Paper 4 God’s Relation to the Universe
第4篇 神和宇宙的關係
4:0.1 (54.1) THE Universal Father has an eternal purpose pertaining to the material, intellectual, and spiritual phenomena of the universe of universes, which he is executing throughout all time. God created the universes of his own free and sovereign will, and he created them in accordance with his all-wise and eternal purpose. It is doubtful whether anyone except the Paradise Deities and their highest associates really knows very much about the eternal purpose of God. Even the exalted citizens of Paradise hold very diverse opinions about the nature of the eternal purpose of the Deities.
4:0.1 (54.1) 萬有之父有一個與眾多宇宙所組成宇宙的物質、智性和靈性現象有關的永恆意圖，他一直以來都在執行著這意圖。神出於他自身的自由和至高無上意志創造了宇宙，並依照他全然-智慧及永恆的意圖創造它們。值得懷疑的是，除了天堂神靈和他們的最高等的伙伴之外，是否有誰真正非常瞭解神的永恆意圖。即使是天堂的崇高公民，對於神靈永恆意圖的本質也持有非常分歧的意見。
4:0.2 (54.2) It is easy to deduce that the purpose in creating the perfect central universe of Havona was purely the satisfaction of the divine nature. Havona may serve as the pattern creation for all other universes and as the finishing school for the pilgrims of time on their way to Paradise; however, such a supernal creation must exist primarily for the pleasure and satisfaction of the perfect and infinite Creators.
4:0.2 (54.2) 容易推斷的是，創造哈沃納完美中央宇宙的目的，純粹是為了滿足神性本質。哈沃納可能作為所有其它宇宙的典範創造，以及作為時間類朝聖者前往天堂途中的結業學校；然而，如此超凡造物必須主要是為了完美且無限的造物者的愉悅與滿足而存在。
4:0.3 (54.3) The amazing plan for perfecting evolutionary mortals and, after their attainment of Paradise and the Corps of the Finality, providing further training for some undisclosed future work, does seem to be, at present, one of the chief concerns of the seven superuniverses and their many subdivisions; but this ascension scheme for spiritualizing and training the mortals of time and space is by no means the exclusive occupation of the universe intelligences. There are, indeed, many other fascinating pursuits which occupy the time and enlist the energies of the celestial hosts.
4:0.3 (54.3) 這個旨在使進化凡人臻於完美，並在他們達到天堂和終極性團隊之後，為某些未披露的未來工作提供進一步培訓的驚人計畫，目前的確似乎是七個超級宇宙及其許多分部的主要關注點之一；但這個為靈性化和訓練時空性凡人的揚升方案，絕不是宇宙智能存有的唯一工作。確實，還有許多其它引人入勝的追求，佔用了天界軍團的時間，並徵募了其能量。
4:1.1 (54.4) 長久以來玉苒廈的居民都誤解了神的天意。在你們的世界上存在著一種神性運作的天意，但它並非如許多凡人所認為的那種幼稚、隨意的，物質性的侍奉。神的天意存在於天界存有和神性之靈環環相扣的活動中，他們依照宇宙法則，不斷地為神的榮耀及其宇宙子女的靈性進展而努力。
4:1.2 (54.5) 難道你們無法將神與人相處的概念提升到認識宇宙的格言是進步的那個層次？人類種族經過漫長歲月的奮鬥，才達到目前的位置。在所有這些千年紀間，「天意」一直在實現漸進的進化計劃。這兩個想法在實踐上並不對立，只有在人的錯誤概念中才是對立的。神的天意從未與以反對真正人類進步的方式部署，無論是世俗的還是靈性的進步。天意總是與至高「立法者」（Lawmaker）不變且完美的本性相一致。
4:1.3 (55.1) 「神是信實的。」「他的一切誡命都是公正的。」「他的信實確立於諸天。」「主啊，你的話語安定於天，直到永遠。你的信實世代長存；你立定了大地，它就長存。」「他是一位信實的造物主。」
4:1.4 (55.2) There is no limitation of the forces and personalities which the Father may use to uphold his purpose and sustain his creatures. “The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” “Behold, he who keeps us shall neither slumber nor sleep.” “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God,” “for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers.”
4:1.4 (55.2) 上父可用以支撐他的意圖與維持其受造物的部隊及人格是沒有限制的。「永恆的神是我們的庇護所，而在之下是其永久的臂膀。」「居於至高者隱密處的，必住全能者（Almighty）的庇護下。」「看哪，那守護我們的既不少憩也不睡覺。」「我們知道萬事皆同工，讓愛神的人得益，」「因為上主的眼看顧義者，他的耳朵傾聽他們的祈禱。」
4:1.5 (55.3) 神「以他權能的話語支撐萬物。」當新世界誕生時，他「差遣他的聖子們，它們便受造。」神不僅創造，而且他「保全這一切。」神不斷地支撐所有物質事物和屬靈眾生。眾宇宙是永恆穩定的。在貌似不穩定之中存在著穩定。在繁星領域的能量動盪和物理劇變中，存在著潛在的秩序和安全。
4:1.6 (55.4) The Universal Father has not withdrawn from the management of the universes; he is not an inactive Deity. If God should retire as the present upholder of all creation, there would immediately occur a universal collapse. Except for God, there would be no such thing as reality. At this very moment, as during the remote ages of the past and in the eternal future, God continues to uphold. The divine reach extends around the circle of eternity. The universe is not wound up like a clock to run just so long and then cease to function; all things are constantly being renewed. The Father unceasingly pours forth energy, light, and life. The work of God is literal as well as spiritual. “He stretches out the north over the empty space and hangs the earth upon nothing.”
