Knjiga Urantije
DIO III. Povijest Urantije
POGLAVLJE 99 : DRUŠTVENI PROBLEMI RELIGIJE
Religija ostvaruje svoju najvišu društvenu službu kada ima najmanju povezanost sa svjetovnim institucijama društva. U prošlim vremenima, budući da su društvene reforme uglavnom bile ograničene na moralna područja, religija nije morala prilagođavati svoj stav opsežnim promjenama u ekonomskim i političkim sustavima. Glavni problem religije bio je nastojanje da zamijeni zlo dobrom unutar postojećeg društvenog poretka političke i ekonomske kulture. Religija je tako neizravno težila održavanju uspostavljenog društvenog poretka i poticanju očuvanja postojećeg tipa civilizacije.
99:0.1 (1086.1)
RELIGION achieves its highest social ministry when it has least connection with the secular institutions of society. In past ages, since social reforms were largely confined to the moral realms, religion did not have to adjust its attitude to extensive changes in economic and political systems. The chief problem of religion was the endeavor to replace evil with good within the existing social order of political and economic culture. Religion has thus indirectly tended to perpetuate the established order of society, to foster the maintenance of the existent type of civilization.
Ali religija ne bi trebala biti izravno zaokupljena ni stvaranjem novih društvenih poredaka ni očuvanjem starih. Istinska religija doista se protivi nasilju kao metodi društvene evolucije, ali se ne protivi razumnim nastojanjima društva da prilagodi svoje običaje i uskladi svoje institucije s novim ekonomskim uvjetima i kulturnim zahtjevima.
99:0.2 (1086.2)
But religion should not be directly concerned either with the creation of new social orders or with the preservation of old ones. True religion does oppose violence as a technique of social evolution, but it does not oppose the intelligent efforts of society to adapt its usages and adjust its institutions to new economic conditions and cultural requirements.
Religija je odobravala povremene društvene reforme prošlih stoljeća, ali je u dvadesetom stoljeću nužno pozvana suočiti se s prilagodbom opsežnoj i trajnoj društvenoj rekonstrukciji. Uvjeti života mijenjaju se tako brzo da institucionalne preinake moraju biti znatno ubrzane, a religija stoga mora ubrzati svoju prilagodbu ovom novom i stalno mijenjajućem društvenom poretku.
99:0.3 (1086.3)
Religion did approve the occasional social reforms of past centuries, but in the twentieth century it is of necessity called upon to face adjustment to extensive and continuing social reconstruction. Conditions of living alter so rapidly that institutional modifications must be greatly accelerated, and religion must accordingly quicken its adaptation to this new and ever-changing social order.
Mehanički izumi i širenje znanja mijenjaju civilizaciju; određene ekonomske prilagodbe i društvene promjene nužne su ako se želi izbjeći kulturna katastrofa. Ovaj novi i nadolazeći društveni poredak neće se sasvim stabilizirati tijekom cijelog narednog tisućljeća. Ljudska se rasa mora pomiriti s nizom promjena, prilagodbi i ponovnih prilagodbi. Čovječanstvo se kreće prema novoj i neočitovanoj planetarnoj sudbini.
99:1.1 (1086.4)
Mechanical inventions and the dissemination of knowledge are modifying civilization; certain economic adjustments and social changes are imperative if cultural disaster is to be avoided. This new and oncoming social order will not settle down complacently for a millennium. The human race must become reconciled to a procession of changes, adjustments, and readjustments. Mankind is on the march toward a new and unrevealed planetary destiny.
Društvo na Urantiji više se nikada ne može nadati da će se stabilizirati kao u prošlim dobima. Društveni je brod isplovio iz zaštićenih luka ustaljene tradicije i započeo svoje putovanje po otvorenim morima evolucijske sudbine; a čovjekova duša, kao nikada prije u svjetskoj povijesti, mora pažljivo proučavati karte morala i savjesno slijediti kompas religijskog vodstva. Najviša misija religije kao društvenog utjecaja jest stabilizirati ideale čovječanstva tijekom ovih opasnih vremena prijelaza iz jedne civilizacijske faze u drugu, s jedne kulturne razine na drugu.
