Religion from A Melchizedek Viewpoint—Part 2: The Religionist's Difficulties

We continue a new multiweek series on Papers 99 through 103 of The Urantia Book on the "religion papers."

Our Melchizedek author contunues with sections 3 and 4 on the relationship of the religionist to religion and the transition difficulties through the last and coming centuries as thinking women and men are socialized into a religious life or prone to avoid it. 

We're instructed that religious pursuits ought to be consciously religious and not subsumed in social, political, or economic endeavors.

"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. 

"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." [(1088.7,8) 99:3.6,7]

And we are told:  " 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." and that, "[s]ocial leadership is transformed by spiritual insight; religion prevents all collective movements from losing sight of their true objectives." [(1089.9,10) 99:4.1,2]

Please join us for another enriching discussion! http://tobtr.com/11533567