주변 부족들과 자기의 가까운 동료들까지 그를 반신(半神 신과 같은 존재)으로 간주하고, 초자연적 존재로 여기는 경향이 점점 커졌기 때문인데, 그는 정말로 그랬습니다. 그러나 그들은 과도히, 아주 미신적인 두려움으로 그를 공경하기 시작했습니다. 이런 이유 외에, 멜기세덱은 하나밖에 없는 유일한 하느님의 진리가 자기 추종자들의 마음에 강하게 확실히 자리를 잡도록 아브라함이 죽기 전 충분히 긴 시간을 두고 자기 지상 활동 무대에서 떠나려고 했습니다. 그래서 마키벤타는 어느 날 밤 자기 인간 동료들에게 취침 인사를 하면서 살렘의 자기 천막으로 물러갔고, 그들이 아침에 그를 부르러 갔을 때, 그가 거기에 없었는데, 그의 동료들이 그를 데려갔기 때문입니다.
9. After Melchizedek’s Departure 멜기세덱이 떠난 후
93:9.1 (1022.4) It was a great trial for Abraham when Melchizedek so suddenly disappeared. Although he had fully warned his followers that he must sometime go as he had come, they were not reconciled to the loss of their wonderful leader. The great organization built up at Salem nearly disappeared, though the traditions of these days were what Moses built upon when he led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt. 멜기세덱이 그렇게 갑자기 사라지자, 그것은 아브라함에게 커다란 시련이었습니다. 그가 자신이 온대로 언젠가 가야 한다고 자기 추종자들에게 충분히 경고했었지만, 그들은 자신들의 경탄할 만한 지도자의 손실을 달갑게 받아들일 수 없었습니다. 살렘에 건립한 위대한 조직은 거의 사라졌지만, 모세가 헤브루(히브리) 노예들을 이집트에서 이끌고 나왔을 때 그가 건립한 것은 (살렘) 당시의 전통에 속했습니다.
93:9.2 (1022.5) The loss of Melchizedek produced a sadness in the heart of Abraham that he never fully overcame. Hebron he had abandoned when he gave up the ambition of building a material kingdom; and now, upon the loss of his associate in the building of the spiritual kingdom, he departed from Salem, going south to live near his interests at Gerar. 멜기세덱이 없어지자 아브라함이 결코 충분히 극복할 수 없는 슬픔이 그 심정에 생겼습니다. 그가 물질적 왕국을 세우려는 야망을 버렸을 때 그는 헤브론을 포기했습니다. 그리고 이제, 영적 왕국을 세우면서 자기 동료를 잃어버리자, 그는 살렘을 떠나 자기 세력이 있는 게랄(그랄) 근처에서 살려고 남쪽으로 갔습니다(창20:1).
93:9.3 (1022.6) Abraham became fearful and timid immediately after the disappearance of Melchizedek. He withheld his identity upon arrival at Gerar, so that Abimelech appropriated his wife. (Shortly after his marriage to Sarah, Abraham one night had overheard a plot to murder him in order to get his brilliant wife. This dread became a terror to the otherwise brave and daring leader; all his life he feared that someone would kill him secretly in order to get Sarah. And this explains why, on three separate occasions, this brave man exhibited real cowardice.) 멜기세덱이 사라진 후 아브라함은 두려워서 곧바로 마음이 약해졌습니다. 그는 게랄(그랄)에 도착하자 자기 신원을 알리지 않아서, 아비멜렉이 그의 아내를 제 것으로 삼았습니다. (아브라함이 사라와 결혼한 직후, 어느 날 밤 그는 자기 눈부신 아내를 취하려고 자신을 살해하려는 음모를 우연히 들었습니다. 다른 점에서는 용감하고 대담한 그 지도자에게 이런 두려움은 공포가 되었습니다. 그는 평생 누군가가 사라를 취하려고 자신을 몰래 죽일까 봐 두려워했습니다. 그리고 이것이 이 용감한 남자가 서로 다른 세 번의 경우에 정말로 비겁함을 드러냈던 이유를 설명합니다(창12:11-20, 20:2-14).)
93:9.4 (1023.1) But Abraham was not long to be deterred in his mission as the successor of Melchizedek. Soon he made converts among the Philistines and of Abimelech’s people, made a treaty with them, and, in turn, became contaminated with many of their superstitions, particularly with their practice of sacrificing first-born sons. Thus did Abraham again become a great leader in Palestine. He was held in reverence by all groups and honored by all kings. He was the spiritual leader of all the surrounding tribes, and his influence continued for some time after his death. During the closing years of his life he once more returned to Hebron, the scene of his earlier activities and the place where he had worked in association with Melchizedek. Abraham’s last act was to send trusty servants to the city of his brother, Nahor, on the border of Mesopotamia, to secure a woman of his own people as a wife for his son Isaac. It had long been the custom of Abraham’s people to marry their cousins. And Abraham died confident in that faith in God which he had learned from Melchizedek in the vanished schools of Salem. 그러나 아브라함은 멜기세덱의 계승자로서 자기 사명을 오랫동안 망설이지 않았습니다. 그는 곧 필리스틴 사람들과 아비멜렉의 백성 중에서 개종자들을 만들어 그들과 조약(條約)을 맺었고, 결국 그들의 여러 미신(迷信), 특히 장남을 제물로 바치는 그들의 관습에 물들었습니다. 이렇게 아브라함은 다시 팔레스타인에서 위대한 지도자가 되었습니다. 모든 집단이 그를 존경했고 모든 왕이 그를 존중했습니다. 그는 주변 모든 부족의 영적 지도자였으며, 그의 영향력은 그가 죽은 후 얼마 동안 계속되었습니다. 그는 생애 말년에 다시 한번 자신의 초기 활동 무대이며, 멜기세덱과 공동으로 일했던 장소, 헤브론으로 돌아갔습니다. 아브라함의 마지막 행동은 메소포타미아 경계에 있는 자기 형제 나홀의 도시로 충실한 하인들을 보내서 자기 아들 이삭의 아내로 자기 민족의 여인을 확보하는 것이었습니다. 자기 사촌과 결혼하는 것이 아브라함 민족의 오랜 관습이었습니다. 그리고 아브라함은 사라진 살렘의 학교에서 멜기세덱으로부터 자신이 배운 하느님을 믿는 신앙을 확신하며 죽었습니다(창21:22-32, 22-24장, 25:1-10).
93:9.5 (1023.2) It was hard for the next generation to comprehend the story of Melchizedek; within five hundred years many regarded the whole narrative as a myth. Isaac held fairly well to the teachings of his father and nourished the gospel of the Salem colony, but it was harder for Jacob to grasp the significance of these traditions. Joseph was a firm believer in Melchizedek and was, largely because of this, regarded by his brothers as a dreamer. Joseph’s honor in Egypt was chiefly due to the memory of his great-grandfather Abraham. Joseph was offered military command of the Egyptian armies, but being such a firm believer in the traditions of Melchizedek and the later teachings of Abraham and Isaac, he elected to serve as a civil administrator, believing that he could thus better labor for the advancement of the kingdom of heaven. 다음 세대는 멜기세덱의 이야기를 이해하기 어려웠습니다. 500년 이내에 많은 사람은 그 이야기 전부를 신화(神話)로 여겼습니다. 이삭은 자기 아버지의 가르침을 아주 잘 새겼고, 살렘 거류지의 복음이 자라나게 했지만, 야곱이 이런 전통의 중요성을 파악하기는 더 어려웠습니다. 요셉은 멜기세덱을 굳게 믿었고, 주로 이것 때문에 그 형제들로부터 몽상가로 여겨졌습니다(창37:19). 이집트에서 요셉의 명예는 주로 그의 증조부 아브라함의 명성 때문이었습니다. 요셉은 이집트 군대의 군사 지휘권을 제안받았지만, 멜기세덱의 전승(傳承)들과 아브라함과 이삭의 후대 가르침을 아주 확실히 믿는 자여서, 민간 경영자로 봉사하기로 택했고, 자신이 하느님 나라의 진보를 위해 이렇게 더 잘 수고할 수 있다고 믿었습니다(창41:41).
93:9.6 (1023.3) The teaching of Melchizedek was full and replete, but the records of these days seemed impossible and fantastic to the later Hebrew priests, although many had some understanding of these transactions, at least up to the times of the en masse editing of the Old Testament records in Babylon. 적어도 바빌론에서 구약 성서의 기록이 한꺼번에 편집되던 시기까지 다수가 이런 업무(멜기세덱의 가르침)를 어느 정도 이해했지만, 멜기세덱의 가르침은 충분하고 충만하여서, 후대의 히브리 사제들에게는 당시의 기록이 불가능하고 터무니없는 것으로 보였습니다.
93:9.7 (1023.4) What the Old Testament records describe as conversations between Abraham and God were in reality conferences between Abraham and Melchizedek. Later scribes regarded the term Melchizedek as synonymous with God. The record of so many contacts of Abraham and Sarah with “the angel of the Lord” refers to their numerous visits with Melchizedek. 구약 성서의 기록에 아브라함과 하느님 사이의 대화로 언급하고 있는 것은 실제로 아브라함과 멜기세덱 사이의 회담이었습니다. 후대 서기관들은 멜기세덱이라는 용어를 하느님과 같은 뜻으로 여겼습니다. 아브라함과 사라가 “주(하느)님의 천사”와 아주 많이 접촉한 기록은 멜기세덱을 수없이 방문했다는 언급입니다(창12:7, 13:14, 15:1, 4, 7, 16:7-13, 17:1-22, 18장, 22:11, 15).
93:9.8 (1023.5) The Hebrew narratives of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph are far more reliable than those about Abraham, although they also contain many diversions from the facts, alterations made intentionally and unintentionally at the time of the compilation of these records by the Hebrew priests during the Babylonian captivity. Keturah was not a wife of Abraham; like Hagar, she was merely a concubine. All of Abraham’s property went to Isaac, the son of Sarah, the status wife. Abraham was not so old as the records indicate, and his wife was much younger. These ages were deliberately altered in order to provide for the subsequent alleged miraculous birth of Isaac. 이삭, 야곱 및 요셉의 히브리인(人) 이야기는 아브라함에 대한 이야기보다 훨씬 더 확실하지만, 바빌론 유수(幽囚 포로)기에 히브리 사제들이 이런 기록들을 편집할 당시 의도적이든 의도적이지 않든 그런 이야기들이, 사실에서 벗어나 변경된 여러 가지도 포함하고 있습니다. 케투라(그두라)는 아브라함의 아내가 아니었습니다(창25:1). 하갈과 마찬가지로 그녀는 첩일 뿐이었습니다. 아브라함의 모든 재산은 아내 신분인 사라의 아들, 이삭에게 갔습니다. 아브라함은 기록에 나타난 것처럼 그렇게 나이가 많지 않았고, 아내는 훨씬 젊었습니다. 이런 나이는 나중에 이삭이 기적적으로 탄생했다는 주장을 뒷받침하려고 의도적으로 변경되었습니다(창17:1, 17, 18:11-13, 21:2, 5, 23:1, 24:1, 25:7-8).
93:9.9 (1023.6) The national ego of the Jews was tremendously depressed by the Babylonian captivity. In their reaction against national inferiority they swung to the other extreme of national and racial egotism, in which they distorted and perverted their traditions with the view of exalting themselves above all races as the chosen people of God; and hence they carefully edited all their records for the purpose of raising Abraham and their other national leaders high up above all other persons, not excepting Melchizedek himself. The Hebrew scribes therefore destroyed every record of these momentous times which they could find, preserving only the narrative of the meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek after the battle of Siddim, which they deemed reflected great honor upon Abraham. 유대인들의 민족적 자존심은 바빌론 유수(幽囚 포로)로 인해 엄청나게 꺾였습니다. 민족적 열등감에 대한 반작용으로, 그들은 거꾸로 민족적, 종족의 극단적 이기주의로 관심을 돌렸고, 그들은 무엇보다도 하느님의 선택된 민족으로서 모든 인종보다 자신들을 높일 작정으로 자신들의 전승을 왜곡하고 악용했습니다. 따라서 그들은 아브라함과 기타 자신들의 민족 지도자들을 다른 모든 인물보다 높이 세우려는 목적으로 자신들의 모든 기록을 주의 깊게 편집했고 멜기세덱 자신도 예외로 두지 않았습니다. 그러므로 히브리 서기관들은, 아브라함에게 큰 영광을 나타낸 것으로 여겼던, 싯딤의 전투 이후에 아브라함과 멜기세덱이 만나는 이야기만 보존하면서, 자신들이 찾을 수 있는 이런 중대한 시대의 모든 기록을 파괴했습니다(창14:18-20, 히7:1-2).
93:9.10 (1024.1) And thus, in losing sight of Melchizedek, they also lost sight of the teaching of this emergency Son regarding the spiritual mission of the promised bestowal Son; lost sight of the nature of this mission so fully and completely that very few of their progeny were able or willing to recognize and receive Michael when he appeared on earth and in the flesh as Machiventa had foretold. 그리고 이렇게 멜기세덱을 잊어버리면서, 그들은 약속의 증여 아들의 영적 사명에 관한 이 비상(非常) 아들의 가르침도 잊어버렸습니다. 이런 사명의 본성을 그렇게 완전하게 철저히 잊어버려서 마키벤타가 예언한 대로 그가 지상에 성육신(成肉身)하자 그 자손 중에서 미가엘을 알아보고 받아들일 수 있거나 기꺼이 그렇게 했던 사람은 거의 없었습니다.
93:9.11 (1024.2) But one of the writers of the Book of Hebrews understood the mission of Melchizedek, for it is written: “This Melchizedek, priest of the Most High, was also king of peace; without father, without mother, without pedigree, having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like a Son of God, he abides a priest continually.” This writer designated Melchizedek as a type of the later bestowal of Michael, affirming that Jesus was “a minister forever on the order of Melchizedek.” While this comparison was not altogether fortunate, it was literally true that Christ did receive provisional title to Urantia “upon the orders of the twelve Melchizedek receivers” on duty at the time of his world bestowal. 그러나 히브리서 기자 중 하나가 멜기세덱의 사명을 이해했는데, 다음과 같이 기록했기 때문입니다. “지고자(至高者)의 사제인 이 멜기세덱은 또한 평화의 왕이었습니다. 아버지도 없고, 어머니도 없으며, 족보도 없고, 시작한 날도 없고 생명의 끝도 없지만 하느님의 아들처럼 되어, 그는 계속 사제로 남아 있습니다(히7:1-3).” 이 기자(記者)가 멜기세덱을 후대 미가엘 증여의 유형으로 지정하여, 예수가 “영원히 멜기세덱 계열의 사역자”였다고 확언했습니다(시110:4, 히5:6, 10, 6:20, 7:11, 17, 21). 이런 비교가 다행스럽지만은 않으나, 그리스도가 자신을 세계에 증여한 때에 근무 중인 “열두 멜기세덱 수령자(受領者)의 계열에 따라서” 유란시아에 대한 임시 소유권을 받았던 것은 글자 그대로 사실이었습니다.
10. Present Status of Machiventa Melchizedek 마키벤타 멜기세덱의 현재 상태
93:10.1 (1024.3) During the years of Machiventa’s incarnation the Urantia Melchizedek receivers functioned as eleven. When Machiventa considered that his mission as an emergency Son was finished, he signalized this fact to his eleven associates, and they immediately made ready the technique whereby he was to be released from the flesh and safely restored to his original Melchizedek status. And on the third day after his disappearance from Salem he appeared among his eleven fellows of the Urantia assignment and resumed his interrupted career as one of the planetary receivers of 606 of Satania. 마키벤타가 성육신(成肉身)으로 있을 때 유란시아 멜기세덱 수령자(受領者)들은 11명으로 활동했습니다. 마키벤타가 비상 아들로서 자기 사명이 끝났다고 생각했을 때, 그는 이런 사실을 자기 동료 11명에게 알렸고, 그들은 그가 육신에서 해방되어 안전하게 그의 원래 멜기세덱 신분으로 안전하게 회복되는 기법을 즉시 준비했습니다. 그가 살렘에서 사라진 후 사흘째, 그는 유란시아를 담당하는 자신의 11명 동료 사이에 출현하여 사타니아 606번 행성 수령자 중 하나로 중단했던 자기 생애로 돌아갔습니다.
93:10.2 (1024.4) Machiventa terminated his bestowal as a creature of flesh and blood just as suddenly and unceremoniously as he had begun it. Neither his appearance nor departure were accompanied by any unusual announcement or demonstration; neither resurrection roll call nor ending of planetary dispensation marked his appearance on Urantia; his was an emergency bestowal. But Machiventa did not end his sojourn in the flesh of human beings until he had been duly released by the Father Melchizedek and had been informed that his emergency bestowal had received the approval of the chief executive of Nebadon, Gabriel of Salvington. 마키벤타가 피붙이 창조물로서 증여를 시작했을 때처럼 갑자기, 격식을 차리지 않고 자기 증여를 끝냈습니다. 그의 출현이나 떠남에 어떤 유별난 발표나 과시도 없었습니다. 부활 호출이나 행성 섭리 시대의 종료도 그의 유란시아 출현의 흔적을 남기지 않았습니다. 그의 출현은 비상 증여였습니다. 그러나 마키벤타는 아버지 멜기세덱이 정식으로 발표하고 네바돈의 수석 실행자, 샐빙톤의 가브리엘이 자신의 비상 증여를 승인했다고 통보될 때까지, 인간 육신으로 계속 머물렀습니다.
93:10.3 (1024.5) Machiventa Melchizedek continued to take a great interest in the affairs of the descendants of those men who had believed in his teachings when he was in the flesh. But the progeny of Abraham through Isaac as intermarried with the Kenites were the only line which long continued to nourish any clear concept of the Salem teachings. 마키벤타 멜기세덱은 자신이 육신으로 있을 때 자기 가르침을 믿었던 그런 사람들의 후손들이 하는 업무에 계속 큰 관심이 있었습니다. 그러나 이삭을 통한 아브라함의 후손들은, 켄-사람들과 결혼하여 살렘 가르침의 선명한 개념을 오랫동안 계속 강화했던 유일한 혈통이었습니다.
93:10.4 (1024.6) This same Melchizedek continued to collaborate throughout the nineteen succeeding centuries with the many prophets and seers, thus endeavoring to keep alive the truths of Salem until the fullness of the time for Michael’s appearance on earth. 바로 이 멜기세덱이 계속되는 19세기 내내 여러 선지자 및 예언자와 계속 협력해서, 지상에 미가엘이 출현하는 때가 차기까지 살렘의 진리가 살아있도록 애썼습니다.
93:10.5 (1025.1) Machiventa continued as a planetary receiver up to the times of the triumph of Michael on Urantia. Subsequently, he was attached to the Urantia service on Jerusem as one of the four and twenty directors, only just recently having been elevated to the position of personal ambassador on Jerusem of the Creator Son, bearing the title Vicegerent Planetary Prince of Urantia. It is our belief that, as long as Urantia remains an inhabited planet, Machiventa Melchizedek will not be fully returned to the duties of his order of sonship but will remain, speaking in the terms of time, forever a planetary minister representing Christ Michael. 마키벤타는 미가엘이 유란시아에서 승리하는 때까지 행성 수령자로서 계속했습니다. 그 후 그는 예루셈에서 24명의 관리자 중 하나로 유란시아를 섬기도록 배속되었고, 최근에서야 예루셈에서 창조자 아들의 개인 대사의 신분으로 등용되어, 유란시아의 대리 행성 왕자의 직함을 맡고 있습니다. 유란시아가 거주 행성으로 남아 있는 한 마키벤타 멜기세덱은 자기 계층의 아들된 본분으로 완전히 돌아가지 않고, 시간의 관점에서 말하자면 영원히 그리스도 미가엘을 대표하는 행성 사역자로 남을 것이라고 우리는 믿습니다.
93:10.6 (1025.2) As his was an emergency bestowal on Urantia, it does not appear from the records what Machiventa’s future may be. It may develop that the Melchizedek corps of Nebadon have sustained the permanent loss of one of their number. Recent rulings handed down from the Most Highs of Edentia, and later confirmed by the Ancients of Days of Uversa, strongly suggest that this bestowal Melchizedek is destined to take the place of the fallen Planetary Prince, Caligastia. If our conjectures in this respect are correct, it is altogether possible that Machiventa Melchizedek may again appear in person on Urantia and in some modified manner resume the role of the dethroned Planetary Prince, or else appear on earth to function as vicegerent Planetary Prince representing Christ Michael, who now actually holds the title of Planetary Prince of Urantia. While it is far from clear to us as to what Machiventa’s destiny may be, nevertheless, events which have so recently taken place strongly suggest that the foregoing conjectures are probably not far from the truth. 유란시아에 대한 그의 증여는 비상 증여(贈與)여서, 기록에는 마키벤타의 미래가 어떻게 될지 나타나지 않습니다. 네바돈의 멜기세덱 단(斷)은 그들 중 하나를 영구히 상실한 것으로 드러날 수도 있습니다. 에덴시아의 지고(至高)자들이 공표한 최근의 판결(判決)과, 우버르사 옛적부터 늘 계신 이들의 확증으로, 이 증여 멜기세덱이 타락한 행성 왕자, 칼리가스티아를 대신하기로 정해졌음을 강력하게 시사합니다. 이 점에서 우리의 추측이 정확하다면, 마키벤타 멜기세덱이 유란시아에 다시 직접 나타나 변경된 어떤 방식으로 폐위된 행성 왕자의 역할을 되찾거나, 아니면 현재 유란시아의 행성 왕자 직함을 실제로 지닌 그리스도 미가엘을 대표하는 대리 행성 왕자로 활동하기 위해 지상에 나타날 가능성이 아주 높습니다. 마키벤타의 운명이 어떻게 될지 우리에게 분명하지 않지만, 그런데도, 최근에 일어난 사건들은 앞서 말한 추측이 아마 진실에서 멀지 않다는 것을 강력히 시사합니다.
93:10.7 (1025.3) We well understand how, by his triumph on Urantia, Michael became the successor of both Caligastia and Adam; how he became the planetary Prince of Peace and the second Adam. And now we behold the conferring upon this Melchizedek of the title Vicegerent Planetary Prince of Urantia. Will he also be constituted Vicegerent Material Son of Urantia? Or is there a possibility that an unexpected and unprecedented event is to take place, the sometime return to the planet of Adam and Eve or certain of their progeny as representatives of Michael with the titles vicegerents of the second Adam of Urantia? 우리는 유란시아에서 미가엘의 승리로 그가 어떻게 칼리가스티아와 아담의 후계자가 되었는지, 그가 어떻게 평화의 행성왕자(사9:6)와 둘째 아담(고전15:45, 47)이 되었는지 잘 이해합니다. 그리고 이제 우리는 이 멜기세덱에게 유란시아의 대리 행성 왕자의 직함이 수여되는 것을 봅니다. 그가 유란시아의 대리 물질 아들도 될 것인가? 아니면, 예기치 않은, 전례 없는 사건이 일어나서, 언젠가 아담과 이브 혹은 그들의 어떤 후손이 미가엘의 대리자로서 유란시아의 대리 둘째 아담의 직함으로 행성으로 돌아올 가능성이 있을까요?
93:10.8 (1025.4) And all these speculations associated with the certainty of future appearances of both Magisterial and Trinity Teacher Sons, in conjunction with the explicit promise of the Creator Son to return sometime, make Urantia a planet of future uncertainty and render it one of the most interesting and intriguing spheres in all the universe of Nebadon. It is altogether possible that, in some future age when Urantia is approaching the era of light and life, after the affairs of the Lucifer rebellion and the Caligastia secession have been finally adjudicated, we may witness the presence on Urantia, simultaneously, of Machiventa, Adam, Eve, and Christ Michael, as well as either a Magisterial Son or even Trinity Teacher Sons. 치안(治安) 및 삼위일체 교사 아들들 둘 다 미래에 출현한다는 확신과 관련하여 이런 모든 추측은, 창조자 아들이 언젠가 돌아온다는 명백한 약속과 함께 유란시아를 미래 불확실한 행성으로 만들고 네바돈 온 우주에서 가장 흥미롭고 호기심을 자아내는 구체 중 하나가 되게 합니다. 유란시아가 빛과 생명의 시대로 다가가는 미래 어느 시대에 루시퍼 반란과 칼리가스티아 탈퇴의 업무가 최종적으로 선고된 후, 치안(治安) 아들 혹은 심지어 삼위일체 교사 아들들만 아니라 마키벤타, 아담과 이브, 그리고 그리스도 미가엘도 일제히 유란시아에 계시는 것을 우리가 눈앞에 볼 가능성이 높습니다.
93:10.9 (1025.5) It has long been the opinion of our order that Machiventa’s presence on the Jerusem corps of Urantia directors, the four and twenty counselors, is sufficient evidence to warrant the belief that he is destined to follow the mortals of Urantia on through the universe scheme of progression and ascension even to the Paradise Corps of the Finality. We know that Adam and Eve are thus destined to accompany their earth fellows on the Paradise adventure when Urantia has become settled in light and life. 유란시아 지도자들, 24 조언자의 예루셈 단(團)에 마키벤타가 있다는 것은, 그가 진보와 상승의 우주 계획을 거쳐 심지어 천국 최종자 단(團)까지 유란시아 필사자들을 따라가기로 되어있다는 믿음을 보증하는 확실한 증거라는 것이 오랫동안 우리 계층의 의견이었습니다. 우리는 유란시아가 빛과 생명으로 정착될 때, 아담과 이브가 이렇게 천국 모험에서 자신들의 지상 동료들과 함께 가게 되어있다는 것을 알고 있습니다.
93:10.10 (1025.6) Less than a thousand years ago this same Machiventa Melchizedek, the onetime sage of Salem, was invisibly present on Urantia for a period of one hundred years, acting as resident governor general of the planet; and if the present system of directing planetary affairs should continue, he will be due to return in the same capacity in a little over one thousand years. 천 년도 채 되지 않아, 한때 살렘의 현인(賢人)이었던 바로 이 마키벤타 멜기세덱이 유란시아에 보이지 않게 100년간 있으면서 행성의 거주 총독으로 활동했습니다. 행성 업무를 관리하는 현 체제가 지속된다면, 그는 1천 년이 조금 지나서 같은 자격으로 돌아올 것입니다.
93:10.11 (1026.1) This is the story of Machiventa Melchizedek, one of the most unique of all characters ever to become connected with the history of Urantia and a personality who may be destined to play an important role in the future experience of your irregular and unusual world. 이것은 일찍이 유란시아의 역사와 연결된 모든 사람 가운데 아주 극히 드문 인물 중 하나로, 변칙적인 유별난 너희 세계의 미래 체험에서 중요한 역할을 하게 될 인물, 마키벤타 멜기세덱의 이야기입니다.
93:10.12 (1026.2) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.][네바돈의 멜기세덱이 제시함]
94:0.1 (1027.1) THE early teachers of the Salem religion penetrated to the remotest tribes of Africa and Eurasia, ever preaching Machiventa’s gospel of man’s faith and trust in the one universal God as the only price of obtaining divine favor. Melchizedek’s covenant with Abraham was the pattern for all the early propaganda that went out from Salem and other centers. Urantia has never had more enthusiastic and aggressive missionaries of any religion than these noble men and women who carried the teachings of Melchizedek over the entire Eastern Hemisphere. These missionaries were recruited from many peoples and races, and they largely spread their teachings through the medium of native converts. They established training centers in different parts of the world where they taught the natives the Salem religion and then commissioned these pupils to function as teachers among their own people. 살렘 종교의 초기 교사들은 아프리카, 유라시아의 가장 먼 부족들까지 퍼져서, 신적 은혜를 얻는 유일한 대가는 하나뿐인 우주 하느님에 대한 인간의 신앙과 신뢰라는 마키벤타의 복음을 계속 전파했습니다. 멜기세덱이 아브라함과 맺은 계약은 살렘과 다른 중심지에서 나간 초기 전도활동의 원형이었습니다. 유란시아에서 멜기세덱의 가르침을 동반구 전체에 전한 이 고귀한 남녀들보다 더 열정적이고 과감한 선교사들은 결코 없었습니다. 이런 선교사들은 다양한 민족과 인종에서 모집되었고, 그들은 주로 원주민 개종자들을 통해서 자신들의 가르침을 전파했습니다. 그들은 세계의 여러 지역에 훈련 중심지를 설립하여 원주민들에게 살렘 종교를 가르친 다음, 이런 학생들이 자국민 가운데서 교사로 활동하도록 위임했습니다.
1. The Salem Teachings in Vedic India 베다 인도에 있는 살렘 가르침
94:1.1 (1027.2) In the days of Melchizedek, India was a cosmopolitan country which had recently come under the political and religious dominance of the Aryan-Andite invaders from the north and west. At this time only the northern and western portions of the peninsula had been extensively permeated by the Aryans. These Vedic newcomers had brought along with them their many tribal deities. Their religious forms of worship followed closely the ceremonial practices of their earlier Andite forebears in that the father still functioned as a priest and the mother as a priestess, and the family hearth was still utilized as an altar. 멜기세덱 시대에 인도는 북쪽과 서쪽에서 온 아리안-안드인(人) 침략자들의 정치적, 종교적 지배를 받고 있던 세계적인 나라였습니다. 당시에 반도의 북쪽과 서쪽 지역만 아리아인(人)들이 널리 퍼져있었습니다. 베다에서 새로 온 이런 사람들은 자신들의 여러 부족 신(神)들을 가져왔습니다. 그들의 종교적 예배 형태는 아버지가 여전히 사제로, 어머니가 여사제의 역할을 하고, 가정 화로가 여전히 제단으로 사용된다는 점에서 초기 안드인(人) 선조들의 의식 관습을 밀접하게 따랐습니다.
94:1.2 (1027.3) The Vedic cult was then in process of growth and metamorphosis under the direction of the Brahman caste of teacher-priests, who were gradually assuming control over the expanding ritual of worship. The amalgamation of the onetime thirty-three Aryan deities was well under way when the Salem missionaries penetrated the north of India. 베다 종파는 당시 확장되는 예배 의식(儀式)을 점차 통제하고 있던 브라만 카스트의 교사-사제들의 관리 아래에서 성장과 변형의 과정에 있었습니다. 살렘 선교사들이 인도 북부로 파고들었을 때 한때 33개의 아리아인(人) 신(神)들의 합병이 잘 되어갔습니다.
94:1.3 (1027.4) The polytheism of these Aryans represented a degeneration of their earlier monotheism occasioned by their separation into tribal units, each tribe having its venerated god. This devolution of the original monotheism and trinitarianism of Andite Mesopotamia was in process of resynthesis in the early centuries of the second millennium before Christ. The many gods were organized into a pantheon under the triune leadership of Dyaus pitar, the lord of heaven; Indra, the tempestuous lord of the atmosphere; and Agni, the three-headed fire god, lord of the earth and the vestigial symbol of an earlier Trinity concept. 이런 아리아인(人)들의 다신교(多神敎)는, 부족 단위의 분리로 각 부족이 자기 신(神)과 같은 존재를 받들어 모셔서 일어난 초기 일신교(一神敎)의 퇴보를 나타냅니다. 메소포타미아 안드인(人)의 최초의 일신교와 삼위일체 신앙의 이런 퇴화는 그리스도 이전 2,000년의 초기 몇 세기(世紀)에 다시 통합되는 과정이었습니다. 여러 신(神)과 같은 존재들은, 하늘의 주(主), 디아우스-피타, 대기(大氣)의 광포한 주(主), 인드라 및 땅의 주(主)이며 초기 삼위일체 개념이 퇴화한 상징의 머리가 셋 달린 불의 신과 같은 존재, 아그니의 삼자일치(三者一致) 지도력에 따라 만신(萬神)으로 편성되었습니다.
94:1.4 (1027.5) Definite henotheistic developments were paving the way for an evolved monotheism. Agni, the most ancient deity, was often exalted as the father-head of the entire pantheon. The deity-father principle, sometimes called Prajapati, sometimes termed Brahma, was submerged in the theologic battle which the Brahman priests later fought with the Salem teachers. The Brahman was conceived as the energy-divinity principle activating the entire Vedic pantheon. 분명한 단일신교(單一神敎 인정한 여럿 중 하나를 최고로 숭배)의 발전은 진화된 유일신교(一神敎)의 길을 열고 있었습니다. 가장 고대의 신(神), 아그니는 종종 전체 만신(萬神)의 아버지-어른으로 높여졌습니다. 때로는 프라자파티, 때로는 브라마로 부르는 신(神)-아버지 원칙은 나중에 브라만 사제들이 살렘 교사들과 싸웠던 신학적 투쟁 안에 잠겼습니다. 브라만은 베다의 만신(萬神) 전체를 활성화하는 에너지-신성(神性) 원리로 생각되었습니다.
94:1.5 (1028.1) The Salem missionaries preached the one God of Melchizedek, the Most High of heaven. This portrayal was not altogether disharmonious with the emerging concept of the Father-Brahma as the source of all gods, but the Salem doctrine was nonritualistic and hence ran directly counter to the dogmas, traditions, and teachings of the Brahman priesthood. Never would the Brahman priests accept the Salem teaching of salvation through faith, favor with God apart from ritualistic observances and sacrificial ceremonials. 살렘 선교사들은 하나밖에 없는 멜기세덱의 하느님, 하늘의 지고(至高)자를 전파했습니다. 이런 묘사는 모든 신과 같은 존재들의 근원인 아버지-브라마의 새로 생긴 개념과 아주 부조화하지는 않았지만, 살렘 교리는 의식(儀式)적이지 않아서, 브라만 사제들의 교리, 전통 및 가르침을 바로 거스르는 것이었습니다. 브라만 사제들은 의식(儀式)을 지키고 희생물을 바치는 의례(儀禮) 외에 신앙을 통해 하느님의 은혜를 얻어 구원되는 살렘의 가르침을 결코 받아들이려 하지 않았습니다.
94:1.6 (1028.2) The rejection of the Melchizedek gospel of trust in God and salvation through faith marked a vital turning point for India. The Salem missionaries had contributed much to the loss of faith in all the ancient Vedic gods, but the leaders, the priests of Vedism, refused to accept the Melchizedek teaching of one God and one simple faith. 하느님을 신뢰하고 신앙으로 구원받는 멜기세덱 복음의 거절은 인도에 치명적인 전환점이 되었습니다. 살렘 선교사들은 고대 베다의 신과 같은 모든 존재에 대한 신앙이 사라지는 데 큰 도움이 되었지만, 베다 종교의 사제들인 지도자들은 하나밖에 없는 하느님과 하나뿐인 신앙에 속한 멜기세덱의 가르침을 받아들이려 하지 않았습니다.
94:1.7 (1028.3) The Brahmans culled the sacred writings of their day in an effort to combat the Salem teachers, and this compilation, as later revised, has come on down to modern times as the Rig-Veda, one of the most ancient of sacred books. The second, third, and fourth Vedas followed as the Brahmans sought to crystallize, formalize, and fix their rituals of worship and sacrifice upon the peoples of those days. Taken at their best, these writings are the equal of any other body of similar character in beauty of concept and truth of discernment. But as this superior religion became contaminated with the thousands upon thousands of superstitions, cults, and rituals of southern India, it progressively metamorphosed into the most variegated system of theology ever developed by mortal man. An examination of the Vedas will disclose some of the highest and some of the most debased concepts of Deity ever to be conceived. 브라만들은 살렘 교사들과 싸우려고 당대의 신성한 문서들을 추려냈고, 이 편집본이 나중에 수정되어 가장 오래된 신성한 책 중 하나, 리그베다로 현대까지 전해 내려왔습니다. 둘째, 셋째와 넷째 베다는 브라만들이 당대 사람들에게 예배와 희생물 의식(儀式)을 구체화, 형식화 및 고착시키려고 애쓴 결과로 생겼습니다. 가장 좋은 상태의 이런 책들은 개념의 아름다움과 분별의 진리에서 비슷한 성격의 다른 책들과 견줄 수 있습니다. 그러나 이렇게 우수한 종교가 남부 인도의 수천 가지의 미신, 종파 및 의식(儀式)들로 오염되자, 그것은 점차 인간이 일찍이 개발한 가장 잡색의 신학 체계로 변했습니다. 베다를 살펴보면, 신(神)의 개념에 대해 일찍이 생각한 최고의 개념과 가장 타락한 개념이 어느 정도 드러날 것입니다.
2. Brahmanism 브라만교
94:2.1 (1028.4) As the Salem missionaries penetrated southward into the Dravidian Deccan, they encountered an increasing caste system, the scheme of the Aryans to prevent loss of racial identity in the face of a rising tide of the secondary Sangik peoples. Since the Brahman priest caste was the very essence of this system, this social order greatly retarded the progress of the Salem teachers. This caste system failed to save the Aryan race, but it did succeed in perpetuating the Brahmans, who, in turn, have maintained their religious hegemony in India to the present time. 살렘 선교사들이 남하(南下)하여 드라비다 데칸 지역으로 파고들 때, 그들은 점차 증대하는 카스트(계급) 제도, 2차로 밀려오는 상긱 민족에 직면하여 아리아인(人)들이 인종의 정체성을 잃지 않으려는 계획과 마주쳤습니다. 브라만 사제 계급이야말로 이 제도의 핵심이었기 때문에 이 사회 계층이 살렘 선생들의 전진을 굉장히 방해했습니다. 이런 계급 제도가 아리아 인종을 끝내 구하지 못했지만 브라만 계급의 보존에 성공하여 결국 현재까지 인도에서 자신들의 종교적 주도권을 유지했습니다.
94:2.2 (1028.5) And now, with the weakening of Vedism through the rejection of higher truth, the cult of the Aryans became subject to increasing inroads from the Deccan. In a desperate effort to stem the tide of racial extinction and religious obliteration, the Brahman caste sought to exalt themselves above all else. They taught that the sacrifice to deity in itself was all-efficacious, that it was all-compelling in its potency. They proclaimed that, of the two essential divine principles of the universe, one was Brahman the deity, and the other was the Brahman priesthood. Among no other Urantia peoples did the priests presume to exalt themselves above even their gods, to relegate to themselves the honors due their gods. But they went so absurdly far with these presumptuous claims that the whole precarious system collapsed before the debasing cults which poured in from the surrounding and less advanced civilizations. The vast Vedic priesthood itself floundered and sank beneath the black flood of inertia and pessimism which their own selfish and unwise presumption had brought upon all India. 그리고 이제 고등 진리를 거부하여 베다교가 약화하면서, 아리아인(人)들의 종파는 데칸에서부터 점차 잠식되지 않을 수 없었습니다. 인종 멸종과 종교 말살의 흐름을 막으려는 필사적 노력으로 브라만 계급은 무엇보다 자신들을 격찬하려고 했습니다. 그들은 원래 신(神)에게 바치는 희생물은 모두 효험이 있고, 그 효력이 모두 강력하다고 가르쳤습니다. 그들은 우주에 있는 근본적인 두 가지 신적 원리 중 하나가 브라만 신(神)이고 다른 하나는 브라만 사제직이라고 선언했습니다. 다른 유란시아 민족 중 누구도 사제들이 심지어 자신들의 신과 같은 존재들보다 감히 스스로 높이고 자기들의 신과 같은 존재들에게 돌릴 영예를 자신들에게 귀속시키려 하지 않았습니다. 그러나 그들은 이렇게 건방진 주장으로 너무 터무니없이 나아가서, 주변의 덜 진보한 문명으로부터 쏟아져 들어오는 타락한 종파 앞에서 모든 불안정한 제도가 무너졌습니다. 거대한 베다 사제직 자체는 몸부림치다가, 자신들의 이기심과 어리석은 철면피가 온 인도에 초래한 타성과 비관론의 암담한 홍수 아래에 가라앉았습니다.
94:2.3 (1029.1) The undue concentration on self led certainly to a fear of the nonevolutionary perpetuation of self in an endless round of successive incarnations as man, beast, or weeds. And of all the contaminating beliefs which could have become fastened upon what may have been an emerging monotheism, none was so stultifying as this belief in transmigration — the doctrine of the reincarnation of souls — which came from the Dravidian Deccan. This belief in the weary and monotonous round of repeated transmigrations robbed struggling mortals of their long-cherished hope of finding that deliverance and spiritual advancement in death which had been a part of the earlier Vedic faith. 자신에 대한 지나친 집중은 사람, 짐승 또는 잡초로 끝없이 순환하면서 연속해서 육체로 나타난다는 자신에 대한 비(非)진화적 보존의 두려움으로 분명히 이어졌습니다. 최근에 생긴 일신교(一神敎)일 수도 있었던 것에 쏟을 수 있었던 모든 오염된 믿음 중 어떤 것도 드라비다의 데칸에서 비롯된 윤회(輪廻) – 혼(魂)들의 환생(幻生) 교리에 대한 이런 믿음만큼 어리석음을 드러낸 것은 없었습니다. 반복적으로 윤회(輪廻)하는 진저리나고 단조로운 순환에 대한 이런 믿음이, 고투하는 인간으로부터, 초기 베다 신앙의 일부였던 구원과 죽음에서 영적 진보를 찾으려는 오래 간직했던 그들의 희망을 빼앗았습니다.
94:2.4 (1029.2) This philosophically debilitating teaching was soon followed by the invention of the doctrine of the eternal escape from self by submergence in the universal rest and peace of absolute union with Brahman, the oversoul of all creation. Mortal desire and human ambition were effectually ravished and virtually destroyed. For more than two thousand years the better minds of India have sought to escape from all desire, and thus was opened wide the door for the entrance of those later cults and teachings which have virtually shackled the souls of many Hindu peoples in the chains of spiritual hopelessness. Of all civilizations, the Vedic-Aryan paid the most terrible price for its rejection of the Salem gospel. 철학적으로 쇠약하게 하는 이런 가르침의 뒤를 이어 바로 브라만, 모든 창조계의 대혼(大魂)과 절대적으로 연합하는 우주적 안식과 평화에 잠겨서 자신으로부터 영원히 벗어난다는 교리가 고안되었습니다. 필사자의 욕망과 인간적 야망은 완전히 빼앗겨 사실상 파괴되었습니다. 2,000년이 넘게 인도의 더 나은 사람들은 모든 욕망에서 벗어나려고 애써서, 여러 힌두 민족의 혼(魂)들을 사실상 영적 절망의 사슬로 족쇄를 채운 후대의 그런 종파와 가르침에 출입문을 활짝 열었습니다. 모든 문명 중에서 베다의 아리아인(人)들이 살렘 복음을 거절한 가장 끔찍한 대가를 치렀습니다.
94:2.5 (1029.3) Caste alone could not perpetuate the Aryan religio-cultural system, and as the inferior religions of the Deccan permeated the north, there developed an age of despair and hopelessness. It was during these dark days that the cult of taking no life arose, and it has ever since persisted. Many of the new cults were frankly atheistic, claiming that such salvation as was attainable could come only by man’s own unaided efforts. But throughout a great deal of all this unfortunate philosophy, distorted remnants of the Melchizedek and even the Adamic teachings can be traced. 계급(階級)만으로 아리아인(人)의 종교-문화 제도를 영구히 보존할 수 없었고, 데칸의 열등 종교들이 북쪽으로 퍼지면서 자포자기와 절망의 시대가 전개되었습니다. 이렇게 불길한 시대에 어떤 생명도 죽이지 않는 종파가 일어났고, 그 이래 줄곧 지속했습니다. 여러 새 종파는 솔직히 무신론(無神論)적이어서, 인간 자신의 독립적 노력으로만 그런 구원에 도달할 수 있다고 주장했었습니다. 그러나 이렇게 많은 모든 한심스러운 철학을 통해서, 멜기세덱과 아담 가르침의 일그러진 자취까지 찾아볼 수 있습니다.
94:2.6 (1029.4) These were the times of the compilation of the later scriptures of the Hindu faith, the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. Having rejected the teachings of personal religion through the personal faith experience with the one God, and having become contaminated with the flood of debasing and debilitating cults and creeds from the Deccan, with their anthropomorphisms and reincarnations, the Brahmanic priesthood experienced a violent reaction against these vitiating beliefs; there was a definite effort to seek and to find true reality. The Brahmans set out to deanthropomorphize the Indian concept of deity, but in so doing they stumbled into the grievous error of depersonalizing the concept of God, and they emerged, not with a lofty and spiritual ideal of the Paradise Father, but with a distant and metaphysical idea of an all-encompassing Absolute. 이때는 힌두 신앙의 후대 경전들, 브라마나와 우파니샤드가 편집된 시대였습니다. 하나밖에 없는 하느님에 대한 개인적 신앙 체험을 통한 개인 종교의 가르침을 거부하고, 신인 동형 동성론(神人同形同性論 신을 인간의 형상이나 감정 상태로 묘사하는 것) 및 환생(幻生)과 더불어 데칸에서 타락하고 쇠약하게 하는 다량의 종파와 신조들로 오염되자, 브라만 사제들은 이렇게 타락한 믿음에 거슬러 격렬한 반응을 겪었습니다. 참된 실체를 추구하고 발견하려고 명확히 애썼습니다. 브라만들은 인도의 신(神)개념을 비(非) 의인화(擬人化)하려고 착수했지만, 그렇게 하면서 그들은 뜻하지 않게 하느님의 개념을 비(非) 인격화(人格化)하는 중대한 잘못에 빠졌고, 그들은 천국 아버지의 고결한 영적 이상(理想)이 아니라, 모든 것을 포함하는 절대자의 멀리 떨어진 형이상학(形而上學) 사상으로 등장했습니다.
94:2.7 (1029.5) In their efforts at self-preservation the Brahmans had rejected the one God of Melchizedek, and now they found themselves with the hypothesis of Brahman, that indefinite and illusive philosophic self, that impersonal and impotent it which has left the spiritual life of India helpless and prostrate from that unfortunate day to the twentieth century. 브라만들은 자신을 보존하려고 애쓰면서 멜기세덱의 하나뿐인 하느님을 거절했고, 이제 그들은 그 불행한 날로부터 20세기까지 인도의 영적 삶을 무력하게 기진맥진하게 방치한, 불명확하고 실체가 없는 철학적 자아, 비(非)인격적이며 능력이 없는 자아, 브라만의 가설(假設 실제 없는 것을 있는 것으로 가정함)과 함께 있게 되었습니다.
94:2.8 (1029.6) It was during the times of the writing of the Upanishads that Buddhism arose in India. But despite its successes of a thousand years, it could not compete with later Hinduism; despite a higher morality, its early portrayal of God was even less well-defined than was that of Hinduism, which provided for lesser and personal deities. Buddhism finally gave way in northern India before the onslaught of a militant Islam with its clear-cut concept of Allah as the supreme God of the universe. 인도에서 불교가 일어난 것은 우파니샤드가 기록된 시대였습니다. 그러나 불교는 천 년간 성공적이었지만, 불교는 후대 힌두교에 서로 겨룰 수 없었습니다. 고등 도덕성에도 불구하고, 하느님에 대한 불교의 초기 묘사는 심지어 덜 하지만 개인적 신(神)들을 제시한 힌두교의 묘사보다 명확하지 않았습니다. 인도 북부에서 불교는 알라가 우주의 최고 하느님이라는 명쾌한 개념을 가진 호전적인 이슬람교의 맹공격 앞에서 마침내 자리를 내주었습니다.
3. Brahmanic Philosophy 브라만 철학
94:3.1 (1030.1) While the highest phase of Brahmanism was hardly a religion, it was truly one of the most noble reaches of the mortal mind into the domains of philosophy and metaphysics. Having started out to discover final reality, the Indian mind did not stop until it had speculated about almost every phase of theology excepting the essential dual concept of religion: the existence of the Universal Father of all universe creatures and the fact of the ascending experience in the universe of these very creatures as they seek to attain the eternal Father, who has commanded them to be perfect, even as he is perfect. 브라만교의 최고 단계는 도저히 종교라고 할 수 없었지만, 그것은 진실로 인간 마음이 철학과 형이상학(形而上學 사물의 본질이나 존재의 근본 원리를 사유나 직관으로 연구하는 관념적인 학문) 영역에 가장 고상하게 이를 수 있는 단계 중 하나였습니다. 최종 실체를 발견하려 했기에, 인도의 지성은 종교의 필수적인 2중 개념을 제외하고 거의 모든 단계의 신학에 대해 추측할 때까지 멈추지 않았습니다. 종교의 필수적인 2중 개념은 모든 우주 창조계의 우주 아버지의 존재와 우주 아버지가 완전하듯이 바로 이런 창조물들도 완전해지라고 명령하신 그에게 우주 창조물들이 도달하려고 하면서 그들이 우주에서 상승하는 체험의 사실입니다.
94:3.2 (1030.2) In the concept of Brahman the minds of those days truly grasped at the idea of some all-pervading Absolute, for this postulate was at one and the same time identified as creative energy and cosmic reaction. Brahman was conceived to be beyond all definition, capable of being comprehended only by the successive negation of all finite qualities. It was definitely a belief in an absolute, even an infinite, being, but this concept was largely devoid of personality attributes and was therefore not experiencible by individual religionists. 브라만의 개념에서 당시의 지성들은 모든 것에 퍼져있는 어떤 절대자의 개념을 진실로 파악했는데, 이런 가정(假定)은 창조적 에너지와 우주적 반응을 동시에 동일시했기 때문이었습니다. 브라만은 모든 정의(定義)를 초월하는 것, 모든 유한한 특성을 잇달아 부정(否定)해야만 파악될 수 있는 것으로 진술되었습니다. 그것은 분명히 절대자, 심지어 무한자에 대한 믿음이었지만, 이런 개념은 대부분 인격(고유성) 속성이 전혀 없어서, 개별 종교인들은 경험하여 알 수 없었습니다.
94:3.3 (1030.3) Brahman-Narayana was conceived as the Absolute, the infinite IT IS, the primordial creative potency of the potential cosmos, the Universal Self existing static and potential throughout all eternity. Had the philosophers of those days been able to make the next advance in deity conception, had they been able to conceive of the Brahman as associative and creative, as a personality approachable by created and evolving beings, then might such a teaching have become the most advanced portraiture of Deity on Urantia since it would have encompassed the first five levels of total deity function and might possibly have envisioned the remaining two. 브라만-나라야나는 절대자, 무한한 그 자체, 잠재적 질서우주의 최초 창조적 잠재력, 모든 영원성 전체에 걸쳐 정적(靜的)으로 잠재적(潛在的)으로 존재하는 우주 자아로 생각했습니다. 당시의 철학자들이 신(神)개념에 가깝게 진보할 수 있었다면, 그들이 브라만을 연대적이며 창조적인 것으로서, 창조되어 진화된 존재들이 가까이할 수 있는 인격(고유성)으로 생각할 수 있었다면, 그런 가르침은, 총체적 신(神)의 기능 중에서 처음 5차원을 포함하고, 아마 나머지 두 가지도 상상할 수도 있었기 때문에, 유란시아에서 가장 진보한 신(神)에 대한 묘사가 되었을 것입니다.
94:3.4 (1030.4) In certain phases the concept of the One Universal Oversoul as the totality of the summation of all creature existence led the Indian philosophers very close to the truth of the Supreme Being, but this truth availed them naught because they failed to evolve any reasonable or rational personal approach to the attainment of their theoretic monotheistic goal of Brahman-Narayana. 어떤 단계에서 모든 창조물 존재의 총합계로서 하나의 우주적 대혼(大魂)의 개념은 인도 철학자들을 최극 존재의 진리에 아주 가깝게 이끌었지만, 그들은 자신들의 이론상 일신론적 목표인 브라만-나라야나에 이르는, 어떤 이치에 맞거나 도리에 맞는 개인적인 접근법을 끝내 진전시키지 못했기 때문에, 이런 진리는 그들에게 쓸모가 없었습니다.
94:3.5 (1030.5) The karma principle of causality continuity is, again, very close to the truth of the repercussional synthesis of all time-space actions in the Deity presence of the Supreme; but this postulate never provided for the co-ordinate personal attainment of Deity by the individual religionist, only for the ultimate engulfment of all personality by the Universal Oversoul. 인과관계(因果關係) 연속성의 업보(業報) 원리는 또다시 최극자의 신(神) 실존에서 모든 시-공간 행위의 반향적(反響的) 종합의 진리에 매우 가깝지만, 이런 가정(假定)은 개별 종교인이 개인적으로 통합-조정하여 신(神)에 이르는 길을 결코 마련하지 못했고, 단지 우주적 대혼(大魂)이 궁극적으로 모든 인격(고유성)을 삼켜버리도록 했습니다.
94:3.6 (1030.6) The philosophy of Brahmanism also came very near to the realization of the indwelling of the Thought Adjusters, only to become perverted through the misconception of truth. The teaching that the soul is the indwelling of the Brahman would have paved the way for an advanced religion had not this concept been completely vitiated by the belief that there is no human individuality apart from this indwelling of the Universal One. 브라만교의 철학도 내재하는 생각 조율자들의 구현에 아주 가까웠지만, 진리에 대한 그릇된 생각을 통해 잘못된 길로 빠지게 될 뿐이었습니다. 우주 존재(브라만)의 이런 내재(內在) 외에는 어떤 인간의 개인성도 없다는 믿음으로 이런 개념이 철저히 오염되지 않았더라면, 혼(魂)은 브라만의 내재라는 가르침은 진보 종교를 가능하게 했을 것입니다.
94:3.7 (1030.7) In the doctrine of the merging of the self-soul with the Oversoul, the theologians of India failed to provide for the survival of something human, something new and unique, something born of the union of the will of man and the will of God. The teaching of the soul’s return to the Brahman is closely parallel to the truth of the Adjuster’s return to the bosom of the Universal Father, but there is something distinct from the Adjuster which also survives, the morontial counterpart of mortal personality. And this vital concept was fatally absent from Brahmanic philosophy. 자기-혼(魂)과 대혼(大魂)이 합병되는 교리에서, 인도의 신학자들은 인간적인 것, 새롭고 독특한 것, 사람의 의지와 하느님의 의지가 연합하여 탄생한 것의 생존을 끝내 마련하지 못했습니다. 혼(魂)이 브라만으로 돌아간다는 가르침은 조율자가 우주 아버지의 품으로 돌아간다는 진리와 아주 비슷하지만, 조율자와 별개의 것, 필사자 인격(고유성)에 속한 모론시아 한쪽 짝도 생존합니다. 그리고 이렇게 중요한 개념이 브라만 철학에서는 치명적으로 빠져 있습니다.
94:3.8 (1031.1) Brahmanic philosophy has approximated many of the facts of the universe and has approached numerous cosmic truths, but it has all too often fallen victim to the error of failing to differentiate between the several levels of reality, such as absolute, transcendental, and finite. It has failed to take into account that what may be finite-illusory on the absolute level may be absolutely real on the finite level. And it has also taken no cognizance of the essential personality of the Universal Father, who is personally contactable on all levels from the evolutionary creature’s limited experience with God on up to the limitless experience of the Eternal Son with the Paradise Father. 브라만 철학은 우주의 여러 사실에 접근했고 여러 질서우주적 진리에 가까이 갔지만, 그것은 절대, 초월 및 유한과 같은 여러 실체의 차원들 사이를 끝내 구별하지 못하는 잘못에 너무 자주 희생되었습니다. 절대 차원에서 유한한-착각일 수도 있는 것이 유한한 차원에서는 절대적으로 실제일 수 있다는 것을 끝내 고려하지 못했습니다. 그리고 그것은 또한 진화하는 창조물의 하느님에 대한 제한된 체험에서 영원 아들의 천국 아버지에 대한 무한한 체험에 이르기까지 모든 수준에서 개인적으로 접촉할 수 있는, 우주 아버지의 본질적인 인격(고유성)을 결코 인식하지 못했습니다.
4. The Hindu Religion 힌두교
94:4.1 (1031.2) With the passing of the centuries in India, the populace returned in measure to the ancient rituals of the Vedas as they had been modified by the teachings of the Melchizedek missionaries and crystallized by the later Brahman priesthood. This, the oldest and most cosmopolitan of the world’s religions, has undergone further changes in response to Buddhism and Jainism and to the later appearing influences of Mohammedanism and Christianity. But by the time the teachings of Jesus arrived, they had already become so Occidentalized as to be a “white man’s religion,” hence strange and foreign to the Hindu mind. 인도에서 수 세기가 지나면서, 대중(大衆)은 멜기세덱 선교사들의 가르침으로 변경되고 후대 브라만 사제들이 구체화한 베다의 고대 의식(儀式)으로 어느 정도 되돌아갔습니다. 세계 종교 중 가장 오래되고 가장 전(全) 세계적인 이 종교는 불교와 자이나교 그리고 후대에 출현한 회교(回敎)와 기독교의 영향에 대응하여 변화를 더욱더 겪었습니다. 그러나 예수의 가르침이 도착할 무렵에, 그것들은 이미 “백인의 종교”가 될 정도로 이미 서구화되어서 힌두교 사람들에게 낯설고 이질적(異質的)이었습니다.
94:4.2 (1031.3) Hindu theology, at present, depicts four descending levels of deity and divinity: 힌두교 신학은 현재 신(神)과 신성(神性)을 하향식 네 단계로 묘사합니다.
94:4.3 (1031.4) 1. The Brahman, the Absolute, the Infinite One, the IT IS. 브라만, 절대자, 무한자, 스스로 있는 것.
94:4.4 (1031.5) 2. The Trimurti, the supreme trinity of Hinduism. In this association Brahma, the first member, is conceived as being self-created out of the Brahman — infinity. Were it not for close identification with the pantheistic Infinite One, Brahma could constitute the foundation for a concept of the Universal Father. Brahma is also identified with fate. 트리무르티(삼신일체 三神一體), 힌두교의 최고 삼위일체. 이 연합에서 브라마, 첫 일원은 브라만 – 무한으로부터 스스로 창조된 존재로 여깁니다. 범신론(汎神論)의 무한자와 가까운 정체(正體)가 아니었다면, 브라마는 우주 아버지 개념을 위한 기초가 될 수 있었습니다. 브라마는 또한 숙명(宿命 타고난 피할 수 없는 운명)과 같은 것으로 취급됩니다.
94:4.5 (1031.6) The worship of the second and third members, Siva and Vishnu, arose in the first millennium after Christ. Siva is lord of life and death, god of fertility, and master of destruction. Vishnu is extremely popular due to the belief that he periodically incarnates in human form. In this way, Vishnu becomes real and living in the imaginations of the Indians. Siva and Vishnu are each regarded by some as supreme over all. 둘째와 셋째 일원인 시바와 비슈누에 대한 숭배는 그리스도 이후 첫 1,000년에 생겼습니다. 시바는 생사(生死)의 지배자, 다산(多産)의 신과 같은 존재, 파괴의 주인입니다. 비슈누는 주기적으로 인간 형태로 성육신(成肉身)한다는 믿음 때문에 대단히 인기 있습니다. 이렇게 비슈누는 인도인(人)들의 상상 속에서 실재가 되어 살아있습니다. 일부는 시바와 비슈누를 각각 모든 신들보다 최고로 여깁니다.
94:4.6 (1031.7) 3. Vedic and post-Vedic deities. Many of the ancient gods of the Aryans, such as Agni, Indra, and Soma, have persisted as secondary to the three members of the Trimurti. Numerous additional gods have arisen since the early days of Vedic India, and these have also been incorporated into the Hindu pantheon. 베다 및 베다 이후의 신(神)들. 아그니, 인드라 및 소마와 같은 아리아인(人)들의 여러 고대 신과 같은 존재들은 트리무르티(삼신일체)의 세 일원에 종속하는 존재들로 지속했습니다. 베다 인도의 초기 이래 여러 신과 같은 추가적 존재들이 일어났고, 이런 존재들도 힌두교 만신(萬神)으로 합병되었습니다.
94:4.7 (1031.8) 4. The demigods: supermen, semigods, heroes, demons, ghosts, evil spirits, sprites, monsters, goblins, and saints of the later-day cults. 반신반인(半神半人)들: 초인간들, 반신(半神)들, 영웅들, 악령(惡靈)들, 유령들, 악한 영(靈)들, 요정(妖精)들, 괴물들, 악귀(惡鬼)들 및 현대판 종파들의 성인(聖人)들.
94:4.8 (1031.9) While Hinduism has long failed to vivify the Indian people, at the same time it has usually been a tolerant religion. Its great strength lies in the fact that it has proved to be the most adaptive, amorphic religion to appear on Urantia. It is capable of almost unlimited change and possesses an unusual range of flexible adjustment from the high and semimonotheistic speculations of the intellectual Brahman to the arrant fetishism and primitive cult practices of the debased and depressed classes of ignorant believers. 힌두교는 오랫동안 인도 사람들에게 끝내 생기를 주지 못했지만 동시에 그것은 일상적인 관대한 종교였습니다. 그것의 큰 장점은, 그것이 유란시아에 출현한 가장 적응력 있는, 형태가 없는 종교로 검증된 사실에 있습니다. 그것은 거의 제한 없이 변경될 수 있고, 지적 브라만의 높은 반(半) 일신론적(一神論的) 추론들로부터 저하되어 짓눌린 무지한 신자(信者)들 계층의 터무니없는 주물(呪物) 숭배와 원시 종파 관례들까지, 특이하게 유연한 조절 범위를 지니고 있습니다.
94:4.9 (1032.1) Hinduism has survived because it is essentially an integral part of the basic social fabric of India. It has no great hierarchy which can be disturbed or destroyed; it is interwoven into the life pattern of the people. It has an adaptability to changing conditions that excels all other cults, and it displays a tolerant attitude of adoption toward many other religions, Gautama Buddha and even Christ himself being claimed as incarnations of Vishnu. 힌두교는 본질적으로 인도의 기본적인 사회 조직에서 필수적인 부분이었기에 살아남았습니다. 그것은 교란되거나 파괴될 수 있는 커다란 계급 제도가 없습니다. 그것은 사람들의 생활양식으로 얽혀 있습니다. 그것은 변화하는 상황에 대한 적응성이 다른 모든 종파보다 탁월하고, 여러 다른 종교들을 향해서 채용하는 관대한 태도를 드러내며, 고타마 부처와 그리스도 자신조차 비슈누의 성육신(成肉身)이라고 주장합니다.
94:4.10 (1032.2) Today, in India, the great need is for the portrayal of the Jesusonian gospel — the Fatherhood of God and the sonship and consequent brotherhood of all men, which is personally realized in loving ministry and social service. In India the philosophical framework is existent, the cult structure is present; all that is needed is the vitalizing spark of the dynamic love portrayed in the original gospel of the Son of Man, divested of the Occidental dogmas and doctrines which have tended to make Michael’s life bestowal a white man’s religion. 오늘날 인도에서는 예수 복음, 즉 하느님의 아버지 되심과 그에 따른 모든 사람의 형제 공동체를 묘사하는 것이 가장 필요하며, 이는 애정이 깊은 사역과 사회봉사를 통해 개인적으로 실현됩니다. 인도에는 철학적 뼈대가 존재하며, 종파 체계가 있습니다. 필요한 모든 것은, 미가엘의 일생 증여를 백인의 종교로 만드는 경향을 지닌 서양 교의(敎義)와 교리(敎理)에서 벗어난, 인자(人子 인간의 아들)의 원래 복음으로 묘사된 역동적 사랑의 생기를 주는 불꽃입니다.
5. The Struggle for Truth in China 중국의 진리를 위한 투쟁
94:5.1 (1032.3) As the Salem missionaries passed through Asia, spreading the doctrine of the Most High God and salvation through faith, they absorbed much of the philosophy and religious thought of the various countries traversed. But the teachers commissioned by Melchizedek and his successors did not default in their trust; they did penetrate to all peoples of the Eurasian continent, and it was in the middle of the second millennium before Christ that they arrived in China. At See Fuch, for more than one hundred years, the Salemites maintained their headquarters, there training Chinese teachers who taught throughout all the domains of the yellow race. 살렘 선교사들이 지고(至高) 하느님과 신앙을 통한 구원의 교리를 전파하면서 아시아를 통과하는 동안, 그들은 횡단한 여러 나라의 철학과 종교 사상을 많이 흡수했습니다. 그러나 멜기세덱과 그의 후계자들이 위임(委任)한 선생들은 자신들에 대한 신임(信任)을 저버리지 않았습니다. 그들은 유라시아 대륙의 모든 민족에 파고들었으며, 그들이 중국에 도착한 것은, 그리스도 이전 2,000년의 중간 무렵이었습니다. 살렘 사람들은 시 푹에서 100년 이상 자신들의 본부를 유지하면서, 황인종의 모든 영토 전체에서 가르쳤던 중국인 선생들을 양성했습니다.
94:5.2 (1032.4) It was in direct consequence of this teaching that the earliest form of Taoism arose in China, a vastly different religion than the one which bears that name today. Early or proto-Taoism was a compound of the following factors: 이런 가르침의 직접적인 결과로 중국에 가장 초창기의 도교 형태가 발생했는데, 오늘날 그런 이름을 지닌 것과 매우 다른 종교였습니다. 초기 즉 최초의 도교는 다음 요소들의 합성물이었습니다.
94:5.3 (1032.5) 1. The lingering teachings of Singlangton, which persisted in the concept of Shang-ti, the God of Heaven. In the times of Singlangton the Chinese people became virtually monotheistic; they concentrated their worship on the One Truth, later known as the Spirit of Heaven, the universe ruler. And the yellow race never fully lost this early concept of Deity, although in subsequent centuries many subordinate gods and spirits insidiously crept into their religion. 상-티(상제 上帝), 하늘의 하느님 개념으로 오랫동안 지속했던 싱랑톤의 가르침들. 싱랑톤의 시대에 중국 민족은 실제로 일신론자들이 되었습니다. 그들은 나중에 하늘의 영(靈), 우주 통치자로 알려진 하나뿐인 진리의 숭배에 집중했습니다. 황인종은 그 후 수 세기 동안 여러 하위 신과 같은 존재들과 영들이 그들의 종교 안으로 모르는 사이에 들어왔지만, 초기의 이런 신(神)개념을 결코 완전히 잃어버리지 않았습니다.
94:5.4 (1032.6) 2. The Salem religion of a Most High Creator Deity who would bestow his favor upon mankind in response to man’s faith. But it is all too true that, by the time the Melchizedek missionaries had penetrated to the lands of the yellow race, their original message had become considerably changed from the simple doctrines of Salem in the days of Machiventa. 지고(至高) 창조자 신(神)이 인간의 신앙에 대한 응답으로 인류에게 그의 은총을 베푼다는 살렘 종교. 그러나 멜기세덱 선교사들이 황인종의 지역에 침투할 때쯤, 그들의 원래 메시지가 마키벤타 시절의 순전한 살렘 교리로부터 상당히 바뀌게 되었던 것은 모두 사실입니다.
94:5.5 (1032.7) 3. The Brahman-Absolute concept of the Indian philosophers, coupled with the desire to escape all evil. Perhaps the greatest extraneous influence in the eastward spread of the Salem religion was exerted by the Indian teachers of the Vedic faith, who injected their conception of the Brahman — the Absolute — into the salvationistic thought of the Salemites. 모든 악에서 벗어나려는 갈망과 연결된 인도 철학자들의 브라만-절대자 개념. 살렘인들의 복음 전도 사상에 인도 선생들의 브라만-절대자 개념을 주입했던 베다 신앙에 속한 인도 선생들이 십중팔구, 살렘 종교가 동쪽으로 전파되도록 가장 큰 외부적 영향력을 행사했습니다.
94:5.6 (1033.1) This composite belief spread through the lands of the yellow and brown races as an underlying influence in religio-philosophic thought. In Japan this proto-Taoism was known as Shinto, and in this country, far-distant from Salem of Palestine, the peoples learned of the incarnation of Machiventa Melchizedek, who dwelt upon earth that the name of God might not be forgotten by mankind. 이렇게 합성된 믿음이 황인 및 갈색(말레이·폴리네시아) 인종 지역을 꿰뚫고 종교-철학 사상에서 근원적인 영향력으로 퍼졌습니다. 일본에서 이런 최초의 도교(道敎)가 신도(神道)로 알려졌고, 팔레스타인의 살렘에서 멀리 떨어진 이 나라의 여러 민족은 하느님의 이름을 인류가 잊지 않도록 지상에 거주했던 마키벤타 멜기세덱의 성육신(成肉身)에 대해 들어서 알았습니다.
94:5.7 (1033.2) In China all of these beliefs were later confused and compounded with the ever-growing cult of ancestor worship. But never since the time of Singlangton have the Chinese fallen into helpless slavery to priestcraft. The yellow race was the first to emerge from barbaric bondage into orderly civilization because it was the first to achieve some measure of freedom from the abject fear of the gods, not even fearing the ghosts of the dead as other races feared them. China met her defeat because she failed to progress beyond her early emancipation from priests; she fell into an almost equally calamitous error, the worship of ancestors. 중국에서 이런 모든 믿음이 나중에 잘못 알려져 계속 늘어나는 조상숭배와 혼합되었습니다. 그러나 싱랑톤의 시대 이래 중국인들은 세속적 사제정략(政略)에 무력한 노예 상태로 결코 빠져든 적이 없었습니다. 황인종은 다른 인종이 두려워했던 죽은 사람들의 유령(幽靈)들조차 두려워하지 않고, 신과 같은 존재들에 대한 절망적인 두려움에서 어느 정도 자유를 얻었기 때문에 미개한 속박(노예 신분)에서 빠져나와 정돈된 문명으로 들어간 첫 인종이었습니다. 중국은 사제들로부터 초기의 해방을 넘어서서 끝내 진보하지 못했고, 거의 재앙에 가까운 실수, 조상숭배에 빠져들었기 때문에 패배했습니다.
94:5.8 (1033.3) But the Salemites did not labor in vain. It was upon the foundations of their gospel that the great philosophers of sixth-century China built their teachings. The moral atmosphere and the spiritual sentiments of the times of Lao-tse and Confucius grew up out of the teachings of the Salem missionaries of an earlier age. 그러나 살렘 사람들은 헛되이 수고하지 않았습니다. 6세기 중국의 위대한 철학자들은 그들 복음의 토대 위에 자신들의 가르침을 세웠습니다. 노자(老子)와 공자(孔子) 시대의 도덕적 분위기와 영적 정서는 초기 살렘 선교사들의 가르침에서 생겼습니다.
6. Lao-Tse and Confucius 노자(老子)와 공자(孔子)
94:6.1 (1033.4) About six hundred years before the arrival of Michael, it seemed to Melchizedek, long since departed from the flesh, that the purity of his teaching on earth was being unduly jeopardized by general absorption into the older Urantia beliefs. It appeared for a time that his mission as a forerunner of Michael might be in danger of failing. And in the sixth century before Christ, through an unusual co-ordination of spiritual agencies, not all of which are understood even by the planetary supervisors, Urantia witnessed a most unusual presentation of manifold religious truth. Through the agency of several human teachers the Salem gospel was restated and revitalized, and as it was then presented, much has persisted to the times of this writing. 미가엘이 도착하기 약 600년 전, 오래전에 육신을 떠났던 멜기세덱에게, 지상에서 자기 가르침의 순수성이 오래된 유란시아 믿음들 안으로 거의 다 흡수되어 굉장히 위태롭게 보였습니다. 미가엘의 선구자로서 그의 임무가 실패할 위험이 있는 것처럼 잠시 나타났습니다. 그리고 그리스도 이전 6세기에, 행성 감독자들도 다 이해하지 못하는, 영적 대리 행위의 특이한 조정으로, 다양한 종교 진리가 아주 유별나게 유란시아에 제시되었습니다. 여러 인간 선생의 대리 행위를 통해 살렘 복음이 다시 진술되어 되살아났고, 당시에 제시된 대로, 대부분이 이 글이 작성된 때까지 이어졌습니다.
94:6.2 (1033.5) This unique century of spiritual progress was characterized by great religious, moral, and philosophic teachers all over the civilized world. In China, the two outstanding teachers were Lao-tse and Confucius. 문명 세상 전역에서 위대한 종교적, 도덕적, 철학적 선생들이 이렇게 독특하게 영적으로 진보한 세기의 특징들이었습니다. 중국에서 걸출(傑出)한 두 선생은 노자(老子)와 공자(孔子)였습니다.
94:6.3 (1033.6) Lao-tse built directly upon the concepts of the Salem traditions when he declared Tao to be the One First Cause of all creation. Lao was a man of great spiritual vision. He taught that man’s eternal destiny was “everlasting union with Tao, Supreme God and Universal King.” His comprehension of ultimate causation was most discerning, for he wrote: “Unity arises out of the Absolute Tao, and from Unity there appears cosmic Duality, and from such Duality, Trinity springs forth into existence, and Trinity is the primal source of all reality.” “All reality is ever in balance between the potentials and the actuals of the cosmos, and these are eternally harmonized by the spirit of divinity.” 노자는 바로 살렘 전통의 개념의 토대 위에 도(道)가 모든 창조의 하나밖에 없는 첫째 원인이라고 선언했습니다. 노자는 위대한 영적 통찰력의 사람이었습니다. 그는 사람의 영원한 운명은 “도(道), 최고 하느님인 우주 왕과 영원히 연합”하는 것이라고 가르쳤습니다. 궁극적 인과관계에 대한 그의 파악은 대단히 분별력이 있었는데, 그는 “절대적 도(道)에서 통일성(統一性)이 생성되고, 통일성에서 질서 우주의 이중성(二重性)이 출현하며, 그런 이중성(二重性)에서 삼원성(三原性)이 나타나고, 삼원성(三原性)이 모든 실체의 근본적 근원”이고 “모든 실체는 질서 우주의 잠재성과 실제 현상 사이에서 늘 균형을 잡고 있으며, 신성(神性)의 영(靈)이 이것들을 영원히 조화시킵니다.”라고 기록했기 때문입니다.
94:6.4 (1033.7) Lao-tse also made one of the earliest presentations of the doctrine of returning good for evil: “Goodness begets goodness, but to the one who is truly good, evil also begets goodness.” 노자는 또한 악(惡)을 선(善)으로 갚는 교리를 가장 먼저 제시한 사람 중 하나였습니다. “선(善)이 선(善)을 낳지만, 참으로 선(善)한 자에게는, 악(惡)도 선(善)을 낳게 합니다.”
94:6.5 (1033.8) He taught the return of the creature to the Creator and pictured life as the emergence of a personality from the cosmic potentials, while death was like the returning home of this creature personality. His concept of true faith was unusual, and he too likened it to the “attitude of a little child.” 그는 창조물이 창조자에게 돌아가는 것을 가르쳤으며, 삶을 질서 우주 잠재력으로부터 인격(고유성)이 출현하는 것으로 묘사했던 반면에, 죽음은 이런 창조물의 인격(고유성)이 집으로 돌아가는 것과 같은 것이었습니다. 참된 신앙에 대한 그의 개념은 유별났으며, 그도 그것을 “어린이의 태도”에 비유했습니다.
94:6.6 (1034.1) His understanding of the eternal purpose of God was clear, for he said: “The Absolute Deity does not strive but is always victorious; he does not coerce mankind but always stands ready to respond to their true desires; the will of God is eternal in patience and eternal in the inevitability of its expression.” And of the true religionist he said, in expressing the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive: “The good man seeks not to retain truth for himself but rather attempts to bestow these riches upon his fellows, for that is the realization of truth. The will of the Absolute God always benefits, never destroys; the purpose of the true believer is always to act but never to coerce.” 하느님의 영원한 목적에 대한 그의 이해는 분명했는데, 그가 “절대자 신(神)은 투쟁하지 않지만 언제나 승리합니다. 그는 인류를 강요하지 않지만 언제나 그들의 참된 요망에 응답할 준비가 되어 있습니다. 하느님의 뜻은 영원히 참는 것이고 영원히 그렇게 표현할 수밖에 없습니다.”라고 말했기 때문입니다. 참된 종교인에 대해 받는 것보다는 주는 것이 더 복이 있다는 진리를 표현하면서 그가 말했습니다. “선한 사람은 자기를 위해서 진리를 간직하려 하지 않고 오히려 자기 동료들에게 이런 부요(富饒)를 주려고 하는데, 그것이 진리의 구현이기 때문입니다. 절대자 하느님의 뜻은 언제나 유익하고 절대로 해치지 않습니다. 참된 신자의 목적은 언제나 실행에 옮기지만 절대로 강요하지 않습니다.”
94:6.7 (1034.2) Lao’s teaching of nonresistance and the distinction which he made between action and coercion became later perverted into the beliefs of “seeing, doing, and thinking nothing.” But Lao never taught such error, albeit his presentation of nonresistance has been a factor in the further development of the pacific predilections of the Chinese peoples. 무저항(無抵抗) 및 실행과 강요 사이를 구별한 노자의 가르침은 나중에 “아무것도 보지 않고 행하지 않고 생각하지 않는다.”라는 믿음들로 왜곡되었습니다. 그러나 노자(老子)는 결코 그런 잘못을 가르치지 않았지만, 그가 제시한 무저항(無抵抗)은 중국 민족의 평화적 경향이 더 발달하는 요인이었습니다.
94:6.8 (1034.3) But the popular Taoism of twentieth-century Urantia has very little in common with the lofty sentiments and the cosmic concepts of the old philosopher who taught the truth as he perceived it, which was: That faith in the Absolute God is the source of that divine energy which will remake the world, and by which man ascends to spiritual union with Tao, the Eternal Deity and Creator Absolute of the universes. 그러나 20세기 유란시아에서 유행하는 도교는 다음과 같이 자신이 감지한 대로 진리를 가르쳤던 옛 철학자의 고상한 정서 및 질서 우주 개념과 공통점이 거의 없습니다. 절대자 하느님을 믿는 신앙은 세상을 고쳐서 만들 그런 신적 에너지의 근원이며, 그것으로 사람은 도(道), 영원한 신(神)이며 우주의 창조자 절대자와 영적으로 연합하기까지 상승합니다.
94:6.9 (1034.4) Confucius (Kung Fu-tze) was a younger contemporary of Lao in sixth-century China. Confucius based his doctrines upon the better moral traditions of the long history of the yellow race, and he was also somewhat influenced by the lingering traditions of the Salem missionaries. His chief work consisted in the compilation of the wise sayings of ancient philosophers. He was a rejected teacher during his lifetime, but his writings and teachings have ever since exerted a great influence in China and Japan. Confucius set a new pace for the shamans in that he put morality in the place of magic. But he built too well; he made a new fetish out of order and established a respect for ancestral conduct that is still venerated by the Chinese at the time of this writing. 공자(孔子 쿵 푸쯔)는 6세기 중국에서 노자(老子)보다 어린 동시대 사람이었습니다. 공자(孔子)는 자기 교훈의 기초를 황인종의 오랜 역사 중에서 더 나은 도덕적 전통에 두었고, 그는 살렘 선교사들의 남아있던 전통에 의해서도 어느 정도 영향을 받았습니다. 그의 주된 과업은 고대 철학자들의 지혜로운 말들을 편집하는 것이었습니다. 그는 생전에 거부된 선생이었지만, 그의 저술과 가르침은 그 이래 줄곧 중국과 일본에서 큰 영향력을 발휘했습니다. 공자는 마술 대신에 도덕을 내세웠다는 점에서 무당들에게 새로운 모범을 보였습니다. 그러나 그는 너무 잘 확립했습니다. 그는 질서를 벗어난 새로운 주물(呪物)을 만들었고 이 글을 쓰는 때에도 중국인들이 공경하는 조상 행위를 존중하도록 제정했습니다.
94:6.10 (1034.5) The Confucian preachment of morality was predicated on the theory that the earthly way is the distorted shadow of the heavenly way; that the true pattern of temporal civilization is the mirror reflection of the eternal order of heaven. The potential God concept in Confucianism was almost completely subordinated to the emphasis placed upon the Way of Heaven, the pattern of the cosmos. 도덕에 대한 공자의 장황한 훈계는 현세의 길은 하늘길의 일그러진 그림자이고, 현세 문명의 참된 원형은 하늘의 영원한 질서를 거울로 비춘 반영(反映)이라는 이론에 근거를 두었습니다. 유교(儒敎)의 잠재적 하느님 개념은 천제(天帝)의 길, 질서 우주의 원형에 비중을 두어서, 거의 완전히 대수롭지 않게 여겨졌습니다.