99:1.3 (1086.6)
Urantia society can never hope to settle down as in past ages. The social ship has steamed out of the sheltered bays of established tradition and has begun its cruise upon the high seas of evolutionary destiny; and the soul of man, as never before in the world’s history, needs carefully to scrutinize its charts of morality and painstakingly to observe the compass of religious guidance. The paramount mission of religion as a social influence is to stabilize the ideals of mankind during these dangerous times of transition from one phase of civilization to another, from one level of culture to another.
Religija nema novih dužnosti za izvršiti, ali je hitno pozvana djelovati kao mudar vodič i iskusan savjetnik u svim tim novim i brzo mijenjajućim okolnostima s kojima se čovječanstvo suočava. Društvo postaje sve mehaničkije, sve kompaktnije, sve složenije i sve kritičnije međuovisno. Religija mora djelovati kako bi spriječila da ta nova i bliska međupovezanost postane međusobno nazadna ili čak razorna. Religija mora djelovati kao kozmička sol koja sprječava da vrenja napretka unište kulturni okus civilizacije. Ovi novi društveni odnosi i ekonomski potresi mogu dovesti do trajnog bratstva jedino posredstvom religije.
99:1.4 (1087.1)
Religion has no new duties to perform, but it is urgently called upon to function as a wise guide and experienced counselor in all of these new and rapidly changing human situations. Society is becoming more mechanical, more compact, more complex, and more critically interdependent. Religion must function to prevent these new and intimate interassociations from becoming mutually retrogressive or even destructive. Religion must act as the cosmic salt which prevents the ferments of progression from destroying the cultural savor of civilization. These new social relations and economic upheavals can result in lasting brotherhood only by the ministry of religion.
Bezbožni humanitarizam je, ljudski govoreći, plemenita gesta, ali istinska religija je jedina sila koja može trajno povećati osjetljivost jedne društvene skupine na potrebe i patnje drugih skupina. U prošlosti je institucionalna religija mogla ostati pasivna dok su viši slojevi društva ostajali gluhi na patnje i potlačenost bespomoćnih nižih slojeva, ali u modernim vremenima ti niži društveni slojevi više nisu toliko beznadno neuki niti toliko politički bespomoćni.
99:1.5 (1087.2)
A godless humanitarianism is, humanly speaking, a noble gesture, but true religion is the only power which can lastingly increase the responsiveness of one social group to the needs and sufferings of other groups. In the past, institutional religion could remain passive while the upper strata of society turned a deaf ear to the sufferings and oppression of the helpless lower strata, but in modern times these lower social orders are no longer so abjectly ignorant nor so politically helpless.
Religija ne smije postati organski uključena u svjetovne poslove društvene rekonstrukcije i ekonomske reorganizacije. Ali ona mora aktivno držati korak sa svim tim napretcima civilizacije putem jasnog i odlučnog preoblikovanja svojih moralnih naloga i duhovnih učenja, svoje progresivne filozofije ljudskog života i transcendentnog postojanja. Duh religije je vječan, ali način na koji se taj duh izražava mora se iznova formulirati svaki put kada se revidira rječnik ljudskog jezika.
99:1.6 (1087.3)
Religion must not become organically involved in the secular work of social reconstruction and economic reorganization. But it must actively keep pace with all these advances in civilization by making clear-cut and vigorous restatements of its moral mandates and spiritual precepts, its progressive philosophy of human living and transcendent survival. The spirit of religion is eternal, but the form of its expression must be restated every time the dictionary of human language is revised.
Institucionalna religija ne može pružiti nadahnuće niti osigurati vodstvo u ovoj nadolazećoj svjetskoj društvenoj rekonstrukciji i ekonomskoj reorganizaciji jer je, nažalost, postala više ili manje organski dio društvenog poretka i ekonomskog sustava koji je predodređen za rekonstrukciju. Samo stvarna religija osobnog duhovnog iskustva može djelovati korisno i stvaralački u suvremenoj civilizacijskoj krizi.
99:2.1 (1087.4)
Institutional religion cannot afford inspiration and provide leadership in this impending world-wide social reconstruction and economic reorganization because it has unfortunately become more or less of an organic part of the social order and the economic system which is destined to undergo reconstruction. Only the real religion of personal spiritual experience can function helpfully and creatively in the present crisis of civilization.
