The Lucifer Rebellion

     Our planet is described as a disordered and backward world; a strife-torn, grief-stricken, and disease-afflicted world; a disturbed planet; a world beset by evil; a world so largely dominated by selfishness and sin.
     The problems associated with human existence on our planet are impossible of understanding without knowledge of certain great epochs of the past, notably the occurrence and consequences of the planetary rebellion that occurred about 200,000 years ago. Had Caligastia, our Planetary Prince, remained loyal to Jesus, we mortals would have by this time achieved a markedly better level of intellectual and spiritual development. [67:0]

War in Heaven!

     Lucifer was a magnificent being, a brilliant personality. He had experienced service in many systems, had been a high counselor of his group, and was distinguished for wisdom, sagacity, and efficiency. He was designated as one of the one hundred most able and brilliant personalities in more than seven hundred thousand of his kind. From such a magnificent beginning, through evil and error, he embraced sin. He succumbed to the urge of self and surrendered to the sophistry of spurious personal liberty--rejection of universe allegiance and disregard of fraternal obligations, blindness to cosmic relationships. [35:0] [35:8][53:0:1]

     Lucifer was a created Son of the local universe, and of him it was said: "You were perfect in all your ways from the day you were created till unrighteousness was found in you."
     Many times had he been in counsel with the Most Highs of Edentia. And Lucifer reigned "upon the holy mountain of God," the administrative mount of Jerusem, for he was the chief executive of a great system of 607 inhabited worlds. [Ezekiel 28:14,15] [53:1:1]

     Lucifer is now the fallen and deposed Sovereign of Satania. Self-contemplation is most disastrous, even to the exalted personalities of the celestial world. Of Lucifer it was said: "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your brightness." Your olden prophet saw his sad estate when he wrote: "How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cast down, you who dared to confuse the worlds!" [Isaiah 14:12-17] [53:1:3]

     Lucifer assigned his first lieutenant, Satan, to advocate his cause on your planet. Satan was a member of the same primary group of Lanonandeks but had never functioned as a System Sovereign; he entered fully into the Lucifer insurrection. The "devil" is none other than Caligastia, the deposed Planetary Prince of Urantia and a Son of the secondary order of Lanonandeks. At the time Michael was on Urantia in the flesh, Lucifer, Satan, and Caligastia were leagued together to effect the miscarriage of his bestowal mission. But they signally failed. [53:1:4]

     Abaddon was the chief of the staff of Caligastia. He followed his master into rebellion and has ever since acted as chief executive of the Urantia rebels. Beelzebub was the leader of the disloyal midway creatures who allied themselves with the forces of the traitorous Caligastia. [53:1:5] [Matthew 10:25] [Matthew 12:24,27] [Mark 3:22] [Luke 11:18,19] [Revelation 9:11]

     The dragon eventually became the symbolic representation of all these evil personages. Upon the triumph of Michael, "Gabriel came down from Salvington and bound the dragon (all the rebel leaders) for an age." Of the Jerusem seraphic rebels it is written: "And the angels who kept not their first estate but left their own habitation, he has reserved in sure chains of darkness to the judgment of the great day." [53:1:6] [Jude 1:6] [Revelation 20:2]

     There must have been a pride of self that nourished itself to the point of self-deception, so that Lucifer for a time really persuaded himself that his contemplation of rebellion was actually for the good of the system, if not of the universe. By the time his plans had developed to the point of disillusionment, no doubt he had gone too far for his original and mischief-making pride to permit him to stop. At some point in this experience he became insincere, and evil evolved into deliberate and willful sin. That this happened is proved by the subsequent conduct of this brilliant executive.
     Lucifer first announced his plans to Satan, but it required several months to corrupt the mind of his able and brilliant associate. However, when once converted to the rebel theories, Satan became a bold and earnest advocate of "self-assertion and liberty." [53:2]

The Lucifer Manifesto.
     Whatever the early origins of trouble in the hearts of Lucifer and Satan, the final outbreak took form as the Lucifer Declaration of Liberty. The cause of the rebels was stated under three heads: [1] The Reality of the Universal Father; [2] The universe government of the Creator Son--Jesus; [3] The attack upon the universal plan of ascendant mortal training.