94:6.11 (1034.6) The teachings of Lao have been lost to all but a few in the Orient, but the writings of Confucius have ever since constituted the basis of the moral fabric of the culture of almost a third of Urantians. These Confucian precepts, while perpetuating the best of the past, were somewhat inimical to the very Chinese spirit of investigation that had produced those achievements which were so venerated. The influence of these doctrines was unsuccessfully combated both by the imperial efforts of Ch’in Shih Huang Ti and by the teachings of Mo Ti, who proclaimed a brotherhood founded not on ethical duty but on the love of God. He sought to rekindle the ancient quest for new truth, but his teachings failed before the vigorous opposition of the disciples of Confucius. 노자(老子)의 가르침은 동양에서 소수 외에 모두 잃어버렸지만, 공자(孔子)의 저술은 그 이래 줄곧 거의 1/3에 이르는 유란시아인(人) 문화의 도덕 구조의 기초를 구성했습니다. 이런 공자의 교훈은 과거의 최고 교훈을 오래 계승했지만, 그렇게 존경받았던 그런 업적을 낳았던 바로 중국인의 탐사 정신(精神)에 어느 정도 해로웠습니다. 진시황제(秦始皇帝) 황실의 노력 및 윤리적 의무가 아니라 하느님의 사랑에 근거한 형제 공동체를 선포했던 묵자(墨子)의 가르침이 이런 교훈의 영향력을 상대로 항쟁했지만 성공하지 못했습니다. 묵자는 새로운 진리를 추구하는 고대의 탐구에 다시 불을 붙이려 했지만, 그의 가르침은 공자(孔子) 제자들의 강경한 반대 앞에서 실패했습니다.
94:6.12 (1034.7) Like many other spiritual and moral teachers, both Confucius and Lao-tse were eventually deified by their followers in those spiritually dark ages of China which intervened between the decline and perversion of the Taoist faith and the coming of the Buddhist missionaries from India. During these spiritually decadent centuries the religion of the yellow race degenerated into a pitiful theology wherein swarmed devils, dragons, and evil spirits, all betokening the returning fears of the unenlightened mortal mind. And China, once at the head of human society because of an advanced religion, then fell behind because of temporary failure to progress in the true path of the development of that God-consciousness which is indispensable to the true progress, not only of the individual mortal, but also of the intricate and complex civilizations which characterize the advance of culture and society on an evolutionary planet of time and space. 여러 다른 영적, 도덕적 선생들처럼, 공자(孔子)와 노자(老子) 둘 다, 도교(道敎) 신앙의 퇴보와 왜곡 및 인도에서 온 불교 선교사들이 등장(登場) 사이에 끼였던, 중국의 그런 영적 암흑기에 자신들의 추종자들에 의해 결국 신격화되었습니다. 이렇게 영적으로 쇠퇴기에 접어든 세기에 황인종의 종교는, 미개한 인간 마음의 두려움으로 되돌아가는 모든 조짐이 되는, 악령들, 용들 및 악한 영(靈)들이 떼 지어 모여들던, 보잘것없는 신학으로 타락했습니다. 그러자 한때 진보 종교로 인해 인간 사회의 선두에 있던 중국은, 개별 필사자뿐만 아니라 시간과 공간의 진화 행성에서 문화와 사회의 진보를 특징짓는 뒤얽히고 복잡한 문명의 참된 진보에 필수적인, 그런 하느님-의식을 계발(啓發)하는 참된 경로에서 잠시 진보하지 못해서, 이번에는 뒤처졌습니다.
7. Gautama Siddhartha 고타마 싯다르타
94:7.1 (1035.1) Contemporary with Lao-tse and Confucius in China, another great teacher of truth arose in India. Gautama Siddhartha was born in the sixth century before Christ in the north Indian province of Nepal. His followers later made it appear that he was the son of a fabulously wealthy ruler, but, in truth, he was the heir apparent to the throne of a petty chieftain who ruled by sufferance over a small and secluded mountain valley in the southern Himalayas. 중국의 노자(老子)와 공자(孔子)의 동시대 사람, 진리의 또 다른 위대한 선생이 인도에서 나타났습니다. 고마타 싯다르타는 그리스도 이전 6세기에 인도 북부의 네팔 지방에서 태어났습니다. 그의 추종자들은 나중에 그가 엄청나게 부유한 통치자의 아들로 보이도록 했지만, 사실 그는 남부 히말라야의 협소하고 외진 산골짜기를 힘들게 다스렸던 소규모 족장의 명백한 계승자였습니다.
94:7.2 (1035.2) Gautama formulated those theories which grew into the philosophy of Buddhism after six years of the futile practice of Yoga. Siddhartha made a determined but unavailing fight against the growing caste system. There was a lofty sincerity and a unique unselfishness about this young prophet prince that greatly appealed to the men of those days. He detracted from the practice of seeking individual salvation through physical affliction and personal pain. And he exhorted his followers to carry his gospel to all the world. 고타마는 6년간의 쓸데없는 요가 수행 후 불교의 철학으로 성장한 그런 이론을 만들어 냈습니다. 싯다르타는 성장하는 카스트(세습 계급) 제도에 맞서 단호하지만 무익한 싸움을 했습니다. 이 젊은 선각자 왕자의 고상한 성실과 진기한 이타성은 당시 사람들의 마음을 대단히 사로잡았습니다. 그는 신체적 고통과 개인적 고통을 통해 개인적 구원을 추구하는 수행을 비방(誹謗)했습니다. 그는 자기 추종자들에게 자신의 복음을 온 세상에 전하도록 타일렀습니다.
94:7.3 (1035.3) Amid the confusion and extreme cult practices of India, the saner and more moderate teachings of Gautama came as a refreshing relief. He denounced gods, priests, and their sacrifices, but he too failed to perceive the personality of the One Universal. Not believing in the existence of individual human souls, Gautama, of course, made a valiant fight against the time-honored belief in transmigration of the soul. He made a noble effort to deliver men from fear, to make them feel at ease and at home in the great universe, but he failed to show them the pathway to that real and supernal home of ascending mortals — Paradise — and to the expanding service of eternal existence. 인도의 혼란스러운 극단적 종파 관행들 사이에서, 고타마의 더 건전하고 온건한 가르침은 참신한 위안이었습니다. 그는 신과 같은 존재들, 사제들과 그들의 희생 제사를 비난했지만, 그도 역시 하나밖에 없는 우주의 인격(고유성)을 끝내 알아차리지 못했습니다. 고타마는 개별 인간 혼(魂)들의 존재를 믿지 않아서, 당연히 혼(魂)의 환생(還生)에 대한 전통 있는 믿음에 맞서 용감하게 싸웠습니다. 그는 사람들을 두려움에서 구해내고 그들이 커다란 우주에서 안심하고 편안하도록 훌륭하게 애썼지만, 그는 상승 필사자들의 그런 진짜 천상의 집-천국-과 영원히 존재하는 확장된 봉사의 경로를 그들에게 끝내 보여 주지 못했습니다.
94:7.4 (1035.4) Gautama was a real prophet, and had he heeded the instruction of the hermit Godad, he might have aroused all India by the inspiration of the revival of the Salem gospel of salvation by faith. Godad was descended through a family that had never lost the traditions of the Melchizedek missionaries. 고타마는 진정한 선각자였으며, 그가 은둔자 고다드의 교훈을 마음에 두었더라면, 신앙으로 구원되는 살렘 복음이 회복되는 영감(靈感)으로 인도 전역을 깨웠을 수도 있습니다. 고다드는 멜기세덱 선교사들의 전통을 절대로 잃어버리지 않은 가문의 자손이었습니다.
94:7.5 (1035.5) At Benares Gautama founded his school, and it was during its second year that a pupil, Bautan, imparted to his teacher the traditions of the Salem missionaries about the Melchizedek covenant with Abraham; and while Siddhartha did not have a very clear concept of the Universal Father, he took an advanced stand on salvation through faith — simple belief. He so declared himself before his followers and began sending his students out in groups of sixty to proclaim to the people of India “the glad tidings of free salvation; that all men, high and low, can attain bliss by faith in righteousness and justice.” 고타마는 베나레스(인도 동부의 현 바라나시)에 자기 학교를 세웠고, 그 이듬해에 학생 바우탄이 멜기세덱이 아브라함과 맺은 계약에 대한 살렘 선교사들의 전통을 자기 선생에게 전했습니다. 싯타르타는 우주 아버지에 대해 아주 선명한 개념이 없었지만, 신앙-순전한 믿음을 통해 구원받는 진보적 태도로 임했습니다. 그는 자기 추종자들 앞에서 자신을 그렇게 선언하고 “지위 고하를 막론하고 모든 사람이 공의(公義)와 정의(正義)를 믿는 신앙으로 더없는 행복을 누릴 수 있다는 무료 구원의 복음”을 인도 사람들에게 선포하도록 60명 집단으로 자기 학생들을 보내기 시작했습니다.
94:7.6 (1035.6) Gautama’s wife believed her husband’s gospel and was the founder of an order of nuns. His son became his successor and greatly extended the cult; he grasped the new idea of salvation through faith but in his later years wavered regarding the Salem gospel of divine favor through faith alone, and in his old age his dying words were, “Work out your own salvation.” 고타마의 아내는 자기 남편의 복음 믿었고, 여승 단체의 설립자였습니다. 그의 아들은 그의 후계자가 되어 종파를 크게 확장했습니다. 그는 신앙을 통한 구원받는 새 개념을 알아들었지만, 그의 후년에 신앙만으로 신적 은혜를 얻는 살렘 복음에 관하여 흔들렸고 노년에 임종의 말은 “너희 자력으로 구원을 이루라.”였습니다.
94:7.7 (1036.1) When proclaimed at its best, Gautama’s gospel of universal salvation, free from sacrifice, torture, ritual, and priests, was a revolutionary and amazing doctrine for its time. And it came surprisingly near to being a revival of the Salem gospel. It brought succor to millions of despairing souls, and notwithstanding its grotesque perversion during later centuries, it still persists as the hope of millions of human beings. 희생 제사, 고문, 전례(典禮)와 사제가 없는 고타마의 보편적 구원의 복음이 가장 잘 선포되었을 때, 당시에 혁명적인 굉장한 교리였습니다. 그것은 놀랄 정도로 살렘 복음의 회복에 가까워졌습니다. 그것은 절망적인 수백만의 혼(魂)들을 구원했고, 나중 몇 세기 동안 괴상하게 타락했음에도 불구하고 여전히 수백만의 인간의 희망으로 남아있습니다.
94:7.8 (1036.2) Siddhartha taught far more truth than has survived in the modern cults bearing his name. Modern Buddhism is no more the teachings of Gautama Siddhartha than is Christianity the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. 싯다르타는 그의 이름을 딴 현대 종파에서 살아남은 것보다 훨씬 더 많은 진리를 가르쳤습니다. 기독교가 나사렛 예수의 가르침이 아닌 것처럼 현대 불교는 고타마 싯다르타의 가르침이 아닙니다.
8. The Buddhist Faith 불교 귀의(歸依)
94:8.1 (1036.3) To become a Buddhist, one merely made public profession of the faith by reciting the Refuge: “I take my refuge in the Buddha; I take my refuge in the Doctrine; I take my refuge in the Brotherhood.” 불교 신자가 되려면, “나는 부처에게 귀의(歸依 돌아가 의지)합니다. 나는 교리로 귀의합니다. 나는 형제 공동체로 귀의합니다.”라는 귀의문(歸依文)을 소리 내어 읽어서 신앙을 공개적으로 고백만 하면 됩니다.
94:8.2 (1036.4) Buddhism took origin in a historic person, not in a myth. Gautama’s followers called him Sasta, meaning master or teacher. While he made no superhuman claims for either himself or his teachings, his disciples early began to call him the enlightened one, the Buddha; later on, Sakyamuni Buddha. 불교는 신화가 아니라 역사의 인물로부터 일어났습니다. 고타마의 추종자들은 그를 스승 또는 선생을 뜻하는 사스타라고 불렀습니다. 그는 자신이나 자기 가르침에 대해 아무런 초인적(超人的) 주장을 하지 않았지만, 그의 제자들은 일찍이 그를 깨우친 자, 부처로 부르기 시작했고, 나중에 석가모니 부처라고 불렀습니다.
94:8.3 (1036.5) The original gospel of Gautama was based on the four noble truths: 고타마의 원래 복음은 고상한 4가지 진리(사성제 四聖諦-고집멸도 苦集滅道)에 근거했습니다.
94:8.4 (1036.6) 1. The noble truths of suffering. 고통의 고상한 진리들.
94:8.5 (1036.7) 2. The origins of suffering. 고통의 원인들.
94:8.6 (1036.8) 3. The destruction of suffering. 고통의 제거.
94:8.7 (1036.9) 4. The way to the destruction of suffering. 고통 제거의 길.
94:8.8 (1036.10) Closely linked to the doctrine of suffering and the escape therefrom was the philosophy of the Eightfold Path: right views, aspirations, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and contemplation. It was not Gautama’s intention to attempt to destroy all effort, desire, and affection in the escape from suffering; rather was his teaching designed to picture to mortal man the futility of pinning all hope and aspirations entirely on temporal goals and material objectives. It was not so much that love of one’s fellows should be shunned as that the true believer should also look beyond the associations of this material world to the realities of the eternal future. 고통과 고통에서 피하는 교리에 밀접하게 관련된 팔정도(八正道)의 철학: 정견(正見 바로보기), 정사유(正思惟 바로 생각하기), 정어(正語 바로 말하기), 정업(正業 바로 행동하기), 정명(正命 바로 생활하기), 정정진(正精進 바로 정진하기), 정념(正念 바로 깨어있기), 정정(正定 바로 집중하기)이 있었습니다. 고타마의 의도는 고통에서 벗어나는 모든 노력, 욕망 및 애정을 제거하는 것이 아니라, 오히려 그의 가르침은, 모든 희망과 열망을 완전히 현세적 목표와 물질적 목적에 두는 것이 헛된 일인지를 필사자에게 보이려는 생각이었습니다. 동료의 사랑을 피해야 한다기보다는 참된 신자는 이런 물질 세상을 연상시키는 것을 넘어서 영원한 미래의 실체들도 바라봐야 한다는 것이었습니다.
94:8.9 (1036.11) The moral commandments of Gautama’s preachment were five in number: 고타마가 설교한 도덕적 계명은 다섯 가지(오계 五戒)였습니다.
94:8.10 (1036.12) 1. You shall not kill. 불살생(不殺生 살아있는 것을 죽이지 말라).
94:8.11 (1036.13) 2. You shall not steal. 불투도(偸盜 도둑질하지 말라).
94:8.12 (1036.14) 3. You shall not be unchaste. 불사음(不邪婬 음란하지 말라).
94:8.13 (1036.15) 4. You shall not lie. 불망어(不妄語 거짓말하지 말라).
94:8.14 (1036.16) 5. You shall not drink intoxicating liquors. 불음주(不飮酒 술 마시지 말라).
94:8.15 (1036.17) There were several additional or secondary commandments, whose observance was optional with believers. 몇 가지 추가된, 부차적 계명들이 있었는데, 지키는 것은 신자들의 자유의사였습니다.
94:8.16 (1036.18) Siddhartha hardly believed in the immortality of the human personality; his philosophy only provided for a sort of functional continuity. He never clearly defined what he meant to include in the doctrine of Nirvana. The fact that it could theoretically be experienced during mortal existence would indicate that it was not viewed as a state of complete annihilation. It implied a condition of supreme enlightenment and supernal bliss wherein all fetters binding man to the material world had been broken; there was freedom from the desires of mortal life and deliverance from all danger of ever again experiencing incarnation. 싯다르타는 인간 인격(고유성)의 불멸을 거의 믿지 않았습니다. 그의 철학은 일종의 기능적 연속성만 제공했습니다. 그는 열반(涅槃)의 교리에 무엇을 담으려고 뜻했는지 결코 분명히 규정짓지 않았습니다. 인간이 사는 동안에 이론적으로 열반(涅槃)을 체험할 수 있다는 사실은 열반(涅槃)을 완전한 소멸의 상태로 보지 않았다는 의미입니다. 그것은 인간을 물질 세상에 묶는 모든 속박이 깨지고, 필사 생활의 욕망에서 벗어나 다시는 전생(前生)을 체험하는 모든 위험에서 해방되는, 최고의 깨우침과 천상의 더없는 행복의 상태를 의미했습니다.
94:8.17 (1037.1) According to the original teachings of Gautama, salvation is achieved by human effort, apart from divine help; there is no place for saving faith or prayers to superhuman powers. Gautama, in his attempt to minimize the superstitions of India, endeavored to turn men away from the blatant claims of magical salvation. And in making this effort, he left the door wide open for his successors to misinterpret his teaching and to proclaim that all human striving for attainment is distasteful and painful. His followers overlooked the fact that the highest happiness is linked with the intelligent and enthusiastic pursuit of worthy goals, and that such achievements constitute true progress in cosmic self-realization. 고타마의 원래 가르침에 의하면, 구원은 신적 도움과는 별개로 인간의 노력으로 이루어집니다. 구원의 신앙이나 초인적 권능에 대한 기도의 여지가 없습니다. 고타마는 인도의 미신을 최소화하려고 마술적 구원의 뻔뻔한 주장으로부터 사람들을 떼어놓으려고 애썼습니다. 그리고 이렇게 애쓰면서, 그는 자기 후계자들이 그의 가르침을 잘못 해석하여, 달성을 위한 인간의 모든 분투는 혐오스럽고 고통스럽다고 선포하는 문을 활짝 열어놓았습니다. 그의 추종자들은 최고의 행복은 가치 있는 목표를 지능적으로 열렬히 추구하는 것과 관련되고, 그런 성취가 질서 우주적 자아를 실현하는 참된 진보가 된다는 사실을 보지 못하고 넘어갔습니다.
94:8.18 (1037.2) The great truth of Siddhartha’s teaching was his proclamation of a universe of absolute justice. He taught the best godless philosophy ever invented by mortal man; it was the ideal humanism and most effectively removed all grounds for superstition, magical rituals, and fear of ghosts or demons. 싯다르타의 가르침 중 위대한 진리는 절대적 정의(正義)의 우주에 대한 그의 선포였습니다. 그는 필사 인간이 일찍이 만든 최고의 무신론(신이 없는) 철학을 가르쳤습니다. 그것은 이상적(理想的) 인본주의(人本主義)였고, 미신, 마술적 의식 및 유령이나 악령에 대한 두려움의 모든 근거를 가장 효과적으로 제거했습니다.
94:8.19 (1037.3) The great weakness in the original gospel of Buddhism was that it did not produce a religion of unselfish social service. The Buddhistic brotherhood was, for a long time, not a fraternity of believers but rather a community of student teachers. Gautama forbade their receiving money and thereby sought to prevent the growth of hierarchal tendencies. Gautama himself was highly social; indeed, his life was much greater than his preachment. 원래 불교 복음의 가장 큰 약점은 이타적인 사회적 봉사의 종교를 일으키지 못했다는 것입니다. 불교의 형제 공동체는 오랫동안 신자들의 형제 단체가 아니라 오히려 교육 실습생들 공동체였습니다. 고타마는 그들이 돈 받는 것을 금지해서, 계급적 경향의 성장을 막으려고 애썼습니다. 고타마 자신은 매우 사람들과 어울리기 좋아했습니다. 정말, 그의 생애는 그가 했던 설교보다 훨씬 더 위대했습니다.
9. The Spread of Buddhism 불교의 전파
94:9.1 (1037.4) Buddhism prospered because it offered salvation through belief in the Buddha, the enlightened one. It was more representative of the Melchizedek truths than any other religious system to be found throughout eastern Asia. But Buddhism did not become widespread as a religion until it was espoused in self-protection by the low-caste monarch Asoka, who, next to Ikhnaton in Egypt, was one of the most remarkable civil rulers between Melchizedek and Michael. Asoka built a great Indian empire through the propaganda of his Buddhist missionaries. During a period of twenty-five years he trained and sent forth more than seventeen thousand missionaries to the farthest frontiers of all the known world. In one generation he made Buddhism the dominant religion of one half the world. It soon became established in Tibet, Kashmir, Ceylon, Burma, Java, Siam, Korea, China, and Japan. And generally speaking, it was a religion vastly superior to those which it supplanted or upstepped. 불교는 부처, 깨우친 자를 믿음으로 구원된다고 했기에 번영했습니다. 불교는 동아시아 전역에서 발견되는 다른 어떤 종교 체계보다 멜기세덱 진리를 더 많이 표현했습니다. 그러나 불교는, 멜기세덱과 미가엘 사이에서 가장 눈에 띄는 국가 통치자 중 하나였던 이집트의 이크나톤 다음으로, 낮은 세속-계급의 군주 아소카가 자기를 지키려고 지지할 때까지는 종교로 퍼지지 못했습니다. 아소카는 자기 불교 선교사들의 선전 활동으로 위대한 인도 제국을 건설했습니다. 25년간 그는 선교사들 17,000명 이상을 훈련하여 알려진 전 세계의 가장 먼 국경지대로 파송했습니다. 한 세대 만에 그는 불교를 세계 절반을 지배하는 종교로 만들었습니다. 불교는 곧 티베트, 카슈미르, 실론, 버마, 자바, 시암, 한국, 중국 및 일본에 자리를 잡았습니다. 그리고 일반적으로 말해서 불교는 불교가 밀어내거나 증진한 종교들보다 대단히 우수한 종교였습니다.
94:9.2 (1037.5) The spread of Buddhism from its homeland in India to all of Asia is one of the thrilling stories of the spiritual devotion and missionary persistence of sincere religionists. The teachers of Gautama’s gospel not only braved the perils of the overland caravan routes but faced the dangers of the China Seas as they pursued their mission over the Asiatic continent, bringing to all peoples the message of their faith. But this Buddhism was no longer the simple doctrine of Gautama; it was the miraculized gospel which made him a god. And the farther Buddhism spread from its highland home in India, the more unlike the teachings of Gautama it became, and the more like the religions it supplanted, it grew to be. 불교가 모국 인도에서 아시아 전역으로 전파된 것은 신실한 종교인들의 영적 헌신과 선교적 끈기에 관한 감격적 이야기 중 하나입니다. 고타마 복음의 선생들은 아시아 대륙 전체에 자신들의 선교를 실행할 때, 자신들의 신앙 메시지를 온 민족에게 전달하면서, 육로 대상(隊商 상인 집단) 도로의 위험을 무릅쓸 뿐 아니라, 중국해의 위험에 맞섰습니다. 그러나 이 불교는 더 이상 고타마의 단순한 교리가 아니었습니다. 그것은 그를 신과 같은 존재로 만든, 기적처럼 보이게 된 복음이었습니다. 그리고 불교가 인도 고지의 그 원산지에서 멀리 퍼질수록, 고타마의 가르침과 더 달라졌고, 불교가 밀어낸 종교들처럼 더 비슷하게 성장했습니다.
94:9.3 (1038.1) Buddhism, later on, was much affected by Taoism in China, Shinto in Japan, and Christianity in Tibet. After a thousand years, in India Buddhism simply withered and expired. It became Brahmanized and later abjectly surrendered to Islam, while throughout much of the rest of the Orient it degenerated into a ritual which Gautama Siddhartha would never have recognized. 불교는 나중에, 중국의 도교(道敎), 일본의 신교(神敎)와 티베트의 기독교 영향을 많이 받았습니다. 천 년이 지난 후, 인도의 불교는 아주 쇠약해져 없어졌습니다. 그것은 브라만교화 되었고(94.1-2) 나중에는 이슬람교에 비굴하게 굴복했지만, 동양의 나머지 대부분 지역에서 불교는 고타마 싯다르타가 전혀 알아볼 수 없었을 의식(儀式)으로 퇴보(退步)했습니다.
94:9.4 (1038.2) In the south the fundamentalist stereotype of the teachings of Siddhartha persisted in Ceylon, Burma, and the Indo-China peninsula. This is the Hinayana division of Buddhism which clings to the early or asocial doctrine. 남부에서 싯다르타의 가르침 중 기본 원리를 엄수하는 고정 관념은 실론, 버마와 인도차이나 반도(미얀마, 태국, 말레이시아)에서 지속했습니다. 이것이 초기 또는 반사회적(反社會的) 교리를 고수하는 히나야나(소승불교 小乘佛敎) 분파입니다.
94:9.5 (1038.3) But even before the collapse in India, the Chinese and north Indian groups of Gautama’s followers had begun the development of the Mahayana teaching of the “Great Road” to salvation in contrast with the purists of the south who held to the Hinayana, or “Lesser Road.” And these Mahayanists cast loose from the social limitations inherent in the Buddhist doctrine, and ever since has this northern division of Buddhism continued to evolve in China and Japan. 그러나 인도에서 무너지기 전부터, 고타마의 추종자 중 중국인들과 인도 북부 집단들은, 히나야나 즉 “작은 길(소승小乘 불교)”을 고수하는 남부의 순수주의자들과 대조적으로 구원에 이르는 “큰 길(대승大乘 불교)”의 마하야나 가르침을 발전시키기 시작했습니다. 그래서 이런 대승(大乘)교도들은 불교 교리에 원래 들어 있는 사회적 제한을 벗어 버리고, 이후로 줄곧 불교의 이런 북부 분파는 중국과 일본에서 계속 진화했습니다.
94:9.6 (1038.4) Buddhism is a living, growing religion today because it succeeds in conserving many of the highest moral values of its adherents. It promotes calmness and self-control, augments serenity and happiness, and does much to prevent sorrow and mourning. Those who believe this philosophy live better lives than many who do not. 불교는, 불교 신자들의 최고 도덕적인 여러 가치를 성공적으로 보존하기 때문에 오늘날 살아서 성장하는 종교입니다. 그것은 평온과 자제심을 증진하고, 차분함과 행복을 늘리며, 슬픔과 애도의 예방에 큰 도움이 됩니다. 이 철학을 믿는 자들은 그렇지 않은 여러 사람보다 더 나은 삶을 삽니다.
10. Religion in Tibet 티베트의 종교
94:10.1 (1038.5) In Tibet may be found the strangest association of the Melchizedek teachings combined with Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Christianity. When the Buddhist missionaries entered Tibet, they encountered a state of primitive savagery very similar to that which the early Christian missionaries found among the northern tribes of Europe. 티베트에서는 멜기세덱 가르침들이 불교, 힌두교, 도교 및 기독교와 결합한 가장 기묘한 조합을 찾아볼 수 있습니다. 불교 선교사들이 티베트에 들어가자, 그들은 초기 기독교 선교사들이 유럽의 북쪽 지역 부족들 사이에서 발견한 것과 아주 비슷한 원시적 야만 상태에 부닥쳤습니다.
94:10.2 (1038.6) These simple-minded Tibetans would not wholly give up their ancient magic and charms. Examination of the religious ceremonials of present-day Tibetan rituals reveals an overgrown brotherhood of priests with shaven heads who practice an elaborate ritual embracing bells, chants, incense, processionals, rosaries, images, charms, pictures, holy water, gorgeous vestments, and elaborate choirs. They have rigid dogmas and crystallized creeds, mystic rites and special fasts. Their hierarchy embraces monks, nuns, abbots, and the Grand Lama. They pray to angels, saints, a Holy Mother, and the gods. They practice confessions and believe in purgatory. Their monasteries are extensive and their cathedrals magnificent. They keep up an endless repetition of sacred rituals and believe that such ceremonials bestow salvation. Prayers are fastened to a wheel, and with its turning they believe the petitions become efficacious. Among no other people of modern times can be found the observance of so much from so many religions; and it is inevitable that such a cumulative liturgy would become inordinately cumbersome and intolerably burdensome. 단순한 이런 티베트인(人)들은 자신들의 고대 마술과 부적을 전부 그만두려 하지 않았습니다. 오늘날 티베트 의식(儀式)의 종교 의례를 살피면, 종, 영창(詠唱, 아리아), 향, 행렬, 염주(念珠), 형상, 부적, 화상(畫像), 성수(聖水), 화려한 예복, 정교한 성가대를 포함하여, 정교한 의식을 집행하는 까까머리 사제가 너무 무성한 단체가 드러납니다. 그들은 엄격한 교의(敎義 가르침)와 명확한 신조, 신비주의 의식(儀式) 및 특별 금식이 있습니다. 그들의 성직 계급은 수도승(修道僧), 여승(女僧), 주지승(住持僧), 대승(大僧 달라이 라마)을 포함합니다. 그들은 천사들, 성인(聖人)들, 어떤 성모(聖母)와 신과 같은 존재들에게 기도합니다. 그들은 고해성사(告解聖事 죄를 뉘우쳐 사제에게 고백하고 용서받음)를 하고 연옥(煉獄 일시적 처벌 장소)을 믿습니다. 그 수도승(修道僧)들이 수도하는 사원(절)은 광대하고 그들의 대예배당은 장엄합니다. 그들은 신성한 의식(儀式)을 끝없이 반복하며, 그런 예식(禮式)들로 구원된다고 믿습니다. 기도문들을 바퀴에 동여매서, 그것이 회전하면서 간청들이 효력을 발휘한다고 그들이 믿습니다. 현대의 다른 민족 중 그런 여러 종교에서 가져와 그렇게 많은 것을 지키는 민족은 찾아볼 수 없습니다. 그렇게 누적된 전례(典禮 경의를 표하는 규정)가 엄청나게 성가시고 견딜 수 없이 번거로운 것은 당연합니다.
94:10.3 (1038.7) The Tibetans have something of all the leading world religions except the simple teachings of the Jesusonian gospel: sonship with God, brotherhood with man, and ever-ascending citizenship in the eternal universe. 티베트인(人)들은 예수 복음의 순전한 가르침, 즉 하느님의 아들(자녀)됨, 인간의 형제(자녀)공동체와 영원한 우주에서 늘 상승하는 시민권을 제외하고는 세계 주요 종교를 모두 가지고 있습니다.
11. Buddhist Philosophy 불교의 철학
94:11.1 (1038.8) Buddhism entered China in the first millennium after Christ, and it fitted well into the religious customs of the yellow race. In ancestor worship they had long prayed to the dead; now they could also pray for them. Buddhism soon amalgamated with the lingering ritualistic practices of disintegrating Taoism. This new synthetic religion with its temples of worship and definite religious ceremonial soon became the generally accepted cult of the peoples of China, Korea, and Japan. 불교는 그리스도 이후 첫 번째 천년에 중국에 들어갔고, 그것은 황인종의 종교 관습에 잘 어울렸습니다. 조상 숭배에서 그들은 오랫동안 고인(故人 죽은 자)에게 기도해 왔는데 이제 그들은 죽은 자들을 위해서도 기도할 수 있게 되었습니다. 불교는 해체한 도교의 남아 있는 의식(儀式)의 관습과 쉽게 혼합되었습니다. 숭배하는 사원과 일정한 종교적 의례(儀禮)와 함께 이렇게 새로 합성된 종교는 곧 중국, 한국 및 일본 민족이 널리 받아들인 종파가 되었습니다.
94:11.2 (1039.1) While in some respects it is unfortunate that Buddhism was not carried to the world until after Gautama’s followers had so perverted the traditions and teachings of the cult as to make of him a divine being, nonetheless this myth of his human life, embellished as it was with a multitude of miracles, proved very appealing to the auditors of the northern or Mahayana gospel of Buddhism. 고타마의 추종자들이 그를 신적 존재로 만들 정도로 종파의 전통과 가르침을 그토록 왜곡한 후에야 불교가 세상에 전파된 것은 어떤 면에서 불행이지만, 그런데도 그의 인간 생활에 대한 이런 신화는 수많은 기적으로 아름답게 꾸며져서 불교의 북방 즉 마하야나 복음(대승 불교)을 들은 사람들에게 아주 매력적으로 알려졌습니다.
94:11.3 (1039.2) Some of his later followers taught that Sakyamuni Buddha’s spirit returned periodically to earth as a living Buddha, thus opening the way for an indefinite perpetuation of Buddha images, temples, rituals, and impostor “living Buddhas.” Thus did the religion of the great Indian protestant eventually find itself shackled with those very ceremonial practices and ritualistic incantations against which he had so fearlessly fought, and which he had so valiantly denounced. 그의 후대 추종자 중 일부는 석가모니 부처의 영(靈)이 정기적으로 지상에 살아있는 부처로 돌아와서, 불상(佛像), 사원, 의례 및 사기꾼 “살아있는 부처들”이 제한 없이 영속되는 길을 열었다고 가르쳤습니다. 이렇게 위대한 인도 항의자의 종교는, 그가 그렇게 두려움 없이 싸우고, 그렇게 용감하게 비난하며 맞섰던 바로 그 의례적 관례 및 의식적 상투어로 결국 스스로 족쇄를 찼습니다.
94:11.4 (1039.3) The great advance made in Buddhist philosophy consisted in its comprehension of the relativity of all truth. Through the mechanism of this hypothesis Buddhists have been able to reconcile and correlate the divergencies within their own religious scriptures as well as the differences between their own and many others. It was taught that the small truth was for little minds, the large truth for great minds. 불교 철학의 위대한 진보는 모든 진리의 상대성을 파악하는 데 있었습니다. 이런 가정(假定)의 구조를 통해, 불교도들은, 그들 자신의 경전과 여러 다른 경전 사이에 있는 차이점들뿐만 아니라, 자기들의 종교적 경전 내부에 있는 서로 다른 점을 조화시켜 연관시킬 수 있었습니다. 작은 진리는 소인배(小人輩 도량이 좁은 사람)를 위한 것이고 큰 진리는 대인배(大人輩 도량이 넓은 사람)를 위한 것이라고 배웠습니다.
94:11.5 (1039.4) This philosophy also held that the Buddha (divine) nature resided in all men; that man, through his own endeavors, could attain to the realization of this inner divinity. And this teaching is one of the clearest presentations of the truth of the indwelling Adjusters ever to be made by a Urantian religion. 이 철학은 또한 부처의 (신적) 본성이 모든 사람 속에 있고, 인간은 그 자신의 노력을 통해 이런 내적 신성(神性)을 실현할 수 있다고 생각했습니다. 그러고 이런 가르침은, 일찍이 유란시아 종교에서 내주하는 조율자들의 진리를 가장 명확하게 표현한 것 중 하나입니다.
94:11.6 (1039.5) But a great limitation in the original gospel of Siddhartha, as it was interpreted by his followers, was that it attempted the complete liberation of the human self from all the limitations of the mortal nature by the technique of isolating the self from objective reality. True cosmic self-realization results from identification with cosmic reality and with the finite cosmos of energy, mind, and spirit, bounded by space and conditioned by time. 그러나 싯다르타의 원래 복음에 있는 커다란 한계는, 그의 추종자들이 해석했던 대로, 객관적 실재(實在 의식에서 독립된 실재)로부터 자아를 분리하는 기법으로 필사 본성의 모든 제한으로부터 인간 자아의 완전한 해방을 시도한 것이었습니다. 참된 질서 우주의 자아-실현은, 질서 우주의 실재(實在) 및 공간으로 한정되고, 시간으로 좌우되는, 유한한 질서 우주의 에너지, 마음 그리고 영(靈)과 동일시(가치와 이해를 자기 것으로 수용하여 신원이 확인)되는 결과로 일어납니다.
94:11.7 (1039.6) But though the ceremonies and outward observances of Buddhism became grossly contaminated with those of the lands to which it traveled, this degeneration was not altogether the case in the philosophical life of the great thinkers who, from time to time, embraced this system of thought and belief. Through more than two thousand years, many of the best minds of Asia have concentrated upon the problem of ascertaining absolute truth and the truth of the Absolute. 그러나 불교 의식(儀式)과 외적 제전(祭典)이 그것이 전파된 지역들의 의식 및 제전들로 심하게 오염되었지만, 때때로 사상과 믿음의 이런 체계를 믿고 의지했던 위대한 사색가들의 철학적 삶에서 이런 퇴보(退步)가 완전히 실제 사정은 아니었습니다. 2천 년이 넘는 동안 아시아의 여러 최고 지성인(知性人)은 절대 진리와 절대자의 진리 규명 문제에 집중했습니다.
94:11.8 (1039.7) The evolution of a high concept of the Absolute was achieved through many channels of thought and by devious paths of reasoning. The upward ascent of this doctrine of infinity was not so clearly defined as was the evolution of the God concept in Hebrew theology. Nevertheless, there were certain broad levels which the minds of the Buddhists reached, tarried upon, and passed through on their way to the envisioning of the Primal Source of universes: 절대자에 대한 높은 개념의 진화는 여러 사상의 방향과 바른길을 벗어난 추론의 경로를 통해 이루어졌습니다. 이런 무한 교리의 상향(上向) 상승은 히브리 신학에 있는 하느님 개념의 진화처럼 그렇게 분명하게 밝혀지지 않았습니다. 그렇지만, 불교도들의 마음이 우주들의 최초 근원을 상상하는 가운데 도달하여 머물고 거쳐 간 몇 가지 넓은 단계가 있었습니다.
94:11.9 (1039.8) 1. The Gautama legend. At the base of the concept was the historic fact of the life and teachings of Siddhartha, the prophet prince of India. This legend grew in myth as it traveled through the centuries and across the broad lands of Asia until it surpassed the status of the idea of Gautama as the enlightened one and began to take on additional attributes. 고타마 전설. 역사적으로 중요한, 인도의 선각자 왕자, 싯다르타의 생애와 가르침의 사실이 그 개념의 토대에 있었습니다. 이런 전설은 고타마를 깨우친 자로 생각하는 상태를 뛰어넘어 특별한 속성을 지니기까지, 수 세기에 걸쳐 아시아의 넓은 땅을 건너 전파되면서 신화가 되어갔습니다.
94:11.10 (1040.1) 2. The many Buddhas. It was reasoned that, if Gautama had come to the peoples of India, then, in the remote past and in the remote future, the races of mankind must have been, and undoubtedly would be, blessed with other teachers of truth. This gave rise to the teaching that there were many Buddhas, an unlimited and infinite number, even that anyone could aspire to become one — to attain the divinity of a Buddha. 수많은 부처. 고타마가 인도 사람들에게 왔다면 먼 과거와 먼 미래에, 인류 종족들에게 틀림없이 다른 진리의 선생들이 베풀어졌고 그래야 할 것이라고 조리 있게 생각했습니다. 이에 따라 한없이 무한한 수(數)의 수많은 부처가 있었고, 심지어 누구든지 부처가 되어, 즉 부처의 신성(神性)에 이를 수 있다는 가르침이 일어났습니다.
94:11.11 (1040.2) 3. The Absolute Buddha. By the time the number of Buddhas was approaching infinity, it became necessary for the minds of those days to reunify this unwieldy concept. Accordingly it began to be taught that all Buddhas were but the manifestation of some higher essence, some Eternal One of infinite and unqualified existence, some Absolute Source of all reality. From here on, the Deity concept of Buddhism, in its highest form, becomes divorced from the human person of Gautama Siddhartha and casts off from the anthropomorphic limitations which have held it in leash. This final conception of the Buddha Eternal can well be identified as the Absolute, sometimes even as the infinite I AM. 절대 부처. 부처의 수(數)가 무한에 이를 무렵, 당시의 지성인들에게는 이렇게 다루기 어려운 개념의 통합이 필요했습니다. 따라서, 모든 부처는 어떤 고등 본질, 무한하고 제한 없는 어떤 영원한 존재, 모든 실재의 어떤 절대 근원의 현현(顯現 나타남)에 불과하다고 가르치기 시작했습니다. 여기서부터 불교의 신(神)개념은, 최고의 형태로, 고타마 싯다르타의 인간 인격과 분리되어, 속박하던 의인화(擬人化)된 제한을 내던져 버립니다. 이런 영원자 부처의 최종 개념은 절대자, 때때로 무한한 자존위(自存位스스로 계신 분)로까지 충분히 동일시될 수 있습니다.
94:11.12 (1040.3) While this idea of Absolute Deity never found great popular favor with the peoples of Asia, it did enable the intellectuals of these lands to unify their philosophy and to harmonize their cosmology. The concept of the Buddha Absolute is at times quasi-personal, at times wholly impersonal — even an infinite creative force. Such concepts, though helpful to philosophy, are not vital to religious development. Even an anthropomorphic Yahweh is of greater religious value than an infinitely remote Absolute of Buddhism or Brahmanism. 절대 신(神)의 이런 개념은 아시아 사람들에게 결코 커다란 대중적 호의를 얻은 적이 없었지만, 이런 지역의 지식인들은 자신들의 철학을 통합하고 자신들의 우주론을 조화시킬 수 있었습니다. 절대자 부처의 개념은 때로 유사(類似)-인격적, 때로 완전히 비(非)인격적, 심지어 무한히 창조적인 힘입니다. 이런 개념들이 철학에 도움이 되지만 종교적 발전에 절대로 필요하지 않습니다. 심지어 의인화(擬人化)된 야훼가 불교나 브라만교의 무한히 멀리 있는 절대자보다 훨씬 위대한 종교적 가치가 있습니다.
94:11.13 (1040.4) At times the Absolute was even thought of as contained within the infinite I AM. But these speculations were chill comfort to the hungry multitudes who craved to hear words of promise, to hear the simple gospel of Salem, that faith in God would assure divine favor and eternal survival. 때때로 절대자는 무한한 자존위(自存位스스로 계신 분) 내부에 포함되어 있다고 생각되기도 했습니다. 그러나 이런 추측들은, 약속의 말씀을 들으려고, 하느님을 믿는 신앙이 신적 은혜와 영원한 생존을 보장한다는 살렘의 순수한 복음을 들으려고 갈망하는, 굶주린 군중에게 냉랭한 위로였습니다.
12. The God Concept of Buddhism 불교의 하느님 개념
94:12.1 (1040.5) The great weakness in the cosmology of Buddhism was twofold: its contamination with many of the superstitions of India and China and its sublimation of Gautama, first as the enlightened one, and then as the Eternal Buddha. Just as Christianity has suffered from the absorption of much erroneous human philosophy, so does Buddhism bear its human birthmark. But the teachings of Gautama have continued to evolve during the past two and one-half millenniums. The concept of Buddha, to an enlightened Buddhist, is no more the human personality of Gautama than the concept of Jehovah is identical with the spirit demon of Horeb to an enlightened Christian. Paucity of terminology, together with the sentimental retention of olden nomenclature, is often provocative of the failure to understand the true significance of the evolution of religious concepts. 불교 우주론의 최대 약점은 두 가지로 인도와 중국의 여러 미신으로 오염된 것과 고타마를 처음에는 깨우친 자로, 나중에는 영원한 부처로 승화(昇華)시킨 것이었습니다. 마치 기독교가 여러 잘못된 인간 철학을 흡수하여 상처를 입었듯이 불교도 인간적 특징을 지니고 있습니다. 그러나 고타마의 가르침들은 지나간 2,500년 간 계속 발전했습니다. 깨우친 불교도에게 부처의 개념이 고타마의 인간적 인격(고유성)이 아닌 것은 깨우친 기독교인에게 여호와의 개념이 호렙산의 수호령(守護靈)과 일치하지 않는 것과 같습니다. 전문용어의 결핍은 옛 명칭의 감정적 유지와 더불어, 대개 참된 종교 개념이 진화하는 의미를 알아듣지 못하게 만듭니다.
94:12.2 (1040.6) Gradually the concept of God, as contrasted with the Absolute, began to appear in Buddhism. Its sources are back in the early days of this differentiation of the followers of the Lesser Road and the Greater Road. It was among the latter division of Buddhism that the dual conception of God and the Absolute finally matured. Step by step, century by century, the God concept has evolved until, with the teachings of Ryonin, Honen Shonin, and Shinran in Japan, this concept finally came to fruit in the belief in Amida Buddha. 절대자와 대조적인 하느님 개념이 점차 불교에 나타나기 시작했습니다. 그 근원은 소승(小乘)과 대승(大乘)의 추종자들이 이처럼 분화되던 초기 시절로 거슬러 올라갑니다. 하느님과 절대자의 2중 개념은 결국 불교의 후기 분파(대승大乘)에서 발달했습니다. 한 걸음씩 세기(世紀)가 거듭할수록, 하느님 개념이 일본의 료닌(良忍), 호넨 쇼닌(法然 上人) 및 신란(親鸞)의 가르침들과 함께 진화되어서, 이 개념은 결국 아미타 부처를 믿는 결과가 되었습니다.
94:12.3 (1041.1) Among these believers it is taught that the soul, upon experiencing death, may elect to enjoy a sojourn in Paradise prior to entering Nirvana, the ultimate of existence. It is proclaimed that this new salvation is attained by faith in the divine mercies and loving care of Amida, God of the Paradise in the west. In their philosophy, the Amidists hold to an Infinite Reality which is beyond all finite mortal comprehension; in their religion, they cling to faith in the all-merciful Amida, who so loves the world that he will not suffer one mortal who calls on his name in true faith and with a pure heart to fail in the attainment of the supernal happiness of Paradise. 이런 신자들 사이에, 죽음을 겪은 혼(魂)이 니르바나(열반涅槃 극락), 존재의 궁극에 들어가기 전에, 천국에 머무는 즐거움을 선택할 수도 있다고 가르칩니다. 이렇게 새로운 구원이 아미타, 서방 천국 하느님의 신적 자비와 애정 깊은 보살핌을 믿는 신앙으로 얻는다고 선포됩니다. 그들의 철학에서 아미타 신자들은 모든 유한한 인간 이해를 뛰어넘는 무한한 실체를 붙듭니다. 그들의 종교에서, 그들은, 세상을 너무 사랑해서 참된 신앙과 순전한 심정으로 자신의 이름을 부르는 필사자 한 명도 천국의 고귀한 행복에 이르지 못하도록 내버려 두지 않을, 자비뿐인 아미타를 믿는 신앙에 매달립니다.
94:12.4 (1041.2) The great strength of Buddhism is that its adherents are free to choose truth from all religions; such freedom of choice has seldom characterized a Urantian faith. In this respect the Shin sect of Japan has become one of the most progressive religious groups in the world; it has revived the ancient missionary spirit of Gautama’s followers and has begun to send teachers to other peoples. This willingness to appropriate truth from any and all sources is indeed a commendable tendency to appear among religious believers during the first half of the twentieth century after Christ. 불교의 최대 강점은 그 신봉자들이 모든 종교에서 진리를 자유롭게 선택할 수 있다는 점입니다. 그런 선택의 자유는 좀처럼 유란시아의 신앙 특징이었던 적이 없었습니다. 이 점에서 일본의 신 교파는 세상에서 가장 진보적인 종교 집단 중 하나가 되었습니다. 그것은 고타마 추종자들의 고대 선교 정신을 회복시켰고 다른 민족들에게 선생들을 보내기 시작했습니다. 예외 없이 모든 출처의 진리를 흔쾌히 제 것으로 삼는 것은 정말로 그리스도 이후 20세기 전반기에 종교적 신자들 사이에 나타나는, 훌륭한 성향입니다.
94:12.5 (1041.3) Buddhism itself is undergoing a twentieth-century renaissance. Through contact with Christianity the social aspects of Buddhism have been greatly enhanced. The desire to learn has been rekindled in the hearts of the monk priests of the brotherhood, and the spread of education throughout this faith will be certainly provocative of new advances in religious evolution. 불교 자체는 20세기 부흥기를 겪고 있습니다. 기독교와 접촉하여 불교의 사회적 측면이 크게 향상되었습니다. 배우려는 열망이 수도승 사제 공동체의 심정에 다시 불을 붙였고 이런 신앙 전체에 걸쳐 교육의 확장이 종교적 진화의 새로운 진보를 분명히 유발할 것입니다.
94:12.6 (1041.4) At the time of this writing, much of Asia rests its hope in Buddhism. Will this noble faith, that has so valiantly carried on through the dark ages of the past, once again receive the truth of expanded cosmic realities even as the disciples of the great teacher in India once listened to his proclamation of new truth? Will this ancient faith respond once more to the invigorating stimulus of the presentation of new concepts of God and the Absolute for which it has so long searched? 이 글을 쓰는 지금, 아시아의 여러 사람은 불교에 희망을 걸고 있습니다. 과거의 암흑기에도 그렇게 용감하게 이어져 온 이 고귀한 신앙이, 인도의 위대한 선생의 제자들이 한때 그가 선포한 새로운 진리에 귀를 기울였듯이, 다시 한번 확장된 질서 우주 실체의 진리를 받아들일까요? 이 고대 신앙이 그토록 오래 추구한 하느님과 절대자에 대한 새 개념의 제시라는 고무적인 자극에 한 번 더 반응할까요?
94:12.7 (1041.5) All Urantia is waiting for the proclamation of the ennobling message of Michael, unencumbered by the accumulated doctrines and dogmas of nineteen centuries of contact with the religions of evolutionary origin. The hour is striking for presenting to Buddhism, to Christianity, to Hinduism, even to the peoples of all faiths, not the gospel about Jesus, but the living, spiritual reality of the gospel of Jesus. 온 유란시아가 진화 기원의 종교들과 접촉하여 축적된 19세기의 교리(敎理)와 교의(敎義)로 얽매인 데가 없는 미가엘의 고상하게 하는 메시지의 선포를 기다리고 있습니다. 불교, 기독교, 힌두교, 및 모든 신앙의 민족들에게도, 예수에 대한 복음이 아니라 살아있는, 예수 복음의 영적 실체가 제시되는 시각이 울리고 있습니다.
94:12.8 (1041.6) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.][네바돈의 멜기세덱이 제시함.]
95:0.1 (1042.1) AS INDIA gave rise to many of the religions and philosophies of eastern Asia, so the Levant was the homeland of the faiths of the Occidental world. The Salem missionaries spread out all over southwestern Asia, through Palestine, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran, and Arabia, everywhere proclaiming the good news of the gospel of Machiventa Melchizedek. In some of these lands their teachings bore fruit; in others they met with varying success. Sometimes their failures were due to lack of wisdom, sometimes to circumstances beyond their control. 인도가 동아시아의 여러 종교와 철학을 낳았듯이, 레반트는 서양 세계 신앙이 태어난 고국이었습니다. 살렘 선교사들은 아시아 남서부 전역으로 퍼져나가, 팔레스타인, 메소포타미아, 이집트, 이란 및 아라비아를 거치면서, 가는 곳마다 마키벤타 멜기세덱 복음의 기쁜 소식을 선포했습니다. 이런 지역 중 일부에서 그들의 가르침이 열매를 맺었고, 다른 지역에서 그들은 다양하게 성공을 거두었습니다. 때때로 지혜의 부족으로, 때로는 부득이한 사정 때문에 실패했습니다.
1. The Salem Religion in Mesopotamia 메소포타미아의 살렘 종교
95:1.1 (1042.2) By 2000 B.C. the religions of Mesopotamia had just about lost the teachings of the Sethites and were largely under the influence of the primitive beliefs of two groups of invaders, the Bedouin Semites who had filtered in from the western desert and the barbarian horsemen who had come down from the north. BC 2,000년까지 메소포타미아의 종교들은 셋-사람들의 가르침을 거의 다 잃어버렸고, 주로 두 집단의 침입자들, 서쪽 사막에서 침투한 베두인 사람 셈족들과 북쪽에서 말을 타고 내려온 야만인들이 지닌 원시 믿음의 영향력 아래에 있었습니다.
95:1.2 (1042.3) But the custom of the early Adamite peoples in honoring the seventh day of the week never completely disappeared in Mesopotamia. Only, during the Melchizedek era, the seventh day was regarded as the worst of bad luck. It was taboo-ridden; it was unlawful to go on a journey, cook food, or make a fire on the evil seventh day. The Jews carried back to Palestine many of the Mesopotamian taboos which they had found resting on the Babylonian observance of the seventh day, the Shabattum. 그러나 일주일 중 일곱 번째 날을 존중하는 초기 아담-사람 민족들의 관습은 메소포타미아에서 결코 완전히 사라지지 않았습니다. 다만 멜기세덱 시대에는 일곱 번째 날을 가장 불운으로 여겼습니다. 그날은 금기로 시달렸습니다. 불길한 일곱 번째 날에 여행하고, 조리하거나 불을 피우는 것은 불법이었습니다. 유대인들은 바빌론의 일곱 번째 날, 샤바툼을 지키면서 부담한 금기 중 자신들이 발견한 메소포타미아의 여러 금기를 팔레스타인으로 가져왔습니다(출16:23-26, 20:8-11, 31:14-17, 35:2-3, 레23:3. 신5:12-15).
95:1.3 (1042.4) Although the Salem teachers did much to refine and uplift the religions of Mesopotamia, they did not succeed in bringing the various peoples to the permanent recognition of one God. Such teaching gained the ascendancy for more than one hundred and fifty years and then gradually gave way to the older belief in a multiplicity of deities. 살렘 선생들이 메소포타미아의 종교들을 많이 순화하고 향상하는데 진력했지만, 다양한 민족들을 하나뿐인 하느님에 대한 영구적 인식으로 잘 이끌지 못했습니다. 그런 가르침은 150년 이상 우세했지만, 그 후 다수의 신(神)들을 믿는 더 오래된 믿음에 점차 길을 내주었습니다.
95:1.4 (1042.5) The Salem teachers greatly reduced the number of the gods of Mesopotamia, at one time bringing the chief deities down to seven: Bel, Shamash, Nabu, Anu, Ea, Marduk, and Sin. At the height of the new teaching they exalted three of these gods to supremacy over all others, the Babylonian triad: Bel, Ea, and Anu, the gods of earth, sea, and sky. Still other triads grew up in different localities, all reminiscent of the trinity teachings of the Andites and the Sumerians and based on the belief of the Salemites in Melchizedek’s insignia of the three circles. 살렘 선생들은 메소포타미아의 신과 같은 존재들의 수(數)를 크게 줄여서, 한때 그 주요 신(神)들이 일곱까지 낮추었는데, 벨, 샤마쉬, 나부, 아누, 에아, 마르둑과 신이었습니다. 새 가르침의 절정에서, 그들은 이런 신과 같은 존재 중 셋을 다른 모든 신(神)보다 최고로 높였는데, 바빌론의 삼신(三神)은 벨, 에아와 아누 즉 땅과 바다와 하늘의 신과 같은 존재들이었습니다. 그 후에도 다른 삼신(三神)이 다른 지역에서 서서히 생겼는데, 모두 안드-사람들과 수메르인(人)들의 삼위일체 가르침을 회상시키고, 멜기세덱 표지, 세 동심원을 믿는 살렘 사람들의 믿음에 근거했습니다.
95:1.5 (1042.6) Never did the Salem teachers fully overcome the popularity of Ishtar, the mother of gods and the spirit of sex fertility. They did much to refine the worship of this goddess, but the Babylonians and their neighbors had never completely outgrown their disguised forms of sex worship. It had become a universal practice throughout Mesopotamia for all women to submit, at least once in early life, to the embrace of strangers; this was thought to be a devotion required by Ishtar, and it was believed that fertility was largely dependent on this sex sacrifice. 살렘 선생들은 신과 같은 존재들의 어머니이며 성적 다산(多産)의 영(靈), 이쉬타르의 인기를 완전히 극복한 적이 결코 없었습니다. 그들은 이런 여신 숭배를 순화(純化)하려고 많이 노력했지만, 바빌로니아인(人)들과 그 이웃들은 자신들이 거짓으로 꾸민 성숭배(性崇拜) 형태를 완전히 그만둔 적이 결코 없었습니다. 메소포타미아 전체에서 모든 여성이 젊은 시절에 한 번쯤 낯선 사람들의 포옹을 감수하는 것이 보편적인 관습이 되었습니다. 이것은 이쉬타르가 요구하는 헌신으로 여겨졌고 다산(多産)이 주로 이런 성적 희생 행위에 달려 있다고 믿었습니다.
95:1.6 (1043.1) The early progress of the Melchizedek teaching was highly gratifying until Nabodad, the leader of the school at Kish, decided to make a concerted attack upon the prevalent practices of temple harlotry. But the Salem missionaries failed in their effort to bring about this social reform, and in the wreck of this failure all their more important spiritual and philosophic teachings went down in defeat. 멜기세덱 가르침의 초기 진보는 키쉬에 있는 학교의 지도자, 나보닷이 널리 퍼진 성전 매춘 관습을 합심하여 공격하기로 결심하기까지는 매우 만족스러웠습니다. 그러나 살렘 선교사들이 이렇게 사회 개혁을 성취하려는 그들의 노력은 끝내 실패했고, 이런 실패의 잔해 가운데 더 중요한 그들의 영적, 철학적 가르침은 모두 패배했습니다.
95:1.7 (1043.2) This defeat of the Salem gospel was immediately followed by a great increase in the cult of Ishtar, a ritual which had already invaded Palestine as Ashtoreth, Egypt as Isis, Greece as Aphrodite, and the northern tribes as Astarte. And it was in connection with this revival of the worship of Ishtar that the Babylonian priests turned anew to stargazing; astrology experienced its last great Mesopotamian revival, fortunetelling became the vogue, and for centuries the priesthood increasingly deteriorated. 살렘 복음의 이런 패배 직후 이쉬타르 종파가 매우 확대되어, 이미 팔레스타인에서 아스다롯으로, 이집트에서 이시스로, 그리스에서 아프로디테로, 북부 부족들에서 아스타르테로 퍼져있던 의식(儀式)이었습니다. 이런 이쉬타르 숭배의 재유행과 관련하여 바빌론 사제들은 다시 별의 관찰에 의지했습니다. 점성술이 마지막으로 메소포타미아에서 크게 재유행하여, 점(占)이 유행하게 되었고, 수 세기 동안 사제직이 점차 수준이 낮아졌습니다(삿2:13, 10:6, 삼상7:3-4, 12:10, 왕상11:5, 33, 왕하23:13).
95:1.8 (1043.3) Melchizedek had warned his followers to teach about the one God, the Father and Maker of all, and to preach only the gospel of divine favor through faith alone. But it has often been the error of the teachers of new truth to attempt too much, to attempt to supplant slow evolution by sudden revolution. The Melchizedek missionaries in Mesopotamia raised a moral standard too high for the people; they attempted too much, and their noble cause went down in defeat. They had been commissioned to preach a definite gospel, to proclaim the truth of the reality of the Universal Father, but they became entangled in the apparently worthy cause of reforming the mores, and thus was their great mission sidetracked and virtually lost in frustration and oblivion. 멜기세덱은 자기 추종자들에게 하나뿐인 하느님, 만유의 아버지와 조물주에 대해 가르치고, 신앙만을 통한 신적 은혜의 복음만 전하도록 경고했습니다. 그러나 새 진리의 선생들은 너무 많이 시도하면서, 갑작스러운 혁명으로 더딘 진화를 밀어내려고 시도하는 잘못을 자주 범했습니다. 메소포타미아의 멜기세덱 선교사들은 사람들의 도덕적 기준을 너무 높였습니다. 그들은 너무 많이 시도하여, 그들의 숭고한 대의명분(大義名分)은 무너졌습니다. 그들은 명확한 복음을 전하고, 우주 아버지의 실체 진리를 선포하도록 위임받았지만, 그들은 사회적 관행을 개혁하는 언뜻 보기에 가치 있는 운동에 말려들어서, 자신들의 위대한 사명을 회피하고 사실상 좌절과 망각으로 잃어버렸습니다.
95:1.9 (1043.4) In one generation the Salem headquarters at Kish came to an end, and the propaganda of the belief in one God virtually ceased throughout Mesopotamia. But remnants of the Salem schools persisted. Small bands scattered here and there continued their belief in the one Creator and fought against the idolatry and immorality of the Mesopotamian priests. 한 세대 만에 키쉬의 살렘 본부는 없어졌고, 하나뿐인 하느님을 믿는 믿음의 전도 활동은 사실상 메소포타미아 전역에서 끝장이 났습니다. 그러나 살렘 학교들의 자취는 살아남았습니다. 여기저기에 흩어진 작은 일행들은 하나뿐인 창조자를 계속 믿었고 메소포타미아 사제들의 우상 숭배와 부도덕 행위에 맞서 싸웠습니다.
95:1.10 (1043.5) It was the Salem missionaries of the period following the rejection of their teaching who wrote many of the Old Testament Psalms, inscribing them on stone, where later-day Hebrew priests found them during the captivity and subsequently incorporated them among the collection of hymns ascribed to Jewish authorship. These beautiful psalms from Babylon were not written in the temples of Bel-Marduk; they were the work of the descendants of the earlier Salem missionaries, and they are a striking contrast to the magical conglomerations of the Babylonian priests. The Book of Job is a fairly good reflection of the teachings of the Salem school at Kish and throughout Mesopotamia. 자신들의 가르침이 거절당한 다음 시기의 살렘 선교사들이 구약의 여러 시편을 바위에 새겨서 썼고, 훗날 히브리 사제들이 바빌론 포로기에 그것들을 발견한 후 유대인의 저작으로 여겨진 찬송가 모음집 사이에 그것들을 수록(收錄 모아서 기록)했습니다. 바빌론 출처의 이렇게 아름다운 시편들은 벨-마르둑의 신전에 기록되지 않았습니다. 그것들은 초기 살렘 선교사들의 후손들 작품이었고, 그것들은 바빌론 사제들의 마술적 혼합물과 현저히 대조적입니다. 욥기는 키쉬와 메소포타미아 전역의 살렘 학교에 속한 가르침을 상당히 훌륭하게 반영하고 있습니다(욥).
95:1.11 (1043.6) Much of the Mesopotamian religious culture found its way into Hebrew literature and liturgy by way of Egypt through the work of Amenemope and Ikhnaton. The Egyptians remarkably preserved the teachings of social obligation derived from the earlier Andite Mesopotamians and so largely lost by the later Babylonians who occupied the Euphrates valley. 메소포타미아의 종교적 문화 대부분은 아메네모페와 이크나톤의 작품을 통해 이집트를 거쳐 히브리 문학과 전례(典禮 의식)로 들어갔습니다. 이집트인(人)들은 메소포타미아의 더 이른 초기 안드-사람들에게서 유래되었고, 유프라테스 계곡을 차지했던 후대 바빌로니아인(人)들이 아주 많이 잃어버린, 사회적 의무의 가르침들을 유별나게 보존했습니다.
2. Early Egyptian Religion 초기 이집트 종교
95:2.1 (1043.7) The original Melchizedek teachings really took their deepest root in Egypt, from where they subsequently spread to Europe. The evolutionary religion of the Nile valley was periodically augmented by the arrival of superior strains of Nodite, Adamite, and later Andite peoples of the Euphrates valley. From time to time, many of the Egyptian civil administrators were Sumerians. As India in these days harbored the highest mixture of the world races, so Egypt fostered the most thoroughly blended type of religious philosophy to be found on Urantia, and from the Nile valley it spread to many parts of the world. The Jews received much of their idea of the creation of the world from the Babylonians, but they derived the concept of divine Providence from the Egyptians. 본래의 멜기세덱 가르침은 이집트에서 실제로 가장 깊이 뿌리를 내렸고, 그것들은 그곳에서 나중에 유럽으로 퍼졌습니다. 나일강 유역의 진화 종교는 유프라테스강 유역의 놋-사람, 아담-사람과 후대 안드-사람들에 속한 우수한 혈통들이 출현하여 간헐적으로 강화되었습니다. 때때로 이집트의 여러 시민 행정관은 수메르인(人)들이었습니다. 당시 인도에 가장 많이 혼합된 세계 인종이 살고 있었던 것처럼, 이집트는 유란시아에서 찾아낸 종교 철학 중에서 아주 완전히 섞인 유형을 육성하여, 나일강 유역으로부터 그것이 세계 여러 지역으로 퍼졌습니다. 유대인들은 바빌로니아인(人)들에게서 세상 창조에 대한 자신들의 개념을 많이 받았지만, 그들은 이집트인(人)들에게서 신적 신(神)의 개념을 얻었습니다.
95:2.2 (1044.1) It was political and moral, rather than philosophic or religious, tendencies that rendered Egypt more favorable to the Salem teaching than Mesopotamia. Each tribal leader in Egypt, after fighting his way to the throne, sought to perpetuate his dynasty by proclaiming his tribal god the original deity and creator of all other gods. In this way the Egyptians gradually got used to the idea of a supergod, a steppingstone to the later doctrine of a universal creator Deity. The idea of monotheism wavered back and forth in Egypt for many centuries, the belief in one God always gaining ground but never quite dominating the evolving concepts of polytheism. 이집트가 메소포타미아보다 살렘 가르침에 더 호의적이었던 것은 철학적이거나 종교적 경향보다는 정치적이고 도덕적인 경향이었습니다. 이집트의 각 부족 지도자는 왕위에 오르기 위해 싸운 후에 자기 부족의 신과 같은 존재가 다른 모든 신과 같은 존재들의 원래 신(神)이고 창조자라고 선포하여 자기 왕조를 영속시키려고 했습니다. 이런 식으로 이집트인(人)들은 점차 초(超)신과 같은 존재의 개념, 우주적 창조자 신(神)에 대한 후대 교리의 발판에 익숙해졌습니다. 일신교(一神敎) 사상은 여러 세기 동안 앞뒤로 너울거렸고, 하나뿐인 하느님에 대한 믿음이 언제나 더 강력해졌지만 진화하는 다신론(多神論)의 개념을 확실히 지배하지는 못했습니다.
95:2.3 (1044.2) For ages the Egyptian peoples had been given to the worship of nature gods; more particularly did each of the two-score separate tribes have a special group god, one worshiping the bull, another the lion, a third the ram, and so on. Still earlier they had been totem tribes, very much like the Amerinds. 이집트 민족은 오랫동안 자연의 신과 같은 존재들을 숭배했고, 특히 더, 두 개의 20개 단위로 분리된 부족마다 특별히 신과 같은 존재 집단을 갖고 있었는데, 하나는 황소를 숭배하고, 다른 하나는 사자를, 세 번째는 숫양을, 기타 등등을 숭배했습니다. 훨씬 이전에 그들은 아메리카 원주민들과 아주 비슷한 토템 부족들이었습니다.
95:2.4 (1044.3) In time the Egyptians observed that dead bodies placed in brickless graves were preserved — embalmed — by the action of the soda-impregnated sand, while those buried in brick vaults decayed. These observations led to those experiments which resulted in the later practice of embalming the dead. The Egyptians believed that preservation of the body facilitated one’s passage through the future life. That the individual might properly be identified in the distant future after the decay of the body, they placed a burial statue in the tomb along with the corpse, carving a likeness on the coffin. The making of these burial statues led to great improvement in Egyptian art. 이윽고 이집트인(人)들은 벽돌이 없는 무덤에 둔 시신들이 소다(탄산나트륨)가 스며든 모래의 작용으로 방부 처리되어 보존되었던 반면, 벽돌 저장고에 파묻힌 시신들이 부패한 것을 관찰했습니다. 이런 관찰은 그런 실험으로 이어져 그 결과 사망자를 방부 처리하는 후대의 관행이 되었습니다. 이집트인(人)들은 시신의 보존으로 내세로 쉽게 통과할 수 있다고 믿었습니다. 시신이 부패한 후 먼 훗날 개인의 신원을 올바로 확인할 수 있도록 그들은 시신과 함께 무덤에 매장 조각상을 두고 관(棺) 위에 화상(畫像 그린 형상)을 새겼습니다. 이런 매장 조각상의 제작은 이집트 예술의 커다란 향상으로 이어졌습니다.
95:2.5 (1044.4) For centuries the Egyptians placed their faith in tombs as the safeguard of the body and of consequent pleasurable survival after death. The later evolution of magical practices, while burdensome to life from the cradle to the grave, most effectually delivered them from the religion of the tombs. The priests would inscribe the coffins with charm texts which were believed to be protection against a “man’s having his heart taken away from him in the nether world.” Presently a diverse assortment of these magical texts was collected and preserved as The Book of the Dead. But in the Nile valley magical ritual early became involved with the realms of conscience and character to a degree not often attained by the rituals of those days. And subsequently these ethical and moral ideals, rather than elaborate tombs, were depended upon for salvation. 수 세기 동안 이집트인(人)들은 무덤이 시신(屍身)과 사후(死後) 즐거운 생존을 보호한다고 믿었습니다. 마술적 관습이 나중에 진화하여 요람에서 무덤까지 삶에 짐이 되었지만, 무덤의 종교에서 그들을 가장 완전하게 구해냈습니다. 사제들은 “저승에서 사람의 심장이 제거되는 일”이 방지된다고 믿는 부적 문구를 관(棺)들에 새겨 넣곤 했습니다. 이내 다양하게 분류되는 이런 마법적 문구가 수집되어 사자(死者)의 서(書)로 보존되었습니다. 그러나 나일강 유역의 마술 의식은 당시 의식(儀式)들로서는 드물게 이를 정도로 일찌감치 양심과 성격(性格)의 영역에 관련되었습니다. 이후에는 이런 윤리적, 도덕적 이상(理想)들이 정교한 무덤들보다 구원을 결정했습니다.
95:2.6 (1044.5) The superstitions of these times are well illustrated by the general belief in the efficacy of spittle as a healing agent, an idea which had its origin in Egypt and spread therefrom to Arabia and Mesopotamia. In the legendary battle of Horus with Set the young god lost his eye, but after Set was vanquished, this eye was restored by the wise god Thoth, who spat upon the wound and healed it. 이런 시절의 미신은 치료제로서 침의 효험에 대한 일반적인 믿음으로 잘 설명되는 데, 그런 개념은 이집트에서 시작하여 아라비아와 메소포타미아까지 퍼졌습니다. 전설적인, 호루스와 세트의 전투에서, 젊은 신과 같은 존재(호루스)는 자기 눈을 잃었지만, 세트를 이긴 후, 현명한 신과 같은 존재 토트가 상처에 침을 뱉고 치료하여 그의 눈이 회복되었습니다(막8:23, 요9:6).
95:2.7 (1044.6) The Egyptians long believed that the stars twinkling in the night sky represented the survival of the souls of the worthy dead; other survivors they thought were absorbed into the sun. During a certain period, solar veneration became a species of ancestor worship. The sloping entrance passage of the great pyramid pointed directly toward the Pole Star so that the soul of the king, when emerging from the tomb, could go straight to the stationary and established constellations of the fixed stars, the supposed abode of the kings. 이집트인(人)들은 밤하늘에 반짝이는 별들은 훌륭한 고인(故人)의 혼(魂)들이 살아남은 표시라고 오랫동안 믿었습니다. 나머지 살아남은 혼들은 태양 안으로 흡수되었다고 그들은 생각했습니다. 특정 기간에 태양 숭배는 일종의 조상 숭배가 되었습니다. 왕의 혼(魂)이 무덤에서 나올 때 왕들의 거처로 추정된, 항성들의 고정되어 확립된 성좌들로 직행할 수 있도록, 대(大) 피라미드의 경사진 입구 통로는 똑바로 북극성을 향하고 있었습니다.
95:2.8 (1045.1) When the oblique rays of the sun were observed penetrating earthward through an aperture in the clouds, it was believed that they betokened the letting down of a celestial stairway whereon the king and other righteous souls might ascend. “King Pepi has put down his radiance as a stairway under his feet whereon to ascend to his mother.” 태양의 비스듬한 광선이 구름의 틈을 거쳐 지면으로 관통하는 것을 관찰하면서, 그것들이 왕과 다른 의로운 혼(魂)들이 올라갈 수도 있는 천상의 계단이 내려오는 조짐이라고 여겼습니다. “페피 왕이 자기 어머니에게 올라가도록 자기 광휘(光輝 환한 빛)를 자기 발밑에 계단으로 내려놓았습니다.”
95:2.9 (1045.2) When Melchizedek appeared in the flesh, the Egyptians had a religion far above that of the surrounding peoples. They believed that a disembodied soul, if properly armed with magic formulas, could evade the intervening evil spirits and make its way to the judgment hall of Osiris, where, if innocent of “murder, robbery, falsehood, adultery, theft, and selfishness,” it would be admitted to the realms of bliss. If this soul were weighed in the balances and found wanting, it would be consigned to hell, to the Devouress. And this was, relatively, an advanced concept of a future life in comparison with the beliefs of many surrounding peoples. 멜기세덱이 육신으로 출현할 때, 이집트인(人)들은 주변 민족들보다 훨씬 높은 종교를 갖고 있었습니다. 그들은 육체에서 분리된 혼(魂)이 마법 공식을 올바로 갖추면 방해하는 악령(惡靈)들을 피해서 오시리스의 재판장으로 갈 수 있는데, 그곳에서 “살인, 강도, 거짓말, 간통, 도둑질 및 이기심”에 대해 결백하면, 낙원의 영역에 들어가게 될 것이라고 믿었습니다. 이런 혼(魂)을 저울로 달아, 표준에 이르지 못하면, 지옥, 데부레스(삼켜서 파멸하는 여인)에게 넘겨졌습니다. 그리고 이것은 주변의 여러 민족의 믿음과 비교하면, 상대적으로 진보한 내세(來世)의 개념이었습니다.
95:2.10 (1045.3) The concept of judgment in the hereafter for the sins of one’s life in the flesh on earth was carried over into Hebrew theology from Egypt. The word judgment appears only once in the entire Book of Hebrew Psalms, and that particular psalm was written by an Egyptian. 지상에서 육체로 살면서 지은 죄에 대한 내세의 심판 개념은 이집트에서 히브리 신학으로 이어졌습니다(히9:27). 심판이라는 단어는 히브리 시편 전체에서 단 한 번 나타나며 이집트인(人)이 그 특정한 시편을 썼습니다.
3. Evolution of Moral Concepts 도덕 개념의 진화
95:3.1 (1045.4) Although the culture and religion of Egypt were chiefly derived from Andite Mesopotamia and largely transmitted to subsequent civilizations through the Hebrews and Greeks, much, very much, of the social and ethical idealism of the Egyptians arose in the valley of the Nile as a purely evolutionary development. Notwithstanding the importation of much truth and culture of Andite origin, there evolved in Egypt more of moral culture as a purely human development than appeared by similar natural techniques in any other circumscribed area prior to the bestowal of Michael. 이집트의 문화와 종교는 주로 안드-사람 메소포타미아에서 파생되어 히브리인(人)들과 그리스인(人)들을 거쳐 대부분 후대 문명에 전달되었고, 이집트의 사회적, 윤리적 이상주의(理想主義)의 대부분은 나일강 유역에서 순전히 진화 발전의 결과로 생겼습니다. 안드-사람에서 유래된 여러 진리와 문화의 수입에도 불구하고, 이집트에는 미가엘 증여 이전의 어떤 다른 주변 지역에서 비슷한 자연 기법으로 출현한 것보다 더 많은 도덕적 문화가 순전히 인간 발전으로 진화되었습니다.
95:3.2 (1045.5) Moral evolution is not wholly dependent on revelation. High moral concepts can be derived from man’s own experience. Man can even evolve spiritual values and derive cosmic insight from his personal experiential living because a divine spirit indwells him. Such natural evolutions of conscience and character were also augmented by the periodic arrival of teachers of truth, in ancient times from the second Eden, later on from Melchizedek’s headquarters at Salem. 도덕적 진화는 전적으로 계시에 달려있지는 않습니다. 높은 도덕 개념은 인간 자신의 체험에서 파생될 수 있습니다. 인간은 신적 영(靈)이 그 안에 자리 잡고 머물러 살기 때문에 영적 가치를 진화시키고 질서 우주의 통찰력을 자신의 개인적 체험 생활에서 끌어낼 수도 있습니다. 그런 양심(良心)과 성격(性格)의 자연적 진화들은 고대의 둘째 에덴에서, 후대에 살렘의 멜기세덱 본부로부터 진리의 선생들이 정기적으로 도착하여 증대되기도 했습니다.
95:3.3 (1045.6) Thousands of years before the Salem gospel penetrated to Egypt, its moral leaders taught justice, fairness, and the avoidance of avarice. Three thousand years before the Hebrew scriptures were written, the motto of the Egyptians was: “Established is the man whose standard is righteousness; who walks according to its way.” They taught gentleness, moderation, and discretion. The message of one of the great teachers of this epoch was: “Do right and deal justly with all.” The Egyptian triad of this age was Truth-Justice-Righteousness. Of all the purely human religions of Urantia none ever surpassed the social ideals and the moral grandeur of this onetime humanism of the Nile valley. 살렘 복음이 이집트로 퍼지기 수천 년 전, 이집트의 도덕적 지도자들은 정의(正義), 공정(公正) 및 탐욕을 피하도록 가르쳤습니다. 히브리 성서가 기록되기 3천 년 전 이집트인(人)들의 좌우명은 “공의(公義)를 기준으로 삼고 그 길을 따라 사는 사람을 임명하라.”였습니다. 그들은 관대(寬待)함, 중용(中庸) 및 신중(愼重)을 가르쳤습니다. 이런 획기적 시대의 위대한 선생 중 하나의 메시지는 “옳게 행하고 모두를 공정하게 대하라.”였습니다. 이 시대 이집트의 3대 표어는 진리(眞理)-정의(正義)-공의(公義)였습니다. 유란시아의 순전히 인간적인 모든 종교 중에서 나일강 유역의 이런 옛날 인간성의 사회적 이상(理想)과 도덕적 위엄을 능가한 것은 아무것도 없었습니다.
95:3.4 (1045.7) In the soil of these evolving ethical ideas and moral ideals the surviving doctrines of the Salem religion flourished. The concepts of good and evil found ready response in the hearts of a people who believed that “Life is given to the peaceful and death to the guilty.” “The peaceful is he who does what is loved; the guilty is he who does what is hated.” For centuries the inhabitants of the Nile valley had lived by these emerging ethical and social standards before they ever entertained the later concepts of right and wrong — good and bad. 이렇게 진화하는 윤리 관념과 도덕적 이상(理想)의 토양에서, 살렘 종교의 살아남은 교리들이 번성(繁盛)했습니다. 선과 악의 개념은 “평화로운 자는 생명을, 죄지은 자는 죽음을 받습니다.”라고 믿었던 사람들의 심정에서 즉각적인 반응을 일으켰습니다. “사랑받는 것을 행하는 자는 평온하고, 미움받는 것을 행하는 자는 죄가 있습니다.” 수 세기 동안 나일강 유역의 주민들은 옳고 그름, 선과 악의 후대 개념을 받아들이기도 전에 이렇게 새로운 윤리적, 사회적 기준에 따라 살았습니다.
95:3.5 (1046.1) Egypt was intellectual and moral but not overly spiritual. In six thousand years only four great prophets arose among the Egyptians. Amenemope they followed for a season; Okhban they murdered; Ikhnaton they accepted but halfheartedly for one short generation; Moses they rejected. Again was it political rather than religious circumstances that made it easy for Abraham and, later on, for Joseph to exert great influence throughout Egypt in behalf of the Salem teachings of one God. But when the Salem missionaries first entered Egypt, they encountered this highly ethical culture of evolution blended with the modified moral standards of Mesopotamian immigrants. These early Nile valley teachers were the first to proclaim conscience as the mandate of God, the voice of Deity. 이집트는 지적이고 도덕적이었지만 지나치게 영적이지 않았습니다. 6천 년 동안 단지 4명의 위대한 선지자들이 이집트인(人) 중에 일어났습니다. 그들은 아메네모페를 잠시 따랐습니다. 그들은 오크반을 살해했습니다. 그들이 이크나톤을 받아들였지만 내키지 않는 마음으로 짧은 한 세대 동안 그랬습니다. 그들은 모세를 버렸습니다. 하나뿐인 하느님의 살렘 가르침을 위해서 아브라함과 나중에 요셉이 이집트 전역에 커다란 영향력을 쉽게 행사하게 한 것은 종교적 상황보다는 또다시 정치적 상황이었습니다. 그러나 살렘 선교사들이 처음 이집트에 들어갔을 때, 그들은 이렇게 메소포타미아 이주민의 변경된 도덕적 기준이 혼합된 고도로 윤리적인 진화 문화를 마주쳤습니다. 이런 초기 나일강 유역의 선생들은 양심(良心)을 하느님의 명령, 신(神)의 목소리라고 처음으로 선포했습니다.