Religiozni ljudi moraju djelovati u društvu, u industriji i u politici kao pojedinci, a ne kao skupine, stranke ili institucije. Religijska skupina koja pretpostavi djelovati na takav način, izvan religijskih aktivnosti, odmah postaje politička stranka, ekonomska organizacija ili društvena institucija. Religijski kolektivizam mora ograničiti svoje napore na unapređenje religijskih ciljeva.
99:2.3 (1087.6)
Religionists must function in society, in industry, and in politics as individuals, not as groups, parties, or institutions. A religious group which presumes to function as such, apart from religious activities, immediately becomes a political party, an economic organization, or a social institution. Religious collectivism must confine its efforts to the furtherance of religious causes.
Religiozni ljudi nemaju veću vrijednost u zadacima društvene rekonstrukcije od nereligioznih, osim u onoj mjeri u kojoj im je njihova religija podarila pojačani kozmički uvid i obdarila ih onom višom društvenom mudrošću koja se rađa iz iskrene želje da se Boga ljubi iznad svega i da se svakog čovjeka ljubi kao brata u nebeskom kraljevstvu. Idealan društveni poredak jest onaj u kojem svaki čovjek ljubi svoga bližnjega kao samoga sebe.
99:2.4 (1087.7)
Religionists are of no more value in the tasks of social reconstruction than nonreligionists except in so far as their religion has conferred upon them enhanced cosmic foresight and endowed them with that superior social wisdom which is born of the sincere desire to love God supremely and to love every man as a brother in the heavenly kingdom. An ideal social order is that in which every man loves his neighbor as he loves himself.
Može se činiti da je institucionalizirana crkva u prošlim stoljećima služila društvu veličajući uspostavljene političke i ekonomske poretke, ali mora brzo prestati s takvim djelovanjem želi li opstati. Njezin jedini ispravan stav sastoji se u poučavanju nenasilja, u nauku mirne evolucije umjesto nasilne revolucije—mira na zemlji i dobre volje među svim ljudima.
99:2.5 (1087.8)
The institutionalized church may have appeared to serve society in the past by glorifying the established political and economic orders, but it must speedily cease such action if it is to survive. Its only proper attitude consists in the teaching of nonviolence, the doctrine of peaceful evolution in the place of violent revolution—peace on earth and good will among all men.
Modernoj religiji teško je prilagoditi svoj stav brzo mijenjajućim društvenim promjenama jer je dopustila da postane tako temeljito tradicionalizirana, dogmatizirana i institucionalizirana. Religija živog iskustva nema poteškoća zadržati nadmoć nad svim tim društvenim razvojima i ekonomskim potresima, usred kojih uvijek djeluje kao moralni stabilizator, društveni vodič i duhovni pilot. Istinska religija prenosi iz jednog doba u drugo vrijednu kulturu i onu mudrost koja se rađa iz iskustva poznavanja Boga i nastojanja da se bude poput njega.
99:2.6 (1088.1)
Modern religion finds it difficult to adjust its attitude toward the rapidly shifting social changes only because it has permitted itself to become so thoroughly traditionalized, dogmatized, and institutionalized. The religion of living experience finds no difficulty in keeping ahead of all these social developments and economic upheavals, amid which it ever functions as a moral stabilizer, social guide, and spiritual pilot. True religion carries over from one age to another the worth-while culture and that wisdom which is born of the experience of knowing God and striving to be like him.
Religiozni čovjek nije ravnodušan prema društvenim patnjama i građanskoj nepravdi, niti prema ekonomskim pitanjima ili političkom tlačenju. Religija izravno utječe na društvenu rekonstrukciju jer produhovljuje i idealizira pojedinog građanina. Neizravno, kulturna civilizacija biva oblikovana stavom tih pojedinih religioznih ljudi dok postaju aktivni i utjecajni članovi različitih društvenih, moralnih, ekonomskih i političkih skupina.
99:3.3 (1088.4)
The religionist is not unsympathetic with social suffering, not unmindful of civil injustice, not insulated from economic thinking, neither insensible to political tyranny. Religion influences social reconstruction directly because it spiritualizes and idealizes the individual citizen. Indirectly, cultural civilization is influenced by the attitude of these individual religionists as they become active and influential members of various social, moral, economic, and political groups.
