In taking our stand on the Ideological Struggle, which we believe is liberty v. license as instigated by the Lucifer rebellion, it is imperative that we understand what we are dealing with. If you haven’t had an opportunity to view that video, be sure to check it out on our app Uniting Urantia (available at the Apple and Google stores) under the topic “Special Videos.”

Lucifer began his rebellion by publishing his manifesto - the so-called Declaration of Liberty. In it, he makes three basic charges:

1. The Universal Father is not real.
2. The administration of the Local Universe is unfair.
3. The ascension plan of mortals is a farce.

The second and third charges are ancillary. They hinge on the truth of the first charge such that if the first charge is not true, the other charges fail. In other words, if the Universal Father is real, then the Local Universe administration is fair, and the ascension plan is real. So we will focus our attention in this article, on Lucifer’s first charge.

In his first charge, Lucifer asserted that the Universal Father did not really exist, and that physical gravity and space-energy were inherent in the universe – in essence, that there was no need for a Creator. He charged that the Father was a myth invented by the Paradise Sons to enable them to maintain the rule of the universes in the name of a fictitious Father.

As a Sidebar

This charge is very enlightening. Lucifer claimed the Universal Father does not exist. You might wonder, How can a celestial being who lives in the heavens not believe in God? We can accept that a twisted mind might not want to worship God or want to obey God. But for a celestial being to not believe God exists? How can that be?

Well, we must remember that Lucifer was a local universe creation. He may have on occasion ventured out of the local universe, and he is certainly aware of the Ancients of Days. But he has never been outside of the Super Universe. He’s never visited Havona and certainly never reached Paradise. So he has no personal knowledge of the existence of the Universal Father. He, along with all other local universe creations, have to have faith that the Universal Father exists. And Lucifer, and all who followed him into rebellion, lost theirs. Yes, faith in the existence of God is not limited to the mortal experience. Even after our resurrection, we will need faith in the existence of the Paradise Father until we meet him “face to face.” Think about that.

So back to our discussion. Lucifer was willing to acknowledge Michael as his Creator-father but not as his God and rightful ruler. We find a parallel of this charge in atheism. Atheists acknowledge that they are the creation of their mortal mother and father. They do not deny that they come from a long line of mortals. But they reject the idea of a First Father – an uncreated personality. Like Lucifer, they believe life is inherent in the universe and it does not require the actions or intervention of a personal God.

They want the advantages of having been created – the joy of being alive and living. But they do not want the responsibility of acknowledging a Creator. This concept has infiltrated our science, our social philosophies, even our spiritual philosophies by presenting what we call “half-truths.” And half-truths can be just as deadly as outright lies. Here is an example of how half-truths have infiltrated our spiritual philosophies.

You have no doubt heard of the teaching that “we are all gods. We are all part of the oneness that makes up the universe. We and the rest of the world is what God is. God is consciousness that is expanding. Source energy.” All of that sounds great but it is only partially true.

We ARE a part of the oneness of the universe and we DO have a fragment of God inside of us. But the half that is missing is the reality of the great personal God. Much of these philosophies exclude or omit the idea of a personal God to whom we are accountable. For them, the story ends with the “deification” of the self. Some of these theories go so far as to reject the belief in God and ridicule faith as foolish and delusional.

This is no different from Lucifer’s claim in his manifesto. Lucifer does not deny the great source energy. He denies the great personal God, just as atheism and pseudo-science glorifies nature, yet denies the one who created “nature.” These philosophies are half truths. They take you half way to the truth, and stop there. They omit the most important half – the existence and reality of a great personal God – the First Source and Center of all things – including the source of both energy and nature. If we can be deluded into adopting these half-truths, then Lucifer has won a convert in the ideological struggle.

These types of godless philosophies are subtle deceptions. And they are seductive. Who doesn’t want to see himself as a powerful being who has conquered his fears and his circumstances. Who doesn’t want to feel the power of deity? Now, if you have prayed to God and felt a surge of power and confidence, then you may have felt that power yourself. We have felt it and it is very real. But what we are feeling is not Godhood. The power we are feeling is sonship.