[1] The Reality of the Universal Father.
     The charge was sweeping, terrible, and blasphemous. Among other things, Lucifer charged that the Universal Father did not really exist: he was a myth. He traded on reverence as ignorance. [53:3:2]

[2] The universe government of the Creator Son--Jesus.
     Lucifer contended that the local systems should be autonomous. He protested against the right of Jesus, the Creator Son, to assume sovereignty of Nebadon in the name of a hypothetical Paradise Father and require all personalities to acknowledge allegiance to this unseen Father. He asserted that the whole plan of worship was a clever scheme to aggrandize the Paradise Sons. He was willing to acknowledge Michael as his Creator-father but not as his God and rightful ruler.
     He maintained that immortality was inherent in the system personalities, that resurrection was natural and automatic, and that all beings would live eternally except for the arbitrary and unjust acts of the executioners of the Ancients of Days. [53:3:3-5]

[3] The attack upon the universal plan of ascendant mortal training.
     Lucifer maintained that far too much time and energy were expended upon the scheme of so thoroughly training ascending mortals in the principles of universe administration, principles which he alleged were unethical and unsound. He challenged and condemned the entire plan of mortal ascension as sponsored by the Paradise Sons of God and supported by the Infinite Spirit. [53:3:6]

     And it was with such a Declaration of Liberty that Lucifer launched his orgy of darkness and death. [53:3:7]

     The Lucifer manifesto was issued on the sea of glass, in the presence of the assembled hosts of Jerusem. Satan proclaimed that worship could be accorded the universal forces--physical, intellectual, and spiritual--but that allegiance could be acknowledged only to the actual and present ruler, Lucifer, the "friend of men and angels" and the "God of liberty." [53:4:1]
     Self-assertion was the battle cry of the Lucifer rebellion. He was bold and persistent in the advocacy of the "equality of mind" and "the brotherhood of intelligence." He maintained that all government should be limited to the local planets and their voluntary confederation into the local systems. He promised the Planetary Princes that they should rule the worlds as supreme executives. He proceeded to set up his own legislative assembly and organized his own tribunals under the jurisdiction of Satan. And he directed that the princes on the apostate worlds do the same. [53:4:1,2]

     Since Michael elected to remain aloof from the actual warfare of the Lucifer rebellion, Gabriel called his personal staff together on Edentia and, in counsel with the Most Highs, elected to assume command of the loyal hosts of Satania. Michael remained on Salvington while Gabriel proceeded to Jerusem, and establishing himself on the sphere dedicated to the Father--the same Universal Father whose personality Lucifer and Satan had questioned--in the presence of the forgathered hosts of loyal personalities, he displayed the banner of Michael, the material emblem of the Trinity government of all creation, the three azure blue concentric circles on a white background. [53:5:4]
     The Lucifer emblem was a banner of white with one red circle, in the center of which a black solid circle appeared. [53:5:5]
     "There was war in heaven; Michael's commander and his angels fought against the dragon (Lucifer, Satan, and the apostate princes); and the dragon and his rebellious angels fought but prevailed not." This "war in heaven" was not a physical battle as such a conflict might be conceived on Urantia. In the early days of the struggle Lucifer held forth continuously in the planetary amphitheater. Gabriel conducted an unceasing exposure of the rebel sophistries from his headquarters taken up near at hand. The various personalities present on the sphere who were in doubt as to their attitude would journey back and forth between these discussions until they arrived at a final decision. [53:5:6] [Revelation 12:7-9]

     This war in heaven was very terrible and very real. While displaying none of the barbarities so characteristic of physical warfare on the immature worlds, this conflict was far more deadly; material life is in jeopardy in material combat, but the war in heaven was fought in terms of life eternal. [53:5:7]

     The Lucifer rebellion was system wide. Thirty-seven seceding Planetary Princes swung their world administrations largely to the side of the archrebel. Our Planetary Prince, Caligastia [the "devil"] was one of them. From the beginning of the rebellion, Caligastia advocated the cause of Lucifer on Urantia.
     Huge numbers of celestial personalities in Jerusem joined Lucifer in his rebellion. [53:7:1-8]
     Said John the Revelator: And his tail [the dragon's tail] drew a third part of the stars of heaven and cast them down in darkness. [Revelation 12:4]