99:3.5 (1088.6)
The church, because of overmuch false sentiment, has long ministered to the underprivileged and the unfortunate, and this has all been well, but this same sentiment has led to the unwise perpetuation of racially degenerate stocks which have tremendously retarded the progress of civilization.
99:3.6 (1088.7)
Many individual social reconstructionists, while vehemently repudiating institutionalized religion, are, after all, zealously religious in the propagation of their social reforms. And so it is that religious motivation, personal and more or less unrecognized, is playing a great part in the present-day program of social reconstruction.
Velika slabost ove neprepoznate i nesvjesne vrste religijske aktivnosti jest u tome što nije u stanju imati koristi od otvorene religijske kritike i time dosegnuti korisne razine samokorekcije. Činjenica je da religija ne raste ako nije disciplinirana konstruktivnom kritikom, produbljena filozofijom, pročišćena znanošću i njegovana odanim zajedništvom.
99:3.7 (1088.8)
The great weakness of all this unrecognized and unconscious type of religious activity is that it is unable to profit from open religious criticism and thereby attain to profitable levels of self-correction. It is a fact that religion does not grow unless it is disciplined by constructive criticism, amplified by philosophy, purified by science, and nourished by loyal fellowship.
Uvijek postoji velika opasnost da religija postane iskrivljena i izopačena u težnji za lažnim ciljevima, kao kada u vrijeme rata svaka zaraćena nacija podređuje svoju religiju vojnoj propagandi. Revnost bez ljubavi uvijek je štetna za religiju, dok progonstvo odvraća djelatnosti religije prema ostvarenju nekog sociološkog ili teološkog cilja.
99:3.8 (1088.9)
There is always the great danger that religion will become distorted and perverted into the pursuit of false goals, as when in times of war each contending nation prostitutes its religion into military propaganda. Loveless zeal is always harmful to religion, while persecution diverts the activities of religion into the achievement of some sociologic or theologic drive.
Istinska religija čini religioznog čovjeka društveno privlačnim i stvara uvid u ljudsko zajedništvo. Ali formalizacija religijskih skupina često uništava upravo one vrijednosti radi čijeg je promicanja skupina bila organizirana. Ljudsko prijateljstvo i božanska religija uzajamno se podupiru i značajno se međusobno prosvjetljuju ako je njihov rast uravnotežen i usklađen. Religija daje novo značenje svim grupnim odnosima—obiteljima, školama i društvenim zajednicama. Ona daje nove vrijednosti igri i uzdiže sav istinski humor.
99:4.1 (1089.9)
Genuine religion renders the religionist socially fragrant and creates insights into human fellowship. But the formalization of religious groups many times destroys the very values for the promotion of which the group was organized. Human friendship and divine religion are mutually helpful and significantly illuminating if the growth in each is equalized and harmonized. Religion puts new meaning into all group associations—families, schools, and clubs. It imparts new values to play and exalts all true humor.
Društveno vodstvo biva preobraženo duhovnim uvidom; religija sprječava da kolektivni pokreti izgube iz vida svoje istinske ciljeve. Zajedno s djecom, religija je veliki ujedinitelj obiteljskog života, pod uvjetom da je živa i rastuća vjera. Obiteljski život ne može postojati bez djece; on može postojati bez religije, ali takav nedostatak uvelike umnožava teškoće ovog intimnog ljudskog zajedništva. Tijekom prvih desetljeća dvadesetog stoljeća, obiteljski život, odmah nakon osobnog religijskog iskustva, najviše pati od dekadencije koja proizlazi iz prijelaza sa starih religijskih odanosti na novonastajuća značenja i vrijednosti.
99:4.2 (1089.10)
Social leadership is transformed by spiritual insight; religion prevents all collective movements from losing sight of their true objectives. Together with children, religion is the great unifier of family life, provided it is a living and growing faith. Family life cannot be had without children; it can be lived without religion, but such a handicap enormously multiplies the difficulties of this intimate human association. During the early decades of the twentieth century, family life, next to personal religious experience, suffers most from the decadence consequent upon the transition from old religious loyalties to the emerging new meanings and values.
