Seraphic Velocity

Expected transit times

The seraphim seem to perform activities throughout the confines of the local universe, and even beyond, with an ability that transcends their apparent velocity of transit. The setting for most of these activities is the local universe, composed of one hundred constellations, each constellation composed of one hundred local systems. (The star cloud that is our local universe was organized from components of more than one nebula, which have been adjusted over a period of time to travel as a unit through space) (455D). Our local system, Satania, contains 619 inhabited worlds, in over 500 different physical systems (359D), and over two thousand brilliant suns, of which our sun is average (458A).

Sun is another word for star. According to astronomy, the star nearest our sun is Proxima Centauri, located about four light years away. To traverse this distance--to get from here to the nearest star--would take a seraphim one-third of four, or over one year. Drawing a line around any 200-star group that includes our sun, in an attempt roughly to outline our system, is sure to set off a distance that would require scores or hundreds of years for a seraphim to traverse at triple velocity. It would seem reasonable that it should take this same amount of time for seraphim to journey between our planet, Urantia, and our system headquarters, Jerusem (and its circling, attendant mansion-world satellites). The possibility might be raised that regardless of how big the system is, Urantia and Jerusem could be close neighbors inside it, situated only a relatively short journey apart. But The URANTIA Book teaches that our solar system is the second farthest in our local system from Jerusem (466D) and that Urantia is on the outskirts of our system, Satania (466D), while Jerusem is very close to the astronomical center of Satania, which is occupied by an enormous dark island of space (457A) (not a black hole). A seraphic journey between Urantia and Jerusem should occupy scores--perhaps hundreds--of years at seraphic triple velocity. And seraphic travel between Jerusem and its constellation capital, Edentia--headquarters world for one hundred systems--should take hundreds or thousands of years.

Third-day question

A question asked by some URANTIA Book readers is: how can the URANTIA Book teaching that mortals are sometimes resurrected on Jerusem's Mansion World Number 1 on the third day following physical death, after being transported there by guardian seraphim, be reconciled with the fact that thirty years--or maybe three hundred years--would seem the minimum reasonable time for such a journey?

The suggestion is sometimes offered that the exact term is third period, not third day (1232A; 1232B); and period can denote any amount of time. This makes a little sense to me, although it leaves entirely too many vaguely unexplained activities going on in the economy of the realm for me to feel easy with it. The argument fell completely apart for me a few years back when Dan Massey kindly sent me a copy of a letter he had written to a URANTIA Book reader in France who had inquired into the apparent contradiction involving seraphic velocity and been referred to Dan. In the letter, Dan identified a direct URANTIA Book referral to resurrection on the mansion world on the third day following physical death; and since that time, I have seen other such references (569C; 538A; 853C).

With travel to Jerusem identified as definitely occupying no more than three days, the next question often raised is: What is a day? Is it a Urantia day? A Jerusem day? Some other day? Unless it's a Paradise-Havona day, which is about a thousand years (humor intended: this type of day is not applicable to the superuniverses of time), it couldn't make much difference to the question, for the days in question don't differ much--not nearly enough to explain the discrepanies being examined. Some information can be gleaned from The URANTIA Book about specific instances of seraphic transport.

Specific instances

Thirty-seven thousand years ago, Adam and Eve were delivered by seraphic transport to Urantia from Jerusem, in dematerialized form (a combustion body of flesh and blood cannot be transported by seraphim). Ten days later, when their rematerialization into dual human form was completed, they regained consciousness simultaneously (828A). Soon after their awakening on Urantia, at high noon on their first Urantia day as conscious, functioning beings, they were installed as the custodians and rulers of Urantia (829B-830A). On their seventh day on Urantia, just before noon, exactly six days after their installation on Urantia, a seraphic messenger brought to Urantia the Jerusem acknowledgement of this installation. Jerusem could not have used the system circuits to receive news of the planetary installation, for the system circuits were in a severed status due to the rebellion (830C); communication within the system and between the system headquarters and constellation headquarters had to be by messenger (830C; 606D; 607D). Under some conditions, Solitary Messengers, who can travel at speeds of over 800 billion miles per second (261:2), are available at the system level (261:2; 607D). Even if a Solitary Messenger bore the news of the Urantia installation to Jerusem, the seraphim traveling from Jerusem could have had six Urantia--earth! days at most to reach Urantia. Since, from above, this journey should have required scores or hundreds of years for a seraphim to complete, this is a definite instance of an apparent conflict between URANTIA Book descriptions of distance, seraphic velocity, and time of travel.

