Healing

Recent discussions on Internet forums got me to thinking about divine healing and miracles. I decided to take a look at what The Urantia Book has to say about them and ask the question, does God intervene in the physical creation and heal people? By looking at all of the references to healing and miracles I had hoped to clear up some of the confusion in my mind about The Urantia Book's attitude toward these concepts. My conclusions from this work have come exclusively from The Urantia Book and I have attempted to be as objective as possible in my approach.

The Urantia Book does not have a lot to say about miracles and healing outside of the stories of Jesus. Only a few references and these are not very positive. Miracles are usually brushed off as not real, and contrasted against real faith and real science. In the section on the Life and Teachings of Jesus divine healing is described in detail. But even so, there is a tendency to downplay the miracles in favor of living and growing faith. The disciples are told over and over not to preach or teach divine miracles. As I considered the overall impact of the references I would have to say that the Urantia book is not supportive of divine miracles happening in our world. Instead, the Ubook supports our efforts to strive to be more than we are. Let me show you why I feel this way.

Paper 55 talks about illness as being a thing of the past on the worlds of Light and Life. There will still be a need for medical care, but many illnesses will no longer sadden the world (pg 625). The Ubook encourages us to look forward to a future in which humanity has overcome great problems. In the Overcontrol of Evolution it is predicted that our scientists will eventually discover the power of natural healing agents in our own bodies (pg 735). It assumes that humanity will find our own cures for disease. It seems that working to cure illness is a part of God’s overall plan for the people of our planet.

The Paper called, Foundations of Religious Faith briefly mentions miracles. This paper states that personal religion does not need the miraculous and that “the quest for miracles is a harking back to the primitive religions of magic.” It argues that religion is truly personal and has no need for miracles (pg 1128). And using strong language such as; “so-called miraculous” and “alleged miracles”, to make the point. This gave me the impression that claims of miracles throughout the centuries were not considered miracles by the writer of this paper.

Paper 91 talks about prayer and the treatment of illness. This quote, “Prayer is not a technique for curing real and organic diseases” (pg 999) sounds tough on praying for healing, but it does go on to say that prayer helps a great deal when we are ill. The book here states what doctors are catching onto, prayer does help. Further down the page it says, “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.” This would seem to say that prayer is wonderful for help and support but is not to be expected to bring a physical intervention by God. Another part of the paper states that we live in a reality governed by physical laws. And that prayer for material manipulation will lead to disappointment (pg 998). This paper seems to emphasize our own spiritual and worldly development. “Prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth in the very face of conflict.” (pg 1002) It seems to argue that we are responsible for our own problems. But it stresses the profound spiritual help we can receive from God through prayer.

We do know that while Jesus lived on our planet he caused many people to be healed and several quite spectacular miracles to happen. First I would like to examine what the book says about the miracles and then ask how these amazing events affect us. I start with the decisions Jesus made during the forty days of trial. Being the sovereign of a universe he had command of great and powerful cosmic forces. But he decided to limit his activities to following his own established natural laws with the exception of time. Because his Personalized Adjuster is a non-time being, as well as many other beings attendant upon his activities on earth, he could not limit the acceleration of time within the limits of natural laws (pp 1516-17). It does say that there are no limits that can be placed upon the manifestations of the Father’s Will. Jesus decided to limit his miraculous activities, avoid time miracles, and emphasize his spiritual mission. Later on it says that the miracles that he did do were not a part of his plan to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven (pg 1633). They happened because of Jesus’ love for the people around him. He didn’t come to do miracles (pg 1519) and he realized that miracles would not “reveal God or save men” (pg 1520).

In Paper 149 the writer attempts to explain healing miracles that even the spiritual witnesses do not know how to explain. They write of three influences: the presence of living faith in the individual, the personal presence of the creator of the universe, and the act being in accord with the Father’s will (pg 1669). One thing that struck me was the personal presence of Jesus, emphasized several times on the page. The question that flashed into my mind is this; does divine healing take place without the personal presence of Jesus? The text gives no answer to this question. But there are clues as the paper continues. The writer tells us that while the creator was on earth we should expect extraordinary things to happen (pg 1671). But we are warned not to focus too much on the miracles. We are also told that “Jesus of Nazareth is the only founder of a religion who performed supermaterial acts on earth.” Based on these clues it is my belief that the personal presence of Jesus is required for miracles to happen.

Jesus consistently taught his followers not to teach or preach divine healing (pp 1804, 1813). He told his disciples that the natural laws of the universe applied to everyone. Accidents of time will happen to them just like everyone else (pg 1830). He taught that material blessings come to everyone in equal amounts (pg 1831), as opposed to spiritual blessings which are limited by ones faith. Over and over Jesus says that he came to promote personal entrance into the spiritual Kingdom, and not to solve the physical problems of the world.

We know that there are no limits to what God can do. And so divine healing and miracles are not only possible, but happened during the life of Jesus of Nazareth. But Jesus placed strict limits upon his divine powers and despite the fact that he healed many people, chose not to heal many more. He did respond compassionately to people who had great faith. But his mission was not to usher in an era of divine healing. And the Urantia Book does not mention any divine healing happening outside of the three year ministry of Jesus. Keeping in mind that there are no limits to what God can do, and based upon the weight of the evidence in the Ubook, I believe that God has ordained that we are to live by the natural laws set down by our creator and that divine intervention in healing does not occur on our world and is unlikely to occur in the future.

This is a real disappointing conclusion. And I know that many of you will be mad at me. But the book really does not promote miraculous healing outside of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. Over and over again the Ubook stresses how God is with us to help us in our struggles, but that we need to solve our own material problems. And though this is a bummer to those of us who want to believe God will come to our rescue when we are sick, I do see a bright side to the story.

I think that there is value to our struggle. I believe that we gain something good and lasting when we face our difficulties with faith and trust in our Heavenly Father. The Urantia Book tells us that people who face the struggles that we do and come out of them with our faith intact are special people who can confront any and all challenges. God has willed that we face accidents, diseases, and ultimately death. But we are not alone in our struggles. God is helping us to deal with our physical problems. God is with us to support and to guide us. And some day, with God’s help humanity will learn how to heal or treat all of the world’s illnesses. But it looks like it is God’s will that we learn these lessons without direct divine intervention. Like I said before, this is a bummer, but there is value in the struggle.

I hope that this missive will stimulate you to read the text and come to your own conclusions. I am certainly looking forward to your input.

God bless you,

William Whitehead