Istinska religija jest smislen način življenja koji se dinamično suočava s uobičajenim stvarnostima svakodnevnog života. Ali ako religija želi poticati individualni razvoj karaktera i produbljivati integraciju ličnosti, ona ne smije biti standardizirana. Ako religija želi poticati vrednovanje iskustva i služiti kao privlačna snaga vrijednosti koja potiče čovjeka da ih traži, ne smije biti stereotipizirana. Ako želi promicati vrhovne odanosti, ne smije biti formalizirana.
99:4.3 (1089.11)
True religion is a meaningful way of living dynamically face to face with the commonplace realities of everyday life. But if religion is to stimulate individual development of character and augment integration of personality, it must not be standardized. If it is to stimulate evaluation of experience and serve as a value-lure, it must not be stereotyped. If religion is to promote supreme loyalties, it must not be formalized.
Bez obzira na potrese koji mogu pratiti društveni i ekonomski rast civilizacije, religija je istinska i vrijedna ako u pojedincu potiče iskustvo u kojem prevladava suverenost istine, ljepote i dobrote, jer takav je istinski duhovni pojam vrhovne stvarnosti. A kroz ljubav i štovanje to postaje smisleno kao zajedništvo s čovjekom i sinovstvo s Bogom.
99:4.4 (1089.12)
No matter what upheavals may attend the social and economic growth of civilization, religion is genuine and worth while if it fosters in the individual an experience in which the sovereignty of truth, beauty, and goodness prevails, for such is the true spiritual concept of supreme reality. And through love and worship this becomes meaningful as fellowship with man and sonship with God.
Naposljetku, čovjekovo ponašanje i osobna djela ne ovise toliko o njegovu znanju koliko o njegovim vjerovanjima. Čisto činjenično znanje ima vrlo malo utjecaja na prosječnog čovjeka ako ne postane emocionalno aktivirano. No aktivacija religije nadilazi ono emocionalno; ona ujedinjuje cjelokupno ljudsko iskustvo na transcendentnim razinama putem dodira s duhovnim energijama i njihova oslobađanja u smrtnom životu.
99:4.5 (1090.1)
After all, it is what one believes rather than what one knows that determines conduct and dominates personal performances. Purely factual knowledge exerts very little influence upon the average man unless it becomes emotionally activated. But the activation of religion is superemotional, unifying the entire human experience on transcendent levels through contact with, and release of, spiritual energies in the mortal life.
Tijekom psihološki nestabilnih vremena dvadesetog stoljeća, usred ekonomskih potresa, moralnih protustruja i vrtložnih socioloških strujanja ciklonskih prijelaza znanstvene ere, tisuće za tisućama muškaraca i žena, u ljudskom smislu riječi, izbačeni su iz normalnog kolosijeka; tjeskobni su, nemirni, uplašeni, nesigurni i uznemireni; kao nikada prije u svjetskoj povijesti potrebna im je utjeha i stabilizacija zdrave religije. Suočen s neviđenim znanstvenim dostignućima i mehaničkim razvojem, svijet doživljava duhovnu stagnaciju i filozofski kaos.
99:4.6 (1090.2)
During the psychologically unsettled times of the twentieth century, amid the economic upheavals, the moral crosscurrents, and the sociologic rip tides of the cyclonic transitions of a scientific era, thousands upon thousands of men and women have become humanly dislocated; they are anxious, restless, fearful, uncertain, and unsettled; as never before in the world’s history they need the consolation and stabilization of sound religion. In the face of unprecedented scientific achievement and mechanical development there is spiritual stagnation and philosophic chaos.
Ne postoji opasnost u tome da religija postaje sve više privatna stvar—osobno iskustvo—pod uvjetom da ne izgubi motivaciju za nesebičnu i ljubavlju nadahnutu službu društvu. Religija je pretrpjela mnoge sekundarne utjecaje: naglo miješanje kultura, međusobno prožimanje vjeroispovijesti, slabljenje crkvenog autoriteta, promjenu u obiteljskom životu, zajedno s urbanizacijom i mehanizacijom.
99:4.7 (1090.3)
There is no danger in religion’s becoming more and more of a private matter—a personal experience—provided it does not lose its motivation for unselfish and loving social service. Religion has suffered from many secondary influences: sudden mixing of cultures, intermingling of creeds, diminution of ecclesiastical authority, changing of family life, together with urbanization and mechanization.