The Melchizedek receivers returned from Jerusem seventy days after the default of Adam and Eve (844A); since the Melchizedek receivers travel by seraphic transport (833B), this is another case of too rapid seraphic travel. The Adamic couple left the garden shortly after the Melchizedeks arrived and were met on the third day out (no significance to this figure) by the arrival of seraphic transports who had come from Jerusem for certain of the Adamic offspring (844C). This seraphic journey from Jerusem, after the default of Adam and Eve, took a matter of days--not scores or humdreds of years--to complete (since the seraphim couldn't have begun the journey until the default, the reason for their trip)--a third instance of mysteriously enhanced seraphic travel.

Before the arrival of Adam and Eve on Urantia, in the times of the Planetary Prince, when the rebellion occurred, 200,000 years ago, Van and the Loyalists awaited confirmation of their actions in defying the rebels, which came seven years later with the arrival of a Most High of Edentia with the emergency Melchizedeks (756A-757C) (who travel by seraphic transport--see above). This delay of seven years--not seven score or seven hundred--was primarily for the purpose of allowing each personality on Urantia affected by the rebellion to make up his or her mind on his or her position (757C). Note that the Most High was a Most High of Edentia, who, if he came to Urantia from Edentia, should have traveled for probably thousands of years, as stated above. (So few literal facts are available about the Vorondadek order of sonship, which also includes the Most Highs, that it is of interest to note that this order of sonship--traveling with the enseraphimed Melchizedeks above--also relies on seraphim for transport.)

Consistent contradiction

Events of similar significance occur elsewhere in The URANTIA Book, such as a Most High coming to the planet during Michael's bestowal here as Jesus of Nazareth. A stunning example of the consistency of the apparent contradiction in The URANTIA Book between the familiar formulas relating speed, distance, and time is the URANTIA Book narration that Solitary Messengers, who travel at incredible speeds (at least 841,621,642,000 miles per second) (261A), sometimes travel as temporary ambassadors from established local universes to newly inhabited local universes until regular ambassadors can arrive (260B). The reason given for this is that regular ambassadors, who travel by means of seraphic transport, could be required to travel for long periods of time to reach such far-distant local universes (260B). This ambassadorial outreach can span an entire superuniverse, not just the containing minor sector (260A). Since our superuniverse, Orvonton, is half-a-million light years across (250,000 light year radius) (359D-360A), it should require one-half million years for light to travel between two local universes at opposite ends of the superuniverse; the time required for enseraphimed embassadors to make this same journey should be one-third of that, or one hundred sixty-six thousand years--one-sixth of a million years! In keeping with its consistent contradiction, The URANTIA Book refers to this maximum time as hundreds of years (260B).

The writers of The URANTIA Book, with its amazing consistency and their incredible intelligence, are undoubtedly aware of this apparent contradiction. They have coped in other areas with (then) impending advances in human knowledge by using wording which seemed innocuous before the new discovery, yet later was seen to contain previously unnoticed ambiguities allowing either the pre- or post-discovery interpretation. (The revelators are forbidden to anticipate the human discoveries of a thousand years) (1109B).

Something to learn

It would seem to me that there is a factor yet to be learned, in light of which this "brazen" contradiction will be most acceptable. Until then, the consistent contradiction is a part of the URANTIA Book landscape, as the Easter Island Statues are a part of the earth's archaeological landscape: conspicuous, challenging--and not explained. (The Easter Island Statues--or rather the early people of this island and its use as an Andite religious and administrative center--do happen to be explained in The URANTIA Book (837C).

The idea of a new factor first came to me from, again, Dan Massey, who, during a personal conversation, responded to one of my observations/questions about the problem of seraphic velocity with the view that perhaps things change in ways other than currently envisioned by science during travel involving speeds very near to--or in this case several times greater than--the speed of light. Perhaps time, or distance, change in ways other than the commonly envisioned time shift and length contraction of relativity. Einstein's Theory of Relativity is perhaps too often viewed as somehow "correct" and exempt from the fallibilities of humankind, never needing correction, further development, or interpretation.

The writers of The URANTIA Book have possibly left us a hint of the problem--and what is to come--with a little smile. In a discussion on the vulnerability of materialism, near the end of the book, they address the theory of relativity, humankind's most impressive monument to its greatness, as--dabblings with the faintly glimpsed findings of relativity (2078D).

The consistent contradiction doesn't seem to fit the category of statements presented in accordance with existing scientific knowledge which will later be proven wrong as scientific knowledge advances (1109C). It flatly defies present scientific knowledge--just as did other statements in The URANTIA Book with which science has later come to concur. It will be interesting to see what new findings will develop in science to show once again that The URANTIA Book was right.