Religion from A Melchizedek Viewpoint—Pt 24: The Essence of Religion

This is the last episode in our study of "the religion papers" which fall in the heart of The Urantia Revelation. We are finishing Urantia Paper 103, The Reality of Religious Experience and covering the last section, Section 9, The Essence of Religion. It's a short study this week so we open the lines to you. How are you holding up? Call in, let's talk.

Some think that a study on religion is boring. Of course, defining "religion" as a set of rigid and dogmatic rules, handed down by the priest, mystic, shaman, pastor, medicine man, etc., IS boring. Some think of God as an offended monarch, whose chief delight is to detect human beings in wrongdoing and see that they are adequately punished, so it's no wonder they don't like religion. Such ideas are not only boring, they are senseless, cruel, and inconsistent with enlightened teachings. In truth, religion provides us with the essentials of human happiness, faith, trust, and assurance.

Here are just a few key concepts we've covered in this study:

• Religion is not a slavish belief in threats of punishment or magical promises of future mystical rewards.
• True religion is a matter of personal spiritual experience.
• Religion is a living love, a life of service.
• True religion is an insight into reality, the faith-child of the moral consciousness.
• Religion is so vital that it persists in the absence of learning.
• Religion is man's experience with the cosmos of spirit values.

In these trying times, we need wisdom like this: "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..."

So, since you're stuck at home, perhaps you can tune in for some GOOD NEWS!