Najveća duhovna opasnost za čovjeka sastoji se u djelomičnom napretku, u škripcu nedovršenog rasta: napuštanju evolucijskih religija straha bez istodobnog prihvaćanja objavljene religije ljubavi. Moderna znanost, osobito psihologija, oslabila je samo one religije koje u velikoj mjeri ovise o strahu, praznovjerju i emociji.
99:4.8 (1090.4)
Man’s greatest spiritual jeopardy consists in partial progress, the predicament of unfinished growth: forsaking the evolutionary religions of fear without immediately grasping the revelatory religion of love. Modern science, particularly psychology, has weakened only those religions which are so largely dependent upon fear, superstition, and emotion.
I ta tri djelomična pristupa stvarnosti kozmosa moraju se naposljetku uskladiti pomoću objavljenog prikaza religije, filozofije i kozmologije, koji prikazuje trojedino postojanje duha, uma i energije kako proizlazi iz Rajskog Trojstva i postiže vremensko-prostorno ujedinjenje unutar Božanstva Vrhovnog.
99:4.13 (1090.9)
And these three partial approaches to the reality of the cosmos must eventually become harmonized by the revelatory presentation of religion, philosophy, and cosmology which portrays the triune existence of spirit, mind, and energy proceeding from the Trinity of Paradise and attaining time-space unification within the Deity of the Supreme.
Dok je religija isključivo osobno duhovno iskustvo—poznavanje Boga kao Oca—posljedica tog iskustva—poznavanje čovjeka kao brata—podrazumijeva prilagodbu vlastitog bića drugim bićima, a to uključuje društveni ili grupni aspekt religijskog života. Religija je najprije unutarnja ili osobna prilagodba, a zatim postaje pitanje društvene službe ili grupne prilagodbe. Činjenica čovjekove društvene naravi neminovno vodi izgradnji religioznih skupina. Što će se dogoditi s tim religioznim skupinama uvelike ovisi o razumnom vodstvu. U primitivnom društvu religijska skupina nije uvijek bitno različita od ekonomskih ili političkih skupina. Religija je oduvijek bila čuvar morala i stabilizator društva. A to je još uvijek istina, unatoč suprotnim učenjima mnogih modernih socijalista i humanista.
99:5.1 (1090.10)
While religion is exclusively a personal spiritual experience—knowing God as a Father—the corollary of this experience—knowing man as a brother—entails the adjustment of the self to other selves, and that involves the social or group aspect of religious life. Religion is first an inner or personal adjustment, and then it becomes a matter of social service or group adjustment. The fact of man’s gregariousness perforce determines that religious groups will come into existence. What happens to these religious groups depends very much on intelligent leadership. In primitive society the religious group is not always very different from economic or political groups. Religion has always been a conservator of morals and a stabilizer of society. And this is still true, notwithstanding the contrary teaching of many modern socialists and humanists.
Jednako sigurno kao što ljudi dijele svoja religijska uvjerenja, oni stvaraju neku vrstu religijske skupine koja naposljetku oblikuje zajedničke ciljeve. Jednoga dana religiozni ljudi okupit će se i doista ostvariti suradnju na temelju jedinstva ideala i svrha, umjesto da to pokušavaju činiti na temelju psiholoških mišljenja i teoloških vjerovanja. Ciljevi, a ne vjerovanja, trebaju ujedinjavati religiozne ljude. Budući da je istinska religija stvar osobnog duhovnog iskustva, neizbježno je da svaki religiozni čovjek mora imati vlastito i osobno tumačenje ostvarenja tog duhovnog iskustva. Neka izraz „vjera” označava odnos pojedinca prema Bogu, a ne doktrinarnu formulaciju o kojoj se neka skupina smrtnika uspjela složiti kao o zajedničkom religijskom stavu. „Imaš li vjeru? Onda je zadrži za sebe.”
99:5.7 (1091.6)
Just as certainly as men share their religious beliefs, they create a religious group of some sort which eventually creates common goals. Someday religionists will get together and actually effect co-operation on the basis of unity of ideals and purposes rather than attempting to do so on the basis of psychological opinions and theological beliefs. Goals rather than creeds should unify religionists. Since true religion is a matter of personal spiritual experience, it is inevitable that each individual religionist must have his own and personal interpretation of the realization of that spiritual experience. Let the term “faith” stand for the individual’s relation to God rather than for the creedal formulation of what some group of mortals have been able to agree upon as a common religious attitude. “Have you faith? Then have it to yourself.”