4:1.6 (55.4) 萬有之父並未退出宇宙的管理；他不是一個不活躍的神靈。如果神作為現今一切造物的支撐者真的退隠，宇宙崩塌將立即發生。若不是神，就不會有所謂的實相。在此刻，如同在過去的遙遠時代和永恆的未來一樣，神持續支撐著。神性所及延伸至永恆之圈周圍。宇宙不像時鐘一樣上緊發條後只運行一段時間就停止；萬物都在不斷地更新。上父源源不斷地傾注能量、光與生命。神的工作是如實的，也是充滿靈性的。「他將北方鋪在虛空中，將大地懸在虛無中。」
4:1.7 (55.5) A being of my order is able to discover ultimate harmony and to detect far-reaching and profound co-ordination in the routine affairs of universe administration. Much that seems disjointed and haphazard to the mortal mind appears orderly and constructive to my understanding. But there is very much going on in the universes that I do not fully comprehend. I have long been a student of, and am more or less conversant with, the recognized forces, energies, minds, morontias, spirits, and personalities of the local universes and the superuniverses. I have a general understanding of how these agencies and personalities operate, and I am intimately familiar with the workings of the accredited spirit intelligences of the grand universe. Notwithstanding my knowledge of the phenomena of the universes, I am constantly confronted with cosmic reactions which I cannot fully fathom. I am continually encountering apparently fortuitous conspiracies of the interassociation of forces, energies, intellects, and spirits, which I cannot satisfactorily explain.
4:1.7 (55.5) 我這類的存有能在宇宙管理的例行事務中發現終極和諧，並能察覺深遠且深度的協調。許多對凡人心智來說看似雜亂無章的事務，以我的瞭解來看卻顯得井然有序且具建設性。但在宇宙中仍有許多正在發生的事情是我不完全理解的。長久以來，我是一個研究地方宇宙和超級宇宙中已知的力、能量、心智、靈質、靈性和人格的學者，並且對它們或多或少是熟悉的。我對這些代理者和人格如何運作有大致的瞭解，而且我非常熟悉大宇宙中公認的靈性智能存有的工作。儘管我對宇宙現象的了解，我還是不斷地面臨一些我無法完全揣摸的宇宙反應。我一再地遇到力、能量、智力、靈性之間相互關聯之看似偶發的謀劃，但我無法對其提出令人滿意的解釋。
4:1.8 (55.6) I am entirely competent to trace out and to analyze the working of all phenomena directly resulting from the functioning of the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit, and, to a large extent, the Isle of Paradise. My perplexity is occasioned by encountering what appears to be the performance of their mysterious co-ordinates, the three Absolutes of potentiality. These Absolutes seem to supersede matter, to transcend mind, and to supervene spirit. I am constantly confused and often perplexed by my inability to comprehend these complex transactions which I attribute to the presences and performances of the Unqualified Absolute, the Deity Absolute, and the Universal Absolute.
4:1.8 (55.6) 我完全有能力勾畫出並和分析所有直接由萬有之父、永恆之子、無限之靈，以及在更大程度上與天堂島的運作所導致的現象之作用。我的茫然是由那看似是他們的神秘協同者——三個潛在的絕對者——的表現所引起的。這些絕對似乎取代物質，超越心智，並且引發靈性。我因無力理解這些複雜事務而不斷地感到困惑且經常茫然失措，我將這些事務歸因於無限定絕對者、神靈絕對者和萬有絕對者的臨在和表現。
4:1.9 (56.1) These Absolutes must be the not-fully-revealed presences abroad in the universe which, in the phenomena of space potency and in the function of other superultimates, render it impossible for physicists, philosophers, or even religionists to predict with certainty as to just how the primordials of force, concept, or spirit will respond to demands made in a complex reality situation involving supreme adjustments and ultimate values.
4:1.9 (56.1) 這些絕對者必定是遍及宇宙中未被完全揭示的存在，在空間潛能現象及其它超終極的運作上，使得物理學家、哲學家或甚至宗教家們都無法確切地預測關於力、概念或靈性等原初要素，將如何回應涉及至高調整和終極價值的複雜實相狀況下所提出的各種需求。
4:1.10 (56.2) There is also an organic unity in the universes of time and space which seems to underlie the whole fabric of cosmic events. This living presence of the evolving Supreme Being, this Immanence of the Projected Incomplete, is inexplicably manifested ever and anon by what appears to be an amazingly fortuitous co-ordination of apparently unrelated universe happenings. This must be the function of Providence—the realm of the Supreme Being and the Conjoint Actor.
