The Urantia Book

71. Development of the State

7. Education

^71.7.1 The enduring state is founded on culture, dominated by ideals, and motivated by service. The purpose of education should be acquirement of skill, pursuit of wisdom, realization of selfhood, and attainment of spiritual values.

^71.7.2 In the ideal state, education continues throughout life, and philosophy sometime becomes the chief pursuit of its citizens. The citizens of such a commonwealth pursue wisdom as an enhancement of insight into the significance of human relations, the meanings of reality, the nobility of values, the goals of living, and the glories of cosmic destiny.

^71.7.3 Urantians should get a vision of a new and higher cultural society. Education will jump to new levels of value with the passing of the purely profit-motivated system of economics. Education has too long been localistic, militaristic, ego exalting, and success seeking; it must eventually become world-wide, idealistic, self-realizing, and cosmic grasping.

^71.7.4 Education recently passed from the control of the clergy to that of lawyers and businessmen. Eventually it must be given over to the philosophers and the scientists. Teachers must be free beings, real leaders, to the end that philosophy, the search for wisdom, may become the chief educational pursuit.

^71.7.5 Education is the business of living; it must continue throughout a lifetime so that mankind may gradually experience the ascending levels of mortal wisdom, which are:

^71.7.6 1. The knowledge of things.

^71.7.7 2. The realization of meanings.

^71.7.8 3. The appreciation of values.

^71.7.9 4. The nobility of work - duty.

^71.7.10 5. The motivation of goals - morality.

^71.7.11 6. The love of service - character.

^71.7.12 7. Cosmic insight - spiritual discernment.

^71.7.13 And then, by means of these achievements, many will ascend to the mortal ultimate of mind attainment, God-consciousness.

8. The Character of Statehood

^71.8.1 The only sacred feature of any human government is the division of statehood into the three domains of executive, legislative, and judicial functions. The universe is administered in accordance with such a plan of segregation of functions and authority. Aside from this divine concept of effective social regulation or civil government, it matters little what form of state a people may elect to have provided the citizenry is ever progressing toward the goal of augmented self-control and increased social service. The intellectual keenness, economic wisdom, social cleverness, and moral stamina of a people are all faithfully reflected in statehood.

^71.8.2 The evolution of statehood entails progress from level to level, as follows:

^71.8.3 1. The creation of a threefold government of executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

^71.8.4 2. The freedom of social, political, and religious activities.

^71.8.5 3. The abolition of all forms of slavery and human bondage.

^71.8.6 4. The ability of the citizenry to control the levying of taxes.

^71.8.7 5. The establishment of universal education - learning extended from the cradle to the grave.

^71.8.8 6. The proper adjustment between local and national governments.

^71.8.9 7. The fostering of science and the conquest of disease.

^71.8.10 8. The due recognition of sex equality and the co-ordinated functioning of men and women in the home, school, and church, with specialized service of women in industry and government.

^71.8.11 9. The elimination of toiling slavery by machine invention and the subsequent mastery of the machine age.

^71.8.12 10. The conquest of dialects - the triumph of a universal language.

^71.8.13 11. The ending of war - international adjudication of national and racial differences by continental courts of nations presided over by a supreme planetary tribunal automatically recruited from the periodically retiring heads of the continental courts. The continental courts are authoritative; the world court is advisory - moral.

^71.8.14 12. The world-wide vogue of the pursuit of wisdom - the exaltation of philosophy. The evolution of a world religion, which will presage the entrance of the planet upon the earlier phases of settlement in light and life.

^71.8.15 These are the prerequisites of progressive government and the earmarks of ideal statehood. Urantia is far from the realization of these exalted ideals, but the civilized races have made a beginning - mankind is on the march toward higher evolutionary destinies.

^71.8.16 [Sponsored by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]