Paper 115 Overview: The Supreme Being

This paper explores the complex nature, origin, and cosmic function of God the Supreme as the experiential Deity manifestation that bridges the absolute and the finite. The Supreme Being represents a pivotal theological concept within The Urantia Book's cosmology, functioning as the evolving synthesis of all finite experience and the personification of time-space divinity achievement. Unlike the existential relationship of sonship with God the Father, the Supreme requires achievement and experiential participation, demanding that personalities both be something and do something to contribute to his growth and development.

The Supreme Being operates at the nexus of complex metaphysical relationships involving the Paradise Trinity, from which he derives his spirit personality, and the triodities of actuality and potentiality, which provide the framework for his evolutionary growth. Through his dual motion, converging inward toward Paradise and Deity and diverging outward toward the limitless potentials of the Absolutes, the Supreme facilitates the transformation of universe potentials into actuals, making possible the experiential participation of finite creatures in cosmic evolution. This evolutionary Deity thus fulfills a critical cosmic function by providing both the means by which the Father achieves relative liberation from the limitations of infinity and the pathway by which finite creatures may participate in and eventually comprehend the divine nature.

With God the Father, sonship is the great relationship. With God the Supreme, achievement is the prerequisite to status—one must do something as well as be something.

Partial, incomplete, and evolving intellects operating within the master universe would be rendered helpless without the innate capability to form universe frames of reference within which to organize their thinking. These conceptual frameworks, while indispensable for rational intellectual operations, are invariably erroneous to some degree and represent temporary scaffolding that must eventually yield to the expansions of enlarging cosmic comprehension. The relative nature of these conceptual frames applies universally to understandings of truth, beauty, goodness, morality, divinity, and even Deity itself, as indicated by the fact that while God the Father represents humanity's highest concept of Deity, this Father-Son portrayal will inevitably be augmented by supermortal conceptions attained in the higher realms of cosmic ascension.

For purposes of mortal comprehension, the diverse levels of cosmic reality have been designated as finite, absonite, and absolute, with only the absolute being unqualifiedly eternal and truly existential. The finite and absonite realities exist as derivatives, modifications, and qualifications of the original absolute reality of infinity, representing the Father's eternal purpose made manifest through cosmic creation. Mortal concepts of reality invariably begin with the assumption of human personality's actuality and proceed from this experiential foundation to engage with cosmic realities and divine personalities, a process that, while personally necessary, does not explain the universe's existence, which ultimately stems from the prior acts and pre-existent volition of Creator beings.

From the existential perspective, nothing genuinely novel can transpire throughout the galaxies because the completion of infinity inherent in the I AM is eternally present in the seven Absolutes, functionally associated in the triunities, and transmitively associated in the triodities. However, from a finite creature's viewpoint, infinity contains much that is potential—future possibilities rather than present actualities—thereby establishing the metaphysical foundation for new cosmic experientials to emerge in the time-space domains. This tension between existential completion and experiential becoming underlies the evolutionary process of the Supreme.

Values, as unique elements in universe reality, may seem incapable of amplification in relation to infinite and divine realities, yet meanings can be modified and enhanced even in the relations of infinite Deity. In the experiential universes, divine values increase through the enlarged comprehension of reality meanings, illustrating how the entire scheme of universal creation and evolution represents the conversion of potentialities into actualities across all experiential levels. This transmutation of potential to actual equally engages the realms of space potency, mind potency, and spirit potency, with the apparent method varying from experiential evolution in the finite realms to experiential eventuation in the absonite, all facilitated through triodity relationships impinging upon and operating through the Supreme Being.

The absolute cosmos remains conceptually without limit, defying the capacity of finite language to express the extent and nature of this primal reality without qualifying infinity or attenuating eternity. Human comprehension of the infinite-eternal must content itself with distorted reflections and attenuated conceptions, as finite mind cannot grasp the concept of an Absolute without attempting to break the unity of such reality into comprehensible segments. This segmentation produces the paradox that infinity simultaneously represents UNITY and DIVERSITY without end, illustrating why human intellectual comprehension capacity becomes exhausted by the maximum conception of the Supreme Being, beyond which concepts increasingly become merely names, projections of finite understanding toward the superfinite.

A fundamental conception of the absolute level involves three phases: the Original (the unqualified concept of the First Source and Center), the Actual (the union of the Second, Third, and Paradise Sources and Centers), and the Potential (the union of the three Absolutes of potentiality). The interassociation of these three phases—Original, Actual, and Potential—yields the tensions within infinity that make possible all universe growth, which characterizes the Sevenfold, the Supreme, and the Ultimate. From a temporal perspective, the Actual represents that which was and is, the Potential embodies that which is becoming and will be, and the Original exists beyond such distinctions; from eternity's viewpoint, however, these differences disappear. In eternity all is, only has all not yet been revealed in time and space. The final dynamics of the cosmos involve the continual transfer of reality from potentiality to actuality, a process that cannot logically terminate since both are encircuited in the Original I AM, ensuring the endless progression of the universe.

Any comprehensive analysis of God the Supreme's origins must acknowledge the Paradise Trinity as foundational, for the Trinity constitutes original Deity while the Supreme represents derived Deity. The evolutionary Supreme manifests as the culminating and personally volitional focus of the transformation of potentials to actuals on the finite level of existence, drawing from both the Paradise Trinity for his spirit personality and the two triodities of actuality and potentiality for his evolutionary growth. These complex interrelationships establish the Supreme as the union point of two fundamental aspects of Deity: the spirit person stemming from the Trinity and the Deity of growth derived from the triodities.