4:1.10 (56.2) 在時間和空間宇宙中，也存在著一種有機的統一性，這統一性似乎構成整個宇宙事件結構的基礎。這演化中至高存在者的鮮活臨在，這「投射的不完全之內在性」（Immanence of the Projected Incomplete），不時透過看似毫不相關的宇宙事件之驚人偶然協調，難以理解地顯現出來。這必定是「天意」——至高存在者和聯合行動者之領域——的運作。
4:1.11 (56.3) I am inclined to believe that it is this far-flung and generally unrecognizable control of the co-ordination and interassociation of all phases and forms of universe activity that causes such a variegated and apparently hopelessly confused medley of physical, mental, moral, and spiritual phenomena so unerringly to work out to the glory of God and for the good of men and angels.
4:1.11 (56.3) 我傾向於相信，正是宇宙活動所有階段和形式之協調及相互關聯的這廣泛且通常無法識別的控制，使得這樣一種由物質、心智、道德和靈性現象所形成的五花八門且似乎無可救藥地雜亂的混合體，如此準確無誤地朝著神之榮耀以及為了人和天使的利益發展。
4:1.12 (56.4) But in the larger sense the apparent “accidents” of the cosmos are undoubtedly a part of the finite drama of the time-space adventure of the Infinite in his eternal manipulation of the Absolutes.
4:1.12 (56.4) 但在更大的意義上，宇宙中看似的「偶然」，無疑是無限者在他對於絕對者的永恆操控中之時空冒險有限戲劇中的一部分。
4:2.1 (56.5) Nature is in a limited sense the physical habit of God. The conduct, or action, of God is qualified and provisionally modified by the experimental plans and the evolutionary patterns of a local universe, a constellation, a system, or a planet. God acts in accordance with a well-defined, unchanging, immutable law throughout the wide-spreading master universe; but he modifies the patterns of his action so as to contribute to the co-ordinate and balanced conduct of each universe, constellation, system, planet, and personality in accordance with the local objects, aims, and plans of the finite projects of evolutionary unfolding.
4:2.1 (56.5) 從受限的意義上來說，自然是神的物理習慣。神的行為或行動會依地方宇宙、星座、系統或行星的實驗計畫和演化模式而有限制的臨時修改。遍及那範圍廣闊的主宇宙，神按照一個明確的、不變的，不可更動的法則行動；但他依據演化開展之有限方案的地方對象、目的和計劃，修改其行動的模式，以促成每個宇宙、星座、系統、行星和人格的協調與平衡行為。
4:2.2 (56.6) Therefore, nature, as mortal man understands it, presents the underlying foundation and fundamental background of a changeless Deity and his immutable laws, modified by, fluctuating because of, and experiencing upheavals through, the working of the local plans, purposes, patterns, and conditions which have been inaugurated and are being carried out by the local universe, constellation, system, and planetary forces and personalities. For example: As God’s laws have been ordained in Nebadon, they are modified by the plans established by the Creator Son and Creative Spirit of this local universe; and in addition to all this the operation of these laws has been further influenced by the errors, defaults, and insurrections of certain beings resident upon your planet and belonging to your immediate planetary system of Satania.
4:2.2 (56.6) 因此，如凡人所理解的，自然展現不變神靈及他不可更動法則的根本基礎和基本背景，這些法則依地方宇宙、星座、系統以及行星部隊和人格已啟動並正實行中的地方計畫、目的、模式和情況的運作而修改、因其而波動並且藉由其而經歷動盪。例如：雖然神的法則已在內巴頓頒佈，但他們會依據這一地方宇宙的造物聖子和創造之靈所建立的計畫而修改；除此之外，這些法則的運行也已進一步受到居住在你們行星上、隸屬於你們直屬撒旦尼亞行星系統的某些存有的過失、違約和叛亂的影響。
4:2.3 (56.7) Nature is a time-space resultant of two cosmic factors: first, the immutability, perfection, and rectitude of Paradise Deity, and second, the experimental plans, executive blunders, insurrectionary errors, incompleteness of development, and imperfection of wisdom of the extra-Paradise creatures, from the highest to the lowest. Nature therefore carries a uniform, unchanging, majestic, and marvelous thread of perfection from the circle of eternity; but in each universe, on each planet, and in each individual life, this nature is modified, qualified, and perchance marred by the acts, the mistakes, and the disloyalties of the creatures of the evolutionary systems and universes; and therefore must nature ever be of a changing mood, whimsical withal, though stable underneath, and varied in accordance with the operating procedures of a local universe.
