In a previous article, I mentioned that I have 3 main articles of faith.   I did not at the time feel ready to discuss the third one, not so much because I didn’t know what to say, but rather because it’s such a vast subject.   I feel I can now deliver a concise and logical product.

First, believing in the existence of a universal Creator who has created the universe and all that’s in it.

Second, believing in the survival of the human personality beyond physical death.  Indeed an amazing destiny awaits most of us.

What is the third article of faith?

Believing in the existence of many worlds, more or less similar to ours, harboring intelligent beings.  There are many considerations here.  Let me go through the important ones.

To begin with, a belief does not exist in isolation.  There is a logical process, followed by an exercise of faith.

We believe in God because our logical mind tells us that there must be a Creator for the universe.   If we take God out of the equation we are stuck!  Who created the universe and all that’s in it?  The early Greek philosophers stated that the universe was always there.  Well, if you’re talking of something that’s always there, you’re talking of God!

Modern science takes apart God’s work and explains it.  Many scientists will tell you that once you explain the process, God becomes redundant.  Don’t be fooled by these pronouncements.  Most scientists believe in God; but if it risks hurting their careers, they’ll pretend He doesn’t exist.  I went into some detail so you can follow the logical process.

The faith process is the child of revelations: Starting with Melchizedek about 4,000 years ago and ending with the Urantia Book in the 20th century.

Marry logic with faith and you have a mortal mind capable of accepting an unseen Being in his or her life.

The logic behind survival is quite simple.  Why would God create intelligent life and then proceed to destroy it?  It makes no sense at all.  Do we just come into the world, live a short and unfailingly difficult life, procreate, eventually die, with our children repeating the process ad infinitum?  That would be absurd.  It would be blaspheming to assume that God would engage in such a waste of time.

Many have argued that humans have invented the concept of eternal life because they are afraid to die.  How can we do that?  Can you be in jail for life and pretend that you’re in a place of great beauty with magnificent gardens to stroll in?  That the guards are angels and the inmates are endowed with a charitable and loving disposition!  If you manage to do that, you will quickly be consigned to an insane asylum!  Yes, humans are afraid to die because we are wired for survival.  So are all other animals.  The gazelle that’s being pursued by a lioness is running for its life.  It knows that if caught, it’s game over.  Our instinct of survival and our belief in an eternal life are two very different things.

Again, the faith process is the result of revelations.  From Melchizedek, to Jesus, and on to the Urantia Book, we have been told to prepare for a sublime destiny.  Reading the details in the Urantia Book has many times brought tears to my eyes.

The logic behind intelligent life on other planets is obvious.  With such a vast universe at His disposal, why would God create life on one planet only?  Aren’t we like the small child who knows only his own neighborhood and cannot imagine that he is part of a vast world?  Actually, this concept is readily accepted by most of us.  Scientists are reasonably certain that the conditions that gave rise to life on our planet must exist on other planets.  In other words we are not alone.

But science needs absolute proof.  I have no problems with that.  There are many science-fiction books that “take us to other planets, or bring its inhabitants to us.”  While these “voyages” happen only in the mind of the author and its readers, such books, beside entertaining us, play a helpful role.  They make it easier for us to accept the third article of faith.

And it is an article of faith.  We cannot wait for the time when we can contact extra-terrestrial civilizations.  Because of the immense distances, it will never happen.  Flights of fancy, as mentioned above, play a useful role, but do not ultimately satisfy our need for interacting with other mortals living on other worlds.

The faith here comes from the Zohar and the Kaballah who informed us that there are many other worlds out there.  The Urantia Book tells us more on the subject.  But there are two important limitations.  First, there is a confidentiality aspect; the affairs of a given planet are private and are not revealed to the inhabitants of other planets.  Second, while the Celestial Beings were permitted to reveal general information, space limitations made that difficult.  The Urantia Book – after questions raised by the first humans, who read the draft papers, were answered – is a 2097 pages book.  There is, however, some details of life on another planet, as well as other general information.  If you want to know more, fear not, you will one day meet many other ascending pilgrims from the worlds of time and space.  You will get to know them, work with them, love them, and accept them as your brothers and sisters.  Inevitably, as your different assignments take you in different directions, you will experience the pain of separation.

On the first page of the Urantia Book there is a beautiful passage on the subject.

Your world, Urantia, is one of many similar inhabited planets which comprise the local universe of Nebadon.  This universe, together with similar creations, makes up the superuniverse of Orvonton, from whose capital, Uversa, our commission hails.  Orvonton is one of the seven evolutionary superuniverses of time and space which circle the never-beginning, never-ending creation of divine perfection-the central universe of Havona.  At the heart of this eternal and central universe is the stationary Isle of Paradise, the geographic center of infinity and the dwelling place of the eternal God.

What is the usefulness of the third article of faith in everyday life?

It puts our knowledge and beliefs in a different context.  I no longer look at my planet, and my fellow human beings, in the same way.  Our life on planet Earth is repeated with endless variations on numerous other planets.  Our differences seem puny when contrasted against the background of an entire universe.  It takes time to accept this article of faith.  But do take the time, for you will find that your values and outlook on life will change for the better.

In the next sections, I explore some of these potential changes.

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