The Urantia Book
PAPER 163
ORDINATION OF THE SEVENTY AT MAGADAN
163:0.1 A FEW days after the return of Jesus and
the twelve to Magadan from Jerusalem, Abner and a group of some
fifty disciples arrived from Bethlehem. At this time there were
also assembled at Magadan Camp the evangelistic corps, the women's
corps, and about one hundred and fifty other true and tried
disciples from all parts of Palestine. After devoting a few days
to visiting and the reorganization of the camp, Jesus and the
twelve began a course of intensive training for this special group
of believers, and from this well-trained and experienced
aggregation of disciples the Master subsequently chose the seventy
teachers and sent them forth to proclaim the gospel of the
kingdom. This regular instruction began on Friday, November 4, and
continued until Sabbath, November 19.
163:0.2 Jesus gave a talk to this company each
morning. Peter taught methods of public preaching; Nathaniel
instructed them in the art of teaching; Thomas explained how to
answer questions; while Matthew directed the organization of their
group finances. The other apostles also participated in this
training in accordance with their special experience and natural
talents.
1. ORDINATION OF THE SEVENTY
163:1.1 The seventy were ordained by Jesus on
Sabbath afternoon, November 19, at the Magadan Camp, and Abner was
placed at the head of these gospel preachers and teachers. This
corps of seventy consisted of Abner and ten of the former apostles
of John, fifty-one of the earlier evangelists, and eight other
disciples who had distinguished themselves in the service of the
kingdom.
163:1.2 About two o'clock on this Sabbath
afternoon, between showers of rain, a company of believers,
augmented by the arrival of David and the majority of his
messenger corps and numbering over four hundred, assembled on the
shore of the lake of Galilee to witness the ordination of the
seventy.
163:1.3 Before Jesus laid his hands upon the
heads of the seventy to set them apart as gospel messengers,
addressing them, he said: "The harvest is indeed plenteous, but
the laborers are few; therefore I exhort all of you to pray that
the Lord of the harvest will send still other laborers into his
harvest. I am about to set you apart as messengers of the kingdom;
I am about to send you to Jew and gentile as lambs among wolves.
As you go your ways, two and two, I instruct you to carry neither
purse nor extra clothing, for you go forth on this first mission
for only a short season. Salute no man by the way, attend only to
your work. Whenever you go to stay at a home, first say: Peace be
to this household. If those who love peace live therein, you shall
abide there; if not, then shall you depart. And having selected
this home, remain there for your stay in that city, eating and
drinking whatever is set before you. And you do this because the
laborer is worthy of his sustenance. Move not from house to house
because a better lodging may be offered. Remember, as you go forth
proclaiming peace on earth and good will among men, you must
contend with bitter and self-deceived enemies; therefore be as
wise as serpents while you are also as harmless as doves.
163:1.4 "And everywhere you go, preach, saying,
`The kingdom of heaven is at hand,' and minister to all who may be
sick in either mind or body. Freely you have received of the good
things of the kingdom; freely give. If the people of any city
receive you, they shall find an abundant entrance into the
Father's kingdom; but if the people of any city refuse to receive
this gospel, still shall you proclaim your message as you depart
from that unbelieving community, saying, even as you leave, to
those who reject your teaching: `Notwithstanding you reject the
truth, it remains that the kingdom of God has come near you.' He
who hears you hears me. And he who hears me hears Him who sent me.
He who rejects your gospel message rejects me. And he who rejects
me rejects Him who sent me."
163:1.5 When Jesus had thus spoken to the
seventy, he began with Abner and, as they knelt in a circle about
him, laid his hands upon the head of every man.
163:1.6 Early the next morning Abner sent the
seventy messengers into all the cities of Galilee, Samaria, and
Judea. And these thirty-five couples went forth preaching and
teaching for about six weeks, all of them returning to the new
camp near Pella, in Perea, on Friday, December 30.