     The ascending mortals were vulnerable, but they withstood the sophistries of rebellion better than the lower spirits. While many on the lower mansion worlds, those who had not attained final fusion with their Adjusters, fell, it is recorded to the glory of the wisdom of the ascension scheme that not a single member of the Satania ascendant citizenship resident on Jerusem participated in the Lucifer rebellion.
     And on to Salvington, Uversa, and Paradise went this message of assurance that the survival experience of mortal ascension is the greatest security against rebellion and the surest safeguard against sin. This noble Jerusem band of faithful mortals numbered just 187,432,811. [53:7:10-12]

     Lucifer and Satan freely roamed the Satania system until the completion of the bestowal mission of Michael on Urantia. They were last on your world together during the time of their combined assault upon the Son of Man.
     Formerly, when the Planetary Princes, the "Sons of God," were periodically assembled, "Satan came also," claiming that he represented all of the isolated worlds of the fallen Planetary Princes. But he has not been accorded such liberty on Jerusem since Michael's terminal bestowal. [53:8:1,2]
     [Note: Two passages in the book of Job clearly refute the Christian belief that Jesus was the only Son of God:
     Job 1:6: Now there was a day when the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. [My emphasis]
     Job 2:1: Again there was a day when the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. [My emphasis]
     In view of these two very clear statements, how can Christians teach that Jesus is the only Son of God?]

     The bestowal of Michael terminated the Lucifer rebellion in all Satania aside from the planets of the apostate Planetary Princes. And this was the significance of Jesus' personal experience, just before his death in the flesh, when he one day exclaimed to his disciples, "And I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven." He had come with Lucifer to Urantia for the last crucial struggle. [Luke 10:18] [53:8:3]

     The Son of Man was confident of success, and he knew that his triumph on your world would forever settle the status of his agelong enemies. There was survival for mortals and security for angels when your Master, in reply to the Lucifer proposals, calmly and with divine assurance replied, "Get you behind me, Satan." [Matthew 16:23] [53:8:4]
     That was, in principle, the real end of the Lucifer rebellion. True, the Uversa tribunals have not yet rendered the executive decision regarding the appeal of Gabriel praying for the destruction of the rebels, but such a decree will, no doubt, be forthcoming in the fullness of time since the first step in the hearing of this case has already been taken. [53:8:4]

     Caligastia was recognized by the Son of Man as the technical Prince of Urantia up to near the time of his death. Said Jesus: "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the [Planetary] Prince of this world be cast down." And then still nearer the completion of his lifework he announced, "The [Planetary] Prince of this world is judged." And it is this same dethroned and discredited Prince who was once termed "God of Urantia." [John 12:31] [53:8:5]
     The last act of Jesus before leaving Urantia was to offer mercy to Caligastia and Daligastia, but they spurned his tender proffer. Caligastia, your apostate Planetary Prince, is still free on Urantia to prosecute his nefarious designs, but he has absolutely no power to enter the minds of men, neither can he draw near to their souls to tempt or corrupt them unless they really desire to be cursed with his wicked presence. [53:8:6]

     Before the bestowal of Jesus on our planet these rulers of darkness sought to maintain their authority on Urantia, and they persistently withstood the minor and subordinate celestial personalities. But since the day of Pentecost this traitorous Caligastia and his equally contemptible associate, Daligastia, are servile before the divine majesty of the Paradise Thought Adjusters and the protective Spirit of Truth, the spirit of Michael, which has been poured out upon all flesh. [53:8:7]
     But even so, no fallen spirit ever did have the power to invade the minds or to harass the souls of the children of God. Neither Satan nor Caligastia could ever touch or approach the faith sons of God; faith is an effective armor against sin and iniquity. It is true: "He who is born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one touches him not." [I John 5:18] [53:8:8]