4. The Teachings of Amenemope 아메네모페의 가르침
95:4.1 (1046.2) In due time there grew up in Egypt a teacher called by many the “son of man” and by others Amenemope. This seer exalted conscience to its highest pinnacle of arbitrament between right and wrong, taught punishment for sin, and proclaimed salvation through calling upon the solar deity. 때가 되자 이집트에서 여러 사람이 “사람의 아들”로, 다른 이들은 아메니모페로 불렀던 선생이 출현했습니다. 이 선견자는 죄에 대한 처벌을 가르치고, 태양신(神)에게 호소하면 구원된다고 선포하면서, 양심(良心)을 옳고 그름을 중재(仲裁)하는 최고 정점으로 높였습니다.
95:4.2 (1046.3) Amenemope taught that riches and fortune were the gift of God, and this concept thoroughly colored the later appearing Hebrew philosophy. This noble teacher believed that God-consciousness was the determining factor in all conduct; that every moment should be lived in the realization of the presence of, and responsibility to, God. The teachings of this sage were subsequently translated into Hebrew and became the sacred book of that people long before the Old Testament was reduced to writing. The chief preachment of this good man had to do with instructing his son in uprightness and honesty in governmental positions of trust, and these noble sentiments of long ago would do honor to any modern statesman. 아메니모페는 부(富)와 번영은 하느님의 선물이라고 가르쳤고, 이 개념은 나중에 등장한 히브리 철학을 속속들이 물들였습니다. 고귀한 이 선생은, 매 순간 하느님의 현존과 그에 대한 책임을 깨닫는 가운데 살아야 하므로, 하느님-의식(意識)이 모든 행위를 결정하는 요소라고 믿었습니다. 이 현인(賢人)은 가르침은 나중에 히브리어로 번역되어 구약성서가 문서로 옮겨지기 훨씬 이전에 그 민족의 신성한 책이 되었습니다. 이 훌륭한 사람의 주된 훈계는 자기 아들에게 청렴(淸廉)과 정직으로 정부(政府)의 책임 있는 지위를 맡도록 가르치는 것에 관한 것이었고, 옛날의 이런 고결한 견해는 현대 정치가라면 누구나 존경할 만한 것입니다(시112:1-3, 115:13, 잠1:8-9, 2:1-12, 3:1-2, 4:1, 10, 20, 5:1-2, 6:20-21, 7:1-3, 22:4, 전8:12-13).
95:4.3 (1046.4) This wise man of the Nile taught that “riches take themselves wings and fly away” — that all things earthly are evanescent. His great prayer was to be “saved from fear.” He exhorted all to turn away from “the words of men” to “the acts of God.” In substance he taught: Man proposes but God disposes. His teachings, translated into Hebrew, determined the philosophy of the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. Translated into Greek, they gave color to all subsequent Hellenic religious philosophy. The later Alexandrian philosopher, Philo, possessed a copy of the Book of Wisdom. 나일강의 이 현인(賢人)은 “재산은 스스로 날개를 달고 날아갑니다(잠23:5).” 즉 이 세상만사가 덧없다고 가르쳤습니다. 그의 위대한 기도는 “두려움에서 구원받는 것”이었습니다(욥21:9, 시27:3, 잠1:33, 사41:10, 13-14, 44:8, 54:4, 14, 렘30:10). 그는 모두에게 “사람들의 말”에서 “하느님의 행위”로 돌이키라고 권고했습니다. 실제로 그는 사람이 일을 꾸며도 성패는 하느님께 달렸다고 가르쳤습니다(잠16:1, 3). 히브리어로 번역된 그의 가르침은 구약성서 잠언의 철학을 결정지었습니다. 그리스어로 번역된 그의 가르침이 이후 모든 헬라(고대 그리스) 종교 철학을 물들였습니다. 나중에 알렉산드리아의 철학자 필로는 지혜서의 사본 하나를 가지고 있었습니다.
95:4.4 (1046.5) Amenemope functioned to conserve the ethics of evolution and the morals of revelation and in his writings passed them on both to the Hebrews and to the Greeks. He was not the greatest of the religious teachers of this age, but he was the most influential in that he colored the subsequent thought of two vital links in the growth of Occidental civilization — the Hebrews, among whom evolved the acme of Occidental religious faith, and the Greeks, who developed pure philosophic thought to its greatest European heights. 아메니모페는 진화의 윤리들과 계시의 도덕들을 보존하는 역할을 했고, 자신의 저술로 그것들을 히브리인들과 그리스인들 양쪽에게 넘겨주었습니다. 그는 이 시대의 가장 위대한 종교 선생에 속하지 않지만, 그는 서양 문명의 성장에 필수적인 두 개의 고리 – 자신들 가운데서 서양의 종교적 신앙을 정점(頂點)으로 진화시킨 히브리인들과 순수한 철학 사상을 가장 위대한 유럽의 절정(絶頂)으로 발전시킨 그리스인들-의 후대 사상을 물들였다는 점에서 가장 영향력이 컸습니다.
95:4.5 (1046.6) In the Book of Hebrew Proverbs, chapters fifteen, seventeen, twenty, and chapter twenty-two, verse seventeen, to chapter twenty-four, verse twenty-two, are taken almost verbatim from Amenemope’s Book of Wisdom. The first psalm of the Hebrew Book of Psalms was written by Amenemope and is the heart of the teachings of Ikhnaton. 히브리인의 잠언에서, 15장, 17장, 20장과 22장 17절에서 24장 22절까지는 아메네모페의 지혜서에서 거의 그대로 가져온 것입니다. 히브리 시편 중 1편은 아메니모페가 썼고 이크나톤 가르침의 핵심입니다.
5. The Remarkable Ikhnaton 비범한 이크나톤
95:5.1 (1047.1) The teachings of Amenemope were slowly losing their hold on the Egyptian mind when, through the influence of an Egyptian Salemite physician, a woman of the royal family espoused the Melchizedek teachings. This woman prevailed upon her son, Ikhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt, to accept these doctrines of One God. 아메네모페의 가르침이 이집트인(人)의 마음에서 점차 그 영향력을 잃어가고 있을 때, 이집트인(人) 살렘-사람(신앙인) 의사의 영향력으로 왕실 여성이 멜기세덱 가르침을 믿고 받들었습니다. 이 여성이 자기 아들, 이크나톤, 이집트 왕을 설득하여 하나뿐인 하느님의 이 교리를 받아들이게 했습니다.
95:5.2 (1047.2) Since the disappearance of Melchizedek in the flesh, no human being up to that time had possessed such an amazingly clear concept of the revealed religion of Salem as Ikhnaton. In some respects this young Egyptian king is one of the most remarkable persons in human history. During this time of increasing spiritual depression in Mesopotamia, he kept alive the doctrine of El Elyon, the One God, in Egypt, thus maintaining the philosophic monotheistic channel which was vital to the religious background of the then future bestowal of Michael. And it was in recognition of this exploit, among other reasons, that the child Jesus was taken to Egypt, where some of the spiritual successors of Ikhnaton saw him and to some extent understood certain phases of his divine mission to Urantia. 육신의 멜기세덱이 사라진 이후 그때까지 이크나톤처럼 살렘의 계시 종교에 대해 놀랍도록 분명한 개념을 가진 사람은 없었습니다(93.4.1). 어떤 면에서 이 젊은 이집트 왕은 인류 역사상 가장 비범한 사람들 가운데 하나입니다. 메소포타미아에서 영적 저하(低下)가 깊어지던 이 시기에, 그는 이집트에서 엘 엘리온, 하나뿐인 하느님의 교리를 꺼지지 않게 하여, 당시 미가엘이 미래에 증여되는 종교적 배경에 절대적으로 필요한 철학적 일신교의 경로를 유지했습니다. 그리고 다른 이유 중 이런 업적을 인정하여 아이 예수를 이집트로 데려갔고(마2:14), 이크나톤의 영적 후계자들 중 일부가 그를 만났고 유란시아에 대한 그의 신적 사명의 어떤 단계를 어느 정도까지 알아들었습니다.
95:5.3 (1047.3) Moses, the greatest character between Melchizedek and Jesus, was the joint gift to the world of the Hebrew race and the Egyptian royal family; and had Ikhnaton possessed the versatility and ability of Moses, had he manifested a political genius to match his surprising religious leadership, then would Egypt have become the great monotheistic nation of that age; and if this had happened, it is barely possible that Jesus might have lived the greater portion of his mortal life in Egypt. 멜기세덱과 예수 사이에 가장 위대한 인물, 모세는 히브리 종족과 이집트 왕실계의 공동 선물이었습니다. 이크나톤이 모세의 다재다능(多才多能)과 능력이 있어서, 자신의 놀라운 종교 지도력에 걸맞은 정치적 천재성을 나타냈다면, 이집트는 그 시대에 가장 위대한 일신교 국가가 되었을 것입니다. 이런 일이 일어났다면, 예수는 자기 필사자 생애의 대부분을 이집트에서 사셨을 가능성까지 있습니다.
95:5.4 (1047.4) Never in all history did any king so methodically proceed to swing a whole nation from polytheism to monotheism as did this extraordinary Ikhnaton. With the most amazing determination this young ruler broke with the past, changed his name, abandoned his capital, built an entirely new city, and created a new art and literature for a whole people. But he went too fast; he built too much, more than could stand when he had gone. Again, he failed to provide for the material stability and prosperity of his people, all of which reacted unfavorably against his religious teachings when the subsequent floods of adversity and oppression swept over the Egyptians. 모든 역사상, 이 비범한 이크나톤처럼 온 국가를 다신교에서 일신교로 그토록 꼼꼼하게 계속 바꾼 왕은 없었습니다. 가장 굉장한 결단력으로 이 젊은 통치자는 과거와 단절하여, 자기 이름을 바꾸고, 자기 수도를 버리고, 완전히 새 도시를 건설했고, 온 민족을 위해 새로운 예술과 문학을 일으켰습니다. 그러나 그는 너무 서둘렀고, 자신이 죽은 후에 그대로 있을 것보다 더 너무 많이 건설했습니다. 반면에 그는 자기 민족의 물질적 안정과 번영을 끝내 공급하지 못했고, 나중에 역경과 압박의 홍수가 이집트인(人)들을 압도했을 때, 이런 모든 것들은 그의 종교적 가르침에 적대적으로 불리하게 반응했습니다.
95:5.5 (1047.5) Had this man of amazingly clear vision and extraordinary singleness of purpose had the political sagacity of Moses, he would have changed the whole history of the evolution of religion and the revelation of truth in the Occidental world. During his lifetime he was able to curb the activities of the priests, whom he generally discredited, but they maintained their cults in secret and sprang into action as soon as the young king passed from power; and they were not slow to connect all of Egypt’s subsequent troubles with the establishment of monotheism during his reign. 놀랄 정도로 선명한 통찰력과 비범하게 전심(全心)을 쏟았던 이 사람이 모세의 정치적 총명을 지녔더라면, 그는 서양 세계에서 종교의 진화와 진리 계시의 전(全) 역사를 바꾸어 놓았을 것입니다. 그의 평생에, 그는 대체로 자신이 믿지 않던, 사제들의 활동을 제한할 수 있었지만, 그들은 자신들의 종파를 몰래 유지했고, 젊은 왕이 권좌에서 물러나자마자 갑자기 행동하기 시작했습니다. 그들은 이후 이집트의 모든 어려움을 그가 다스릴 때 설립한 일신교와 연결하기에 주저하지 않았습니다.
95:5.6 (1047.6) Very wisely Ikhnaton sought to establish monotheism under the guise of the sun-god. This decision to approach the worship of the Universal Father by absorbing all gods into the worship of the sun was due to the counsel of the Salemite physician. Ikhnaton took the generalized doctrines of the then existent Aton faith regarding the fatherhood and motherhood of Deity and created a religion which recognized an intimate worshipful relation between man and God. 이크나톤은 아주 현명하게 태양을 하느님과 같은 존재로 가장하여 일신교를 세우려 했습니다. 모든 신과 같은 존재들을 태양 숭배로 흡수하여 우주 아버지의 경배에 접근하려는 이런 결정은 살렘-사람(신앙인) 의사의 조언에 의한 것이었습니다. 이크나톤은 신(神)의 부모(父母)-됨에 관해 당시 존재하던 아톤 신앙의 일반화된 교리를 취하여, 사람과 하느님 사이에 친교로 경배하는 관계를 알아보는 종교를 창시(創始)했습니다.
95:5.7 (1048.1) Ikhnaton was wise enough to maintain the outward worship of Aton, the sun-god, while he led his associates in the disguised worship of the One God, creator of Aton and supreme Father of all. This young teacher-king was a prolific writer, being author of the exposition entitled “The One God,” a book of thirty-one chapters, which the priests, when returned to power, utterly destroyed. Ikhnaton also wrote one hundred and thirty-seven hymns, twelve of which are now preserved in the Old Testament Book of Psalms, credited to Hebrew authorship. 이크나톤은 외적으로 아톤, 태양신(神) 숭배를 유지하면서, 자기 동료들을 하나뿐인 하느님, 아톤의 창조자이며 만유의 최극 아버지를 위장한 경배로 이끌 만큼 현명했습니다. 이 젊은 선생-왕은 다작(多作)의 저술가(著述家)로, 31장의 책, “하나뿐인 하느님”이라는 제목의 해설서 저자(著者)였는데 권력을 되찾은 사제들이 완전히 파기했습니다. 이크나톤은 또한 137편의 찬가를 썼는데, 그중 12편이 히브리인 저작으로 넘겨져서, 구약성서 시편에 지금 보존되어 있습니다.
95:5.8 (1048.2) The supreme word of Ikhnaton’s religion in daily life was “righteousness,” and he rapidly expanded the concept of right doing to embrace international as well as national ethics. This was a generation of amazing personal piety and was characterized by a genuine aspiration among the more intelligent men and women to find God and to know him. In those days social position or wealth gave no Egyptian any advantage in the eyes of the law. The family life of Egypt did much to preserve and augment moral culture and was the inspiration of the later superb family life of the Jews in Palestine. 일상생활에서 이크나톤 종교의 최고 단어는 “공의(公義)”였고 그는 국제적 윤리와 마찬가지로 국가적 윤리를 포함하는 올바른 행동 개념을 신속하게 확장했습니다. 이 시대는 놀라운 개인적 경건의 세대였고, 더욱 지능적인 남자와 여자들이 하느님을 찾고 그를 알려는 참된 열망이 특색을 이루었습니다. 당시에는 사회적 지위나 재산이 법의 관점에서 이집트인(人)에게 어떤 이점도 주지 못했습니다. 이집트의 가정생활은 도덕적 문화를 많이 보전하고 늘렸으며 후대 팔레스타인 유대인들의 뛰어난 가정생활에 좋은 영향을 주어 바람직하게 변화되었습니다.
95:5.9 (1048.3) The fatal weakness of Ikhnaton’s gospel was its greatest truth, the teaching that Aton was not only the creator of Egypt but also of the “whole world, man and beasts, and all the foreign lands, even Syria and Kush, besides this land of Egypt. He sets all in their place and provides all with their needs.” These concepts of Deity were high and exalted, but they were not nationalistic. Such sentiments of internationality in religion failed to augment the morale of the Egyptian army on the battlefield, while they provided effective weapons for the priests to use against the young king and his new religion. He had a Deity concept far above that of the later Hebrews, but it was too advanced to serve the purposes of a nation builder. 이크나톤 복음의 결정적인 약점은 그 가장 위대한 진리, 아톤이 이집트뿐만 아니라 “온 세상, 사람과 짐승, 이 이집트 땅 외에 시리아와 쿠스까지, 모든 외국 땅의 창조자이며, 그가 모두를 그들의 자리에 두고 그들의 필요를 모두 공급합니다.”라는 가르침이었습니다. 이런 신(神)개념들은 고귀하고 숭고하지만, 그것들은 국가주의(국가 이익 우선)적이지 않았습니다. 종교의 그런 국제성 정서는 전쟁터에서 이집트 군대의 사기를 높이지 못했던 반면, 그것들은 사제들에게 젊은 왕과 그의 새 종교에 적대적으로 사용할 효과적인 무기를 마련해 주었습니다. 그는 후대 히브리인들보다 훨씬 높은 신(神)개념을 지녔지만, 그것은 너무 진보적이어서 국가를 세우는 자의 목적으로 사용할 수 없었습니다.
95:5.10 (1048.4) Though the monotheistic ideal suffered with the passing of Ikhnaton, the idea of one God persisted in the minds of many groups. The son-in-law of Ikhnaton went along with the priests, back to the worship of the old gods, changing his name to Tutankhamen. The capital returned to Thebes, and the priests waxed fat upon the land, eventually gaining possession of one seventh of all Egypt; and presently one of this same order of priests made bold to seize the crown. 일신교의 이상(理想)은 이크나톤의 죽음으로 어려움을 겪었지만, 하나뿐인 하느님 사상은 여러 집단의 마음에 살아남았습니다. 이크나톤의 사위는 사제들과 동조하여 옛 신과 같은 존재들의 숭배로 돌아가 자기 이름을 투탕카멘으로 바꾸었습니다. 수도는 테베로 되돌아갔고, 사제들에게 그 땅이 점점 더 많아져, 결국 전체 이집트 1/7의 소유를 쟁취했습니다. 그리고 즉시 바로 이 사제 계층 중 하나가 감히 왕관을 차지했습니다.
95:5.11 (1048.5) But the priests could not fully overcome the monotheistic wave. Increasingly they were compelled to combine and hyphenate their gods; more and more the family of gods contracted. Ikhnaton had associated the flaming disc of the heavens with the creator God, and this idea continued to flame up in the hearts of men, even of the priests, long after the young reformer had passed on. Never did the concept of monotheism die out of the hearts of men in Egypt and in the world. It persisted even to the arrival of the Creator Son of that same divine Father, the one God whom Ikhnaton had so zealously proclaimed for the worship of all Egypt. 그러나 사제들은 일신교적 물결을 완전히 이겨낼 수 없었습니다. 점차 그들은 자신들의 신과 같은 존재들을 병합하여 붙임표로 연결하지 않을 수 없었습니다. 신과 같은 존재들의 집단은 점점 더 줄어들었습니다. 이크나톤은 하늘의 이글거리는 원반과 창조자 하느님을 연결하여 생각했고, 이런 사상은 젊은 개혁가가 죽은 지 오랜 후에, 사람들의 심정에서, 사제들의 심정까지 계속 활활 타올랐습니다. 일신교의 개념은 이집트와 세상 사람들의 심정에서 절대로 사라지지 않았습니다. 그것은, 이크나톤이 온 이집트가 경배하도록 그렇게 열렬히 선포한 하나뿐인 하느님, 바로 그 신적 아버지의 창조주 아들이 등장할 때까지도 살아남았습니다.
95:5.12 (1048.6) The weakness of Ikhnaton’s doctrine lay in the fact that he proposed such an advanced religion that only the educated Egyptians could fully comprehend his teachings. The rank and file of the agricultural laborers never really grasped his gospel and were, therefore, ready to return with the priests to the old-time worship of Isis and her consort Osiris, who was supposed to have been miraculously resurrected from a cruel death at the hands of Set, the god of darkness and evil. 이크나톤 교리의 약점은 그가 교육받은 이집트인(人)들만 그의 가르침을 충분히 이해할 수 있는 그런 진보적 종교를 제안했다는 사실에 있었습니다. 농업 근로자들의 일반 구성원들은 실제로 그의 복음을 조금도 파악하지 못했기 때문에 사제들과 함께, 이시스와 그녀의 배우자 오시리스의 옛날식 숭배로 되돌아갈 준비가 되어 있었는데, 오시리스는 어둠과 악의 신과 같은 존재, 셋의 손에 잔인하게 죽었다가 기적적으로 소생한 것으로 여겨졌습니다.
95:5.13 (1049.1) The teaching of immortality for all men was too advanced for the Egyptians. Only kings and the rich were promised a resurrection; therefore did they so carefully embalm and preserve their bodies in tombs against the day of judgment. But the democracy of salvation and resurrection as taught by Ikhnaton eventually prevailed, even to the extent that the Egyptians later believed in the survival of dumb animals. 모든 사람이 불멸한다는 가르침은 이집트인(人)들에게 너무 진보적이었습니다. 단지 왕들과 부자들만 되살아난다고 약속되었기 때문에, 그들은 판결의 날을 대비하여 아주 조심스럽게 그들의 시신을 방부 처리하여 무덤에 보존했습니다. 그러나 이크나톤이 가르친 대로 구원과 부활의 사회적 평등이 결국 널리 보급되어, 이집트인(人)들은 말을 못 하는 동물들의 생존을 믿는 정도까지 이르렀습니다.
95:5.14 (1049.2) Although the effort of this Egyptian ruler to impose the worship of one God upon his people appeared to fail, it should be recorded that the repercussions of his work persisted for centuries both in Palestine and Greece, and that Egypt thus became the agent for transmitting the combined evolutionary culture of the Nile and the revelatory religion of the Euphrates to all of the subsequent peoples of the Occident. 자기 민족에게 하나뿐인 하느님을 경배하도록 강요한 이 이집트 통치자의 노력은 실패로 끝난 듯했지만, 그의 작품의 영향은 팔레스타인과 그리스 양쪽에서 수 세기 동안 살아남았고 이렇게 이집트는 나일강의 진화 문화와 유프라테스의 계시 종교를 결합하여 서양의 후대 모든 민족에게 보급하는 중개상이 되었다는 것이 기록되어야 합니다.
95:5.15 (1049.3) The glory of this great era of moral development and spiritual growth in the Nile valley was rapidly passing at about the time the national life of the Hebrews was beginning, and consequent upon their sojourn in Egypt these Bedouins carried away much of these teachings and perpetuated many of Ikhnaton’s doctrines in their racial religion. 나일강 유역에서 도덕이 발전하고 영적으로 성장하던 이 위대한 시대의 영광은, 히브리인들의 국민적 생활이 시작될 무렵에 빠르게 지나가고 있었으며, 이런 베두인 사람들이 이집트에 머물렀던 결과로 그들이 이런 가르침들을 가져가서, 이크나톤의 여러 교리를 자기 종족의 종교로 오래도록 없어지지 않게 했습니다.
6. The Salem Doctrines in Iran 이란의 살렘 교리
95:6.1 (1049.4) From Palestine some of the Melchizedek missionaries passed on through Mesopotamia and to the great Iranian plateau. For more than five hundred years the Salem teachers made headway in Iran, and the whole nation was swinging to the Melchizedek religion when a change of rulers precipitated a bitter persecution which practically ended the monotheistic teachings of the Salem cult. The doctrine of the Abrahamic covenant was virtually extinct in Persia when, in that great century of moral renaissance, the sixth before Christ, Zoroaster appeared to revive the smouldering embers of the Salem gospel. 멜기세덱 선교사들 일부가 팔레스타인에서 메소포타미아를 거쳐 거대한 이란 고원으로 나아갔습니다. 500년 이상 살렘 선생들이 이란에 전진했고, 전 국민이 멜기세덱 종교로 방향을 바꾸고 있었을 때, 통치자들이 바뀌면서 살렘 종파의 일신교적 가르침을 실제로 끝내는 호된 박해가 갑자기 생기게 되었습니다. 아브라함의 계약 교리가 사실상 페르시아에서 끊어졌을 때, 그리스도 이전 6번째의 그 위대한 도덕적 부흥의 세기에, 조로아스터가 나타나 연기가 나며 거의 꺼져가는 살렘 복음의 불씨를 소생시켰습니다.
95:6.2 (1049.5) This founder of a new religion was a virile and adventurous youth, who, on his first pilgrimage to Ur in Mesopotamia, had learned of the traditions of the Caligastia and the Lucifer rebellion — along with many other traditions — all of which had made a strong appeal to his religious nature. Accordingly, as the result of a dream while in Ur, he settled upon a program of returning to his northern home to undertake the remodeling of the religion of his people. He had imbibed the Hebraic idea of a God of justice, the Mosaic concept of divinity. The idea of a supreme God was clear in his mind, and he set down all other gods as devils, consigned them to the ranks of the demons of which he had heard in Mesopotamia. He had learned of the story of the Seven Master Spirits as the tradition lingered in Ur, and, accordingly, he created a galaxy of seven supreme gods with Ahura-Mazda at its head. These subordinate gods he associated with the idealization of Right Law, Good Thought, Noble Government, Holy Character, Health, and Immortality. 새 종교의 창시자는 씩씩하고 모험적인 청년으로, 메소포타미아의 우르로 갔던 첫 순례 여행에서 다른 여러 전승(傳承)과 함께 칼리가스티아와 루시퍼 반란의 전승(傳承)을 들었는데, 이 모든 것이 그의 종교적 본성을 세차게 움직였습니다. 그래서 우르에 있을 때 꿈의 결과로, 그는 북쪽 자기 고향으로 돌아가 자기 민족 종교를 개조하는 계획에 착수하기로 정했습니다. 그는 정의(正義)의 하느님에 대한 히브리 관념, 신성(神性)에 대한 모세의 개념은 받아들였습니다. 그의 마음에 최상의 하느님 개념이 뚜렷했고, 그는 다른 모든 신과 같은 존재들을 악령들로 여겼고, 자신이 메소포타미아에서 들었던 악령들의 지위로 할당했습니다. 그는 우르에 남아 있던 전승(傳承)으로서 일곱 주(主) 영의 이야기를 들었고, 따라서, 그는 아후라-마즈다를 수장으로 일곱 최극 신과 같은 존재들의 집단을 만들어냈습니다. 그는 이런 하위 신과 같은 존재들을 올바른 법, 선한 생각, 고상한 정부(政府), 거룩한 품성, 건강 및 불멸의 이상화(理想化)와 관련시켰습니다.
95:6.3 (1049.6) And this new religion was one of action — work — not prayers and rituals. Its God was a being of supreme wisdom and the patron of civilization; it was a militant religious philosophy which dared to battle with evil, inaction, and backwardness. 그리고 이 새 종교는 기도와 의식(儀式)이 아니라 행위, 즉 활동의 종교였습니다. 그 종교의 하느님은 최극 지혜의 존재와 문명의 후원자였습니다. 그것은 과감하게 악(惡), 게으름 및 퇴보와 싸우는 투쟁적 종교 철학이었습니다.
95:6.4 (1049.7) Zoroaster did not teach the worship of fire but sought to utilize the flame as a symbol of the pure and wise Spirit of universal and supreme dominance. (All too true, his later followers did both reverence and worship this symbolic fire.) Finally, upon the conversion of an Iranian prince, this new religion was spread by the sword. And Zoroaster heroically died in battle for that which he believed was the “truth of the Lord of light.” 조로아스터는 불의 숭배를 가르치지 않았지만, 불꽃을 우주적인 최극 권위의 순수하고 현명한 영(靈)의 상징으로 활용하려고 했습니다. (그의 후대 추종자들이 이런 상징적 불을 숭배하여 모셨던 것은 모두 사실이었습니다). 결국, 어느 이란 군주가 개종한 후, 이 새 종교는 무력으로 퍼졌습니다. 그리고 조로아스터는 “빛의 주(主)에 대한 진리”로 자신이 믿었던 것을 위한 전투에서 용맹스럽게 죽었습니다.
95:6.5 (1050.1) Zoroastrianism is the only Urantian creed that perpetuates the Dalamatian and Edenic teachings about the Seven Master Spirits. While failing to evolve the Trinity concept, it did in a certain way approach that of God the Sevenfold. Original Zoroastrianism was not a pure dualism; though the early teachings did picture evil as a time co-ordinate of goodness, it was definitely eternity-submerged in the ultimate reality of the good. Only in later times did the belief gain credence that good and evil contended on equal terms. 조로아스터교는 일곱 주(主) 영에 대한 달라마시아와 에덴의 가르침을 이어오고 있는 유일한 유란시아 신조입니다. 삼위일체 개념을 끝내 발전시키지 못하고 말았지만, 어떤 면에서 칠중 하느님의 개념에 접근했습니다. 원래 조로아스터교는 순전한 이원론(二元論)이 아니었습니다. 초기 가르침들은 악(惡)을 선(善)을 나타내는 시간적 좌표로 묘사했지만, 악(惡)은 분명히 선(善)의 궁극적 실체 안에 영원히-묻혀 있었습니다. 후일에 비로소 선(善)과 악(惡)이 평등한 조건에서 다툰다는 믿음이 신빙성(信憑性)을 얻게 되었습니다.
95:6.6 (1050.2) The Jewish traditions of heaven and hell and the doctrine of devils as recorded in the Hebrew scriptures, while founded on the lingering traditions of Lucifer and Caligastia, were principally derived from the Zoroastrians during the times when the Jews were under the political and cultural dominance of the Persians. Zoroaster, like the Egyptians, taught the “day of judgment,” but he connected this event with the end of the world. 낙원과 지옥의 유대 전승(傳承)들과 히브리 성서에 기록된 악령들의 교리는, 루시퍼와 칼리가스티아의 남아 있던 전승(傳承)들에 근거했지만, 유대인들이 페르시아의 정치와 문화의 지배 아래에 있던 시기에 주로 조로아스터 교도들로부터 파생했습니다. 조로아스터는 이집트인(人)들처럼 “심판의 날“을 가르쳤지만, 그는 이 사건을 세상의 종말과 연결했습니다.
95:6.7 (1050.3) Even the religion which succeeded Zoroastrianism in Persia was markedly influenced by it. When the Iranian priests sought to overthrow the teachings of Zoroaster, they resurrected the ancient worship of Mithra. And Mithraism spread throughout the Levant and Mediterranean regions, being for some time a contemporary of both Judaism and Christianity. The teachings of Zoroaster thus came successively to impress three great religions: Judaism and Christianity and, through them, Mohammedanism. 페르시아에서 조로아스터교를 계승한 종교조차 조로아스터교의 영향을 뚜렷하게 받았습니다. 이란 사제들이 조로아스터의 가르침을 파괴하려고 애쓸 때, 그들은 고대 미트라 숭배를 소생시켰습니다. 미트라 신교(神敎)는 레반트와 지중해 지역 전체에 퍼져서, 얼마 동안 유대교와 기독교의 동시대에 있었습니다. 이렇게 조로아스터의 가르침은 위대한 세 종교, 유대교와 기독교, 그리고 그것들을 통한 이슬람교에 연속적으로 새겨졌습니다.
95:6.8 (1050.4) But it is a far cry from the exalted teachings and noble psalms of Zoroaster to the modern perversions of his gospel by the Parsees with their great fear of the dead, coupled with the entertainment of beliefs in sophistries which Zoroaster never stooped to countenance. 그러나, 조로아스터가 절대로 용납하지 않은 궤변을 믿고 즐기면서 결부시킨, 죽은 자들에 대한 커다란 두려움과 함께 파시교도가 곡해한 그의 현대적 복음은 조로아스터의 숭고한 가르침과 고귀한 성시(聖詩)들과 동떨어진 것이었습니다.
95:6.9 (1050.5) This great man was one of that unique group that sprang up in the sixth century before Christ to keep the light of Salem from being fully and finally extinguished as it so dimly burned to show man in his darkened world the path of light leading to everlasting life. 이 위대한 사람은 그리스도 이전 6세기에 출현한 그런 유일한 집단의 일원으로, 살렘의 빛이 그렇게 희미하게 타오를 때, 그것이 완전히 최종적으로 꺼지지 않게 하여, 어두워진 자기 세상의 사람에게 영원한 생명으로 이끄는 빛의 경로를 보여주었습니다.
7. The Salem Teachings in Arabia 아라비아의 살렘 가르침
95:7.1 (1050.6) The Melchizedek teachings of the one God became established in the Arabian desert at a comparatively recent date. As in Greece, so in Arabia the Salem missionaries failed because of their misunderstanding of Machiventa’s instructions regarding overorganization. But they were not thus hindered by their interpretation of his admonition against all efforts to extend the gospel through military force or civil compulsion. 하나뿐인 하느님의 멜기세덱 가르침은 비교적 최근에 아라비아 사막에서 자리 잡았습니다. 그리스와 마찬가지로, 아라비아에서도 살렘 선교사들은 끝내 실패하고 말았는데 과도한 조직화에 대한 마키벤타의 지시를 그들이 오해했기 때문이었습니다. 그러나 군대나 민사적 강요를 통해 복음을 확장하려는 모든 노력에 반대하라는 그의 경고를 자신들이 해석하여 이렇게 방해받지는 않았습니다.
95:7.2 (1050.7) Not even in China or Rome did the Melchizedek teachings fail more completely than in this desert region so very near Salem itself. Long after the majority of the peoples of the Orient and Occident had become respectively Buddhist and Christian, the desert of Arabia continued as it had for thousands of years. Each tribe worshiped its olden fetish, and many individual families had their own household gods. Long the struggle continued between Babylonian Ishtar, Hebrew Yahweh, Iranian Ahura, and Christian Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Never was one concept able fully to displace the others. 중국이나 로마에서도 멜기세덱 가르침이 바로 그 살렘에 아주 가까운 이 사막 지역에서보다 더 완전하게 실패하지는 않았습니다. 동양과 서양의 대다수 민족이 각각 불교도와 기독교인이 되어 오래 지난 뒤에도, 아라비아 사막은 수천 년간 그대로 계속되었습니다. 부족마다 오래된 주물(呪物)을 숭배했고, 여러 각개 가정마다 가족만의 신과 같은 존재들을 갖고 있었습니다. 바빌론의 이쉬타르, 히브리인의 야훼, 이란의 아후라, 그리고 기독교의 주 예수 그리스도의 아버지 사이에서 오랫동안 다툼이 지속되었습니다. 어느 하나의 개념도 다른 개념을 완전하게 대체하지 못했습니다.
95:7.3 (1051.1) Here and there throughout Arabia were families and clans that held on to the hazy idea of the one God. Such groups treasured the traditions of Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, and Zoroaster. There were numerous centers that might have responded to the Jesusonian gospel, but the Christian missionaries of the desert lands were an austere and unyielding group in contrast with the compromisers and innovators who functioned as missionaries in the Mediterranean countries. Had the followers of Jesus taken more seriously his injunction to “go into all the world and preach the gospel,” and had they been more gracious in that preaching, less stringent in collateral social requirements of their own devising, then many lands would gladly have received the simple gospel of the carpenter’s son, Arabia among them. 아라비아 전역 여기저기에서 하나뿐인 하느님의 흐릿한 관념을 지속하는 가정과 씨족들이 있었습니다. 그런 집단들은 멜기세덱, 아브라함, 모세와 조로아스터의 전승(傳承)을 소중히 간직했습니다. 예수 복음에 응답할 수도 있는 여러 중심이 있었지만, 사막 지역의 기독 선교사들은 지중해 나라들에서 선교사들로서 활동하는 타협자들 및 혁신자들과는 뚜렷이 달라서 엄격하게 단호한 집단이었습니다. 예수의 추종자들이 “온 세상으로 가서 복음을 전하라(막16:15).”는 예수의 명령에 더 진지했더라면, 그리고 자신들이 스스로 고안한, 부수적인 사회적 자격에 덜 엄중히 하면서, 그들이 더 친절하게 설교했더라면, 아라비아를 포함한 여러 지역이 자신들 가운에 있는 목수 아들의 단순한 복음을 기쁘게 받아들였을 것입니다(마13:55, 막6:3).
95:7.4 (1051.2) Despite the fact that the great Levantine monotheisms failed to take root in Arabia, this desert land was capable of producing a faith which, though less demanding in its social requirements, was nonetheless monotheistic. 위대한 레반트의 일신교(一神敎)들이 아라비아에서 끝내 뿌리를 내리지 못했지만, 이 사막 지역은, 사회적 자격을 지나치게 요구하지 않았어도, 일신교적 신앙을 일으킬 수 있었습니다.
95:7.5 (1051.3) There was only one factor of a tribal, racial, or national nature about the primitive and unorganized beliefs of the desert, and that was the peculiar and general respect which almost all Arabian tribes were willing to pay to a certain black stone fetish in a certain temple at Mecca. This point of common contact and reverence subsequently led to the establishment of the Islamic religion. What Yahweh, the volcano spirit, was to the Jewish Semites, the Kaaba stone became to their Arabic cousins. 사막의 원시적이고 조직되지 않은 믿음에 대해 부족적, 인종적, 또는 국가적 특성의 요소는 단 하나뿐이었는데, 그것은 거의 모든 아라비아 부족이 메카의 어떤 사원에 있는 어떤 검은 돌 주물(呪物)에게 기꺼이 표했던 두드러진 일반적 존중이었습니다. 공동으로 마주치며 존경했던 이런 점은 나중에 이슬람교의 설립으로 이어졌습니다. 유대 셈족(族)에게 야훼는 화산(火山)의 영(靈)이었고, 그들의 아랍 사촌들에게는 카바의 돌이 그렇게 되었습니다.
95:7.6 (1051.4) The strength of Islam has been its clear-cut and well-defined presentation of Allah as the one and only Deity; its weakness, the association of military force with its promulgation, together with its degradation of woman. But it has steadfastly held to its presentation of the One Universal Deity of all, “who knows the invisible and the visible. He is the merciful and the compassionate.” “Truly God is plenteous in goodness to all men.” “And when I am sick, it is he who heals me.” “For whenever as many as three speak together, God is present as a fourth,” for is he not “the first and the last, also the seen and the hidden”? 이슬람교의 강점은 알라를 하나뿐인 유일한 신(神)으로 선명하고 명확하게 제시한 것이었습니다. 그 약점은 여성의 격하와 더불어, 군대를 포교와 연결한 것이었습니다. 그러나 그것은 만물의 하나뿐인 우주적 신(神)을 흔들리지 않고 표현했습니다. “그는 보이지 않는 것과 보이는 것을 알며, 자비롭고 온정적이라.” “진실로 하느님은 모든 사람에게 풍부하게 선(善)을 베푸시도다.” “내가 병들 때, 나를 고치시는 분이시라.” “셋이 서로 말할 때 언제든지, 하느님은 넷째로 함께 계시는데,” 그는 “처음과 나중이며 또한 보이며 숨겨진 분”이기 때문이 아닙니까?
95:7.7 (1051.5) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.][네바돈의 멜기세덱이 제시함.]
96:0.1 (1052.1) IN CONCEIVING of Deity, man first includes all gods, then subordinates all foreign gods to his tribal deity, and finally excludes all but the one God of final and supreme value. The Jews synthesized all gods into their more sublime concept of the Lord God of Israel. The Hindus likewise combined their multifarious deities into the “one spirituality of the gods” portrayed in the Rig-Veda, while the Mesopotamians reduced their gods to the more centralized concept of Bel-Marduk. These ideas of monotheism matured all over the world not long after the appearance of Machiventa Melchizedek at Salem in Palestine. But the Melchizedek concept of Deity was unlike that of the evolutionary philosophy of inclusion, subordination, and exclusion; it was based exclusively on creative power and very soon influenced the highest deity concepts of Mesopotamia, India, and Egypt. 신(神)이 생각에 떠오르면서, 인간은 처음에 모든 하느님과 같은 존재들을 포함한 다음에, 이방의 모든 신과 같은 존재들을 자기 부족 신(神) 밑에 두며, 최종적인 최고 가치의 하나뿐인 하느님 외에 모두를 결국 몰아냅니다. 유대인들은 모든 신과 같은 존재들을 이스라엘의 주 하느님이라는 보다 숭고한 개념으로 통합했습니다. 힌두교도들은 마찬가지로 다양한 자기 신(神)들을 리그-베다에 묘사된 “신과 같은 존재들의 하나뿐인 영성”으로 결합했고 한편, 메소포타미아인(人)들은 자신들의 신과 같은 존재들을 벨-마르둑이라는 더 집중화된 개념으로 줄였습니다. 일신교의 이런 관념들은 마키벤타 멜기세덱이 팔레스타인의 살렘에 출현한 후 오래 지나지 않아서 전 세계에 걸쳐 충분히 발달했습니다. 그러나 신(神)에 대한 멜기세덱의 관념은 포함하고, 종속시키며, 배제하는 진화 철학의 개념과 달랐습니다. 그것은 오로지 창조적 권능에 근거했고, 곧 메소포타미아, 인도 및 이집트의 최고 신(神)개념에 영향을 미쳤습니다.
96:0.2 (1052.2) The Salem religion was revered as a tradition by the Kenites and several other Canaanite tribes. And this was one of the purposes of Melchizedek’s incarnation: That a religion of one God should be so fostered as to prepare the way for the earth bestowal of a Son of that one God. Michael could hardly come to Urantia until there existed a people believing in the Universal Father among whom he could appear. 켄-사람들과 여러 다른 가나안 부족들은 살렘 종교를 전승(傳承)으로 존경했습니다. 이것은 멜기세덱이 성육신한 목적 중 하나였습니다. 하나뿐인 하느님 종교가 그렇게 조성되어 하나뿐인 그 하느님의 아들이 지상에 증여될 길이 미리 마련되어야 했습니다. 미가엘은 자신이 출현할 수 있는 사람 중에 우주 아버지를 믿는 사람들이 존재할 때까지 도저히 유란시아에 올 수 없었습니다.
96:0.3 (1052.3) The Salem religion persisted among the Kenites in Palestine as their creed, and this religion as it was later adopted by the Hebrews was influenced, first, by Egyptian moral teachings; later, by Babylonian theologic thought; and lastly, by Iranian conceptions of good and evil. Factually the Hebrew religion is predicated upon the covenant between Abraham and Machiventa Melchizedek, evolutionally it is the outgrowth of many unique situational circumstances, but culturally it has borrowed freely from the religion, morality, and philosophy of the entire Levant. It is through the Hebrew religion that much of the morality and religious thought of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Iran was transmitted to the Occidental peoples. 살렘 종교는 팔레스타인의 켄-사람들 사이에서 그들의 신조로 살아남았고, 나중에 히브리인들이 받아들인 이 종교는 처음에 이집트의 도덕적 가르침으로, 나중에 바빌론의 신학 사상으로, 최후로 이란의 선(善)과 악(惡)에 대한 개념으로 영향을 받았습니다. 실제로 히브리 종교는 아브라함과 멜기세덱 사이의 계약에 근거한 것으로, 진화적으로 여러 독특한 상황의 환경에서 파생했지만, 문화적으로 레반트 전체의 종교, 도덕 및 철학에서 아낌없이 빌려 쓴 것입니다. 히브리 종교를 통해 이집트, 메소포타미아와 이란의 도덕성과 종교 사상의 많은 부분이 서양 민족들에게 전해졌습니다.
1. Deity Concepts Among the Semites 셈족의 신(神)개념들
96:1.1 (1052.4) The early Semites regarded everything as being indwelt by a spirit. There were spirits of the animal and vegetable worlds; annual spirits, the lord of progeny; spirits of fire, water, and air; a veritable pantheon of spirits to be feared and worshiped. And the teaching of Melchizedek regarding a Universal Creator never fully destroyed the belief in these subordinate spirits or nature gods. 초기 셈족은 무엇이나 다 영(靈)이 살고 있다고 생각했습니다. 동물과 식물 세계의 영(靈)들이 있었습니다. 일년생(一年生)의 영(靈)들, 즉 소산(所産)의 지배자가 있었습니다. 불, 물 및 공기의 영(靈)들이 있었습니다. 두려워하고 숭배하는 영(靈)들로 가득한, 진정한 만신전(萬神殿)이 있었습니다. 그리고 우주 창조자에 관한 멜기세덱의 가르침은 이런 하위 영(靈)들이나 자연의 신과 같은 존재들에 대한 믿음을 완전히 없애지 않았습니다.
96:1.2 (1052.5) The progress of the Hebrews from polytheism through henotheism to monotheism was not an unbroken and continuous conceptual development. They experienced many retrogressions in the evolution of their Deity concepts, while during any one epoch there existed varying ideas of God among different groups of Semite believers. From time to time numerous terms were applied to their concepts of God, and in order to prevent confusion these various Deity titles will be defined as they pertain to the evolution of Jewish theology: 히브리인들이 다신교(多神敎)에서 단일신교(單一神敎)를 거쳐 일신교(一神敎)까지 진보한 것은, 온전히 연속된 개념의 발전이 아니었습니다. 그들은 자신들 신(神)개념의 진화에서 여러 번의 퇴보를 경험했고, 한편으로 어떤 한 획기적 시대 동안, 셈족 신자 중 다른 집단 사이에는 하느님에 대한 다양한 개념들이 있었습니다. 때때로 수많은 용어가 그들의 하느님 개념에 적용되었고, 혼란을 방지하기 위해 이렇게 다양한 신(神)의 칭호가 유대 신학의 발전에 관련된 대로, 그것들이 규정될 것입니다.
96:1.3 (1053.1) 1. Yahweh was the god of the southern Palestinian tribes, who associated this concept of deity with Mount Horeb, the Sinai volcano. Yahweh was merely one of the hundreds and thousands of nature gods which held the attention and claimed the worship of the Semitic tribes and peoples. 야훼는 남쪽 팔레스타인 부족들의 신과 같은 존재였고, 그들은 이 신(神)의 개념을 호렙산(山), 시나이 화산과 연결하여 생각했습니다. 야훼는 단지, 셈 부족들과 민족들의 주의를 사로잡고 숭배를 요구했던, 수백 수천 자연의 신과 같은 존재 중 하나였습니다(창2:4).
96:1.4 (1053.2) 2. El Elyon. For centuries after Melchizedek’s sojourn at Salem his doctrine of Deity persisted in various versions but was generally connoted by the term El Elyon, the Most High God of heaven. Many Semites, including the immediate descendants of Abraham, at various times worshiped both Yahweh and El Elyon. 엘 엘리온. 멜기세덱이 살렘에 머문 후 여러 세기에 그의 신(神) 교리는 다양한 판(版)으로 지속했지만 대개 엘 엘리온이라는 용어로 하늘의 지고자 하느님을 의미했습니다(창14:18-22, 히7:1). 아브라함의 직계 후손을 포함하여, 여러 셈족은 여러 경우에 야훼와 엘 엘리온 둘 다 경배했습니다.
96:1.5 (1053.3) 3. El Shaddai. It is difficult to explain what El Shaddai stood for. This idea of God was a composite derived from the teachings of Amenemope’s Book of Wisdom modified by Ikhnaton’s doctrine of Aton and further influenced by Melchizedek’s teachings embodied in the concept of El Elyon. But as the concept of El Shaddai permeated the Hebrew mind, it became thoroughly colored with the Yahweh beliefs of the desert. 엘 샤다이. 엘 샤다이가 무엇을 의미하는지 설명하기는 어렵습니다. 하느님의 이 개념은 아메니모페의 지혜서 가르침에서 유래되어 이크나톤의 아톤 교리로 수정되었으며, 더욱더 엘 엘리온 개념으로 구현된 멜기세덱의 가르침의 영향으로 합성되었습니다. 그러나 엘 샤다이의 개념이 히브리인의 마음에 스며들면서, 그것은 사막의 야훼 믿음으로 철저히 물들어 왜곡되었습니다(창17:1, 28:3, 출6:3).
96:1.6 (1053.4) One of the dominant ideas of the religion of this era was the Egyptian concept of divine Providence, the teaching that material prosperity was a reward for serving El Shaddai. 이 시대를 지배하는 종교 개념 중 하나는 이집트의 신적 섭리 개념, 즉 물질적 번영은 엘 샤다이를 섬기는 보상이라는 가르침이었습니다.
96:1.7 (1053.5) 4. El. Amid all this confusion of terminology and haziness of concept, many devout believers sincerely endeavored to worship all of these evolving ideas of divinity, and there grew up the practice of referring to this composite Deity as El. And this term included still other of the Bedouin nature gods. 엘. 이런 용어의 모든 혼란과 흐린 개념 중에서 경건한 여러 신자는 이렇게 진화하는 신성(神性)의 모든 개념을 경배하려고 신실하게 애썼고, 이렇게 합성된 신(神)을 엘이라 부르는 관행이 생겼습니다. 그리고 이 용어는 베두인 사람의 신과 같은 존재 중 여전히 다른 것들을 포함했습니다(창31:13).
96:1.8 (1053.6) 5. Elohim. In Kish and Ur there long persisted Sumerian-Chaldean groups who taught a three-in-one God concept founded on the traditions of the days of Adam and Melchizedek. This doctrine was carried to Egypt, where this Trinity was worshiped under the name of Elohim, or in the singular as Eloah. The philosophic circles of Egypt and later Alexandrian teachers of Hebraic extraction taught this unity of pluralistic Gods, and many of Moses’ advisers at the time of the exodus believed in this Trinity. But the concept of the trinitarian Elohim never became a real part of Hebrew theology until after they had come under the political influence of the Babylonians. 엘로힘. 키쉬와 우르에서 아담과 멜기세덱 시절의 전승(傳承)에 근거를 둔 셋이-하나(삼위일체)인 하느님 개념을 가르친 수메르-갈대아 집단이 오랫동안 지속했습니다. 이 교리는 이집트로 전달되어서, 그곳에서 이 삼위일체가 엘로힘의 명칭 또는 단수형 엘로아로서 경배 되었습니다. 이집트의 철학계와 히브리 태생의 알렉산드리아 선생들은 이렇게 일체가 된 복수(複數) 하느님들을 가르쳤고, 출애굽 당시에 모세의 여러 고문(顧問 조언자)은 이 삼위일체를 믿었습니다. 그러나 삼위일체를 이루는 엘로힘의 개념은 히브리인들이 바빌론의 정치적 영향 아래로 들어가기까지 결코 실제로 히브리 신학의 일부가 되지 않았습니다(창1:1, 출6:2).
96:1.9 (1053.7) 6. Sundry names. The Semites disliked to speak the name of their Deity, and they therefore resorted to numerous appellations from time to time, such as: The Spirit of God, The Lord, The Angel of the Lord, The Almighty, The Holy One, The Most High, Adonai, The Ancient of Days, The Lord God of Israel, The Creator of Heaven and Earth, Kyrios, Jah, The Lord of Hosts, and The Father in Heaven. 갖가지 이름들. 셈족들은 자기들 신(神)의 이름을 말하기 싫어해서 때때로 다음과 같이 수많은 명칭을 사용했습니다: 하느님의 영(靈 창1:2), 주님(창18:27), 주님의 천사(사자, 사신 메신저 창16:7), 전능자(창48:25), 거룩한 분(왕하19:22, 욥6:10, 시71:22, 사1:4), 지고자(至高者 민24:16), 주(主-히브리어 수3:11, 13), 옛적부터 늘 계신 이(단7:9, 13, 22), 이스라엘의 주 하느님(출5:1), 하늘과 땅의 창조자(창1:1, 2:4), 주(主-헬라어 행19:20), 야(야훼의 축약 시68:4), 만군의 주(主, 삼상1:3), 하늘에 계신 아버지(마5:16, 45).
96:1.10 (1053.8) Jehovah is a term which in recent times has been employed to designate the completed concept of Yahweh which finally evolved in the long Hebrew experience. But the name Jehovah did not come into use until fifteen hundred years after the times of Jesus. 여호와는 오랜 히브리 경험에서 최종적으로 진화된 야훼의 완성된 개념을 나타내도록 사용된, 최근의 용어입니다. 그래서 여호와라는 이름은 예수의 시대 이후(以後) 1,500년이 지나서야 사용되기 시작했습니다(창22:14, 출6:3, 사12:2, 26:4, 시83:18).
96:1.11 (1054.1) Up to about 2000 B.C., Mount Sinai was intermittently active as a volcano, occasional eruptions occurring as late as the time of the sojourn of the Israelites in this region. The fire and smoke, together with the thunderous detonations associated with the eruptions of this volcanic mountain, all impressed and awed the Bedouins of the surrounding regions and caused them greatly to fear Yahweh. This spirit of Mount Horeb later became the god of the Hebrew Semites, and they eventually believed him to be supreme over all other gods. 약 BC 2,000년까지 시내산(山)은 화산으로써 간헐적으로 활동 중이었고, 이 지역에 이스라엘인(人)들이 머물던 때에도 때때로 불기운을 내뿜었습니다. 이런 화산의 분출과 관련된 우레같은 폭음과 더불어 불과 연기가 주변 지역의 베두인 사람들에게 깊이 새겨져, 두려움을 느껴 야훼를 매우 두려워하게 되었습니다. 호렙산의 이 영(靈)은 나중에 히브리 셈족의 신과 같은 존재가 되었고, 그들은 결국 그를 다른 모든 신과 같은 존재들보다 최고의 존재로 믿었습니다.
96:1.12 (1054.2) The Canaanites had long revered Yahweh, and although many of the Kenites believed more or less in El Elyon, the supergod of the Salem religion, a majority of the Canaanites held loosely to the worship of the old tribal deities. They were hardly willing to abandon their national deities in favor of an international, not to say an interplanetary, God. They were not universal-deity minded, and therefore these tribes continued to worship their tribal deities, including Yahweh and the silver and golden calves which symbolized the Bedouin herders’ concept of the spirit of the Sinai volcano. 가나안 사람들은 오랫동안 야훼를 우러러 공경했고, 여러 켄 사람이 살렘 종교의 신과 같은 존재를 초월한, 엘 엘리온을 어느 정도 믿었지만, 가나안 사람들 대다수는 과거 부족 신(神)들을 막연히 경배하고 있었습니다. 그들은 행성 사이에 존재하는 하느님은 아니더라도 국제적인 신을 위해 자신들의 국가적 신(神)들을 거의 포기하려 하지 않았습니다. 그들은 우주적-신(神)을 마음에 둘 수 없어서, 이 부족들은, 야훼와 시나이 화산의 정령(精靈)에 대한 베두인 목자들의 개념을 상징하는, 은과 금으로 만든 송아지들을 포함하여, 계속 자신들의 부족 신(神)들을 숭배했습니다.
96:1.13 (1054.3) The Syrians, while worshiping their gods, also believed in Yahweh of the Hebrews, for their prophets said to the Syrian king: “Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them on the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.” 시리아인(人)들은 자신들의 신과 같은 존재들을 숭배하는 동시에 히브리인(人)들의 야훼도 믿었는데, 자신들의 선지자들이 시리아 왕에게 “그들의 신과 같은 존재들은 언덕의 신과 같은 존재들이므로 그들이 우리보다 강합니다. 그러나 우리가 평지에서 그들에 대항하여 싸우면, 우리가 그들보다 강할 것입니다.”라고 말했기 때문입니다(왕상20:23).
96:1.14 (1054.4) As man advances in culture, the lesser gods are subordinated to a supreme deity; the great Jove persists only as an exclamation. The monotheists keep their subordinate gods as spirits, demons, fates, Nereids, fairies, brownies, dwarfs, banshees, and the evil eye. The Hebrews passed through henotheism and long believed in the existence of gods other than Yahweh, but they increasingly held that these foreign deities were subordinate to Yahweh. They conceded the actuality of Chemosh, god of the Amorites, but maintained that he was subordinate to Yahweh. 인간의 문화가 발전하면서, 부족한 신과 같은 존재들은 최고 신(神)에게 종속됩니다. 위대한 주피터는 감탄사로만 남아 있습니다. 일신론자들은 자신들의 하위(下位) 신과 같은 존재들을 정령(精靈), 귀신들, 숙명, 바다의 여신들, 요정들, 작은 요정들, 난쟁이들, 여자 유령(幽靈)들 및 악마 눈으로 둡니다. 히브리인(人)들은 단일신교를 거쳐 갔고, 야훼 외에 신과 같은 존재들을 오랫동안 믿었지만, 그들은 점차 이런 이방 신(神)들이 야훼에게 종속된다고 생각했습니다. 그들은 아모리인(人)들의 신과 같은 존재, 그모스의 현존을 인정했지만, 그모스가 야훼에게 딸려 매여있다고 주장했습니다.
96:1.15 (1054.5) The idea of Yahweh has undergone the most extensive development of all the mortal theories of God. Its progressive evolution can only be compared with the metamorphosis of the Buddha concept in Asia, which in the end led to the concept of the Universal Absolute even as the Yahweh concept finally led to the idea of the Universal Father. But as a matter of historic fact, it should be understood that, while the Jews thus changed their views of Deity from the tribal god of Mount Horeb to the loving and merciful Creator Father of later times, they did not change his name; they continued all the way along to call this evolving concept of Deity, Yahweh. 야훼 사상은 필사자의 모든 하느님 이론 중에서 가장 다방면에 걸쳐 발전을 겪었습니다. 야훼 사상의 점진적 진화는, 야훼 개념이 마침내 우주 아버지 사상으로 이어졌듯이, 아시아에서 결국 우주 절대자의 개념으로 이어졌던 붓다 개념의 변형에 견줄 수 있을 뿐입니다. 그러나 역사적 사실로서, 유대인들은 호렙산의 부족적 신과 같은 존재로부터 후대의 애정이 깊고 자비로운 창조자 아버지로 자신들의 신(神) 관점을 이렇게 바꾸었지만, 그들은 그의 이름을 바꾸지 않았습니다. 그들은 모든 과정에서 이렇게 진화하는 신(神)개념을 계속 야훼라고 불렀다는 것을 이해해야 합니다.
2. The Semitic Peoples 셈족 민족들
96:2.1 (1054.6) The Semites of the East were well-organized and well-led horsemen who invaded the eastern regions of the fertile crescent and there united with the Babylonians. The Chaldeans near Ur were among the most advanced of the eastern Semites. The Phoenicians were a superior and well-organized group of mixed Semites who held the western section of Palestine, along the Mediterranean coast. Racially the Semites were among the most blended of Urantia peoples, containing hereditary factors from almost all of the nine world races. 동방의 셈족은 비옥한 초승달의 동쪽 지역을 침략하여 거기에서 바빌로니아 사람들과 합병한, 잘 조직되고 잘 통솔된 말 타는 사람들이었습니다. 우르 근처의 갈대아인(人)들은 동쪽 셈족 중 가장 진보적이었습니다. 페니키아인(人)들은 지중해 연안을 따라 팔레스타인 서쪽 구역을 차지한, 우수하고 잘 조직된, 잡다한 셈족 집단이었습니다. 인종적으로 셈족은 세계 아홉 인종의 유전 요소를 거의 모두 포함하고 있어서, 유란시아 민족 중 가장 잡다했습니다.
96:2.2 (1054.7) Again and again the Arabian Semites fought their way into the northern Promised Land, the land that “flowed with milk and honey,” but just as often were they ejected by the better-organized and more highly civilized northern Semites and Hittites. Later, during an unusually severe famine, these roving Bedouins entered Egypt in large numbers as contract laborers on the Egyptian public works, only to find themselves undergoing the bitter experience of enslavement at the hard daily toil of the common and downtrodden laborers of the Nile valley. 아라비아 셈족은 북쪽에 있는 약속의 땅, “젖과 꿀이 흐르는” 땅에 들어가려고 몇 번이고 싸웠지만, 더 낫게 조직되어 더 고도로 문명화된 북쪽의 셈족과 히타이트족(族)에게 아주 빈번하게 쫓겨났습니다. 나중에, 전에 없이 극심한 기근 때에, 이렇게 방랑하는 베두인 사람들은 이집트의 공공 공사에 계약 노무자로서 이집트에 수없이 들어가, 나일강 유역에 흔히 있는 짓밟힌 노무자들의 고된 일상 노동에서 노예로 사는 쓰라린 경험을 겪을 뿐이었습니다(출3:7-9, 17).
96:2.3 (1055.1) It was only after the days of Machiventa Melchizedek and Abraham that certain tribes of Semites, because of their peculiar religious beliefs, were called the children of Israel and later on Hebrews, Jews, and the “chosen people.” Abraham was not the racial father of all the Hebrews; he was not even the progenitor of all the Bedouin Semites who were held captive in Egypt. True, his offspring, coming up out of Egypt, did form the nucleus of the later Jewish people, but the vast majority of the men and women who became incorporated into the clans of Israel had never sojourned in Egypt. They were merely fellow nomads who chose to follow the leadership of Moses as the children of Abraham and their Semite associates from Egypt journeyed through northern Arabia. 마키벤타 멜기세덱과 아브라함의 시대 이후에 비로소, 셈족 중 어떤 부족들이, 자신들의 독자적인 종교적 믿음 때문에, 이스라엘의 자손으로, 나중에 히브리인(人), 유대인 및 “선민(選民 선택된 백성)”으로 불렸습니다(신7:6, 14:2, 왕상3:8, 시33:12, 135:4. 사41:8-9, 44:1). 아브라함은 모든 히브리인(人)의 인종적 아버지가 아니었고, 이집트에서 포로로 있었던 베두인 셈족 전체의 조상도 아니었습니다. 사실, 이집트에서 나온 그의 자손들이 후대 유대 민족의 핵심을 형성했지만, 이스라엘 씨족으로 합병된 남녀 대부분은 결코 이집트에 머문 적이 없었습니다. 그들은 아브라함의 자녀들과 그들의 이집트 출신 셈족 동료들이 아라비아 북부를 통과하며 여행할 때 모세의 지도력을 따르기로 선택한 동료 유목민이었을 뿐입니다.
96:2.4 (1055.2) The Melchizedek teaching concerning El Elyon, the Most High, and the covenant of divine favor through faith, had been largely forgotten by the time of the Egyptian enslavement of the Semite peoples who were shortly to form the Hebrew nation. But throughout this period of captivity these Arabian nomads maintained a lingering traditional belief in Yahweh as their racial deity. 지고자(至高者) 엘 엘리온과 신앙을 통한 신적 은혜의 계약에 관한 멜기세덱 가르침은, 머지않아 히브리 국가를 형성할 셈족 민족들이 이집트에서 노예 상태로 있을 무렵, 대부분 잊어버려졌습니다. 그러나 이들 아라비아의 유목민들은 이런 사로잡혀있던 기간 내내 야훼를 자신들의 종족 신(神)으로 믿는 오래 끌던 전통적 믿음을 유지했습니다.
96:2.5 (1055.3) Yahweh was worshiped by more than one hundred separate Arabian tribes, and except for the tinge of the El Elyon concept of Melchizedek which persisted among the more educated classes of Egypt, including the mixed Hebrew and Egyptian stocks, the religion of the rank and file of the Hebrew captive slaves was a modified version of the old Yahweh ritual of magic and sacrifice. 분리된 100개 이상의 아라비아 부족이 야훼를 숭배했고, 히브리와 이집트의 혼합 혈통을 포함하여, 이집트에서 더 교양이 있는 계층 사이에서 지속되었던 멜기세덱의 엘 엘리온 개념의 색조를 제외하고는, 일반 히브리 포로 노예들의 종교는 마술과 희생제물의 옛 야훼 의식(儀式)이 변경된 판(版)이었습니다.
3. The Matchless Moses 비길 데 없는 모세
96:3.1 (1055.4) The beginning of the evolution of the Hebraic concepts and ideals of a Supreme Creator dates from the departure of the Semites from Egypt under that great leader, teacher, and organizer, Moses. His mother was of the royal family of Egypt; his father was a Semitic liaison officer between the government and the Bedouin captives. Moses thus possessed qualities derived from superior racial sources; his ancestry was so highly blended that it is impossible to classify him in any one racial group. Had he not been of this mixed type, he would never have displayed that unusual versatility and adaptability which enabled him to manage the diversified horde which eventually became associated with those Bedouin Semites who fled from Egypt to the Arabian Desert under his leadership. 히브리 개념과 최고 창조자에 대한 이상(理想)이 발전하기 시작한 것은 그 위대한 지도자, 선생이며 조직자, 모세 아래에서 셈족이 이집트를 벗어날 때부터 시작합니다. 그의 어머니는 이집트 왕실에 속했고, 그의 아버지는 정부(政府)와 베두인 포로들 사이에서 연락하는 셈족 장교였습니다. 그래서 모세는 우수한 인종적 근원에서 유래된 자질을 지녔습니다. 그의 조상은 너무 많이 혼합되어 그를 어느 한 인종 집단으로 분류하기는 어렵습니다. 그가 이렇게 섞인 유형이 아니었다면, 그는 자기 지도력 아래에서 이집트에서 아라비아 사막으로 도망했던 그런 베두인 셈족들과 드디어 어울리게 되었던 다양한 유목민 무리를 그가 잘 다룰 수 있게 했던 그런 보통이 아닌 융통성과 적응성을 절대로 발휘하지 않았을 것입니다(출2:1-10).
96:3.2 (1055.5) Despite the enticements of the culture of the Nile kingdom, Moses elected to cast his lot with the people of his father. At the time this great organizer was formulating his plans for the eventual freeing of his father’s people, the Bedouin captives hardly had a religion worthy of the name; they were virtually without a true concept of God and without hope in the world. 나일 왕국 문화가 마음을 끌었지만, 모세는 자기 아버지의 민족과 운명을 같이하기로 결심했습니다. 이 위대한 조직자가 자기 아버지 민족의 최후 해방을 위해 자기 계획을 세우고 있을 때, 베두인 포로들은 이름에 어울리는 종교가 거의 없었습니다. 그들은 사실상 진정한 하느님 개념이 없었고 세상에서 희망이 없었습니다.
96:3.3 (1055.6) No leader ever undertook to reform and uplift a more forlorn, downcast, dejected, and ignorant group of human beings. But these slaves carried latent possibilities of development in their hereditary strains, and there were a sufficient number of educated leaders who had been coached by Moses in preparation for the day of revolt and the strike for liberty to constitute a corps of efficient organizers. These superior men had been employed as native overseers of their people; they had received some education because of Moses’ influence with the Egyptian rulers. 어떤 지도자도 이보다 더 버림받아, 기가 꺾였으며, 낙담하고 무지한 인간 집단을 개선하고 향상하려고 나선 적이 없었습니다. 그러나 이 노예들은 자신들의 유전적 핏줄에 잠재적인 발전 가능성이 있었고, 반란과 자유를 위한 투쟁의 날을 대비하여 유능한 조직자 일단(一團)이 되도록 모세가 지도한 충분한 수(數)의 교육받은 지도자들이 있었습니다. 이 우수한 사람들은 이집트 통치자들에게 미친 모세의 영향력 때문에 약간 교육을 받았으며 동족 출신의 감독들로 근무하고 있었습니다.
96:3.4 (1056.1) Moses endeavored to negotiate diplomatically for the freedom of his fellow Semites. He and his brother entered into a compact with the king of Egypt whereby they were granted permission peaceably to leave the valley of the Nile for the Arabian Desert. They were to receive a modest payment of money and goods in token of their long service in Egypt. The Hebrews for their part entered into an agreement to maintain friendly relations with the Pharaohs and not to join in any alliance against Egypt. But the king later saw fit to repudiate this treaty, giving as his reason the excuse that his spies had discovered disloyalty among the Bedouin slaves. He claimed they sought freedom for the purpose of going into the desert to organize the nomads against Egypt. 모세는 자기 동료 셈족의 자유를 위해 외교적으로 협상하려고 애썼습니다. 그와 그의 형제는 이집트 왕과 계약을 맺어서 그들이 아라비아 사막을 향해 평화롭게 나일강 유역을 떠나가도록 허가받았습니다. 그들은 자신들이 오랫동안 이집트에서 수고한 표시로 알맞은 금전 지급과 물품을 받을 예정이었습니다. 히브리인들 편에서 그들은 파라오와 우호적 관계를 유지하고 이집트를 반대하는 어떤 동맹에도 가입하지 않겠다고 승낙했습니다. 그러나 왕은 나중에 자기 정보원들이 베두인 노예 중에서 배신을 발견했다는 핑계의 이유를 대면서, 이 협정을 거부하기로 했습니다. 그는 그들이 사막에 들어가 이집트에 반대하는 유목민들을 조직하려고 자유를 찾는다고 주장했습니다.
96:3.5 (1056.2) But Moses was not discouraged; he bided his time, and in less than a year, when the Egyptian military forces were fully occupied in resisting the simultaneous onslaughts of a strong Libyan thrust from the south and a Greek naval invasion from the north, this intrepid organizer led his compatriots out of Egypt in a spectacular night flight. This dash for liberty was carefully planned and skillfully executed. And they were successful, notwithstanding that they were hotly pursued by Pharaoh and a small body of Egyptians, who all fell before the fugitives’ defense, yielding much booty, all of which was augmented by the loot of the advancing host of escaping slaves as they marched on toward their ancestral desert home. 그러나 모세는 용기를 잃지 않았습니다. 그는 자기 때를 기다렸고, 1년도 채 되지 않아, 이집트 군대가 남쪽으로부터 강한 리비아의 공격과 북쪽으로부터 그리스 해군이 침략하는 동시 습격을 격퇴하려고 전념했을 때, 이 대담무쌍한 조직자는 깜짝 놀라는 야간에 자기 동포를 이끌고 이집트 밖으로 탈출했습니다. 자유를 향한 이런 돌진은 신중히 계획되고 능숙하게 수행되었습니다. 그들은, 파라오와 작은 무리의 이집트 사람들의 치열한 추격을 받았지만, 탈주자들의 방어 앞에서 추격자들이 모두 쓰러져, 많은 전리품을 넘겨줬고, 진군하는 탈출 노예 무리가 자기 조상들의 사막 고향을 향해 전진할 때, 이런 전리품이 모두 늘어나, 성공했습니다(출14).
4. The Proclamation of Yahweh 야훼의 선포
96:4.1 (1056.3) The evolution and elevation of the Mosaic teaching has influenced almost one half of all the world, and still does even in the twentieth century. While Moses comprehended the more advanced Egyptian religious philosophy, the Bedouin slaves knew little about such teachings, but they had never entirely forgotten the god of Mount Horeb, whom their ancestors had called Yahweh. 모세 가르침의 진화와 향상은 전 세계의 거의 절반에 영향을 미쳤고 20세기에도 여전히 그렇습니다. 모세는 훨씬 진보한 이집트 종교 철학을 이해했고, 베두인 노예들은 그런 가르침에 대해서 거의 몰랐지만, 자기 조상들이 야훼라고 불렀던 호렙산(山)의 신과 같은 존재를 완전히 잊어버린 적은 없었습니다.
96:4.2 (1056.4) Moses had heard of the teachings of Machiventa Melchizedek from both his father and his mother, their commonness of religious belief being the explanation for the unusual union between a woman of royal blood and a man from a captive race. Moses’ father-in-law was a Kenite worshiper of El Elyon, but the emancipator’s parents were believers in El Shaddai. Moses thus was educated an El Shaddaist; through the influence of his father-in-law he became an El Elyonist; and by the time of the Hebrew encampment about Mount Sinai after the flight from Egypt, he had formulated a new and enlarged concept of Deity (derived from all his former beliefs), which he wisely decided to proclaim to his people as an expanded concept of their olden tribal god, Yahweh. 모세는 그의 아버지와 어머니로부터 마키벤타 멜기세덱의 가르침을 들었고, 그들의 종교적 믿음의 공통성이 왕족 혈통의 여성과 포로 종족의 남성 사이에 있는 유별난 연합에 대한 설명입니다. 모세의 장인은 켄-사람으로 엘 엘리온의 경배자였지만, 노예 해방자의 부모는 엘 샤다이를 믿는 신자들이었습니다. 그래서 모세는 엘 샤다이를 믿는 사람으로 교육받았습니다. 그는 장인의 영향으로 엘 엘리온을 믿는 사람이 되었습니다(출2-3장). 이집트에서 탈출한 후 시내 산(山) 주변에 히브리인(人)이 야영할 무렵에 그는 (자신의 이전 모든 신앙에서 손에 넣은) 신(神)개념을 새롭게 확장하여 만들어냈고, 그는 슬기롭게 이것을 자기 민족에게 그들의 오래된 부족의 신과 같은 존재, 야훼의 확대된 개념으로 선포하기로 결심했습니다.
96:4.3 (1056.5) Moses had endeavored to teach these Bedouins the idea of El Elyon, but before leaving Egypt, he had become convinced they would never fully comprehend this doctrine. Therefore he deliberately determined upon the compromise adoption of their tribal god of the desert as the one and only god of his followers. Moses did not specifically teach that other peoples and nations might not have other gods, but he did resolutely maintain that Yahweh was over and above all, especially to the Hebrews. But always was he plagued by the awkward predicament of trying to present his new and higher idea of Deity to these ignorant slaves under the guise of the ancient term Yahweh, which had always been symbolized by the golden calf of the Bedouin tribes. 모세는 이런 베두인 사람들에게 엘 엘리온의 관념을 가르치려고 애썼지만, 이집트를 떠나기 전에, 그는 그들이 이 교리를 절대로 충분히 파악하지 못할 것이라고 확신하게 되었습니다. 따라서 그는 그들의 부족적인 사막의 신과 같은 존재를 자기 추종자들의 유일한 신과 같은 존재로 타협하여 채택하기로 신중하게 결정했습니다. 모세는 다른 민족들과 나라들이 다른 신과 같은 존재들을 가질 수 없다고 분명히 가르치지 않았지만, 그는 야훼가 모든 것 위에 계시며, 특별히 히브리인(人)들에게 그렇다고 단호하게 주장했습니다. 그러나 그는 언제나 베두인 부족들의 금송아지로 상징되던 야훼라는 고대 용어를 가장하여 이렇게 무지한 노예들에게 신(神)에 대한 자신의 새롭고 더 높은 개념을 제시하려 했던 거북한 곤경으로 언제나 시달렸습니다.
96:4.4 (1056.6) The fact that Yahweh was the god of the fleeing Hebrews explains why they tarried so long before the holy mountain of Sinai, and why they there received the ten commandments which Moses promulgated in the name of Yahweh, the god of Horeb. During this lengthy sojourn before Sinai the religious ceremonials of the newly evolving Hebrew worship were further perfected. 야훼가 도피하는 히브리인(人)들의 신과 같은 존재였다는 사실은, 그들이 거룩한 시내 산(山) 앞에 왜 그토록 오래 머물렀는지, 그리고 호렙산의 신과 같은 존재, 야훼의 이름으로 모세가 공표한 십계명을 그들이 왜 거기서 받아들였는지 설명합니다. 시내 산(山) 앞에서 이렇게 오래 머무는 동안 새롭게 진화하는 히브리 예배의 종교적 의식(儀式)은 한층 더 개선되었습니다.
96:4.5 (1057.1) It does not appear that Moses would ever have succeeded in the establishment of his somewhat advanced ceremonial worship and in keeping his followers intact for a quarter of a century had it not been for the violent eruption of Horeb during the third week of their worshipful sojourn at its base. “The mountain of Yahweh was consumed in fire, and the smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.” In view of this cataclysm it is not surprising that Moses could impress upon his brethren the teaching that their God was “mighty, terrible, a devouring fire, fearful, and all-powerful.” 그들이 호렙산 기슭에 예배하며 머물던 셋째 주에 호렙산의 격렬한 폭발이 없었다면, 모세는, 그가 어느 정도 개선한 예배 의식의 확립과 25년간 자기 추종자들을 유지하는 일에 성공하지 못했을 것입니다. “야훼의 산이 불에 타버려, 연기는 용광로의 연기처럼 올라가고 온 산은 크게 진동했습니다(출19:18).” 이런 지각변동에 비추어, 모세가 자기 형제들에게 그들의 하느님은 “강력하고 무시무시하며, 맹렬한 불이고, 무서우며, 전능하다.”라는 가르침을 심어줄 수 있던 것은 놀라운 일이 아닙니다(출24:17).
96:4.6 (1057.2) Moses proclaimed that Yahweh was the Lord God of Israel, who had singled out the Hebrews as his chosen people; he was building a new nation, and he wisely nationalized his religious teachings, telling his followers that Yahweh was a hard taskmaster, a “jealous God.” But nonetheless he sought to enlarge their concept of divinity when he taught them that Yahweh was the “God of the spirits of all flesh,” and when he said, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Moses taught that Yahweh was a covenant-keeping God; that he “will not forsake you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers because the Lord loves you and will not forget the oath by which he swore to your fathers.” 모세는 야훼가 이스라엘의 주 하느님이며, 그가 히브리인(人)들을 자신이 선택한 민족으로 뽑아냈다고 선포했습니다. 그가 새로운 국가를 건설하고 있었고, 자기 추종자들에게 야훼가 엄격한 공사 감독자, “다른 신 숭배를 용서하지 않는(질투하는) 하느님”이라고 말하면서(출20:5, 출34:14, 신4:24) 슬기롭게 자신의 종교적 가르침에 국가적 성격을 부여했습니다. 그러나 그런데도 그는 그들에게 야훼는 “모든 육신의 생명(숨)들의 하느님”이라고 가르치며(신16:21, 27:16), 그가 “영원한 하느님은 너희 피난처이며 그 아래에 영원한 팔이 있도다.”라고 말했을 때(신33:27), 신성(神性)에 대한 그들의 개념을 확장하려고 애썼습니다. 모세는 야훼가 계약을 지키는 하느님이라고 가르쳤습니다. “주께서 너희를 사랑하고 그가 너희 조상에게 엄숙히 선언한 서약을 잊지 않을 것이므로(신7:8)” 그가 “너희를 버리지 않으며, 너희를 멸하지도 않고, 너희 조상들의 계약을 잊지 않으리라.”라고 가르쳤습니다(신4:31).
96:4.7 (1057.3) Moses made a heroic effort to uplift Yahweh to the dignity of a supreme Deity when he presented him as the “God of truth and without iniquity, just and right in all his ways.” And yet, despite this exalted teaching, the limited understanding of his followers made it necessary to speak of God as being in man’s image, as being subject to fits of anger, wrath, and severity, even that he was vengeful and easily influenced by man’s conduct. 모세는 야훼를 “진리의 하느님이며 사악이 없고 자신의 모든 길에 공정하고 옳은 하느님”으로 소개할 때(신32:4) 그를 최고의 신(神)의 존엄성으로 드높이려고 영웅답게 노력했습니다. 그러나 이렇게 고상한 가르침에도 불구하고, 그의 추종자들의 편협한 이해력 때문에 하느님은 사람의 형상으로 있으며, 노염과 분노와 가혹함으로 갑자기 흥분하고, 심지어 그는 복수심에 불타서 사람의 행동에 쉽게 영향을 받는다고 말할 필요가 있었습니다.
96:4.8 (1057.4) Under the teachings of Moses this tribal nature god, Yahweh, became the Lord God of Israel, who followed them through the wilderness and even into exile, where he presently was conceived of as the God of all peoples. The later captivity that enslaved the Jews in Babylon finally liberated the evolving concept of Yahweh to assume the monotheistic role of the God of all nations. 모세의 가르침에 따라 이 부족적 본성의 신과 같은 존재, 야훼는 이스라엘의 주 하느님이 되었고, 그는 광야를 거쳐 타향살이까지도 그들을 따라다니며, 이제 그는 모든 민족의 하느님으로 생각되었습니다. 바빌론에서 유대인들을 노예로 만들었던 후일의 유수(幽囚 감금) 생활로 마침내 진화하는 야훼 개념이 해방되어 모든 민족의 하느님이라는 일신론적 역할을 떠맡았습니다.
96:4.9 (1057.5) The most unique and amazing feature of the religious history of the Hebrews concerns this continuous evolution of the concept of Deity from the primitive god of Mount Horeb up through the teachings of their successive spiritual leaders to the high level of development depicted in the Deity doctrines of the Isaiahs, who proclaimed that magnificent concept of the loving and merciful Creator Father. 히브리인(人)들의 종교 역사에서 가장 독특하고 놀라운 특색은, 호렙산의 원시적인 하느님과 같은 존재로부터, 잇따른 그들의 영적 지도자들의 가르침을 거쳐, 애정이 깊고 자비로운 창조자 아버지라는 그런 장엄한 개념을 선포한 이사야들의 신(神) 교리들에 표현된 높은 수준의 발전까지, 이렇게 계속된 신(神)개념의 진화와 관련됩니다.