The infinite triodities function on the finite level both directly through repercussions in the Supreme and indirectly through the eventuated level of the absonite, creating a dynamic through which Supreme reality factualizes between the unqualified potentials of outer space and the unqualified actuals at the center of all things. This process involves the cooperation of the absonite agencies of Paradise, particularly the Architects of the Master Universe, who mature the qualified possibilities of the three potential Absolutes, and the Supreme Creator Personalities, who emerge from Paradise to bring the evolving universes into factual being. The growth of Supremacy thus derives from multiple sources: the triodities provide the cosmic framework, the Trinity supplies the spirit person, God the Sevenfold contributes the power prerogatives of the Almighty, and the Conjoint Actor bestows the mind of the Supreme as the conjoining factor that unifies these diverse elements into a coherent evolutionary Deity.

The Supreme Being exhibits absolute dependence on the existence and action of the Paradise Trinity for the reality of his personal and spirit nature, illustrating a fundamental theological principle within The Urantia Book's cosmology. While the growth of the Supreme proceeds through complex triodity relationships, his spirit personality specifically derives from and depends upon the Paradise Trinity, which serves as the absolute center-source of perfect and infinite stability around which the evolutionary development of the Supreme progressively unfolds. This relationship underscores the derived and contingent nature of the Supreme in contrast to the self-existent and absolute nature of the Trinity.

The functional relationship between the Trinity and the Supreme extends across all levels of cosmic reality, as the Trinity operates on all total levels, including the level of Supremacy where the Supreme Being functions. However, as the universe ages progress from the central Havona epoch to the superuniverse era, a discernible transition occurs in creative methodology, as the immediate creator action of the Trinity increasingly gives way to the creative acts of the Paradise Deities' children. This evolution in creative approach represents a cosmic pattern wherein direct absolute creativity gradually yields to delegated, experiential creativity, allowing for the emergence of novel cosmic expressions and the actualization of the experiential potential inherent in the Supreme Being.

The triodity of actuality—comprising Paradise gravity, the spirit gravity of the Eternal Son, and the mind gravity of the Conjoint Actor—continues to function directly in post-Havona epochs, providing fundamental universe stability through its grasp of the basic units of material existence, spiritual values, and intellectual meanings. This triodity represents the absolute foundation of reality upon which all subsequent evolutionary developments depend, establishing the cosmic framework within which the Supreme Being operates and grows.

As creative activity extends outward through uncharted space, it functions increasingly distant from the direct action of the central creative forces and divine personalities, becoming progressively dependent on developments within the three Absolute potentialities. The Supreme Being, positioned at this developmental frontier, embraces possibilities for cosmic ministry not manifested in the Eternal Son, Infinite Spirit, or Paradise realities, growing not only through the Godlikeness attainment of evolving creatures and creators but also through the mastery of finite possibilities across the grand universe. This growth manifests in a dual motion, intensively toward Paradise and Deity and extensively toward the limitlessness of the Absolutes of potential, revealed in the present universe age through the descending personalities of the grand universe (reflecting the outward motion) and the ascending pilgrims from the seven superuniverses (indicating the inward trend of Supremacy).

The Supreme Being continually seeks dual correlation, establishing a cosmic pattern wherein the mighty eruption of Paradise-creative divinity personalizing in Creator Sons and powerizing in power controllers signifies the vast outsurge of Supremacy into potentiality domains, while the endless procession of ascending creatures witnesses the mighty insurge of Supremacy toward unity with Paradise Deity. This dual movement creates a dynamic tension that, while invisible directly, can be detected through its effects on personalities and patterns throughout the grand universe, much as invisible physical motion can be discerned through its effects on visible objects. The dual nature of the Supreme's movement, as a finite reflection of Paradise Deity seeking outward progression and as a qualification of the three Absolute potentials seeking Paradise coherence, accounts for many basic activities in the currently organized universes.

In the Supreme Being, the Father-I AM achieves relatively complete liberation from the inherent limitations of infinity of status, eternity of being, and absoluteness of nature. However, this liberation comes with new constraints, as God the Supreme, freed from existential limitations, becomes subject to experiential qualifications of universal function. In attaining capacity for experience, the finite God necessarily encounters the barriers of time, the necessity of growth, and the incompleteness that characterizes partial existence, illustrating the paradoxical trade-offs inherent in the transition from existential to experiential Deity.

This arrangement aligns with the Father's cosmic plan, which predicates finite progress upon effort, creature achievement upon perseverance, and personality development upon faith. By ordaining the experience-evolution of the Supreme, the Father enables finite creatures to exist within the universes and, through experiential progression, potentially attain the divinity level of Supremacy. The Supreme Being, as a personification of the finite shadow cast by the infinite unity of the Father's unsearchable nature, connects the finite with the absonite, functioning analogously to how the Conjoint Actor's mind integrates the Son's divine spirituality with Paradise's immutable energies and how the Universal Absolute unifies Deity activation with Unqualified reactivity. This unification ultimately reveals the undetected workings of the original unity of the First Father-Cause and Source-Pattern of all creation.