4:2.3 (56.7) 自然是兩種宇宙因素的時空結果：第一，天堂神靈的不可更動性、完美性和正直性，以及第二，從最高等到最低等的天堂外受造物的實驗性計畫、行政重大疏失、叛亂性錯誤、發展之不完整，和智慧不完美。因此，自然承載了一條來自永恆之圈的統一、不變、莊嚴又奇妙的完美脈絡；但在每個宇宙中，每個行星上，以及每個個體的生活中，這種自然又被演化性系統和宇宙中受造物的行動、錯誤和不忠所修改、限定而且可能被損毀；因此，自然必定永遠處在一種不斷改變的氛圍中，雖然反覆無常，然而表面之下穩固，並依照地方宇宙的運行程序而變化。
4:2.4 (57.1) Nature is the perfection of Paradise divided by the incompletion, evil, and sin of the unfinished universes. This quotient is thus expressive of both the perfect and the partial, of both the eternal and the temporal. Continuing evolution modifies nature by augmenting the content of Paradise perfection and by diminishing the content of the evil, error, and disharmony of relative reality.
4:2.4 (57.1) 自然是天堂的完美性除以尚未完成宇宙之不完整、邪惡與罪惡。因此，這商數既表達完美也表達片面，既表達永恆也表達暫存。持續的進化，透過增加天堂完美性的含量，以及減少相對實相中的邪惡、錯誤與不和諧的含量，來修改自然。
4:2.5 (57.2) God is not personally present in nature or in any of the forces of nature, for the phenomenon of nature is the superimposition of the imperfections of progressive evolution and, sometimes, the consequences of insurrectionary rebellion, upon the Paradise foundations of God’s universal law. As it appears on such a world as Urantia, nature can never be the adequate expression, the true representation, the faithful portrayal, of an all-wise and infinite God.
4:2.5 (57.2) 神並不親身臨在於自然或任何自然的力當中，因為自然的現象是漸進性演化的不完美以及有時反抗背叛的後果，疊加在神的宇宙法則之天堂基礎上。正如它出現在像玉苒廈這樣的世界時，自然永遠無法是那全然-智慧的且無限的神之適當表達、真實表現或忠實描繪。
4:2.6 (57.3) Nature, on your world, is a qualification of the laws of perfection by the evolutionary plans of the local universe. What a travesty to worship nature because it is in a limited, qualified sense pervaded by God; because it is a phase of the universal and, therefore, divine power! Nature also is a manifestation of the unfinished, the incomplete, the imperfect outworkings of the development, growth, and progress of a universe experiment in cosmic evolution.
4:2.6 (57.3) 在你們的世界上，自然是地方宇宙演進計畫對完美法則的限定。只因為自然在受限的、限定的意義上為神所滲透；只因為它是宇宙力量的一個階段，也因此是神性力量的一個階段，就崇拜自然，這是何等荒謬扭曲啊！自然也是在宇宙進化中宇宙實驗的發展、成長和進步的未完成，不完整，不完美運作的顯現。
4:2.7 (57.4) The apparent defects of the natural world are not indicative of any such corresponding defects in the character of God. Rather are such observed imperfections merely the inevitable stop-moments in the exhibition of the ever-moving reel of infinity picturization. It is these very defect-interruptions of perfection-continuity which make it possible for the finite mind of material man to catch a fleeting glimpse of divine reality in time and space. The material manifestations of divinity appear defective to the evolutionary mind of man only because mortal man persists in viewing the phenomena of nature through natural eyes, human vision unaided by morontia mota or by revelation, its compensatory substitute on the worlds of time.
4:2.7 (57.4) 自然界的明顯缺陷，並不表示神的品格中有任何相應的缺陷。相反地，這些被觀察到的不完美，僅僅是在無限圖像化之不斷移動卷軸的展示中，不可避免的停頓時刻。正是這些完美-連續（perfection-continuity）中的缺陷-間歇（defect-interruptions），使得物質人的有限心智能夠在時空中短暫瞥見神性實相。神性的物質顯現對於人的進化性心智來說似乎是有缺陷的，這是因為凡人堅持以天生的眼睛——未借助於靈質性摩塔（mota）或啟示幫助的人類視覺——來觀看自然現象，而啟示是天生的眼睛在時間世界上的補償性替代物。
4:2.8 (57.5) And nature is marred, her beautiful face is scarred, her features are seared, by the rebellion, the misconduct, the misthinking of the myriads of creatures who are a part of nature, but who have contributed to her disfigurement in time. No, nature is not God. Nature is not an object of worship.
4:2.8 (57.5) 自然因無數受造物的反叛、不當行為、錯誤思維而被毀壞，她美麗的臉龐傷痕累累，她的五官憔悴枯槁，這些受造物是自然的一部分，但隨著時間的推移，他們已造成她外貌的毀損。不，自然不是神。自然不是一個崇拜的對象。
4:3.1 (57.6) All too long has man thought of God as one like himself. God is not, never was, and never will be jealous of man or any other being in the universe of universes. Knowing that the Creator Son intended man to be the masterpiece of the planetary creation, to be the ruler of all the earth, the sight of his being dominated by his own baser passions, the spectacle of his bowing down before idols of wood, stone, gold, and selfish ambition—these sordid scenes stir God and his Sons to be jealous for man, but never of him.