5. The Teachings of Moses 모세의 가르침
96:5.1 (1057.6) Moses was an extraordinary combination of military leader, social organizer, and religious teacher. He was the most important individual world teacher and leader between the times of Machiventa and Jesus. Moses attempted to introduce many reforms in Israel of which there is no record. In the space of one man’s life he led the polyglot horde of so-called Hebrews out of slavery and uncivilized roaming while he laid the foundation for the subsequent birth of a nation and the perpetuation of a race. 모세는 군사 지도자, 사회 조직자 및 종교 선생이 비범한 결합체였습니다. 그는 마키벤타와 예수의 시대 사이에, 개인적으로 가장 중요한 세계의 선생이며 지도자였습니다. 모세는 이스라엘에서 기록에 없는 여러 개혁을 끌어들이려고 했습니다. 한 사람의 평생에 그는 소위 히브리인(人)들, 여러 언어를 말하는 유목민 무리를 노예 상태와 야만적인 유랑생활에서 벗어나도록 이끌어 내면서 이후 국가의 탄생과 민족의 영속을 위한 토대를 놓았습니다.
96:5.2 (1057.7) There is so little on record of the great work of Moses because the Hebrews had no written language at the time of the exodus. The record of the times and doings of Moses was derived from the traditions extant more than one thousand years after the death of the great leader. 출애굽 당시 히브리인(人)들은 문자 언어가 없어서 모세의 위대한 업적에 대한 기록은 그렇게 거의 남아있지 않습니다. 모세 시대와 그 행적의 기록은 위대한 지도자가 죽은 지 천 년이 넘은 후 없어지지 않고 남아있는 전승에서 전해 내려왔습니다.
96:5.3 (1058.1) Many of the advances which Moses made over and above the religion of the Egyptians and the surrounding Levantine tribes were due to the Kenite traditions of the time of Melchizedek. Without the teaching of Machiventa to Abraham and his contemporaries, the Hebrews would have come out of Egypt in hopeless darkness. Moses and his father-in-law, Jethro, gathered up the residue of the traditions of the days of Melchizedek, and these teachings, joined to the learning of the Egyptians, guided Moses in the creation of the improved religion and ritual of the Israelites. Moses was an organizer; he selected the best in the religion and mores of Egypt and Palestine and, associating these practices with the traditions of the Melchizedek teachings, organized the Hebrew ceremonial system of worship. 모세가 이집트인(人)들과 주변 레반트 부족들의 종교에 덧붙인 여러 진보는 멜기세덱 시대의 켄-사람 전승(傳承)들 때문이었습니다. 아브라함과 그 동시대 사람들에게 마키벤타의 가르침이 없었다면, 히브리인(人)들은 절망적인 어둠 속에서 이집트에서 나왔을 것입니다. 모세와 그의 장인 이드로는 멜기세덱 시절의 전승 중 나머지를 주워 모았고, 이런 가르침들이 이집트인(人)들의 학문과 결합하여, 모세가 이스라엘인(人)들의 개선된 종교와 의식(儀式)을 창안하도록 길잡이 역할을 했습니다. 모세는 조직자였습니다. 그는 이집트와 팔레스타인의 종교와 관례에서 최선을 선택하고. 이런 관행을 멜기세덱의 전승과 결합하여 히브리 예배 의식(儀式) 체계를 구성했습니다.
96:5.4 (1058.2) Moses was a believer in Providence; he had become thoroughly tainted with the doctrines of Egypt concerning the supernatural control of the Nile and the other elements of nature. He had a great vision of God, but he was thoroughly sincere when he taught the Hebrews that, if they would obey God, “He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will multiply the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land — the corn, wine, oil, and your flocks. You shall be prospered above all people, and the Lord your God will take away from you all sickness and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt upon you.” He even said: “Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the power to get wealth.” “You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. You shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.” 모세는 섭리를 믿는 신자였습니다. 그는 나일강과 다른 자연 요소에 대한 초자연적 통제에 관한 이집트의 교리로 철저히 오염되어 있었습니다. 그는 하느님에 대한 위대한 환상이 있었지만, 그는 완전히 진지하게, 히브리인(人)들이 하느님께 순종하면, “그가 너희를 사랑하고 너희에게 복을 내리며 너희를 크게 증대시킬 것이라. 그가 너희 태(胎)의 열매와 너희 땅의 소산 – 곡식, 포도주, 기름과 너희 가축 떼-을 크게 증대시킬 것이라. 너희는 모든 민족보다 번영할 것이며, 주 너희 하느님이 너희로부터 모든 질병을 제거하고 이집트의 악한 질병 중 아무것도 너희에게 내리지 않으리라(신7:13-15).”라고 그들에게 가르쳤습니다. 그는 이렇게까지 말했습니다. “주 너희 하느님을 기억하라, 그가 너희에게 부(富)를 얻는 권능을 주시기 때문이라(신8:13).” “너희는 여러 나라에 빌려줄 것이나, 너희는 빌리지 않으리라. 너희가 여러 나라를 다스릴 것이지만 그들은 너희를 다스리지 않으리라(신15:6).”
96:5.5 (1058.3) But it was truly pitiful to watch this great mind of Moses trying to adapt his sublime concept of El Elyon, the Most High, to the comprehension of the ignorant and illiterate Hebrews. To his assembled leaders he thundered, “The Lord your God is one God; there is none beside him”; while to the mixed multitude he declared, “Who is like your God among all the gods?” Moses made a brave and partly successful stand against fetishes and idolatry, declaring, “You saw no similitude on the day that your God spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire.” He also forbade the making of images of any sort. 그러나 지고자(至高者) 엘 엘리온의 숭고한 개념을 무지한 문맹의 히브리인(人)들의 이해에 맞추려고 애쓰는 모세의 위대한 마음을 지켜보는 것은 참으로 연민의 정을 자아냈습니다. 그는 모여 있는 자기 지도자들에게 “주 너희 하느님은 하나뿐인 하느님이시라(신6:4). 그 외에 다른 분이 없느니라(신4:35).”라고 외쳤습니다. 한편으로 그는 잡다한 무리에게 “모든 신과 같은 존재 중에서 너희 하느님과 같은 분이 누구냐(출15:11)?”라고 선언했습니다. 모세는 “너희 하느님이 호렙산 불 가운데로부터 너희에게 말씀하던 그날에 너희는 아무 모습도 보지 못했다(신4:15).”라고 선언하면서 주물(呪物)들과 우상 숭배에 맞서 용감하게 어느 정도 성공적으로 저항했습니다. 그는 모든 유형의 형상 제작도 금지했습니다.
96:5.6 (1058.4) Moses feared to proclaim the mercy of Yahweh, preferring to awe his people with the fear of the justice of God, saying: “The Lord your God is God of Gods, and Lord of Lords, a great God, a mighty and terrible God, who regards not man.” Again he sought to control the turbulent clans when he declared that “your God kills when you disobey him; he heals and gives life when you obey him.” But Moses taught these tribes that they would become the chosen people of God only on condition that they “kept all his commandments and obeyed all his statutes.” 모세는 자기 백성들에게 하느님의 정의(正義)에 대한 두려운 마음이 일어나기를 좋게 여기면서 야훼의 자비를 선포하기를 두려워하며 말했습니다. “주 너희 하느님은 하느님 중의 하느님이고, 주님 중의 주님, 위대한 하느님, 강력하고 무시무시한 하느님이며 사람을 아랑곳하지 않느니라(신10:17).” 그는 “너희가 자신에게 불순종하면 너희 하느님은 죽이고, 너희가 자신에게 순종하면 그는 치료하고 생명을 주시느니라(신28, 32:39).”라고 그가 선언하면서 한 번 더 사나운 씨족들을 단속하려고 했습니다. 그러나 모세는 이런 부족들에게 “그의 모든 계명을 지키고 그의 모든 법령을 순종하는” 조건으로만 그들이 하느님이 선택한 백성이 되리라고 가르쳤습니다(신7:6, 11~14, 10:12-13, 12:28, 32, 13:18, 14:2).
96:5.7 (1058.5) Little of the mercy of God was taught the Hebrews during these early times. They learned of God as “the Almighty; the Lord is a man of war, God of battles, glorious in power, who dashes in pieces his enemies.” “The Lord your God walks in the midst of the camp to deliver you.” The Israelites thought of their God as one who loved them, but who also “hardened Pharaoh’s heart” and “cursed their enemies.” 이런 초기시대에 히브리인들은 하느님의 자비를 거의 배우지 못했습니다. 그들은 하느님을 “전능자(창35:11), 주는 용사(勇士 출15:3), 전투의 하느님(시24:8), 그의 대적들을 산산조각 내서 권능으로 영광을 나타내시는 분(출15:6)”으로 배웠습니다. “주 너희 하느님은 너희를 구원하려고 진영 가운데 행하시느니라(신23:14).” 이스라엘인(人)들은 그들의 하느님이 자신들을 사랑했지만, 또한 “바로의 심정을 완악하게 하고(출4:21b, 7:3a, 9:12a, 14:4, 8)” “자신들의 대적들을 저주하는(신30:7a)” 분으로 여겼습니다.
96:5.8 (1058.6) While Moses presented fleeting glimpses of a universal and beneficent Deity to the children of Israel, on the whole, their day-by-day concept of Yahweh was that of a God but little better than the tribal gods of the surrounding peoples. Their concept of God was primitive, crude, and anthropomorphic; when Moses passed on, these Bedouin tribes quickly reverted to the semibarbaric ideas of their olden gods of Horeb and the desert. The enlarged and more sublime vision of God which Moses every now and then presented to his leaders was soon lost to view, while most of the people turned to the worship of their fetish golden calves, the Palestinian herdsman’s symbol of Yahweh. 모세가 이스라엘 자손들에게 우주적으로 선을 행하는 신(神)을 쏜살같이 흘끗 제시했지만, 대체로 야훼에 대한 그들의 일상적 개념은 하느님에 대한 것이었어도 주변 민족들의 부족적 신과 같은 존재들이나 다름없었습니다. 그들의 하느님 개념은 원시적이고 조잡스러우며, 사람의 모습을 닮았습니다. 모세가 죽었을 때, 이 베두인 부족들은 호렙산과 사막의 오래된 자신들의 신과 같은 존재들에 대한 어느 정도 야만적인 개념으로 빠르게 되돌아갔습니다. 모세가 때때로 자기 지도자들에게 제시했던, 확장되어 더 숭고한 하느님에 대한 이상적인 모습은 머지않아 보이지 않게 되었고, 반면에 사람들 대부분은, 야훼에 대한 팔레스타인 목자들의 상징인, 자신들의 주물 황금빛 송아지들의 숭배로 마음을 바꿨습니다.
96:5.9 (1059.1) When Moses turned over the command of the Hebrews to Joshua, he had already gathered up thousands of the collateral descendants of Abraham, Nahor, Lot, and other of the related tribes and had whipped them into a self-sustaining and partially self-regulating nation of pastoral warriors. 모세가 히브리인(人)들의 지휘권을 여호수아에게 넘겨주었을 때, 그는 이미 아브라함, 나홀, 롯 및 기타 관련 부족들의 부수적인 후손들 수천 명을 모아서 자립하여 일부분은 자체적으로 규제하는 목축 전사(戰士)들로 구성된 국가의 수준에 이르게 했습니다.
6. The God Concept After Moses’ Death 모세가 죽은 이후 하느님 개념
96:6.1 (1059.2) Upon the death of Moses his lofty concept of Yahweh rapidly deteriorated. Joshua and the leaders of Israel continued to harbor the Mosaic traditions of the all-wise, beneficent, and almighty God, but the common people rapidly reverted to the older desert idea of Yahweh. And this backward drift of the concept of Deity continued increasingly under the successive rule of the various tribal sheiks, the so-called Judges. 모세가 사망하자 야훼에 대한 그의 고상한 개념은 빠르게 나빠졌습니다. 여호수아와 이스라엘의 지도자들은 모든 것을 알고, 인정이 많으며, 전능한 하느님에 대한 모세의 전승(傳承)을 계속 품었지만, 일반인들은 야훼에 대해 더 오래된 사막의 사고방식으로 빠르게 되돌아갔습니다. 그리고 이렇게 퇴보하는 신(神)개념의 경향은 서로 다른 종족 수장(首長)들, 소위 사사(士師)들의 연속적인 통치 아래에서 점차 계속되었습니다.
96:6.2 (1059.3) The spell of the extraordinary personality of Moses had kept alive in the hearts of his followers the inspiration of an increasingly enlarged concept of God; but when they once reached the fertile lands of Palestine, they quickly evolved from nomadic herders into settled and somewhat sedate farmers. And this evolution of life practices and change of religious viewpoint demanded a more or less complete change in the character of their conception of the nature of their God, Yahweh. During the times of the beginning of the transmutation of the austere, crude, exacting, and thunderous desert god of Sinai into the later appearing concept of a God of love, justice, and mercy, the Hebrews almost lost sight of Moses’ lofty teachings. They came near losing all concept of monotheism; they nearly lost their opportunity of becoming the people who would serve as a vital link in the spiritual evolution of Urantia, the group who would conserve the Melchizedek teaching of one God until the times of the incarnation of a bestowal Son of that Father of all. 모세의 비범한 인격(고유성)의 매력으로 그의 추종자들의 심정에 점차 확대된 하느님 개념의 영감(靈感)이 살아 있었습니다. 그러나 그들이 한 번 팔레스타인의 비옥한 땅에 도착하자, 그들은 방랑 목자(牧者)들에서 어느 정도 자리 잡아 차분한 농부(農夫)들로 재빨리 진화했습니다. 이런 생활 관습의 진화와 종교적 관점의 변화로 자신들의 하느님, 야훼 본성의 개념적 특성에서 어느 정도 전면적인 변화가 필요해졌습니다. 시내 산(山)의 준엄하고, 투박하며, 엄격하고, 우레 같은 사막의 신과 같은 존재로부터 후대에 나타나는 사랑, 정의 및 자비의 하느님 개념으로 변환이 시작되는 시기에, 히브리인(人)들은 모세의 고상한 가르침을 거의 잃어버렸습니다. 그들은 일신교에 대한 모든 개념을 거의 잃어버렸습니다. 그들은 그 만유 아버지의 증여 아들이 성육신(成肉身)할 때까지, 유란시아의 영적 진화에서 필수적인 연결 고리의 역할을 할 민족, 하나뿐인 하느님에 대한 멜기세덱 가르침을 보존할 집단이 될 그들의 기회를 하마터면 잃을 뻔했습니다.
96:6.3 (1059.4) Desperately Joshua sought to hold the concept of a supreme Yahweh in the minds of the tribesmen, causing it to be proclaimed: “As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will not fail you nor forsake you.” Joshua found it necessary to preach a stern gospel to his disbelieving people, people all too willing to believe their old and native religion but unwilling to go forward in the religion of faith and righteousness. The burden of Joshua’s teaching became: “Yahweh is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” The highest concept of this age pictured Yahweh as a “God of power, judgment, and justice.” 여호수아는 필사적으로 종족들의 마음에 최고 야훼의 개념을 유지하려고 애썼고 그래서 “내가 모세와 함께 있었던 것처럼, 나도 너희와 함께 있을 것이라. 나는 너희를 저버리지도, 내버리지도 않으리라(수1:5).”라고 선포했습니다. 여호수아는 믿지 않는 자기 백성, 자신들의 옛날 토착 종교는 너무나 믿으려 하지만 신앙과 공의(公義)의 종교로 마지못해 나아가려는 모든 백성에게 단호한 복음을 전할 필요를 느꼈습니다. 여호수아 가르침의 요지는 “야훼는 거룩한 하느님이라. 그는 “다른 신(神) 숭배를 용서하지 않는(질투하는) 하느님이라. 그는 너희 종교적 범죄와 죄를 용서하지 않을 것이라(수24:19).”가 되었습니다. 이 시대의 최고 개념은 야훼를 “권능, 심판과 정의의 하느님”으로 표현했습니다(신1:17, 9:29, 33:21).
96:6.4 (1059.5) But even in this dark age, every now and then a solitary teacher would arise proclaiming the Mosaic concept of divinity: “You children of wickedness cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God.” “Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his Maker?” “Can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the Almighty to perfection? Behold, God is great and we know him not. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out.” 그러나 이런 암흑의 시대에도, 때때로 혼자 있기를 좋아하는 선생이 일어나 신성(神性)에 대한 모세의 개념을 선포하곤 했습니다. “너희 사악한 자녀들이 주(主)를 섬길 수 없으니, 그가 거룩한 하느님이기 때문이니라(수24:19).” “필사자가 하느님보다 더 정의롭겠느냐? 인간이 자기 조물주보다 더 순수하겠느냐(욥4:17)?” “너희가 탐색으로 하느님을 찾아낼 수 있느냐? 너희가 전능자를 완전히 찾아낼 수 있느냐(욥11:7)? 보라, 하느님은 위대하시며 우리는 그를 모르느니라(욥36:26). 전능자를 만져도 우리는 그를 찾아낼 수 없느니라(욥37:23).”
7. Psalms and the Book of Job 시편과 욥기
96:7.1 (1060.1) Under the leadership of their sheiks and priests the Hebrews became loosely established in Palestine. But they soon drifted back into the benighted beliefs of the desert and became contaminated with the less advanced Canaanite religious practices. They became idolatrous and licentious, and their idea of Deity fell far below the Egyptian and Mesopotamian concepts of God that were maintained by certain surviving Salem groups, and which are recorded in some of the Psalms and in the so-called Book of Job. 히브리인(人)들의 수장(首長)들과 사제들의 지도력에 따라, 그들은 팔레스타인에 엉성하게 정착하게 되었습니다. 그러나 그들은 곧 사막의 미개한 믿음들로 되돌아가 가나안 인(人)들의 후진적 종교 관습으로 오염되었습니다. 그들은 우상을 숭배하고 방종(放縱)에 빠졌고, 그들의 신(神)개념은 어떤 살아남은 살렘 집단이 유지하여 시편 일부와 소위 욥기에 기록된, 이집트와 메소포타미아의 하느님 개념에 훨씬 못 미쳤습니다.
96:7.2 (1060.2) The Psalms are the work of a score or more of authors; many were written by Egyptian and Mesopotamian teachers. During these times when the Levant worshiped nature gods, there were still a goodly number who believed in the supremacy of El Elyon, the Most High. 시편은 수십 명 이상 저자들의 작품으로 이집트와 메소포타미아 선생들이 많이 썼습니다. 레반트 지역이 자연의 신과 같은 존재들을 숭배하던 이 시절에, 상당수가 여전히 엘 엘리온, 지고자의 지상권(至上權)을 믿었습니다.
96:7.3 (1060.3) No collection of religious writings gives expression to such a wealth of devotion and inspirational ideas of God as the Book of Psalms. And it would be very helpful if, in the perusal of this wonderful collection of worshipful literature, consideration could be given to the source and chronology of each separate hymn of praise and adoration, bearing in mind that no other single collection covers such a great range of time. This Book of Psalms is the record of the varying concepts of God entertained by the believers of the Salem religion throughout the Levant and embraces the entire period from Amenemope to Isaiah. In the Psalms God is depicted in all phases of conception, from the crude idea of a tribal deity to the vastly expanded ideal of the later Hebrews, wherein Yahweh is pictured as a loving ruler and merciful Father. 수집된 어떤 종교 저작들도 시편만큼 하느님에 대해 그렇게 풍성한 헌신과 영감을 주는 사상을 표현하지 못했습니다. 이렇게 놀랍게 수집된 예배 문헌(文獻)을 정독하고, 다른 어떤 단일한 수집품도 그렇게 다양한 시간의 범위를 다루지 못함을 유념하면서, 찬양하고 예배하는 각각 독립된 찬가의 출처와 연대기를 고려할 수 있다면 매우 도움이 될 것입니다. 이 시편은 레반트 전역의 살렘 종교의 신자들이 품었던 다양한 하느님 개념의 기록이며 아메네모페로부터 이사야까지 전 기간을 아우릅니다. 시편에서 하느님은, 부족 신(神)의 투박한 개념에서 후대 히브리인(人)들이 굉장히 확장한 이상(理想), 애정이 깊은 통치자이며 자비로운 아버지로 야훼를 묘사하고 있는 데까지 모든 단계의 개념으로 표현됩니다.
96:7.4 (1060.4) And when thus regarded, this group of Psalms constitutes the most valuable and helpful assortment of devotional sentiments ever assembled by man up to the times of the twentieth century. The worshipful spirit of this collection of hymns transcends that of all other sacred books of the world. 이렇게 볼 때, 이런 시편의 모음은 20세기 시대까지 일찍이 사람이 모아서 정리한, 가장 가치 있고 도움이 되는 예배용 정서(情緖) 모음집입니다. 이렇게 수집된 찬가의 예배 정신(精神 근본 사상)은 세상의 다른 모든 경전의 그것을 능가합니다.
96:7.5 (1060.5) The variegated picture of Deity presented in the Book of Job was the product of more than a score of Mesopotamian religious teachers extending over a period of almost three hundred years. And when you read the lofty concept of divinity found in this compilation of Mesopotamian beliefs, you will recognize that it was in the neighborhood of Ur of Chaldea that the idea of a real God was best preserved during the dark days in Palestine. 욥기에 제시된 다채로운 신(神)의 묘사는 거의 300년에 이르는 20명이 넘는 메소포타미아 종교 선생들의 산물(産物)입니다. 너희가 이렇게 편집한 메소포타미아 믿음들에서 발견한 고상한 개념의 신성(神性)을 읽으면, 팔레스타인의 암흑기에 실제 하느님 사상이 가장 잘 보존된 곳이 칼데아 우르 인근이었음을 너희가 알아볼 것입니다.
96:7.6 (1060.6) In Palestine the wisdom and all-pervasiveness of God was often grasped but seldom his love and mercy. The Yahweh of these times “sends evil spirits to dominate the souls of his enemies”; he prospers his own and obedient children, while he curses and visits dire judgments upon all others. “He disappoints the devices of the crafty; he takes the wise in their own deceit.” 팔레스타인에서 편만(遍滿)한 하느님의 지혜는 종종 파악되었지만, 그의 사랑과 자비는 어지간해서 그렇지 않았습니다. 이 시대의 야훼는 “악령(惡靈)들을 보내서 자기 대적들의 혼(魂)들을 지배합니다(삿9:23, 삼상16:14-16).” 그는 자신에게 속한 순종하는 자녀들은 번영하게 하지만, 반면에 다른 모든 자들은 저주하고 무섭게 심판합니다. “그는 간사한 자들의 간계를 꺾고, 그는 교활한 자들을 자신들의 속임수에 빠뜨립니다(욥5:12-13).”
96:7.7 (1060.7) Only at Ur did a voice arise to cry out the mercy of God, saying: “He shall pray to God and shall find favor with him and shall see his face with joy, for God will give to man divine righteousness.” Thus from Ur there is preached salvation, divine favor, by faith: “He is gracious to the repentant and says, ‘Deliver him from going down in the pit, for I have found a ransom.’ If any say, ‘I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not,’ God will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and he shall see the light.” Not since the times of Melchizedek had the Levantine world heard such a ringing and cheering message of human salvation as this extraordinary teaching of Elihu, the prophet of Ur and priest of the Salem believers, that is, the remnant of the onetime Melchizedek colony in Mesopotamia. 우르에서만 하느님의 자비를 외치는 목소리가 일어나 말했습니다. “그는 하느님께 기도하고 그에게 은혜를 입으며 기쁨으로 그의 얼굴을 볼 것이니, 이는 하느님이 사람에게 신적 공의(公義)를 베풀 것이기 때문이니라(욥33:26).” 이렇게 우르에서부터 신앙으로 얻는 구원, 신적 은혜가 전파됩니다. “그는 회개하는 자들에게 은혜를 베풀어 말하기를 ‘그를 구덩이에 내려가지 않게 구해내라, 내가 몸값을 찾았기 때문이라(욥33:24).’ 누구든지 ‘내가 죄를 지었으며, 옳은 것을 벗어났고, 그것이 나에게 무익했습니다.’라고 말하면, 하느님은 그의 혼(魂)이 구덩이에 들어가지 않도록 구해낼 것이며, 그는 빛을 볼 것이라(욥33:27-28).” 멜기세덱의 시대 이후로 레반트 세계는, 우르의 선지자이며 살렘 신자들의 사제, 즉, 메소포타미아의 이전 멜기세덱 거류민 중 남은 자, 엘리후의 이렇게 엄청난 가르침처럼, 그토록 울려 퍼지며 인간 구원을 격려하는 메시지를 들은 적이 없었습니다(욥32:2).
96:7.8 (1061.1) And thus did the remnants of the Salem missionaries in Mesopotamia maintain the light of truth during the period of the disorganization of the Hebrew peoples until the appearance of the first of that long line of the teachers of Israel who never stopped as they built, concept upon concept, until they had achieved the realization of the ideal of the Universal and Creator Father of all, the acme of the evolution of the Yahweh concept. 이렇게 메소포타미아의 살렘 선교사 중 남은 자들은 이스라엘 선생들의 그런 긴 계열 중 첫째가 출현하기까지 히브리 종족들의 혼란한 시기에 진리의 빛을 유지했는데, 그들은 야훼 개념의 진화적 절정, 만유의 우주 창조자 아버지의 이상(理想)에 대한 실상에 도달하기까지 멈추지 않고 개념 위에 개념을 쌓아 올렸습니다.
96:7.9 (1061.2) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.][네바돈의 멜기세덱이 제시함]
97:0.1 (1062.1) THE spiritual leaders of the Hebrews did what no others before them had ever succeeded in doing — they deanthropomorphized their God concept without converting it into an abstraction of Deity comprehensible only to philosophers. Even common people were able to regard the matured concept of Yahweh as a Father, if not of the individual, at least of the race. 히브리인들의 영적 지도자들은 철학자들만 이해할 수 있는 추상적인 신(神)개념으로 전환하지 않고 자신들의 하느님 개념을 비의인화(非擬人化 하느님에게 인간적 특성을 투사하지 않는 것)하여 그들 이전에 누구도 성공하지 못했던 일을 해냈습니다. 일반인까지 야훼에 대한 성숙한 개념을 개인은 아니더라도 적어도 종족의 아버지로 여길 수 있었습니다.
97:0.2 (1062.2) The concept of the personality of God, while clearly taught at Salem in the days of Melchizedek, was vague and hazy at the time of the flight from Egypt and only gradually evolved in the Hebraic mind from generation to generation in response to the teaching of the spiritual leaders. The perception of Yahweh’s personality was much more continuous in its progressive evolution than was that of many other of the Deity attributes. From Moses to Malachi there occurred an almost unbroken ideational growth of the personality of God in the Hebrew mind, and this concept was eventually heightened and glorified by the teachings of Jesus about the Father in heaven. 하느님의 인격(고유성) 개념은 멜기세덱 시기에 살렘에서 명백히 가르쳤지만, 이집트에서 탈출할 당시에는 분명하지 않고 흐릿했으며 영적 지도자들의 가르침에 대응하여 대대로 히브리인들의 마음에서 겨우 서서히 진화했습니다. 야훼의 인격(고유성)에 대한 인식은 다른 여러 신(神)속성에 대한 인식보다 훨씬 더 끊이지 않고 점진적으로 진화했습니다. 모세부터 말라기까지 히브리인의 마음에서 하느님의 인격(고유성)에 대한 관념적 성장이 거의 중단되지 않았고, 이 개념은 결국 하늘에 계신 아버지에 대한 예수의 가르침으로 고상해지고 영광스러워졌습니다.
1. Samuel — First of the Hebrew Prophets 사무엘 – 첫 번째 히브리 선지자
97:1.1 (1062.3) Hostile pressure of the surrounding peoples in Palestine soon taught the Hebrew sheiks they could not hope to survive unless they confederated their tribal organizations into a centralized government. And this centralization of administrative authority afforded a better opportunity for Samuel to function as a teacher and reformer. 팔레스타인 주변 민족들의 적대적 압력으로 인해 히브리 수장(首長)들은 자신들의 부족 조직을 중앙 정부로 연합시키지 않으면 자신들이 생존을 바랄 수 없다고 빨리 배웠습니다. 그리고 이렇게 중앙집권적 경영 권한으로 인해 사무엘이 선생과 개혁가로 활동하는 더 좋은 기회가 마련되었습니다.
97:1.2 (1062.4) Samuel sprang from a long line of the Salem teachers who had persisted in maintaining the truths of Melchizedek as a part of their worship forms. This teacher was a virile and resolute man. Only his great devotion, coupled with his extraordinary determination, enabled him to withstand the almost universal opposition which he encountered when he started out to turn all Israel back to the worship of the supreme Yahweh of Mosaic times. And even then he was only partially successful; he won back to the service of the higher concept of Yahweh only the more intelligent half of the Hebrews; the other half continued in the worship of the tribal gods of the country and in the baser conception of Yahweh. 사무엘은 멜기세덱의 진리를 자기들 경배 형태의 일부로 계속 존속해 온 살렘 선생들의 오랜 계열 출신이었습니다. 이 선생은 힘찬 불굴의 사람이었습니다. 그가 온 이스라엘을 모세 시대의 최고 야훼 예배로 되돌리기 시작했을 때 자신이 직면했던 거의 전반적인 반대를, 자신의 비범한 결단력과 결합한 위대한 헌신만으로 버티어 냈습니다. 그리고 그렇더라도 그는 부분적으로만 성공했습니다. 그는 히브리인 중 이해력이 더 뛰어난 절반만 되찾아 더 높은 야훼 개념을 섬기게 했습니다. 나머지 절반은 그 지역의 부족적 신과 같은 존재들과 열등한 야훼 개념을 계속 숭배했습니다.
97:1.3 (1062.5) Samuel was a rough-and-ready type of man, a practical reformer who could go out in one day with his associates and overthrow a score of Baal sites. The progress he made was by sheer force of compulsion; he did little preaching, less teaching, but he did act. One day he was mocking the priest of Baal; the next, chopping in pieces a captive king. He devotedly believed in the one God, and he had a clear concept of that one God as creator of heaven and earth: “The pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he has set the world upon them.” 사무엘은 정력적인 유형의 사람으로 자기 동료들과 함께 하루에 나가서 여러 바알 사적지(史蹟地)를 무너뜨릴 수 있는 실용적 개혁가였습니다. 그는 순전히 억제할 수 없는 힘에 사로잡혀 전진했습니다. 그는 거의 설교하지 않았고 덜 가르쳤지만, 행동으로 옮겼습니다. 어느 날 그는 바알의 사제를 조롱했고, 다음 날 그는 사로잡힌 왕을 내리찍었습니다(삼상15:33). 그는 헌신적으로 하나뿐인 하느님을 믿었고, 하나뿐인 그 하느님이 하늘과 땅의 창조자라는 분명한 개념을 갖고 있었습니다. “땅의 기둥들은 주의 것이라, 그가 세상을 그것들 위에 세우셨도다(삼상2:8).”
97:1.4 (1063.1) But the great contribution which Samuel made to the development of the concept of Deity was his ringing pronouncement that Yahweh was changeless, forever the same embodiment of unerring perfection and divinity. In these times Yahweh was conceived to be a fitful God of jealous whims, always regretting that he had done thus and so; but now, for the first time since the Hebrews sallied forth from Egypt, they heard these startling words, “The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent, for he is not a man, that he should repent.” Stability in dealing with Divinity was proclaimed. Samuel reiterated the Melchizedek covenant with Abraham and declared that the Lord God of Israel was the source of all truth, stability, and constancy. Always had the Hebrews looked upon their God as a man, a superman, an exalted spirit of unknown origin; but now they heard the onetime spirit of Horeb exalted as an unchanging God of creator perfection. Samuel was aiding the evolving God concept to ascend to heights above the changing state of men’s minds and the vicissitudes of mortal existence. Under his teaching, the God of the Hebrews was beginning the ascent from an idea on the order of the tribal gods to the ideal of an all-powerful and changeless Creator and Supervisor of all creation. 그러나 사무엘이 신(神)개념의 발전에 크게 공헌한 것은, 야훼가 변함없이, 영원히, 정확한 완전성과 신성(神性)의 바로 그 화신(化身)이었다고 울려 퍼졌던 그의 선언이었습니다. 이 시대에 야훼는 질투로 다른 신(神) 숭배를 용서하지 않고, 발작적인 변덕으로, 자신이 이렇게 저렇게 한 것을 늘 후회하는 하느님으로 생각했지만, 이제 히브리인들이 이집트에서 빠져나온 이래 처음으로 그들은 이렇게 놀라운 말씀을 들었습니다. “이스라엘의 힘(지존자)은 거짓이나 후회가 없으시니 그는 후회해야 하는 사람이 아니기 때문이라(삼상15:29).” 신성(神性)을 대하면서 안정성이 선포되었습니다. 사무엘은 멜기세덱이 아브라함과 맺은 계약을 되풀이하며 이스라엘의 주 하느님이 모든 진리, 안정성 및 불변성의 근원이라고 선포했습니다. 히브리인들은 언제나 자신들의 하느님을 사람, 초인간, 기원 불명의 고귀한 영(靈)으로 간주했지만, 이제 그들은 호렙산(山)의 옛날 영(靈)이 변하지 않는, 창조자 완전성의 하느님으로 높아졌다고 들었습니다. 사무엘은 진화하는 하느님 개념이 인간 마음의 변하는 상태와 필사 존재의 흥망을 뛰어넘어 높이 상승하도록 거들었습니다. 그의 가르침에 따라 히브리인들의 하느님은 부족적 신과 같은 존재들 계열의 관념에서부터 전능하고 변함없는 창조자와 모든 창조계의 감독자라는 이상(理想)으로 상승하기 시작했습니다.
97:1.5 (1063.2) And he preached anew the story of God’s sincerity, his covenant-keeping reliability. Said Samuel: “The Lord will not forsake his people.” “He has made with us an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure.” And so, throughout all Palestine there sounded the call back to the worship of the supreme Yahweh. Ever this energetic teacher proclaimed, “You are great, O Lord God, for there is none like you, neither is there any God beside you.” 그리고 그는 하느님의 성실, 계약을 지키는 그의 신뢰성에 관한 이야기를 새로 설교했습니다. 사무엘이 말했습니다. “주는 자기 백성을 버리지 않으실 것이라(삼상12:22).” “그는 우리와 더불어 만사에 질서 있고 확실한, 영원한 계약을 맺었느니라(삼하23:5).” 그래서 온 팔레스타인 전역에서 최고 야훼를 경배하라고 부르는 소리가 울려 퍼졌습니다. 이렇게 활동적인 선생이 늘 선포하기를, “오 주 하느님이여, 당신은 위대하시니, 당신과 같은 이가 없으며, 당신 외에는 어떤 하느님도 없나이다(삼하7:22).”
97:1.6 (1063.3) Theretofore the Hebrews had regarded the favor of Yahweh mainly in terms of material prosperity. It was a great shock to Israel, and almost cost Samuel his life, when he dared to proclaim: “The Lord enriches and impoverishes; he debases and exalts. He raises the poor out of the dust and lifts up the beggars to set them among princes to make them inherit the throne of glory.” Not since Moses had such comforting promises for the humble and the less fortunate been proclaimed, and thousands of despairing among the poor began to take hope that they could improve their spiritual status. 그 이전에 히브리인들은 야훼의 은총을 주로 물질적 번영의 관점으로 생각했습니다. 그가 감히 “주님은 부하게도 하시고 가난하게도 하시며, 그는 낮추기도 하시고 높이기도 하도다. 그가 가난한 자를 진토(塵土)에서 일으키시며 빈궁한 자를 들어 올려 영광의 자리를 그들이 물려받도록 왕자들 사이에 그들을 앉게 하시느니라(삼상2:7-8a).”라고 선포할 때 이것은 이스라엘에게 커다란 충격이었고 사무엘은 거의 자기 목숨을 잃을 뻔했습니다. 모세 이후로 겸손한 자들과 불우한 사람들을 위한 그런 위로의 약속이 선포된 적이 없었고, 절망적인 수많은 가난한 자들이 자신들의 영적 지위를 개선할 수 있다는 희망을 품기 시작했습니다.
97:1.7 (1063.4) But Samuel did not progress very far beyond the concept of a tribal god. He proclaimed a Yahweh who made all men but was occupied chiefly with the Hebrews, his chosen people. Even so, as in the days of Moses, once more the God concept portrayed a Deity who is holy and upright. “There is none as holy as the Lord. Who can be compared to this holy Lord God?” 그러나 사무엘은 부족적 신과 같은 존재의 개념을 크게 벗어나지 못했습니다. 그는 야훼가 모든 사람을 만들었다고 선포했지만 주로 그의 선민, 히브리인들에게 집중했습니다. 그렇다고 해도 모세의 시대처럼 다시 한번, 하느님 개념은 거룩하고 고결한 신(神)으로 표현되었습니다. “주님과 같이 거룩한 분이 없느니라. 누가 이렇게 거룩한 주 하느님과 비교될 수 있겠느냐(삼상2:2)?”
97:1.8 (1063.5) As the years passed, the grizzled old leader progressed in the understanding of God, for he declared: “The Lord is a God of knowledge, and actions are weighed by him. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth, showing mercy to the merciful, and with the upright man he will also be upright.” Even here is the dawn of mercy, albeit it is limited to those who are merciful. Later he went one step further when, in their adversity, he exhorted his people: “Let us fall now into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are great.” “There is no restraint upon the Lord to save many or few.” 세월이 흐르자, 반백의 늙은 지도자는 하느님에 대한 이해가 진전되어 선언했습니다. “주는 지식의 하느님이라, 그는 행동의 무게를 달아 보시느니라(삼상2:3b). 주님은 자비한 자에게는 자비를 보이시고, 고결한 사람에게는 자신도 고결히 대하시면서(삼하22:26), 땅끝까지 심판하리라(삼상2:10).” 비록 자비로운 자들에게 한정되기는 하지만 여기에도 자비의 여명이 있습니다. 나중에 그는 한 걸음 더 나아가, 그들이 역경에 처할 때, 그는 자기 민족을 타일렀습니다. “주님의 자비가 크시니, 이제 주님의 손에 빠지자(삼하24:14).” “구할 사람이 많든지, 아니면 적든지, 주님에게는 제한이 없느니라(삼상14:6b).”
97:1.9 (1063.6) And this gradual development of the concept of the character of Yahweh continued under the ministry of Samuel’s successors. They attempted to present Yahweh as a covenant-keeping God but hardly maintained the pace set by Samuel; they failed to develop the idea of the mercy of God as Samuel had later conceived it. There was a steady drift back toward the recognition of other gods, despite the maintenance that Yahweh was above all. “Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.” 야훼의 성품에 대한 이런 점진적 개념의 발전은 사무엘 후계자들의 사역 아래에서 연장되었습니다. 그들은 야훼를 계약을 지키는 하느님으로 제시하려 했지만, 사무엘이 정한 속도를 거의 유지하지 못했습니다. 그들은 사무엘이 나중에 생각했듯이 하느님의 자비 개념을 끝내 진전시키지 못했습니다. 야훼가 모든 것 위에 있다고 주장하면서도, 다른 신과 같은 존재들은 인정하는 방향으로 꾸준히 되돌아가는 경향이 있었습니다. “오 주여, 왕국이 주님의 것이며, 당신은 모든 것 위에 머리로서 높이 계시나이다(대상29:11b).”
97:1.10 (1064.1) The keynote of this era was divine power; the prophets of this age preached a religion designed to foster the king upon the Hebrew throne. “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. In your hand is power and might, and you are able to make great and to give strength to all.” And this was the status of the God concept during the time of Samuel and his immediate successors. 이 시대의 기본 방침은 신적 권세였습니다. 이 시대의 선지자들은 히브리 왕좌에 앉는 왕을 육성하도록 고안된 종교를 전파했습니다. “오, 주여, 위대함과 권세와 영광과 승리와 위엄이 당신의 것입니다. 당신의 손에 권세와 능력이 있으며, 당신은 모든 사람을 위대하고 강하게 하실 수 있나이다(대상29:11a, 12).” 이것이 사무엘과 그의 직계 후계자들 시대의 하느님 개념의 상태였습니다.
2. Elijah and Elisha 엘리야와 엘리사
97:2.1 (1064.2) In the tenth century before Christ the Hebrew nation became divided into two kingdoms. In both of these political divisions many truth teachers endeavored to stem the reactionary tide of spiritual decadence that had set in, and which continued disastrously after the war of separation. But these efforts to advance the Hebraic religion did not prosper until that determined and fearless warrior for righteousness, Elijah, began his teaching. Elijah restored to the northern kingdom a concept of God comparable with that held in the days of Samuel. Elijah had little opportunity to present an advanced concept of God; he was kept busy, as Samuel had been before him, overthrowing the altars of Baal and demolishing the idols of false gods. And he carried forward his reforms in the face of the opposition of an idolatrous monarch; his task was even more gigantic and difficult than that which Samuel had faced. 그리스도 이전 10세기에 히브리 민족은 두 왕국으로 쪼개졌습니다. 이런 두 정치적 분열 가운데, 여러 진리 선생이 영적 타락이 시작되어 분단 전쟁 후 비참하게 계속된 역행의 풍조를 막으려고 애썼습니다. 그러나 히브리 종교를 진척시키는 이런 노력은 단호하고 두려움을 모르는 공의(公義)의 투사, 엘리야가 자기 가르침을 시작할 때까지 성공하지 못했습니다(왕상17:1). 엘리야는 사무엘 시절에 비교할 만한 하느님 개념을 북 왕국에 회복했습니다. 엘리야는 자신에 앞서 사무엘이 했듯이 바알의 제단을 무너뜨리고 거짓된 신과 같은 존재들의 우상들을 부수기에 바빠서 진보한 하느님 개념을 제시할 기회가 거의 없었습니다. 그리고 그는 우상을 숭배하는 군주의 반대에도 불구하고 자기 개혁을 추진했습니다. 그의 과업은 사무엘이 직면했던 과업보다 훨씬 더 거대하고 어려웠습니다(왕상16:30-33, 21:25-26).
97:2.2 (1064.3) When Elijah was called away, Elisha, his faithful associate, took up his work and, with the invaluable assistance of the little-known Micaiah, kept the light of truth alive in Palestine. 엘리야가 부름을 받아 떠난 후 그의 충실한 동료 엘리사가 그의 과업을 맡았고, 거의 알려지지 않은 미가야의 매우 귀중한 도움으로 팔레스타인에서 진리의 빛이 살아 있게 했습니다(왕하2:1-15, 왕상19:16, 19-20, 22:7-28, 대하18:6-8).
97:2.3 (1064.4) But these were not times of progress in the concept of Deity. Not yet had the Hebrews ascended even to the Mosaic ideal. The era of Elijah and Elisha closed with the better classes returning to the worship of the supreme Yahweh and witnessed the restoration of the idea of the Universal Creator to about that place where Samuel had left it. 그러나 이때는 신(神)개념에서 진보한 시대가 아니었습니다. 히브리인들은 아직도 모세의 이상(理想)에조차 오르지 못했습니다. 엘리야와 엘리사의 시대는 상류 계층이 최극 야훼의 경배로 바싹 가까이 되돌아갔으며, 사무엘이 떠났던 그 자리 근처까지 우주 창조자의 개념이 회복되는 것을 눈으로 보았습니다.
3. Yahweh and Baal 야훼와 바알
97:3.1 (1064.5) The long-drawn-out controversy between the believers in Yahweh and the followers of Baal was a socioeconomic clash of ideologies rather than a difference in religious beliefs. 야훼를 믿는 신자들과 바알의 추종자들 사이에 오랜 계속된 논쟁은 종교적 믿음의 차이보다는 사회경제적 관념의 충돌이었습니다.
97:3.2 (1064.6) The inhabitants of Palestine differed in their attitude toward private ownership of land. The southern or wandering Arabian tribes (the Yahwehites) looked upon land as an inalienable — as a gift of Deity to the clan. They held that land could not be sold or mortgaged. “Yahweh spoke, saying, ‘The land shall not be sold, for the land is mine.’” 팔레스타인 주민들은 토지의 사유권에 대한 태도가 달랐습니다. 남부 또한 방랑하는 아라비아 부족(야훼사람)들은 토지를 신(神)이 씨족에게 준 선물로서 양도할 수 없는 것으로 여겼습니다. 그들은 토지를 팔거나 저당(抵當 담보)을 잡힐 수 없다고 생각했습니다. “야훼가 말하기를, ‘토지는 내 것이니 팔지 말아야 한다.’라고 했습니다(레25:23).”
97:3.3 (1064.7) The northern and more settled Canaanites (the Baalites) freely bought, sold, and mortgaged their lands. The word Baal means owner. The Baal cult was founded on two major doctrines: First, the validation of property exchange, contracts, and covenants — the right to buy and sell land. Second, Baal was supposed to send rain — he was a god of fertility of the soil. Good crops depended on the favor of Baal. The cult was largely concerned with land, its ownership and fertility. 북부에 더 자리를 잡은 가나안 사람(바알사람)들은 자신들의 토지를 자유롭게 사고팔고 저당을 잡혔습니다. 바알이라는 단어는 소유자를 의미합니다. 바알 종파는 두 가지 주요 교리에 근거를 두었습니다. 첫째, 재산 교환, 약정(約定) 및 계약, 즉 토지를 사고파는 권리의 합법성. 둘째, 바알은 비를 내려서 땅을 비옥하게 하는 신과 같은 존재로 생각했습니다. 좋은 수확은 바알의 은혜에 달려 있었습니다. 그 종파는 주로 토지, 즉 그 소유권과 비옥(肥沃 생산력)에 관심을 두었습니다.
97:3.4 (1065.1) In general, the Baalites owned houses, lands, and slaves. They were the aristocratic landlords and lived in the cities. Each Baal had a sacred place, a priesthood, and the “holy women,” the ritual prostitutes. 일반적으로 바알 추종자들은 집, 토지, 노예를 소유했습니다. 그들은 귀족적 지주(地主)들이었고 도시들에 살았습니다. 바알마다 신성한 곳, 사제들 및 “거룩한 여성들,” 의식(儀式)의 매춘부들이 있었습니다.
97:3.5 (1065.2) Out of this basic difference in the regard for land, there evolved the bitter antagonisms of social, economic, moral, and religious attitudes exhibited by the Canaanites and the Hebrews. This socioeconomic controversy did not become a definite religious issue until the times of Elijah. From the days of this aggressive prophet the issue was fought out on more strictly religious lines — Yahweh vs. Baal — and it ended in the triumph of Yahweh and the subsequent drive toward monotheism. 토지에 대한 이런 기본적 차이에서 가나안 사람들과 히브리인(人)들이 보여준, 사회적, 경제적, 도덕적, 종교적 태도에 속한 격렬한 적대 관계가 일어났습니다. 이런 사회경제적 논쟁은 엘리야의 시대에 이르러 뚜렷한 종교적 문제가 되었습니다. 이런 공격적인 선지자의 시대로부터 그 쟁점은 야훼 대 바알이라는 더 엄격한 종교적 노선에서 해결이 날 때까지 싸웠고 야훼의 승리와 뒤이어 일신교를 향한 적극적인 노력으로 끝났습니다.
97:3.6 (1065.3) Elijah shifted the Yahweh-Baal controversy from the land issue to the religious aspect of Hebrew and Canaanite ideologies. When Ahab murdered the Naboths in the intrigue to get possession of their land, Elijah made a moral issue out of the olden land mores and launched his vigorous campaign against the Baalites. This was also a fight of the country folk against domination by the cities. It was chiefly under Elijah that Yahweh became Elohim. The prophet began as an agrarian reformer and ended up by exalting Deity. Baals were many, Yahweh was one — monotheism won over polytheism. 엘리야는 야훼-바알 논쟁을 토지 문제에서 히브리와 가나안 관념의 종교적 측면으로 이동시켰습니다. 아합이 나봇 일가의 토지를 차지하려는 음모로 그들을 살해하자(왕상21:1-16), 엘리야는 오래된 토지 관습에서 도덕적 쟁점을 만들어 바알 추종자들을 적대하여 강력한 반대운동에 나섰습니다. 이것은 도시들의 지배에 저항하는 지방 사람들의 투쟁이기도 했습니다. 주로 엘리야의 영향으로 야훼는 엘로힘이 되었습니다. 선지자는 토지 개혁가로 시작하여 결국 신(神)을 높이게 되었습니다. 바알들은 많았고 야훼는 하나였습니다. – 일신교(一神敎)가 다신교(多神敎)를 물리쳤습니다.
4. Amos and Hosea 아모스와 호세아
97:4.1 (1065.4) A great step in the transition of the tribal god — the god who had so long been served with sacrifices and ceremonies, the Yahweh of the earlier Hebrews — to a God who would punish crime and immorality among even his own people, was taken by Amos, who appeared from among the southern hills to denounce the criminality, drunkenness, oppression, and immorality of the northern tribes. Not since the times of Moses had such ringing truths been proclaimed in Palestine. 부족의 신과 같은 존재-오랫동안 희생 제물과 의식(儀式)으로 섬겼던 신과 같은 존재, 초기 히브리인들의 야훼가 자기 백성 중에서도 범죄와 부도덕을 처벌하려는 하느님으로 변천(變遷)하는 위대한 첫걸음은 남부 구릉지대에서 나타나 북부 부족들의 범죄 행위, 취태(醉態 술에 취함), 억압 및 부도덕을 공공연히 공격한 아모스가 내디뎠습니다. 모세 시대 이후로 팔레스타인에서 그토록 울려 퍼지는 진리가 선포된 적이 없었습니다.
97:4.2 (1065.5) Amos was not merely a restorer or reformer; he was a discoverer of new concepts of Deity. He proclaimed much about God that had been announced by his predecessors and courageously attacked the belief in a Divine Being who would countenance sin among his so-called chosen people. For the first time since the days of Melchizedek the ears of man heard the denunciation of the double standard of national justice and morality. For the first time in their history Hebrew ears heard that their own God, Yahweh, would no more tolerate crime and sin in their lives than he would among any other people. Amos envisioned the stern and just God of Samuel and Elijah, but he also saw a God who thought no differently of the Hebrews than of any other nation when it came to the punishment of wrongdoing. This was a direct attack on the egoistic doctrine of the “chosen people,” and many Hebrews of those days bitterly resented it. 아모스는 단지 회복자나 개혁자가 아니라 새로운 신(神)개념을 발견한 사람이었습니다. 그는 자기 선조들이 공표했던 하느님에 대해서 많이 선포했고, 소위 신적 존재의 선민(選民 특별한 혜택을 받는 민족, 신7:6, 14:2) 사이에서 죄를 묵인하려는 신적 존재를 믿는 믿음을 용감하게 공격했습니다. 멜기세덱 시대 이후 처음으로 국가적 정의(正義)와 도덕성에 대한 이중적 기준을 공공연하게 비난하는 소리가 사람의 귀에 들렸습니다. 히브리인들의 귀는 역사상 처음으로 자신들의 하느님, 야훼가 다른 민족들 사이에서 하는 것과 마찬가지로 자신들의 생활에서 범죄와 죄를 더 이상 묵인(默認 모르는 체하고 슬며시 인정)하지 않을 것이라고 들었습니다. 아모스는 사무엘과 엘리야의 단호하고 공정한 하느님을 마음에 그렸지만, 악한 짓에 대한 처벌에 있어서 히브리인들을 다른 나라들과 다르지 않게 생각하는 하느님으로 알았습니다. 이것은 “선민(選民)”이라는 이기적 교리에 대한 직접적 공격이었고, 당시 여러 히브리인들은 그것을 몹시 원망했습니다.
97:4.3 (1065.6) Said Amos: “He who formed the mountains and created the wind, seek him who formed the seven stars and Orion, who turns the shadow of death into the morning and makes the day dark as night.” And in denouncing his half-religious, timeserving, and sometimes immoral fellows, he sought to portray the inexorable justice of an unchanging Yahweh when he said of the evildoers: “Though they dig into hell, thence shall I take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.” “And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I direct the sword of justice, and it shall slay them.” Amos further startled his hearers when, pointing a reproving and accusing finger at them, he declared in the name of Yahweh: “Surely I will never forget any of your works.” “And I will sift the house of Israel among all nations as wheat is sifted in a sieve.” 아모스가 말했습니다. “산들을 만들고 바람을 창조한 분, 일곱 별과 오리온을 만드신 분을 찾을 것이니, 그는 사망의 그림자를 아침으로 바꾸시고, 낮을 밤처럼 어둡게 만드느니라(암4:13, 5:8).” 어중간하게 종교적이고, 기회주의적이며, 때때로 부도덕한 자기 동료들을 공격하면서, 그는 악행을 저지르는 자들에 대해 말할 때 언제나 일정한 야훼의 굽힐 수 없는 정의(正義)를 표현하려 했습니다. “그들이 지옥으로 파고 들어가도, 내가 거기서 그들을 잡아낼 것이라. 그들이 하늘에 올라가도, 내가 거기서 그들을 끌어내릴 것이라(암9:2).” “그들이 자기 대적들 앞에서 사로잡혀도, 내가 거기에서 정의(正義)의 칼을 보내어 그들을 살해할 것이라(암9:4).” 아모스가 자기 청중들을 가리켜 꾸짖으면서 죄가 있다고 비난하면서, “나는 확실하게 너희의 어떤 소행도 절대로 잊지 않을 것이라(암8:7).” “그리고 나는 밀을 체로 걸러내듯이 모든 민족 가운데에서 이스라엘의 집을 걸러낼 것이라(암9:9).”라고 야훼의 이름으로 선언할 때, 그는 그들을 더 깜짝 놀라게 했습니다.
97:4.4 (1066.1) Amos proclaimed Yahweh the “God of all nations” and warned the Israelites that ritual must not take the place of righteousness. And before this courageous teacher was stoned to death, he had spread enough leaven of truth to save the doctrine of the supreme Yahweh; he had insured the further evolution of the Melchizedek revelation. 아모스는 야훼를 “모든 나라의 하느님”으로 선포했고, 의식(儀式)이 공의(公義)의 자리를 대신하지 말아야 한다고 이스라엘 사람들에게 경고했습니다(암5:21-24). 이 용감한 선생은 돌에 맞아 죽기 전에, 최고 야훼의 교리를 지켜 내기에 충분한 진리의 영향력을 펼쳤습니다. 그는 멜기세덱 계시가 더욱 발전하도록 책임을 맡았습니다.
97:4.5 (1066.2) Hosea followed Amos and his doctrine of a universal God of justice by the resurrection of the Mosaic concept of a God of love. Hosea preached forgiveness through repentance, not by sacrifice. He proclaimed a gospel of loving-kindness and divine mercy, saying: “I will betroth you to me forever; yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and judgment and in loving-kindness and in mercies. I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness.” “I will love them freely, for my anger is turned away.” 호세아는 사랑의 하느님에 대한 모세의 개념을 재현하여 아모스와 정의(正義)의 우주 하느님이라는 그의 교리를 따랐습니다. 호세아는 희생 제물이 아니라 회개를 통한 용서를 설교했습니다(호6:6). 그는 신(神)의 도타운 사랑과 신적 자비의 복음을 선포하면서 말했습니다. “나는 너희를 나와 아주 오래 약혼시키리라 나는 분명히 공의(公義)와 공정(公正)으로, 도타운 사랑과 자비로 너희가 나와 약혼시키리라. 나는 실로 충실하게 너희를 나와 약혼시키리라(호2:19-20).” “나는 그들을 아낌없이 사랑하리니, 내 분노가 떠나가기 때문이라(호14:4).”
97:4.6 (1066.3) Hosea faithfully continued the moral warnings of Amos, saying of God, “It is my desire that I chastise them.” But the Israelites regarded it as cruelty bordering on treason when he said: “I will say to those who were not my people, ‘you are my people’; and they will say, ‘you are our God.’” He continued to preach repentance and forgiveness, saying, “I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely, for my anger is turned away.” Always Hosea proclaimed hope and forgiveness. The burden of his message ever was: “I will have mercy upon my people. They shall know no God but me, for there is no savior beside me.” 호세아는 충실하게 아모스의 도덕적 경고를 계속하면서 하느님에 대해 “내가 그들을 질책하는 것이 내가 바라는 것이다.”라고 말했습니다(호10:10). 그러나 이스라엘 사람들은 그가 “내가 내 백성이 아니었던 자들에게 ‘너희는 내 백성이라.’라고 말하리라. 그러면 그들이 ‘당신은 우리 하느님입니다.’라고 말할 것이라(호2:23).”라고 말했을 때, 그것을 반역에 가까운 끔찍한 것으로 여겼습니다. 그는 계속 회개와 용서를 설교하면서 말했습니다. “내가 그들의 타락을 치유하리라. 내가 그들을 아낌없이 사랑할 것은 내 분노가 떠나가기 때문이니라(호14:4).” 호세아는 언제나 희망과 용서를 선포했습니다. 그의 메시지 요지는 언제나 “나는 내 백성에게 자비를 베풀리라(호1:7). 그들은 나 외에 다른 하느님을 알지 말 것이니, 나 외에 구원자가 없기 때문이니라(호13:4).”였습니다.
97:4.7 (1066.4) Amos quickened the national conscience of the Hebrews to the recognition that Yahweh would not condone crime and sin among them because they were supposedly the chosen people, while Hosea struck the opening notes in the later merciful chords of divine compassion and loving-kindness which were so exquisitely sung by Isaiah and his associates. 아모스는 히브리인들이 일반적으로 볼 때 선민(先民)이라고 해서 야훼가 그들 가운데 범죄와 죄를 너그럽게 봐주지 않는다는 것을 알아보도록 그들의 국가적 양심을 되살렸고, 한편 호세아는 이사야와 그의 동료가 그토록 우아하게 찬양했던, 신적 긍휼(矜恤)과 도타운 사랑에 대한 후대의 자비로운 화음에서 첫 소절을 연주했습니다.
5. The First Isaiah 첫 번째 이사야
97:5.1 (1066.5) These were the times when some were proclaiming threatenings of punishment against personal sins and national crime among the northern clans while others predicted calamity in retribution for the transgressions of the southern kingdom. It was in the wake of this arousal of conscience and consciousness in the Hebrew nations that the first Isaiah made his appearance. 이 시대에 북부 씨족들 사이에서 일부가 개인적인 죄악들과 국가적 범죄에 대해서 처벌의 위협이 있다고 선포하는 동안 다른 이들은 남쪽 왕국의 범죄에 대한 응보(應報 행위의 결과)로 재난을 예언했습니다. 히브리 종족들의 양심과 의식이 이렇게 깨어 일어날 때 첫 번째 이사야가 출현했습니다.
97:5.2 (1066.6) Isaiah went on to preach the eternal nature of God, his infinite wisdom, his unchanging perfection of reliability. He represented the God of Israel as saying: “Judgment also will I lay to the line and righteousness to the plummet.” “The Lord will give you rest from your sorrow and from your fear and from the hard bondage wherein man has been made to serve.” “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘this is the way, walk in it.’” “Behold God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord is my strength and my song.” “‘Come now and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like the crimson, they shall be as wool.’” 이사야는 계속해서 하느님의 영원한 본성, 그의 무한한 지혜, 신뢰할 수 있는 그의 변함없는 완전성에 대해 설교했습니다. 그는 이스라엘의 하느님을 다음과 같은 말로 표현했습니다. “나는 또한 심판으로 줄을 내리치고, 공의로 다림줄을 내리치리라(사28:17).” “주께서 너희를 너희 슬픔과 너희 두려움, 그리고 사람이 섬기도록 만든 힘든 강제 노역에서 안식을 주리라(사14:3).” “그리고 ‘이것이 길이니, 이 길로 걸어가라.’라는 말소리가 네 뒤에서 네 귀에 들릴 것이라(사30:21).” “보라, 하느님은 나의 구원이라, 내가 신뢰하고 두려워하지 않을 것이니, 주는 내 힘이며 내 노래이기 때문이라(사12:2).” “주께서 말하시되, ‘지금 와서 서로 변론하자, 너희 죄악이 주홍 같아도 눈처럼 희게 되리라. 그것들이 핏빛처럼 붉어도 그것들은 양털처럼 될 것이라(사1:18).’”
97:5.3 (1066.7) Speaking to the fear-ridden and soul-hungry Hebrews, this prophet said: “Arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and has covered me with his robe of righteousness.” “In all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them.” 공포에 떨고 혼이 굶주린 히브리인들에게 이야기하면서 이 선지자가 말했습니다. “일어나 빛을 발하라, 너희 빛이 왔고 주의 영광이 네 위로 솟아올랐기 때문이니라(사60:1).” “주께서 나에게 기름을 부어 온유한 자들에게 좋은 소식을 전하게 하셨기에 주의 영이 내게 임하심이라. 그가 나를 보내어 마음이 상한 자들을 싸매고, 사로잡힌 자들에게 해방을, 갇힌 자들에게 감옥이 열렸음을 선포하게 하셨기 때문이니라(사61:1).” “내가 주 안에서 크게 기뻐하며, 내 혼이 내 하느님 안에서 즐거워하리니, 그가 나를 구원의 옷으로 입히시며 그의 공의(公義)의 예복으로 가리셨기 때문이라(사61:10).” “그들의 모든 고통 가운데 그가 고통을 받으셨고, 그 면전(面前)의 천사가 그들을 건졌느니라. 그의 사랑과 그의 불쌍히 여김으로, 그가 그들을 회복시켰느니라(사63:9).”
97:5.4 (1067.1) This Isaiah was followed by Micah and Obadiah, who confirmed and embellished his soul-satisfying gospel. And these two brave messengers boldly denounced the priest-ridden ritual of the Hebrews and fearlessly attacked the whole sacrificial system. 이 이사야 뒤를 이어 미가와 오바댜가 그의 혼(魂)을 만족시키는 복음을 확증하고 아름답게 꾸몄습니다. 그리고 이런 두 용감한 메신저들은 성직자가 지배하는 히브리인들의 의식(儀式)을 대담하게 공공연히 비난하고 희생 제사 제도 전체를 두려워하지 않고 공격했습니다.
97:5.5 (1067.2) Micah denounced “the rulers who judge for reward and the priests who teach for hire and the prophets who divine for money.” He taught of a day of freedom from superstition and priestcraft, saying: “But every man shall sit under his own vine, and no one shall make him afraid, for all people will live, each one according to his understanding of God.” 미가는 “보상을 위해 재판하는 통치자들과 고용되어 가르치는 사제들과 돈을 위해 점치는 예언자들을(미3:11)” 공공연히 비난했습니다. 그는 미신과 사제술(司祭術)에서 해방되는 날을 가르치며 말했습니다. “그러나 각 사람이 자기 포도나무 아래에 앉을 것이며, 아무도 그를 두렵게 하지 못하리니, 모든 사람이 각자 자신이 하느님을 이해하는 대로 살 것이기 때문이라(미4:4).”
97:5.6 (1067.3) Ever the burden of Micah’s message was: “Shall I come before God with burnt offerings? Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown me, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?” And it was a great age; these were indeed stirring times when mortal man heard, and some even believed, such emancipating messages more than two and a half millenniums ago. And but for the stubborn resistance of the priests, these teachers would have overthrown the whole bloody ceremonial of the Hebrew ritual of worship. 언제나 미가 메시지의 요점은 다음과 같았습니다. “내가 번제물을 가지고 하느님 앞에 나아갈까?, 주께서 천 마리의 숫양이나 일만 강의 기름을 기뻐하실까? 내가 내 죄를 위해 내게 맨 처음 태어난 아이, 내 혼(魂)의 죄를 위해 내 몸의 열매를 바칠까? 사람아, 무엇이 선한지 그가 내게 보이셨느니라. 바르게 행하고 자비를 사랑하며 너의 하느님과 함께 겸손하게 처신하는 것 말고 주께서 무엇을 네게 명하시느냐(미6:6-8)?” 그것은 위대한 시대였습니다. 이는, 2,500년 더 이전에 필사 인간이 그렇게 자유롭게 하는 메시지를 듣고 일부는 믿기까지 했던 정말로 감동의 시절이었습니다. 그리고 사제들의 완강한 저항이 없었다면, 이런 선생들은 히브리 예배 의식의 피비린내 나는 의례 전체를 뒤집어엎었을 것입니다.
6. Jeremiah the Fearless 두려움을 모르는 예레미야
97:6.1 (1067.4) While several teachers continued to expound the gospel of Isaiah, it remained for Jeremiah to take the next bold step in the internationalization of Yahweh, God of the Hebrews. 몇몇 선생이 계속 이사야의 복음을 해설하는 동안, 야훼, 히브리인들의 하느님을 국제화하는 대담한 다음 단계는 예레미야가 개입해야 했습니다.
97:6.2 (1067.5) Jeremiah fearlessly declared that Yahweh was not on the side of the Hebrews in their military struggles with other nations. He asserted that Yahweh was God of all the earth, of all nations and of all peoples. Jeremiah’s teaching was the crescendo of the rising wave of the internationalization of the God of Israel; finally and forever did this intrepid preacher proclaim that Yahweh was God of all nations, and that there was no Osiris for the Egyptians, Bel for the Babylonians, Ashur for the Assyrians, or Dagon for the Philistines. And thus did the religion of the Hebrews share in that renaissance of monotheism throughout the world at about and following this time; at last the concept of Yahweh had ascended to a Deity level of planetary and even cosmic dignity. But many of Jeremiah’s associates found it difficult to conceive of Yahweh apart from the Hebrew nation. 예레미야는 다른 나라들과 히브리인들의 군사적 전투에서 야훼가 그들의 편이 아니라고 두려워하지 않고 선언했습니다(렘21:7). 그는 야훼가 온 지상, 모든 나라와 모든 민족의 하느님이라고 주장했습니다(렘32:27-28). 예레미야의 가르침은 이스라엘의 하느님을 국제화하는 최고조의 상승 물결이었습니다. 드디어 영원히 이 대담무쌍한 설교자는 야훼는 온 국가의 하느님이며, 이집트인들에게는 오시리스, 바빌로니아인(人)들에게는 벨, 앗시리아인(人)들에게는 아슈르, 또한 필리스틴인(人)들에게는 다곤도 존재하지 않는 상태라고 선포했습니다(렘10:6-7). 그래서 히브리인들의 종교는 이 무렵과 그 뒤로 전 세계에 유일신교(唯一神敎)의 그런 부흥을 함께 나누어 마침내 야훼의 개념은 행성과 심지어 질서 우주의 존엄이 있는 신(神) 수준으로 높아졌습니다. 그러나 예레미야의 여러 동료는 히브리 국가와 떨어져서 야훼를 생각하기 어려웠습니다.
97:6.3 (1067.6) Jeremiah also preached of the just and loving God described by Isaiah, declaring: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you.” “For he does not afflict willingly the children of men.” 예레미야는 또한 이사야가 묘사했던, 정의(正義)롭고 애정이 깊은 하느님에 대해 설교하면서 이렇게 선언했습니다. “맞도다, 나는 여전한 사랑으로 너희를 사랑했느니라. 그래서 내가 너희를 친밀한 사랑으로 끌어당겼느니라(렘31:3).” “그는 사람의 자녀들을 일부러 괴롭히지 않으시기 때문이니라(애3:33).”
97:6.4 (1067.7) Said this fearless prophet: “Righteous is our Lord, great in counsel and mighty in work. His eyes are open upon all the ways of all the sons of men, to give every one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.” But it was considered blasphemous treason when, during the siege of Jerusalem, he said: “And now have I given these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant.” And when Jeremiah counseled the surrender of the city, the priests and civil rulers cast him into the miry pit of a dismal dungeon. 두려움을 모르는 이 선지자가 말했습니다. “우리 주는 의로우시니(렘12:1), 위대하게 계획하시고, 강력하게 일하시느니라. 그의 눈은 사람들의 모든 자녀의 모든 길을 주목하셔서, 그의 길과 그 행위의 열매대로 주시느니라(렘32:19).” 그러나 예루살렘의 포위 기간에 그가 “이제 내가 이 땅들을 내 종, 바빌론의 왕, 네브카드네자르의 손에 주었느니라(렘27:6).”라고 말하자, 그것은 불경한 반역죄로 여겨졌습니다. 그리고 예레미야가 그 도시의 항복을 충고하자(렘38:2-3), 사제들과 국가 통치자들이 그를 진흙투성이의 비참한 지하 감옥 구덩이에 던져넣었습니다(렘38:6).
7. The Second Isaiah 두 번째 이사야
97:7.1 (1068.1) The destruction of the Hebrew nation and their captivity in Mesopotamia would have proved of great benefit to their expanding theology had it not been for the determined action of their priesthood. Their nation had fallen before the armies of Babylon, and their nationalistic Yahweh had suffered from the international preachments of the spiritual leaders. It was resentment of the loss of their national god that led the Jewish priests to go to such lengths in the invention of fables and the multiplication of miraculous appearing events in Hebrew history in an effort to restore the Jews as the chosen people of even the new and expanded idea of an internationalized God of all nations. 히브리 국가의 멸망과 그들의 메소포타미아 포로 생활은 사제들의 단호한 행동이 없었다면 그들의 확장하는 신학에 커다란 이익이 되었을 것입니다. 그들의 국가는 바벨론 군대 앞에서 함락되었고, 그들의 국가주의적 야훼는 영적 지도자들의 국제적 설교들로 인해 상처를 입었습니다. 심지어 새롭게 확장된 개념, 즉 모든 국가의 국제화된 하느님의 선민(選民 특별한 혜택을 받는 민족)으로 유대인들을 회복하려는 노력으로 유대 사제들이 우화(寓話)를 꾸며내고 히브리 역사에서 기적과 같은 사건들을 늘리는, 그런 정도로 이끌었던 것은 그들 국가의 신과 같은 존재를 잃어버린 분노였습니다.
97:7.2 (1068.2) During the captivity the Jews were much influenced by Babylonian traditions and legends, although it should be noted that they unfailingly improved the moral tone and spiritual significance of the Chaldean stories which they adopted, notwithstanding that they invariably distorted these legends to reflect honor and glory upon the ancestry and history of Israel. 유대인들은 포로 기간에 바빌론의 전통과 전설의 영향을 많이 받았으며, 그들이 이스라엘 조상과 역사에 명예와 영광을 불러오려고 이런 전설들을 변함 없이 왜곡했지만, 그래도 그들은 자신들이 채택한 칼데아 이야기들의 도덕적 기풍과 영적 의미를 끊임없이 개선했다는 점이 주목받아야 합니다.
97:7.3 (1068.3) These Hebrew priests and scribes had a single idea in their minds, and that was the rehabilitation of the Jewish nation, the glorification of Hebrew traditions, and the exaltation of their racial history. If there is resentment of the fact that these priests have fastened their erroneous ideas upon such a large part of the Occidental world, it should be remembered that they did not intentionally do this; they did not claim to be writing by inspiration; they made no profession to be writing a sacred book. They were merely preparing a textbook designed to bolster up the dwindling courage of their fellows in captivity. They were definitely aiming at improving the national spirit and morale of their compatriots. It remained for later-day men to assemble these and other writings into a guide book of supposedly infallible teachings. 이런 히브리 사제들과 서기관들은 그들의 마음에 단 하나의 생각이 있었는데, 그것은 유대 국가를 회복하고, 히브리 전통을 찬미하며, 자신들의 종족 역사를 높이는 것이었습니다. 이런 사제들이 자신들의 잘못된 생각을 그토록 큰 부분의 서양 세계에 뒤집어씌웠다는 사실에 분노한다면, 그들이 일부러 이렇게 하지 않았고, 영감(靈感)으로 글을 썼다고 주장하지 않았으며, 자신들이 신성한 책을 썼다고 선언하지도 않았다는 것을 생각해 내야 합니다. 그들은 사로잡힌 자기 동료들의 줄어드는 용기를 북돋으려는 뜻으로 교과서를 준비했을 뿐입니다. 그들은 자기 동포들의 국가적 정신과 사기(士氣)의 향상을 뚜렷하게 목표로 삼았습니다. 이것들과 다른 저작들을 조금도 틀림없는 가르침으로 여겨진 안내서로 만드는 일은 결국 후대 사람들의 몫이었습니다.
97:7.4 (1068.4) The Jewish priesthood made liberal use of these writings subsequent to the captivity, but they were greatly hindered in their influence over their fellow captives by the presence of a young and indomitable prophet, Isaiah the second, who was a full convert to the elder Isaiah’s God of justice, love, righteousness, and mercy. He also believed with Jeremiah that Yahweh had become the God of all nations. He preached these theories of the nature of God with such telling effect that he made converts equally among the Jews and their captors. And this young preacher left on record his teachings, which the hostile and unforgiving priests sought to divorce from all association with him, although sheer respect for their beauty and grandeur led to their incorporation among the writings of the earlier Isaiah. And thus may be found the writings of this second Isaiah in the book of that name, embracing chapters forty to fifty-five inclusive. 유대 사제들은 포로 생활 이후에 이런 저작들을 자유롭게 사용했지만, 그들은 젊고 꿋꿋한 선지자, 두 번째 이사야가 있어서 동료 포로들에 대한 자신들의 영향력이 매우 방해받았는데, 그는 선배 이사야의 정의, 사랑, 공의와 자비의 하느님을 충실히 믿고 의지한 개종자였습니다. 그는 또한 예레미야와 함께 야훼가 모든 국가의 하느님이 되셨다고 믿었습니다. 그는 하느님의 본성에 속한 이런 이론들을 그토록 매우 효과적으로 설교하여 유대인들과 그들의 포획자들 사이에서 똑같이 개종자들을 만들었습니다. 그리고 이 젊은 설교자는 자기 가르침들을 기록으로 남겼는데, 적개심에 불타서 깊이 앙심을 먹은 사제들이 그와 관련된 모든 가르침을 분리하려 했지만, 그런 가르침의 아름다움과 장엄함에 대한 순전한 존중으로 그것들은 초기 이사야의 저작들 사이에 끼어서 들어갔습니다. 이렇게 두 번째 이사야의 저작들은 그 이름의 책에서, 40장에서 55장까지 포함하여 찾을 수 있습니다.
97:7.5 (1068.5) No prophet or religious teacher from Machiventa to the time of Jesus attained the high concept of God that Isaiah the second proclaimed during these days of the captivity. It was no small, anthropomorphic, man-made God that this spiritual leader proclaimed. “Behold he takes up the isles as a very little thing.” “And as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” 마키벤타부터 예수의 시대까지 어떤 선지자나 종교 선생도 이런 포로 시대에 두 번째 이사야가 선포했던 높은 하느님의 개념에 도달하지 못했습니다. 이 영적 지도자가 선포한 개념은 작고, 사람 모습을 닮은, 사람이-만든 하느님이 전혀 아니었습니다. “보라, 그는 섬들을 아주 작은 것으로 여기느니라(사40:15).” “그리고 하늘이 땅보다 높은 것처럼 내 길은 너희 길보다 높으며 내 생각은 너희 생각보다 높으니라(사55:9).”
97:7.6 (1069.1) At last Machiventa Melchizedek beheld human teachers proclaiming a real God to mortal man. Like Isaiah the first, this leader preached a God of universal creation and upholding. “I have made the earth and put man upon it. I have created it not in vain; I formed it to be inhabited.” “I am the first and the last; there is no God beside me.” Speaking for the Lord God of Israel, this new prophet said: “The heavens may vanish and the earth wax old, but my righteousness shall endure forever and my salvation from generation to generation.” “Fear you not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.” “There is no God beside me — a just God and a Savior.” 마침내 마키벤타 멜기세덱은 실재하는 하느님을 필사 사람에게 선포하는 인간 선생들을 바라보았습니다. 이 지도자는 첫 번째 이사야처럼 우주를 창조하고 유지하는 하느님을 설교했습니다. “내가 땅을 만들고 그 위에 사람을 두었도다(사45:12a). 내가 땅을 헛되이 창조하지 않았느니라. 나는 사람이 살 수 있게 땅을 만들었느니라(사45:18).” “나는 처음이며 마지막이니라(사41:4, 44:6, 48:12). 나 외에 다른 하느님은 없느니라(사45:6).” 이스라엘의 주 하느님을 대변하면서, 이 새로운 선지자가 말했습니다. “하늘이 사라지고 땅은 점점 쇠퇴해도 나의 공의는 영원히 지속하며 나의 구원은 대대로 이어지리라(사51:6, 8).” “두려워하지 말라, 내가 너희와 함께 있기 때문이니라. 놀라지 말라, 나는 너희의 하느님이기 때문이니라(사41:10).” “공정한 하느님이며 구원자(救援者)인 나 외에 다른 하느님이 없느니라(사45:21).”
97:7.7 (1069.2) And it comforted the Jewish captives, as it has thousands upon thousands ever since, to hear such words as: “Thus says the Lord, ‘I have created you, I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are mine.’” “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you since you are precious in my sight.” “Can a woman forget her suckling child that she should not have compassion on her son? Yes, she may forget, yet will I not forget my children, for behold I have graven them upon the palms of my hands; I have even covered them with the shadow of my hands.” “Let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” 그리고 그것은 유대인 포로들에게 위로가 되었고, 그 이후로 줄곧 수천 명도 그런 말씀을 듣고 위로를 받았습니다. “주께서 이렇게 말씀하시되, ‘내가 너희를 창조하였고, 내가 너희를 다시 찾았으며, 내가 너희를 너희 이름으로 불렀으니, 너희는 내 것이라(사43:1).’” “너희가 물 가운데를 무사히 통과할 때, 너희가 내 눈에 사랑스럽기에, 내가 너희와 함께 있을 것이니라(사43:2).” “여인이 자기 젖먹이 자식을 잊어버리고 자기 자녀를 불쌍히 여기지 않을 수 있겠느냐? 아니, 여인은 잊어버려도, 나는 내 자녀들을 잊지 않을 것이니, 보라, 내가 그들을 내 손바닥에 새겼기 때문이니라(사49:15-16a). 내가 그들을 내 손의 그늘로 덮기까지 했도다(사51:16).” “악인은 그 길을 버리고 불의한 자는 자기 생각을 버리고 주께 돌아오라, 그러면 그가 그에게 자비를 베풀 것이라, 우리 하느님께 돌아오라, 그가 넘치도록 용서할 것이기 때문이니라(사55:7).”
97:7.8 (1069.3) Listen again to the gospel of this new revelation of the God of Salem: “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom. He gives power to the faint, and to those who have no might he increases strength. Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” 살렘의 하느님에 대한 이런 새로운 계시의 복음에 다시 귀 기울여 들으라. “그는 목자처럼 자기 양 떼를 먹이실 것이라. 그는 어린 양들을 자기 팔로 그러모아 그들을 자기 품에 안을 것이라(사40:11). 그는 약한 자들에게 능력을 주시며, 힘없는 자들에게 힘을 더하시니라(사40:29). 주를 기다리는 자들은 자신들의 힘을 되찾아 새로워지리라. 그들은 독수리들처럼 날개를 펴고 오를 것이라. 그들은 뛰어도 피곤하지 않으리라. 그들은 걸어도 노곤하지 않으리라(사40:31).”
97:7.9 (1069.4) This Isaiah conducted a far-flung propaganda of the gospel of the enlarging concept of a supreme Yahweh. He vied with Moses in the eloquence with which he portrayed the Lord God of Israel as the Universal Creator. He was poetic in his portrayal of the infinite attributes of the Universal Father. No more beautiful pronouncements about the heavenly Father have ever been made. Like the Psalms, the writings of Isaiah are among the most sublime and true presentations of the spiritual concept of God ever to greet the ears of mortal man prior to the arrival of Michael on Urantia. Listen to his portrayal of Deity: “I am the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity.” “I am the first and the last, and beside me there is no other God.” “And the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear.” And it was a new doctrine in Jewry when this benign but commanding prophet persisted in the preachment of divine constancy, God’s faithfulness. He declared that “God would not forget, would not forsake.” 이 이사야는 최고 야훼의 확대되는 개념의 복음을 널리 선전했습니다. 그는 이스라엘의 주 하느님을 우주 창조자로 묘사했던 웅변(雄辯)으로 모세와 겨루었습니다. 그는 우주 아버지의 무한한 속성을 시적(詩的)으로 묘사했습니다. 하늘 아버지에 대해 이보다 더 아름다운 선언은 일찍이 없었습니다. 시편처럼 이사야의 저작들은 미가엘이 유란시아에 도착하기 전(前)에 필사 사람의 귀에 일찍이 들린 하느님의 영적 개념에 대해 가장 숭고하고 참된 표현들 가운데 있습니다. 신(神)에 대한 그의 묘사에 귀 기울여 들으라. “나는 영원에 거하는 높고 고상한 존재니라(사57:15).” “나는 처음과 마지막이며 나 외에 다른 하느님이 전혀 없느니라(사44:6).” “주의 손이 짧아서 구할 수 없는 것이 아니고, 귀가 둔하여 듣지 못하는 것도 아니라(사59:1).” 이렇게 친절하지만, 위엄있는 선지자가 신적 불변성, 하느님의 신실(信實)을 계속 설교하자 그것은 유대인 사회에 새로운 교리였습니다. 그는 “하느님이 잊지 않고(사49:15), 내버리지 않을 것이다(사41:17).”라고 선언했습니다.