2. THE RICH YOUNG MAN AND OTHERS
163:2.1 Over fifty disciples who sought
ordination and appointment to membership in the seventy were
rejected by the committee appointed by Jesus to select these
candidates. This committee consisted of Andrew, Abner, and the
acting head of the evangelistic corps. In all cases where this
committee of three were not unanimous in agreement, they brought
the candidate to Jesus, and while the Master never rejected a
single person who craved ordination as a gospel messenger, there
were more than a dozen who, when they had talked with Jesus, no
more desired to become gospel messengers.
163:2.2 One earnest disciple came to Jesus,
saying: "Master, I would be one of your new apostles, but my
father is very old and near death; could I be permitted to return
home to bury him?" To this man Jesus said: "My son, the foxes have
holes, and the birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of Man has
nowhere to lay his head. You are a faithful disciple, and you can
remain such while you return home to minister to your loved ones,
but not so with my gospel messengers. They have forsaken all to
follow me and proclaim the kingdom. If you would be an ordained
teacher, you must let others bury the dead while you go forth to
publish the good news." And this man went away in great
disappointment.
163:2.3 Another disciple came to the Master and
said: "I would become an ordained messenger, but I would like to
go to my home for a short while to comfort my family." And Jesus
replied: "If you would be ordained, you must be willing to forsake
all. The gospel messengers cannot have divided affections. No man,
having put his hand to the plough, if he turns back, is worthy to
become a messenger of the kingdom."
163:2.4 Then Andrew brought to Jesus a certain
rich young man who was a devout believer, and who desired to
receive ordination. This young man, Matadormus, was a member of
the Jerusalem Sanhedrin; he had heard Jesus teach and had been
subsequently instructed in the gospel of the kingdom by Peter and
the other apostles. Jesus talked with Matadormus concerning the
requirements of ordination and requested that he defer decision
until after he had thought more fully about the matter. Early the
next morning, as Jesus was going for a walk, this young man
accosted him and said: "Master, I would know from you the
assurances of eternal life. Seeing that I have observed all the
commandments from my youth, I would like to know what more I must
do to gain eternal life?" In answer to this question Jesus said:
"If you keep all the commandments -- do not commit adultery, do
not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud,
honor your parents -- you do well, but salvation is the reward of
faith, not merely of works. Do you believe this gospel of the
kingdom?" And Matadormus answered: "Yes, Master, I do believe
everything you and your apostles have taught me." And Jesus said,
"Then are you indeed my disciple and a child of the kingdom."
163:2.5 Then said the young man: "But, Master, I
am not content to be your disciple; I would be one of your new
messengers." When Jesus heard this, he looked down upon him with a
great love and said: "I will have you to be one of my messengers
if you are willing to pay the price, if you will supply the one
thing which you lack." Matadormus replied: "Master, I will do
anything if I may be allowed to follow you." Jesus, kissing the
kneeling young man on the forehead, said: "If you would be my
messenger, go and sell all that you have and, when you have
bestowed the proceeds upon the poor or upon your brethren, come
and follow me, and you shall have treasure in the kingdom of
heaven."
163:2.6 When Matadormus heard this, his
countenance fell. He arose and went away sorrowful, for he had
great possessions. This wealthy young Pharisee had been raised to
believe that wealth was the token of God's favor. Jesus knew that
he was not free from the love of himself and his riches. The
Master wanted to deliver him from the love of wealth, not
necessarily from the wealth. While the disciples of Jesus did not
part with all their worldly goods, the apostles and the seventy
did. Matadormus desired to be one of the seventy new messengers,
and that was the reason for Jesus' requiring him to part with all
of his temporal possessions.
163:2.7 Almost every human being has some one
thing which is held on to as a pet evil, and which the entrance
into the kingdom of heaven requires as a part of the price of
admission. If Matadormus had parted with his wealth, it probably
would have been put right back into his hands for administration
as treasurer of the seventy. For later on, after the establishment
of the church at Jerusalem, he did obey the Master's injunction,
although it was then too late to enjoy membership in the seventy,
and he became the treasurer of the Jerusalem church, of which
James the Lord's brother in the flesh was the head.