Primitivan čovjek ulagao je malo napora da svoja religijska uvjerenja izrazi riječima. Svoju je religiju izražavao plesom, a ne promišljanjem. Moderni čovjek promislio je mnoga vjerovanja i stvorio mnoge provjere religijske vjere. Religiozni ljudi budućnosti moraju živjeti svoju religiju, posvetiti se svesrdnoj službi bratstvu čovječanstva. Krajnje je vrijeme da čovjek ima religijsko iskustvo toliko osobno i toliko uzvišeno da ga je moguće spoznati i izraziti jedino „osjećajima koji leže preduboko za riječi.”
99:5.9 (1091.8)
Primitive man made little effort to put his religious convictions into words. His religion was danced out rather than thought out. Modern men have thought out many creeds and created many tests of religious faith. Future religionists must live out their religion, dedicate themselves to the wholehearted service of the brotherhood of man. It is high time that man had a religious experience so personal and so sublime that it could be realized and expressed only by “feelings that lie too deep for words.”
99:5.10 (1091.9)
Jesus did not require of his followers that they should periodically assemble and recite a form of words indicative of their common beliefs. He only ordained that they should gather together to actually do something—partake of the communal supper of the remembrance of his bestowal life on Urantia.
Koju pogrešku kršćani čine kada, predstavljajući Krista kao vrhovni ideal duhovnog vodstva, usuđuju se zahtijevati da se muškarci i žene koji posjeduju svijest o Bogu odreknu povijesnog vodstva ljudi koji su poznavali Boga i koji su tijekom prošlih stoljeća pridonijeli nacionalnom i rasnom prosvjetljenju svojih naroda.
99:5.11 (1091.10)
What a mistake for Christians to make when, in presenting Christ as the supreme ideal of spiritual leadership, they dare to require God-conscious men and women to reject the historic leadership of the God-knowing men who have contributed to their particular national or racial illumination during past ages.
Sektaštvo je bolest institucionalne religije, a dogmatizam je porobljavanje čovjekove duhovne naravi. Mnogo je bolje imati religiju bez crkve nego crkvu bez religije. Religiozna pometnja dvadesetog stoljeća sama po sebi ne znači duhovnu dekadenciju. Zbunjenost može prethoditi rastu jednako kao što može prethoditi razaranju.
99:6.1 (1092.1)
Sectarianism is a disease of institutional religion, and dogmatism is an enslavement of the spiritual nature. It is far better to have a religion without a church than a church without religion. The religious turmoil of the twentieth century does not, in and of itself, betoken spiritual decadence. Confusion goes before growth as well as before destruction.
Postoji stvarna svrha u društvenoj organizaciji religije. Svrha skupnih religijskih aktivnosti jest dramatizirati odanosti religije; uvećati privlačnost istine, ljepote i dobrote; poticati privlačnost vrhovnih vrijednosti; unaprijediti služenje nesebičnog zajedništva; proslaviti potencijale obiteljskog života; promicati religijsko obrazovanje; pružiti mudre savjete i duhovno vodstvo; te poticati skupno bogoslužje. A sve žive religije potiču ljudsko prijateljstvo, čuvaju moralnost, promiču dobrobit zajednice i olakšavaju širenje bitnog evanđelja svojih odgovarajućih poruka vječnog spasenja.
99:6.2 (1092.2)
There is a real purpose in the socialization of religion. It is the purpose of group religious activities to dramatize the loyalties of religion; to magnify the lures of truth, beauty, and goodness; to foster the attractions of supreme values; to enhance the service of unselfish fellowship; to glorify the potentials of family life; to promote religious education; to provide wise counsel and spiritual guidance; and to encourage group worship. And all live religions encourage human friendship, conserve morality, promote neighborhood welfare, and facilitate the spread of the essential gospel of their respective messages of eternal salvation.