97:7.10 (1069.5) This daring teacher proclaimed that man was very closely related to God, saying: “Every one who is called by my name I have created for my glory, and they shall show forth my praise. I, even I, am he who blots out their transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember their sins.” 이렇게 대담한 선생은 사람이 하느님과 아주 가깝게 이어져 있다고 선포하면서 이렇게 말했습니다. “내 이름으로 불리는 자마다 내가 나의 영광을 위해 창조했고(사43:7), 그들은 나를 찬양으로 드러낼 것이라(사43:21). 나, 나조차 자신을 위해 그들의 범죄를 지우는 자이며, 나는 그들의 죄를 기억하지 않으리라(사43:25).”
97:7.11 (1069.6) Hear this great Hebrew demolish the concept of a national God while in glory he proclaims the divinity of the Universal Father, of whom he says, “The heavens are my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” And Isaiah’s God was none the less holy, majestic, just, and unsearchable. The concept of the angry, vengeful, and jealous Yahweh of the desert Bedouins has almost vanished. A new concept of the supreme and universal Yahweh has appeared in the mind of mortal man, never to be lost to human view. The realization of divine justice has begun the destruction of primitive magic and biologic fear. At last, man is introduced to a universe of law and order and to a universal God of dependable and final attributes. 이렇게 위대한 히브리인이 한 나라에 한정된 하느님 개념을 뒤엎으면서 우주 아버지의 신성(神性)을 영광 가운데 다음과 같이 말하며 선포하는 소리를 들어보라. “하늘은 나의 보좌이며 땅은 나의 발판이라(사66:1).” 그렇더라도 이사야의 하느님은 거룩하고 장엄하며, 공명정대하고 헤아릴 수 없었습니다. 사막 베두인 사람들의, 성내며 보복하는, 질투 많은 야훼 개념은 거의 자취를 감췄습니다. 최고이며 우주적인 야훼의 새 개념이 필사 사람의 마음에 출현하여 결코 인간관에서 사라지지 않았습니다. 신적 정의(正義)의 실현이 원시적 마술과 생물학적 공포를 파멸하기 시작했습니다. 마침내 사람은 법과 질서의 우주, 신뢰할 수 있고 최종적 속성을 지닌 우주적 하느님을 접하게 되었습니다.
97:7.12 (1070.1) And this preacher of a supernal God never ceased to proclaim this God of love. “I dwell in the high and holy place, also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit.” And still further words of comfort did this great teacher speak to his contemporaries: “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul. You shall be like a watered garden and like a spring whose waters fail not. And if the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a defense against him.” And once again did the fear-destroying gospel of Melchizedek and the trust-breeding religion of Salem shine forth for the blessing of mankind. 그리고 고귀한 하느님의 이 설교자는 조금도 멈추지 않고 이런 사랑의 하느님을 선포했습니다. “나는 높고 거룩한 곳에 살며, 회개하여 교만하지 않은 영(靈)의 사람과 함께 하느니라(사57:15).” 이 위대한 교사는 당시 사람들에게 다음과 같이 한층 더 위로의 말씀을 전했습니다. “그리고 주께서 너희를 끊임없이 인도하고 너희 혼(魂)을 충족시킬 것이니라. 너희는 물을 뿌린 정원과 같고 물이 동나지 않는 샘물과 같이 될 것이라(사58:11). 그리고 적이 홍수처럼 밀려오면 주의 영(靈)이 그에 대비한 방어물을 세울 것이니라(사59:19).” 두려움을 없애는 멜기세덱의 복음과 신뢰를 키우는 살렘의 종교가 인류를 축복하려고 다시 한번 빛을 비췄습니다.
97:7.13 (1070.2) The farseeing and courageous Isaiah effectively eclipsed the nationalistic Yahweh by his sublime portraiture of the majesty and universal omnipotence of the supreme Yahweh, God of love, ruler of the universe, and affectionate Father of all mankind. Ever since those eventful days the highest God concept in the Occident has embraced universal justice, divine mercy, and eternal righteousness. In superb language and with matchless grace this great teacher portrayed the all-powerful Creator as the all-loving Father. 선견지명이 있으며 용감한 이사야가 최고 야훼, 사랑의 하느님, 우주의 통치자, 온 인류를 넘치게 사랑하는 아버지의 장엄함과 우주적 전능함을 고상하게 묘사하여 실제로 국수주의적 야훼를 무색하게 했습니다. 그렇게 다사다난한 시절 이후로 줄곧 서양에서 가장 높은 하느님 개념은 우주적 정의, 신적 자비 그리고 영원한 공의를 받아들였습니다. 이 위대한 선생은 뛰어난 언어와 비길 데 없는 우아함으로 전능한 창조자를 모두 사랑으로 감싸는 아버지로 묘사했습니다.
97:7.14 (1070.3) This prophet of the captivity preached to his people and to those of many nations as they listened by the river in Babylon. And this second Isaiah did much to counteract the many wrong and racially egoistic concepts of the mission of the promised Messiah. But in this effort he was not wholly successful. Had the priests not dedicated themselves to the work of building up a misconceived nationalism, the teachings of the two Isaiahs would have prepared the way for the recognition and reception of the promised Messiah. 포로의 신세로 이 선지자는 바빌론 강가에서 귀를 기울여 듣는, 자기 민족과 여러 다른 민족들에게 설교했습니다. 그리고 이 두 번째 이사야는 약속된 메시아의 사명에 대한 여러 잘못된, 인종적으로 이기적인 개념들을 많이 없앴습니다. 그는 이렇게 애썼지만, 완전히 성공하지는 못했습니다. 사제들이 잘못 생각한 민족주의의 보강에 전념하지 않았다면, 두 명 이사야의 가르침으로 약속된 메시아를 알아보고 받아들이는 길이 마련되었을 것입니다.
8. Sacred and Profane History 신성한 모독(冒瀆) 역사
97:8.1 (1070.4) The custom of looking upon the record of the experiences of the Hebrews as sacred history and upon the transactions of the rest of the world as profane history is responsible for much of the confusion existing in the human mind as to the interpretation of history. And this difficulty arises because there is no secular history of the Jews. After the priests of the Babylonian exile had prepared their new record of God’s supposedly miraculous dealings with the Hebrews, the sacred history of Israel as portrayed in the Old Testament, they carefully and completely destroyed the existing records of Hebrew affairs — such books as “The Doings of the Kings of Israel” and “The Doings of the Kings of Judah,” together with several other more or less accurate records of Hebrew history. 히브리인들의 경험 기록은 신성한 역사로, 나머지 세계의 업무는 모독(冒瀆) 역사로 여기는 관습은 역사 해석에 관해서 인간의 마음에 현존하는 많은 혼란의 원인입니다. 그리고 이런 어려움은 유대인의 세속 역사가 없기에 발생합니다. 바빌론에 추방된 사제들이 하느님이 히브리인들과 기적으로 관계되었다는 생각된 자신들의 새로운 기록, 즉 구약 성서에 묘사된 이스라엘의 신성한 역사를 준비한 다음에, 그들은 현존하는 히브리 사건의 기록, “이스라엘 왕들의 행적”과 “유다 왕들의 행적”과 같은 책들을 히브리 역사의 거의 정확한 몇 개의 다른 기록들과 함께 주의 깊게, 철저히 파기했습니다.
97:8.2 (1070.5) In order to understand how the devastating pressure and the inescapable coercion of secular history so terrorized the captive and alien-ruled Jews that they attempted the complete rewriting and recasting of their history, we should briefly survey the record of their perplexing national experience. It must be remembered that the Jews failed to evolve an adequate nontheologic philosophy of life. They struggled with their original and Egyptian concept of divine rewards for righteousness coupled with dire punishments for sin. The drama of Job was something of a protest against this erroneous philosophy. The frank pessimism of Ecclesiastes was a worldly wise reaction to these overoptimistic beliefs in Providence. 세속역사의 파괴적인 압력과 불가피한 강압이 사로잡혀 외국인의 지배를 받는 유대인들을 너무나 공포에 떨게 하여 그들이 자신들의 역사를 완전히 다시 고쳐 쓰려고 했는지를 이해하기 위해, 우리는 그들의 당혹스러운 국가 경험의 기록을 간단히 둘러봐야 합니다. 유대인들이 적절한 비(非)신학적 삶의 철학을 끝내 발전시키지 못했음을 기억해야 합니다. 그들은 공의(公義)에 대한 신적 보상과 죄에 대한 비참한 처벌을 결부시켜 생각한 그들 고유의 이집트 개념과 싸웠습니다. 욥의 극적 사건은 이런 잘못된 철학에 맞선 상당한 항변이었습니다. 전도서의 솔직한 비관론은 섭리에 대해 이토록 너무 낙관하는 믿음들에 대한 세속적인 현명한 반응이었습니다(전1:1-18, 2:12-17).
97:8.3 (1071.1) But five hundred years of the overlordship of alien rulers was too much for even the patient and long-suffering Jews. The prophets and priests began to cry: “How long, O Lord, how long?” As the honest Jew searched the Scriptures, his confusion became worse confounded. An olden seer promised that God would protect and deliver his “chosen people.” Amos had threatened that God would abandon Israel unless they re-established their standards of national righteousness. The scribe of Deuteronomy had portrayed the Great Choice — as between the good and the evil, the blessing and the curse. Isaiah the first had preached a beneficent king-deliverer. Jeremiah had proclaimed an era of inner righteousness — the covenant written on the tablets of the heart. The second Isaiah talked about salvation by sacrifice and redemption. Ezekiel proclaimed deliverance through the service of devotion, and Ezra promised prosperity by adherence to the law. But in spite of all this they lingered on in bondage, and deliverance was deferred. Then Daniel presented the drama of the impending “crisis” — the smiting of the great image and the immediate establishment of the everlasting reign of righteousness, the Messianic kingdom. 그러나 500년 동안 외국 통치자들의 대군주(大君主) 지위는 끈기 있게 인내심이 강한 유대인들에게도 도저히 감당할 수 없는 것이었습니다. 선지자들과 사제들은 울부짖기 시작했습니다. “얼마나 걸리나요, 오 주여, 얼마나 오래 걸립니까(사6:11)?” 정직한 유대인이 성서를 찾을수록, 그의 혼란은 더 심해졌습니다. 옛 선지자가 하느님이 자신의 “택한 민족”을 보호하고 구해내리라고 약속했습니다(신7:6-15). 아모스는 이스라엘이 자신들의 국가적 공의(公義)의 기준을 회복하지 않으면 하느님이 그들을 버리실 것이라고 위협했습니다(암5). 신명기 기자(記者)는 선(善)과 악(惡), 축복과 저주 사이의 위대한 선택을 묘사했습니다(신11:26-28). 첫 번째 이사야는 인정 많은 왕-구원자를 설교했습니다(사32:1-2). 예레미야는 심정(心情)의 서판에 쓰인 계약, 즉 내적 공의(公義)의 시대를 선포했습니다(렘31:33). 두 번째 이사야는 희생 제물과 구속에 의한 구원에 대하여 말했습니다(사43:22-26). 에스겔은 헌신의 수고를 통한 해방을 선포했고(겔14), 에스라는 율법에 대한 충성으로 번영을 약속했습니다(스7:10). 그러나 이 모든 일에도 불구하고 그들은 노예 신분을 떠나지 못했고, 해방은 뒤로 미뤄졌습니다. 그다음 다니엘은 임박한 “위기”의 극적 사건, 즉 거대한 신상(神像)을 깨뜨리고 공의(公義)의 영원한 치세(治世), 메시아 왕국의 즉각적인 설립을 제시했습니다(단2:31-45).
97:8.4 (1071.2) And all of this false hope led to such a degree of racial disappointment and frustration that the leaders of the Jews were so confused they failed to recognize and accept the mission and ministry of a divine Son of Paradise when he presently came to them in the likeness of mortal flesh — incarnated as the Son of Man. 그리고 이 모든 거짓 희망이 종족적 실망과 좌절의 그런 정도로 이끌어 유대인의 지도자들은 너무 혼란스러워서, 천국의 신적 아들이 곧 인자(人子 사람의 아들)로 성육신하여 필사 육신의 모습으로 그들에게 왔을 때, 그들은 그의 사명과 사역을 끝내 알아보지 못하고, 받아들이지 못하고 말았습니다.
97:8.5 (1071.3) All modern religions have seriously blundered in the attempt to put a miraculous interpretation on certain epochs of human history. While it is true that God has many times thrust a Father’s hand of providential intervention into the stream of human affairs, it is a mistake to regard theologic dogmas and religious superstition as a supernatural sedimentation appearing by miraculous action in this stream of human history. The fact that the “Most Highs rule in the kingdoms of men” does not convert secular history into so-called sacred history. 모든 현대 종교는 인간 역사의 특정한 획기적 사건에 대해 기적적인 해석을 시도하면서 심각한 실책을 범했습니다. 하느님이 인간 업무의 흐름 속에 섭리로 개입하는 아버지의 손을 여러 번 밀어 넣은 것이 사실이지만, 신학적 교의(敎義)와 종교적 미신을 인간 역사의 이런 흐름 안에 기적적 행위로 나타나는 초자연적 퇴적(堆積)작용으로 여기는 것은 잘못입니다. “지고자(至高者)들이 사람들의 왕국들을 다스립니다(단4:17, 25, 32).”라는 사실이 세속역사를 소위 신성한 역사로 바꾸지 않습니다.
97:8.6 (1071.4) New Testament authors and later Christian writers further complicated the distortion of Hebrew history by their well-meant attempts to transcendentalize the Jewish prophets. Thus has Hebrew history been disastrously exploited by both Jewish and Christian writers. Secular Hebrew history has been thoroughly dogmatized. It has been converted into a fiction of sacred history and has become inextricably bound up with the moral concepts and religious teachings of the so-called Christian nations. 신약성서 저자들과 후대 기독교 저술가들은 좋은 뜻에서 유대인 선지자들을 이상화하려는 시도로 히브리 역사의 왜곡을 더욱 복잡하게 했습니다. 이렇게 히브리 역사는 유대인과 기독교 저술가들 모두에 의해서 처참히 부당하게 활용되었습니다. 세속의 히브리 역사는 철저히 교의(진리로 믿는 가르침)로 주장되었습니다. 그것은 신성한 역사의 꾸민 이야기로 변질되었고 소위 기독교 국가들의 도덕적 개념들 및 종교적 가르침들과 단단히 매여져 풀리지 않게 되었습니다.
97:8.7 (1071.5) A brief recital of the high points in Hebrew history will illustrate how the facts of the record were so altered in Babylon by the Jewish priests as to turn the everyday secular history of their people into a fictitious and sacred history. 히브리 역사에서 중대한 시점들을 잠시 상세히 설명하면 바빌론에서 유대인 사제들이 어떻게 기록의 사실들을 그토록 변경하여 자기 민족의 일상적 세속역사를 가짜의 신성한 역사로 바꾸었는지 예를 들어서 증명이 될 것입니다.
9. Hebrew History 히브리인의 역사
97:9.1 (1071.6) There never were twelve tribes of the Israelites — only three or four tribes settled in Palestine. The Hebrew nation came into being as the result of the union of the so-called Israelites and the Canaanites. “And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites. And they took their daughters to be their wives and gave their daughters to the sons of the Canaanites.” The Hebrews never drove the Canaanites out of Palestine, notwithstanding that the priests’ record of these things unhesitatingly declared that they did. 유대인의 열두 부족은 일찍이 존재한 적이 없었고 겨우 서너 부족이 팔레스타인에 자리 잡았습니다. 히브리 국가는 소위 이스라엘 자손들과 가나안 사람들이 연합한 결과로 생성되었습니다. “이스라엘 자손들은 가나안 사람들 사이에 거주했습니다. 그리고 그들은 그들의 딸들을 자신들의 아내로 맞이했고 자기 딸들을 가나안 사람들의 아들들에게 주었습니다(삿3:5-6).” 히브리인들은 가나안 사람들을 팔레스타인 밖으로 몰아낸 적이 없었는데도 이런 일들에 대한 사제들의 기록은 자신들이 그렇게 했다고 주저하지 않고 선언했습니다.
97:9.2 (1071.7) The Israelitish consciousness took origin in the hill country of Ephraim; the later Jewish consciousness originated in the southern clan of Judah. The Jews (Judahites) always sought to defame and blacken the record of the northern Israelites (Ephraimites). 이스라엘인 의식은 에브라임 구릉(丘陵)지대에서 일어났고, 후기 유대인 의식은 유다의 남부 씨족에서 시작했습니다. 유대인(유다족 사람들)들은 언제나 북부 이스라엘인들(에브라임 사람들)의 기록을 비방하고 헐뜯으려고 했습니다.
97:9.3 (1072.1) Pretentious Hebrew history begins with Saul’s rallying the northern clans to withstand an attack by the Ammonites upon their fellow tribesmen — the Gileadites — east of the Jordan. With an army of a little more than three thousand he defeated the enemy, and it was this exploit that led the hill tribes to make him king. When the exiled priests rewrote this story, they raised Saul’s army to 330,000 and added “Judah” to the list of tribes participating in the battle. 과시적인 히브리 역사는 암몬 족속들의 요단강 동편 히브리 동료 부족 길르앗 사람들에 대한 공격에 저항하려고 사울이 북부 씨족들을 규합(糾合)하는 것으로 시작됩니다. 그는 3,000명이 조금 넘는 군대로 적을 쳐부쉈고, 이런 공적으로 산지 부족들은 그를 왕으로 세웠습니다. 추방당한 사제들이 이 이야기를 고쳐 쓰면서, 그들은 사울의 군대를 330,000명으로 부풀렸고, “유다”족도 전투에 참여한 지파 목록에 추가했습니다(삼상11:1-11).
97:9.4 (1072.2) Immediately following the defeat of the Ammonites, Saul was made king by popular election by his troops. No priest or prophet participated in this affair. But the priests later on put it in the record that Saul was crowned king by the prophet Samuel in accordance with divine directions. This they did in order to establish a “divine line of descent” for David’s Judahite kingship. 암몬 족속을 타파한 직후, 사울은 자기 군대의 보통 선거로 왕이 되었습니다. 이런 일에 어떤 사제나 선지자도 관여하지 않았습니다. 그러나 나중에 사제들은 사울이 신적 지시에 따라 선지자 사무엘이 사울을 왕위에 앉혔다고 기록에 남겼습니다. 그들은 다윗의 유다 왕권을 위한 “신적 혈통”을 세우기 위해 이렇게 했습니다(삼상11:14-15).
97:9.5 (1072.3) The greatest of all distortions of Jewish history had to do with David. After Saul’s victory over the Ammonites (which he ascribed to Yahweh) the Philistines became alarmed and began attacks on the northern clans. David and Saul never could agree. David with six hundred men entered into a Philistine alliance and marched up the coast to Esdraelon. At Gath the Philistines ordered David off the field; they feared he might go over to Saul. David retired; the Philistines attacked and defeated Saul. They could not have done this had David been loyal to Israel. David’s army was a polyglot assortment of malcontents, being for the most part made up of social misfits and fugitives from justice. 유대 역사에서 가장 큰 왜곡은 다윗과 관련되었습니다. 사울이 암몬 족속에 대한 승전(그는 야훼에게 공을 돌렸음) 이후에, 필리스틴(블레셋)인들은 두려워서 북부 씨족들을 공격하기 시작했습니다. 다윗과 사울은 결코 합의할 수 없었습니다. 다윗은 600인 군사와 함께 필리스틴 동맹을 맺었고(삼상27:2-3), 해안(海岸)을 따라 위로 에스드랠론까지 행진했습니다. 가드에서 필리스틴 사람들은 다윗에게 전투에서 빠지라고 명령했습니다. 그들은 그가 사울에게 귀순할지도 몰라 두려웠기 때문입니다. 다윗은 퇴각했습니다(삼상29:1-11). 필리스틴 사람들은 사울을 공격하여 이겼습니다(삼상31:1-10, 대상10:1-10). 다윗이 이스라엘에 충성했다면 그들은 이렇게 할 수 없었을 것입니다. 다윗의 군대는 여러 언어를 말하는 혼합된 반항자들로서, 대부분 사회의 부적격자들과 도망친 범인들로 구성되었습니다(삼상22:1-2).
97:9.6 (1072.4) Saul’s tragic defeat at Gilboa by the Philistines brought Yahweh to a low point among the gods in the eyes of the surrounding Canaanites. Ordinarily, Saul’s defeat would have been ascribed to apostasy from Yahweh, but this time the Judahite editors attributed it to ritual errors. They required the tradition of Saul and Samuel as a background for the kingship of David. 필리스틴 사람들이 길보아에서 사울을 비참하게 쳐부수자, 야훼는 주변 가나안 족속들의 눈에 신과 같은 존재 중에서 낮은 지위로 여겨졌습니다. 보통 사울의 패배는 야훼로부터 배교(背敎)한 탓이었지만, 이번은 유다 편집자들이 그것을 의식(儀式)의 실수 탓으로 여겼습니다(삼상28:7-8, 18, 대상10:13-14). 그들은 다윗의 왕권을 위한 배경으로 사울과 사무엘의 전승(傳承)이 필요했습니다.
97:9.7 (1072.5) David with his small army made his headquarters at the non-Hebrew city of Hebron. Presently his compatriots proclaimed him king of the new kingdom of Judah. Judah was made up mostly of non-Hebrew elements — Kenites, Calebites, Jebusites, and other Canaanites. They were nomads — herders — and so were devoted to the Hebrew idea of land ownership. They held the ideologies of the desert clans. 다윗은 자기의 작은 군대와 함께 자기 본부를 히브리인의 도시가 아닌 헤브론에 두었습니다. 곧 그의 동료들이 그를 새로운 유다 왕국의 왕으로 선포했습니다(삼하2:1-4a). 유다 종족은 주로 히브리인이 아닌 인원들, 즉 겐 사람들, 갈렙의 자손들, 여부스 사람들 및 다른 가나안 사람들로 구성되었습니다. 그들은 유목민들, 목자(牧者)들이어서 땅 소유권에 대한 히브리 사고방식에 빠져 있었습니다. 그들은 사막 씨족들의 관념론을 신봉했습니다.
97:9.8 (1072.6) The difference between sacred and profane history is well illustrated by the two differing stories concerning making David king as they are found in the Old Testament. A part of the secular story of how his immediate followers (his army) made him king was inadvertently left in the record by the priests who subsequently prepared the lengthy and prosaic account of the sacred history wherein is depicted how the prophet Samuel, by divine direction, selected David from among his brethren and proceeded formally and by elaborate and solemn ceremonies to anoint him king over the Hebrews and then to proclaim him Saul’s successor. 신성한 역사와 모독(冒瀆) 역사의 차이는 구약 성서에서 발견되듯이 다윗을 왕으로 세우는 것에 관한 두 가지 다른 이야기들로 잘 설명됩니다. 그의 직계 추종자들(그의 군대)이 그를 어떻게 왕으로 세웠는지에 대한 세속적 이야기의 일부(삼하2:1-4a)가 나중에 신성한 역사의 장황하고 지루한 설명을 준비했던 사제들의 부주의로 기록에 남겨졌는데, 거기에는 선지자 사무엘이 신적 지시로 어떻게 다윗을 그의 형제 중에서 선택하고, 그를 히브리인들의 왕으로 기름을 부은 다음에 그를 사울의 후임자로 선포하려고, 정교하고 엄숙한 예식에 의해 정식으로 진행했는지 묘사되어 있습니다(삼상16:1-13).
97:9.9 (1072.7) So many times did the priests, after preparing their fictitious narratives of God’s miraculous dealings with Israel, fail fully to delete the plain and matter-of-fact statements which already rested in the records. 아주 여러 번, 사제들은, 하느님이 이스라엘을 기적적으로 취급한다는 자신들의 가짜 이야기를 미리 마련한 다음에, 이미 기록에 남아있던 솔직한 실제 진술을 끝내 완전히 삭제하지 못하고 말았습니다.
97:9.10 (1072.8) David sought to build himself up politically by first marrying Saul’s daughter, then the widow of Nabal the rich Edomite, and then the daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur. He took six wives from the women of Jebus, not to mention Bathsheba, the wife of the Hittite. 다윗은 처음에는 사울의 딸(삼상18:22-27), 다음에는 부유한 에돔인 나발의 과부(삼상25:42), 그다음에 게수르의 왕 달매의 딸(삼하3:3)과 결혼하여 정치적으로 자신을 치켜세우려고 애썼습니다. 그는 히타이트 족의 아내 밧세바(삼하11:26-27)는 물론이고, 여부스의 여인들로부터 여섯 명의 아내를 취했습니다.
97:9.11 (1073.1) And it was by such methods and out of such people that David built up the fiction of a divine kingdom of Judah as the successor of the heritage and traditions of the vanishing northern kingdom of Ephraimite Israel. David’s cosmopolitan tribe of Judah was more gentile than Jewish; nevertheless the oppressed elders of Ephraim came down and “anointed him king of Israel.” After a military threat, David then made a compact with the Jebusites and established his capital of the united kingdom at Jebus (Jerusalem), which was a strong-walled city midway between Judah and Israel. The Philistines were aroused and soon attacked David. After a fierce battle they were defeated, and once more Yahweh was established as “The Lord God of Hosts.” 그리고 다윗은 그런 방법으로, 그런 사람들로부터 에브라임 사람들의 사라지는 북 이스라엘 왕국의 유산과 전통의 계승자로서 신적 유다 왕국의 꾸민 이야기를 쌓아 올렸습니다. 다윗의 다국적인 유다 지파는 유대인들이라기보다 이방인들이었지만, 탄압받는 에브라임의 장로들이 내려와 “그를 이스라엘의 왕으로 기름을 부었습니다(삼하5:3).” 군사적으로 협박한 다음에 다윗은 여부스 사람들과 계약을 맺고, 유다와 이스라엘 사이 중간쯤, 성벽이 튼튼한 도시였던 여부스(예루살렘)에 통일 왕국의 자기 수도(首都)를 세웠습니다(삼하5:6-9). 필리스틴(블레셋) 사람들이 흥분하여 곧 다윗을 공격했습니다(삼하5:17-25). 맹렬한 전투 후에 그들은 패배했고 한 번 더 야훼는 “만군의 주 하느님”으로 명성을 얻었습니다(삼하5:10).
97:9.12 (1073.2) But Yahweh must, perforce, share some of this glory with the Canaanite gods, for the bulk of David’s army was non-Hebrew. And so there appears in your record (overlooked by the Judahite editors) this telltale statement: “Yahweh has broken my enemies before me. Therefore he called the name of the place Baal-Perazim.” And they did this because eighty per cent of David’s soldiers were Baalites. 그러나 야훼는 마지못해 하는 수 없이 가나안 사람들의 신과 같은 존재들과 이런 영광의 부분을 함께 나누어야 했는데, 다윗 군대의 대부분은 히브리인이 아니었기 때문입니다. 그래서 (유다 편집자들이 빠뜨린) 너희 기록에 내막을 폭로하는 이런 진술이 나타납니다. “야훼가 내 앞에서 나의 대적들을 무찌르셨도다. 그로 인해 그는 그 지역 이름을 바알-페라짐(브라심)으로 불렀다(삼하5:20).” 다윗의 군인 중 80%가 바알 신 숭배자들이었기 때문에 그들이 이렇게 했습니다.
97:9.13 (1073.3) David explained Saul’s defeat at Gilboa by pointing out that Saul had attacked a Canaanite city, Gibeon, whose people had a peace treaty with the Ephraimites. Because of this, Yahweh forsook him. Even in Saul’s time David had defended the Canaanite city of Keilah against the Philistines, and then he located his capital in a Canaanite city. In keeping with the policy of compromise with the Canaanites, David turned seven of Saul’s descendants over to the Gibeonites to be hanged. 다윗은 사울이 에브라임 사람들과 평화 조약을 맺은 가나안 도시, 기브온 사람들을 공격했다고 지적하면서 길보아에서 사울의 패배를 설명했습니다(삼하21:1-2). 이런 이유로 야훼가 그를 저버렸습니다. 사울의 시대에도 다윗은 필리스틴(블레셋)에 맞서 가나안 도시 케일라를 방어했고(삼상23:1-5), 그 후 그는 가나안의 도시 안에 자기 수도의 위치를 정했습니다. 가나안 사람들과 타협하는 정책에 맞춰, 다윗은 사울 후손 중 일곱 명을 교수형에 처하도록 기브온 사람들에게 넘겨주었습니다(삼하21:3-9).
97:9.14 (1073.4) After the defeat of the Philistines, David gained possession of the “ark of Yahweh,” brought it to Jerusalem, and made the worship of Yahweh official for his kingdom. He next laid heavy tribute on the neighboring tribes — the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Syrians. 필리스틴(블레셋)사람들을 무찌른 후, 다윗은 “야훼의 언약궤”를 손에 넣어 그것을 예루살렘으로 가져왔고(삼하6:1-17, 대상15:25-29), 자기 왕국을 위해 야훼 숭배를 공식화했습니다. 다음에 그는 이웃 부족들 – 에돔, 모압, 암몬과 시리아 사람들에게 무거운 공물을 바치게 했습니다(삼하8:11-12).
97:9.15 (1073.5) David’s corrupt political machine began to get personal possession of land in the north in violation of the Hebrew mores and presently gained control of the caravan tariffs formerly collected by the Philistines. And then came a series of atrocities climaxed by the murder of Uriah. All judicial appeals were adjudicated at Jerusalem; no longer could “the elders” mete out justice. No wonder rebellion broke out. Today, Absalom might be called a demagogue; his mother was a Canaanite. There were a half dozen contenders for the throne besides the son of Bathsheba — Solomon. 다윗의 부패한 정치 조직은 히브리 관습을 위반하여 북쪽에서 땅을 개인적으로 소유하기 시작하여 곧 이전에 필리스틴 사람들이 징수하던 대상(隊商) 관세를 장악했습니다. 그런 다음 우리아를 살해하면서 일련의 잔학 행위가 절정에 이르렀습니다(삼하11:14-17). 모든 사법적 항소는 예루살렘에서 선고(宣告)되었고 “장로들”은 더 이상 정의(正義)를 헤아릴 수 없었습니다. 폭동이 발생한 것은 당연했습니다. 오늘날, 압살롬은 선동자로 불릴 수 있는데(삼하15:2-6), 그의 어머니는 가나안 사람이었습니다. 밧세바의 아들 – 솔로몬 외에 왕좌를 차지하려는 여섯 명의 경쟁자가 있었습니다.
97:9.16 (1073.6) After David’s death Solomon purged the political machine of all northern influences but continued all of the tyranny and taxation of his father’s regime. Solomon bankrupted the nation by his lavish court and by his elaborate building program: There was the house of Lebanon, the palace of Pharaoh’s daughter, the temple of Yahweh, the king’s palace, and the restoration of the walls of many cities. Solomon created a vast Hebrew navy, operated by Syrian sailors and trading with all the world. His harem numbered almost one thousand. 다윗이 죽은 후 솔로몬은 모든 북부 세력의 정치 조직을 몰아냈지만 자기 아버지 정권의 폭정과 과세를 모두 계속했습니다. 솔로몬은 자신의 사치스러운 왕실과 자신의 정교한 건축 계획으로 국가를 파산시켰습니다. 레바논의 집, 파라오 딸의 궁전(왕상7:8), 야훼의 성전, 왕궁 및 여러 도시의 성벽 복원이 있었습니다(왕상9:15). 솔로몬은 시리아 선원들이 운영하는 광대한 히브리 해군을 창설하여 온 세계와 거래했습니다(왕상9:26-27). 그의 후궁 처첩들은 거의 1,000명에 달했습니다(왕상11:3).
97:9.17 (1073.7) By this time Yahweh’s temple at Shiloh was discredited, and all the worship of the nation was centered at Jebus in the gorgeous royal chapel. The northern kingdom returned more to the worship of Elohim. They enjoyed the favor of the Pharaohs, who later enslaved Judah, putting the southern kingdom under tribute. 이 무렵 실로에 있는 야훼의 성전은 평판이 나빠졌고, 국가의 모든 예배는 여부스의 화려한 왕실 예배당에 집중되었습니다. 북 왕국은 엘로힘 숭배로 더욱 되돌아갔습니다. 그들은 파라오들의 총애를 누렸고, 파라오들은 나중에 남 왕국이 공물을 바치도록 유다 왕국을 노예로 삼았습니다.
97:9.18 (1073.8) There were ups and downs — wars between Israel and Judah. After four years of civil war and three dynasties, Israel fell under the rule of city despots who began to trade in land. Even King Omri attempted to buy Shemer’s estate. But the end drew on apace when Shalmaneser III decided to control the Mediterranean coast. King Ahab of Ephraim gathered ten other groups and resisted at Karkar; the battle was a draw. The Assyrian was stopped but the allies were decimated. This great fight is not even mentioned in the Old Testament. 이스라엘과 유다 사이에 전쟁의 부침(浮沈 성쇠, 변천)이 있었습니다. 4년간의 내전과 세 왕조 이후에 이스라엘은 토지 거래를 시작한 도시 폭군들의 통치를 받게 되었습니다. 심지어 오므리 왕도 세멜의 토지를 사려고 시도했습니다(왕상16:23-24). 그러나 샬만에세르 3세가 지중해 연안을 지배하기로 결정하자, 종말이 급히 다가왔습니다. 에브라임의 아합 왕은 다른 10개 집단을 모아 카르카르에서 저항했고, 전투는 비겼습니다. 아시리아군(軍)은 저지되었지만, 대다수의 동맹국은 섬멸당했습니다. 이 큰 전투는 구약 성서에 언급조차 없습니다.
97:9.19 (1074.1) New trouble started when King Ahab tried to buy land from Naboth. His Phoenician wife forged Ahab’s name to papers directing that Naboth’s land be confiscated on the charge that he had blasphemed the names of “Elohim and the king.” He and his sons were promptly executed. The vigorous Elijah appeared on the scene denouncing Ahab for the murder of the Naboths. Thus Elijah, one of the greatest of the prophets, began his teaching as a defender of the old land mores as against the land-selling attitude of the Baalim, against the attempt of the cities to dominate the country. But the reform did not succeed until the country landlord Jehu joined forces with the gypsy chieftain Jehonadab to destroy the prophets (real estate agents) of Baal at Samaria. 아합 왕이 나봇에게서 땅을 사려고 하자 새로운 문제가 시작되었습니다. 그의 페니키아 아내는, 나봇이 “엘로힘과 왕”의 이름을 모독했다는 혐의로 나봇의 땅을 몰수하라고 쓰인 서류에 아합의 이름을 위조했습니다. 그와 그의 아들들은 즉시 처형당했습니다. 강력한 엘리야가 현장에 나타나 나봇 족속의 살인자로 아합을 맹렬히 비난했습니다(왕상21:1-24). 이렇게 가장 위대한 선지자 중 하나인 엘리야는 바알 숭배의 토지-판매 태도에 맞서, 시골을 지배하려는 도시들의 시도에 대항하여, 옛 토지 관습의 옹호자로서 자신의 가르침을 시작했습니다. 그러나 시골 지주 예후가 떠돌이 두목 여호나답과 협력하여 사마리아의 바알 선지자들(부동산 중개인들)을 죽이고 나서야 비로소 그 개혁이 성공했습니다(왕하10:15-28).
97:9.20 (1074.2) New life appeared as Jehoash and his son Jeroboam delivered Israel from its enemies. But by this time there ruled in Samaria a gangster-nobility whose depredations rivaled those of the Davidic dynasty of olden days. State and church went along hand in hand. The attempt to suppress freedom of speech led Elijah, Amos, and Hosea to begin their secret writing, and this was the real beginning of the Jewish and Christian Bibles. 여호아스(요아스, 왕하12:1-2)와 그의 아들 여로보암이 이스라엘을 적들에게서 구해내면서 새로운 생활이 출현했습니다. 그러나 이 무렵 사마리아에는 폭력배-귀족이 다스리고 있었는데 그의 약탈 행위는 옛날 다윗 왕조의 폭력배-귀족에 뒤지지 않았습니다. 국가와 교회가 밀접하게 협력했습니다. 언론의 자유를 억압하는 시도로 인해 엘리야, 아모스와 호세아는 비밀리에 글을 쓰기 시작했고, 이것은 유대교와 기독교 성경의 진정한 시작이었습니다.
97:9.21 (1074.3) But the northern kingdom did not vanish from history until the king of Israel conspired with the king of Egypt and refused to pay further tribute to Assyria. Then began the three years’ siege followed by the total dispersion of the northern kingdom. Ephraim (Israel) thus vanished. Judah — the Jews, the “remnant of Israel” — had begun the concentration of land in the hands of the few, as Isaiah said, “Adding house to house and field to field.” Presently there was in Jerusalem a temple of Baal alongside the temple of Yahweh. This reign of terror was ended by a monotheistic revolt led by the boy king Joash, who crusaded for Yahweh for thirty-five years. 그러나 북 왕국은 이스라엘 왕이 이집트 왕과 공모하여 아시리아에 더 이상 조공을 바치려 하지 않을 때까지 역사에서 사라지지 않았습니다. 당시 3년간의 포위 공격이 시작되었고 뒤이어 북 왕국은 완전히 흩어졌습니다(왕하17:4-6). 에브라임(이스라엘)은 이렇게 사라졌습니다. 유다 – 유대인들, “이스라엘의 남은 자(사10:20)”는 이사야가 “집에 집을 더하고 밭에 밭을 더한다(사5:8).”라고 말한 것처럼, 소수의 수중에 있는 토지에 집중하기 시작했습니다. 이내, 예루살렘에는 야훼의 성전과 나란히 바알의 성전이 있었습니다. 이런 공포의 통치권은 소년 왕 요아스가 이끈 일신교 폭동으로 끝났으며, 그는 35년간 야훼를 위해 개혁운동을 추진했습니다(왕하11:12-21, 대하23:11-20).
97:9.22 (1074.4) The next king, Amaziah, had trouble with the revolting tax-paying Edomites and their neighbors. After a signal victory he turned to attack his northern neighbors and was just as signally defeated. Then the rural folk revolted; they assassinated the king and put his sixteen-year-old son on the throne. This was Azariah, called Uzziah by Isaiah. After Uzziah, things went from bad to worse, and Judah existed for a hundred years by paying tribute to the kings of Assyria. Isaiah the first told them that Jerusalem, being the city of Yahweh, would never fall. But Jeremiah did not hesitate to proclaim its downfall. 다음 왕 아마샤는 세금을 내는 에돔 족속과 그 이웃들의 반란으로 고생했습니다. 괄목할 승리 후에 그는 자기 북쪽 이웃들을 향해 공격하려고 나아갔으며, 마찬가지로 크게 패배했습니다(대하25:11-12, 22-23). 그러자 시골 사람들이 반란을 일으켜 왕을 암살하고 그의 16세 아들을 왕위에 앉혔습니다(대하25:27-28, 26:1). 이 사람은 이사야가 웃시야라고 불렀던 아사랴였습니다. 웃시야 뒤에 형편은 갈수록 더욱 악화하였고, 유다는 아시리아의 왕들에게 공물을 바쳐 100년간 존재했습니다. 첫 번째 이사야는 그들에게 야훼의 도시 예루살렘은 절대로 무너지지 않을 것이라고 말했습니다(사31:5). 그러나 예레미야는 주저하지 않고 예루살렘의 몰락을 선포했습니다(렘6:1-6, 15:5-6).
97:9.23 (1074.5) The real undoing of Judah was effected by a corrupt and rich ring of politicians operating under the rule of a boy king, Manasseh. The changing economy favored the return of the worship of Baal, whose private land dealings were against the ideology of Yahweh. The fall of Assyria and the ascendancy of Egypt brought deliverance to Judah for a time, and the country folk took over. Under Josiah they destroyed the Jerusalem ring of corrupt politicians. 유다의 실제 파멸의 원인은 소년 왕 므낫세의 통치 아래에서 부패하고 부유한 정치꾼 일당이 활동한 결과였습니다(왕하21:1-2, 대하33:1-3). 경제의 변화로 야훼의 관념론에 맞서 사유지를 매매하는 바알 숭배가 촉진되어 다시 일어났습니다. 아시리아의 몰락과 이집트의 지배권으로 유다는 잠시 해방되었고, 시골 사람들이 장악했습니다. 요시야 치하에서 그들이 예루살렘의 부패한 정치꾼 일당을 멸망시켰습니다(왕하22:1-2, 23:1-25, 대하34-35:1-19).
97:9.24 (1074.6) But this era came to a tragic end when Josiah presumed to go out to intercept Necho’s mighty army as it moved up the coast from Egypt for the aid of Assyria against Babylon. He was wiped out, and Judah went under tribute to Egypt. The Baal political party returned to power in Jerusalem, and thus began the real Egyptian bondage. Then ensued a period in which the Baalim politicians controlled both the courts and the priesthood. Baal worship was an economic and social system dealing with property rights as well as having to do with soil fertility. 그러나 이런 시대는 요시야가, 대담하게 바빌론에 맞서 아시리아를 도우려고 이집트에서 해안을 따라 올라오는 네코의 강력한 군대를 가로막으려고 나서자, 비참한 최후를 맞았습니다. 그는 완전히 파괴되었고 유다는 이집트에 조공을 바쳤습니다. 바알 정당이 예루살렘에서 또다시 정권을 잡게 되자, 실제 이집트의 속박이 시작되었습니다. 그때 바알을 숭배하는 정치꾼들이 사법기관과 사제직 모두 지배하는 시기가 잇따랐습니다. 바알 숭배는 재산권을 다루는 경제 및 사회적 체계는 물론 토양 비옥도와 관련되었습니다(왕하23:29-30, 대하35:20-24).
97:9.25 (1075.1) With the overthrow of Necho by Nebuchadnezzar, Judah fell under the rule of Babylon and was given ten years of grace, but soon rebelled. When Nebuchadnezzar came against them, the Judahites started social reforms, such as releasing slaves, to influence Yahweh. When the Babylonian army temporarily withdrew, the Hebrews rejoiced that their magic of reform had delivered them. It was during this period that Jeremiah told them of the impending doom, and presently Nebuchadnezzar returned. 네브카드네자르(느브갓네살)가 네코를 무너뜨리자(렘46:2), 유다는 바빌론의 통치를 받게 되었고 10년간 특별사면의 호의를 받았으나 곧 배반하여 군사를 일으켰습니다. 네브카드네자르(느브갓네살)가 그들을 치러 오자, 유다 사람들은 노예 해방과 같은 사회 개혁을 시작하여 야훼에게 영향을 미쳤습니다. 바빌론 군대가 잠시 철수하자, 히브리인들은 자신들의 개혁 마법이 자기들을 구해냈다고 기뻐했습니다. 이런 기간에 예레미야가 그들에게 임박한 파멸을 얘기했고 곧 네브카드네자르(느브갓네살)가 되돌아왔습니다(렘38:3, 39:1, 왕하25:1).
97:9.26 (1075.2) And so the end of Judah came suddenly. The city was destroyed, and the people were carried away into Babylon. The Yahweh-Baal struggle ended with the captivity. And the captivity shocked the remnant of Israel into monotheism. 그렇게 유다의 종말이 갑자기 왔습니다. 도시는 파괴되었고 사람들은 바빌론으로 끌려갔습니다(왕하25:2-17). 야훼-바알 투쟁은 바빌론 유수(幽囚 감금)와 함께 끝났습니다. 그리고 포로 생활로 이스라엘의 남은 자들은 충격을 받아 일신교에 빠졌습니다.
97:9.27 (1075.3) In Babylon the Jews arrived at the conclusion that they could not exist as a small group in Palestine, having their own peculiar social and economic customs, and that, if their ideologies were to prevail, they must convert the gentiles. Thus originated their new concept of destiny — the idea that the Jews must become the chosen servants of Yahweh. The Jewish religion of the Old Testament really evolved in Babylon during the captivity. 바빌론에서 유대인들은 팔레스타인에서 자신들만의 독특한 사회 및 경제적 관습을 가진 소그룹으로 존재할 수 없고, 자신들의 관념이 만연되려면, 자신들이 이방인들을 개종시켜야 한다는 결론에 도달했습니다. 이렇게 운명에 대한 자신들의 새 개념이 일어났는데, 유대인은 야훼의 선택받은 종이 되어야 한다는 사상이었습니다. 구약 성서의 유대교는 실제로 바빌론 유수(幽囚 포로 감금) 기간에 바빌론에서 서서히 발전했습니다.
97:9.28 (1075.4) The doctrine of immortality also took form at Babylon. The Jews had thought that the idea of the future life detracted from the emphasis of their gospel of social justice. Now for the first time theology displaced sociology and economics. Religion was taking shape as a system of human thought and conduct more and more to be separated from politics, sociology, and economics. 불멸의 교리도 바빌론에서 형태를 갖추었습니다. 유대인들은 미래의 삶에 관한 생각이 자신들의 사회적 정의(正義)의 복음에 대한 중요성을 떨어뜨렸다고 생각했습니다. 이제 처음으로 신학이 사회학과 경제학 대신에 들어섰습니다. 종교는 점차 정치학, 사회학 및 경제학에서 분리되어 인간 사고와 행위의 체계로 형태를 갖추고 있었습니다.
97:9.29 (1075.5) And so does the truth about the Jewish people disclose that much which has been regarded as sacred history turns out to be little more than the chronicle of ordinary profane history. Judaism was the soil out of which Christianity grew, but the Jews were not a miraculous people. 그래서 유대 민족에 대한 진실은 신성한 역사로 여겨진 많은 것이 평범한 모독(冒瀆) 역사의 연대기에 지나지 않음을 드러냅니다. 유대교는 기독교가 성장한 토양이었지만 유대인은 기적적인 민족이 아니었습니다.
10. The Hebrew Religion 히브리 종교
97:10.1 (1075.6) Their leaders had taught the Israelites that they were a chosen people, not for special indulgence and monopoly of divine favor, but for the special service of carrying the truth of the one God over all to every nation. And they had promised the Jews that, if they would fulfill this destiny, they would become the spiritual leaders of all peoples, and that the coming Messiah would reign over them and all the world as the Prince of Peace.
97:10.2 (1075.7) When the Jews had been freed by the Persians, they returned to Palestine only to fall into bondage to their own priest-ridden code of laws, sacrifices, and rituals. And as the Hebrew clans rejected the wonderful story of God presented in the farewell oration of Moses for the rituals of sacrifice and penance, so did these remnants of the Hebrew nation reject the magnificent concept of the second Isaiah for the rules, regulations, and rituals of their growing priesthood.
97:10.3 (1075.8) National egotism, false faith in a misconceived promised Messiah, and the increasing bondage and tyranny of the priesthood forever silenced the voices of the spiritual leaders (excepting Daniel, Ezekiel, Haggai, and Malachi); and from that day to the time of John the Baptist all Israel experienced an increasing spiritual retrogression. But the Jews never lost the concept of the Universal Father; even to the twentieth century after Christ they have continued to follow this Deity conception.
97:10.4 (1076.1) From Moses to John the Baptist there extended an unbroken line of faithful teachers who passed the monotheistic torch of light from one generation to another while they unceasingly rebuked unscrupulous rulers, denounced commercializing priests, and ever exhorted the people to adhere to the worship of the supreme Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel.
97:10.5 (1076.2) As a nation the Jews eventually lost their political identity, but the Hebrew religion of sincere belief in the one and universal God continues to live in the hearts of the scattered exiles. And this religion survives because it has effectively functioned to conserve the highest values of its followers. The Jewish religion did preserve the ideals of a people, but it failed to foster progress and encourage philosophic creative discovery in the realms of truth. The Jewish religion had many faults — it was deficient in philosophy and almost devoid of aesthetic qualities — but it did conserve moral values; therefore it persisted. The supreme Yahweh, as compared with other concepts of Deity, was clear-cut, vivid, personal, and moral.
97:10.6 (1076.3) The Jews loved justice, wisdom, truth, and righteousness as have few peoples, but they contributed least of all peoples to the intellectual comprehension and to the spiritual understanding of these divine qualities. Though Hebrew theology refused to expand, it played an important part in the development of two other world religions, Christianity and Mohammedanism.
97:10.7 (1076.4) The Jewish religion persisted also because of its institutions. It is difficult for religion to survive as the private practice of isolated individuals. This has ever been the error of the religious leaders: Seeing the evils of institutionalized religion, they seek to destroy the technique of group functioning. In place of destroying all ritual, they would do better to reform it. In this respect Ezekiel was wiser than his contemporaries; though he joined with them in insisting on personal moral responsibility, he also set about to establish the faithful observance of a superior and purified ritual.
97:10.8 (1076.5) And thus the successive teachers of Israel accomplished the greatest feat in the evolution of religion ever to be effected on Urantia: the gradual but continuous transformation of the barbaric concept of the savage demon Yahweh, the jealous and cruel spirit god of the fulminating Sinai volcano, to the later exalted and supernal concept of the supreme Yahweh, creator of all things and the loving and merciful Father of all mankind. And this Hebraic concept of God was the highest human visualization of the Universal Father up to that time when it was further enlarged and so exquisitely amplified by the personal teachings and life example of his Son, Michael of Nebadon.
97:10.9 (1076.6) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
98:0.1 (1077.1) THE Melchizedek teachings entered Europe along many routes, but chiefly they came by way of Egypt and were embodied in Occidental philosophy after being thoroughly Hellenized and later Christianized. The ideals of the Western world were basically Socratic, and its later religious philosophy became that of Jesus as it was modified and compromised through contact with evolving Occidental philosophy and religion, all of which culminated in the Christian church.
98:0.2 (1077.2) For a long time in Europe the Salem missionaries carried on their activities, becoming gradually absorbed into many of the cults and ritual groups which periodically arose. Among those who maintained the Salem teachings in the purest form must be mentioned the Cynics. These preachers of faith and trust in God were still functioning in Roman Europe in the first century after Christ, being later incorporated into the newly forming Christian religion.
98:0.3 (1077.3) Much of the Salem doctrine was spread in Europe by the Jewish mercenary soldiers who fought in so many of the Occidental military struggles. In ancient times the Jews were famed as much for military valor as for theologic peculiarities.
98:0.4 (1077.4) The basic doctrines of Greek philosophy, Jewish theology, and Christian ethics were fundamentally repercussions of the earlier Melchizedek teachings.
1. The Salem Religion Among the Greeks
98:1.1 (1077.5) The Salem missionaries might have built up a great religious structure among the Greeks had it not been for their strict interpretation of their oath of ordination, a pledge imposed by Machiventa which forbade the organization of exclusive congregations for worship, and which exacted the promise of each teacher never to function as a priest, never to receive fees for religious service, only food, clothing, and shelter. When the Melchizedek teachers penetrated to pre-Hellenic Greece, they found a people who still fostered the traditions of Adamson and the days of the Andites, but these teachings had become greatly adulterated with the notions and beliefs of the hordes of inferior slaves that had been brought to the Greek shores in increasing numbers. This adulteration produced a reversion to a crude animism with bloody rites, the lower classes even making ceremonial out of the execution of condemned criminals.
98:1.2 (1077.6) The early influence of the Salem teachers was nearly destroyed by the so-called Aryan invasion from southern Europe and the East. These Hellenic invaders brought along with them anthropomorphic God concepts similar to those which their Aryan fellows had carried to India. This importation inaugurated the evolution of the Greek family of gods and goddesses. This new religion was partly based on the cults of the incoming Hellenic barbarians, but it also shared in the myths of the older inhabitants of Greece.
98:1.3 (1078.1) The Hellenic Greeks found the Mediterranean world largely dominated by the mother cult, and they imposed upon these peoples their man-god, Dyaus-Zeus, who had already become, like Yahweh among the henotheistic Semites, head of the whole Greek pantheon of subordinate gods. And the Greeks would have eventually achieved a true monotheism in the concept of Zeus except for their retention of the overcontrol of Fate. A God of final value must, himself, be the arbiter of fate and the creator of destiny.
98:1.4 (1078.2) As a consequence of these factors in religious evolution, there presently developed the popular belief in the happy-go-lucky gods of Mount Olympus, gods more human than divine, and gods which the intelligent Greeks never did regard very seriously. They neither greatly loved nor greatly feared these divinities of their own creation. They had a patriotic and racial feeling for Zeus and his family of half men and half gods, but they hardly reverenced or worshiped them.
98:1.5 (1078.3) The Hellenes became so impregnated with the antipriestcraft doctrines of the earlier Salem teachers that no priesthood of any importance ever arose in Greece. Even the making of images to the gods became more of a work in art than a matter of worship.
98:1.6 (1078.4) The Olympian gods illustrate man’s typical anthropomorphism. But the Greek mythology was more aesthetic than ethic. The Greek religion was helpful in that it portrayed a universe governed by a deity group. But Greek morals, ethics, and philosophy presently advanced far beyond the god concept, and this imbalance between intellectual and spiritual growth was as hazardous to Greece as it had proved to be in India.
2. Greek Philosophic Thought
98:2.1 (1078.5) A lightly regarded and superficial religion cannot endure, especially when it has no priesthood to foster its forms and to fill the hearts of the devotees with fear and awe. The Olympian religion did not promise salvation, nor did it quench the spiritual thirst of its believers; therefore was it doomed to perish. Within a millennium of its inception it had nearly vanished, and the Greeks were without a national religion, the gods of Olympus having lost their hold upon the better minds.
98:2.2 (1078.6) This was the situation when, during the sixth century before Christ, the Orient and the Levant experienced a revival of spiritual consciousness and a new awakening to the recognition of monotheism. But the West did not share in this new development; neither Europe nor northern Africa extensively participated in this religious renaissance. The Greeks, however, did engage in a magnificent intellectual advancement. They had begun to master fear and no longer sought religion as an antidote therefor, but they did not perceive that true religion is the cure for soul hunger, spiritual disquiet, and moral despair. They sought for the solace of the soul in deep thinking — philosophy and metaphysics. They turned from the contemplation of self-preservation — salvation — to self-realization and self-understanding.
98:2.3 (1078.7) By rigorous thought the Greeks attempted to attain that consciousness of security which would serve as a substitute for the belief in survival, but they utterly failed. Only the more intelligent among the higher classes of the Hellenic peoples could grasp this new teaching; the rank and file of the progeny of the slaves of former generations had no capacity for the reception of this new substitute for religion.
98:2.4 (1079.1) The philosophers disdained all forms of worship, notwithstanding that they practically all held loosely to the background of a belief in the Salem doctrine of “the Intelligence of the universe,” “the idea of God,” and “the Great Source.” In so far as the Greek philosophers gave recognition to the divine and the superfinite, they were frankly monotheistic; they gave scant recognition to the whole galaxy of Olympian gods and goddesses.
98:2.5 (1079.2) The Greek poets of the fifth and sixth centuries, notably Pindar, attempted the reformation of Greek religion. They elevated its ideals, but they were more artists than religionists. They failed to develop a technique for fostering and conserving supreme values.
98:2.6 (1079.3) Xenophanes taught one God, but his deity concept was too pantheistic to be a personal Father to mortal man. Anaxagoras was a mechanist except that he did recognize a First Cause, an Initial Mind. Socrates and his successors, Plato and Aristotle, taught that virtue is knowledge; goodness, health of the soul; that it is better to suffer injustice than to be guilty of it, that it is wrong to return evil for evil, and that the gods are wise and good. Their cardinal virtues were: wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice.
98:2.7 (1079.4) The evolution of religious philosophy among the Hellenic and Hebrew peoples affords a contrastive illustration of the function of the church as an institution in the shaping of cultural progress. In Palestine, human thought was so priest-controlled and scripture-directed that philosophy and aesthetics were entirely submerged in religion and morality. In Greece, the almost complete absence of priests and “sacred scriptures” left the human mind free and unfettered, resulting in a startling development in depth of thought. But religion as a personal experience failed to keep pace with the intellectual probings into the nature and reality of the cosmos.
98:2.8 (1079.5) In Greece, believing was subordinated to thinking; in Palestine, thinking was held subject to believing. Much of the strength of Christianity is due to its having borrowed heavily from both Hebrew morality and Greek thought.
98:2.9 (1079.6) In Palestine, religious dogma became so crystallized as to jeopardize further growth; in Greece, human thought became so abstract that the concept of God resolved itself into a misty vapor of pantheistic speculation not at all unlike the impersonal Infinity of the Brahman philosophers.
98:2.10 (1079.7) But the average men of these times could not grasp, nor were they much interested in, the Greek philosophy of self-realization and an abstract Deity; they rather craved promises of salvation, coupled with a personal God who could hear their prayers. They exiled the philosophers, persecuted the remnants of the Salem cult, both doctrines having become much blended, and made ready for that terrible orgiastic plunge into the follies of the mystery cults which were then overspreading the Mediterranean lands. The Eleusinian mysteries grew up within the Olympian pantheon, a Greek version of the worship of fertility; Dionysus nature worship flourished; the best of the cults was the Orphic brotherhood, whose moral preachments and promises of salvation made a great appeal to many.
98:2.11 (1080.1) All Greece became involved in these new methods of attaining salvation, these emotional and fiery ceremonials. No nation ever attained such heights of artistic philosophy in so short a time; none ever created such an advanced system of ethics practically without Deity and entirely devoid of the promise of human salvation; no nation ever plunged so quickly, deeply, and violently into such depths of intellectual stagnation, moral depravity, and spiritual poverty as these same Greek peoples when they flung themselves into the mad whirl of the mystery cults.
98:2.12 (1080.2) Religions have long endured without philosophical support, but few philosophies, as such, have long persisted without some identification with religion. Philosophy is to religion as conception is to action. But the ideal human estate is that in which philosophy, religion, and science are welded into a meaningful unity by the conjoined action of wisdom, faith, and experience.
3. The Melchizedek Teachings in Rome
98:3.1 (1080.3) Having grown out of the earlier religious forms of worship of the family gods into the tribal reverence for Mars, the god of war, it was natural that the later religion of the Latins was more of a political observance than were the intellectual systems of the Greeks and Brahmans or the more spiritual religions of several other peoples.
98:3.2 (1080.4) In the great monotheistic renaissance of Melchizedek’s gospel during the sixth century before Christ, too few of the Salem missionaries penetrated Italy, and those who did were unable to overcome the influence of the rapidly spreading Etruscan priesthood with its new galaxy of gods and temples, all of which became organized into the Roman state religion. This religion of the Latin tribes was not trivial and venal like that of the Greeks, neither was it austere and tyrannical like that of the Hebrews; it consisted for the most part in the observance of mere forms, vows, and taboos.
98:3.3 (1080.5) Roman religion was greatly influenced by extensive cultural importations from Greece. Eventually most of the Olympian gods were transplanted and incorporated into the Latin pantheon. The Greeks long worshiped the fire of the family hearth — Hestia was the virgin goddess of the hearth; Vesta was the Roman goddess of the home. Zeus became Jupiter; Aphrodite, Venus; and so on down through the many Olympian deities.
98:3.4 (1080.6) The religious initiation of Roman youths was the occasion of their solemn consecration to the service of the state. Oaths and admissions to citizenship were in reality religious ceremonies. The Latin peoples maintained temples, altars, and shrines and, in a crisis, would consult the oracles. They preserved the bones of heroes and later on those of the Christian saints.
98:3.5 (1080.7) This formal and unemotional form of pseudoreligious patriotism was doomed to collapse, even as the highly intellectual and artistic worship of the Greeks had gone down before the fervid and deeply emotional worship of the mystery cults. The greatest of these devastating cults was the mystery religion of the Mother of God sect, which had its headquarters, in those days, on the exact site of the present church of St. Peter’s in Rome.
98:3.6 (1080.8) The emerging Roman state conquered politically but was in turn conquered by the cults, rituals, mysteries, and god concepts of Egypt, Greece, and the Levant. These imported cults continued to flourish throughout the Roman state up to the time of Augustus, who, purely for political and civic reasons, made a heroic and somewhat successful effort to destroy the mysteries and revive the older political religion.
98:3.7 (1081.1) One of the priests of the state religion told Augustus of the earlier attempts of the Salem teachers to spread the doctrine of one God, a final Deity presiding over all supernatural beings; and this idea took such a firm hold on the emperor that he built many temples, stocked them well with beautiful images, reorganized the state priesthood, re-established the state religion, appointed himself acting high priest of all, and as emperor did not hesitate to proclaim himself the supreme god.
98:3.8 (1081.2) This new religion of Augustus worship flourished and was observed throughout the empire during his lifetime except in Palestine, the home of the Jews. And this era of the human gods continued until the official Roman cult had a roster of more than twoscore self-elevated human deities, all claiming miraculous births and other superhuman attributes.
98:3.9 (1081.3) The last stand of the dwindling band of Salem believers was made by an earnest group of preachers, the Cynics, who exhorted the Romans to abandon their wild and senseless religious rituals and return to a form of worship embodying Melchizedek’s gospel as it had been modified and contaminated through contact with the philosophy of the Greeks. But the people at large rejected the Cynics; they preferred to plunge into the rituals of the mysteries, which not only offered hopes of personal salvation but also gratified the desire for diversion, excitement, and entertainment.
4. The Mystery Cults
98:4.1 (1081.4) The majority of people in the Greco-Roman world, having lost their primitive family and state religions and being unable or unwilling to grasp the meaning of Greek philosophy, turned their attention to the spectacular and emotional mystery cults from Egypt and the Levant. The common people craved promises of salvation — religious consolation for today and assurances of hope for immortality after death.
98:4.2 (1081.5) The three mystery cults which became most popular were:
98:4.3 (1081.6) 1. The Phrygian cult of Cybele and her son Attis.
98:4.4 (1081.7) 2. The Egyptian cult of Osiris and his mother Isis.
98:4.5 (1081.8) 3. The Iranian cult of the worship of Mithras as the savior and redeemer of sinful mankind.
98:4.6 (1081.9) The Phrygian and Egyptian mysteries taught that the divine son (respectively Attis and Osiris) had experienced death and had been resurrected by divine power, and further that all who were properly initiated into the mystery, and who reverently celebrated the anniversary of the god’s death and resurrection, would thereby become partakers of his divine nature and his immortality.
98:4.7 (1081.10) The Phrygian ceremonies were imposing but degrading; their bloody festivals indicate how degraded and primitive these Levantine mysteries became. The most holy day was Black Friday, the “day of blood,” commemorating the self-inflicted death of Attis. After three days of the celebration of the sacrifice and death of Attis the festival was turned to joy in honor of his resurrection.
98:4.8 (1082.1) The rituals of the worship of Isis and Osiris were more refined and impressive than were those of the Phrygian cult. This Egyptian ritual was built around the legend of the Nile god of old, a god who died and was resurrected, which concept was derived from the observation of the annually recurring stoppage of vegetation growth followed by the springtime restoration of all living plants. The frenzy of the observance of these mystery cults and the orgies of their ceremonials, which were supposed to lead up to the “enthusiasm” of the realization of divinity, were sometimes most revolting.
5. The Cult of Mithras
98:5.1 (1082.2) The Phrygian and Egyptian mysteries eventually gave way before the greatest of all the mystery cults, the worship of Mithras. The Mithraic cult made its appeal to a wide range of human nature and gradually supplanted both of its predecessors. Mithraism spread over the Roman Empire through the propagandizing of Roman legions recruited in the Levant, where this religion was the vogue, for they carried this belief wherever they went. And this new religious ritual was a great improvement over the earlier mystery cults.
98:5.2 (1082.3) The cult of Mithras arose in Iran and long persisted in its homeland despite the militant opposition of the followers of Zoroaster. But by the time Mithraism reached Rome, it had become greatly improved by the absorption of many of Zoroaster’s teachings. It was chiefly through the Mithraic cult that Zoroaster’s religion exerted an influence upon later appearing Christianity.
98:5.3 (1082.4) The Mithraic cult portrayed a militant god taking origin in a great rock, engaging in valiant exploits, and causing water to gush forth from a rock struck with his arrows. There was a flood from which one man escaped in a specially built boat and a last supper which Mithras celebrated with the sun-god before he ascended into the heavens. This sun-god, or Sol Invictus, was a degeneration of the Ahura-Mazda deity concept of Zoroastrianism. Mithras was conceived as the surviving champion of the sun-god in his struggle with the god of darkness. And in recognition of his slaying the mythical sacred bull, Mithras was made immortal, being exalted to the station of intercessor for the human race among the gods on high.
98:5.4 (1082.5) The adherents of this cult worshiped in caves and other secret places, chanting hymns, mumbling magic, eating the flesh of the sacrificial animals, and drinking the blood. Three times a day they worshiped, with special weekly ceremonials on the day of the sun-god and with the most elaborate observance of all on the annual festival of Mithras, December twenty-fifth. It was believed that the partaking of the sacrament ensured eternal life, the immediate passing, after death, to the bosom of Mithras, there to tarry in bliss until the judgment day. On the judgment day the Mithraic keys of heaven would unlock the gates of Paradise for the reception of the faithful; whereupon all the unbaptized of the living and the dead would be annihilated upon the return of Mithras to earth. It was taught that, when a man died, he went before Mithras for judgment, and that at the end of the world Mithras would summon all the dead from their graves to face the last judgment. The wicked would be destroyed by fire, and the righteous would reign with Mithras forever.
98:5.5 (1082.6) At first it was a religion only for men, and there were seven different orders into which believers could be successively initiated. Later on, the wives and daughters of believers were admitted to the temples of the Great Mother, which adjoined the Mithraic temples. The women’s cult was a mixture of Mithraic ritual and the ceremonies of the Phrygian cult of Cybele, the mother of Attis.
6. Mithraism and Christianity
98:6.1 (1083.1) Prior to the coming of the mystery cults and Christianity, personal religion hardly developed as an independent institution in the civilized lands of North Africa and Europe; it was more of a family, city-state, political, and imperial affair. The Hellenic Greeks never evolved a centralized worship system; the ritual was local; they had no priesthood and no “sacred book.” Much as the Romans, their religious institutions lacked a powerful driving agency for the preservation of higher moral and spiritual values. While it is true that the institutionalization of religion has usually detracted from its spiritual quality, it is also a fact that no religion has thus far succeeded in surviving without the aid of institutional organization of some degree, greater or lesser.
98:6.2 (1083.2) Occidental religion thus languished until the days of the Skeptics, Cynics, Epicureans, and Stoics, but most important of all, until the times of the great contest between Mithraism and Paul’s new religion of Christianity.
98:6.3 (1083.3) During the third century after Christ, Mithraic and Christian churches were very similar both in appearance and in the character of their ritual. A majority of such places of worship were underground, and both contained altars whose backgrounds variously depicted the sufferings of the savior who had brought salvation to a sin-cursed human race.
98:6.4 (1083.4) Always had it been the practice of Mithraic worshipers, on entering the temple, to dip their fingers in holy water. And since in some districts there were those who at one time belonged to both religions, they introduced this custom into the majority of the Christian churches in the vicinity of Rome. Both religions employed baptism and partook of the sacrament of bread and wine. The one great difference between Mithraism and Christianity, aside from the characters of Mithras and Jesus, was that the one encouraged militarism while the other was ultrapacific. Mithraism’s tolerance for other religions (except later Christianity) led to its final undoing. But the deciding factor in the struggle between the two was the admission of women into the full fellowship of the Christian faith.
98:6.5 (1083.5) In the end the nominal Christian faith dominated the Occident. Greek philosophy supplied the concepts of ethical value; Mithraism, the ritual of worship observance; and Christianity, as such, the technique for the conservation of moral and social values.
7. The Christian Religion
98:7.1 (1083.6) A Creator Son did not incarnate in the likeness of mortal flesh and bestow himself upon the humanity of Urantia to reconcile an angry God but rather to win all mankind to the recognition of the Father’s love and to the realization of their sonship with God. After all, even the great advocate of the atonement doctrine realized something of this truth, for he declared that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.”
98:7.2 (1084.1) It is not the province of this paper to deal with the origin and dissemination of the Christian religion. Suffice it to say that it is built around the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the humanly incarnate Michael Son of Nebadon, known to Urantia as the Christ, the anointed one. Christianity was spread throughout the Levant and Occident by the followers of this Galilean, and their missionary zeal equaled that of their illustrious predecessors, the Sethites and Salemites, as well as that of their earnest Asiatic contemporaries, the Buddhist teachers.
98:7.3 (1084.2) The Christian religion, as a Urantian system of belief, arose through the compounding of the following teachings, influences, beliefs, cults, and personal individual attitudes:
98:7.4 (1084.3) 1. The Melchizedek teachings, which are a basic factor in all the religions of Occident and Orient that have arisen in the last four thousand years.
98:7.5 (1084.4) 2. The Hebraic system of morality, ethics, theology, and belief in both Providence and the supreme Yahweh.
98:7.6 (1084.5) 3. The Zoroastrian conception of the struggle between cosmic good and evil, which had already left its imprint on both Judaism and Mithraism. Through prolonged contact attendant upon the struggles between Mithraism and Christianity, the doctrines of the Iranian prophet became a potent factor in determining the theologic and philosophic cast and structure of the dogmas, tenets, and cosmology of the Hellenized and Latinized versions of the teachings of Jesus. 질서 우주의 선과 악 사이의 투쟁에 대한 조로아스터교의 개념은 유대교와 미트라교 모두에게 그 흔적을 남겼습니다. 미트라교와 기독교 사이의 투쟁으로 수반된 장기적 접촉을 통해 이란 선지자의 교리는 예수 가르침에 대한 헬라화 및 라틴화판(版) 교리(敎理), 교의(敎義) 및 우주론의 신학적, 철학적 유형과 구조를 결정하는 강력한 요소가 되었습니다.
98:7.7 (1084.6) 4. The mystery cults, especially Mithraism but also the worship of the Great Mother in the Phrygian cult. Even the legends of the birth of Jesus on Urantia became tainted with the Roman version of the miraculous birth of the Iranian savior-hero, Mithras, whose advent on earth was supposed to have been witnessed by only a handful of gift-bearing shepherds who had been informed of this impending event by angels.
98:7.8 (1084.7) 5. The historic fact of the human life of Joshua ben Joseph, the reality of Jesus of Nazareth as the glorified Christ, the Son of God.
98:7.9 (1084.8) 6. The personal viewpoint of Paul of Tarsus. And it should be recorded that Mithraism was the dominant religion of Tarsus during his adolescence. Paul little dreamed that his well-intentioned letters to his converts would someday be regarded by still later Christians as the “word of God.” Such well-meaning teachers must not be held accountable for the use made of their writings by later-day successors.
98:7.10 (1084.9) 7. The philosophic thought of the Hellenistic peoples, from Alexandria and Antioch through Greece to Syracuse and Rome. The philosophy of the Greeks was more in harmony with Paul’s version of Christianity than with any other current religious system and became an important factor in the success of Christianity in the Occident. Greek philosophy, coupled with Paul’s theology, still forms the basis of European ethics.
98:7.11 (1084.10) As the original teachings of Jesus penetrated the Occident, they became Occidentalized, and as they became Occidentalized, they began to lose their potentially universal appeal to all races and kinds of men. Christianity, today, has become a religion well adapted to the social, economic, and political mores of the white races. It has long since ceased to be the religion of Jesus, although it still valiantly portrays a beautiful religion about Jesus to such individuals as sincerely seek to follow in the way of its teaching. It has glorified Jesus as the Christ, the Messianic anointed one from God, but has largely forgotten the Master’s personal gospel: the Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of all men.
98:7.12 (1085.1) And this is the long story of the teachings of Machiventa Melchizedek on Urantia. It is nearly four thousand years since this emergency Son of Nebadon bestowed himself on Urantia, and in that time the teachings of the “priest of El Elyon, the Most High God,” have penetrated to all races and peoples. And Machiventa was successful in achieving the purpose of his unusual bestowal; when Michael made ready to appear on Urantia, the God concept was existent in the hearts of men and women, the same God concept that still flames anew in the living spiritual experience of the manifold children of the Universal Father as they live their intriguing temporal lives on the whirling planets of space.
98:7.13 (1085.2) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
99:0.1 (1086.1) RELIGION achieves its highest social ministry when it has least connection with the secular institutions of society. In past ages, since social reforms were largely confined to the moral realms, religion did not have to adjust its attitude to extensive changes in economic and political systems. The chief problem of religion was the endeavor to replace evil with good within the existing social order of political and economic culture. Religion has thus indirectly tended to perpetuate the established order of society, to foster the maintenance of the existent type of civilization.
99:0.2 (1086.2) But religion should not be directly concerned either with the creation of new social orders or with the preservation of old ones. True religion does oppose violence as a technique of social evolution, but it does not oppose the intelligent efforts of society to adapt its usages and adjust its institutions to new economic conditions and cultural requirements.
99:0.3 (1086.3) Religion did approve the occasional social reforms of past centuries, but in the twentieth century it is of necessity called upon to face adjustment to extensive and continuing social reconstruction. Conditions of living alter so rapidly that institutional modifications must be greatly accelerated, and religion must accordingly quicken its adaptation to this new and ever-changing social order.
1. Religion and Social Reconstruction
99:1.1 (1086.4) Mechanical inventions and the dissemination of knowledge are modifying civilization; certain economic adjustments and social changes are imperative if cultural disaster is to be avoided. This new and oncoming social order will not settle down complacently for a millennium. The human race must become reconciled to a procession of changes, adjustments, and readjustments. Mankind is on the march toward a new and unrevealed planetary destiny.
99:1.2 (1086.5) Religion must become a forceful influence for moral stability and spiritual progression functioning dynamically in the midst of these ever-changing conditions and never-ending economic adjustments.
99:1.3 (1086.6) Urantia society can never hope to settle down as in past ages. The social ship has steamed out of the sheltered bays of established tradition and has begun its cruise upon the high seas of evolutionary destiny; and the soul of man, as never before in the world’s history, needs carefully to scrutinize its charts of morality and painstakingly to observe the compass of religious guidance. The paramount mission of religion as a social influence is to stabilize the ideals of mankind during these dangerous times of transition from one phase of civilization to another, from one level of culture to another.
99:1.4 (1087.1) Religion has no new duties to perform, but it is urgently called upon to function as a wise guide and experienced counselor in all of these new and rapidly changing human situations. Society is becoming more mechanical, more compact, more complex, and more critically interdependent. Religion must function to prevent these new and intimate interassociations from becoming mutually retrogressive or even destructive. Religion must act as the cosmic salt which prevents the ferments of progression from destroying the cultural savor of civilization. These new social relations and economic upheavals can result in lasting brotherhood only by the ministry of religion.
99:1.5 (1087.2) A godless humanitarianism is, humanly speaking, a noble gesture, but true religion is the only power which can lastingly increase the responsiveness of one social group to the needs and sufferings of other groups. In the past, institutional religion could remain passive while the upper strata of society turned a deaf ear to the sufferings and oppression of the helpless lower strata, but in modern times these lower social orders are no longer so abjectly ignorant nor so politically helpless.
99:1.6 (1087.3) Religion must not become organically involved in the secular work of social reconstruction and economic reorganization. But it must actively keep pace with all these advances in civilization by making clear-cut and vigorous restatements of its moral mandates and spiritual precepts, its progressive philosophy of human living and transcendent survival. The spirit of religion is eternal, but the form of its expression must be restated every time the dictionary of human language is revised.
2. Weakness of Institutional Religion
99:2.1 (1087.4) Institutional religion cannot afford inspiration and provide leadership in this impending world-wide social reconstruction and economic reorganization because it has unfortunately become more or less of an organic part of the social order and the economic system which is destined to undergo reconstruction. Only the real religion of personal spiritual experience can function helpfully and creatively in the present crisis of civilization.
99:2.2 (1087.5) Institutional religion is now caught in the stalemate of a vicious circle. It cannot reconstruct society without first reconstructing itself; and being so much an integral part of the established order, it cannot reconstruct itself until society has been radically reconstructed.
99:2.3 (1087.6) Religionists must function in society, in industry, and in politics as individuals, not as groups, parties, or institutions. A religious group which presumes to function as such, apart from religious activities, immediately becomes a political party, an economic organization, or a social institution. Religious collectivism must confine its efforts to the furtherance of religious causes.
99:2.4 (1087.7) Religionists are of no more value in the tasks of social reconstruction than nonreligionists except in so far as their religion has conferred upon them enhanced cosmic foresight and endowed them with that superior social wisdom which is born of the sincere desire to love God supremely and to love every man as a brother in the heavenly kingdom. An ideal social order is that in which every man loves his neighbor as he loves himself.
99:2.5 (1087.8) The institutionalized church may have appeared to serve society in the past by glorifying the established political and economic orders, but it must speedily cease such action if it is to survive. Its only proper attitude consists in the teaching of nonviolence, the doctrine of peaceful evolution in the place of violent revolution — peace on earth and good will among all men.
99:2.6 (1088.1) Modern religion finds it difficult to adjust its attitude toward the rapidly shifting social changes only because it has permitted itself to become so thoroughly traditionalized, dogmatized, and institutionalized. The religion of living experience finds no difficulty in keeping ahead of all these social developments and economic upheavals, amid which it ever functions as a moral stabilizer, social guide, and spiritual pilot. True religion carries over from one age to another the worth-while culture and that wisdom which is born of the experience of knowing God and striving to be like him.
3. Religion and the Religionist
99:3.1 (1088.2) Early Christianity was entirely free from all civil entanglements, social commitments, and economic alliances. Only did later institutionalized Christianity become an organic part of the political and social structure of Occidental civilization.
99:3.2 (1088.3) The kingdom of heaven is neither a social nor economic order; it is an exclusively spiritual brotherhood of God-knowing individuals. True, such a brotherhood is in itself a new and amazing social phenomenon attended by astounding political and economic repercussions.
99:3.3 (1088.4) The religionist is not unsympathetic with social suffering, not unmindful of civil injustice, not insulated from economic thinking, neither insensible to political tyranny. Religion influences social reconstruction directly because it spiritualizes and idealizes the individual citizen. Indirectly, cultural civilization is influenced by the attitude of these individual religionists as they become active and influential members of various social, moral, economic, and political groups.
99:3.4 (1088.5) The attainment of a high cultural civilization demands, first, the ideal type of citizen and, then, ideal and adequate social mechanisms wherewith such a citizenry may control the economic and political institutions of such an advanced human society.
99:3.5 (1088.6) The church, because of overmuch false sentiment, has long ministered to the underprivileged and the unfortunate, and this has all been well, but this same sentiment has led to the unwise perpetuation of racially degenerate stocks which have tremendously retarded the progress of civilization.
99:3.6 (1088.7) Many individual social reconstructionists, while vehemently repudiating institutionalized religion, are, after all, zealously religious in the propagation of their social reforms. And so it is that religious motivation, personal and more or less unrecognized, is playing a great part in the present-day program of social reconstruction.
99:3.7 (1088.8) The great weakness of all this unrecognized and unconscious type of religious activity is that it is unable to profit from open religious criticism and thereby attain to profitable levels of self-correction. It is a fact that religion does not grow unless it is disciplined by constructive criticism, amplified by philosophy, purified by science, and nourished by loyal fellowship.
99:3.8 (1088.9) There is always the great danger that religion will become distorted and perverted into the pursuit of false goals, as when in times of war each contending nation prostitutes its religion into military propaganda. Loveless zeal is always harmful to religion, while persecution diverts the activities of religion into the achievement of some sociologic or theologic drive.
99:3.9 (1089.1) Religion can be kept free from unholy secular alliances only by:
99:3.10 (1089.2) 1. A critically corrective philosophy.