There is a divinity in sonship with God. There is a power of oneness with the universe. There is a relative co-creativity with it. It is dynamic and in some ways intoxicating. But the power of sonship exists only because of the reality of the Father. The power we experience as a son of God is a divine gift, for which we can be thankful. But let us not forget to acknowledge the wise and loving Father who gave it. And we must be careful.

Paper 111 refers to the danger of yielding to the temptation to deify one’s self which is what is happening to those who ascribe to this half-truth of godship. Here’s the excerpt:

The courage required to effect the conquest of nature and to transcend one’s self is a courage that might succumb to the temptations of self-pride. The mortal who can transcend self might yield to the temptation to deify his own self-consciousness. The mortal dilemma consists in the double fact that man is in bondage to nature while at the same time he possesses a unique liberty—freedom of spiritual choice and action. On material levels man finds himself subservient to nature, while on spiritual levels he is triumphant over nature and over all things temporal and finite. Such a paradox is inseparable from temptation, potential evil, decisional errors, and when self becomes proud and arrogant, sin may evolve.
(UB 111:6.2)

This is telling us that transcending our mortal frailties and temporal challenges takes real courage. But those who are able to transcend them are faced with a new problem – the temptation to become proud and arrogant which may lead to sin. It is not saying that such a person WILL become proud and arrogant. It is saying that such a person will inevitably be presented the opportunity to prove who he or she really is. Is that person a courageous spiritual son of God? Or has that person deluded himself believing he IS God? That is the danger of half truths.

It is good to gain the confidence and courage to conquer our mortal existence. But when we attempt to experience this divine sonship without a recognition of the loving First Source and Center, we are teetering on delusion and self destruction.

Now, there is another reason why this particular half truth is so dangerous. It takes away our spiritual rights. Notice what is written Paper 54 where it says:

. . . Lucifer’s crime was the attempted creative disenfranchisement of every personality in Satania, the unrecognized abridgment of the creature’s personal participation — freewill participation — in the long evolutionary struggle to attain the status of light and life both individually and collectively.

. . . The Lucifer rebellion thus threatened the maximum possible infringement of the freewill choice of the ascenders and servers of the system of Satania — a threat forevermore to deprive every one of these beings of the thrilling experience of contributing something personal and unique to the slowly erecting monument to experiential wisdom which will sometime exist as the perfected system of Satania.

Thus does the Lucifer manifesto, masquerading in the habiliments of liberty, stand forth in the clear light of reason as a monumental threat to consummate the theft of personal liberty and to do it on a scale that has been approached only twice in all the history of Nebadon.

In short, what God had given men and angels Lucifer would have taken away from them, that is, the divine privilege of participating in the creation of their own destinies and of the destiny of this local system of inhabited worlds.

No being in all the universe has the rightful liberty to deprive any other being of true liberty, the right to love and be loved, the privilege of worshiping God and of serving his fellows.
(UB 54:2.3-5)

These passages reveal the danger of philosophies that exclude God from the equation. So it is not just a question of whether God exists or does not exist. It is a question of whether WE exist as free will creatures, and whether we will allow another creature to close the door to opportunities and possibilities. Such half-truths are not only atheistic. They are Luciferian.

But how many people who adopt those philosophies of half truths are aware of that fact? How many people believe they are self-realizing when, in fact, they are self-inhibiting and self-annihilating? They don’t understand that they are on the wrong side of the ideological struggle when they exalt their own spirituality, but exclude the Grand Universal Father – the loving personal God.

But how will they know that they must progress beyond half truths and complete the journey all the way to the personal God? How will they know without qualified skilled teachers and leaders who can reveal it? It therefore rests upon each of us who hold the banner of Michael to become those skilled teachers and leaders who can stand on Michael’s side of the ideological struggle and provide an alternative to Luciferian ideas.

If this appeals to you, write us. Maybe together we can make a difference. And please consider enrolling in TheChristExperiment’s School of Ambassadors to develop and enhance your ministry skills so that you can be effective in promoting and supporting Michael’s side of the Ideological Struggle.

In the meantime, may the Spirit of Truth be with you.