Ali kako religija postaje institucionalizirana, njezina moć činjenja dobra biva ograničena, dok se mogućnosti za zlo uvelike umnožavaju. Opasnosti formalizirane religije jesu: ukrućivanje vjerovanja i kristalizacija osjećaja; nagomilavanje posebnih interesa uz porast sekularizacije; sklonost standardiziranju i fosiliziranju istine; odvraćanje religije od služenja Bogu prema služenju crkvi; sklonost vođa da postanu administratori umjesto služitelja; težnja stvaranju sekti i suparničkih podjela; uspostavljanje opresivne crkvene vlasti; stvaranje aristokratskog stava „izabranog naroda”; poticanje lažnih i pretjeranih ideja o svetosti; rutinizacija religije i okoštavanje bogoslužja; sklonost štovanju prošlosti uz zanemarivanje sadašnjih zahtjeva; neuspjeh u davanju suvremenih tumačenja religije; zaplitanje u funkcije svjetovnih institucija; stvaranje zle diskriminacije religijskih kasta; postajanje netolerantnim sucem pravovjerja; gubitak zanimanja pustolovne mladeži i postupni gubitak spasonosne poruke evanđelja vječnog spasenja.
99:6.3 (1092.3)
But as religion becomes institutionalized, its power for good is curtailed, while the possibilities for evil are greatly multiplied. The dangers of formalized religion are: fixation of beliefs and crystallization of sentiments; accumulation of vested interests with increase of secularization; tendency to standardize and fossilize truth; diversion of religion from the service of God to the service of the church; inclination of leaders to become administrators instead of ministers; tendency to form sects and competitive divisions; establishment of oppressive ecclesiastical authority; creation of the aristocratic “chosen-people” attitude; fostering of false and exaggerated ideas of sacredness; the routinizing of religion and the petrification of worship; tendency to venerate the past while ignoring present demands; failure to make up-to-date interpretations of religion; entanglement with functions of secular institutions; it creates the evil discrimination of religious castes; it becomes an intolerant judge of orthodoxy; it fails to hold the interest of adventurous youth and gradually loses the saving message of the gospel of eternal salvation.
Iako bi se crkve i sve druge religijske skupine trebale držati podalje od svih svjetovnih aktivnosti, religija istodobno ne smije učiniti ništa što bi ometalo ili usporavalo društvenu koordinaciju ljudskih institucija. Život mora nastaviti rasti u smislenosti; čovjek mora nastaviti sa svojom reformom filozofije i svojim razjašnjavanjem religije.
99:7.1 (1092.5)
Though churches and all other religious groups should stand aloof from all secular activities, at the same time religion must do nothing to hinder or retard the social co-ordination of human institutions. Life must continue to grow in meaningfulness; man must go on with his reformation of philosophy and his clarification of religion.
Politička znanost mora ostvariti obnovu ekonomije i industrije primjenom tehnika koje uči od društvenih znanosti te uvidima i pobudama koje proizlaze iz religijskog življenja. U svakoj društvenoj obnovi religija pruža stabilizirajuću odanost transcendentnom cilju, postojan cilj iznad i izvan neposrednih i prolaznih svrha. Usred zbrke brzo mijenjajućeg okruženja, smrtni čovjek treba potporu dalekosežne kozmičke perspektive.
99:7.2 (1092.6)
Political science must effect the reconstruction of economics and industry by the techniques it learns from the social sciences and by the insights and motives supplied by religious living. In all social reconstruction religion provides a stabilizing loyalty to a transcendent object, a steadying goal beyond and above the immediate and temporal objective. In the midst of the confusions of a rapidly changing environment mortal man needs the sustenance of a far-flung cosmic perspective.
Ekonomska međuovisnost i sklapanje društvenih veza naposljetku će dovesti do bratstva čovječanstva. Čovjek je po prirodi sanjar, ali znanost ga otrežnjuje, tako da ga religija može potaknuti na djelovanje uz mnogo manju opasnost od izazivanja fanatičnih reakcija. Ekonomske nužnosti vežu čovjeka uz stvarnost, a osobno religijsko iskustvo dovodi tog istog čovjeka licem u lice s vječnim stvarnostima stalno širećeg i napredujućeg kozmičkog građanstva.
99:7.5 (1093.3)
Economic interdependence and social fraternity will ultimately conduce to brotherhood. Man is naturally a dreamer, but science is sobering him so that religion can presently activate him with far less danger of precipitating fanatical reactions. Economic necessities tie man up with reality, and personal religious experience brings this same man face to face with the eternal realities of an ever-expanding and progressing cosmic citizenship.