99:3.11 (1089.3) 2. Freedom from all social, economic, and political alliances.
99:3.12 (1089.4) 3. Creative, comforting, and love-expanding fellowships.
99:3.13 (1089.5) 4. Progressive enhancement of spiritual insight and the appreciation of cosmic values.
99:3.14 (1089.6) 5. Prevention of fanaticism by the compensations of the scientific mental attitude.
99:3.15 (1089.7) Religionists, as a group, must never concern themselves with anything but religion, albeit any one such religionist, as an individual citizen, may become the outstanding leader of some social, economic, or political reconstruction movement.
99:3.16 (1089.8) It is the business of religion to create, sustain, and inspire such a cosmic loyalty in the individual citizen as will direct him to the achievement of success in the advancement of all these difficult but desirable social services.
4. Transition Difficulties
99:4.1 (1089.9) Genuine religion renders the religionist socially fragrant and creates insights into human fellowship. But the formalization of religious groups many times destroys the very values for the promotion of which the group was organized. Human friendship and divine religion are mutually helpful and significantly illuminating if the growth in each is equalized and harmonized. Religion puts new meaning into all group associations — families, schools, and clubs. It imparts new values to play and exalts all true humor.
99:4.2 (1089.10) Social leadership is transformed by spiritual insight; religion prevents all collective movements from losing sight of their true objectives. Together with children, religion is the great unifier of family life, provided it is a living and growing faith. Family life cannot be had without children; it can be lived without religion, but such a handicap enormously multiplies the difficulties of this intimate human association. During the early decades of the twentieth century, family life, next to personal religious experience, suffers most from the decadence consequent upon the transition from old religious loyalties to the emerging new meanings and values.
99:4.3 (1089.11) True religion is a meaningful way of living dynamically face to face with the commonplace realities of everyday life. But if religion is to stimulate individual development of character and augment integration of personality, it must not be standardized. If it is to stimulate evaluation of experience and serve as a value-lure, it must not be stereotyped. If religion is to promote supreme loyalties, it must not be formalized.
99:4.4 (1089.12) No matter what upheavals may attend the social and economic growth of civilization, religion is genuine and worth while if it fosters in the individual an experience in which the sovereignty of truth, beauty, and goodness prevails, for such is the true spiritual concept of supreme reality. And through love and worship this becomes meaningful as fellowship with man and sonship with God.
99:4.5 (1090.1) After all, it is what one believes rather than what one knows that determines conduct and dominates personal performances. Purely factual knowledge exerts very little influence upon the average man unless it becomes emotionally activated. But the activation of religion is superemotional, unifying the entire human experience on transcendent levels through contact with, and release of, spiritual energies in the mortal life.
99:4.6 (1090.2) During the psychologically unsettled times of the twentieth century, amid the economic upheavals, the moral crosscurrents, and the sociologic rip tides of the cyclonic transitions of a scientific era, thousands upon thousands of men and women have become humanly dislocated; they are anxious, restless, fearful, uncertain, and unsettled; as never before in the world’s history they need the consolation and stabilization of sound religion. In the face of unprecedented scientific achievement and mechanical development there is spiritual stagnation and philosophic chaos.
99:4.7 (1090.3) There is no danger in religion’s becoming more and more of a private matter — a personal experience — provided it does not lose its motivation for unselfish and loving social service. Religion has suffered from many secondary influences: sudden mixing of cultures, intermingling of creeds, diminution of ecclesiastical authority, changing of family life, together with urbanization and mechanization.
99:4.8 (1090.4) Man’s greatest spiritual jeopardy consists in partial progress, the predicament of unfinished growth: forsaking the evolutionary religions of fear without immediately grasping the revelatory religion of love. Modern science, particularly psychology, has weakened only those religions which are so largely dependent upon fear, superstition, and emotion.
99:4.9 (1090.5) Transition is always accompanied by confusion, and there will be little tranquillity in the religious world until the great struggle between the three contending philosophies of religion is ended:
99:4.10 (1090.6) 1. The spiritistic belief (in a providential Deity) of many religions.
99:4.11 (1090.7) 2. The humanistic and idealistic belief of many philosophies.
99:4.12 (1090.8) 3. The mechanistic and naturalistic conceptions of many sciences.
99:4.13 (1090.9) And these three partial approaches to the reality of the cosmos must eventually become harmonized by the revelatory presentation of religion, philosophy, and cosmology which portrays the triune existence of spirit, mind, and energy proceeding from the Trinity of Paradise and attaining time-space unification within the Deity of the Supreme.
5. Social Aspects of Religion
99:5.1 (1090.10) While religion is exclusively a personal spiritual experience — knowing God as a Father — the corollary of this experience — knowing man as a brother — entails the adjustment of the self to other selves, and that involves the social or group aspect of religious life. Religion is first an inner or personal adjustment, and then it becomes a matter of social service or group adjustment. The fact of man’s gregariousness perforce determines that religious groups will come into existence. What happens to these religious groups depends very much on intelligent leadership. In primitive society the religious group is not always very different from economic or political groups. Religion has always been a conservator of morals and a stabilizer of society. And this is still true, notwithstanding the contrary teaching of many modern socialists and humanists.
99:5.2 (1091.1) Always keep in mind: True religion is to know God as your Father and man as your brother. Religion is not a slavish belief in threats of punishment or magical promises of future mystical rewards.
99:5.3 (1091.2) The religion of Jesus is the most dynamic influence ever to activate the human race. Jesus shattered tradition, destroyed dogma, and called mankind to the achievement of its highest ideals in time and eternity — to be perfect, even as the Father in heaven is perfect.
99:5.4 (1091.3) Religion has little chance to function until the religious group becomes separated from all other groups — the social association of the spiritual membership of the kingdom of heaven.
99:5.5 (1091.4) The doctrine of the total depravity of man destroyed much of the potential of religion for effecting social repercussions of an uplifting nature and of inspirational value. Jesus sought to restore man’s dignity when he declared that all men are the children of God.
99:5.6 (1091.5) Any religious belief which is effective in spiritualizing the believer is certain to have powerful repercussions in the social life of such a religionist. Religious experience unfailingly yields the “fruits of the spirit” in the daily life of the spirit-led mortal.
99:5.7 (1091.6) Just as certainly as men share their religious beliefs, they create a religious group of some sort which eventually creates common goals. Someday religionists will get together and actually effect co-operation on the basis of unity of ideals and purposes rather than attempting to do so on the basis of psychological opinions and theological beliefs. Goals rather than creeds should unify religionists. Since true religion is a matter of personal spiritual experience, it is inevitable that each individual religionist must have his own and personal interpretation of the realization of that spiritual experience. Let the term “faith” stand for the individual’s relation to God rather than for the creedal formulation of what some group of mortals have been able to agree upon as a common religious attitude. “Have you faith? Then have it to yourself.”
99:5.8 (1091.7) That faith is concerned only with the grasp of ideal values is shown by the New Testament definition which declares that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
99:5.9 (1091.8) Primitive man made little effort to put his religious convictions into words. His religion was danced out rather than thought out. Modern men have thought out many creeds and created many tests of religious faith. Future religionists must live out their religion, dedicate themselves to the wholehearted service of the brotherhood of man. It is high time that man had a religious experience so personal and so sublime that it could be realized and expressed only by “feelings that lie too deep for words.”
99:5.10 (1091.9) Jesus did not require of his followers that they should periodically assemble and recite a form of words indicative of their common beliefs. He only ordained that they should gather together to actually do something — partake of the communal supper of the remembrance of his bestowal life on Urantia.
99:5.11 (1091.10) What a mistake for Christians to make when, in presenting Christ as the supreme ideal of spiritual leadership, they dare to require God-conscious men and women to reject the historic leadership of the God-knowing men who have contributed to their particular national or racial illumination during past ages.
6. Institutional Religion
99:6.1 (1092.1) Sectarianism is a disease of institutional religion, and dogmatism is an enslavement of the spiritual nature. It is far better to have a religion without a church than a church without religion. The religious turmoil of the twentieth century does not, in and of itself, betoken spiritual decadence. Confusion goes before growth as well as before destruction.
99:6.2 (1092.2) There is a real purpose in the socialization of religion. It is the purpose of group religious activities to dramatize the loyalties of religion; to magnify the lures of truth, beauty, and goodness; to foster the attractions of supreme values; to enhance the service of unselfish fellowship; to glorify the potentials of family life; to promote religious education; to provide wise counsel and spiritual guidance; and to encourage group worship. And all live religions encourage human friendship, conserve morality, promote neighborhood welfare, and facilitate the spread of the essential gospel of their respective messages of eternal salvation.
99:6.3 (1092.3) But as religion becomes institutionalized, its power for good is curtailed, while the possibilities for evil are greatly multiplied. The dangers of formalized religion are: fixation of beliefs and crystallization of sentiments; accumulation of vested interests with increase of secularization; tendency to standardize and fossilize truth; diversion of religion from the service of God to the service of the church; inclination of leaders to become administrators instead of ministers; tendency to form sects and competitive divisions; establishment of oppressive ecclesiastical authority; creation of the aristocratic “chosen-people” attitude; fostering of false and exaggerated ideas of sacredness; the routinizing of religion and the petrification of worship; tendency to venerate the past while ignoring present demands; failure to make up-to-date interpretations of religion; entanglement with functions of secular institutions; it creates the evil discrimination of religious castes; it becomes an intolerant judge of orthodoxy; it fails to hold the interest of adventurous youth and gradually loses the saving message of the gospel of eternal salvation.
99:6.4 (1092.4) Formal religion restrains men in their personal spiritual activities instead of releasing them for heightened service as kingdom builders.
7. Religion’s Contribution
99:7.1 (1092.5) Though churches and all other religious groups should stand aloof from all secular activities, at the same time religion must do nothing to hinder or retard the social co-ordination of human institutions. Life must continue to grow in meaningfulness; man must go on with his reformation of philosophy and his clarification of religion.
99:7.2 (1092.6) Political science must effect the reconstruction of economics and industry by the techniques it learns from the social sciences and by the insights and motives supplied by religious living. In all social reconstruction religion provides a stabilizing loyalty to a transcendent object, a steadying goal beyond and above the immediate and temporal objective. In the midst of the confusions of a rapidly changing environment mortal man needs the sustenance of a far-flung cosmic perspective.
99:7.3 (1093.1) Religion inspires man to live courageously and joyfully on the face of the earth; it joins patience with passion, insight to zeal, sympathy with power, and ideals with energy.
99:7.4 (1093.2) Man can never wisely decide temporal issues or transcend the selfishness of personal interests unless he meditates in the presence of the sovereignty of God and reckons with the realities of divine meanings and spiritual values.
99:7.5 (1093.3) Economic interdependence and social fraternity will ultimately conduce to brotherhood. Man is naturally a dreamer, but science is sobering him so that religion can presently activate him with far less danger of precipitating fanatical reactions. Economic necessities tie man up with reality, and personal religious experience brings this same man face to face with the eternal realities of an ever-expanding and progressing cosmic citizenship.
99:7.6 (1093.4) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
100:0.1 (1094.1) THE experience of dynamic religious living transforms the mediocre individual into a personality of idealistic power. Religion ministers to the progress of all through fostering the progress of each individual, and the progress of each is augmented through the achievement of all.
100:0.2 (1094.2) Spiritual growth is mutually stimulated by intimate association with other religionists. Love supplies the soil for religious growth — an objective lure in the place of subjective gratification — yet it yields the supreme subjective satisfaction. And religion ennobles the commonplace drudgery of daily living.
1. Religious Growth
100:1.1 (1094.3) While religion produces growth of meanings and enhancement of values, evil always results when purely personal evaluations are elevated to the levels of absolutes. A child evaluates experience in accordance with the content of pleasure; maturity is proportional to the substitution of higher meanings for personal pleasure, even loyalties to the highest concepts of diversified life situations and cosmic relations.
100:1.2 (1094.4) Some persons are too busy to grow and are therefore in grave danger of spiritual fixation. Provision must be made for growth of meanings at differing ages, in successive cultures, and in the passing stages of advancing civilization. The chief inhibitors of growth are prejudice and ignorance.
100:1.3 (1094.5) Give every developing child a chance to grow his own religious experience; do not force a ready-made adult experience upon him. Remember, year-by-year progress through an established educational regime does not necessarily mean intellectual progress, much less spiritual growth. Enlargement of vocabulary does not signify development of character. Growth is not truly indicated by mere products but rather by progress. Real educational growth is indicated by enhancement of ideals, increased appreciation of values, new meanings of values, and augmented loyalty to supreme values.
100:1.4 (1094.6) Children are permanently impressed only by the loyalties of their adult associates; precept or even example is not lastingly influential. Loyal persons are growing persons, and growth is an impressive and inspiring reality. Live loyally today — grow — and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole.
100:1.5 (1094.7) The soil essential for religious growth presupposes a progressive life of self-realization, the co-ordination of natural propensities, the exercise of curiosity and the enjoyment of reasonable adventure, the experiencing of feelings of satisfaction, the functioning of the fear stimulus of attention and awareness, the wonder-lure, and a normal consciousness of smallness, humility. Growth is also predicated on the discovery of selfhood accompanied by self-criticism — conscience, for conscience is really the criticism of oneself by one’s own value-habits, personal ideals.
100:1.6 (1095.1) Religious experience is markedly influenced by physical health, inherited temperament, and social environment. But these temporal conditions do not inhibit inner spiritual progress by a soul dedicated to the doing of the will of the Father in heaven. There are present in all normal mortals certain innate drives toward growth and self-realization which function if they are not specifically inhibited. The certain technique of fostering this constitutive endowment of the potential of spiritual growth is to maintain an attitude of wholehearted devotion to supreme values.
100:1.7 (1095.2) Religion cannot be bestowed, received, loaned, learned, or lost. It is a personal experience which grows proportionally to the growing quest for final values. Cosmic growth thus attends on the accumulation of meanings and the ever-expanding elevation of values. But nobility itself is always an unconscious growth.
100:1.8 (1095.3) Religious habits of thinking and acting are contributory to the economy of spiritual growth. One can develop religious predispositions toward favorable reaction to spiritual stimuli, a sort of conditioned spiritual reflex. Habits which favor religious growth embrace cultivated sensitivity to divine values, recognition of religious living in others, reflective meditation on cosmic meanings, worshipful problem solving, sharing one’s spiritual life with one’s fellows, avoidance of selfishness, refusal to presume on divine mercy, living as in the presence of God. The factors of religious growth may be intentional, but the growth itself is unvaryingly unconscious.
100:1.9 (1095.4) The unconscious nature of religious growth does not, however, signify that it is an activity functioning in the supposed subconscious realms of human intellect; rather does it signify creative activities in the superconscious levels of mortal mind. The experience of the realization of the reality of unconscious religious growth is the one positive proof of the functional existence of the superconsciousness.
2. Spiritual Growth
100:2.1 (1095.5) Spiritual development depends, first, on the maintenance of a living spiritual connection with true spiritual forces and, second, on the continuous bearing of spiritual fruit: yielding the ministry to one’s fellows of that which has been received from one’s spiritual benefactors. Spiritual progress is predicated on intellectual recognition of spiritual poverty coupled with the self-consciousness of perfection-hunger, the desire to know God and be like him, the wholehearted purpose to do the will of the Father in heaven.
100:2.2 (1095.6) Spiritual growth is first an awakening to needs, next a discernment of meanings, and then a discovery of values. The evidence of true spiritual development consists in the exhibition of a human personality motivated by love, activated by unselfish ministry, and dominated by the wholehearted worship of the perfection ideals of divinity. And this entire experience constitutes the reality of religion as contrasted with mere theological beliefs.
100:2.3 (1095.7) Religion can progress to that level of experience whereon it becomes an enlightened and wise technique of spiritual reaction to the universe. Such a glorified religion can function on three levels of human personality: the intellectual, the morontial, and the spiritual; upon the mind, in the evolving soul, and with the indwelling spirit.
100:2.4 (1096.1) Spirituality becomes at once the indicator of one’s nearness to God and the measure of one’s usefulness to fellow beings. Spirituality enhances the ability to discover beauty in things, recognize truth in meanings, and discover goodness in values. Spiritual development is determined by capacity therefor and is directly proportional to the elimination of the selfish qualities of love.
100:2.5 (1096.2) Actual spiritual status is the measure of Deity attainment, Adjuster attunement. The achievement of finality of spirituality is equivalent to the attainment of the maximum of reality, the maximum of Godlikeness. Eternal life is the endless quest for infinite values.
100:2.6 (1096.3) The goal of human self-realization should be spiritual, not material. The only realities worth striving for are divine, spiritual, and eternal. Mortal man is entitled to the enjoyment of physical pleasures and to the satisfaction of human affections; he is benefited by loyalty to human associations and temporal institutions; but these are not the eternal foundations upon which to build the immortal personality which must transcend space, vanquish time, and achieve the eternal destiny of divine perfection and finaliter service.
100:2.7 (1096.4) Jesus portrayed the profound surety of the God-knowing mortal when he said: “To a God-knowing kingdom believer, what does it matter if all things earthly crash?” Temporal securities are vulnerable, but spiritual sureties are impregnable. When the flood tides of human adversity, selfishness, cruelty, hate, malice, and jealousy beat about the mortal soul, you may rest in the assurance that there is one inner bastion, the citadel of the spirit, which is absolutely unassailable; at least this is true of every human being who has dedicated the keeping of his soul to the indwelling spirit of the eternal God.
100:2.8 (1096.5) After such spiritual attainment, whether secured by gradual growth or specific crisis, there occurs a new orientation of personality as well as the development of a new standard of values. Such spirit-born individuals are so remotivated in life that they can calmly stand by while their fondest ambitions perish and their keenest hopes crash; they positively know that such catastrophes are but the redirecting cataclysms which wreck one’s temporal creations preliminary to the rearing of the more noble and enduring realities of a new and more sublime level of universe attainment.
3. Concepts of Supreme Value
100:3.1 (1096.6) Religion is not a technique for attaining a static and blissful peace of mind; it is an impulse for organizing the soul for dynamic service. It is the enlistment of the totality of selfhood in the loyal service of loving God and serving man. Religion pays any price essential to the attainment of the supreme goal, the eternal prize. There is a consecrated completeness in religious loyalty which is superbly sublime. And these loyalties are socially effective and spiritually progressive.
100:3.2 (1096.7) To the religionist the word God becomes a symbol signifying the approach to supreme reality and the recognition of divine value. Human likes and dislikes do not determine good and evil; moral values do not grow out of wish fulfillment or emotional frustration.
100:3.3 (1096.8) In the contemplation of values you must distinguish between that which is value and that which has value. You must recognize the relation between pleasurable activities and their meaningful integration and enhanced realization on ever progressively higher and higher levels of human experience.
100:3.4 (1097.1) Meaning is something which experience adds to value; it is the appreciative consciousness of values. An isolated and purely selfish pleasure may connote a virtual devaluation of meanings, a meaningless enjoyment bordering on relative evil. Values are experiential when realities are meaningful and mentally associated, when such relationships are recognized and appreciated by mind.
100:3.5 (1097.2) Values can never be static; reality signifies change, growth. Change without growth, expansion of meaning and exaltation of value, is valueless — is potential evil. The greater the quality of cosmic adaptation, the more of meaning any experience possesses. Values are not conceptual illusions; they are real, but always they depend on the fact of relationships. Values are always both actual and potential — not what was, but what is and is to be.
100:3.6 (1097.3) The association of actuals and potentials equals growth, the experiential realization of values. But growth is not mere progress. Progress is always meaningful, but it is relatively valueless without growth. The supreme value of human life consists in growth of values, progress in meanings, and realization of the cosmic interrelatedness of both of these experiences. And such an experience is the equivalent of God-consciousness. Such a mortal, while not supernatural, is truly becoming superhuman; an immortal soul is evolving.
100:3.7 (1097.4) Man cannot cause growth, but he can supply favorable conditions. Growth is always unconscious, be it physical, intellectual, or spiritual. Love thus grows; it cannot be created, manufactured, or purchased; it must grow. Evolution is a cosmic technique of growth. Social growth cannot be secured by legislation, and moral growth is not had by improved administration. Man may manufacture a machine, but its real value must be derived from human culture and personal appreciation. Man’s sole contribution to growth is the mobilization of the total powers of his personality — living faith.
4. Problems of Growth
100:4.1 (1097.5) Religious living is devoted living, and devoted living is creative living, original and spontaneous. New religious insights arise out of conflicts which initiate the choosing of new and better reaction habits in the place of older and inferior reaction patterns. New meanings only emerge amid conflict; and conflict persists only in the face of refusal to espouse the higher values connoted in superior meanings.
100:4.2 (1097.6) Religious perplexities are inevitable; there can be no growth without psychic conflict and spiritual agitation. The organization of a philosophic standard of living entails considerable commotion in the philosophic realms of the mind. Loyalties are not exercised in behalf of the great, the good, the true, and the noble without a struggle. Effort is attendant upon clarification of spiritual vision and enhancement of cosmic insight. And the human intellect protests against being weaned from subsisting upon the nonspiritual energies of temporal existence. The slothful animal mind rebels at the effort required to wrestle with cosmic problem solving.
100:4.3 (1097.7) But the great problem of religious living consists in the task of unifying the soul powers of the personality by the dominance of love. Health, mental efficiency, and happiness arise from the unification of physical systems, mind systems, and spirit systems. Of health and sanity man understands much, but of happiness he has truly realized very little. The highest happiness is indissolubly linked with spiritual progress. Spiritual growth yields lasting joy, peace which passes all understanding.
100:4.4 (1098.1) In physical life the senses tell of the existence of things; mind discovers the reality of meanings; but the spiritual experience reveals to the individual the true values of life. These high levels of human living are attained in the supreme love of God and in the unselfish love of man. If you love your fellow men, you must have discovered their values. Jesus loved men so much because he placed such a high value upon them. You can best discover values in your associates by discovering their motivation. If someone irritates you, causes feelings of resentment, you should sympathetically seek to discern his viewpoint, his reasons for such objectionable conduct. If once you understand your neighbor, you will become tolerant, and this tolerance will grow into friendship and ripen into love.
100:4.5 (1098.2) In the mind’s eye conjure up a picture of one of your primitive ancestors of cave-dwelling times — a short, misshapen, filthy, snarling hulk of a man standing, legs spread, club upraised, breathing hate and animosity as he looks fiercely just ahead. Such a picture hardly depicts the divine dignity of man. But allow us to enlarge the picture. In front of this animated human crouches a saber-toothed tiger. Behind him, a woman and two children. Immediately you recognize that such a picture stands for the beginnings of much that is fine and noble in the human race, but the man is the same in both pictures. Only, in the second sketch you are favored with a widened horizon. You therein discern the motivation of this evolving mortal. His attitude becomes praiseworthy because you understand him. If you could only fathom the motives of your associates, how much better you would understand them. If you could only know your fellows, you would eventually fall in love with them.
100:4.6 (1098.3) You cannot truly love your fellows by a mere act of the will. Love is only born of thoroughgoing understanding of your neighbor’s motives and sentiments. It is not so important to love all men today as it is that each day you learn to love one more human being. If each day or each week you achieve an understanding of one more of your fellows, and if this is the limit of your ability, then you are certainly socializing and truly spiritualizing your personality. Love is infectious, and when human devotion is intelligent and wise, love is more catching than hate. But only genuine and unselfish love is truly contagious. If each mortal could only become a focus of dynamic affection, this benign virus of love would soon pervade the sentimental emotion-stream of humanity to such an extent that all civilization would be encompassed by love, and that would be the realization of the brotherhood of man.
5. Conversion and Mysticism
100:5.1 (1098.4) The world is filled with lost souls, not lost in the theologic sense but lost in the directional meaning, wandering about in confusion among the isms and cults of a frustrated philosophic era. Too few have learned how to install a philosophy of living in the place of religious authority. (The symbols of socialized religion are not to be despised as channels of growth, albeit the river bed is not the river.)
100:5.2 (1098.5) The progression of religious growth leads from stagnation through conflict to co-ordination, from insecurity to undoubting faith, from confusion of cosmic consciousness to unification of personality, from the temporal objective to the eternal, from the bondage of fear to the liberty of divine sonship.
100:5.3 (1099.1) It should be made clear that professions of loyalty to the supreme ideals — the psychic, emotional, and spiritual awareness of God-consciousness — may be a natural and gradual growth or may sometimes be experienced at certain junctures, as in a crisis. The Apostle Paul experienced just such a sudden and spectacular conversion that eventful day on the Damascus road. Gautama Siddhartha had a similar experience the night he sat alone and sought to penetrate the mystery of final truth. Many others have had like experiences, and many true believers have progressed in the spirit without sudden conversion.
100:5.4 (1099.2) Most of the spectacular phenomena associated with so-called religious conversions are entirely psychologic in nature, but now and then there do occur experiences which are also spiritual in origin. When the mental mobilization is absolutely total on any level of the psychic upreach toward spirit attainment, when there exists perfection of the human motivation of loyalties to the divine idea, then there very often occurs a sudden down-grasp of the indwelling spirit to synchronize with the concentrated and consecrated purpose of the superconscious mind of the believing mortal. And it is such experiences of unified intellectual and spiritual phenomena that constitute the conversion which consists in factors over and above purely psychologic involvement.
100:5.5 (1099.3) But emotion alone is a false conversion; one must have faith as well as feeling. To the extent that such psychic mobilization is partial, and in so far as such human-loyalty motivation is incomplete, to that extent will the experience of conversion be a blended intellectual, emotional, and spiritual reality.
100:5.6 (1099.4) If one is disposed to recognize a theoretical subconscious mind as a practical working hypothesis in the otherwise unified intellectual life, then, to be consistent, one should postulate a similar and corresponding realm of ascending intellectual activity as the superconscious level, the zone of immediate contact with the indwelling spirit entity, the Thought Adjuster. The great danger in all these psychic speculations is that visions and other so-called mystic experiences, along with extraordinary dreams, may be regarded as divine communications to the human mind. In times past, divine beings have revealed themselves to certain God-knowing persons, not because of their mystic trances or morbid visions, but in spite of all these phenomena.
100:5.7 (1099.5) In contrast with conversion-seeking, the better approach to the morontia zones of possible contact with the Thought Adjuster would be through living faith and sincere worship, wholehearted and unselfish prayer. Altogether too much of the uprush of the memories of the unconscious levels of the human mind has been mistaken for divine revelations and spirit leadings.
100:5.8 (1099.6) There is great danger associated with the habitual practice of religious daydreaming; mysticism may become a technique of reality avoidance, albeit it has sometimes been a means of genuine spiritual communion. Short seasons of retreat from the busy scenes of life may not be seriously dangerous, but prolonged isolation of personality is most undesirable. Under no circumstances should the trancelike state of visionary consciousness be cultivated as a religious experience.
100:5.9 (1099.7) The characteristics of the mystical state are diffusion of consciousness with vivid islands of focal attention operating on a comparatively passive intellect. All of this gravitates consciousness toward the subconscious rather than in the direction of the zone of spiritual contact, the superconscious. Many mystics have carried their mental dissociation to the level of abnormal mental manifestations.
100:5.10 (1100.1) The more healthful attitude of spiritual meditation is to be found in reflective worship and in the prayer of thanksgiving. The direct communion with one’s Thought Adjuster, such as occurred in the later years of Jesus’ life in the flesh, should not be confused with these so-called mystical experiences. The factors which contribute to the initiation of mystic communion are indicative of the danger of such psychic states. The mystic status is favored by such things as: physical fatigue, fasting, psychic dissociation, profound aesthetic experiences, vivid sex impulses, fear, anxiety, rage, and wild dancing. Much of the material arising as a result of such preliminary preparation has its origin in the subconscious mind.
100:5.11 (1100.2) However favorable may have been the conditions for mystic phenomena, it should be clearly understood that Jesus of Nazareth never resorted to such methods for communion with the Paradise Father. Jesus had no subconscious delusions or superconscious illusions.
6. Marks of Religious Living
100:6.1 (1100.3) Evolutionary religions and revelatory religions may differ markedly in method, but in motive there is great similarity. Religion is not a specific function of life; rather is it a mode of living. True religion is a wholehearted devotion to some reality which the religionist deems to be of supreme value to himself and for all mankind. And the outstanding characteristics of all religions are: unquestioning loyalty and wholehearted devotion to supreme values. This religious devotion to supreme values is shown in the relation of the supposedly irreligious mother to her child and in the fervent loyalty of nonreligionists to an espoused cause.
100:6.2 (1100.4) The accepted supreme value of the religionist may be base or even false, but it is nevertheless religious. A religion is genuine to just the extent that the value which is held to be supreme is truly a cosmic reality of genuine spiritual worth.
100:6.3 (1100.5) The marks of human response to the religious impulse embrace the qualities of nobility and grandeur. The sincere religionist is conscious of universe citizenship and is aware of making contact with sources of superhuman power. He is thrilled and energized with the assurance of belonging to a superior and ennobled fellowship of the sons of God. The consciousness of self-worth has become augmented by the stimulus of the quest for the highest universe objectives — supreme goals.
100:6.4 (1100.6) The self has surrendered to the intriguing drive of an all-encompassing motivation which imposes heightened self-discipline, lessens emotional conflict, and makes mortal life truly worth living. The morbid recognition of human limitations is changed to the natural consciousness of mortal shortcomings, associated with moral determination and spiritual aspiration to attain the highest universe and superuniverse goals. And this intense striving for the attainment of supermortal ideals is always characterized by increasing patience, forbearance, fortitude, and tolerance.
100:6.5 (1100.7) But true religion is a living love, a life of service. The religionist’s detachment from much that is purely temporal and trivial never leads to social isolation, and it should not destroy the sense of humor. Genuine religion takes nothing away from human existence, but it does add new meanings to all of life; it generates new types of enthusiasm, zeal, and courage. It may even engender the spirit of the crusader, which is more than dangerous if not controlled by spiritual insight and loyal devotion to the commonplace social obligations of human loyalties.
100:6.6 (1101.1) One of the most amazing earmarks of religious living is that dynamic and sublime peace, that peace which passes all human understanding, that cosmic poise which betokens the absence of all doubt and turmoil. Such levels of spiritual stability are immune to disappointment. Such religionists are like the Apostle Paul, who said: “I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else shall be able to separate us from the love of God.”
100:6.7 (1101.2) There is a sense of security, associated with the realization of triumphing glory, resident in the consciousness of the religionist who has grasped the reality of the Supreme, and who pursues the goal of the Ultimate.
100:6.8 (1101.3) Even evolutionary religion is all of this in loyalty and grandeur because it is a genuine experience. But revelatory religion is excellent as well as genuine. The new loyalties of enlarged spiritual vision create new levels of love and devotion, of service and fellowship; and all this enhanced social outlook produces an enlarged consciousness of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.
100:6.9 (1101.4) The characteristic difference between evolved and revealed religion is a new quality of divine wisdom which is added to purely experiential human wisdom. But it is experience in and with the human religions that develops the capacity for subsequent reception of increased bestowals of divine wisdom and cosmic insight.
7. The Acme of Religious Living
100:7.1 (1101.5) Although the average mortal of Urantia cannot hope to attain the high perfection of character which Jesus of Nazareth acquired while sojourning in the flesh, it is altogether possible for every mortal believer to develop a strong and unified personality along the perfected lines of the Jesus personality. The unique feature of the Master’s personality was not so much its perfection as its symmetry, its exquisite and balanced unification. The most effective presentation of Jesus consists in following the example of the one who said, as he gestured toward the Master standing before his accusers, “Behold the man!”
100:7.2 (1101.6) The unfailing kindness of Jesus touched the hearts of men, but his stalwart strength of character amazed his followers. He was truly sincere; there was nothing of the hypocrite in him. He was free from affectation; he was always so refreshingly genuine. He never stooped to pretense, and he never resorted to shamming. He lived the truth, even as he taught it. He was the truth. He was constrained to proclaim saving truth to his generation, even though such sincerity sometimes caused pain. He was unquestioningly loyal to all truth.
100:7.3 (1101.7) But the Master was so reasonable, so approachable. He was so practical in all his ministry, while all his plans were characterized by such sanctified common sense. He was so free from all freakish, erratic, and eccentric tendencies. He was never capricious, whimsical, or hysterical. In all his teaching and in everything he did there was always an exquisite discrimination associated with an extraordinary sense of propriety.
100:7.4 (1102.1) The Son of Man was always a well-poised personality. Even his enemies maintained a wholesome respect for him; they even feared his presence. Jesus was unafraid. He was surcharged with divine enthusiasm, but he never became fanatical. He was emotionally active but never flighty. He was imaginative but always practical. He frankly faced the realities of life, but he was never dull or prosaic. He was courageous but never reckless; prudent but never cowardly. He was sympathetic but not sentimental; unique but not eccentric. He was pious but not sanctimonious. And he was so well-poised because he was so perfectly unified.
100:7.5 (1102.2) Jesus’ originality was unstifled. He was not bound by tradition or handicapped by enslavement to narrow conventionality. He spoke with undoubted confidence and taught with absolute authority. But his superb originality did not cause him to overlook the gems of truth in the teachings of his predecessors and contemporaries. And the most original of his teachings was the emphasis of love and mercy in the place of fear and sacrifice.
100:7.6 (1102.3) Jesus was very broad in his outlook. He exhorted his followers to preach the gospel to all peoples. He was free from all narrow-mindedness. His sympathetic heart embraced all mankind, even a universe. Always his invitation was, “Whosoever will, let him come.”
100:7.7 (1102.4) Of Jesus it was truly said, “He trusted God.” As a man among men he most sublimely trusted the Father in heaven. He trusted his Father as a little child trusts his earthly parent. His faith was perfect but never presumptuous. No matter how cruel nature might appear to be or how indifferent to man’s welfare on earth, Jesus never faltered in his faith. He was immune to disappointment and impervious to persecution. He was untouched by apparent failure.
100:7.8 (1102.5) He loved men as brothers, at the same time recognizing how they differed in innate endowments and acquired qualities. “He went about doing good.”
100:7.9 (1102.6) Jesus was an unusually cheerful person, but he was not a blind and unreasoning optimist. His constant word of exhortation was, “Be of good cheer.” He could maintain this confident attitude because of his unswerving trust in God and his unshakable confidence in man. He was always touchingly considerate of all men because he loved them and believed in them. Still he was always true to his convictions and magnificently firm in his devotion to the doing of his Father’s will.
100:7.10 (1102.7) The Master was always generous. He never grew weary of saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Said he, “Freely you have received, freely give.” And yet, with all of his unbounded generosity, he was never wasteful or extravagant. He taught that you must believe to receive salvation. “For every one who seeks shall receive.”
100:7.11 (1102.8) He was candid, but always kind. Said he, “If it were not so, I would have told you.” He was frank, but always friendly. He was outspoken in his love for the sinner and in his hatred for sin. But throughout all this amazing frankness he was unerringly fair.
100:7.12 (1102.9) Jesus was consistently cheerful, notwithstanding he sometimes drank deeply of the cup of human sorrow. He fearlessly faced the realities of existence, yet was he filled with enthusiasm for the gospel of the kingdom. But he controlled his enthusiasm; it never controlled him. He was unreservedly dedicated to “the Father’s business.” This divine enthusiasm led his unspiritual brethren to think he was beside himself, but the onlooking universe appraised him as the model of sanity and the pattern of supreme mortal devotion to the high standards of spiritual living. And his controlled enthusiasm was contagious; his associates were constrained to share his divine optimism.
100:7.13 (1103.1) This man of Galilee was not a man of sorrows; he was a soul of gladness. Always was he saying, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.” But when duty required, he was willing to walk courageously through the “valley of the shadow of death.” He was gladsome but at the same time humble.
100:7.14 (1103.2) His courage was equaled only by his patience. When pressed to act prematurely, he would only reply, “My hour has not yet come.” He was never in a hurry; his composure was sublime. But he was often indignant at evil, intolerant of sin. He was often mightily moved to resist that which was inimical to the welfare of his children on earth. But his indignation against sin never led to anger at the sinner.
100:7.15 (1103.3) His courage was magnificent, but he was never foolhardy. His watchword was, “Fear not.” His bravery was lofty and his courage often heroic. But his courage was linked with discretion and controlled by reason. It was courage born of faith, not the recklessness of blind presumption. He was truly brave but never audacious.
100:7.16 (1103.4) The Master was a pattern of reverence. The prayer of even his youth began, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.” He was even respectful of the faulty worship of his fellows. But this did not deter him from making attacks on religious traditions or assaulting errors of human belief. He was reverential of true holiness, and yet he could justly appeal to his fellows, saying, “Who among you convicts me of sin?”
100:7.17 (1103.5) Jesus was great because he was good, and yet he fraternized with the little children. He was gentle and unassuming in his personal life, and yet he was the perfected man of a universe. His associates called him Master unbidden.
100:7.18 (1103.6) Jesus was the perfectly unified human personality. And today, as in Galilee, he continues to unify mortal experience and to co-ordinate human endeavors. He unifies life, ennobles character, and simplifies experience. He enters the human mind to elevate, transform, and transfigure it. It is literally true: “If any man has Christ Jesus within him, he is a new creature; old things are passing away; behold, all things are becoming new.”
100:7.19 (1103.7) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
101:0.1 (1104.1) RELIGION, as a human experience, ranges from the primitive fear slavery of the evolving savage up to the sublime and magnificent faith liberty of those civilized mortals who are superbly conscious of sonship with the eternal God.
101:0.2 (1104.2) Religion is the ancestor of the advanced ethics and morals of progressive social evolution. But religion, as such, is not merely a moral movement, albeit the outward and social manifestations of religion are mightily influenced by the ethical and moral momentum of human society. Always is religion the inspiration of man’s evolving nature, but it is not the secret of that evolution.
101:0.3 (1104.3) Religion, the conviction-faith of the personality, can always triumph over the superficially contradictory logic of despair born in the unbelieving material mind. There really is a true and genuine inner voice, that “true light which lights every man who comes into the world.” And this spirit leading is distinct from the ethical prompting of human conscience. The feeling of religious assurance is more than an emotional feeling. The assurance of religion transcends the reason of the mind, even the logic of philosophy. Religion is faith, trust, and assurance.
1. True Religion
101:1.1 (1104.4) True religion is not a system of philosophic belief which can be reasoned out and substantiated by natural proofs, neither is it a fantastic and mystic experience of indescribable feelings of ecstasy which can be enjoyed only by the romantic devotees of mysticism. Religion is not the product of reason, but viewed from within, it is altogether reasonable. Religion is not derived from the logic of human philosophy, but as a mortal experience it is altogether logical. Religion is the experiencing of divinity in the consciousness of a moral being of evolutionary origin; it represents true experience with eternal realities in time, the realization of spiritual satisfactions while yet in the flesh.
101:1.2 (1104.5) The Thought Adjuster has no special mechanism through which to gain self-expression; there is no mystic religious faculty for the reception or expression of religious emotions. These experiences are made available through the naturally ordained mechanism of mortal mind. And therein lies one explanation of the Adjuster’s difficulty in engaging in direct communication with the material mind of its constant indwelling.
101:1.3 (1104.6) The divine spirit makes contact with mortal man, not by feelings or emotions, but in the realm of the highest and most spiritualized thinking. It is your thoughts, not your feelings, that lead you Godward. The divine nature may be perceived only with the eyes of the mind. But the mind that really discerns God, hears the indwelling Adjuster, is the pure mind. “Without holiness no man may see the Lord.” All such inner and spiritual communion is termed spiritual insight. Such religious experiences result from the impress made upon the mind of man by the combined operations of the Adjuster and the Spirit of Truth as they function amid and upon the ideas, ideals, insights, and spirit strivings of the evolving sons of God.
101:1.4 (1105.1) Religion lives and prospers, then, not by sight and feeling, but rather by faith and insight. It consists not in the discovery of new facts or in the finding of a unique experience, but rather in the discovery of new and spiritual meanings in facts already well known to mankind. The highest religious experience is not dependent on prior acts of belief, tradition, and authority; neither is religion the offspring of sublime feelings and purely mystical emotions. It is, rather, a profoundly deep and actual experience of spiritual communion with the spirit influences resident within the human mind, and as far as such an experience is definable in terms of psychology, it is simply the experience of experiencing the reality of believing in God as the reality of such a purely personal experience.
101:1.5 (1105.2) While religion is not the product of the rationalistic speculations of a material cosmology, it is, nonetheless, the creation of a wholly rational insight which originates in man’s mind-experience. Religion is born neither of mystic meditations nor of isolated contemplations, albeit it is ever more or less mysterious and always indefinable and inexplicable in terms of purely intellectual reason and philosophic logic. The germs of true religion originate in the domain of man’s moral consciousness, and they are revealed in the growth of man’s spiritual insight, that faculty of human personality which accrues as a consequence of the presence of the God-revealing Thought Adjuster in the God-hungry mortal mind.
101:1.6 (1105.3) Faith unites moral insight with conscientious discriminations of values, and the pre-existent evolutionary sense of duty completes the ancestry of true religion. The experience of religion eventually results in the certain consciousness of God and in the undoubted assurance of the survival of the believing personality.
101:1.7 (1105.4) Thus it may be seen that religious longings and spiritual urges are not of such a nature as would merely lead men to want to believe in God, but rather are they of such nature and power that men are profoundly impressed with the conviction that they ought to believe in God. The sense of evolutionary duty and the obligations consequent upon the illumination of revelation make such a profound impression upon man’s moral nature that he finally reaches that position of mind and that attitude of soul where he concludes that he has no right not to believe in God. The higher and superphilosophic wisdom of such enlightened and disciplined individuals ultimately instructs them that to doubt God or distrust his goodness would be to prove untrue to the realest and deepest thing within the human mind and soul — the divine Adjuster.
2. The Fact of Religion
101:2.1 (1105.5) The fact of religion consists wholly in the religious experience of rational and average human beings. And this is the only sense in which religion can ever be regarded as scientific or even psychological. The proof that revelation is revelation is this same fact of human experience: the fact that revelation does synthesize the apparently divergent sciences of nature and the theology of religion into a consistent and logical universe philosophy, a co-ordinated and unbroken explanation of both science and religion, thus creating a harmony of mind and satisfaction of spirit which answers in human experience those questionings of the mortal mind which craves to know how the Infinite works out his will and plans in matter, with minds, and on spirit.
101:2.2 (1106.1) Reason is the method of science; faith is the method of religion; logic is the attempted technique of philosophy. Revelation compensates for the absence of the morontia viewpoint by providing a technique for achieving unity in the comprehension of the reality and relationships of matter and spirit by the mediation of mind. And true revelation never renders science unnatural, religion unreasonable, or philosophy illogical.
101:2.3 (1106.2) Reason, through the study of science, may lead back through nature to a First Cause, but it requires religious faith to transform the First Cause of science into a God of salvation; and revelation is further required for the validation of such a faith, such spiritual insight.
101:2.4 (1106.3) There are two basic reasons for believing in a God who fosters human survival:
101:2.5 (1106.4) 1. Human experience, personal assurance, the somehow registered hope and trust initiated by the indwelling Thought Adjuster.
101:2.6 (1106.5) 2. The revelation of truth, whether by direct personal ministry of the Spirit of Truth, by the world bestowal of divine Sons, or through the revelations of the written word.
101:2.7 (1106.6) Science ends its reason-search in the hypothesis of a First Cause. Religion does not stop in its flight of faith until it is sure of a God of salvation. The discriminating study of science logically suggests the reality and existence of an Absolute. Religion believes unreservedly in the existence and reality of a God who fosters personality survival. What metaphysics fails utterly in doing, and what even philosophy fails partially in doing, revelation does; that is, affirms that this First Cause of science and religion’s God of salvation are one and the same Deity.
101:2.8 (1106.7) Reason is the proof of science, faith the proof of religion, logic the proof of philosophy, but revelation is validated only by human experience. Science yields knowledge; religion yields happiness; philosophy yields unity; revelation confirms the experiential harmony of this triune approach to universal reality.
101:2.9 (1106.8) The contemplation of nature can only reveal a God of nature, a God of motion. Nature exhibits only matter, motion, and animation — life. Matter plus energy, under certain conditions, is manifested in living forms, but while natural life is thus relatively continuous as a phenomenon, it is wholly transient as to individualities. Nature does not afford ground for logical belief in human-personality survival. The religious man who finds God in nature has already and first found this same personal God in his own soul.
101:2.10 (1106.9) Faith reveals God in the soul. Revelation, the substitute for morontia insight on an evolutionary world, enables man to see the same God in nature that faith exhibits in his soul. Thus does revelation successfully bridge the gulf between the material and the spiritual, even between the creature and the Creator, between man and God.
101:2.11 (1107.1) The contemplation of nature does logically point in the direction of intelligent guidance, even living supervision, but it does not in any satisfactory manner reveal a personal God. On the other hand, nature discloses nothing which would preclude the universe from being looked upon as the handiwork of the God of religion. God cannot be found through nature alone, but man having otherwise found him, the study of nature becomes wholly consistent with a higher and more spiritual interpretation of the universe.
101:2.12 (1107.2) Revelation as an epochal phenomenon is periodic; as a personal human experience it is continuous. Divinity functions in mortal personality as the Adjuster gift of the Father, as the Spirit of Truth of the Son, and as the Holy Spirit of the Universe Spirit, while these three supermortal endowments are unified in human experiential evolution as the ministry of the Supreme.
101:2.13 (1107.3) True religion is an insight into reality, the faith-child of the moral consciousness, and not a mere intellectual assent to any body of dogmatic doctrines. True religion consists in the experience that “the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” Religion consists not in theologic propositions but in spiritual insight and the sublimity of the soul’s trust.
101:2.14 (1107.4) Your deepest nature — the divine Adjuster — creates within you a hunger and thirst for righteousness, a certain craving for divine perfection. Religion is the faith act of the recognition of this inner urge to divine attainment; and thus is brought about that soul trust and assurance of which you become conscious as the way of salvation, the technique of the survival of personality and all those values which you have come to look upon as being true and good.
101:2.15 (1107.5) The realization of religion never has been, and never will be, dependent on great learning or clever logic. It is spiritual insight, and that is just the reason why some of the world’s greatest religious teachers, even the prophets, have sometimes possessed so little of the wisdom of the world. Religious faith is available alike to the learned and the unlearned.
101:2.16 (1107.6) Religion must ever be its own critic and judge; it can never be observed, much less understood, from the outside. Your only assurance of a personal God consists in your own insight as to your belief in, and experience with, things spiritual. To all of your fellows who have had a similar experience, no argument about the personality or reality of God is necessary, while to all other men who are not thus sure of God no possible argument could ever be truly convincing.
101:2.17 (1107.7) Psychology may indeed attempt to study the phenomena of religious reactions to the social environment, but never can it hope to penetrate to the real and inner motives and workings of religion. Only theology, the province of faith and the technique of revelation, can afford any sort of intelligent account of the nature and content of religious experience.
3. The Characteristics of Religion
101:3.1 (1107.8) Religion is so vital that it persists in the absence of learning. It lives in spite of its contamination with erroneous cosmologies and false philosophies; it survives even the confusion of metaphysics. In and through all the historic vicissitudes of religion there ever persists that which is indispensable to human progress and survival: the ethical conscience and the moral consciousness.
101:3.2 (1108.1) Faith-insight, or spiritual intuition, is the endowment of the cosmic mind in association with the Thought Adjuster, which is the Father’s gift to man. Spiritual reason, soul intelligence, is the endowment of the Holy Spirit, the Creative Spirit’s gift to man. Spiritual philosophy, the wisdom of spirit realities, is the endowment of the Spirit of Truth, the combined gift of the bestowal Sons to the children of men. And the co-ordination and interassociation of these spirit endowments constitute man a spirit personality in potential destiny.
101:3.3 (1108.2) It is this same spirit personality, in primitive and embryonic form, the Adjuster possession of which survives the natural death in the flesh. This composite entity of spirit origin in association with human experience is enabled, by means of the living way provided by the divine Sons, to survive (in Adjuster custody) the dissolution of the material self of mind and matter when such a transient partnership of the material and the spiritual is divorced by the cessation of vital motion.
101:3.4 (1108.3) Through religious faith the soul of man reveals itself and demonstrates the potential divinity of its emerging nature by the characteristic manner in which it induces the mortal personality to react to certain trying intellectual and testing social situations. Genuine spiritual faith (true moral consciousness) is revealed in that it:
101:3.5 (1108.4) 1. Causes ethics and morals to progress despite inherent and adverse animalistic tendencies.
101:3.6 (1108.5) 2. Produces a sublime trust in the goodness of God even in the face of bitter disappointment and crushing defeat.
101:3.7 (1108.6) 3. Generates profound courage and confidence despite natural adversity and physical calamity.
101:3.8 (1108.7) 4. Exhibits inexplicable poise and sustaining tranquillity notwithstanding baffling diseases and even acute physical suffering.
101:3.9 (1108.8) 5. Maintains a mysterious poise and composure of personality in the face of maltreatment and the rankest injustice.
101:3.10 (1108.9) 6. Maintains a divine trust in ultimate victory in spite of the cruelties of seemingly blind fate and the apparent utter indifference of natural forces to human welfare.
101:3.11 (1108.10) 7. Persists in the unswerving belief in God despite all contrary demonstrations of logic and successfully withstands all other intellectual sophistries.
101:3.12 (1108.11) 8. Continues to exhibit undaunted faith in the soul’s survival regardless of the deceptive teachings of false science and the persuasive delusions of unsound philosophy.
101:3.13 (1108.12) 9. Lives and triumphs irrespective of the crushing overload of the complex and partial civilizations of modern times.
101:3.14 (1108.13) 10. Contributes to the continued survival of altruism in spite of human selfishness, social antagonisms, industrial greeds, and political maladjustments.
101:3.15 (1108.14) 11. Steadfastly adheres to a sublime belief in universe unity and divine guidance regardless of the perplexing presence of evil and sin.
101:3.16 (1108.15) 12. Goes right on worshiping God in spite of anything and everything. Dares to declare, “Even though he slay me, yet will I serve him.”
101:3.17 (1108.16) We know, then, by three phenomena, that man has a divine spirit or spirits dwelling within him: first, by personal experience — religious faith; second, by revelation — personal and racial; and third, by the amazing exhibition of such extraordinary and unnatural reactions to his material environment as are illustrated by the foregoing recital of twelve spiritlike performances in the presence of the actual and trying situations of real human existence. And there are still others.
101:3.18 (1109.1) And it is just such a vital and vigorous performance of faith in the domain of religion that entitles mortal man to affirm the personal possession and spiritual reality of that crowning endowment of human nature, religious experience.
4. The Limitations of Revelation
101:4.1 (1109.2) Because your world is generally ignorant of origins, even of physical origins, it has appeared to be wise from time to time to provide instruction in cosmology. And always has this made trouble for the future. The laws of revelation hamper us greatly by their proscription of the impartation of unearned or premature knowledge. Any cosmology presented as a part of revealed religion is destined to be outgrown in a very short time. Accordingly, future students of such a revelation are tempted to discard any element of genuine religious truth it may contain because they discover errors on the face of the associated cosmologies therein presented.
101:4.2 (1109.3) Mankind should understand that we who participate in the revelation of truth are very rigorously limited by the instructions of our superiors. We are not at liberty to anticipate the scientific discoveries of a thousand years. Revelators must act in accordance with the instructions which form a part of the revelation mandate. We see no way of overcoming this difficulty, either now or at any future time. We full well know that, while the historic facts and religious truths of this series of revelatory presentations will stand on the records of the ages to come, within a few short years many of our statements regarding the physical sciences will stand in need of revision in consequence of additional scientific developments and new discoveries. These new developments we even now foresee, but we are forbidden to include such humanly undiscovered facts in the revelatory records. Let it be made clear that revelations are not necessarily inspired. The cosmology of these revelations is not inspired. It is limited by our permission for the co-ordination and sorting of present-day knowledge. While divine or spiritual insight is a gift, human wisdom must evolve.
101:4.3 (1109.4) Truth is always a revelation: autorevelation when it emerges as a result of the work of the indwelling Adjuster; epochal revelation when it is presented by the function of some other celestial agency, group, or personality.
101:4.4 (1109.5) In the last analysis, religion is to be judged by its fruits, according to the manner and the extent to which it exhibits its own inherent and divine excellence.
101:4.5 (1109.6) Truth may be but relatively inspired, even though revelation is invariably a spiritual phenomenon. While statements with reference to cosmology are never inspired, such revelations are of immense value in that they at least transiently clarify knowledge by:
101:4.6 (1109.7) 1. The reduction of confusion by the authoritative elimination of error.
101:4.7 (1109.8) 2. The co-ordination of known or about-to-be-known facts and observations.
101:4.8 (1110.1) 3. The restoration of important bits of lost knowledge concerning epochal transactions in the distant past.
101:4.9 (1110.2) 4. The supplying of information which will fill in vital missing gaps in otherwise earned knowledge.
101:4.10 (1110.3) 5. Presenting cosmic data in such a manner as to illuminate the spiritual teachings contained in the accompanying revelation.
5. Religion Expanded by Revelation
101:5.1 (1110.4) Revelation is a technique whereby ages upon ages of time are saved in the necessary work of sorting and sifting the errors of evolution from the truths of spirit acquirement.
101:5.2 (1110.5) Science deals with facts; religion is concerned only with values. Through enlightened philosophy the mind endeavors to unite the meanings of both facts and values, thereby arriving at a concept of complete reality. Remember that science is the domain of knowledge, philosophy the realm of wisdom, and religion the sphere of the faith experience. But religion, nonetheless, presents two phases of manifestation:
101:5.3 (1110.6) 1. Evolutionary religion. The experience of primitive worship, the religion which is a mind derivative.
101:5.4 (1110.7) 2. Revealed religion. The universe attitude which is a spirit derivative; the assurance of, and belief in, the conservation of eternal realities, the survival of personality, and the eventual attainment of the cosmic Deity, whose purpose has made all this possible. It is a part of the plan of the universe that, sooner or later, evolutionary religion is destined to receive the spiritual expansion of revelation.
101:5.5 (1110.8) Both science and religion start out with the assumption of certain generally accepted bases for logical deductions. So, also, must philosophy start its career upon the assumption of the reality of three things:
101:5.6 (1110.9) 1. The material body.
101:5.7 (1110.10) 2. The supermaterial phase of the human being, the soul or even the indwelling spirit.
101:5.8 (1110.11) 3. The human mind, the mechanism for intercommunication and interassociation between spirit and matter, between the material and the spiritual.
101:5.9 (1110.12) Scientists assemble facts, philosophers co-ordinate ideas, while prophets exalt ideals. Feeling and emotion are invariable concomitants of religion, but they are not religion. Religion may be the feeling of experience, but it is hardly the experience of feeling. Neither logic (rationalization) nor emotion (feeling) is essentially a part of religious experience, although both may variously be associated with the exercise of faith in the furtherance of spiritual insight into reality, all according to the status and temperamental tendency of the individual mind.
101:5.10 (1110.13) Evolutionary religion is the outworking of the endowment of the local universe mind adjutant charged with the creation and fostering of the worship trait in evolving man. Such primitive religions are directly concerned with ethics and morals, the sense of human duty. Such religions are predicated on the assurance of conscience and result in the stabilization of relatively ethical civilizations.
101:5.11 (1111.1) Personally revealed religions are sponsored by the bestowal spirits representing the three persons of the Paradise Trinity and are especially concerned with the expansion of truth. Evolutionary religion drives home to the individual the idea of personal duty; revealed religion lays increasing emphasis on loving, the golden rule.
101:5.12 (1111.2) Evolved religion rests wholly on faith. Revelation has the additional assurance of its expanded presentation of the truths of divinity and reality and the still more valuable testimony of the actual experience which accumulates in consequence of the practical working union of the faith of evolution and the truth of revelation. Such a working union of human faith and divine truth constitutes the possession of a character well on the road to the actual acquirement of a morontial personality.
101:5.13 (1111.3) Evolutionary religion provides only the assurance of faith and the confirmation of conscience; revelatory religion provides the assurance of faith plus the truth of a living experience in the realities of revelation. The third step in religion, or the third phase of the experience of religion, has to do with the morontia state, the firmer grasp of mota. Increasingly in the morontia progression the truths of revealed religion are expanded; more and more you will know the truth of supreme values, divine goodnesses, universal relationships, eternal realities, and ultimate destinies.
101:5.14 (1111.4) Increasingly throughout the morontia progression the assurance of truth replaces the assurance of faith. When you are finally mustered into the actual spirit world, then will the assurances of pure spirit insight operate in the place of faith and truth or, rather, in conjunction with, and superimposed upon, these former techniques of personality assurance.
6. Progressive Religious Experience
101:6.1 (1111.5) The morontia phase of revealed religion has to do with the experience of survival, and its great urge is the attainment of spirit perfection. There also is present the higher urge of worship, associated with an impelling call to increased ethical service. Morontia insight entails an ever-expanding consciousness of the Sevenfold, the Supreme, and even the Ultimate.
101:6.2 (1111.6) Throughout all religious experience, from its earliest inception on the material level up to the time of the attainment of full spirit status, the Adjuster is the secret of the personal realization of the reality of the existence of the Supreme; and this same Adjuster also holds the secrets of your faith in the transcendental attainment of the Ultimate. The experiential personality of evolving man, united to the Adjuster essence of the existential God, constitutes the potential completion of supreme existence and is inherently the basis for the superfinite eventuation of transcendental personality.
101:6.3 (1111.7) Moral will embraces decisions based on reasoned knowledge, augmented by wisdom, and sanctioned by religious faith. Such choices are acts of moral nature and evidence the existence of moral personality, the forerunner of morontia personality and eventually of true spirit status.
101:6.4 (1111.8) The evolutionary type of knowledge is but the accumulation of protoplasmic memory material; this is the most primitive form of creature consciousness. Wisdom embraces the ideas formulated from protoplasmic memory in process of association and recombination, and such phenomena differentiate human mind from mere animal mind. Animals have knowledge, but only man possesses wisdom capacity. Truth is made accessible to the wisdom-endowed individual by the bestowal on such a mind of the spirits of the Father and the Sons, the Thought Adjuster and the Spirit of Truth.
101:6.5 (1112.1) Christ Michael, when bestowed on Urantia, lived under the reign of evolutionary religion up to the time of his baptism. From that moment up to and including the event of his crucifixion he carried forward his work by the combined guidance of evolutionary and revealed religion. From the morning of his resurrection until his ascension he traversed the manifold phases of the morontia life of mortal transition from the world of matter to that of spirit. After his ascension Michael became master of the experience of Supremacy, the realization of the Supreme; and being the one person in Nebadon possessed of unlimited capacity to experience the reality of the Supreme, he forthwith attained to the status of the sovereignty of supremacy in and to his local universe.
101:6.6 (1112.2) With man, the eventual fusion and resultant oneness with the indwelling Adjuster — the personality synthesis of man and the essence of God — constitute him, in potential, a living part of the Supreme and insure for such a onetime mortal being the eternal birthright of the endless pursuit of finality of universe service for and with the Supreme.
101:6.7 (1112.3) Revelation teaches mortal man that, to start such a magnificent and intriguing adventure through space by means of the progression of time, he should begin by the organization of knowledge into idea-decisions; next, mandate wisdom to labor unremittingly at its noble task of transforming self-possessed ideas into increasingly practical but nonetheless supernal ideals, even those concepts which are so reasonable as ideas and so logical as ideals that the Adjuster dares so to combine and spiritize them as to render them available for such association in the finite mind as will constitute them the actual human complement thus made ready for the action of the Truth Spirit of the Sons, the time-space manifestations of Paradise truth — universal truth. The co-ordination of idea-decisions, logical ideals, and divine truth constitutes the possession of a righteous character, the prerequisite for mortal admission to the ever-expanding and increasingly spiritual realities of the morontia worlds.
101:6.8 (1112.4) The teachings of Jesus constituted the first Urantian religion which so fully embraced a harmonious co-ordination of knowledge, wisdom, faith, truth, and love as completely and simultaneously to provide temporal tranquillity, intellectual certainty, moral enlightenment, philosophic stability, ethical sensitivity, God-consciousness, and the positive assurance of personal survival. The faith of Jesus pointed the way to finality of human salvation, to the ultimate of mortal universe attainment, since it provided for:
101:6.9 (1112.5) 1. Salvation from material fetters in the personal realization of sonship with God, who is spirit.
101:6.10 (1112.6) 2. Salvation from intellectual bondage: man shall know the truth, and the truth shall set him free.
101:6.11 (1112.7) 3. Salvation from spiritual blindness, the human realization of the fraternity of mortal beings and the morontian awareness of the brotherhood of all universe creatures; the service-discovery of spiritual reality and the ministry-revelation of the goodness of spirit values.
101:6.12 (1113.1) 4. Salvation from incompleteness of self through the attainment of the spirit levels of the universe and through the eventual realization of the harmony of Havona and the perfection of Paradise.
101:6.13 (1113.2) 5. Salvation from self, deliverance from the limitations of self-consciousness through the attainment of the cosmic levels of the Supreme mind and by co-ordination with the attainments of all other self-conscious beings.
101:6.14 (1113.3) 6. Salvation from time, the achievement of an eternal life of unending progression in God-recognition and God-service.
101:6.15 (1113.4) 7. Salvation from the finite, the perfected oneness with Deity in and through the Supreme by which the creature attempts the transcendental discovery of the Ultimate on the postfinaliter levels of the absonite.
101:6.16 (1113.5) Such a sevenfold salvation is the equivalent of the completeness and perfection of the realization of the ultimate experience of the Universal Father. And all this, in potential, is contained within the reality of the faith of the human experience of religion. And it can be so contained since the faith of Jesus was nourished by, and was revelatory of, even realities beyond the ultimate; the faith of Jesus approached the status of a universe absolute in so far as such is possible of manifestation in the evolving cosmos of time and space.
101:6.17 (1113.6) Through the appropriation of the faith of Jesus, mortal man can foretaste in time the realities of eternity. Jesus made the discovery, in human experience, of the Final Father, and his brothers in the flesh of mortal life can follow him along this same experience of Father discovery. They can even attain, as they are, the same satisfaction in this experience with the Father as did Jesus as he was. New potentials were actualized in the universe of Nebadon consequent upon the terminal bestowal of Michael, and one of these was the new illumination of the path of eternity that leads to the Father of all, and which can be traversed even by the mortals of material flesh and blood in the initial life on the planets of space. Jesus was and is the new and living way whereby man can come into the divine inheritance which the Father has decreed shall be his for but the asking. In Jesus there is abundantly demonstrated both the beginnings and endings of the faith experience of humanity, even of divine humanity.
7. A Personal Philosophy of Religion
101:7.1 (1113.7) An idea is only a theoretical plan for action, while a positive decision is a validated plan of action. A stereotype is a plan of action accepted without validation. The materials out of which to build a personal philosophy of religion are derived from both the inner and the environmental experience of the individual. The social status, economic conditions, educational opportunities, moral trends, institutional influences, political developments, racial tendencies, and the religious teachings of one’s time and place all become factors in the formulation of a personal philosophy of religion. Even the inherent temperament and intellectual bent markedly determine the pattern of religious philosophy. Vocation, marriage, and kindred all influence the evolution of one’s personal standards of life.
101:7.2 (1113.8) A philosophy of religion evolves out of a basic growth of ideas plus experimental living as both are modified by the tendency to imitate associates. The soundness of philosophic conclusions depends on keen, honest, and discriminating thinking in connection with sensitivity to meanings and accuracy of evaluation. Moral cowards never achieve high planes of philosophic thinking; it requires courage to invade new levels of experience and to attempt the exploration of unknown realms of intellectual living.
101:7.3 (1114.1) Presently new systems of values come into existence; new formulations of principles and standards are achieved; habits and ideals are reshaped; some idea of a personal God is attained, followed by enlarging concepts of relationship thereto.
101:7.4 (1114.2) The great difference between a religious and a nonreligious philosophy of living consists in the nature and level of recognized values and in the object of loyalties. There are four phases in the evolution of religious philosophy: Such an experience may become merely conformative, resigned to submission to tradition and authority. Or it may be satisfied with slight attainments, just enough to stabilize the daily living, and therefore becomes early arrested on such an adventitious level. Such mortals believe in letting well enough alone. A third group progress to the level of logical intellectuality but there stagnate in consequence of cultural slavery. It is indeed pitiful to behold giant intellects held so securely within the cruel grasp of cultural bondage. It is equally pathetic to observe those who trade their cultural bondage for the materialistic fetters of a science, falsely so called. The fourth level of philosophy attains freedom from all conventional and traditional handicaps and dares to think, act, and live honestly, loyally, fearlessly, and truthfully.
101:7.5 (1114.3) The acid test for any religious philosophy consists in whether or not it distinguishes between the realities of the material and the spiritual worlds while at the same moment recognizing their unification in intellectual striving and in social serving. A sound religious philosophy does not confound the things of God with the things of Caesar. Neither does it recognize the aesthetic cult of pure wonder as a substitute for religion.
101:7.6 (1114.4) Philosophy transforms that primitive religion which was largely a fairy tale of conscience into a living experience in the ascending values of cosmic reality.
8. Faith and Belief
101:8.1 (1114.5) Belief has attained the level of faith when it motivates life and shapes the mode of living. The acceptance of a teaching as true is not faith; that is mere belief. Neither is certainty nor conviction faith. A state of mind attains to faith levels only when it actually dominates the mode of living. Faith is a living attribute of genuine personal religious experience. One believes truth, admires beauty, and reverences goodness, but does not worship them; such an attitude of saving faith is centered on God alone, who is all of these personified and infinitely more.
101:8.2 (1114.6) Belief is always limiting and binding; faith is expanding and releasing. Belief fixates, faith liberates. But living religious faith is more than the association of noble beliefs; it is more than an exalted system of philosophy; it is a living experience concerned with spiritual meanings, divine ideals, and supreme values; it is God-knowing and man-serving. Beliefs may become group possessions, but faith must be personal. Theologic beliefs can be suggested to a group, but faith can rise up only in the heart of the individual religionist.
101:8.3 (1114.7) Faith has falsified its trust when it presumes to deny realities and to confer upon its devotees assumed knowledge. Faith is a traitor when it fosters betrayal of intellectual integrity and belittles loyalty to supreme values and divine ideals. Faith never shuns the problem-solving duty of mortal living. Living faith does not foster bigotry, persecution, or intolerance.
101:8.4 (1115.1) Faith does not shackle the creative imagination, neither does it maintain an unreasoning prejudice toward the discoveries of scientific investigation. Faith vitalizes religion and constrains the religionist heroically to live the golden rule. The zeal of faith is according to knowledge, and its strivings are the preludes to sublime peace.
9. Religion and Morality
101:9.1 (1115.2) No professed revelation of religion could be regarded as authentic if it failed to recognize the duty demands of ethical obligation which had been created and fostered by preceding evolutionary religion. Revelation unfailingly enlarges the ethical horizon of evolved religion while it simultaneously and unfailingly expands the moral obligations of all prior revelations.
101:9.2 (1115.3) When you presume to sit in critical judgment on the primitive religion of man (or on the religion of primitive man), you should remember to judge such savages and to evaluate their religious experience in accordance with their enlightenment and status of conscience. Do not make the mistake of judging another’s religion by your own standards of knowledge and truth.
101:9.3 (1115.4) True religion is that sublime and profound conviction within the soul which compellingly admonishes man that it would be wrong for him not to believe in those morontial realities which constitute his highest ethical and moral concepts, his highest interpretation of life’s greatest values and the universe’s deepest realities. And such a religion is simply the experience of yielding intellectual loyalty to the highest dictates of spiritual consciousness.
101:9.4 (1115.5) The search for beauty is a part of religion only in so far as it is ethical and to the extent that it enriches the concept of the moral. Art is only religious when it becomes diffused with purpose which has been derived from high spiritual motivation.
101:9.5 (1115.6) The enlightened spiritual consciousness of civilized man is not concerned so much with some specific intellectual belief or with any one particular mode of living as with discovering the truth of living, the good and right technique of reacting to the ever-recurring situations of mortal existence. Moral consciousness is just a name applied to the human recognition and awareness of those ethical and emerging morontial values which duty demands that man shall abide by in the day-by-day control and guidance of conduct.
101:9.6 (1115.7) Though recognizing that religion is imperfect, there are at least two practical manifestations of its nature and function:
101:9.7 (1115.8) 1. The spiritual urge and philosophic pressure of religion tend to cause man to project his estimation of moral values directly outward into the affairs of his fellows — the ethical reaction of religion.
101:9.8 (1115.9) 2. Religion creates for the human mind a spiritualized consciousness of divine reality based on, and by faith derived from, antecedent concepts of moral values and co-ordinated with superimposed concepts of spiritual values. Religion thereby becomes a censor of mortal affairs, a form of glorified moral trust and confidence in reality, the enhanced realities of time and the more enduring realities of eternity.
101:9.9 (1116.1) Faith becomes the connection between moral consciousness and the spiritual concept of enduring reality. Religion becomes the avenue of man’s escape from the material limitations of the temporal and natural world to the supernal realities of the eternal and spiritual world by and through the technique of salvation, the progressive morontia transformation.
10. Religion as Man’s Liberator
101:10.1 (1116.2) Intelligent man knows that he is a child of nature, a part of the material universe; he likewise discerns no survival of individual personality in the motions and tensions of the mathematical level of the energy universe. Nor can man ever discern spiritual reality through the examination of physical causes and effects.
101:10.2 (1116.3) A human being is also aware that he is a part of the ideational cosmos, but though concept may endure beyond a mortal life span, there is nothing inherent in concept which indicates the personal survival of the conceiving personality. Nor will the exhaustion of the possibilities of logic and reason ever reveal to the logician or to the reasoner the eternal truth of the survival of personality.
101:10.3 (1116.4) The material level of law provides for causality continuity, the unending response of effect to antecedent action; the mind level suggests the perpetuation of ideational continuity, the unceasing flow of conceptual potentiality from pre-existent conceptions. But neither of these levels of the universe discloses to the inquiring mortal an avenue of escape from partiality of status and from the intolerable suspense of being a transient reality in the universe, a temporal personality doomed to be extinguished upon the exhaustion of the limited life energies.
101:10.4 (1116.5) It is only through the morontial avenue leading to spiritual insight that man can ever break the fetters inherent in his mortal status in the universe. Energy and mind do lead back to Paradise and Deity, but neither the energy endowment nor the mind endowment of man proceeds directly from such Paradise Deity. Only in the spiritual sense is man a child of God. And this is true because it is only in the spiritual sense that man is at present endowed and indwelt by the Paradise Father. Mankind can never discover divinity except through the avenue of religious experience and by the exercise of true faith. The faith acceptance of the truth of God enables man to escape from the circumscribed confines of material limitations and affords him a rational hope of achieving safe conduct from the material realm, whereon is death, to the spiritual realm, wherein is life eternal.
101:10.5 (1116.6) The purpose of religion is not to satisfy curiosity about God but rather to afford intellectual constancy and philosophic security, to stabilize and enrich human living by blending the mortal with the divine, the partial with the perfect, man and God. It is through religious experience that man’s concepts of ideality are endowed with reality.
101:10.6 (1116.7) Never can there be either scientific or logical proofs of divinity. Reason alone can never validate the values and goodnesses of religious experience. But it will always remain true: Whosoever wills to do the will of God shall comprehend the validity of spiritual values. This is the nearest approach that can be made on the mortal level to offering proofs of the reality of religious experience. Such faith affords the only escape from the mechanical clutch of the material world and from the error distortion of the incompleteness of the intellectual world; it is the only discovered solution to the impasse in mortal thinking regarding the continuing survival of the individual personality. It is the only passport to completion of reality and to eternity of life in a universal creation of love, law, unity, and progressive Deity attainment.
101:10.7 (1117.1) Religion effectually cures man’s sense of idealistic isolation or spiritual loneliness; it enfranchises the believer as a son of God, a citizen of a new and meaningful universe. Religion assures man that, in following the gleam of righteousness discernible in his soul, he is thereby identifying himself with the plan of the Infinite and the purpose of the Eternal. Such a liberated soul immediately begins to feel at home in this new universe, his universe.
101:10.8 (1117.2) When you experience such a transformation of faith, you are no longer a slavish part of the mathematical cosmos but rather a liberated volitional son of the Universal Father. No longer is such a liberated son fighting alone against the inexorable doom of the termination of temporal existence; no longer does he combat all nature, with the odds hopelessly against him; no longer is he staggered by the paralyzing fear that, perchance, he has put his trust in a hopeless phantasm or pinned his faith to a fanciful error.
101:10.9 (1117.3) Now, rather, are the sons of God enlisted together in fighting the battle of reality’s triumph over the partial shadows of existence. At last all creatures become conscious of the fact that God and all the divine hosts of a well-nigh limitless universe are on their side in the supernal struggle to attain eternity of life and divinity of status. Such faith-liberated sons have certainly enlisted in the struggles of time on the side of the supreme forces and divine personalities of eternity; even the stars in their courses are now doing battle for them; at last they gaze upon the universe from within, from God’s viewpoint, and all is transformed from the uncertainties of material isolation to the sureties of eternal spiritual progression. Even time itself becomes but the shadow of eternity cast by Paradise realities upon the moving panoply of space.
101:10.10 (1117.4) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
102:0.1 (1118.1) TO THE unbelieving materialist, man is simply an evolutionary accident. His hopes of survival are strung on a figment of mortal imagination; his fears, loves, longings, and beliefs are but the reaction of the incidental juxtaposition of certain lifeless atoms of matter. No display of energy nor expression of trust can carry him beyond the grave. The devotional labors and inspirational genius of the best of men are doomed to be extinguished by death, the long and lonely night of eternal oblivion and soul extinction. Nameless despair is man’s only reward for living and toiling under the temporal sun of mortal existence. Each day of life slowly and surely tightens the grasp of a pitiless doom which a hostile and relentless universe of matter has decreed shall be the crowning insult to everything in human desire which is beautiful, noble, lofty, and good.
102:0.2 (1118.2) But such is not man’s end and eternal destiny; such a vision is but the cry of despair uttered by some wandering soul who has become lost in spiritual darkness, and who bravely struggles on in the face of the mechanistic sophistries of a material philosophy, blinded by the confusion and distortion of a complex learning. And all this doom of darkness and all this destiny of despair are forever dispelled by one brave stretch of faith on the part of the most humble and unlearned of God’s children on earth.
102:0.3 (1118.3) This saving faith has its birth in the human heart when the moral consciousness of man realizes that human values may be translated in mortal experience from the material to the spiritual, from the human to the divine, from time to eternity.
1. Assurances of Faith
102:1.1 (1118.4) The work of the Thought Adjuster constitutes the explanation of the translation of man’s primitive and evolutionary sense of duty into that higher and more certain faith in the eternal realities of revelation. There must be perfection hunger in man’s heart to insure capacity for comprehending the faith paths to supreme attainment. If any man chooses to do the divine will, he shall know the way of truth. It is literally true, “Human things must be known in order to be loved, but divine things must be loved in order to be known.” But honest doubts and sincere questionings are not sin; such attitudes merely spell delay in the progressive journey toward perfection attainment. Childlike trust secures man’s entrance into the kingdom of heavenly ascent, but progress is wholly dependent on the vigorous exercise of the robust and confident faith of the full-grown man.
102:1.2 (1119.1) The reason of science is based on the observable facts of time; the faith of religion argues from the spirit program of eternity. What knowledge and reason cannot do for us, true wisdom admonishes us to allow faith to accomplish through religious insight and spiritual transformation.
102:1.3 (1119.2) Owing to the isolation of rebellion, the revelation of truth on Urantia has all too often been mixed up with the statements of partial and transient cosmologies. Truth remains unchanged from generation to generation, but the associated teachings about the physical world vary from day to day and from year to year. Eternal truth should not be slighted because it chances to be found in company with obsolete ideas regarding the material world. The more of science you know, the less sure you can be; the more of religion you have, the more certain you are.
102:1.4 (1119.3) The certainties of science proceed entirely from the intellect; the certitudes of religion spring from the very foundations of the entire personality. Science appeals to the understanding of the mind; religion appeals to the loyalty and devotion of the body, mind, and spirit, even to the whole personality.
102:1.5 (1119.4) God is so all real and absolute that no material sign of proof or no demonstration of so-called miracle may be offered in testimony of his reality. Always will we know him because we trust him, and our belief in him is wholly based on our personal participation in the divine manifestations of his infinite reality.
102:1.6 (1119.5) The indwelling Thought Adjuster unfailingly arouses in man’s soul a true and searching hunger for perfection together with a far-reaching curiosity which can be adequately satisfied only by communion with God, the divine source of that Adjuster. The hungry soul of man refuses to be satisfied with anything less than the personal realization of the living God. Whatever more God may be than a high and perfect moral personality, he cannot, in our hungry and finite concept, be anything less.
2. Religion and Reality
102:2.1 (1119.6) Observing minds and discriminating souls know religion when they find it in the lives of their fellows. Religion requires no definition; we all know its social, intellectual, moral, and spiritual fruits. And this all grows out of the fact that religion is the property of the human race; it is not a child of culture. True, one’s perception of religion is still human and therefore subject to the bondage of ignorance, the slavery of superstition, the deceptions of sophistication, and the delusions of false philosophy.
102:2.2 (1119.7) One of the characteristic peculiarities of genuine religious assurance is that, notwithstanding the absoluteness of its affirmations and the stanchness of its attitude, the spirit of its expression is so poised and tempered that it never conveys the slightest impression of self-assertion or egoistic exaltation. The wisdom of religious experience is something of a paradox in that it is both humanly original and Adjuster derivative. Religious force is not the product of the individual’s personal prerogatives but rather the outworking of that sublime partnership of man and the everlasting source of all wisdom. Thus do the words and acts of true and undefiled religion become compellingly authoritative for all enlightened mortals.
102:2.3 (1119.8) It is difficult to identify and analyze the factors of a religious experience, but it is not difficult to observe that such religious practitioners live and carry on as if already in the presence of the Eternal. Believers react to this temporal life as if immortality already were within their grasp. In the lives of such mortals there is a valid originality and a spontaneity of expression that forever segregate them from those of their fellows who have imbibed only the wisdom of the world. Religionists seem to live in effective emancipation from harrying haste and the painful stress of the vicissitudes inherent in the temporal currents of time; they exhibit a stabilization of personality and a tranquillity of character not explained by the laws of physiology, psychology, and sociology.
102:2.4 (1120.1) Time is an invariable element in the attainment of knowledge; religion makes its endowments immediately available, albeit there is the important factor of growth in grace, definite advancement in all phases of religious experience. Knowledge is an eternal quest; always are you learning, but never are you able to arrive at the full knowledge of absolute truth. In knowledge alone there can never be absolute certainty, only increasing probability of approximation; but the religious soul of spiritual illumination knows, and knows now. And yet this profound and positive certitude does not lead such a sound-minded religionist to take any less interest in the ups and downs of the progress of human wisdom, which is bound up on its material end with the developments of slow-moving science.
102:2.5 (1120.2) Even the discoveries of science are not truly real in the consciousness of human experience until they are unraveled and correlated, until their relevant facts actually become meaning through encircuitment in the thought streams of mind. Mortal man views even his physical environment from the mind level, from the perspective of its psychological registry. It is not, therefore, strange that man should place a highly unified interpretation upon the universe and then seek to identify this energy unity of his science with the spirit unity of his religious experience. Mind is unity; mortal consciousness lives on the mind level and perceives the universal realities through the eyes of the mind endowment. The mind perspective will not yield the existential unity of the source of reality, the First Source and Center, but it can and sometime will portray to man the experiential synthesis of energy, mind, and spirit in and as the Supreme Being. But mind can never succeed in this unification of the diversity of reality unless such mind is firmly aware of material things, intellectual meanings, and spiritual values; only in the harmony of the triunity of functional reality is there unity, and only in unity is there the personality satisfaction of the realization of cosmic constancy and consistency.