4:3.1 (57.6) 長久以來，人一直認為神是像他自己一樣的。神不會，從不曾，未來也絕不會嫉妒人類或是由眾宇宙組成的宇宙中任何其他存有。知道造物聖子有意使人類成為行星造物的傑作，成為大地的主宰者，但看到他的存在被自身卑劣情欲所控制，目睹他拜倒在木頭、石頭、金子所製的和自私野心的偶像——這些醜惡的場景激起神與他的聖子們為人感到憂心，但從不嫉妒他。
4:3.2 (57.7) The eternal God is incapable of wrath and anger in the sense of these human emotions and as man understands such reactions. These sentiments are mean and despicable; they are hardly worthy of being called human, much less divine; and such attitudes are utterly foreign to the perfect nature and gracious character of the Universal Father.
4:3.2 (57.7) 從這些人類情緒的意義和人所理解的反應來看，永恆的神無法震怒和生氣。這些情感是低劣可鄙的；它們幾乎不配被稱為人性，更談不上神性；這種態度與萬有之父完美本性和仁慈的品格完全無關。
4:3.3 (58.1) Much, very much, of the difficulty which Urantia mortals have in understanding God is due to the far-reaching consequences of the Lucifer rebellion and the Caligastia betrayal. On worlds not segregated by sin, the evolutionary races are able to formulate far better ideas of the Universal Father; they suffer less from confusion, distortion, and perversion of concept.
4:3.3 (58.1) 玉苒廈的凡人在理解神方面遇到的困難，非常多是由於路西法反叛和卡理迦夏（Caligastia）背叛所造成的深遠影響。在沒有因罪惡而被隔離的世界上，進化種族能夠對萬有之父形成更好的觀念；他們較少遭受到概念上的混淆、扭曲和曲解。
4:3.4 (58.2) God repents of nothing he has ever done, now does, or ever will do. He is all-wise as well as all-powerful. Man’s wisdom grows out of the trials and errors of human experience; God’s wisdom consists in the unqualified perfection of his infinite universe insight, and this divine foreknowledge effectively directs the creative free will.
4:3.4 (58.2) 神永遠不會因為他曾做過的、現在做的、或是將來要做的任何事感到懊悔。他是全然-智慧的，也是全然-權能的。人的智慧是從人類經驗的嘗試錯誤中所產生的；神的智慧則在於其無限宇宙洞察力之無限定完美中，而這種神性預知有效地引導創造性的自由意志。
4:3.5 (58.3) The Universal Father never does anything that causes subsequent sorrow or regret, but the will creatures of the planning and making of his Creator personalities in the outlying universes, by their unfortunate choosing, sometimes occasion emotions of divine sorrow in the personalities of their Creator parents. But though the Father neither makes mistakes, harbors regrets, nor experiences sorrows, he is a being with a father’s affection, and his heart is undoubtedly grieved when his children fail to attain the spiritual levels they are capable of reaching with the assistance which has been so freely provided by the spiritual-attainment plans and the mortal-ascension policies of the universes.
4:3.5 (58.3) 萬有之父從來不做任何會導致隨後悲傷或遺憾的事情，但在邊遠宇宙中，他的眾造物者人格所計畫和創造的意志受造物，有時因他們令人遺憾的選擇，而在其造物者雙親的人格中引起神性悲傷的情緒。但是，雖然上父不犯錯、不懷有遺憾，也不經歷悲傷，他是一個深懷慈父之愛的存在，當他的子女在宇宙的靈性-達成（spiritual-attainment）計畫和凡人-揚升（mortal-ascension）方針所慷慨提供的協助下，仍無法達到他們所應能達到的靈性層次時，他的心無疑是悲傷的。
4:3.6 (58.4) The infinite goodness of the Father is beyond the comprehension of the finite mind of time; hence must there always be afforded a contrast with comparative evil (not sin) for the effective exhibition of all phases of relative goodness. Perfection of divine goodness can be discerned by mortal imperfection of insight only because it stands in contrastive association with relative imperfection in the relationships of time and matter in the motions of space.
4:3.6 (58.4) 上父的無限良善超出了時間中有限心智的理解範圍；因此，為了有效展示所有方面的相對良善，必須始終提供相對的惡（不是罪）來做對比。神性良善的完美之所以能被凡人洞察力的不完美所辨識，只因為它在空間運動中的時間與物質關係裡，與相對不完美形成對比性的關聯。
4:3.7 (58.5) The character of God is infinitely superhuman; therefore must such a nature of divinity be personalized, as in the divine Sons, before it can even be faith-grasped by the finite mind of man.