     Early in the days of the Lucifer rebellion, salvation was offered all rebels by Jesus. To all who would show proof of sincere repentance, he offered, upon his attainment of complete universe sovereignty, forgiveness and reinstatement in some form of universe service. None of the leaders accepted this merciful proffer. But thousands of the angels and the lower orders of celestial beings accepted Jesus' offer of mercy. These beings have since been transferred to the Father's world of Jerusem, where they must be held, technically, until the Uversa courts hand down a decision in the matter of Gabriel vs. Lucifer. But no one doubts that, when the annihilation verdict is issued, these repentant and salvaged personalities will be exempted from the decree of extinction. [53:9:1]
     The archdeceiver [Lucifer] has never been on Urantia since the days when he sought to turn back Michael from the purpose to complete the bestowal and to establish himself finally and securely as the unqualified ruler of Nebadon. Upon Michael's becoming the settled head of the universe of Nebadon, Lucifer was taken into custody by the agents of the Uversa Ancients of Days and has since been a prisoner on satellite number one of the Father's group of the transition spheres of Jerusem. And here the rulers of other worlds and systems behold the end of the unfaithful Sovereign of Satania. Paul knew of the status of these rebellious leaders following Michael's bestowal, for he wrote of Caligastia's chiefs as "spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." [Ephesians 6:12] [53:9:2]

     Even after Jesus assumed supreme sovereignty of Nebadon [our local universe] Satan could come to Urantia because you had no Son of standing in residence--neither Planetary Prince nor Material Son. Machiventa Melchizedek [the "sage of Salem"] has since been proclaimed vicegerent Planetary Prince of Urantia, and the opening of the case of Gabriel vs. Lucifer has signalized the inauguration of temporary planetary regimes on all the isolated worlds. It is true that Satan did periodically visit Caligastia and others of the fallen princes right up to the time of the presentation of these revelations, when there occurred the first hearing of Gabriel's plea for the annihilation of the archrebels. Satan is now unqualifiedly detained on the Jerusem prison worlds. [53:9:4]
     [Note: During the time of the presentation of the Urantia Papers in the mid-1930s the Ancients of Days directed that Satan be henceforth confined to the prison world with Lucifer. This ends the ability of Satan to pay further visits to any of the fallen worlds in our system of Satania. Justice in a mercy-dominated universe may be slow, but it is certain. (54:4:8]

     The rebellion has ended on Jerusem. It ends on the fallen worlds as fast as divine Sons arrive. [Will the arrival of Elijah and Melchizedek terminate the rebellion on our planet?] We believe that all rebels who will ever accept mercy have done so. We await the flashing broadcast that will deprive these traitors of personality existence. We anticipate the verdict of Uversa will be announced by the executionary broadcast which will effect the annihilation of these interned rebels. Then will you look for their places, but they shall not be found. "And they who know you among the worlds will be astonished at you; you have been a terror, but never shall you be any more." And thus shall all of these unworthy traitors "become as though they had not been." All await the Uversa decree. [Ezekiel 28:19] [Obadiah 1:16?] [53:9:7]
     But for ages the seven prison worlds of spiritual darkness in Satania have constituted a solemn warning to all Nebadon, eloquently and effectively proclaiming the great truth "that the way of the transgressor is hard"; "that within every sin is concealed the seed of its own destruction"; that "the wages of sin is death." [Proverbs 13:15] [Romans 6:23] [53:9:8]

The Planetary Rebellion

     When Caligastia, the Planetary Prince, arrived on earth with his supporting staff, both visible and invisible, about 500,000 years ago, there were about 500,000,000 primitive human beings on earth well scattered over Europe, Asia, and Africa. [There might have been considerably more primitive mortals on earth had they not engaged in so much tribal warfare. Often a war between hostile tribes would continue until every person on the losing side was killed, and the winning tribe had not fared much better.] [66:0:1,2]
     Caligastia was a highly experienced Lanonandek Son. During later ages he became very knowledgeable in the management of our local system of Satania.
     Caligastia's visible Staff of One Hundred arrived with him. They were provided with specially created physical bodies which enabled them to live on century after century as long as they had access to the fruit of the Tree of Life. [66:2,4]
     The headquarters of the Planetary Prince was named Dalamatia in honor of Daligastia, Caligastia's chief of staff. [66:3:3] I might note that our local system of Satania, in accordance with custom, was named after Satan, Lucifer's first assistant. That was long before the outbreak of the Lucifer Rebellion.

     Caligastia went forth from Jerusem to his trust of world dominion with an enviable record of loyalty and devotion to the welfare of the universe of his origin and sojourn, notwithstanding a certain characteristic restlessness coupled with a tendency to disagree with the established order in certain minor matters. [66:1:4]
     I [the author of Paper 66] was present on Jerusem when the brilliant Caligastia departed from the system capital. No prince of the planets ever embarked upon a career of world rulership with a richer preparatory experience or with better prospects than did Caligastia on that eventful day one-half million years ago. One thing is certain: As I executed my assignment of putting the narrative of that event on the broadcasts of the local universe, I never for one moment entertained even in the slightest degree any idea that this noble Lanonandek would so shortly betray his sacred trust of planetary custody and so horribly stain the fair name of his exalted order of universe sonship. I really regarded Urantia as being among the five or six most fortunate planets in all Satania in that it was to have such an experienced, brilliant, and original mind at the helm of world affairs. I did not then comprehend that Caligastia was insidiously falling in love with himself; I did not then so fully understand the subtleties of personality pride. [66:1:5]

     Caligastia had ruled on earth for three hundred thousand years when Satan stopped by for a periodic inspection. Satan informed Caligastia of Lucifer's proposed rebellion. Caligastia agreed to join Lucifer in the rebellion. [67:1:1,2] [Note: Satan is not of red color with horns and a tail: He was and is a brilliant creature of light. (II Corinthians 11:14)]

     It was one of the most profoundly shocking episodes of this rebellion for me [the author of Paper 50] to learn of the callous perfidy of one of my own order of sonship, Caligastia, who, in deliberation and with malice aforethought, systematically perverted the instruction and poisoned the teaching provided in all the Urantia planetary schools in operation at that time. The wreck of these schools was speedy and complete. [50:4:7]
     The loyal universe personalities look with peculiar disdain upon Prince Caligastia because of this premeditated betrayal of trust. Jesus voiced his contempt of Caligastia when he said: "You are like your leader, Lucifer, and you have sinfully perpetuated his iniquity. He was a falsifier from the beginning of his self-exaltation because he abode not in the truth." [67:1:2]

     In the early days the Prince's Staff of One Hundred attempted to markedly accelerate human society by practicing progression by evolution and not revolution by revelation. [66:6:6]
     Caligastia, now proclaimed "God of Urantia and supreme over all," set about to completely and radically reorganize the whole world: revolution displaced evolution as the policy of cultural advancement and racial improvement. His policies proved a swift and more or less complete failure. This upheaval left the world in confusion worse confounded. [67:5:1,3] [67:2:4]

     There was a terrible loss among the celestial administrators of our planet. For more than seven years the bitter struggle continued. Every celestial being on our planet was required to make a final decision: to remain loyal to Jesus or to join Lucifer and Caligastia. [67:2,3]

The Default of Adam and Eve

     About 200,000 years ago, Lucifer, then the System Sovereign of Satania, rebelled against the government of God and Jesus, the Sovereign of our local universe of Nebadon.
     Satan, Lucifer's first assistant, joined Lucifer's cause.
     Caligastia, our Planetary Prince, followed Lucifer and Satan into rebellion.
     Sixty members of Caligastia's Staff of One Hundred also joined the cause of Lucifer.
     Adam and Eve arrived from Jerusem 37,848 years ago from the year 1934 A.D. to assume their duties as our new visible world rulers.
     The wily Caligastia was determined to bring about the default of Adam and Eve, and, if possible, to involve them in the Lucifer Rebellion.
     After Adam and Eve had lived and worked in the first Garden of Eden for one hundred seventeen [117] years, Caligastia was successful in his efforts to bring about their downfall. But he failed to involve them in the Lucifer Rebellion.

     Their sojourn on our planet is described in my Paper No. 46: "Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden."
     A more detailed account of their trials and tribulations is presented in Papers 73 through 76 in The Urantia Book.
     After reading the story of the circumstances that brought about their partial default, ask yourself: Could you have succeeded where they faltered?

Note: Numerous statements in this paper were quoted verbatim from the source.

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Beginning of Paper

Source:
     The Urantia Book, published by Uversa Press.
http://www.urantiabook.org
fellowship@urantiabook.org
     The King James Study Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville TN.

Revised January 11 2007