102:2.6 (1120.3) Unity is best found in human experience through philosophy. And while the body of philosophic thought must ever be founded on material facts, the soul and energy of true philosophic dynamics is mortal spiritual insight.
102:2.7 (1120.4) Evolutionary man does not naturally relish hard work. To keep pace in his life experience with the impelling demands and the compelling urges of a growing religious experience means incessant activity in spiritual growth, intellectual expansion, factual enlargement, and social service. There is no real religion apart from a highly active personality. Therefore do the more indolent of men often seek to escape the rigors of truly religious activities by a species of ingenious self-deception through resorting to a retreat to the false shelter of stereotyped religious doctrines and dogmas. But true religion is alive. Intellectual crystallization of religious concepts is the equivalent of spiritual death. You cannot conceive of religion without ideas, but when religion once becomes reduced only to an idea, it is no longer religion; it has become merely a species of human philosophy.
102:2.8 (1121.1) Again, there are other types of unstable and poorly disciplined souls who would use the sentimental ideas of religion as an avenue of escape from the irritating demands of living. When certain vacillating and timid mortals attempt to escape from the incessant pressure of evolutionary life, religion, as they conceive it, seems to present the nearest refuge, the best avenue of escape. But it is the mission of religion to prepare man for bravely, even heroically, facing the vicissitudes of life. Religion is evolutionary man’s supreme endowment, the one thing which enables him to carry on and “endure as seeing Him who is invisible.” Mysticism, however, is often something of a retreat from life which is embraced by those humans who do not relish the more robust activities of living a religious life in the open arenas of human society and commerce. True religion must act. Conduct will be the result of religion when man actually has it, or rather when religion is permitted truly to possess the man. Never will religion be content with mere thinking or unacting feeling.
102:2.9 (1121.2) We are not blind to the fact that religion often acts unwisely, even irreligiously, but it acts. Aberrations of religious conviction have led to bloody persecutions, but always and ever religion does something; it is dynamic!
3. Knowledge, Wisdom, and Insight
102:3.1 (1121.3) Intellectual deficiency or educational poverty unavoidably handicaps higher religious attainment because such an impoverished environment of the spiritual nature robs religion of its chief channel of philosophic contact with the world of scientific knowledge. The intellectual factors of religion are important, but their overdevelopment is likewise sometimes very handicapping and embarrassing. Religion must continually labor under a paradoxical necessity: the necessity of making effective use of thought while at the same time discounting the spiritual serviceableness of all thinking.
102:3.2 (1121.4) Religious speculation is inevitable but always detrimental; speculation invariably falsifies its object. Speculation tends to translate religion into something material or humanistic, and thus, while directly interfering with the clarity of logical thought, it indirectly causes religion to appear as a function of the temporal world, the very world with which it should everlastingly stand in contrast. Therefore will religion always be characterized by paradoxes, the paradoxes resulting from the absence of the experiential connection between the material and the spiritual levels of the universe — morontia mota, the superphilosophic sensitivity for truth discernment and unity perception.
102:3.3 (1121.5) Material feelings, human emotions, lead directly to material actions, selfish acts. Religious insights, spiritual motivations, lead directly to religious actions, unselfish acts of social service and altruistic benevolence.
102:3.4 (1121.6) Religious desire is the hunger quest for divine reality. Religious experience is the realization of the consciousness of having found God. And when a human being does find God, there is experienced within the soul of that being such an indescribable restlessness of triumph in discovery that he is impelled to seek loving service-contact with his less illuminated fellows, not to disclose that he has found God, but rather to allow the overflow of the welling-up of eternal goodness within his own soul to refresh and ennoble his fellows. Real religion leads to increased social service.
102:3.5 (1122.1) Science, knowledge, leads to fact consciousness; religion, experience, leads to value consciousness; philosophy, wisdom, leads to co-ordinate consciousness; revelation (the substitute for morontia mota) leads to the consciousness of true reality; while the co-ordination of the consciousness of fact, value, and true reality constitutes awareness of personality reality, maximum of being, together with the belief in the possibility of the survival of that very personality.
102:3.6 (1122.2) Knowledge leads to placing men, to originating social strata and castes. Religion leads to serving men, thus creating ethics and altruism. Wisdom leads to the higher and better fellowship of both ideas and one’s fellows. Revelation liberates men and starts them out on the eternal adventure.
102:3.7 (1122.3) Science sorts men; religion loves men, even as yourself; wisdom does justice to differing men; but revelation glorifies man and discloses his capacity for partnership with God.
102:3.8 (1122.4) Science vainly strives to create the brotherhood of culture; religion brings into being the brotherhood of the spirit. Philosophy strives for the brotherhood of wisdom; revelation portrays the eternal brotherhood, the Paradise Corps of the Finality.
102:3.9 (1122.5) Knowledge yields pride in the fact of personality; wisdom is the consciousness of the meaning of personality; religion is the experience of cognizance of the value of personality; revelation is the assurance of personality survival.
102:3.10 (1122.6) Science seeks to identify, analyze, and classify the segmented parts of the limitless cosmos. Religion grasps the idea-of-the-whole, the entire cosmos. Philosophy attempts the identification of the material segments of science with the spiritual-insight concept of the whole. Wherein philosophy fails in this attempt, revelation succeeds, affirming that the cosmic circle is universal, eternal, absolute, and infinite. This cosmos of the Infinite I AM is therefore endless, limitless, and all-inclusive — timeless, spaceless, and unqualified. And we bear testimony that the Infinite I AM is also the Father of Michael of Nebadon and the God of human salvation.
102:3.11 (1122.7) Science indicates Deity as a fact; philosophy presents the idea of an Absolute; religion envisions God as a loving spiritual personality. Revelation affirms the unity of the fact of Deity, the idea of the Absolute, and the spiritual personality of God and, further, presents this concept as our Father — the universal fact of existence, the eternal idea of mind, and the infinite spirit of life.
102:3.12 (1122.8) The pursuit of knowledge constitutes science; the search for wisdom is philosophy; the love for God is religion; the hunger for truth is a revelation. But it is the indwelling Thought Adjuster that attaches the feeling of reality to man’s spiritual insight into the cosmos.
102:3.13 (1122.9) In science, the idea precedes the expression of its realization; in religion, the experience of realization precedes the expression of the idea. There is a vast difference between the evolutionary will-to-believe and the product of enlightened reason, religious insight, and revelation — the will that believes.
102:3.14 (1122.10) In evolution, religion often leads to man’s creating his concepts of God; revelation exhibits the phenomenon of God’s evolving man himself, while in the earth life of Christ Michael we behold the phenomenon of God’s revealing himself to man. Evolution tends to make God manlike; revelation tends to make man Godlike.
102:3.15 (1122.11) Science is only satisfied with first causes, religion with supreme personality, and philosophy with unity. Revelation affirms that these three are one, and that all are good. The eternal real is the good of the universe and not the time illusions of space evil. In the spiritual experience of all personalities, always is it true that the real is the good and the good is the real.
4. The Fact of Experience
102:4.1 (1123.1) Because of the presence in your minds of the Thought Adjuster, it is no more of a mystery for you to know the mind of God than for you to be sure of the consciousness of knowing any other mind, human or superhuman. Religion and social consciousness have this in common: They are predicated on the consciousness of other-mindness. The technique whereby you can accept another’s idea as yours is the same whereby you may “let the mind which was in Christ be also in you.”
102:4.2 (1123.2) What is human experience? It is simply any interplay between an active and questioning self and any other active and external reality. The mass of experience is determined by depth of concept plus totality of recognition of the reality of the external. The motion of experience equals the force of expectant imagination plus the keenness of the sensory discovery of the external qualities of contacted reality. The fact of experience is found in self-consciousness plus other-existences — other-thingness, other-mindness, and other-spiritness.
102:4.3 (1123.3) Man very early becomes conscious that he is not alone in the world or the universe. There develops a natural spontaneous self-consciousness of other-mindness in the environment of selfhood. Faith translates this natural experience into religion, the recognition of God as the reality — source, nature, and destiny — of other-mindness. But such a knowledge of God is ever and always a reality of personal experience. If God were not a personality, he could not become a living part of the real religious experience of a human personality.
102:4.4 (1123.4) The element of error present in human religious experience is directly proportional to the content of materialism which contaminates the spiritual concept of the Universal Father. Man’s prespirit progression in the universe consists in the experience of divesting himself of these erroneous ideas of the nature of God and of the reality of pure and true spirit. Deity is more than spirit, but the spiritual approach is the only one possible to ascending man.
102:4.5 (1123.5) Prayer is indeed a part of religious experience, but it has been wrongly emphasized by modern religions, much to the neglect of the more essential communion of worship. The reflective powers of the mind are deepened and broadened by worship. Prayer may enrich the life, but worship illuminates destiny.
102:4.6 (1123.6) Revealed religion is the unifying element of human existence. Revelation unifies history, co-ordinates geology, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, sociology, and psychology. Spiritual experience is the real soul of man’s cosmos.
5. The Supremacy of Purposive Potential
102:5.1 (1123.7) Although the establishment of the fact of belief is not equivalent to establishing the fact of that which is believed, nevertheless, the evolutionary progression of simple life to the status of personality does demonstrate the fact of the existence of the potential of personality to start with. And in the time universes, potential is always supreme over the actual. In the evolving cosmos the potential is what is to be, and what is to be is the unfolding of the purposive mandates of Deity.
102:5.2 (1124.1) This same purposive supremacy is shown in the evolution of mind ideation when primitive animal fear is transmuted into the constantly deepening reverence for God and into increasing awe of the universe. Primitive man had more religious fear than faith, and the supremacy of spirit potentials over mind actuals is demonstrated when this craven fear is translated into living faith in spiritual realities.
102:5.3 (1124.2) You can psychologize evolutionary religion but not the personal-experience religion of spiritual origin. Human morality may recognize values, but only religion can conserve, exalt, and spiritualize such values. But notwithstanding such actions, religion is something more than emotionalized morality. Religion is to morality as love is to duty, as sonship is to servitude, as essence is to substance. Morality discloses an almighty Controller, a Deity to be served; religion discloses an all-loving Father, a God to be worshiped and loved. And again this is because the spiritual potentiality of religion is dominant over the duty actuality of the morality of evolution.
6. The Certainty of Religious Faith
102:6.1 (1124.3) The philosophic elimination of religious fear and the steady progress of science add greatly to the mortality of false gods; and even though these casualties of man-made deities may momentarily befog the spiritual vision, they eventually destroy that ignorance and superstition which so long obscured the living God of eternal love. The relation between the creature and the Creator is a living experience, a dynamic religious faith, which is not subject to precise definition. To isolate part of life and call it religion is to disintegrate life and to distort religion. And this is just why the God of worship claims all allegiance or none.
102:6.2 (1124.4) The gods of primitive men may have been no more than shadows of themselves; the living God is the divine light whose interruptions constitute the creation shadows of all space.
102:6.3 (1124.5) The religionist of philosophic attainment has faith in a personal God of personal salvation, something more than a reality, a value, a level of achievement, an exalted process, a transmutation, the ultimate of time-space, an idealization, the personalization of energy, the entity of gravity, a human projection, the idealization of self, nature’s upthrust, the inclination to goodness, the forward impulse of evolution, or a sublime hypothesis. The religionist has faith in a God of love. Love is the essence of religion and the wellspring of superior civilization.
102:6.4 (1124.6) Faith transforms the philosophic God of probability into the saving God of certainty in the personal religious experience. Skepticism may challenge the theories of theology, but confidence in the dependability of personal experience affirms the truth of that belief which has grown into faith.
102:6.5 (1124.7) Convictions about God may be arrived at through wise reasoning, but the individual becomes God-knowing only by faith, through personal experience. In much that pertains to life, probability must be reckoned with, but when contacting with cosmic reality, certainty may be experienced when such meanings and values are approached by living faith. The God-knowing soul dares to say, “I know,” even when this knowledge of God is questioned by the unbeliever who denies such certitude because it is not wholly supported by intellectual logic. To every such doubter the believer only replies, “How do you know that I do not know?”
102:6.6 (1125.1) Though reason can always question faith, faith can always supplement both reason and logic. Reason creates the probability which faith can transform into a moral certainty, even a spiritual experience. God is the first truth and the last fact; therefore does all truth take origin in him, while all facts exist relative to him. God is absolute truth. As truth one may know God, but to understand — to explain — God, one must explore the fact of the universe of universes. The vast gulf between the experience of the truth of God and ignorance as to the fact of God can be bridged only by living faith. Reason alone cannot achieve harmony between infinite truth and universal fact.
102:6.7 (1125.2) Belief may not be able to resist doubt and withstand fear, but faith is always triumphant over doubting, for faith is both positive and living. The positive always has the advantage over the negative, truth over error, experience over theory, spiritual realities over the isolated facts of time and space. The convincing evidence of this spiritual certainty consists in the social fruits of the spirit which such believers, faithers, yield as a result of this genuine spiritual experience. Said Jesus: “If you love your fellows as I have loved you, then shall all men know that you are my disciples.”
102:6.8 (1125.3) To science God is a possibility, to psychology a desirability, to philosophy a probability, to religion a certainty, an actuality of religious experience. Reason demands that a philosophy which cannot find the God of probability should be very respectful of that religious faith which can and does find the God of certitude. Neither should science discount religious experience on grounds of credulity, not so long as it persists in the assumption that man’s intellectual and philosophic endowments emerged from increasingly lesser intelligences the further back they go, finally taking origin in primitive life which was utterly devoid of all thinking and feeling.
102:6.9 (1125.4) The facts of evolution must not be arrayed against the truth of the reality of the certainty of the spiritual experience of the religious living of the God-knowing mortal. Intelligent men should cease to reason like children and should attempt to use the consistent logic of adulthood, logic which tolerates the concept of truth alongside the observation of fact. Scientific materialism has gone bankrupt when it persists, in the face of each recurring universe phenomenon, in refunding its current objections by referring what is admittedly higher back into that which is admittedly lower. Consistency demands the recognition of the activities of a purposive Creator.
102:6.10 (1125.5) Organic evolution is a fact; purposive or progressive evolution is a truth which makes consistent the otherwise contradictory phenomena of the ever-ascending achievements of evolution. The higher any scientist progresses in his chosen science, the more will he abandon the theories of materialistic fact in favor of the cosmic truth of the dominance of the Supreme Mind. Materialism cheapens human life; the gospel of Jesus tremendously enhances and supernally exalts every mortal. Mortal existence must be visualized as consisting in the intriguing and fascinating experience of the realization of the reality of the meeting of the human upreach and the divine and saving downreach.
7. The Certitude of the Divine
102:7.1 (1126.1) The Universal Father, being self-existent, is also self-explanatory; he actually lives in every rational mortal. But you cannot be sure about God unless you know him; sonship is the only experience which makes fatherhood certain. The universe is everywhere undergoing change. A changing universe is a dependent universe; such a creation cannot be either final or absolute. A finite universe is wholly dependent on the Ultimate and the Absolute. The universe and God are not identical; one is cause, the other effect. The cause is absolute, infinite, eternal, and changeless; the effect, time-space and transcendental but ever changing, always growing.
102:7.2 (1126.2) God is the one and only self-caused fact in the universe. He is the secret of the order, plan, and purpose of the whole creation of things and beings. The everywhere-changing universe is regulated and stabilized by absolutely unchanging laws, the habits of an unchanging God. The fact of God, the divine law, is changeless; the truth of God, his relation to the universe, is a relative revelation which is ever adaptable to the constantly evolving universe.
102:7.3 (1126.3) Those who would invent a religion without God are like those who would gather fruit without trees, have children without parents. You cannot have effects without causes; only the I AM is causeless. The fact of religious experience implies God, and such a God of personal experience must be a personal Deity. You cannot pray to a chemical formula, supplicate a mathematical equation, worship a hypothesis, confide in a postulate, commune with a process, serve an abstraction, or hold loving fellowship with a law.
102:7.4 (1126.4) True, many apparently religious traits can grow out of nonreligious roots. Man can, intellectually, deny God and yet be morally good, loyal, filial, honest, and even idealistic. Man may graft many purely humanistic branches onto his basic spiritual nature and thus apparently prove his contentions in behalf of a godless religion, but such an experience is devoid of survival values, God-knowingness and God-ascension. In such a mortal experience only social fruits are forthcoming, not spiritual. The graft determines the nature of the fruit, notwithstanding that the living sustenance is drawn from the roots of original divine endowment of both mind and spirit.
102:7.5 (1126.5) The intellectual earmark of religion is certainty; the philosophical characteristic is consistency; the social fruits are love and service.
102:7.6 (1126.6) The God-knowing individual is not one who is blind to the difficulties or unmindful of the obstacles which stand in the way of finding God in the maze of superstition, tradition, and materialistic tendencies of modern times. He has encountered all these deterrents and triumphed over them, surmounted them by living faith, and attained the highlands of spiritual experience in spite of them. But it is true that many who are inwardly sure about God fear to assert such feelings of certainty because of the multiplicity and cleverness of those who assemble objections and magnify difficulties about believing in God. It requires no great depth of intellect to pick flaws, ask questions, or raise objections. But it does require brilliance of mind to answer these questions and solve these difficulties; faith certainty is the greatest technique for dealing with all such superficial contentions.
102:7.7 (1127.1) If science, philosophy, or sociology dares to become dogmatic in contending with the prophets of true religion, then should God-knowing men reply to such unwarranted dogmatism with that more farseeing dogmatism of the certainty of personal spiritual experience, “I know what I have experienced because I am a son of I AM.” If the personal experience of a faither is to be challenged by dogma, then this faith-born son of the experiencible Father may reply with that unchallengeable dogma, the statement of his actual sonship with the Universal Father.
102:7.8 (1127.2) Only an unqualified reality, an absolute, could dare consistently to be dogmatic. Those who assume to be dogmatic must, if consistent, sooner or later be driven into the arms of the Absolute of energy, the Universal of truth, and the Infinite of love.
102:7.9 (1127.3) 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.
102:7.10 (1127.4) Of God, the most inescapable of all presences, the most real of all facts, the most living of all truths, the most loving of all friends, and the most divine of all values, we have the right to be the most certain of all universe experiences.
8. The Evidences of Religion
102:8.1 (1127.5) The highest evidence of the reality and efficacy of religion consists in the fact of human experience; namely, that man, naturally fearful and suspicious, innately endowed with a strong instinct of self-preservation and craving survival after death, is willing fully to trust the deepest interests of his present and future to the keeping and direction of that power and person designated by his faith as God. That is the one central truth of all religion. As to what that power or person requires of man in return for this watchcare and final salvation, no two religions agree; in fact, they all more or less disagree.
102:8.2 (1127.6) Regarding the status of any religion in the evolutionary scale, it may best be judged by its moral judgments and its ethical standards. The higher the type of any religion, the more it encourages and is encouraged by a constantly improving social morality and ethical culture. We cannot judge religion by the status of its accompanying civilization; we had better estimate the real nature of a civilization by the purity and nobility of its religion. Many of the world’s most notable religious teachers have been virtually unlettered. The wisdom of the world is not necessary to an exercise of saving faith in eternal realities.
102:8.3 (1127.7) The difference in the religions of various ages is wholly dependent on the difference in man’s comprehension of reality and on his differing recognition of moral values, ethical relationships, and spirit realities.
102:8.4 (1127.8) Ethics is the external social or racial mirror which faithfully reflects the otherwise unobservable progress of internal spiritual and religious developments. Man has always thought of God in the terms of the best he knew, his deepest ideas and highest ideals. Even historic religion has always created its God conceptions out of its highest recognized values. Every intelligent creature gives the name of God to the best and highest thing he knows.
102:8.5 (1128.1) Religion, when reduced to terms of reason and intellectual expression, has always dared to criticize civilization and evolutionary progress as judged by its own standards of ethical culture and moral progress.
102:8.6 (1128.2) While personal religion precedes the evolution of human morals, it is regretfully recorded that institutional religion has invariably lagged behind the slowly changing mores of the human races. Organized religion has proved to be conservatively tardy. The prophets have usually led the people in religious development; the theologians have usually held them back. Religion, being a matter of inner or personal experience, can never develop very far in advance of the intellectual evolution of the races.
102:8.7 (1128.3) But religion is never enhanced by an appeal to the so-called miraculous. The quest for miracles is a harking back to the primitive religions of magic. True religion has nothing to do with alleged miracles, and never does revealed religion point to miracles as proof of authority. 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. And that is religion, even the highest yet revealed in the universe of Nebadon — the earth life of Jesus of Nazareth.
102:8.8 (1128.4) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
103:0.1 (1129.1) ALL of man’s truly religious reactions are sponsored by the early ministry of the adjutant of worship and are censored by the adjutant of wisdom. Man’s first supermind endowment is that of personality encircuitment in the Holy Spirit of the Universe Creative Spirit; and long before either the bestowals of the divine Sons or the universal bestowal of the Adjusters, this influence functions to enlarge man’s viewpoint of ethics, religion, and spirituality. Subsequent to the bestowals of the Paradise Sons the liberated Spirit of Truth makes mighty contributions to the enlargement of the human capacity to perceive religious truths. As evolution advances on an inhabited world, the Thought Adjusters increasingly participate in the development of the higher types of human religious insight. The Thought Adjuster is the cosmic window through which the finite creature may faith-glimpse the certainties and divinities of limitless Deity, the Universal Father.
103:0.2 (1129.2) The religious tendencies of the human races are innate; they are universally manifested and have an apparently natural origin; primitive religions are always evolutionary in their genesis. As natural religious experience continues to progress, periodic revelations of truth punctuate the otherwise slow-moving course of planetary evolution.
103:0.3 (1129.3) On Urantia, today, there are four kinds of religion:
103:0.4 (1129.4) 1. Natural or evolutionary religion.
103:0.5 (1129.5) 2. Supernatural or revelatory religion.
103:0.6 (1129.6) 3. Practical or current religion, varying degrees of the admixture of natural and supernatural religions.
103:0.7 (1129.7) 4. Philosophic religions, man-made or philosophically thought-out theologic doctrines and reason-created religions.
1. Philosophy of Religion
103:1.1 (1129.8) The unity of religious experience among a social or racial group derives from the identical nature of the God fragment indwelling the individual. It is this divine in man that gives origin to his unselfish interest in the welfare of other men. But since personality is unique — no two mortals being alike — it inevitably follows that no two human beings can similarly interpret the leadings and urges of the spirit of divinity which lives within their minds. A group of mortals can experience spiritual unity, but they can never attain philosophic uniformity. And this diversity of the interpretation of religious thought and experience is shown by the fact that twentieth-century theologians and philosophers have formulated upward of five hundred different definitions of religion. In reality, every human being defines religion in the terms of his own experiential interpretation of the divine impulses emanating from the God spirit that indwells him, and therefore must such an interpretation be unique and wholly different from the religious philosophy of all other human beings.
103:1.2 (1130.1) When one mortal is in full agreement with the religious philosophy of a fellow mortal, that phenomenon indicates that these two beings have had a similar religious experience touching the matters concerned in their similarity of philosophic religious interpretation.
103:1.3 (1130.2) While your religion is a matter of personal experience, it is most important that you should be exposed to the knowledge of a vast number of other religious experiences (the diverse interpretations of other and diverse mortals) to the end that you may prevent your religious life from becoming egocentric — circumscribed, selfish, and unsocial.
103:1.4 (1130.3) Rationalism is wrong when it assumes that religion is at first a primitive belief in something which is then followed by the pursuit of values. Religion is primarily a pursuit of values, and then there formulates a system of interpretative beliefs. It is much easier for men to agree on religious values — goals — than on beliefs — interpretations. And this explains how religion can agree on values and goals while exhibiting the confusing phenomenon of maintaining a belief in hundreds of conflicting beliefs — creeds. This also explains why a given person can maintain his religious experience in the face of giving up or changing many of his religious beliefs. Religion persists in spite of revolutionary changes in religious beliefs. Theology does not produce religion; it is religion that produces theologic philosophy.
103:1.5 (1130.4) That religionists have believed so much that was false does not invalidate religion because religion is founded on the recognition of values and is validated by the faith of personal religious experience. Religion, then, is based on experience and religious thought; theology, the philosophy of religion, is an honest attempt to interpret that experience. Such interpretative beliefs may be right or wrong, or a mixture of truth and error.
103:1.6 (1130.5) The realization of the recognition of spiritual values is an experience which is superideational. There is no word in any human language which can be employed to designate this “sense,” “feeling,” “intuition,” or “experience” which we have elected to call God-consciousness. The spirit of God that dwells in man is not personal — the Adjuster is prepersonal — but this Monitor presents a value, exudes a flavor of divinity, which is personal in the highest and infinite sense. If God were not at least personal, he could not be conscious, and if not conscious, then would he be infrahuman.
2. Religion and the Individual
103:2.1 (1130.6) Religion is functional in the human mind and has been realized in experience prior to its appearance in human consciousness. A child has been in existence about nine months before it experiences birth. But the “birth” of religion is not sudden; it is rather a gradual emergence. Nevertheless, sooner or later there is a “birth day.” You do not enter the kingdom of heaven unless you have been “born again” — born of the Spirit. Many spiritual births are accompanied by much anguish of spirit and marked psychological perturbations, as many physical births are characterized by a “stormy labor” and other abnormalities of “delivery.” Other spiritual births are a natural and normal growth of the recognition of supreme values with an enhancement of spiritual experience, albeit no religious development occurs without conscious effort and positive and individual determinations. Religion is never a passive experience, a negative attitude. What is termed the “birth of religion” is not directly associated with so-called conversion experiences which usually characterize religious episodes occurring later in life as a result of mental conflict, emotional repression, and temperamental upheavals.
103:2.2 (1131.1) But those persons who were so reared by their parents that they grew up in the consciousness of being children of a loving heavenly Father, should not look askance at their fellow mortals who could only attain such consciousness of fellowship with God through a psychological crisis, an emotional upheaval.
103:2.3 (1131.2) The evolutionary soil in the mind of man in which the seed of revealed religion germinates is the moral nature that so early gives origin to a social consciousness. The first promptings of a child’s moral nature have not to do with sex, guilt, or personal pride, but rather with impulses of justice, fairness, and urges to kindness — helpful ministry to one’s fellows. And when such early moral awakenings are nurtured, there occurs a gradual development of the religious life which is comparatively free from conflicts, upheavals, and crises.
103:2.4 (1131.3) Every human being very early experiences something of a conflict between his self-seeking and his altruistic impulses, and many times the first experience of God-consciousness may be attained as the result of seeking for superhuman help in the task of resolving such moral conflicts.
103:2.5 (1131.4) The psychology of a child is naturally positive, not negative. So many mortals are negative because they were so trained. When it is said that the child is positive, reference is made to his moral impulses, those powers of mind whose emergence signals the arrival of the Thought Adjuster.
103:2.6 (1131.5) In the absence of wrong teaching, the mind of the normal child moves positively, in the emergence of religious consciousness, toward moral righteousness and social ministry, rather than negatively, away from sin and guilt. There may or may not be conflict in the development of religious experience, but there are always present the inevitable decisions, effort, and function of the human will.
103:2.7 (1131.6) Moral choosing is usually accompanied by more or less moral conflict. And this very first conflict in the child mind is between the urges of egoism and the impulses of altruism. The Thought Adjuster does not disregard the personality values of the egoistic motive but does operate to place a slight preference upon the altruistic impulse as leading to the goal of human happiness and to the joys of the kingdom of heaven.
103:2.8 (1131.7) When a moral being chooses to be unselfish when confronted by the urge to be selfish, that is primitive religious experience. No animal can make such a choice; such a decision is both human and religious. It embraces the fact of God-consciousness and exhibits the impulse of social service, the basis of the brotherhood of man. When mind chooses a right moral judgment by an act of the free will, such a decision constitutes a religious experience.
103:2.9 (1131.8) But before a child has developed sufficiently to acquire moral capacity and therefore to be able to choose altruistic service, he has already developed a strong and well-unified egoistic nature. And it is this factual situation that gives rise to the theory of the struggle between the “higher” and the “lower” natures, between the “old man of sin” and the “new nature” of grace. Very early in life the normal child begins to learn that it is “more blessed to give than to receive.”
103:2.10 (1131.9) Man tends to identify the urge to be self-serving with his ego — himself. In contrast he is inclined to identify the will to be altruistic with some influence outside himself — God. And indeed is such a judgment right, for all such nonself desires do actually have their origin in the leadings of the indwelling Thought Adjuster, and this Adjuster is a fragment of God. The impulse of the spirit Monitor is realized in human consciousness as the urge to be altruistic, fellow-creature minded. At least this is the early and fundamental experience of the child mind. When the growing child fails of personality unification, the altruistic drive may become so overdeveloped as to work serious injury to the welfare of the self. A misguided conscience can become responsible for much conflict, worry, sorrow, and no end of human unhappiness.
3. Religion and the Human Race
103:3.1 (1132.1) While the belief in spirits, dreams, and diverse other superstitions all played a part in the evolutionary origin of primitive religions, you should not overlook the influence of the clan or tribal spirit of solidarity. In the group relationship there was presented the exact social situation which provided the challenge to the egoistic-altruistic conflict in the moral nature of the early human mind. In spite of their belief in spirits, primitive Australians still focus their religion upon the clan. In time, such religious concepts tend to personalize, first, as animals, and later, as a superman or as a God. Even such inferior races as the African Bushmen, who are not even totemic in their beliefs, do have a recognition of the difference between the self-interest and the group-interest, a primitive distinction between the values of the secular and the sacred. But the social group is not the source of religious experience. Regardless of the influence of all these primitive contributions to man’s early religion, the fact remains that the true religious impulse has its origin in genuine spirit presences activating the will to be unselfish.
103:3.2 (1132.2) Later religion is foreshadowed in the primitive belief in natural wonders and mysteries, the impersonal mana. But sooner or later the evolving religion requires that the individual should make some personal sacrifice for the good of his social group, should do something to make other people happier and better. Ultimately, religion is destined to become the service of God and of man.
103:3.3 (1132.3) Religion is designed to change man’s environment, but much of the religion found among mortals today has become helpless to do this. Environment has all too often mastered religion.
103:3.4 (1132.4) Remember that in the religion of all ages the experience which is paramount is the feeling regarding moral values and social meanings, not the thinking regarding theologic dogmas or philosophic theories. Religion evolves favorably as the element of magic is replaced by the concept of morals.
103:3.5 (1132.5) Man evolved through the superstitions of mana, magic, nature worship, spirit fear, and animal worship to the various ceremonials whereby the religious attitude of the individual became the group reactions of the clan. And then these ceremonies became focalized and crystallized into tribal beliefs, and eventually these fears and faiths became personalized into gods. But in all of this religious evolution the moral element was never wholly absent. The impulse of the God within man was always potent. And these powerful influences — one human and the other divine — insured the survival of religion throughout the vicissitudes of the ages and that notwithstanding it was so often threatened with extinction by a thousand subversive tendencies and hostile antagonisms.
4. Spiritual Communion
103:4.1 (1133.1) The characteristic difference between a social occasion and a religious gathering is that in contrast with the secular the religious is pervaded by the atmosphere of communion. In this way human association generates a feeling of fellowship with the divine, and this is the beginning of group worship. Partaking of a common meal was the earliest type of social communion, and so did early religions provide that some portion of the ceremonial sacrifice should be eaten by the worshipers. Even in Christianity the Lord’s Supper retains this mode of communion. The atmosphere of the communion provides a refreshing and comforting period of truce in the conflict of the self-seeking ego with the altruistic urge of the indwelling spirit Monitor. And this is the prelude to true worship — the practice of the presence of God which eventuates in the emergence of the brotherhood of man.
103:4.2 (1133.2) When primitive man felt that his communion with God had been interrupted, he resorted to sacrifice of some kind in an effort to make atonement, to restore friendly relationship. The hunger and thirst for righteousness leads to the discovery of truth, and truth augments ideals, and this creates new problems for the individual religionists, for our ideals tend to grow by geometrical progression, while our ability to live up to them is enhanced only by arithmetical progression.
103:4.3 (1133.3) The sense of guilt (not the consciousness of sin) comes either from interrupted spiritual communion or from the lowering of one’s moral ideals. Deliverance from such a predicament can only come through the realization that one’s highest moral ideals are not necessarily synonymous with the will of God. Man cannot hope to live up to his highest ideals, but he can be true to his purpose of finding God and becoming more and more like him.
103:4.4 (1133.4) Jesus swept away all of the ceremonials of sacrifice and atonement. He destroyed the basis of all this fictitious guilt and sense of isolation in the universe by declaring that man is a child of God; the creature-Creator relationship was placed on a child-parent basis. God becomes a loving Father to his mortal sons and daughters. All ceremonials not a legitimate part of such an intimate family relationship are forever abrogated.
103:4.5 (1133.5) God the Father deals with man his child on the basis, not of actual virtue or worthiness, but in recognition of the child’s motivation — the creature purpose and intent. The relationship is one of parent-child association and is actuated by divine love.
5. The Origin of Ideals
103:5.1 (1133.6) The early evolutionary mind gives origin to a feeling of social duty and moral obligation derived chiefly from emotional fear. The more positive urge of social service and the idealism of altruism are derived from the direct impulse of the divine spirit indwelling the human mind.
103:5.2 (1133.7) This idea-ideal of doing good to others — the impulse to deny the ego something for the benefit of one’s neighbor — is very circumscribed at first. Primitive man regards as neighbor only those very close to him, those who treat him neighborly; as religious civilization advances, one’s neighbor expands in concept to embrace the clan, the tribe, the nation. And then Jesus enlarged the neighbor scope to embrace the whole of humanity, even that we should love our enemies. And there is something inside of every normal human being that tells him this teaching is moral — right. Even those who practice this ideal least, admit that it is right in theory.
103:5.3 (1134.1) All men recognize the morality of this universal human urge to be unselfish and altruistic. The humanist ascribes the origin of this urge to the natural working of the material mind; the religionist more correctly recognizes that the truly unselfish drive of mortal mind is in response to the inner spirit leadings of the Thought Adjuster.
103:5.4 (1134.2) But man’s interpretation of these early conflicts between the ego-will and the other-than-self-will is not always dependable. Only a fairly well unified personality can arbitrate the multiform contentions of the ego cravings and the budding social consciousness. The self has rights as well as one’s neighbors. Neither has exclusive claims upon the attention and service of the individual. Failure to resolve this problem gives origin to the earliest type of human guilt feelings.
103:5.5 (1134.3) Human happiness is achieved only when the ego desire of the self and the altruistic urge of the higher self (divine spirit) are co-ordinated and reconciled by the unified will of the integrating and supervising personality. The mind of evolutionary man is ever confronted with the intricate problem of refereeing the contest between the natural expansion of emotional impulses and the moral growth of unselfish urges predicated on spiritual insight — genuine religious reflection.
103:5.6 (1134.4) The attempt to secure equal good for the self and for the greatest number of other selves presents a problem which cannot always be satisfactorily resolved in a time-space frame. Given an eternal life, such antagonisms can be worked out, but in one short human life they are incapable of solution. Jesus referred to such a paradox when he said: “Whosoever shall save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for the sake of the kingdom, shall find it.”
103:5.7 (1134.5) The pursuit of the ideal — the striving to be Godlike — is a continuous effort before death and after. The life after death is no different in the essentials than the mortal existence. Everything we do in this life which is good contributes directly to the enhancement of the future life. Real religion does not foster moral indolence and spiritual laziness by encouraging the vain hope of having all the virtues of a noble character bestowed upon one as a result of passing through the portals of natural death. True religion does not belittle man’s efforts to progress during the mortal lease on life. Every mortal gain is a direct contribution to the enrichment of the first stages of the immortal survival experience.
103:5.8 (1134.6) It is fatal to man’s idealism when he is taught that all of his altruistic impulses are merely the development of his natural herd instincts. But he is ennobled and mightily energized when he learns that these higher urges of his soul emanate from the spiritual forces that indwell his mortal mind.
103:5.9 (1134.7) It lifts man out of himself and beyond himself when he once fully realizes that there lives and strives within him something which is eternal and divine. And so it is that a living faith in the superhuman origin of our ideals validates our belief that we are the sons of God and makes real our altruistic convictions, the feelings of the brotherhood of man.
103:5.10 (1134.8) Man, in his spiritual domain, does have a free will. Mortal man is neither a helpless slave of the inflexible sovereignty of an all-powerful God nor the victim of the hopeless fatality of a mechanistic cosmic determinism. Man is most truly the architect of his own eternal destiny.
103:5.11 (1135.1) But man is not saved or ennobled by pressure. Spirit growth springs from within the evolving soul. Pressure may deform the personality, but it never stimulates growth. Even educational pressure is only negatively helpful in that it may aid in the prevention of disastrous experiences. Spiritual growth is greatest where all external pressures are at a minimum. “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Man develops best when the pressures of home, community, church, and state are least. But this must not be construed as meaning that there is no place in a progressive society for home, social institutions, church, and state.
103:5.12 (1135.2) When a member of a social religious group has complied with the requirements of such a group, he should be encouraged to enjoy religious liberty in the full expression of his own personal interpretation of the truths of religious belief and the facts of religious experience. The security of a religious group depends on spiritual unity, not on theological uniformity. A religious group should be able to enjoy the liberty of freethinking without having to become “freethinkers.” There is great hope for any church that worships the living God, validates the brotherhood of man, and dares to remove all creedal pressure from its members.
6. Philosophic Co-ordination
103:6.1 (1135.3) Theology is the study of the actions and reactions of the human spirit; it can never become a science since it must always be combined more or less with psychology in its personal expression and with philosophy in its systematic portrayal. Theology is always the study of your religion; the study of another’s religion is psychology.
103:6.2 (1135.4) When man approaches the study and examination of his universe from the outside, he brings into being the various physical sciences; when he approaches the research of himself and the universe from the inside, he gives origin to theology and metaphysics. The later art of philosophy develops in an effort to harmonize the many discrepancies which are destined at first to appear between the findings and teachings of these two diametrically opposite avenues of approaching the universe of things and beings.
103:6.3 (1135.5) Religion has to do with the spiritual viewpoint, the awareness of the insideness of human experience. Man’s spiritual nature affords him the opportunity of turning the universe outside in. It is therefore true that, viewed exclusively from the insideness of personality experience, all creation appears to be spiritual in nature.
103:6.4 (1135.6) When man analytically inspects the universe through the material endowments of his physical senses and associated mind perception, the cosmos appears to be mechanical and energy-material. Such a technique of studying reality consists in turning the universe inside out.
103:6.5 (1135.7) A logical and consistent philosophic concept of the universe cannot be built up on the postulations of either materialism or spiritism, for both of these systems of thinking, when universally applied, are compelled to view the cosmos in distortion, the former contacting with a universe turned inside out, the latter realizing the nature of a universe turned outside in. Never, then, can either science or religion, in and of themselves, standing alone, hope to gain an adequate understanding of universal truths and relationships without the guidance of human philosophy and the illumination of divine revelation.
103:6.6 (1136.1) Always must man’s inner spirit depend for its expression and self-realization upon the mechanism and technique of the mind. Likewise must man’s outer experience of material reality be predicated on the mind consciousness of the experiencing personality. Therefore are the spiritual and the material, the inner and the outer, human experiences always correlated with the mind function and conditioned, as to their conscious realization, by the mind activity. Man experiences matter in his mind; he experiences spiritual reality in the soul but becomes conscious of this experience in his mind. The intellect is the harmonizer and the ever-present conditioner and qualifier of the sum total of mortal experience. Both energy-things and spirit values are colored by their interpretation through the mind media of consciousness.
103:6.7 (1136.2) Your difficulty in arriving at a more harmonious co-ordination between science and religion is due to your utter ignorance of the intervening domain of the morontia world of things and beings. The local universe consists of three degrees, or stages, of reality manifestation: matter, morontia, and spirit. The morontia angle of approach erases all divergence between the findings of the physical sciences and the functioning of the spirit of religion. Reason is the understanding technique of the sciences; faith is the insight technique of religion; mota is the technique of the morontia level. Mota is a supermaterial reality sensitivity which is beginning to compensate incomplete growth, having for its substance knowledge-reason and for its essence faith-insight. Mota is a superphilosophical reconciliation of divergent reality perception which is nonattainable by material personalities; it is predicated, in part, on the experience of having survived the material life of the flesh. But many mortals have recognized the desirability of having some method of reconciling the interplay between the widely separated domains of science and religion; and metaphysics is the result of man’s unavailing attempt to span this well-recognized chasm. But human metaphysics has proved more confusing than illuminating. Metaphysics stands for man’s well-meant but futile effort to compensate for the absence of the mota of morontia.
103:6.8 (1136.3) Metaphysics has proved a failure; mota, man cannot perceive. Revelation is the only technique which can compensate for the absence of the truth sensitivity of mota in a material world. Revelation authoritatively clarifies the muddle of reason-developed metaphysics on an evolutionary sphere.
103:6.9 (1136.4) Science is man’s attempted study of his physical environment, the world of energy-matter; religion is man’s experience with the cosmos of spirit values; philosophy has been developed by man’s mind effort to organize and correlate the findings of these widely separated concepts into something like a reasonable and unified attitude toward the cosmos. Philosophy, clarified by revelation, functions acceptably in the absence of mota and in the presence of the breakdown and failure of man’s reason substitute for mota — metaphysics.
103:6.10 (1136.5) Early man did not differentiate between the energy level and the spirit level. It was the violet race and their Andite successors who first attempted to divorce the mathematical from the volitional. Increasingly has civilized man followed in the footsteps of the earliest Greeks and the Sumerians who distinguished between the inanimate and the animate. And as civilization progresses, philosophy will have to bridge ever-widening gulfs between the spirit concept and the energy concept. But in the time of space these divergencies are at one in the Supreme.
103:6.11 (1137.1) Science must always be grounded in reason, although imagination and conjecture are helpful in the extension of its borders. Religion is forever dependent on faith, albeit reason is a stabilizing influence and a helpful handmaid. And always there have been, and ever will be, misleading interpretations of the phenomena of both the natural and the spiritual worlds, sciences and religions falsely so called.
103:6.12 (1137.2) Out of his incomplete grasp of science, his faint hold upon religion, and his abortive attempts at metaphysics, man has attempted to construct his formulations of philosophy. And modern man would indeed build a worthy and engaging philosophy of himself and his universe were it not for the breakdown of his all-important and indispensable metaphysical connection between the worlds of matter and spirit, the failure of metaphysics to bridge the morontia gulf between the physical and the spiritual. Mortal man lacks the concept of morontia mind and material; and revelation is the only technique for atoning for this deficiency in the conceptual data which man so urgently needs in order to construct a logical philosophy of the universe and to arrive at a satisfying understanding of his sure and settled place in that universe.
103:6.13 (1137.3) Revelation is evolutionary man’s only hope of bridging the morontia gulf. Faith and reason, unaided by mota, cannot conceive and construct a logical universe. Without the insight of mota, mortal man cannot discern goodness, love, and truth in the phenomena of the material world.
103:6.14 (1137.4) When the philosophy of man leans heavily toward the world of matter, it becomes rationalistic or naturalistic. When philosophy inclines particularly toward the spiritual level, it becomes idealistic or even mystical. When philosophy is so unfortunate as to lean upon metaphysics, it unfailingly becomes skeptical, confused. In past ages, most of man’s knowledge and intellectual evaluations have fallen into one of these three distortions of perception. Philosophy dare not project its interpretations of reality in the linear fashion of logic; it must never fail to reckon with the elliptic symmetry of reality and with the essential curvature of all relation concepts.
103:6.15 (1137.5) The highest attainable philosophy of mortal man must be logically based on the reason of science, the faith of religion, and the truth insight afforded by revelation. By this union man can compensate somewhat for his failure to develop an adequate metaphysics and for his inability to comprehend the mota of the morontia.
7. Science and Religion
103:7.1 (1137.6) Science is sustained by reason, religion by faith. Faith, though not predicated on reason, is reasonable; though independent of logic, it is nonetheless encouraged by sound logic. Faith cannot be nourished even by an ideal philosophy; indeed, it is, with science, the very source of such a philosophy. Faith, human religious insight, can be surely instructed only by revelation, can be surely elevated only by personal mortal experience with the spiritual Adjuster presence of the God who is spirit.
103:7.2 (1137.7) True salvation is the technique of the divine evolution of the mortal mind from matter identification through the realms of morontia liaison to the high universe status of spiritual correlation. And as material intuitive instinct precedes the appearance of reasoned knowledge in terrestrial evolution, so does the manifestation of spiritual intuitive insight presage the later appearance of morontia and spirit reason and experience in the supernal program of celestial evolution, the business of transmuting the potentials of man the temporal into the actuality and divinity of man the eternal, a Paradise finaliter.
103:7.3 (1138.1) But as ascending man reaches inward and Paradiseward for the God experience, he will likewise be reaching outward and spaceward for an energy understanding of the material cosmos. The progression of science is not limited to the terrestrial life of man; his universe and superuniverse ascension experience will to no small degree be the study of energy transmutation and material metamorphosis. God is spirit, but Deity is unity, and the unity of Deity not only embraces the spiritual values of the Universal Father and the Eternal Son but is also cognizant of the energy facts of the Universal Controller and the Isle of Paradise, while these two phases of universal reality are perfectly correlated in the mind relationships of the Conjoint Actor and unified on the finite level in the emerging Deity of the Supreme Being.
103:7.4 (1138.2) The union of the scientific attitude and the religious insight by the mediation of experiential philosophy is part of man’s long Paradise-ascension experience. The approximations of mathematics and the certainties of insight will always require the harmonizing function of mind logic on all levels of experience short of the maximum attainment of the Supreme.
103:7.5 (1138.3) But logic can never succeed in harmonizing the findings of science and the insights of religion unless both the scientific and the religious aspects of a personality are truth dominated, sincerely desirous of following the truth wherever it may lead regardless of the conclusions which it may reach.
103:7.6 (1138.4) Logic is the technique of philosophy, its method of expression. Within the domain of true science, reason is always amenable to genuine logic; within the domain of true religion, faith is always logical from the basis of an inner viewpoint, even though such faith may appear to be quite unfounded from the inlooking viewpoint of the scientific approach. From outward, looking within, the universe may appear to be material; from within, looking out, the same universe appears to be wholly spiritual. Reason grows out of material awareness, faith out of spiritual awareness, but through the mediation of a philosophy strengthened by revelation, logic may confirm both the inward and the outward view, thereby effecting the stabilization of both science and religion. Thus, through common contact with the logic of philosophy, may both science and religion become increasingly tolerant of each other, less and less skeptical.
103:7.7 (1138.5) What both developing science and religion need is more searching and fearless self-criticism, a greater awareness of incompleteness in evolutionary status. The teachers of both science and religion are often altogether too self-confident and dogmatic. Science and religion can only be self-critical of their facts. The moment departure is made from the stage of facts, reason abdicates or else rapidly degenerates into a consort of false logic.
103:7.8 (1138.6) The truth — an understanding of cosmic relationships, universe facts, and spiritual values — can best be had through the ministry of the Spirit of Truth and can best be criticized by revelation. But revelation originates neither a science nor a religion; its function is to co-ordinate both science and religion with the truth of reality. Always, in the absence of revelation or in the failure to accept or grasp it, has mortal man resorted to his futile gesture of metaphysics, that being the only human substitute for the revelation of truth or for the mota of morontia personality.
103:7.9 (1139.1) The science of the material world enables man to control, and to some extent dominate, his physical environment. The religion of the spiritual experience is the source of the fraternity impulse which enables men to live together in the complexities of the civilization of a scientific age. Metaphysics, but more certainly revelation, affords a common meeting ground for the discoveries of both science and religion and makes possible the human attempt logically to correlate these separate but interdependent domains of thought into a well-balanced philosophy of scientific stability and religious certainty.
103:7.10 (1139.2) In the mortal state, nothing can be absolutely proved; both science and religion are predicated on assumptions. On the morontia level, the postulates of both science and religion are capable of partial proof by mota logic. On the spiritual level of maximum status, the need for finite proof gradually vanishes before the actual experience of and with reality; but even then there is much beyond the finite that remains unproved.
103:7.11 (1139.3) All divisions of human thought are predicated on certain assumptions which are accepted, though unproved, by the constitutive reality sensitivity of the mind endowment of man. Science starts out on its vaunted career of reasoning by assuming the reality of three things: matter, motion, and life. Religion starts out with the assumption of the validity of three things: mind, spirit, and the universe — the Supreme Being.
103:7.12 (1139.4) Science becomes the thought domain of mathematics, of the energy and material of time in space. Religion assumes to deal not only with finite and temporal spirit but also with the spirit of eternity and supremacy. Only through a long experience in mota can these two extremes of universe perception be made to yield analogous interpretations of origins, functions, relations, realities, and destinies. The maximum harmonization of the energy-spirit divergence is in the encircuitment of the Seven Master Spirits; the first unification thereof, in the Deity of the Supreme; the finality unity thereof, in the infinity of the First Source and Center, the I AM.
103:7.13 (1139.5) Reason is the act of recognizing the conclusions of consciousness with regard to the experience in and with the physical world of energy and matter. Faith is the act of recognizing the validity of spiritual consciousness — something which is incapable of other mortal proof. Logic is the synthetic truth-seeking progression of the unity of faith and reason and is founded on the constitutive mind endowments of mortal beings, the innate recognition of things, meanings, and values.
103:7.14 (1139.6) There is a real proof of spiritual reality in the presence of the Thought Adjuster, but the validity of this presence is not demonstrable to the external world, only to the one who thus experiences the indwelling of God. The consciousness of the Adjuster is based on the intellectual reception of truth, the supermind perception of goodness, and the personality motivation to love.
103:7.15 (1139.7) Science discovers the material world, religion evaluates it, and philosophy endeavors to interpret its meanings while co-ordinating the scientific material viewpoint with the religious spiritual concept. But history is a realm in which science and religion may never fully agree.
8. Philosophy and Religion
103:8.1 (1140.1) Although both science and philosophy may assume the probability of God by their reason and logic, only the personal religious experience of a spirit-led man can affirm the certainty of such a supreme and personal Deity. By the technique of such an incarnation of living truth the philosophic hypothesis of the probability of God becomes a religious reality.
103:8.2 (1140.2) The confusion about the experience of the certainty of God arises out of the dissimilar interpretations and relations of that experience by separate individuals and by different races of men. The experiencing of God may be wholly valid, but the discourse about God, being intellectual and philosophical, is divergent and oftentimes confusingly fallacious.
103:8.3 (1140.3) A good and noble man may be consummately in love with his wife but utterly unable to pass a satisfactory written examination on the psychology of marital love. Another man, having little or no love for his spouse, might pass such an examination most acceptably. The imperfection of the lover’s insight into the true nature of the beloved does not in the least invalidate either the reality or sincerity of his love.
103:8.4 (1140.4) If you truly believe in God — by faith know him and love him — do not permit the reality of such an experience to be in any way lessened or detracted from by the doubting insinuations of science, the caviling of logic, the postulates of philosophy, or the clever suggestions of well-meaning souls who would create a religion without God.
103:8.5 (1140.5) The certainty of the God-knowing religionist should not be disturbed by the uncertainty of the doubting materialist; rather should the uncertainty of the unbeliever be mightily challenged by the profound faith and unshakable certainty of the experiential believer.
103:8.6 (1140.6) Philosophy, to be of the greatest service to both science and religion, should avoid the extremes of both materialism and pantheism. Only a philosophy which recognizes the reality of personality — permanence in the presence of change — can be of moral value to man, can serve as a liaison between the theories of material science and spiritual religion. Revelation is a compensation for the frailties of evolving philosophy.
9. The Essence of Religion
103:9.1 (1140.7) Theology deals with the intellectual content of religion, metaphysics (revelation) with the philosophic aspects. Religious experience is the spiritual content of religion. Notwithstanding the mythologic vagaries and the psychologic illusions of the intellectual content of religion, the metaphysical assumptions of error and the techniques of self-deception, the political distortions and the socioeconomic perversions of the philosophic content of religion, the spiritual experience of personal religion remains genuine and valid.
103:9.2 (1140.8) Religion has to do with feeling, acting, and living, not merely with thinking. Thinking is more closely related to the material life and should be in the main, but not altogether, dominated by reason and the facts of science and, in its nonmaterial reaches toward the spirit realms, by truth. No matter how illusory and erroneous one’s theology, one’s religion may be wholly genuine and everlastingly true.
103:9.3 (1141.1) Buddhism in its original form is one of the best religions without a God which has arisen throughout all the evolutionary history of Urantia, although, as this faith developed, it did not remain godless. Religion without faith is a contradiction; without God, a philosophic inconsistency and an intellectual absurdity.
103:9.4 (1141.2) The magical and mythological parentage of natural religion does not invalidate the reality and truth of the later revelational religions and the consummate saving gospel of the religion of Jesus. Jesus’ life and teachings finally divested religion of the superstitions of magic, the illusions of mythology, and the bondage of traditional dogmatism. But this early magic and mythology very effectively prepared the way for later and superior religion by assuming the existence and reality of supermaterial values and beings.
103:9.5 (1141.3) Although religious experience is a purely spiritual subjective phenomenon, such an experience embraces a positive and living faith attitude toward the highest realms of universe objective reality. The ideal of religious philosophy is such a faith-trust as would lead man unqualifiedly to depend upon the absolute love of the infinite Father of the universe of universes. Such a genuine religious experience far transcends the philosophic objectification of idealistic desire; it actually takes salvation for granted and concerns itself only with learning and doing the will of the Father in Paradise. The earmarks of such a religion are: faith in a supreme Deity, hope of eternal survival, and love, especially of one’s fellows.
103:9.6 (1141.4) When theology masters religion, religion dies; it becomes a doctrine instead of a life. The mission of theology is merely to facilitate the self-consciousness of personal spiritual experience. Theology constitutes the religious effort to define, clarify, expound, and justify the experiential claims of religion, which, in the last analysis, can be validated only by living faith. In the higher philosophy of the universe, wisdom, like reason, becomes allied to faith. Reason, wisdom, and faith are man’s highest human attainments. Reason introduces man to the world of facts, to things; wisdom introduces him to a world of truth, to relationships; faith initiates him into a world of divinity, spiritual experience.
103:9.7 (1141.5) Faith most willingly carries reason along as far as reason can go and then goes on with wisdom to the full philosophic limit; and then it dares to launch out upon the limitless and never-ending universe journey in the sole company of TRUTH.
103:9.8 (1141.6) Science (knowledge) is founded on the inherent (adjutant spirit) assumption that reason is valid, that the universe can be comprehended. Philosophy (co-ordinate comprehension) is founded on the inherent (spirit of wisdom) assumption that wisdom is valid, that the material universe can be co-ordinated with the spiritual. Religion (the truth of personal spiritual experience) is founded on the inherent (Thought Adjuster) assumption that faith is valid, that God can be known and attained.
103:9.9 (1141.7) The full realization of the reality of mortal life consists in a progressive willingness to believe these assumptions of reason, wisdom, and faith. Such a life is one motivated by truth and dominated by love; and these are the ideals of objective cosmic reality whose existence cannot be materially demonstrated.
103:9.10 (1142.1) When reason once recognizes right and wrong, it exhibits wisdom; when wisdom chooses between right and wrong, truth and error, it demonstrates spirit leading. And thus are the functions of mind, soul, and spirit ever closely united and functionally interassociated. Reason deals with factual knowledge; wisdom, with philosophy and revelation; faith, with living spiritual experience. Through truth man attains beauty and by spiritual love ascends to goodness.
103:9.11 (1142.2) Faith leads to knowing God, not merely to a mystical feeling of the divine presence. Faith must not be overmuch influenced by its emotional consequences. True religion is an experience of believing and knowing as well as a satisfaction of feeling.
103:9.12 (1142.3) There is a reality in religious experience that is proportional to the spiritual content, and such a reality is transcendent to reason, science, philosophy, wisdom, and all other human achievements. The convictions of such an experience are unassailable; the logic of religious living is incontrovertible; the certainty of such knowledge is superhuman; the satisfactions are superbly divine, the courage indomitable, the devotions unquestioning, the loyalties supreme, and the destinies final — eternal, ultimate, and universal.
103:9.13 (1142.4) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
104:0.1 (1143.1) THE Trinity concept of revealed religion must not be confused with the triad beliefs of evolutionary religions. The ideas of triads arose from many suggestive relationships but chiefly because of the three joints of the fingers, because three legs were the fewest which could stabilize a stool, because three support points could keep up a tent; furthermore, primitive man, for a long time, could not count beyond three.
104:0.2 (1143.2) Aside from certain natural couplets, such as past and present, day and night, hot and cold, and male and female, man generally tends to think in triads: yesterday, today, and tomorrow; sunrise, noon, and sunset; father, mother, and child. Three cheers are given the victor. The dead are buried on the third day, and the ghost is placated by three ablutions of water.
104:0.3 (1143.3) As a consequence of these natural associations in human experience, the triad made its appearance in religion, and this long before the Paradise Trinity of Deities, or even any of their representatives, had been revealed to mankind. Later on, the Persians, Hindus, Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians, Romans, and Scandinavians all had triad gods, but these were still not true trinities. Triad deities all had a natural origin and have appeared at one time or another among most of the intelligent peoples of Urantia. Sometimes the concept of an evolutionary triad has become mixed with that of a revealed Trinity; in these instances it is often impossible to distinguish one from the other.
1. Urantian Trinity Concepts
104:1.1 (1143.4) The first Urantian revelation leading to the comprehension of the Paradise Trinity was made by the staff of Prince Caligastia about one-half million years ago. This earliest Trinity concept was lost to the world in the unsettled times following the planetary rebellion.
104:1.2 (1143.5) The second presentation of the Trinity was made by Adam and Eve in the first and second gardens. These teachings had not been wholly obliterated even in the times of Machiventa Melchizedek about thirty-five thousand years later, for the Trinity concept of the Sethites persisted in both Mesopotamia and Egypt but more especially in India, where it was long perpetuated in Agni, the Vedic three-headed fire god.
104:1.3 (1143.6) The third presentation of the Trinity was made by Machiventa Melchizedek, and this doctrine was symbolized by the three concentric circles which the sage of Salem wore on his breast plate. But Machiventa found it very difficult to teach the Palestinian Bedouins about the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit. Most of his disciples thought that the Trinity consisted of the three Most Highs of Norlatiadek; a few conceived of the Trinity as the System Sovereign, the Constellation Father, and the local universe Creator Deity; still fewer even remotely grasped the idea of the Paradise association of the Father, Son, and Spirit.
104:1.4 (1144.1) Through the activities of the Salem missionaries the Melchizedek teachings of the Trinity gradually spread throughout much of Eurasia and northern Africa. It is often difficult to distinguish between the triads and the trinities in the later Andite and the post-Melchizedek ages, when both concepts to a certain extent intermingled and coalesced.
104:1.5 (1144.2) Among the Hindus the trinitarian concept took root as Being, Intelligence, and Joy. (A later Indian conception was Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu.) While the earlier Trinity portrayals were brought to India by the Sethite priests, the later ideas of the Trinity were imported by the Salem missionaries and were developed by the native intellects of India through a compounding of these doctrines with the evolutionary triad conceptions.
104:1.6 (1144.3) The Buddhist faith developed two doctrines of a trinitarian nature: The earlier was Teacher, Law, and Brotherhood; that was the presentation made by Gautama Siddhartha. The later idea, developing among the northern branch of the followers of Buddha, embraced Supreme Lord, Holy Spirit, and Incarnate Savior.
104:1.7 (1144.4) And these ideas of the Hindus and Buddhists were real trinitarian postulates, that is, the idea of a threefold manifestation of a monotheistic God. A true trinity conception is not just a grouping together of three separate gods.
104:1.8 (1144.5) The Hebrews knew about the Trinity from the Kenite traditions of the days of Melchizedek, but their monotheistic zeal for the one God, Yahweh, so eclipsed all such teachings that by the time of Jesus’ appearance the Elohim doctrine had been practically eradicated from Jewish theology. The Hebrew mind could not reconcile the trinitarian concept with the monotheistic belief in the One Lord, the God of Israel.
104:1.9 (1144.6) The followers of the Islamic faith likewise failed to grasp the idea of the Trinity. It is always difficult for an emerging monotheism to tolerate trinitarianism when confronted by polytheism. The trinity idea takes best hold of those religions which have a firm monotheistic tradition coupled with doctrinal elasticity. The great monotheists, the Hebrews and Mohammedans, found it difficult to distinguish between worshiping three gods, polytheism, and trinitarianism, the worship of one Deity existing in a triune manifestation of divinity and personality.
104:1.10 (1144.7) Jesus taught his apostles the truth regarding the persons of the Paradise Trinity, but they thought he spoke figuratively and symbolically. Having been nurtured in Hebraic monotheism, they found it difficult to entertain any belief that seemed to conflict with their dominating concept of Yahweh. And the early Christians inherited the Hebraic prejudice against the Trinity concept.
104:1.11 (1144.8) The first Trinity of Christianity was proclaimed at Antioch and consisted of God, his Word, and his Wisdom. Paul knew of the Paradise Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit, but he seldom preached about it and made mention thereof in only a few of his letters to the newly forming churches. Even then, as did his fellow apostles, Paul confused Jesus, the Creator Son of the local universe, with the Second Person of Deity, the Eternal Son of Paradise.
104:1.12 (1144.9) The Christian concept of the Trinity, which began to gain recognition near the close of the first century after Christ, was comprised of the Universal Father, the Creator Son of Nebadon, and the Divine Minister of Salvington — Mother Spirit of the local universe and creative consort of the Creator Son.
104:1.13 (1145.1) Not since the times of Jesus has the factual identity of the Paradise Trinity been known on Urantia (except by a few individuals to whom it was especially revealed) until its presentation in these revelatory disclosures. But though the Christian concept of the Trinity erred in fact, it was practically true with respect to spiritual relationships. Only in its philosophic implications and cosmological consequences did this concept suffer embarrassment: It has been difficult for many who are cosmic minded to believe that the Second Person of Deity, the second member of an infinite Trinity, once dwelt on Urantia; and while in spirit this is true, in actuality it is not a fact. The Michael Creators fully embody the divinity of the Eternal Son, but they are not the absolute personality.
2. Trinity Unity and Deity Plurality
104:2.1 (1145.2) Monotheism arose as a philosophic protest against the inconsistency of polytheism. It developed first through pantheon organizations with the departmentalization of supernatural activities, then through the henotheistic exaltation of one god above the many, and finally through the exclusion of all but the One God of final value.
104:2.2 (1145.3) Trinitarianism grows out of the experiential protest against the impossibility of conceiving the oneness of a deanthropomorphized solitary Deity of unrelated universe significance. Given a sufficient time, philosophy tends to abstract the personal qualities from the Deity concept of pure monotheism, thus reducing this idea of an unrelated God to the status of a pantheistic Absolute. It has always been difficult to understand the personal nature of a God who has no personal relationships in equality with other and co-ordinate personal beings. Personality in Deity demands that such Deity exist in relation to other and equal personal Deity.
104:2.3 (1145.4) Through the recognition of the Trinity concept the mind of man can hope to grasp something of the interrelationship of love and law in the time-space creations. Through spiritual faith man gains insight into the love of God but soon discovers that this spiritual faith has no influence on the ordained laws of the material universe. Irrespective of the firmness of man’s belief in God as his Paradise Father, expanding cosmic horizons demand that he also give recognition to the reality of Paradise Deity as universal law, that he recognize the Trinity sovereignty extending outward from Paradise and overshadowing even the evolving local universes of the Creator Sons and Creative Daughters of the three eternal persons whose deity union is the fact and reality and eternal indivisibility of the Paradise Trinity.
104:2.4 (1145.5) And this selfsame Paradise Trinity is a real entity — not a personality but nonetheless a true and absolute reality; not a personality but nonetheless compatible with coexistent personalities — the personalities of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Trinity is a supersummative Deity reality eventuating out of the conjoining of the three Paradise Deities. The qualities, characteristics, and functions of the Trinity are not the simple sum of the attributes of the three Paradise Deities; Trinity functions are something unique, original, and not wholly predictable from an analysis of the attributes of Father, Son, and Spirit.
104:2.5 (1146.1) For example: The Master, when on earth, admonished his followers that justice is never a personal act; it is always a group function. Neither do the Gods, as persons, administer justice. But they perform this very function as a collective whole, as the Paradise Trinity.
104:2.6 (1146.2) The conceptual grasp of the Trinity association of Father, Son, and Spirit prepares the human mind for the further presentation of certain other threefold relationships. Theological reason may be fully satisfied by the concept of the Paradise Trinity, but philosophical and cosmological reason demand the recognition of the other triune associations of the First Source and Center, those triunities in which the Infinite functions in various non-Father capacities of universal manifestation — the relationships of the God of force, energy, power, causation, reaction, potentiality, actuality, gravity, tension, pattern, principle, and unity.
3. Trinities and Triunities
104:3.1 (1146.3) While mankind has sometimes grasped at an understanding of the Trinity of the three persons of Deity, consistency demands that the human intellect perceive that there are certain relationships between all seven Absolutes. But all that which is true of the Paradise Trinity is not necessarily true of a triunity, for a triunity is something other than a trinity. In certain functional aspects a triunity may be analogous to a trinity, but it is never homologous in nature with a trinity.
104:3.2 (1146.4) Mortal man is passing through a great age of expanding horizons and enlarging concepts on Urantia, and his cosmic philosophy must accelerate in evolution to keep pace with the expansion of the intellectual arena of human thought. As the cosmic consciousness of mortal man expands, he perceives the interrelatedness of all that he finds in his material science, intellectual philosophy, and spiritual insight. Still, with all this belief in the unity of the cosmos, man perceives the diversity of all existence. In spite of all concepts concerning the immutability of Deity, man perceives that he lives in a universe of constant change and experiential growth. Regardless of the realization of the survival of spiritual values, man has ever to reckon with the mathematics and premathematics of force, energy, and power.
104:3.3 (1146.5) In some manner the eternal repleteness of infinity must be reconciled with the time-growth of the evolving universes and with the incompleteness of the experiential inhabitants thereof. In some way the conception of total infinitude must be so segmented and qualified that the mortal intellect and the morontia soul can grasp this concept of final value and spiritualizing significance.
104:3.4 (1146.6) While reason demands a monotheistic unity of cosmic reality, finite experience requires the postulate of plural Absolutes and of their co-ordination in cosmic relationships. Without co-ordinate existences there is no possibility for the appearance of diversity of absolute relationships, no chance for the operation of differentials, variables, modifiers, attenuators, qualifiers, or diminishers.
104:3.5 (1146.7) In these papers total reality (infinity) has been presented as it exists in the seven Absolutes:
104:3.6 (1146.8) 1. The Universal Father.
104:3.7 (1146.9) 2. The Eternal Son.
104:3.8 (1146.10) 3. The Infinite Spirit.
104:3.9 (1147.1) 4. The Isle of Paradise.
104:3.10 (1147.2) 5. The Deity Absolute.
104:3.11 (1147.3) 6. The Universal Absolute.
104:3.12 (1147.4) 7. The Unqualified Absolute.
104:3.13 (1147.5) The First Source and Center, who is Father to the Eternal Son, is also Pattern to the Paradise Isle. He is personality unqualified in the Son but personality potentialized in the Deity Absolute. The Father is energy revealed in Paradise-Havona and at the same time energy concealed in the Unqualified Absolute. The Infinite is ever disclosed in the ceaseless acts of the Conjoint Actor while he is eternally functioning in the compensating but enshrouded activities of the Universal Absolute. Thus is the Father related to the six co-ordinate Absolutes, and thus do all seven encompass the circle of infinity throughout the endless cycles of eternity.
104:3.14 (1147.6) It would seem that triunity of absolute relationships is inevitable. Personality seeks other personality association on absolute as well as on all other levels. And the association of the three Paradise personalities eternalizes the first triunity, the personality union of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. For when these three persons, as persons, conjoin for united function, they thereby constitute a triunity of functional unity, not a trinity — an organic entity — but nonetheless a triunity, a threefold functional aggregate unanimity.
104:3.15 (1147.7) The Paradise Trinity is not a triunity; it is not a functional unanimity; rather is it undivided and indivisible Deity. The Father, Son, and Spirit (as persons) can sustain a relationship to the Paradise Trinity, for the Trinity is their undivided Deity. The Father, Son, and Spirit sustain no such personal relationship to the first triunity, for that is their functional union as three persons. Only as the Trinity — as undivided Deity — do they collectively sustain an external relationship to the triunity of their personal aggregation.
104:3.16 (1147.8) Thus does the Paradise Trinity stand unique among absolute relationships; there are several existential triunities but only one existential Trinity. A triunity is not an entity. It is functional rather than organic. Its members are partners rather than corporative. The components of the triunities may be entities, but a triunity itself is an association.
104:3.17 (1147.9) There is, however, one point of comparison between trinity and triunity: Both eventuate in functions that are something other than the discernible sum of the attributes of the component members. But while they are thus comparable from a functional standpoint, they otherwise exhibit no categorical relationship. They are roughly related as the relation of function to structure. But the function of the triunity association is not the function of the trinity structure or entity.
104:3.18 (1147.10) The triunities are nonetheless real; they are very real. In them is total reality functionalized, and through them does the Universal Father exercise immediate and personal control over the master functions of infinity.
4. The Seven Triunities
104:4.1 (1147.11) In attempting the description of seven triunities, attention is directed to the fact that the Universal Father is the primal member of each. He is, was, and ever will be: the First Universal Father-Source, Absolute Center, Primal Cause, Universal Controller, Limitless Energizer, Original Unity, Unqualified Upholder, First Person of Deity, Primal Cosmic Pattern, and Essence of Infinity. The Universal Father is the personal cause of the Absolutes; he is the absolute of Absolutes.
104:4.2 (1148.1) The nature and meaning of the seven triunities may be suggested as:
104:4.3 (1148.2) The First Triunity — the personal-purposive triunity. This is the grouping of the three Deity personalities:
104:4.4 (1148.3) 1. The Universal Father.
104:4.5 (1148.4) 2. The Eternal Son.
104:4.6 (1148.5) 3. The Infinite Spirit.
104:4.7 (1148.6) This is the threefold union of love, mercy, and ministry — the purposive and personal association of the three eternal Paradise personalities. This is the divinely fraternal, creature-loving, fatherly-acting, and ascension-promoting association. The divine personalities of this first triunity are personality-bequeathing, spirit-bestowing, and mind-endowing Gods.
104:4.8 (1148.7) This is the triunity of infinite volition; it acts throughout the eternal present and in all of the past-present-future flow of time. This association yields volitional infinity and provides the mechanisms whereby personal Deity becomes self-revelatory to the creatures of the evolving cosmos.
104:4.9 (1148.8) The Second Triunity — the power-pattern triunity. Whether it be a tiny ultimaton, a blazing star, or a whirling nebula, even the central or superuniverses, from the smallest to the largest material organizations, always is the physical pattern — the cosmic configuration — derived from the function of this triunity. This association consists of:
104:4.10 (1148.9) 1. The Father-Son.
104:4.11 (1148.10) 2. The Paradise Isle.
104:4.12 (1148.11) 3. The Conjoint Actor.
104:4.13 (1148.12) Energy is organized by the cosmic agents of the Third Source and Center; energy is fashioned after the pattern of Paradise, the absolute materialization; but behind all of this ceaseless manipulation is the presence of the Father-Son, whose union first activated the Paradise pattern in the appearance of Havona concomitant with the birth of the Infinite Spirit, the Conjoint Actor.
104:4.14 (1148.13) In religious experience, creatures make contact with the God who is love, but such spiritual insight must never eclipse the intelligent recognition of the universe fact of the pattern which is Paradise. The Paradise personalities enlist the freewill adoration of all creatures by the compelling power of divine love and lead all such spirit-born personalities into the supernal delights of the unending service of the finaliter sons of God. The second triunity is the architect of the space stage whereon these transactions unfold; it determines the patterns of cosmic configuration.
104:4.15 (1148.14) Love may characterize the divinity of the first triunity, but pattern is the galactic manifestation of the second triunity. What the first triunity is to evolving personalities, the second triunity is to the evolving universes. Pattern and personality are two of the great manifestations of the acts of the First Source and Center; and no matter how difficult it may be to comprehend, it is nonetheless true that the power-pattern and the loving person are one and the same universal reality; the Paradise Isle and the Eternal Son are co-ordinate but antipodal revelations of the unfathomable nature of the Universal Father-Force.
104:4.16 (1149.1) The Third Triunity — the spirit-evolutional triunity. The entirety of spiritual manifestation has its beginning and end in this association, consisting of:
104:4.17 (1149.2) 1. The Universal Father.
104:4.18 (1149.3) 2. The Son-Spirit.
104:4.19 (1149.4) 3. The Deity Absolute.
104:4.20 (1149.5) From spirit potency to Paradise spirit, all spirit finds reality expression in this triune association of the pure spirit essence of the Father, the active spirit values of the Son-Spirit, and the unlimited spirit potentials of the Deity Absolute. The existential values of spirit have their primordial genesis, complete manifestation, and final destiny in this triunity.
104:4.21 (1149.6) The Father exists before spirit; the Son-Spirit functions as active creative spirit; the Deity Absolute exists as all-encompassing spirit, even beyond spirit.
104:4.22 (1149.7) The Fourth Triunity — the triunity of energy infinity. Within this triunity there eternalizes the beginnings and the endings of all energy reality, from space potency to monota. This grouping embraces the following:
104:4.23 (1149.8) 1. The Father-Spirit.
104:4.24 (1149.9) 2. The Paradise Isle.
104:4.25 (1149.10) 3. The Unqualified Absolute.
104:4.26 (1149.11) Paradise is the center of the force-energy activation of the cosmos — the universe position of the First Source and Center, the cosmic focal point of the Unqualified Absolute, and the source of all energy. Existentially present within this triunity is the energy potential of the cosmos-infinite, of which the grand universe and the master universe are only partial manifestations.
104:4.27 (1149.12) The fourth triunity absolutely controls the fundamental units of cosmic energy and releases them from the grasp of the Unqualified Absolute in direct proportion to the appearance in the experiential Deities of subabsolute capacity to control and stabilize the metamorphosing cosmos.
104:4.28 (1149.13) This triunity is force and energy. The endless possibilities of the Unqualified Absolute are centered around the absolutum of the Isle of Paradise, whence emanate the unimaginable agitations of the otherwise static quiescence of the Unqualified. And the endless throbbing of the material Paradise heart of the infinite cosmos beats in harmony with the unfathomable pattern and the unsearchable plan of the Infinite Energizer, the First Source and Center.
104:4.29 (1149.14) The Fifth Triunity — the triunity of reactive infinity. This association consists of:
104:4.30 (1149.15) 1. The Universal Father.
104:4.31 (1149.16) 2. The Universal Absolute.
104:4.32 (1149.17) 3. The Unqualified Absolute.
104:4.33 (1149.18) This grouping yields the eternalization of the functional infinity realization of all that is actualizable within the domains of nondeity reality. This triunity manifests unlimited reactive capacity to the volitional, causative, tensional, and patternal actions and presences of the other triunities.
104:4.34 (1150.1) The Sixth Triunity — the triunity of cosmic-associated Deity. This grouping consists of:
104:4.35 (1150.2) 1. The Universal Father.
104:4.36 (1150.3) 2. The Deity Absolute.
104:4.37 (1150.4) 3. The Universal Absolute.
104:4.38 (1150.5) This is the association of Deity-in-the-cosmos, the immanence of Deity in conjunction with the transcendence of Deity. This is the last outreach of divinity on the levels of infinity toward those realities which lie outside the domain of deified reality.
104:4.39 (1150.6) The Seventh Triunity — the triunity of infinite unity. This is the unity of infinity functionally manifest in time and eternity, the co-ordinate unification of actuals and potentials. This group consists of:
104:4.40 (1150.7) 1. The Universal Father.
104:4.41 (1150.8) 2. The Conjoint Actor.
104:4.42 (1150.9) 3. The Universal Absolute.
104:4.43 (1150.10) The Conjoint Actor universally integrates the varying functional aspects of all actualized reality on all levels of manifestation, from finites through transcendentals and on to absolutes. The Universal Absolute perfectly compensates the differentials inherent in the varying aspects of all incomplete reality, from the limitless potentialities of active-volitional and causative Deity reality to the boundless possibilities of static, reactive, nondeity reality in the incomprehensible domains of the Unqualified Absolute.
104:4.44 (1150.11) As they function in this triunity, the Conjoint Actor and the Universal Absolute are alike responsive to Deity and to nondeity presences, as also is the First Source and Center, who in this relationship is to all intents and purposes conceptually indistinguishable from the I AM.
104:4.45 (1150.12) These approximations are sufficient to elucidate the concept of the triunities. Not knowing the ultimate level of the triunities, you cannot fully comprehend the first seven. While we do not deem it wise to attempt any further elaboration, we may state that there are fifteen triune associations of the First Source and Center, eight of which are unrevealed in these papers. These unrevealed associations are concerned with realities, actualities, and potentialities which are beyond the experiential level of supremacy.
104:4.46 (1150.13) The triunities are the functional balance wheel of infinity, the unification of the uniqueness of the Seven Infinity Absolutes. It is the existential presence of the triunities that enables the Father-I AM to experience functional infinity unity despite the diversification of infinity into seven Absolutes. The First Source and Center is the unifying member of all triunities; in him all things have their unqualified beginnings, eternal existences, and infinite destinies — “in him all things consist.”
104:4.47 (1150.14) Although these associations cannot augment the infinity of the Father-I AM, they do appear to make possible the subinfinite and subabsolute manifestations of his reality. The seven triunities multiply versatility, eternalize new depths, deitize new values, disclose new potentialities, reveal new meanings; and all these diversified manifestations in time and space and in the eternal cosmos are existent in the hypothetical stasis of the original infinity of the I AM.
5. Triodities
104:5.1 (1151.1) There are certain other triune relationships which are non-Father in constitution, but they are not real triunities, and they are always distinguished from the Father triunities. They are called variously, associate triunities, co-ordinate triunities, and triodities. They are consequential to the existence of the triunities. Two of these associations are constituted as follows:
104:5.2 (1151.2) The Triodity of Actuality. This triodity consists in the interrelationship of the three absolute actuals:
104:5.3 (1151.3) 1. The Eternal Son.
104:5.4 (1151.4) 2. The Paradise Isle.
104:5.5 (1151.5) 3. The Conjoint Actor.
104:5.6 (1151.6) The Eternal Son is the absolute of spirit reality, the absolute personality. The Paradise Isle is the absolute of cosmic reality, the absolute pattern. The Conjoint Actor is the absolute of mind reality, the co-ordinate of absolute spirit reality, and the existential Deity synthesis of personality and power. This triune association eventuates the co-ordination of the sum total of actualized reality — spirit, cosmic, or mindal. It is unqualified in actuality.
104:5.7 (1151.7) The Triodity of Potentiality. This triodity consists in the association of the three Absolutes of potentiality:
104:5.8 (1151.8) 1. The Deity Absolute.
104:5.9 (1151.9) 2. The Universal Absolute.
104:5.10 (1151.10) 3. The Unqualified Absolute.
104:5.11 (1151.11) Thus are interassociated the infinity reservoirs of all latent energy reality — spirit, mindal, or cosmic. This association yields the integration of all latent energy reality. It is infinite in potential.
104:5.12 (1151.12) As the triunities are primarily concerned with the functional unification of infinity, so are triodities involved in the cosmic appearance of experiential Deities. The triunities are indirectly concerned, but the triodities are directly concerned, in the experiential Deities — Supreme, Ultimate, and Absolute. They appear in the emerging power-personality synthesis of the Supreme Being. And to the time creatures of space the Supreme Being is a revelation of the unity of the I AM.
104:5.13 (1151.13) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
105:0.1 (1152.1) TO EVEN high orders of universe intelligences infinity is only partially comprehensible, and the finality of reality is only relatively understandable. The human mind, as it seeks to penetrate the eternity-mystery of the origin and destiny of all that is called real, may helpfully approach the problem by conceiving eternity-infinity as an almost limitless ellipse which is produced by one absolute cause, and which functions throughout this universal circle of endless diversification, ever seeking some absolute and infinite potential of destiny.