163:2.8 Thus always it was and forever will be:
Men must arrive at their own decisions. There is a certain range
of the freedom of choice which mortals may exercise. The forces of
the spiritual world will not coerce man; they allow him to go the
way of his own choosing.
163:2.9 Jesus foresaw that Matadormus, with his
riches, could not possibly become an ordained associate of men who
had forsaken all for the gospel; at the same time, he saw that,
without his riches, he would become the ultimate leader of all of
them. But, like Jesus' own brethren, he never became great in the
kingdom because he deprived himself of that intimate and personal
association with the Master which might have been his experience
had he been willing to do at this time the very thing which Jesus
asked, and which, several years subsequently, he actually did.
163:2.10 Riches have nothing directly to do with
entrance into the kingdom of heaven, but the love of wealth
does. The spiritual loyalties of the kingdom are incompatible
with servility to materialistic mammon. Man may not share his
supreme loyalty to a spiritual ideal with a material devotion.
163:2.11 Jesus never taught that it was wrong to
have wealth. He required only the twelve and the seventy to
dedicate all of their worldly possessions to the common cause.
Even then, he provided for the profitable liquidation of their
property, as in the case of the Apostle Matthew. Jesus many times
advised his well-to-do disciples as he taught the rich man of
Rome. The Master regarded the wise investment of excess earnings
as a legitimate form of insurance against future and unavoidable
adversity. When the apostolic treasury was overflowing, Judas put
funds on deposit to be used subsequently when they might suffer
greatly from a diminution of income. This Judas did after
consultation with Andrew. Jesus never personally had anything to
do with the apostolic finances except in the disbursement of alms.
But there was one economic abuse which he many times condemned,
and that was the unfair exploitation of the weak, unlearned, and
less fortunate of men by their strong, keen, and more intelligent
fellows. Jesus declared that such inhuman treatment of men, women,
and children was incompatible with the ideals of the brotherhood
of the kingdom of heaven.
3. THE DISCUSSION ABOUT WEALTH
163:3.1 By the time Jesus had finished talking
with Matadormus, Peter and a number of the apostles had gathered
about him, and as the rich young man was departing, Jesus turned
around to face the apostles and said: "You see how difficult it is
for those who have riches to enter fully into the kingdom of God!
Spiritual worship cannot be shared with material devotions; no man
can serve two masters. You have a saying that it is `easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the heathen to
inherit eternal life.' And I declare that it is as easy for this
camel to go through the needle's eye as for these self-satisfied
rich ones to enter the kingdom of heaven."
163:3.2 When Peter and the apostles heard these
words, they were astonished exceedingly, so much so that Peter
said: "Who then, Lord, can be saved? Shall all who have riches be
kept out of the kingdom?" And Jesus replied: "No, Peter, but all
who put their trust in riches shall hardly enter into the
spiritual life that leads to eternal progress. But even then, much
which is impossible to man is not beyond the reach of the Father
in heaven; rather should we recognize that with God all things are
possible."
163:3.3 As they went off by themselves, Jesus
was grieved that Matadormus did not remain with them, for he
greatly loved him. And when they had walked down by the lake, they
sat there beside the water, and Peter, speaking for the twelve
(who were all present by this time), said: "We are troubled by
your words to the rich young man. Shall we require those who would
follow you to give up all their worldly goods?" And Jesus said:
"No, Peter, only those who would become apostles, and who desire
to live with me as you do and as one family. But the Father
requires that the affections of his children be pure and
undivided. Whatever thing or person comes between you and the love
of the truths of the kingdom, must be surrendered. If one's wealth
does not invade the precincts of the soul, it is of no consequence
in the spiritual life of those who would enter the kingdom."
163:3.4 And then said Peter, "But, Master, we
have left everything to follow you, what then shall we have?" And
Jesus spoke to all of the twelve: "Verily, verily, I say to you,
there is no man who has left wealth, home, wife, brethren,
parents, or children for my sake and for the sake of the kingdom
of heaven who shall not receive manifold more in this world,
perhaps with some persecutions, and in the world to come eternal
life. But many who are first shall be last, while the last shall
often be first. The Father deals with his creatures in accordance
with their needs and in obedience to his just laws of merciful and
loving consideration for the welfare of a universe.
163:3.5 "The kingdom of heaven is like a
householder who was a large employer of men, and who went out
early in the morning to hire laborers to work in his vineyard.
When he had agreed with the laborers to pay them a denarius a day,
he sent them into the vineyard. Then he went out about nine
o'clock, and seeing others standing in the market place idle, he
said to them: `Go you also to work in my vineyard, and whatsoever
is right I will pay you.' And they went at once to work. Again he
went out about twelve and about three and did likewise. And going
to the market place about five in the afternoon, he found still
others standing idle, and he inquired of them, `Why do you stand
here idle all the day?' And the men answered, `Because nobody has
hired us.' Then said the householder: `Go you also to work in my
vineyard, and whatever is right I will pay you.'
163:3.6 "When evening came, this owner of the
vineyard said to his steward: `Call the laborers and pay them
their wages, beginning with the last hired and ending with the
first.' When those who were hired about five o'clock came, they
received a denarius each, and so it was with each of the other
laborers. When the men who were hired at the beginning of the day
saw how the later comers were paid, they expected to receive more
than the amount agreed upon. But like the others every man
received only a denarius. And when each had received his pay, they
complained to the householder, saying: `These men who were hired
last worked only one hour, and yet you have paid them the same as
us who have borne the burden of the day in the scorching sun.'
163:3.7 "Then answered the householder: `My
friends, I do you no wrong. Did not each of you agree to work for
a denarius a day? Take now that which is yours and go your way,
for it is my desire to give to those who came last as much as I
have given to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with
my own? or do you begrudge my generosity because I desire to be
good and to show mercy?'"
4. FAREWELL TO THE SEVENTY
163:4.1 It was a stirring time about the Magadan
Camp the day the seventy went forth on their first mission. Early
that morning, in his last talk with the seventy, Jesus placed
emphasis on the following:
163:4.2 1. The gospel of the kingdom must be
proclaimed to all the world, to gentile as well as to Jew.
163:4.3 2. While ministering to the sick,
refrain from teaching the expectation of miracles.
163:4.4 3. Proclaim a spiritual brotherhood of
the sons of God, not an outward kingdom of worldly power and
material glory.
163:4.5 4. Avoid loss of time through overmuch
social visiting and other trivialities which might detract from
wholehearted devotion to preaching the gospel.
163:4.6 5. If the first house to be selected for
a headquarters proves to be a worthy home, abide there throughout
the sojourn in that city.
163:4.7 6. Make clear to all faithful believers
that the time for an open break with the religious leaders of the
Jews at Jerusalem has now come.
163:4.8 7. Teach that man's whole duty is summed
up in this one commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your
mind and soul and your neighbor as yourself. (This they were to
teach as man's whole duty in place of the 613 rules of living
expounded by the Pharisees.)
163:4.9 When Jesus had talked thus to the
seventy in the presence of all the apostles and disciples, Simon
Peter took them off by themselves and preached to them their
ordination sermon, which was an elaboration of the Master's charge
given at the time he laid his hands upon them and set them apart
as messengers of the kingdom. Peter exhorted the seventy to
cherish in their experience the following virtues:
163:4.10 1. Consecrated devotion. To pray
always for more laborers to be sent forth into the gospel harvest.
He explained that, when one so prays, he will the more likely say,
"Here am I; send me." He admonished them to neglect not their
daily worship.
163:4.11 2. True courage. He warned them
that they would encounter hostility and be certain to meet with
persecution. Peter told them their mission was no undertaking for
cowards and advised those who were afraid to step out before they
started. But none withdrew.
163:4.12 3. Faith and trust. They must go
forth on this short mission wholly unprovided for; they must trust
the Father for food and shelter and all other things needful.
163:4.13 4. