THE GREAT TIME BOMB ERROR

-by Norm Du Val (Rev. 11-97)
 

I was looking again at the TIME BOMBS article which was included in the paper, "The Science Content of the URANTIA BOOK", 1991, by Richard Bain, Ken Glasziou, Matt Neibaur and Frank Wright. In it, the author proposes that the Revelators deliberately included erroneous information in the URANTIA BOOK so that when we found those errors we would know the book was flawed and would not be able to make a fetish object out of it.

 The author cites several passages in the URANTIA BOOK where the Revelators tell us that, "...revelations are not necessarily inspired", and "The cosmology is not inspired" (page 1109C), and "...within a few short years many of our statements on the physical sciences will stand in need of revision in consequence of additional scientific developments and discoveries". The Time Bombs author makes a great leap to build an illogical theory of deliberate deception by the Revelators and the reasons therefor. This subject was wonderfully addressed in Denver Pearson's paper, "The Scientific Integrity of the URANTIA BOOK", published in the Journal of the Fellowship, Spring 1993, but after re-reading Time Bombs, I felt more needed to be said.

 The Time Bombs' author goes from this "need of revision" idea, as expressed by the Revelators, and which implies that in some cases we are given incomplete information, rather like an early map of the 13 colonies being an incomplete map of the United States, all the way to putting words in the Revelators' mouths.

 The article states, "Therefore, some of the cosmology we are given is inaccurate by the admission of the revelators" Dear me, did the Revelators really say that? Later, and in the same vein we are told, "But perhaps the frank admission of inaccuracies in the cosmology of the book isn't adequate to prevent undue reverence for the book." And then still later, "Remember that the revelators told us that they had put inaccurate information in the papers...". (Remember ???)

 The Revelators have said no such thing. How one can go from "many of our statements on the physical sciences will stand in need of revision in consequence of additional scientific developments and discoveries" to saying that this constitutes a frank admission by the Revelators that they have deliberately included wrong or "inacurate" information is beyond me.

 There is no such "frank admission of inaccuracies" by the Revelators in the URANTIA BOOK. The Revelators DID NOT  tell us that they had put inaccurate information in the papers. These are misstatements by the Time Bombs' author. And there is no implied idea by the Revelators that they have such a duty to perform. The Revelators are not humans, not John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, or Moses, gone to heaven to write books for us, nor are they rogue angels, doing whatever they please. The Revelators are God's spiritual agents, appointed by and working for God's government.

 The Time Bombs' author incredibly says, "Remember that the Revelators told us they had put inaccurate information in the papers, so we could hardly say that they lied to us". This statement has several errors in it. It presumes on us to remember something that is not true or never happened. The Revelators have not told us that they put inaccurate information in the Revelation. Therefore, the conclusion, "...so we could hardly say that they lied to us", is also wrong. Furthermore, any deliberate error in the book would be a lie.

 This fanciful rationalization that the Revelators deliberately and surreptitiously put inaccurate information in the URANTIA BOOK in order to keep us from making a fetish out of the book is an error and is illogical. In a paragraph above, the Revelators themselves tell us why the information will need to be revised. It will not be because they lied to us but it will be, "...in consequence of additional scientific developments and discoveries". And as noted in Time Bombs, the first reason given by the Revelators on page 1109 for presenting cosmology to us is, "The reduction of confusion by the authoritative elimination of error." Read that again. The Revelators have no interest in increasing confusion by the addition of error. That seems to be a human specialty. Deliberate errors, if we knew them to be such, would not show the book to be fallible, rather they would only show us that we had been lied to.

 On page 1109, in Section 4, THE LIMITATIONS OF REVELATION, the Revelators say,

"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."

 Possibly the Revelators should have noted that some students may discover apparent errors on the face of the associated cosmologies and will be tempted to dream up hidden reasons for those supposed errors, rather like the Apostle Paul who incorrectly rationalized Jesus death on the cross to the endless confusion of Christianity. Let's not start this Revelation in the same manner, crippling the mission of the URANTIA BOOK.

 How much more can the Revelators explain this? They can give us little unearned or premature knowledge. The cosmology in the book will be outgrown. We will learn more on our own. Nowhere in the URANTIA BOOK do the Revelators say they are giving us inaccurate information. The word "inaccurate" is not even in this book of 1.5 million words. But the word is in the Time Bombs article several times and each instance is an implication that the Revelators have lied.

 In Urantia circles it is often quoted, but these are the same Revelators who tell us:

"The shadow of a hair's turning, premeditated for an untrue purpose, the slightest twisting or perversion of that which is principle--these constitute falseness." page- 555

 It is not logical that these agents of God would lie to us.

 The suggestion that the Revelators were concerned with preventing the URANTIA BOOK from becoming a fetish is simply idle speculation by humans and has nothing to do with the Revelators. It is an imagined problem in search of a rational if not logical answer. The premise that the book has deliberate errors, in order to show that it is fallible so that we won't make a fetish of it, does not add up. The only way the scheme would work is if we thought errors were in the book simply because the Revelators were stupid or incompetent. Either way, it's a dead end.

 I would have no reason to continue to believe in the URANTIA BOOK if I thought the Revelators had lied to me in a sorry attempt to keep me from loving the Revelation too much. How can you love an Epochal Revelation too much? Can you love Jesus' teachings too much?

 Regarding the Revelators, the Time Bombs' author says, "Remember that their mission was undoubtedly to protect us from our own foolish tendencies." Remember from where? Where does this come from???. We are asked again to remember something that is not true. This statement is made up. It is false. The Revelators "mission" was not "undoubtedly to protect us from our own foolish tendencies." As Immanuel said to Michael before his bestowal on Urantia, "You may proceed upon your mission with but a single thought--the enhanced revelation of our Father to the intelligent beings of your universe." It seems highly unlikely that the Revelators would have their own widely different agenda for this Revelation.

 We are freewill creatures. The Revelators must respect that. Putting deliberate errors in the book might possibly prevent some from making a fetish out of it, as if that were ever a big problem, but it would surely cause others who might be searching for truth to reject it, even to ultimately reject all religion and the Father along with it, and this would be on the hands of the Revelators, -souls lost because of Revelator's lies. I find this unthinkable.

 It is after all, a Revelation. And what is it a Revelation of? It is a revelation of truth. Perhaps partial truth, perhaps transient truth, but truth all the same. It cannot be a revelation of truth sprinkled with lies.

 We already know the book may be fallible in the real sense, as the Revelators, even though they are morontial and spiritual beings, are not perfect beings. They can make mistakes.

 Now, what are some of the so-called Time Bombs? Are they actual problems or not?

 Considering the Mercury Rotation "Time Bomb", the author of Time Bombs states that, "On page 657D we are informed that Mercury keeps the same face to the sun at all times." In fact, we are not so informed. The URANTIA BOOK does not say, "Mercury keeps the same face to the sun at all times." If the Revelators had wanted to make that plain statement, they easily could have, but they didn't. The URANTIA BOOK presents two ideas of tidal friction and gives two examples. In "The Scientific Integrity of the URANTIA BOOK", Denver Pearson debunked the Mercury Rotation Time Bomb with just a careful reading of the text. Many times this is all it takes.

 Why do the scientific rationalists seem to assume that when there is an apparent difference between current science and the URANTIA BOOK, that it must be the book which is wrong? Some will deny that this is the case. They will insist that they are even-handed, but consciously or not, they will not give the URANTIA BOOK the benefit of the doubt even when the science is known to be, and always has been, ever-changing. The scientific mind set doesn't like to think that there could be "possible errors in 'modern' science". Until the science errors are proven, a person with a scientific bent tends to think of discrepancies as "possible errors in the URANTIA BOOK". I don't think we should even use the word error, but simply call them "differences" and hold them in suspension until all the evidence is in.

 Another so-called Time Bomb concerns the statement on page 690 that the continental drift has stopped. Even though the URANTIA BOOK was out in front of science with the continental drift idea, the book says that the continental drift era has now ended (page 691). Science says otherwise. Some say that the geologists' instruments can't be wrong when they show movement, and that proves that the book is in error. Well, does the URANTIA BOOK say that the continents are welded in place? Hardly. It's a dynamic planet. As a matter of fact the URANTIA BOOK talks about present day "continental creep" (pages 668 & 673). This is movement that the scientists' instruments are truthfully recording, but that they are misinterpreting in ignorance as continuing continental drift. It's quite possible that the continents are shuffling around a bit, but that in fact the continental drift era is over. The planet is reaching an equilibrium, and besides, where would the continents go if they were still drifting???

 The geologists are like the astronomers who are misinterpreting the red shift and background radiation as telltales of a Big Bang. The universe is in an expansive phase now according to the URANTIA BOOK. The astronomers don't yet know what they are looking at. Unlike some "Creation Scientists", there are bona fide plasma physicists with no interest in the URANTIA BOOK, who have models of universe existence that are much closer to the URANTIA BOOK version than to the Big Bang theory.

 The author of Time Bombs says that we will have to "...honestly admit it when the book appears to be in error." Does this mean we should admit the errors as individuals, or will the errors be admitted for all of us by a few people, such as has happened with the Time Bombs article? How else can we explain such presumptive false statements as, "Remember, the Revelators told us they put inaccurate information in the papers..."?

 We have to be honest both ways. Science is like shifting sand. Watch it for awhile. It's a seemingly slow process, hard to notice if you're not paying attention, but it is more revisionist than you might think.

 The URANTIA BOOK has an excellent record. I am constantly amazed at how science is working it's way toward the book. The case of the migration of the Red Man to America is a good example. The URANTIA BOOK says the event happened 85,000 years ago, versus the 10,000 years very recent version of science. Just in the last year or two science has changed its estimate to 25-35,000 years. Science used to talk about finding "missing links". The URANTIA BOOK says they won't find them because they don't exist. Now science is kicking around the idea of sudden evolutionary changes which would eliminate the "missing links". The list of scientific revisions that are moving in the direction of the book is a long one. Part of the scientific rationalists problem may be a "Bible Complex".

 Science changes. The URANTIA BOOK does not. I give the book the benefit of the doubt in all cases where our present day science may be and probably will be subject to revision. I used to think science was all truth. If they said it or printed it, I thought it must be true. Science can't be wrong, I thought ( or more correctly, I assumed), and anyway this is the latest science, not that old stuff we snicker about now. Yeah, right. Sure, science is great, but science is partial, and a moving target.

 Part of the scientific rationalists problem may be a "Bible Complex". A fear of doing what some Christians have been accused of doing (and have probably done), -kissing their brains good-bye and accepting the Bible without question. Well, the URANTIA BOOK is not the Bible. I know it's hard for some to drop the connection in their minds that somehow, the URANTIA BOOK is kinda, sorta the Bible, in a way, isn't it? You know, they're both holy books and all. If the Bible is wrong about a lot of things, then it only stands to reason that the same thing applies to the URANTIA BOOK, right? Wrong.

 The URANTIA BOOK is truly a new ball game. It has little or nothing to do with the Bible. This is a connection that probably only people from a "Christian" background and culture would make. Many of us have this problem to some degree. The fundamentalist Christians embarrass us because we see that they are irrational, often practicing willful ignorance. We are afraid of being like them, or of being thought of as being like them. If we were from Ganymede or if the Bible had never been written, we wouldn't have these fears.

 In Time Bombs Two, a related article, it is suggested that there is another category of Time Bombs in the book. These are not scientific in nature, but rather are seen to step on our social and politically correct toes. It is thought by the author of Time Bombs Two that the Revelators should have left these subjects out of the book. We would have been better off not knowing them. They will be hard to defend. The book gains nothing from their inclusion. Etc. In Time Bombs Two, you are asked to imagine yourself in front of a rapt audience, telling them about some of the wonderful concepts and stories in the URANTIA BOOK. While talking about the origin of the secondary midwayers, a voice from the audience asks, "How did Ratta find her invisible children when she mislaid them?" And since the secondary midwayers are electrically nourished, the question arises, "At mealtimes, did the mothers of midwayer babies plug them into the wall socket or were they battery fed?" The audience has a big laugh at your expense and you are mortified that you believe in this book and embarrassed about what it says. More "impossible" questions follow. (See "Time Bombs Two")

 Relax. In reality, you are not obligated to explain the book. You didn't write it and you weren't there in ages past to see how Ratta dealt with her problems.

 The secondary midwayers are not a problem. The Revelators needed to include this material. They are our close relatives, part of our history and live here as permanent residents and as bridges to the morontial and the spiritual. Why shouldn't we know about them? The Revelators have given important new information to those of us who can accept it. Perhaps in the long run, many more will be able to accept the information in the URANTIA BOOK, but for those who can't, it's certainly too bad. Maybe they just won't make the grade. Does God have a use for people who won't look at and honestly evaluate new truth? Just because something is new and seemingly strange to our established beliefs, that does not mean it's not true.

 Later (as postulated by the Time Bombs Two author), on a top rated interview show, perhaps Nightline with Ted Koppel, concerning the fandors you are asked, "Do you really expect us to believe that a domesticated talking bird ever lived that could carry two men for 500 miles? Then the interviewer mentions the eight foot tall Adam and Eve who rode on these birds and opines, "Surely you don't think we are that gullible?" You will be embarrassed, backed in a corner, ridiculed and ashamed as you try to explain your book with its outlandish and sometimes politically incorrect ideas. You make a feeble joke or two and hope the program ends soon. What hell this has been. You wish you could just disappear.

 If there were Fandors, what's funny about that? If they were a part of our history, why not tell us? Who cares if ignorant TV hosts ridicule the story? Anything can be ridiculed. Even Jesus was ridiculed. Dinosaurs are "funny" too if you think about them, but nobody's laughing at people who believe in them, because they are used to the idea. The only thing that makes Fandors or secondary midwayers funny is that people aren't used to the ideas.  Ridicule is an aspect of intolerance, of which Jesus had this to say on page 1641.

 "Intolerance is the mask covering up the entertainment of secret doubts as to the trueness of one's belief. No man is at any time disturbed by his neighbor's attitude when he has perfect confidence in the truth of that which he wholeheartedly believes. Courage is the confidence of thoroughgoing honesty about those things which one professes to believe. Sincere men are unafraid of the critical examination of their true convictions and noble ideals."

 Surely we have enough problems without the Revelators, acting on Michael's behalf, introducing deliberate error. This is the sort of thing we might expect from Caligastia, but not from the writers of an epochal revelation of truth to an already backward and troubled planet.

 In another of the Time Bombs Two's hypothetical scenarios, you are at another speaking engagement before a large Australian audience, and while you are waxing eloquently on love and the brotherhood of man, an aborigine asks you to explain the seemingly harsh words about his group on page 764. Certainly this is a tough question, one will have to be handled with care and sensitivity, but it's not a Time Bomb, it's a growth experience.

 According to the Time Bombs Two author's speculation, other subjects that will further embarrass us and discredit the book will be material concerning the subnormal man, the feeble minded, positive law, the colored races, and much more.

 Oh, the mortification of it all. Why oh why did the Revelators put these strange things in our wonderful book? Most could easily have been left out. Who needed to know this stuff? What were the Revelators thinking?

 Wait! I know the answer! These unnecessary and troublesome subjects must be more Time Bombs that the Revelators in their wisdom, put in to keep us from making a fetish out of the book. By offending people's sensibilities and preconceived notions, by making us subject to ridicule, and in all likelihood costing some their faith when these time bombs explode, the Revelators could be sure they were protecting us from our fetish impulse, which must be one of the worst of all possible things, so some think.

 NOT! This is not the answer, and these are not Time Bombs. This is simply information we need as a planet so that we can grow up and get back on God's path. This is just the celestials telling us what's what. If it bothers some people, that's a problem with those people, not with the information. The information Jesus gave to the world bothered some people too. For many, there is no non-essential or non-important information in the book. I don't want them to have omitted anything. No doubt the Revelators knew people would be weeded out, like weeding a garden. Some will read and believe and others with preconceived attitudes, ideas and prejudices will recoil from the Revelation.

 In the first Time Bombs article, what starts out as "I speculate...", "suppose", "my second speculation", and "time bomb theory", quickly changes into concrete, fait accompli statements such as, "While we know there is inaccurate science and cosmology in the book...", and even, "I admire the skill and wisdom of the revelators in preventing the book from becoming a fetish item". This is presumption of a magnitude seldom seen.

 Most of the scientific bombs cited are very problematical unless one can guarantee that the science is correct and won't be changing. That would be difficult. Ultimately, science will know it all, but here and now, it does not. And these scientists are the same type of people who, with billions of dollars worth of satellites in orbit, many times can't correctly tell you what the weather will be the day after tomorrow, sometimes not even tomorrow.

 I don't understand how anyone could explain this theory to a new reader. I would never be able to present this revelation to anyone if I thought the Time Bomb theory was correct. It's hard enough to bring people to God without deliberate errors. I could never hand someone this wonderful book and say, "Here, read this. It's a new Revelation from God, but to keep you from loving it too much, God's angels put some false information in it." That's absurd. It would be like Jesus lying and misleading the people during his bestowal. I think it is a great disservice to the personalities involved in putting the book together to pin this scheme on them. It's time to lighten up and give the Revelators and the Revelation a break. I believe the authors of the two Time Bombs articles are "befogged by much thinking" (page 1433).

 The Time Bombs articles are not only wrong, they are time bombs themselves. They will cause some people to lose faith in the book, and to reject the book. People like Martin Gardner will use the Time Bombs articles to help him prove the book is without merit. Gardner's job is as a debunker. He is going to debunk the URANTIA BOOK and he is not going to be fair about it. The Time Bombs articles will give him more discrediting material. It doesn't matter if it is correct, it will be used.

 The Time Bombs theory is not only wrong, thereby adding to our confusion, but even the metaphor is chilling. Only terrorists use time bombs. They are set in marketplaces and they maim and kill indiscriminately. That is precisely what time bombs in the URANTIA BOOK would do, blasting unsuspecting souls, some out of the truth of the book, some out of any faith altogether. It would be irresponsible of the Revelators to engage in such a scheme. How could they know their bombs would not cost the eternal lives of some who would reject the book and all religion with it, in disgust with its errors? This would be an inevitable consequence of any such time bombs, unforeseen by the speculators, -souls, blown to hell.

"What Heaven appoints is without error. Truth is real and divine. Everything originates in Heaven, and the Great Heaven makes no mistakes. Heaven has appointed many subordinates to assist in the instruction and uplifting of the inferior creatures." page-1452

Even Ganid knew.

Norm Du Val
P. O. Box 202
Reeder, ND 58649 USA

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