105:0.2 (1152.2) When the mortal intellect attempts to grasp the concept of reality totality, such a finite mind is face to face with infinity-reality; reality totality is infinity and therefore can never be fully comprehended by any mind that is subinfinite in concept capacity.
105:0.3 (1152.3) The human mind can hardly form an adequate concept of eternity existences, and without such comprehension it is impossible to portray even our concepts of reality totality. Nevertheless, we may attempt such a presentation, although we are fully aware that our concepts must be subjected to profound distortion in the process of translation-modification to the comprehension level of mortal mind.
1. The Philosophic Concept of the I AM
105:1.1 (1152.4) Absolute primal causation in infinity the philosophers of the universes attribute to the Universal Father functioning as the infinite, the eternal, and the absolute I AM.
105:1.2 (1152.5) There are many elements of danger attendant upon the presentation to the mortal intellect of this idea of an infinite I AM since this concept is so remote from human experiential understanding as to involve serious distortion of meanings and misconception of values. Nevertheless, the philosophic concept of the I AM does afford finite beings some basis for an attempted approach to the partial comprehension of absolute origins and infinite destinies. But in all our attempts to elucidate the genesis and fruition of reality, let it be made clear that this concept of the I AM is, in all personality meanings and values, synonymous with the First Person of Deity, the Universal Father of all personalities. But this postulate of the I AM is not so clearly identifiable in undeified realms of universal reality.
105:1.3 (1152.6) The I AM is the Infinite; the I AM is also infinity. From the sequential, time viewpoint, all reality has its origin in the infinite I AM, whose solitary existence in past infinite eternity must be a finite creature’s premier philosophic postulate. The concept of the I AM connotes unqualified infinity, the undifferentiated reality of all that could ever be in all of an infinite eternity.
105:1.4 (1153.1) As an existential concept the I AM is neither deified nor undeified, neither actual nor potential, neither personal nor impersonal, neither static nor dynamic. No qualification can be applied to the Infinite except to state that the I AM is. The philosophic postulate of the I AM is one universe concept which is somewhat more difficult of comprehension than that of the Unqualified Absolute.
105:1.5 (1153.2) To the finite mind there simply must be a beginning, and though there never was a real beginning to reality, still there are certain source relationships which reality manifests to infinity. The prereality, primordial, eternity situation may be thought of something like this: At some infinitely distant, hypothetical, past-eternity moment, the I AM may be conceived as both thing and no thing, as both cause and effect, as both volition and response. At this hypothetical eternity moment there is no differentiation throughout all infinity. Infinity is filled by the Infinite; the Infinite encompasses infinity. This is the hypothetical static moment of eternity; actuals are still contained within their potentials, and potentials have not yet appeared within the infinity of the I AM. But even in this conjectured situation we must assume the existence of the possibility of self-will.
105:1.6 (1153.3) Ever remember that man’s comprehension of the Universal Father is a personal experience. God, as your spiritual Father, is comprehensible to you and to all other mortals; but your experiential worshipful concept of the Universal Father must always be less than your philosophic postulate of the infinity of the First Source and Center, the I AM. When we speak of the Father, we mean God as he is understandable by his creatures both high and low, but there is much more of Deity which is not comprehensible to universe creatures. God, your Father and my Father, is that phase of the Infinite which we perceive in our personalities as an actual experiential reality, but the I AM ever remains as our hypothesis of all that we feel is unknowable of the First Source and Center. And even that hypothesis probably falls far short of the unfathomed infinity of original reality.
105:1.7 (1153.4) The universe of universes, with its innumerable host of inhabiting personalities, is a vast and complex organism, but the First Source and Center is infinitely more complex than the universes and personalities which have become real in response to his willful mandates. When you stand in awe of the magnitude of the master universe, pause to consider that even this inconceivable creation can be no more than a partial revelation of the Infinite.
105:1.8 (1153.5) Infinity is indeed remote from the experience level of mortal comprehension, but even in this age on Urantia your concepts of infinity are growing, and they will continue to grow throughout your endless careers stretching onward into future eternity. Unqualified infinity is meaningless to the finite creature, but infinity is capable of self-limitation and is susceptible of reality expression to all levels of universe existences. And the face which the Infinite turns toward all universe personalities is the face of a Father, the Universal Father of love.
2. The I AM as Triune and as Sevenfold
105:2.1 (1153.6) In considering the genesis of reality, ever bear in mind that all absolute reality is from eternity and is without beginning of existence. By absolute reality we refer to the three existential persons of Deity, the Isle of Paradise, and the three Absolutes. These seven realities are co-ordinately eternal, notwithstanding that we resort to time-space language in presenting their sequential origins to human beings.
105:2.2 (1154.1) In following the chronological portrayal of the origins of reality, there must be a postulated theoretical moment of “first” volitional expression and “first” repercussional reaction within the I AM. In our attempts to portray the genesis and generation of reality, this stage may be conceived as the self-differentiation of The Infinite One from The Infinitude, but the postulation of this dual relationship must always be expanded to a triune conception by the recognition of the eternal continuum of The Infinity, the I AM.
105:2.3 (1154.2) This self-metamorphosis of the I AM culminates in the multiple differentiation of deified reality and of undeified reality, of potential and actual reality, and of certain other realities that can hardly be so classified. These differentiations of the theoretical monistic I AM are eternally integrated by simultaneous relationships arising within the same I AM — the prepotential, preactual, prepersonal, monothetic prereality which, though infinite, is revealed as absolute in the presence of the First Source and Center and as personality in the limitless love of the Universal Father.
105:2.4 (1154.3) By these internal metamorphoses the I AM is establishing the basis for a sevenfold self-relationship. The philosophic (time) concept of the solitary I AM and the transitional (time) concept of the I AM as triune can now be enlarged to encompass the I AM as sevenfold. This sevenfold — or seven phase — nature may be best suggested in relation to the Seven Absolutes of Infinity:
105:2.5 (1154.4) 1. The Universal Father. I AM father of the Eternal Son. This is the primal personality relationship of actualities. The absolute personality of the Son makes absolute the fact of God’s fatherhood and establishes the potential sonship of all personalities. This relationship establishes the personality of the Infinite and consummates its spiritual revelation in the personality of the Original Son. This phase of the I AM is partially experiencible on spiritual levels even by mortals who, while yet in the flesh, may worship our Father.
105:2.6 (1154.5) 2. The Universal Controller. I AM cause of eternal Paradise. This is the primal impersonal relationship of actualities, the original nonspiritual association. The Universal Father is God-as-love; the Universal Controller is God-as-pattern. This relationship establishes the potential of form — configuration — and determines the master pattern of impersonal and nonspiritual relationship — the master pattern from which all copies are made.
105:2.7 (1154.6) 3. The Universal Creator. I AM one with the Eternal Son. This union of the Father and the Son (in the presence of Paradise) initiates the creative cycle, which is consummated in the appearance of conjoint personality and the eternal universe. From the finite mortal’s viewpoint, reality has its true beginnings with the eternity appearance of the Havona creation. This creative act of Deity is by and through the God of Action, who is in essence the unity of the Father-Son manifested on and to all levels of the actual. Therefore is divine creativity unfailingly characterized by unity, and this unity is the outward reflection of the absolute oneness of the duality of the Father-Son and of the Trinity of the Father-Son-Spirit.
105:2.8 (1155.1) 4. The Infinite Upholder. I AM self-associative. This is the primordial association of the statics and potentials of reality. In this relationship, all qualifieds and unqualifieds are compensated. This phase of the I AM is best understood as the Universal Absolute — the unifier of the Deity and the Unqualified Absolutes.
105:2.9 (1155.2) 5. The Infinite Potential. I AM self-qualified. This is the infinity bench mark bearing eternal witness to the volitional self-limitation of the I AM by virtue of which there was achieved threefold self-expression and self-revelation. This phase of the I AM is usually understood as the Deity Absolute.
105:2.10 (1155.3) 6. The Infinite Capacity. I AM static-reactive. This is the endless matrix, the possibility for all future cosmic expansion. This phase of the I AM is perhaps best conceived as the supergravity presence of the Unqualified Absolute.
105:2.11 (1155.4) 7. The Universal One of Infinity. I AM as I AM. This is the stasis or self-relationship of Infinity, the eternal fact of infinity-reality and the universal truth of reality-infinity. In so far as this relationship is discernible as personality, it is revealed to the universes in the divine Father of all personality — even of absolute personality. In so far as this relationship is impersonally expressible, it is contacted by the universe as the absolute coherence of pure energy and of pure spirit in the presence of the Universal Father. In so far as this relationship is conceivable as an absolute, it is revealed in the primacy of the First Source and Center; in him we all live and move and have our being, from the creatures of space to the citizens of Paradise; and this is just as true of the master universe as of the infinitesimal ultimaton, just as true of what is to be as of that which is and of what has been.
3. The Seven Absolutes of Infinity
105:3.1 (1155.5) The seven prime relationships within the I AM eternalize as the Seven Absolutes of Infinity. But though we may portray reality origins and infinity differentiation by a sequential narrative, in fact all seven Absolutes are unqualifiedly and co-ordinately eternal. It may be necessary for mortal minds to conceive of their beginnings, but always should this conception be overshadowed by the realization that the seven Absolutes had no beginning; they are eternal and as such have always been. The seven Absolutes are the premise of reality. They have been described in these papers as follows:
105:3.2 (1155.6) 1. The First Source and Center. First Person of Deity and primal nondeity pattern, God, the Universal Father, creator, controller, and upholder; universal love, eternal spirit, and infinite energy; potential of all potentials and source of all actuals; stability of all statics and dynamism of all change; source of pattern and Father of persons. Collectively, all seven Absolutes equivalate to infinity, but the Universal Father himself actually is infinite.
105:3.3 (1155.7) 2. The Second Source and Center. Second Person of Deity, the Eternal and Original Son; the absolute personality realities of the I AM and the basis for the realization-revelation of “I AM personality.” No personality can hope to attain the Universal Father except through his Eternal Son; neither can personality attain to spirit levels of existence apart from the action and aid of this absolute pattern for all personalities. In the Second Source and Center spirit is unqualified while personality is absolute.
105:3.4 (1156.1) 3. The Paradise Source and Center. Second nondeity pattern, the eternal Isle of Paradise; the basis for the realization-revelation of “I AM force” and the foundation for the establishment of gravity control throughout the universes. Regarding all actualized, nonspiritual, impersonal, and nonvolitional reality, Paradise is the absolute of patterns. Just as spirit energy is related to the Universal Father through the absolute personality of the Mother-Son, so is all cosmic energy grasped in the gravity control of the First Source and Center through the absolute pattern of the Paradise Isle. Paradise is not in space; space exists relative to Paradise, and the chronicity of motion is determined through Paradise relationship. The eternal Isle is absolutely at rest; all other organized and organizing energy is in eternal motion; in all space, only the presence of the Unqualified Absolute is quiescent, and the Unqualified is co-ordinate with Paradise. Paradise exists at the focus of space, the Unqualified pervades it, and all relative existence has its being within this domain.
105:3.5 (1156.2) 4. The Third Source and Center. Third Person of Deity, the Conjoint Actor; infinite integrator of Paradise cosmic energies with the spirit energies of the Eternal Son; perfect co-ordinator of the motives of will and the mechanics of force; unifier of all actual and actualizing reality. Through the ministrations of his manifold children the Infinite Spirit reveals the mercy of the Eternal Son while at the same time functioning as the infinite manipulator, forever weaving the pattern of Paradise into the energies of space. This selfsame Conjoint Actor, this God of Action, is the perfect expression of the limitless plans and purposes of the Father-Son while functioning himself as the source of mind and the bestower of intellect upon the creatures of a far-flung cosmos.
105:3.6 (1156.3) 5. The Deity Absolute. The causational, potentially personal possibilities of universal reality, the totality of all Deity potential. The Deity Absolute is the purposive qualifier of the unqualified, absolute, and nondeity realities. The Deity Absolute is the qualifier of the absolute and the absolutizer of the qualified — the destiny inceptor.
105:3.7 (1156.4) 6. The Unqualified Absolute. Static, reactive, and abeyant; the unrevealed cosmic infinity of the I AM; totality of nondeified reality and finality of all nonpersonal potential. Space limits the function of the Unqualified, but the presence of the Unqualified is without limit, infinite. There is a concept periphery to the master universe, but the presence of the Unqualified is limitless; even eternity cannot exhaust the boundless quiescence of this nondeity Absolute.
105:3.8 (1156.5) 7. The Universal Absolute. Unifier of the deified and the undeified; correlator of the absolute and the relative. The Universal Absolute (being static, potential, and associative) compensates the tension between the ever-existent and the uncompleted.
105:3.9 (1156.6) The Seven Absolutes of Infinity constitute the beginnings of reality. As mortal minds would regard it, the First Source and Center would appear to be antecedent to all absolutes. But such a postulate, however helpful, is invalidated by the eternity coexistence of the Son, the Spirit, the three Absolutes, and the Paradise Isle.
105:3.10 (1157.1) It is a truth that the Absolutes are manifestations of the I AM-First Source and Center; it is a fact that these Absolutes never had a beginning but are co-ordinate eternals with the First Source and Center. The relationships of absolutes in eternity cannot always be presented without involving paradoxes in the language of time and in the concept patterns of space. But regardless of any confusion concerning the origin of the Seven Absolutes of Infinity, it is both fact and truth that all reality is predicated upon their eternity existence and infinity relationships.
4. Unity, Duality, and Triunity
105:4.1 (1157.2) The universe philosophers postulate the eternity existence of the I AM as the primal source of all reality. And concomitant therewith they postulate the self-segmentation of the I AM into the primary self-relationships — the seven phases of infinity. And simultaneous with this assumption is the third postulate — the eternity appearance of the Seven Absolutes of Infinity and the eternalization of the duality association of the seven phases of the I AM and these seven Absolutes.
105:4.2 (1157.3) The self-revelation of the I AM thus proceeds from static self through self-segmentation and self-relationship to absolute relationships, relationships with self-derived Absolutes. Duality becomes thus existent in the eternal association of the Seven Absolutes of Infinity with the sevenfold infinity of the self-segmented phases of the self-revealing I AM. These dual relationships, eternalizing to the universes as the seven Absolutes, eternalize the basic foundations for all universe reality.
105:4.3 (1157.4) It has been sometime stated that unity begets duality, that duality begets triunity, and that triunity is the eternal ancestor of all things. There are, indeed, three great classes of primordial relationships, and they are:
105:4.4 (1157.5) 1. Unity relationships. Relations existent within the I AM as the unity thereof is conceived as a threefold and then as a sevenfold self-differentiation.
105:4.5 (1157.6) 2. Duality relationships. Relations existent between the I AM as sevenfold and the Seven Absolutes of Infinity.
105:4.6 (1157.7) 3. Triunity relationships. These are the functional associations of the Seven Absolutes of Infinity.
105:4.7 (1157.8) Triunity relationships arise upon duality foundations because of the inevitability of Absolute interassociation. Such triunity associations eternalize the potential of all reality; they encompass both deified and undeified reality.
105:4.8 (1157.9) The I AM is unqualified infinity as unity. The dualities eternalize reality foundations. The triunities eventuate the realization of infinity as universal function.
105:4.9 (1157.10) Pre-existentials become existential in the seven Absolutes, and existentials become functional in the triunities, the basic association of Absolutes. And concomitant with the eternalization of the triunities the universe stage is set — the potentials are existent and the actuals are present — and the fullness of eternity witnesses the diversification of cosmic energy, the outspreading of Paradise spirit, and the endowment of mind together with the bestowal of personality, by virtue of which all of these Deity and Paradise derivatives are unified in experience on the creature level and by other techniques on the supercreature level.
5. Promulgation of Finite Reality
105:5.1 (1158.1) Just as the original diversification of the I AM must be attributed to inherent and self-contained volition, so must the promulgation of finite reality be ascribed to the volitional acts of Paradise Deity and to the repercussional adjustments of the functional triunities.
105:5.2 (1158.2) Prior to the deitization of the finite, it would appear that all reality diversification took place on absolute levels; but the volitional act promulgating finite reality connotes a qualification of absoluteness and implies the appearance of relativities.
105:5.3 (1158.3) While we present this narrative as a sequence and portray the historic appearance of the finite as a direct derivative of the absolute, it should be borne in mind that transcendentals both preceded and succeeded all that is finite. Transcendental ultimates are, in relation to the finite, both causal and consummational.
105:5.4 (1158.4) Finite possibility is inherent in the Infinite, but the transmutation of possibility to probability and inevitability must be attributed to the self-existent free will of the First Source and Center, activating all triunity associations. Only the infinity of the Father’s will could ever have so qualified the absolute level of existence as to eventuate an ultimate or to create a finite.
105:5.5 (1158.5) With the appearance of relative and qualified reality there comes into being a new cycle of reality — the growth cycle — a majestic downsweep from the heights of infinity to the domain of the finite, forever swinging inward to Paradise and Deity, always seeking those high destinies commensurate with an infinity source.
105:5.6 (1158.6) These inconceivable transactions mark the beginning of universe history, mark the coming into existence of time itself. To a creature, the beginning of the finite is the genesis of reality; as viewed by creature mind, there is no actuality conceivable prior to the finite. This newly appearing finite reality exists in two original phases:
105:5.7 (1158.7) 1. Primary maximums, the supremely perfect reality, the Havona type of universe and creature.
105:5.8 (1158.8) 2. Secondary maximums, the supremely perfected reality, the superuniverse type of creature and creation.
105:5.9 (1158.9) These, then, are the two original manifestations: the constitutively perfect and the evolutionally perfected. The two are co-ordinate in eternity relationships, but within the limits of time they are seemingly different. A time factor means growth to that which grows; secondary finites grow; hence those that are growing must appear as incomplete in time. But these differences, which are so important this side of Paradise, are nonexistent in eternity.
105:5.10 (1158.10) We speak of the perfect and the perfected as primary and secondary maximums, but there is still another type: Trinitizing and other relationships between the primaries and the secondaries result in the appearance of tertiary maximums — things, meanings, and values that are neither perfect nor perfected yet are co-ordinate with both ancestral factors.
6. Repercussions of Finite Reality
105:6.1 (1159.1) The entire promulgation of finite existences represents a transference from potentials to actuals within the absolute associations of functional infinity. Of the many repercussions to creative actualization of the finite, there may be cited:
105:6.2 (1159.2) 1. The deity response, the appearance of the three levels of experiential supremacy: the actuality of personal-spirit supremacy in Havona, the potential for personal-power supremacy in the grand universe to be, and the capacity for some unknown function of experiential mind acting on some level of supremacy in the future master universe.
105:6.3 (1159.3) 2. The universe response involved an activation of the architectural plans for the superuniverse space level, and this evolution is still progressing throughout the physical organization of the seven superuniverses.
105:6.4 (1159.4) 3. The creature repercussion to finite-reality promulgation resulted in the appearance of perfect beings on the order of the eternal inhabitants of Havona and of perfected evolutionary ascenders from the seven superuniverses. But to attain perfection as an evolutionary (time-creative) experience implies something other-than-perfection as a point of departure. Thus arises imperfection in the evolutionary creations. And this is the origin of potential evil. Misadaptation, disharmony, and conflict, all these things are inherent in evolutionary growth, from physical universes to personal creatures.
105:6.5 (1159.5) 4. The divinity response to the imperfection inherent in the time lag of evolution is disclosed in the compensating presence of God the Sevenfold, by whose activities that which is perfecting is integrated with both the perfect and the perfected. This time lag is inseparable from evolution, which is creativity in time. Because of it, as well as for other reasons, the almighty power of the Supreme is predicated on the divinity successes of God the Sevenfold. This time lag makes possible creature participation in divine creation by permitting creature personalities to become partners with Deity in the attainment of maximum development. Even the material mind of the mortal creature thus becomes partner with the divine Adjuster in the dualization of the immortal soul. God the Sevenfold also provides techniques of compensation for the experiential limitations of inherent perfection as well as compensating the preascension limitations of imperfection.
7. Eventuation of Transcendentals
105:7.1 (1159.6) Transcendentals are subinfinite and subabsolute but superfinite and supercreatural. Transcendentals eventuate as an integrating level correlating the supervalues of absolutes with the maximum values of finites. From the creature standpoint, that which is transcendental would appear to have eventuated as a consequence of the finite; from the eternity viewpoint, in anticipation of the finite; and there are those who have considered it as a “pre-echo” of the finite.
105:7.2 (1159.7) That which is transcendental is not necessarily nondevelopmental, but it is superevolutional in the finite sense; neither is it nonexperiential, but it is superexperience as such is meaningful to creatures. Perhaps the best illustration of such a paradox is the central universe of perfection: It is hardly absolute — only the Paradise Isle is truly absolute in the “materialized” sense. Neither is it a finite evolutionary creation as are the seven superuniverses. Havona is eternal but not changeless in the sense of being a universe of nongrowth. It is inhabited by creatures (Havona natives) who never were actually created, for they are eternally existent. Havona thus illustrates something which is not exactly finite nor yet absolute. Havona further acts as a buffer between absolute Paradise and finite creations, still further illustrating the function of transcendentals. But Havona itself is not a transcendental — it is Havona.
105:7.3 (1160.1) As the Supreme is associated with finites, so the Ultimate is identified with transcendentals. But though we thus compare Supreme and Ultimate, they differ by something more than degree; the difference is also a matter of quality. The Ultimate is something more than a super-Supreme projected on the transcendental level. The Ultimate is all of that, but more: The Ultimate is an eventuation of new Deity realities, the qualification of new phases of the theretofore unqualified.
105:7.4 (1160.2) Among those realities which are associated with the transcendental level are the following:
105:7.5 (1160.3) 1. The Deity presence of the Ultimate.
105:7.6 (1160.4) 2. The concept of the master universe.
105:7.7 (1160.5) 3. The Architects of the Master Universe.
105:7.8 (1160.6) 4. The two orders of Paradise force organizers.
105:7.9 (1160.7) 5. Certain modifications in space potency.
105:7.10 (1160.8) 6. Certain values of spirit.
105:7.11 (1160.9) 7. Certain meanings of mind.
105:7.12 (1160.10) 8. Absonite qualities and realities.
105:7.13 (1160.11) 9. Omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.
105:7.14 (1160.12) 10. Space.
105:7.15 (1160.13) The universe in which we now live may be thought of as existing on finite, transcendental, and absolute levels. This is the cosmic stage on which is enacted the endless drama of personality performance and energy metamorphosis.
105:7.16 (1160.14) And all of these manifold realities are unified absolutely by the several triunities, functionally by the Architects of the Master Universe, and relatively by the Seven Master Spirits, the subsupreme co-ordinators of the divinity of God the Sevenfold.
105:7.17 (1160.15) God the Sevenfold represents the personality and divinity revelation of the Universal Father to creatures of both maximum and submaximum status, but there are other sevenfold relationships of the First Source and Center which do not pertain to the manifestation of the divine spiritual ministry of the God who is spirit.
105:7.18 (1160.16) In the eternity of the past the forces of the Absolutes, the spirits of the Deities, and the personalities of the Gods stirred in response to the primordial self-will of self-existent self-will. In this universe age we are all witnessing the stupendous repercussions of the far-flung cosmic panorama of the subabsolute manifestations of the limitless potentials of all these realities. And it is altogether possible that the continued diversification of the original reality of the First Source and Center may proceed onward and outward throughout age upon age, on and on, into the faraway and inconceivable stretches of absolute infinity.
105:7.19 (1161.1) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
106:0.1 (1162.1) IT IS not enough that the ascending mortal should know something of the relations of Deity to the genesis and manifestations of cosmic reality; he should also comprehend something of the relationships existing between himself and the numerous levels of existential and experiential realities, of potential and actual realities. Man’s terrestrial orientation, his cosmic insight, and his spiritual directionization are all enhanced by a better comprehension of universe realities and their techniques of interassociation, integration, and unification.
106:0.2 (1162.2) The present grand universe and the emerging master universe are made up of many forms and phases of reality which, in turn, are existent on several levels of functional activity. These manifold existents and latents have been previously suggested in these papers, and they are now grouped for conceptual convenience in the following categories:
106:0.3 (1162.3) 1. Incomplete finites. This is the present status of the ascending creatures of the grand universe, the present status of Urantia mortals. This level embraces creature existence from the planetary human up to, but not including, destiny attainers. It pertains to universes from early physical beginnings up to, but not including, settlement in light and life. This level constitutes the present periphery of creative activity in time and space. It appears to be moving outward from Paradise, for the closing of the present universe age, which will witness the grand universe attainment of light and life, will also and surely witness the appearance of some new order of developmental growth in the first outer space level.
106:0.4 (1162.4) 2. Maximum finites. This is the present status of all experiential creatures who have attained destiny — destiny as revealed within the scope of the present universe age. Even universes can attain to the maximum of status, both spiritually and physically. But the term “maximum” is itself a relative term — maximum in relation to what? And that which is maximum, seemingly final, in the present universe age may be no more than a real beginning in terms of the ages to come. Some phases of Havona appear to be on the maximum order.
106:0.5 (1162.5) 3. Transcendentals. This superfinite level (antecedently) follows finite progression. It implies the prefinite genesis of finite beginnings and the postfinite significance of all apparent finite endings or destinies. Much of Paradise-Havona appears to be on the transcendental order.
106:0.6 (1162.6) 4. Ultimates. This level encompasses that which is of master universe significance and impinges on the destiny level of the completed master universe. Paradise-Havona (especially the circuit of the Father’s worlds) is in many respects of ultimate significance.
106:0.7 (1163.1) 5. Coabsolutes. This level implies the projection of experientials upon a supermaster universe field of creative expression.
106:0.8 (1163.2) 6. Absolutes. This level connotes the eternity presence of the seven existential Absolutes. It may also involve some degree of associative experiential attainment, but if so, we do not understand how, perhaps through the contact potential of personality.
106:0.9 (1163.3) 7. Infinity. This level is pre-existential and postexperiential. Unqualified unity of infinity is a hypothetical reality before all beginnings and after all destinies.
106:0.10 (1163.4) These levels of reality are convenient compromise symbolizations of the present universe age and for the mortal perspective. There are a number of other ways of looking at reality from other-than-mortal perspective and from the standpoint of other universe ages. Thus it should be recognized that the concepts herewith presented are entirely relative, relative in the sense of being conditioned and limited by:
106:0.11 (1163.5) 1. The limitations of mortal language.
106:0.12 (1163.6) 2. The limitations of the mortal mind.
106:0.13 (1163.7) 3. The limited development of the seven superuniverses.
106:0.14 (1163.8) 4. Your ignorance of the six prime purposes of superuniverse development which do not pertain to the mortal ascent to Paradise.
106:0.15 (1163.9) 5. Your inability to grasp even a partial eternity viewpoint.
106:0.16 (1163.10) 6. The impossibility of depicting cosmic evolution and destiny in relation to all universe ages, not just in regard to the present age of the evolutionary unfolding of the seven superuniverses.
106:0.17 (1163.11) 7. The inability of any creature to grasp what is really meant by pre-existentials or by postexperientials — that which lies before beginnings and after destinies.
106:0.18 (1163.12) Reality growth is conditioned by the circumstances of the successive universe ages. The central universe underwent no evolutionary change in the Havona age, but in the present epochs of the superuniverse age it is undergoing certain progressive changes induced by co-ordination with the evolutionary superuniverses. The seven superuniverses, now evolving, will sometime attain the settled status of light and life, will attain the growth limit for the present universe age. But beyond doubt, the next age, the age of the first outer space level, will release the superuniverses from the destiny limitations of the present age. Repletion is continually being superimposed upon completion.
106:0.19 (1163.13) These are some of the limitations which we encounter in attempting to present a unified concept of the cosmic growth of things, meanings, and values and of their synthesis on ever-ascending levels of reality.
1. Primary Association of Finite Functionals
106:1.1 (1163.14) The primary or spirit-origin phases of finite reality find immediate expression on creature levels as perfect personalities and on universe levels as the perfect Havona creation. Even experiential Deity is thus expressed in the spirit person of God the Supreme in Havona. But the secondary, evolutionary, time-and-matter-conditioned phases of the finite become cosmically integrated only as a result of growth and attainment. Eventually all secondary or perfecting finites are to attain a level equal to that of primary perfection, but such destiny is subject to a time delay, a constitutive superuniverse qualification which is not genetically found in the central creation. (We know of the existence of tertiary finites, but the technique of their integration is as yet unrevealed.)
106:1.2 (1164.1) This superuniverse time lag, this obstacle to perfection attainment, provides for creature participation in evolutionary growth. It thus makes it possible for the creature to enter into partnership with the Creator in the evolution of that selfsame creature. And during these times of expanding growth the incomplete is correlated with the perfect through the ministry of God the Sevenfold.
106:1.3 (1164.2) God the Sevenfold signifies the recognition by Paradise Deity of the barriers of time in the evolutionary universes of space. No matter how remote from Paradise, how deep in space, a material survival personality may take origin, God the Sevenfold will be found there present and engaged in the loving and merciful ministry of truth, beauty, and goodness to such an incomplete, struggling, and evolutionary creature. The divinity ministry of the Sevenfold reaches inward through the Eternal Son to the Paradise Father and outward through the Ancients of Days to the universe Fathers — the Creator Sons.
106:1.4 (1164.3) Man, being personal and ascending by spiritual progression, finds the personal and spiritual divinity of the Sevenfold Deity; but there are other phases of the Sevenfold which are not concerned with the progression of personality. The divinity aspects of this Deity grouping are at present integrated in the liaison between the Seven Master Spirits and the Conjoint Actor, but they are destined to be eternally unified in the emerging personality of the Supreme Being. The other phases of the Sevenfold Deity are variously integrated in the present universe age, but all are likewise destined to be unified in the Supreme. The Sevenfold, in all phases, is the source of the relative unity of the functional reality of the present grand universe.
2. Secondary Supreme Finite Integration
106:2.1 (1164.4) As God the Sevenfold functionally co-ordinates finite evolution, so does the Supreme Being eventually synthesize destiny attainment. 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. And all of this takes place in accordance with the mandates of personality: Paradise personality in the highest sense, Creator personality in the universe sense, mortal personality in the human sense, Supreme personality in the culminating or experiential totaling sense.
106:2.2 (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.
106:2.3 (1164.6) Spirit, in the last analysis, comes from Paradise through Havona. Energy-matter seemingly evolves in the depths of space and is organized as power by the children of the Infinite Spirit in conjunction with the Creator Sons of God. And all of this is experiential; it is a transaction in time and space involving a wide range of living beings including even Creator divinities and evolutionary creatures. The power mastery of the Creator divinities in the grand universe slowly expands to encompass the evolutionary settling and stabilizing of the time-space creations, and this is the flowering of the experiential power of God the Sevenfold. It encompasses the whole gamut of divinity attainment in time and space from the Adjuster bestowals of the Universal Father to the life bestowals of the Paradise Sons. This is earned power, demonstrated power, experiential power; it stands in contrast to the eternity power, the unfathomable power, the existential power of the Paradise Deities.
106:2.4 (1165.1) This experiential power arising out of the divinity achievements of God the Sevenfold itself manifests the cohesive qualities of divinity by synthesizing — totalizing — as 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.
106:2.5 (1165.2) Thus does the Supreme Being eventually attain to the embrace of all of everything evolving in time and space while investing these qualities with spirit personality. Since creatures, even mortals, are personality participants in this majestic transaction, so do they certainly attain the capacity to know the Supreme and to perceive the Supreme as true children of such an evolutionary Deity.
106:2.6 (1165.3) Michael of Nebadon is like the Paradise Father because he shares his Paradise perfection; so will evolutionary mortals sometime attain to kinship with the experiential Supreme, for they will truly share his evolutionary perfection.
106:2.7 (1165.4) God the Supreme is experiential; therefore is he completely experiencible. The existential realities of the seven Absolutes are not perceivable by the technique of experience; only the personality realities of the Father, Son, and Spirit can be grasped by the personality of the finite creature in the prayer-worship attitude.
106:2.8 (1165.5) Within the completed power-personality synthesis of the Supreme Being there will be associated all of the absoluteness of the several triodities which could be so associated, and this majestic personality of evolution will be experientially attainable and understandable by all finite personalities. When ascenders attain the postulated seventh stage of spirit existence, they will therein experience the realization of a new meaning-value of the absoluteness and infinity of the triodities as such is revealed on subabsolute levels in the Supreme Being, who is experiencible. But the attainment of these stages of maximum development will probably await the co-ordinate settling of the entire grand universe in light and life.
3. Transcendental Tertiary Reality Association
106:3.1 (1165.6) The absonite architects eventuate the plan; the Supreme Creators bring it into existence; the Supreme Being will consummate its fullness as it was time created by the Supreme Creators, and as it was space forecast by the Master Architects.
106:3.2 (1165.7) During the present universe age the administrative co-ordination of the master universe is the function of the Architects of the Master Universe. But the appearance of the Almighty Supreme at the termination of the present universe age will signify that the evolutionary finite has attained the first stage of experiential destiny. This happening will certainly lead to the completed function of the first experiential Trinity — the union of the Supreme Creators, the Supreme Being, and the Architects of the Master Universe. This Trinity is destined to effect the further evolutionary integration of the master creation.
106:3.3 (1166.1) The Paradise Trinity is truly one of infinity, and no Trinity can possibly be infinite that does not include this original Trinity. But the original Trinity is an eventuality of the exclusive association of absolute Deities; subabsolute beings had nothing to do with this primal association. The subsequently appearing and experiential Trinities embrace the contributions of even creature personalities. Certainly this is true of the Trinity Ultimate, wherein the very presence of the Master Creator Sons among the Supreme Creator members thereof betokens the concomitant presence of actual and bona fide creature experience within this Trinity association.
106:3.4 (1166.2) The first experiential Trinity provides for group attainment of ultimate eventualities. Group associations are enabled to anticipate, even to transcend, individual capacities; and this is true even beyond the finite level. In the ages to come, after the seven superuniverses have been settled in light and life, the Corps of the Finality will doubtless be promulgating the purposes of the Paradise Deities as they are dictated by the Trinity Ultimate, and as they are power-personality unified in the Supreme Being.
106:3.5 (1166.3) Throughout all the gigantic universe developments of past and future eternity, we detect the expansion of the comprehensible elements of the Universal Father. As the I AM, we philosophically postulate his permeation of total infinity, but no creature is able experientially to encompass such a postulate. As the universes expand, and as gravity and love reach out into time-organizing space, we are able to understand more and more of the First Source and Center. We observe gravity action penetrating the space presence of the Unqualified Absolute, and we detect spirit creatures evolving and expanding within the divinity presence of the Deity Absolute while both cosmic and spirit evolution are by mind and experience unifying on finite deity levels as the Supreme Being and are co-ordinating on transcendental levels as the Trinity Ultimate.
4. Ultimate Quartan Integration
106:4.1 (1166.4) The Paradise Trinity certainly co-ordinates in the ultimate sense but functions in this respect as a self-qualified absolute; the experiential Trinity Ultimate co-ordinates the transcendental as a transcendental. In the eternal future this experiential Trinity will, through augmenting unity, further activate the eventuating presence of Ultimate Deity.
106:4.2 (1166.5) While the Trinity Ultimate is destined to co-ordinate the master creation, God the Ultimate is the transcendental power-personalization of the directionization of the entire master universe. The completed eventuation of the Ultimate implies the completion of the master creation and connotes the full emergence of this transcendental Deity.
106:4.3 (1166.6) What changes will be inaugurated by the full emergence of the Ultimate we do not know. But as the Supreme is now spiritually and personally present in Havona, so also is the Ultimate there present but in the absonite and superpersonal sense. And you have been informed of the existence of the Qualified Vicegerents of the Ultimate, though you have not been informed of their present whereabouts or function.
106:4.4 (1167.1) But irrespective of the administrative repercussions attendant upon the emergence of Ultimate Deity, the personal values of his transcendental divinity will be experiencible by all personalities who have been participants in the actualization of this Deity level. Transcendence of the finite can lead only to ultimate attainment. God the Ultimate exists in transcendence of time and space but is nonetheless subabsolute notwithstanding inherent capacity for functional association with absolutes.
5. Coabsolute or Fifth-Phase Association
106:5.1 (1167.2) The Ultimate is the apex of transcendental reality even as the Supreme is the capstone of evolutionary-experiential reality. And the actual emergence of these two experiential Deities lays the foundation for the second experiential Trinity. This is the Trinity Absolute, the union of God the Supreme, God the Ultimate, and the unrevealed Consummator of Universe Destiny. And this Trinity has theoretical capacity to activate the Absolutes of potentiality — Deity, Universal, and Unqualified. But the completed formation of this Trinity Absolute could take place only after the completed evolution of the entire master universe, from Havona to the fourth and outermost space level.
106:5.2 (1167.3) It should be made clear that these experiential Trinities are correlative, not only of the personality qualities of experiential Divinity, but also of all the other-than-personal qualities which characterize their attained Deity unity. While this presentation deals primarily with the personal phases of the unification of the cosmos, it is nonetheless true that the impersonal aspects of the universe of universes are likewise destined to undergo unification as is illustrated by the power-personality synthesis now going on in connection with the evolution of the Supreme Being. The spirit-personal qualities of the Supreme are inseparable from the power prerogatives of the Almighty, and both are complemented by the unknown potential of Supreme mind. Neither can God the Ultimate as a person be considered apart from the other-than-personal aspects of Ultimate Deity. And on the absolute level the Deity and the Unqualified Absolutes are inseparable and indistinguishable in the presence of the Universal Absolute.
106:5.3 (1167.4) Trinities are, in and of themselves, not personal, but neither do they contravene personality. Rather do they encompass it and correlate it, in a collective sense, with impersonal functions. Trinities are, then, always deity reality but never personality reality. The personality aspects of a trinity are inherent in its individual members, and as individual persons they are not that trinity. Only as a collective are they trinity; that is trinity. But always is trinity inclusive of all encompassed deity; trinity is deity unity.
106:5.4 (1167.5) The three Absolutes — Deity, Universal, and Unqualified — are not trinity, for all are not deity. Only the deified can become trinity; all other associations are triunities or triodities.
6. Absolute or Sixth-Phase Integration
106:6.1 (1167.6) The present potential of the master universe is hardly absolute, though it may well be near-ultimate, and we deem it impossible to achieve the full revelation of absolute meaning-values within the scope of a subabsolute cosmos. We therefore encounter considerable difficulty in attempting to conceive of a total expression of the limitless possibilities of the three Absolutes or even in attempting to visualize the experiential personalization of God the Absolute on the now impersonal level of the Deity Absolute.
106:6.2 (1168.1) The space-stage of the master universe seems to be adequate for the actualization of the Supreme Being, for the formation and full function of the Trinity Ultimate, for the eventuation of God the Ultimate, and even for the inception of the Trinity Absolute. But our concepts regarding the full function of this second experiential Trinity seem to imply something beyond even the wide-spreading master universe.
106:6.3 (1168.2) If we assume a cosmos-infinite — some illimitable cosmos on beyond the master universe — and if we conceive that the final developments of the Absolute Trinity will take place out on such a superultimate stage of action, then it becomes possible to conjecture that the completed function of the Trinity Absolute will achieve final expression in the creations of infinity and will consummate the absolute actualization of all potentials. The integration and association of ever-enlarging segments of reality will approach absoluteness of status proportional to the inclusion of all reality within the segments thus associated.
106:6.4 (1168.3) Stated otherwise: The Trinity Absolute, as its name implies, is really absolute in total function. We do not know how an absolute function can achieve total expression on a qualified, limited, or otherwise restricted basis. Hence we must assume that any such totality function will be unconditioned (in potential). And it would also appear that the unconditioned would also be unlimited, at least from a qualitative standpoint, though we are not so sure regarding quantitative relationships.
106:6.5 (1168.4) Of this, however, we are certain: While the existential Paradise Trinity is infinite, and while the experiential Trinity Ultimate is subinfinite, the Trinity Absolute is not so easy to classify. Though experiential in genesis and constitution, it definitely impinges upon the existential Absolutes of potentiality.
106:6.6 (1168.5) While it is hardly profitable for the human mind to seek to grasp such faraway and superhuman concepts, we would suggest that the eternity action of the Trinity Absolute may be thought of as culminating in some kind of experientialization of the Absolutes of potentiality. This would appear to be a reasonable conclusion with respect to the Universal Absolute, if not the Unqualified Absolute; at least we know that the Universal Absolute is not only static and potential but also associative in the total Deity sense of those words. But in regard to the conceivable values of divinity and personality, these conjectured happenings imply the personalization of the Deity Absolute and the appearance of those superpersonal values and those ultrapersonal meanings inherent in the personality completion of God the Absolute — the third and last of the experiential Deities.
7. Finality of Destiny
106:7.1 (1168.6) Some of the difficulties in forming concepts of infinite reality integration are inherent in the fact that all such ideas embrace something of the finality of universal development, some kind of an experiential realization of all that could ever be. And it is inconceivable that quantitative infinity could ever be completely realized in finality. Always there must remain unexplored possibilities in the three potential Absolutes which no quantity of experiential development could ever exhaust. Eternity itself, though absolute, is not more than absolute.
106:7.2 (1169.1) Even a tentative concept of final integration is inseparable from the fruitions of unqualified eternity and is, therefore, practically nonrealizable at any conceivable future time.
106:7.3 (1169.2) Destiny is established by the volitional act of the Deities who constitute the Paradise Trinity; destiny is established in the vastness of the three great potentials whose absoluteness encompasses the possibilities of all future development; destiny is probably consummated by the act of the Consummator of Universe Destiny, and this act is probably involved with the Supreme and the Ultimate in the Trinity Absolute. Any experiential destiny can be at least partially comprehended by experiencing creatures; but a destiny which impinges on infinite existentials is hardly comprehensible. Finality destiny is an existential-experiential attainment which appears to involve the Deity Absolute. But the Deity Absolute stands in eternity relationship with the Unqualified Absolute by virtue of the Universal Absolute. And these three Absolutes, experiential in possibility, are actually existential and more, being limitless, timeless, spaceless, boundless, and measureless — truly infinite.
106:7.4 (1169.3) The improbability of goal attainment does not, however, prevent philosophical theorizing about such hypothetical destinies. The actualization of the Deity Absolute as an attainable absolute God may be practically impossible of realization; nevertheless, such a finality fruition remains a theoretical possibility. The involvement of the Unqualified Absolute in some inconceivable cosmos-infinite may be measurelessly remote in the futurity of endless eternity, but such a hypothesis is nonetheless valid. Mortals, morontians, spirits, finaliters, Transcendentalers, and others, together with the universes themselves and all other phases of reality, certainly do have a potentially final destiny that is absolute in value; but we doubt that any being or universe will ever completely attain all of the aspects of such a destiny.
106:7.5 (1169.4) No matter how much you may grow in Father comprehension, your mind will always be staggered by the unrevealed infinity of the Father-I AM, the unexplored vastness of which will always remain unfathomable and incomprehensible throughout all the cycles of eternity. No matter how much of God you may attain, there will always remain much more of him, the existence of which you will not even suspect. And we believe that this is just as true on transcendental levels as it is in the domains of finite existence. The quest for God is endless!
106:7.6 (1169.5) Such inability to attain God in a final sense should in no manner discourage universe creatures; indeed, you can and do attain Deity levels of the Sevenfold, the Supreme, and the Ultimate, which mean to you what the infinite realization of God the Father means to the Eternal Son and to the Conjoint Actor in their absolute status of eternity existence. Far from harassing the creature, the infinity of God should be the supreme assurance that throughout all endless futurity an ascending personality will have before him the possibilities of personality development and Deity association which even eternity will neither exhaust nor terminate.
106:7.7 (1169.6) To finite creatures of the grand universe the concept of the master universe seems to be well-nigh infinite, but doubtless the absonite architects thereof perceive its relatedness to future and unimagined developments within the unending I AM. Even space itself is but an ultimate condition, a condition of qualification within the relative absoluteness of the quiet zones of midspace.
106:7.8 (1170.1) At the inconceivably distant future eternity moment of the final completion of the entire master universe, no doubt we will all look back upon its entire history as only the beginning, simply the creation of certain finite and transcendental foundations for even greater and more enthralling metamorphoses in uncharted infinity. At such a future eternity moment the master universe will still seem youthful; indeed, it will be always young in the face of the limitless possibilities of never-ending eternity.
106:7.9 (1170.2) The improbability of infinite destiny attainment does not in the least prevent the entertainment of ideas about such destiny, and we do not hesitate to say that, if the three absolute potentials could ever become completely actualized, it would be possible to conceive of the final integration of total reality. This developmental realization is predicated on the completed actualization of the Unqualified, Universal, and Deity Absolutes, the three potentialities whose union constitutes the latency of the I AM, the suspended realities of eternity, the abeyant possibilities of all futurity, and more.
106:7.10 (1170.3) Such eventualities are rather remote to say the least; nevertheless, in the mechanisms, personalities, and associations of the three Trinities we believe we detect the theoretical possibility of the reuniting of the seven absolute phases of the Father-I AM. And this brings us face to face with the concept of the threefold Trinity encompassing the Paradise Trinity of existential status and the two subsequently appearing Trinities of experiential nature and origin.
8. The Trinity of Trinities
106:8.1 (1170.4) The nature of the Trinity of Trinities is difficult to portray to the human mind; it is the actual summation of the entirety of experiential infinity as such is manifested in a theoretical infinity of eternity realization. In the Trinity of Trinities the experiential infinite attains to identity with the existential infinite, and both are as one in the pre-experiential, pre-existential I AM. The Trinity of Trinities is the final expression of all that is implied in the fifteen triunities and associated triodities. Finalities are difficult for relative beings to comprehend, be they existential or experiential; therefore must they always be presented as relativities.
106:8.2 (1170.5) The Trinity of Trinities exists in several phases. It contains possibilities, probabilities, and inevitabilities that stagger the imaginations of beings far above the human level. It has implications that are probably unsuspected by the celestial philosophers, for its implications are in the triunities, and the triunities are, in the last analysis, unfathomable.
106:8.3 (1170.6) There are a number of ways in which the Trinity of Trinities can be portrayed. We elect to present the three-level concept, which is as follows:
106:8.4 (1170.7) 1. The level of the three Trinities.
106:8.5 (1170.8) 2. The level of experiential Deity.
106:8.6 (1170.9) 3. The level of the I AM.
106:8.7 (1170.10) These are levels of increasing unification. Actually the Trinity of Trinities is the first level, while the second and third levels are unification-derivatives of the first.
106:8.8 (1171.1) THE FIRST LEVEL: On this initial level of association it is believed that the three Trinities function as perfectly synchronized, though distinct, groupings of Deity personalities.
106:8.9 (1171.2) 1. The Paradise Trinity, the association of the three Paradise Deities — Father, Son, and Spirit. It should be remembered that the Paradise Trinity implies a threefold function — an absolute function, a transcendental function (Trinity of Ultimacy), and a finite function (Trinity of Supremacy). The Paradise Trinity is any and all of these at any and all times.
106:8.10 (1171.3) 2. The Ultimate Trinity. This is the deity association of the Supreme Creators, God the Supreme, and the Architects of the Master Universe. While this is an adequate presentation of the divinity aspects of this Trinity, it should be recorded that there are other phases of this Trinity, which, however, appear to be perfectly co-ordinating with the divinity aspects.
106:8.11 (1171.4) 3. The Absolute Trinity. This is the grouping of God the Supreme, God the Ultimate, and the Consummator of Universe Destiny in regard to all divinity values. Certain other phases of this triune grouping have to do with other-than-divinity values in the expanding cosmos. But these are unifying with the divinity phases just as the power and the personality aspects of the experiential Deities are now in process of experiential synthesis.
106:8.12 (1171.5) The association of these three Trinities in the Trinity of Trinities provides for a possible unlimited integration of reality. This grouping contains causes, intermediates, and finals; inceptors, realizers, and consummators; beginnings, existences, and destinies. The Father-Son partnership has become Son-Spirit and then Spirit-Supreme and on to Supreme-Ultimate and Ultimate-Absolute, even to Absolute and Father-Infinite — the completion of the cycle of reality. Likewise, in other phases not so immediately concerned with divinity and personality, does the First Great Source and Center self-realize the limitlessness of reality around the circle of eternity, from the absoluteness of self-existence, through the endlessness of self-revelation, to the finality of self-realization — from the absolute of existentials to the finality of experientials.
106:8.13 (1171.6) THE SECOND LEVEL: The co-ordination of the three Trinities inevitably involves the associative union of the experiential Deities, who are genetically associated with these Trinities. The nature of this second level has been sometimes presented as:
106:8.14 (1171.7) 1. 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.
106:8.15 (1171.8) 2. The Ultimate. This is the deity consequence of the eventuated unity of the second Trinity, the transcendental and absonite personification of divinity. The Ultimate consists in a variably regarded unity of many qualities, and the human conception thereof would do well to include at least those phases of ultimacy which are control directing, personally experiencible, and tensionally unifying, but there are many other unrevealed aspects of the eventuated Deity. While the Ultimate and the Supreme are comparable, they are not identical, neither is the Ultimate merely an amplification of the Supreme.
106:8.16 (1172.1) 3. The Absolute. There are many theories held as to the character of the third member of the second level of the Trinity of Trinities. God the Absolute is undoubtedly involved in this association as the personality consequence of the final function of the Trinity Absolute, yet the Deity Absolute is an existential reality of eternity status.
106:8.17 (1172.2) The concept difficulty regarding this third member is inherent in the fact that the presupposition of such a membership really implies just one Absolute. Theoretically, if such an event could take place, we should witness the experiential unification of the three Absolutes as one. And we are taught that, in infinity and existentially, there is one Absolute. While it is least clear as to who this third member can be, it is often postulated that such may consist of the Deity, Universal, and Unqualified Absolutes in some form of unimagined liaison and cosmic manifestation. Certainly, the Trinity of Trinities could hardly attain to complete function short of the full unification of the three Absolutes, and the three Absolutes can hardly be unified short of the complete realization of all infinite potentials.
106:8.18 (1172.3) It will probably represent a minimum distortion of truth if the third member of the Trinity of Trinities is conceived as the Universal Absolute, provided this conception envisions the Universal not only as static and potential but also as associative. But we still do not perceive the relationship to the creative and evolutional aspects of the function of total Deity.
106:8.19 (1172.4) Though a completed concept of the Trinity of Trinities is difficult to form, a qualified concept is not so difficult. If the second level of the Trinity of Trinities is conceived as essentially personal, it becomes quite possible to postulate the union of God the Supreme, God the Ultimate, and God the Absolute as the personal repercussion of the union of the personal Trinities who are ancestral to these experiential Deities. We venture the opinion that these three experiential Deities will certainly unify on the second level as the direct consequence of the growing unity of their ancestral and causative Trinities who constitute the first level.
106:8.20 (1172.5) The first level consists of three Trinities; the second level exists as the personality association of experiential-evolved, experiential-eventuated, and experiential-existential Deity personalities. And regardless of any conceptual difficulty in understanding the complete Trinity of Trinities, the personal association of these three Deities on the second level has become manifest to our own universe age in the phenomenon of the deitization of Majeston, who was actualized on this second level by the Deity Absolute, acting through the Ultimate and in response to the initial creative mandate of the Supreme Being.
106:8.21 (1172.6) THE THIRD LEVEL: In an unqualified hypothesis of the second level of the Trinity of Trinities, there is embraced the correlation of every phase of every kind of reality that is, or was, or could be in the entirety of infinity. The Supreme Being is not only spirit but also mind and power and experience. The Ultimate is all this and much more, while, in the conjoined concept of the oneness of the Deity, Universal, and Unqualified Absolutes, there is included the absolute finality of all reality realization.
106:8.22 (1172.7) In the union of the Supreme, Ultimate, and the complete Absolute, there could occur the functional reassembly of those aspects of infinity which were originally segmentalized by the I AM, and which resulted in the appearance of the Seven Absolutes of Infinity. Though the universe philosophers deem this to be a most remote probability, still, we often ask this question: If the second level of the Trinity of Trinities could ever achieve trinity unity, what then would transpire as a consequence of such deity unity? We do not know, but we are confident that it would lead directly to the realization of the I AM as an experiential attainable. From the standpoint of personal beings it could mean that the unknowable I AM had become experiencible as the Father-Infinite. What these absolute destinies might mean from a nonpersonal standpoint is another matter and one which only eternity could possibly clarify. But as we view these remote eventualities as personal creatures, we deduce that the final destiny of all personalities is the final knowing of the Universal Father of these selfsame personalities.
106:8.23 (1173.1) As we philosophically conceive of the I AM in past eternity, he is alone, there is none beside him. Looking forward into future eternity, we do not see that the I AM could possibly change as an existential, but we are inclined to forecast a vast experiential difference. Such a concept of the I AM implies full self-realization — it embraces that limitless galaxy of personalities who have become volitional participants in the self-revelation of the I AM, and who will remain eternally as absolute volitional parts of the totality of infinity, final sons of the absolute Father.
9. Existential Infinite Unification
106:9.1 (1173.2) In the concept of the Trinity of Trinities we postulate the possible experiential unification of limitless reality, and we sometimes theorize that all this may happen in the utter remoteness of far-distant eternity. But there is nonetheless an actual and present unification of infinity in this very age as in all past and future universe ages; such unification is existential in the Paradise Trinity. Infinity unification as an experiential reality is unthinkably remote, but an unqualified unity of infinity now dominates the present moment of universe existence and unites the divergencies of all reality with an existential majesty that is absolute.
106:9.2 (1173.3) When finite creatures attempt to conceive of infinite unification on the finality levels of consummated eternity, they are face to face with intellect limitations inherent in their finite existences. Time, space, and experience constitute barriers to creature concept; and yet, without time, apart from space, and except for experience, no creature could achieve even a limited comprehension of universe reality. Without time sensitivity, no evolutionary creature could possibly perceive the relations of sequence. Without space perception, no creature could fathom the relations of simultaneity. Without experience, no evolutionary creature could even exist; only the Seven Absolutes of Infinity really transcend experience, and even these may be experiential in certain phases.
106:9.3 (1173.4) Time, space, and experience are man’s greatest aids to relative reality perception and yet his most formidable obstacles to complete reality perception. Mortals and many other universe creatures find it necessary to think of potentials as being actualized in space and evolving to fruition in time, but this entire process is a time-space phenomenon which does not actually take place on Paradise and in eternity. On the absolute level there is neither time nor space; all potentials may be there perceived as actuals.
106:9.4 (1173.5) The concept of the unification of all reality, be it in this or any other universe age, is basically twofold: existential and experiential. Such a unity is in process of experiential realization in the Trinity of Trinities, but the degree of the apparent actualization of this threefold Trinity is directly proportional to the disappearance of the qualifications and imperfections of reality in the cosmos. But total integration of reality is unqualifiedly and eternally and existentially present in the Paradise Trinity, within which, at this very universe moment, infinite reality is absolutely unified.
106:9.5 (1174.1) The paradox created by the experiential and the existential viewpoints is inevitable and is predicated in part on the fact that the Paradise Trinity and the Trinity of Trinities are each an eternity relationship which mortals can only perceive as a time-space relativity. The human concept of the gradual experiential actualization of the Trinity of Trinities — the time viewpoint — must be supplemented by the additional postulate that this is already a factualization — the eternity viewpoint. But how can these two viewpoints be reconciled? To finite mortals we suggest the acceptance of the truth that the Paradise Trinity is the existential unification of infinity, and that the inability to detect the actual presence and completed manifestation of the experiential Trinity of Trinities is in part due to reciprocal distortion because of:
106:9.6 (1174.2) 1. The limited human viewpoint, the inability to grasp the concept of unqualified eternity.
106:9.7 (1174.3) 2. The imperfect human status, the remoteness from the absolute level of experientials.
106:9.8 (1174.4) 3. The purpose of human existence, the fact that mankind is designed to evolve by the technique of experience and, therefore, must be inherently and constitutively dependent on experience. Only an Absolute can be both existential and experiential.
106:9.9 (1174.5) The Universal Father in the Paradise Trinity is the I AM of the Trinity of Trinities, and the failure to experience the Father as infinite is due to finite limitations. The concept of the existential, solitary, pre-Trinity nonattainable I AM and the postulate of the experiential post-Trinity of Trinities and attainable I AM are one and the same hypothesis; no actual change has taken place in the Infinite; all apparent developments are due to increased capacities for reality reception and cosmic appreciation.
106:9.10 (1174.6) The I AM, in the final analysis, must exist before all existentials and after all experientials. While these ideas may not clarify the paradoxes of eternity and infinity in the human mind, they should at least stimulate such finite intellects to grapple anew with these never-ending problems, problems which will continue to intrigue you on Salvington and later as finaliters and on throughout the unending future of your eternal careers in the wide-spreading universes.
106:9.11 (1174.7) Sooner or later all universe personalities begin to realize that the final quest of eternity is the endless exploration of infinity, the never-ending voyage of discovery into the absoluteness of the First Source and Center. Sooner or later we all become aware that all creature growth is proportional to Father identification. We arrive at the understanding that living the will of God is the eternal passport to the endless possibility of infinity itself. Mortals will sometime realize that success in the quest of the Infinite is directly proportional to the achievement of Fatherlikeness, and that in this universe age the realities of the Father are revealed within the qualities of divinity. And these qualities of divinity are personally appropriated by universe creatures in the experience of living divinely, and to live divinely means actually to live the will of God.
106:9.12 (1175.1) To material, evolutionary, finite creatures, a life predicated on the living of the Father’s will leads directly to the attainment of spirit supremacy in the personality arena and brings such creatures one step nearer the comprehension of the Father-Infinite. Such a Father life is one predicated on truth, sensitive to beauty, and dominated by goodness. Such a God-knowing person is inwardly illuminated by worship and outwardly devoted to the wholehearted service of the universal brotherhood of all personalities, a service ministry which is filled with mercy and motivated by love, while all these life qualities are unified in the evolving personality on ever-ascending levels of cosmic wisdom, self-realization, God-finding, and Father worship.
106:9.13 (1175.2) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
107:0.1 (1176.1) ALTHOUGH the Universal Father is personally resident on Paradise, at the very center of the universes, he is also actually present on the worlds of space in the minds of his countless children of time, for he indwells them as the Mystery Monitors. The eternal Father is at one and the same time farthest removed from, and most intimately associated with, his planetary mortal sons.
107:0.2 (1176.2) The Adjusters are the actuality of the Father’s love incarnate in the souls of men; they are the veritable promise of man’s eternal career imprisoned within the mortal mind; they are the essence of man’s perfected finaliter personality, which he can foretaste in time as he progressively masters the divine technique of achieving the living of the Father’s will, step by step, through the ascension of universe upon universe until he actually attains the divine presence of his Paradise Father.
107:0.3 (1176.3) God, having commanded man to be perfect, even as he is perfect, has descended as the Adjuster to become man’s experiential partner in the achievement of the supernal destiny which has been thus ordained. The fragment of God which indwells the mind of man is the absolute and unqualified assurance that man can find the Universal Father in association with this divine Adjuster, which came forth from God to find man and sonship him even in the days of the flesh.
107:0.4 (1176.4) Any mortal who has seen a Creator Son has seen the Universal Father, and he who is indwelt by a divine Adjuster is indwelt by the Paradise Father. Every mortal who is consciously or unconsciously following the leading of his indwelling Adjuster is living in accordance with the will of God. Consciousness of Adjuster presence is consciousness of God’s presence. Eternal fusion of the Adjuster with the evolutionary soul of man is the factual experience of eternal union with God as a universe associate of Deity.
107:0.5 (1176.5) It is the Adjuster who creates within man that unquenchable yearning and incessant longing to be like God, to attain Paradise, and there before the actual person of Deity to worship the infinite source of the divine gift. The Adjuster is the living presence which actually links the mortal son with his Paradise Father and draws him nearer and nearer to the Father. The Adjuster is our compensatory equalization of the enormous universe tension which is created by the distance of man’s removal from God and by the degree of his partiality in contrast with the universality of the eternal Father.
107:0.6 (1176.6) The Adjuster is an absolute essence of an infinite being imprisoned within the mind of a finite creature which, depending on the choosing of such a mortal, can eventually consummate this temporary union of God and man and veritably actualize a new order of being for unending universe service. The Adjuster is the divine universe reality which factualizes the truth that God is man’s Father. The Adjuster is man’s infallible cosmic compass, always and unerringly pointing the soul Godward.
107:0.7 (1177.1) On the evolutionary worlds, will creatures traverse three general developmental stages of being: From the arrival of the Adjuster to comparative full growth, about twenty years of age on Urantia, the Monitors are sometimes designated Thought Changers. From this time to the attainment of the age of discretion, about forty years, the Mystery Monitors are called Thought Adjusters. From the attainment of discretion to deliverance from the flesh, they are often referred to as Thought Controllers. These three phases of mortal life have no connection with the three stages of Adjuster progress in mind duplication and soul evolution.
1. Origin of Thought Adjusters
107:1.1 (1177.2) Since Thought Adjusters are of the essence of original Deity, no one may presume to discourse authoritatively upon their nature and origin; I can only impart the traditions of Salvington and the beliefs of Uversa; I can only explain how we regard these Mystery Monitors and their associated entities throughout the grand universe.
107:1.2 (1177.3) Though there are diverse opinions regarding the mode of the bestowal of Thought Adjusters, there exist no such differences concerning their origin; all are agreed that they proceed direct from the Universal Father, the First Source and Center. They are not created beings; they are fragmentized entities constituting the factual presence of the infinite God. Together with their many unrevealed associates, the Adjusters are undiluted and unmixed divinity, unqualified and unattenuated parts of Deity; they are of God, and as far as we are able to discern, they are God.
107:1.3 (1177.4) As to the time of their beginning separate existences apart from the absoluteness of the First Source and Center, we do not know; neither do we know their number. We know very little concerning their careers until they arrive on the planets of time to indwell human minds, but from that time on we are more or less familiar with their cosmic progressions up to and including the consummation of their triune destinies: attainment of personality by fusion with some mortal ascender, attainment of personality by fiat of the Universal Father, or liberation from the known assignments of Thought Adjusters.
107:1.4 (1177.5) Although we do not know, we presume that Adjusters are being constantly individualized as the universe enlarges, and as the candidates for Adjuster fusion increase in numbers. But it may be equally possible that we are in error in attempting to assign a numerical magnitude to the Adjusters; like God himself, these fragments of his unfathomable nature may be existentially infinite.
107:1.5 (1177.6) The technique of the origin of the Thought Adjusters is one of the unrevealed functions of the Universal Father. We have every reason to believe that none of the other absolute associates of the First Source and Center have aught to do with the production of Father fragments. Adjusters are simply and eternally the divine gifts; they are of God and from God, and they are like God.
107:1.6 (1177.7) In their relationship to fusion creatures they reveal a supernal love and spiritual ministry that is profoundly confirmative of the declaration that God is spirit. But there is much that takes place in addition to this transcendent ministry that has never been revealed to Urantia mortals. Neither do we fully understand just what really transpires when the Universal Father gives of himself to be a part of the personality of a creature of time. Nor has the ascending progression of the Paradise finaliters as yet disclosed the full possibilities inherent in this supernal partnership of man and God. In the last analysis, the Father fragments must be the gift of the absolute God to those creatures whose destiny encompasses the possibility of the attainment of God as absolute.
107:1.7 (1178.1) As the Universal Father fragmentizes his prepersonal Deity, so does the Infinite Spirit individuate portions of his premind spirit to indwell and actually to fuse with the evolutionary souls of the surviving mortals of the spirit-fusion series. But the nature of the Eternal Son is not thus fragmentable; the spirit of the Original Son is either diffuse or discretely personal. Son-fused creatures are united with individualized bestowals of the spirit of the Creator Sons of the Eternal Son.
2. Classification of Adjusters
107:2.1 (1178.2) Adjusters are individuated as virgin entities, and all are destined to become either liberated, fused, or Personalized Monitors. We understand that there are seven orders of Thought Adjusters, although we do not altogether comprehend these divisions. We often refer to the different orders as follows:
107:2.2 (1178.3) 1. Virgin Adjusters, those serving on their initial assignment in the minds of evolutionary candidates for eternal survival. Mystery Monitors are eternally uniform in divine nature. They are also uniform in experiential nature as they first go out from Divinington; subsequent experiential differentiation is the result of actual experience in universe ministry.
107:2.3 (1178.4) 2. Advanced Adjusters, those who have served one or more seasons with will creatures on worlds where the final fusion takes place between the identity of the creature of time and an individualized portion of the spirit of the local universe manifestation of the Third Source and Center.
107:2.4 (1178.5) 3. Supreme Adjusters, those Monitors that have served in the adventure of time on the evolutionary worlds, but whose human partners for some reason declined eternal survival, and those that have been subsequently assigned to other adventures in other mortals on other evolving worlds. A supreme Adjuster, though no more divine than a virgin Monitor, has had more experience, can do things in the human mind which a less experienced Adjuster could not do.
107:2.5 (1178.6) 4. Vanished Adjusters. Here occurs a break in our efforts to follow the careers of the Mystery Monitors. There is a fourth stage of service about which we are not sure. The Melchizedeks teach that the fourth-stage Adjusters are on detached assignments, roaming the universe of universes. The Solitary Messengers are inclined to believe that they are at one with the First Source and Center, enjoying a period of refreshing association with the Father himself. And it is entirely possible that an Adjuster could be roaming the master universe simultaneously with being at one with the omnipresent Father.
107:2.6 (1178.7) 5. Liberated Adjusters, those Mystery Monitors that have been eternally liberated from the service of time for the mortals of the evolving spheres. What functions may be theirs, we do not know.
107:2.7 (1179.1) 6. Fused Adjusters — finaliters — those who have become one with the ascending creatures of the superuniverses, the eternity partners of the time ascenders of the Paradise Corps of the Finality. Thought Adjusters ordinarily become fused with the ascending mortals of time, and with such surviving mortals they are registered in and out of Ascendington; they follow the course of ascendant beings. Upon fusion with the ascending evolutionary soul, it appears that the Adjuster translates from the absolute existential level of the universe to the finite experiential level of functional association with an ascending personality. While retaining all of the character of the existential divine nature, a fused Adjuster becomes indissolubly linked with the ascending career of a surviving mortal.
107:2.8 (1179.2) 7. Personalized Adjusters, those who have served with the incarnated Paradise Sons, together with many who have achieved unusual distinction during the mortal indwelling, but whose subjects rejected survival. We have reasons for believing that such Adjusters are personalized on the recommendations of the Ancients of Days of the superuniverse of their assignment.
107:2.9 (1179.3) There are many ways in which these mysterious God fragments can be classified: according to universe assignment, by the measure of success in the indwelling of an individual mortal, or even by the racial ancestry of the mortal candidate for fusion.
3. The Divinington Home of Adjusters
107:3.1 (1179.4) All universe activities related to the dispatch, management, direction, and return of the Mystery Monitors from service in all of the seven superuniverses seem to be centered on the sacred sphere of Divinington. As far as I know, none but Adjusters and other entities of the Father have been on that sphere. It seems likely that numerous unrevealed prepersonal entities share Divinington as a home sphere with the Adjusters. We conjecture that these fellow entities may in some manner be associated with the present and future ministry of the Mystery Monitors. But we really do not know.
107:3.2 (1179.5) When Thought Adjusters return to the Father, they go back to the realm of supposed origin, Divinington; and probably as a part of this experience, there is actual contact with the Father’s Paradise personality as well as with the specialized manifestation of the Father’s divinity which is reported to be situated on this secret sphere.
107:3.3 (1179.6) Although we know something of all the seven secret spheres of Paradise, we know less of Divinington than of the others. Beings of high spiritual orders receive only three divine injunctions, and they are:
107:3.4 (1179.7) 1. Always to show adequate respect for the experience and endowments of their seniors and superiors.
107:3.5 (1179.8) 2. Always to be considerate of the limitations and inexperience of their juniors and subordinates.
107:3.6 (1179.9) 3. Never to attempt a landing on the shores of Divinington.
107:3.7 (1179.10) I have often reflected that it would be quite useless for me to go to Divinington; I probably should be unable to see any resident beings except such as the Personalized Adjusters, and I have seen them elsewhere. I am very sure there is nothing on Divinington of real value or profit to me, nothing essential to my growth and development, or I should not have been forbidden to go there.
107:3.8 (1180.1) Since we can learn little or nothing of the nature and origin of Adjusters from Divinington, we are compelled to gather information from a thousand and one different sources, and it is necessary to assemble, associate, and correlate this accumulated data in order that such knowledge may be informative.
107:3.9 (1180.2) The valor and wisdom exhibited by Thought Adjusters suggest that they have undergone a training of tremendous scope and range. Since they are not personalities, this training must be imparted in the educational institutions of Divinington. The unique Personalized Adjusters no doubt constitute the personnel of the Adjuster training schools of Divinington. And we do know that this central and supervising corps is presided over by the now Personalized Adjuster of the first Paradise Son of the Michael order to complete his sevenfold bestowal upon the races and peoples of his universe realms.
107:3.10 (1180.3) We really know very little about the nonpersonalized Adjusters; we only contact and communicate with the personalized orders. These are christened on Divinington and are always known by name and not by number. The Personalized Adjusters are permanently domiciled on Divinington; that sacred sphere is their home. They go out from that abode only by the will of the Universal Father. Very few are found in the domains of the local universes, but larger numbers are present in the central universe.
4. Nature and Presence of Adjusters
107:4.1 (1180.4) To say that a Thought Adjuster is divine is merely to recognize the nature of origin. It is highly probable that such purity of divinity embraces the essence of the potential of all attributes of Deity which can be contained within such a fragment of the absolute essence of the universal presence of the eternal and infinite Paradise Father.
107:4.2 (1180.5) The actual source of the Adjuster must be infinite, and before fusion with the immortal soul of an evolving mortal, the reality of the Adjuster must border on absoluteness. Adjusters are not absolutes in the universal sense, in the Deity sense, but they are probably true absolutes within the potentialities of their fragmented nature. They are qualified as to universality but not as to nature; in extensiveness they are limited, but in intensiveness of meaning, value, and fact they are absolute. For this reason we sometimes denominate the divine gifts as the qualified absolute fragments of the Father.
107:4.3 (1180.6) No Adjuster has ever been disloyal to the Paradise Father; the lower orders of personal creatures may sometimes have to contend with disloyal fellows, but never the Adjusters; they are supreme and infallible in their supernal sphere of creature ministry and universe function.
107:4.4 (1180.7) Nonpersonalized Adjusters are visible only to Personalized Adjusters. My order, the Solitary Messengers, together with Inspired Trinity Spirits, can detect the presence of Adjusters by means of spiritual reactive phenomena; and even seraphim can sometimes discern the spirit luminosity of supposed association with the presence of Monitors in the material minds of men; but none of us are able actually to discern the real presence of Adjusters, not unless they have been personalized, albeit their natures are perceivable in union with the fused personalities of the ascending mortals from the evolutionary worlds. The universal invisibility of the Adjusters is strongly suggestive of their high and exclusive divine origin and nature.
107:4.5 (1181.1) There is a characteristic light, a spirit luminosity, which accompanies this divine presence, and which has become generally associated with Thought Adjusters. In the universe of Nebadon this Paradise luminosity is widespreadly known as the “pilot light”; on Uversa it is called the “light of life.” On Urantia this phenomenon has sometimes been referred to as that “true light which lights every man who comes into the world.”
107:4.6 (1181.2) To all beings who have attained the Universal Father, the Personalized Thought Adjusters are visible. Adjusters of all stages, together with all other beings, entities, spirits, personalities, and spirit manifestations, are always discernible by those Supreme Creator Personalities who originate in the Paradise Deities, and who preside over the major governments of the grand universe.
107:4.7 (1181.3) Can you really realize the true significance of the Adjuster’s indwelling? Do you really fathom what it means to have an absolute fragment of the absolute and infinite Deity, the Universal Father, indwelling and fusing with your finite mortal natures? When mortal man fuses with an actual fragment of the existential Cause of the total cosmos, no limit can ever be placed upon the destiny of such an unprecedented and unimaginable partnership. In eternity, man will be discovering not only the infinity of the objective Deity but also the unending potentiality of the subjective fragment of this same God. Always will the Adjuster be revealing to the mortal personality the wonder of God, and never can this supernal revelation come to an end, for the Adjuster is of God and as God to mortal man.
5. Adjuster Mindedness
107:5.1 (1181.4) Evolutionary mortals are prone to look upon mind as a cosmic mediation between spirit and matter, for that is indeed the principal ministry of mind as discernible by you. Hence it is quite difficult for humans to perceive that Thought Adjusters have minds, for Adjusters are fragmentations of God on an absolute level of reality which is not only prepersonal but also prior to all energy and spirit divergence. On a monistic level antecedent to energy and spirit differentiation there could be no mediating function of mind, for there are no divergencies to be mediated.
107:5.2 (1181.5) Since Adjusters can plan, work, and love, they must have powers of selfhood which are commensurate with mind. They are possessed of unlimited ability to communicate with each other, that is, all forms of Monitors above the first or virgin groups. As to the nature and purport of their intercommunications, we can reveal very little, for we do not know. And we further know that they must be minded in some manner else they could never be personalized.
107:5.3 (1181.6) The mindedness of the Thought Adjuster is like the mindedness of the Universal Father and the Eternal Son — that which is ancestral to the minds of the Conjoint Actor.
107:5.4 (1181.7) The type of mind postulated in an Adjuster must be similar to the mind endowment of numerous other orders of prepersonal entities which presumably likewise originate in the First Source and Center. Though many of these orders have not been revealed on Urantia, they all disclose minded qualities. It is also possible for these individuations of original Deity to become unified with numerous evolving types of nonmortal beings and even with a limited number of nonevolutionary beings who have developed capacity for fusion with such Deity fragments.
107:5.5 (1182.1) When a Thought Adjuster is fused with the evolving immortal morontia soul of the surviving human, the mind of the Adjuster can only be identified as persisting apart from the creature’s mind until the ascending mortal attains spirit levels of universe progression.
107:5.6 (1182.2) Upon the attainment of the finaliter levels of ascendant experience, these spirits of the sixth stage appear to transmute some mind factor representing a union of certain phases of the mortal and Adjuster minds which had previously functioned as liaison between the divine and human phases of such ascending personalities. This experiential mind quality probably “supremacizes” and subsequently augments the experiential endowment of evolutionary Deity — the Supreme Being.
6. Adjusters as Pure Spirits
107:6.1 (1182.3) As Thought Adjusters are encountered in creature experience, they disclose the presence and leading of a spirit influence. The Adjuster is indeed a spirit, pure spirit, but spirit plus. We have never been able satisfactorily to classify Mystery Monitors; all that can certainly be said of them is that they are truly Godlike.
107:6.2 (1182.4) The Adjuster is man’s eternity possibility; man is the Adjuster’s personality possibility. Your individual Adjusters work to spiritize you in the hope of eternalizing your temporal identity. The Adjusters are saturated with the beautiful and self-bestowing love of the Father of spirits. They truly and divinely love you; they are the prisoners of spirit hope confined within the minds of men. They long for the divinity attainment of your mortal minds that their loneliness may end, that they may be delivered with you from the limitations of material investiture and the habiliments of time.
107:6.3 (1182.5) Your path to Paradise is the path of spirit attainment, and the Adjuster nature will faithfully unfold the revelation of the spiritual nature of the Universal Father. Beyond the Paradise ascent and in the postfinaliter stages of the eternal career, the Adjuster may possibly contact with the onetime human partner in other than spirit ministry; but the Paradise ascent and the finaliter career are the partnership between the God-knowing spiritualizing mortal and the spiritual ministry of the God-revealing Adjuster.
107:6.4 (1182.6) We know that Thought Adjusters are spirits, pure spirits, presumably absolute spirits. But the Adjuster must also be something more than exclusive spirit reality. In addition to conjectured mindedness, factors of pure energy are also present. If you will remember that God is the source of pure energy and of pure spirit, it will not be so difficult to perceive that his fragments would be both. It is a fact that the Adjusters traverse space over the instantaneous and universal gravity circuits of the Paradise Isle.
107:6.5 (1182.7) That the Mystery Monitors are thus associated with the material circuits of the universe of universes is indeed puzzling. But it remains a fact that they flash throughout the entire grand universe over the material-gravity circuits. It is entirely possible that they may even penetrate the outer space levels; they certainly could follow the gravity presence of Paradise into these regions, and though my order of personality can traverse the mind circuits of the Conjoint Actor also beyond the confines of the grand universe, we have never been sure of detecting the presence of Adjusters in the uncharted regions of outer space.
107:6.6 (1183.1) And yet, while the Adjusters utilize the material-gravity circuits, they are not subject thereto as is material creation. The Adjusters are fragments of the ancestor of gravity, not the consequentials of gravity; they have segmentized on a universe level of existence which is hypothetically antecedent to gravity appearance.
107:6.7 (1183.2) Thought Adjusters have no relaxation from the time of their bestowal until the day of their release to start for Divinington upon the natural death of their mortal subjects. And those whose subjects do not pass through the portals of natural death do not even experience this temporary respite. Thought Adjusters do not require energy intake; they are energy, energy of the highest and most divine order.
7. Adjusters and Personality
107:7.1 (1183.3) Thought Adjusters are not personalities, but they are real entities; they are truly and perfectly individualized, although they are never, while indwelling mortals, actually personalized. Thought Adjusters are not true personalities; they are true realities, realities of the purest order known in the universe of universes — they are the divine presence. Though not personal, these marvelous fragments of the Father are commonly referred to as beings and sometimes, in view of the spiritual phases of their present ministry to mortals, as spirit entities.
107:7.2 (1183.4) If Thought Adjusters are not personalities having prerogatives of will and powers of choice, how then can they select mortal subjects and volunteer to indwell these creatures of the evolutionary worlds? This is a question easy to ask, but probably no being in the universe of universes has ever found the exact answer. Even my order of personality, the Solitary Messengers, does not fully understand the endowment of will, choice, and love in entities that are not personal.
107:7.3 (1183.5) We have often speculated that Thought Adjusters must have volition on all prepersonal levels of choice. They volunteer to indwell human beings, they lay plans for man’s eternal career, they adapt, modify, and substitute in accordance with circumstances, and these activities connote genuine volition. They have affection for mortals, they function in universe crises, they are always waiting to act decisively in accordance with human choice, and all these are highly volitional reactions. In all situations not concerned with the domain of the human will, they unquestionably exhibit conduct which betokens the exercise of powers in every sense the equivalent of will, maximated decision.
107:7.4 (1183.6) Why then, if Thought Adjusters possess volition, are they subservient to the mortal will? We believe it is because Adjuster volition, though absolute in nature, is prepersonal in manifestation. Human will functions on the personality level of universe reality, and throughout the cosmos the impersonal — the nonpersonal, the subpersonal, and the prepersonal — is ever responsive to the will and acts of existent personality.
107:7.5 (1183.7) Throughout a universe of created beings and nonpersonal energies we do not observe will, volition, choice, and love manifested apart from personality. Except in the Adjusters and other similar entities we do not witness these attributes of personality functioning in association with impersonal realities. It would not be correct to designate an Adjuster as subpersonal, neither would it be proper to allude to such an entity as superpersonal, but it would be entirely permissible to term such a being prepersonal.
107:7.6 (1184.1) To our orders of being these fragments of Deity are known as the divine gifts. We recognize that the Adjusters are divine in origin, and that they constitute the probable proof and demonstration of a reservation by the Universal Father of the possibility of direct and unlimited communication with any and all material creatures throughout his virtually infinite realms, and all of this quite apart from his presence in the personalities of his Paradise Sons or through his indirect ministrations in the personalities of the Infinite Spirit.
107:7.7 (1184.2) There are no created beings that would not delight to be hosts to the Mystery Monitors, but no orders of beings are thus indwelt excepting evolutionary will creatures of finaliter destiny.
107:7.8 (1184.3) [Presented by a Solitary Messenger of Orvonton.]