4:3.7 (58.5) 神之品格是無限地超人類的；因此，這樣一種神性的本質，在能被人的有限心智所信仰-領會之前，必須先被人格化，就如同在神性聖子身上那樣。
4. 對神的體認
4:4.1 (58.6) God is the only stationary, self-contained, and changeless being in the whole universe of universes, having no outside, no beyond, no past, and no future. God is purposive energy (creative spirit) and absolute will, and these are self-existent and universal.
4:4.1 (58.6) 在整個由眾多宇宙組成的整個宇宙中，神是唯一靜止的、自我-蘊含的和不變的存有，他無遠弗屆，無始無終。神是有目的的能量（創造的靈）和絕對的意志，而這些是自我-存在的及遍在的。
4:4.2 (58.7) Since God is self-existent, he is absolutely independent. The very identity of God is inimical to change. “I, the Lord, change not.” God is immutable; but not until you achieve Paradise status can you even begin to understand how God can pass from simplicity to complexity, from identity to variation, from quiescence to motion, from infinity to finitude, from the divine to the human, and from unity to duality and triunity. And God can thus modify the manifestations of his absoluteness because divine immutability does not imply immobility; God has will—he is will.
4:4.2 (58.7) 因為神是自我-存在的，他是絕對獨立的。神的身份是不容改變的。「我，上主，永不改變。」神是不可改變的；但直到你獲得天堂地位，你才能開始理解神如何由簡至繁，由同到異，由靜到動，由無限到有限，由神性到人性，由合一到二元以及三位一體。神之所以能夠如此更改他的絕對性顯現，是因為神聖不可辨變性並不意味著不動性；神擁有意志——他就是意志。
4:4.3 (58.8) God is the being of absolute self-determination; there are no limits to his universe reactions save those which are self-imposed, and his freewill acts are conditioned only by those divine qualities and perfect attributes which inherently characterize his eternal nature. Therefore is God related to the universe as the being of final goodness plus a free will of creative infinity.
4:4.3 (58.8) 神是絕對自我決定的（self-determination）存在；除了那些自我-施加的限制以外，他對宇宙的反應是沒有任何限制的，而他的自由意志行動僅受制於那些固有地表徵其永恆本質的神性品質和完美屬性。因此，神作為具有最終良善的存有，再加上擁有創造無限性之自由意志，而與宇宙相關聯。
4:4.4 (58.9) The Father-Absolute is the creator of the central and perfect universe and the Father of all other Creators. Personality, goodness, and numerous other characteristics, God shares with man and other beings, but infinity of will is his alone. God is limited in his creative acts only by the sentiments of his eternal nature and by the dictates of his infinite wisdom. God personally chooses only that which is infinitely perfect, hence the supernal perfection of the central universe; and while the Creator Sons fully share his divinity, even phases of his absoluteness, they are not altogether limited by that finality of wisdom which directs the Father’s infinity of will. Hence, in the Michael order of sonship, creative free will becomes even more active, wholly divine and well-nigh ultimate, if not absolute. The Father is infinite and eternal, but to deny the possibility of his volitional self-limitation amounts to a denial of this very concept of his volitional absoluteness.
4:4.4 (58.9) 上父-絕對者（Father-Absolute）是中央完美宇宙的創造者，也是所有其他造物者之上父。人格、良善和許多其它特性，神與人及其他存有共享，但意志之無限則是他獨有的。神在創造行動上僅受他永恆本性的情感和他無限智慧的支配所限制。神自身只會選擇那無限完美的事物，因此中央宇宙具有超凡的完美；而儘管造物聖子充分地分享他的神性，乃至其絕對性的某些方面，但他們並不完全受限於那引導上父意志無限性的智慧終極性。因此，在邁克爾類別的子嗣中，創造的自由意志甚至變得更為活躍，即使不是絕對的，也是全然神性並近乎終極。上父是無限且永恆的，但否認他意志性的自我限制之可能性，相當於否定其意志絕對性的這一概念。
4:4.5 (59.1) God’s absoluteness pervades all seven levels of universe reality. And the whole of this absolute nature is subject to the relationship of the Creator to his universe creature family. Precision may characterize trinitarian justice in the universe of universes, but in all his vast family relationship with the creatures of time the God of universes is governed by divine sentiment. First and last—eternally—the infinite God is a Father. Of all the possible titles by which he might appropriately be known, I have been instructed to portray the God of all creation as the Universal Father.
4:4.5 (59.1) 神的絕對性遍及宇宙實相的所有七個層次。而整個這絕對本質受制於造物主與其宇宙受造物家庭的關係。在由眾多宇宙組成的宇宙中，三位一體論的正義或許以精確為特徵，但在所有他與時間性受造物的龐大家庭關係中，宇宙之神受到神性情感的支配。自始至終——永恆 ——無限的神是一位父親。在所有可能適合用來稱呼他的頭銜中，我受指示將所有造物之神描繪為萬有之父。
4:4.6 (59.2) In God the Father freewill performances are not ruled by power, nor are they guided by intellect alone; the divine personality is defined as consisting in spirit and manifesting himself to the universes as love. Therefore, in all his personal relations with the creature personalities of the universes, the First Source and Center is always and consistently a loving Father. God is a Father in the highest sense of the term. He is eternally motivated by the perfect idealism of divine love, and that tender nature finds its strongest expression and greatest satisfaction in loving and being loved.
4:4.6 (59.2) 在上父神裡，自由意志的表現不受權能的支配，它們也不是僅受智性引導；神性人格被定義為存在於靈性之中，並以愛向宇宙顯化他自己。因而，在他與宇宙受造物人格的所有人格關係中，第一本源與中心始終如一地是一位慈愛的「父親」。神是在父親這一術語中最高意義上的「父親」。他永恆地受到神性之愛的完美理想論所激勵，而那種溫柔的本質在愛與被愛中找到它最強烈的表達和最大的滿足。
4:4.7 (59.3) In science, God is the First Cause; in religion, the universal and loving Father; in philosophy, the one being who exists by himself, not dependent on any other being for existence but beneficently conferring reality of existence on all things and upon all other beings. But it requires revelation to show that the First Cause of science and the self-existent Unity of philosophy are the God of religion, full of mercy and goodness and pledged to effect the eternal survival of his children on earth.
4:4.7 (59.3) 在科學中，神是第一起因；在宗教中，神是遍在、慈愛的上父；在哲學中，他是一個獨立存在的存有，不依賴任何其他存有而存在，但慈善地將存在之實相賦予萬物和所有其他存有。但這需要啟示來顯露科學的第一起因及哲學的自我存在的統一性（Unity）即是宗教中的神，他充滿恩慈和良善，並承諾實現地球上子女的永恆續存。
4:4.8 (59.4) We crave the concept of the Infinite, but we worship the experience-idea of God, our anywhere and any-time capacity to grasp the personality and divinity factors of our highest concept of Deity.
4:4.8 (59.4) 我們渴求無限者的概念，但我們敬拜對神的經驗-觀念（experience-idea），即我們隨時隨地都可掌握我們對神靈最高概念中的人格性和神性因素的能力。
4:4.9 (59.5) The consciousness of a victorious human life on earth is born of that creature faith which dares to challenge each recurring episode of existence when confronted with the awful spectacle of human limitations, by the unfailing declaration: Even if I cannot do this, there lives in me one who can and will do it, a part of the Father-Absolute of the universe of universes. And that is “the victory which overcomes the world, even your faith.”
4:4.9 (59.5) 在地球上得勝的人類生命之意識，是源自於那受造物信心，當面臨人類局限性的可怕景象時，敢於挑戰每一次反覆出現的生存經歷，憑藉著此堅定宣言：即使我無法做到這件事，但在我裡面活著一位能夠並且願意做到的，他是眾多宇宙所組成的宇宙之上父-絕對者的一部分。而那便是「戰勝世界的勝利，就是你的信心。」
4:5.1 (59.6) Religious tradition is the imperfectly preserved record of the experiences of the God-knowing men of past ages, but such records are untrustworthy as guides for religious living or as the source of true information about the Universal Father. Such ancient beliefs have been invariably altered by the fact that primitive man was a mythmaker.
4:5.1 (59.6) 宗教傳統是過去年代知神人們之經驗的不完整保存記錄，但是這樣的記錄作為宗教生活的指導，或作為關於萬有之父真實信息的來源，是不可靠的。這些古老的信念已因原始人是杜撰神話者這一事實而總是在改變。
4:5.2 (60.1) One of the greatest sources of confusion on Urantia concerning the nature of God grows out of the failure of your sacred books clearly to distinguish between the personalities of the Paradise Trinity and between Paradise Deity and the local universe creators and administrators. During the past dispensations of partial understanding, your priests and prophets failed clearly to differentiate between Planetary Princes, System Sovereigns, Constellation Fathers, Creator Sons, Superuniverse Rulers, the Supreme Being, and the Universal Father. Many of the messages of subordinate personalities, such as Life Carriers and various orders of angels, have been, in your records, presented as coming from God himself. Urantian religious thought still confuses the associate personalities of Deity with the Universal Father himself, so that all are included under one appellation.
4:5.2 (60.1) 在玉苒廈上，關於神之本質的最大混淆來源之一，出自於你們的聖書未能清楚地辨別出天堂三位一體間的位格，也未能清楚地辨別出天堂神靈和地方宇宙的創造者及管理者。在過往片面理解的天命時代，你們的祭司和先知們未能清楚地區分行星王子、系統君主、星座之父、造物聖子、超級宇宙支配者、至高存在者和萬有之父。許多來自像是生命載運者和各類天使的從屬人格的信息，在你們的記載中都被描述為來自神本身。玉苒廈的宗教思想仍然把神靈之協同眾人格與萬有之父本身相混淆，因此所有都被包含在一個稱謂下。
4:5.3 (60.2) The people of Urantia continue to suffer from the influence of primitive concepts of God. The gods who go on a rampage in the storm; who shake the earth in their wrath and strike down men in their anger; who inflict their judgments of displeasure in times of famine and flood—these are the gods of primitive religion; they are not the Gods who live and rule the universes. Such concepts are a relic of the times when men supposed that the universe was under the guidance and domination of the whims of such imaginary gods. But mortal man is beginning to realize that he lives in a realm of comparative law and order as far as concerns the administrative policies and conduct of the Supreme Creators and the Supreme Controllers.
4:5.3 (60.2) 玉苒廈的人們持續受到對神的原始概念所造成的影響之苦。在暴風雨中肆意破壞的眾神；在他們的暴怒中撼動大地、在他們的憤怒中擊倒眾人的神；在饑荒和洪水時期強加其不悅審判的神——這些都是原始宗教中的神；他們並非居住並支配眾宇宙的神。這些觀念是時代的遺留，那時人們認為宇宙處在這些虛構之神反覆無常的引導和支配之下。但凡人正開始瞭解意識到，就至高造物者（Supreme Creators）和至高管理者（Supreme Controllers）的行政方針和行為而言，他生活在一個相對具法律與秩序的領域中。
4:5.4 (60.3) The barbarous idea of appeasing an angry God, of propitiating an offended Lord, of winning the favor of Deity through sacrifices and penance and even by the shedding of blood, represents a religion wholly puerile and primitive, a philosophy unworthy of an enlightened age of science and truth. Such beliefs are utterly repulsive to the celestial beings and the divine rulers who serve and reign in the universes. It is an affront to God to believe, hold, or teach that innocent blood must be shed in order to win his favor or to divert the fictitious divine wrath.
4:5.4 (60.3) 通過祭獻、苦修乃至用流血的方式來平息發怒的神，來撫慰被冒犯的上主，來贏得神靈青睞的這種野蠻的想法，代表著一種完全幼稚和原始的宗教，是一種不配存在於科學與真理之啟蒙時代的哲學。這種信念使得在宇宙中服務和支配的天界存有和神性支配者們極端厭惡。相信、認定或是教導必須流無辜的鮮血才能贏得神的青睞或轉移虛構之神性憤怒，這是對神的一種侮辱。
4:5.5 (60.4) The Hebrews believed that “without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin.” They had not found deliverance from the old and pagan idea that the Gods could not be appeased except by the sight of blood, though Moses did make a distinct advance when he forbade human sacrifices and substituted therefor, in the primitive minds of his childlike Bedouin followers, the ceremonial sacrifice of animals.
4:5.5 (60.4) 希伯來人相信「若不流血，罪惡就不得赦免。」他們還未脫離眾神只有見到血才能得到安撫的古老異教觀念，儘管當摩西禁止以人為祭獻並以儀式性的動物祭獻取而代之時，他的確在其單純的貝都因人追隨者的原始心智中取得明顯的進展。
4:5.6 (60.5) The bestowal of a Paradise Son on your world was inherent in the situation of closing a planetary age; it was inescapable, and it was not made necessary for the purpose of winning the favor of God. This bestowal also happened to be the final personal act of a Creator Son in the long adventure of earning the experiential sovereignty of his universe. What a travesty upon the infinite character of God! this teaching that his fatherly heart in all its austere coldness and hardness was so untouched by the misfortunes and sorrows of his creatures that his tender mercies were not forthcoming until he saw his blameless Son bleeding and dying upon the cross of Calvary!
4:5.6 (60.5) 你們世界上天堂聖子的贈與，是結束一個行星時代的情況下所固有的；它是不可避免的，它並不是為了贏得神的青睞而必需的。這次的贈與正好是造物聖子在贏得他宇宙之經驗性主權的長期冒險中，最後一次的親身行動。多麼荒謬啊！這教義如此扭曲了神之無限本性！它竟提到他父親般的心是嚴厲冷酷與堅硬，對於他受造物的不幸與悲傷如此無動於衷，直到他看到他無辜的聖子在骷髏地的十字架上流血死去時，他的溫柔恩慈才隨之而來！
4:5.7 (60.6) But the inhabitants of Urantia are to find deliverance from these ancient errors and pagan superstitions respecting the nature of the Universal Father. The revelation of the truth about God is appearing, and the human race is destined to know the Universal Father in all that beauty of character and loveliness of attributes so magnificently portrayed by the Creator Son who sojourned on Urantia as the Son of Man and the Son of God.
4:5.7 (60.6) 但玉苒廈的居民終將從這些有關萬有之父本質的古老謬誤和異教迷信中解脫出來。關於神的真理啟示正在顯現，而人類種族註定要在那一切品格之美麗和屬性之美好中認識萬有之父，這些品格屬性正是那位曾作為人子和神子旅居於玉苒廈上的造物聖子所如此壯麗地描繪的。
4:5.8 (61.1) [Presented by a Divine Counselor of Uversa.]
4:5.8 (61.1) [由尤沃薩的一位神性參議者所呈獻。]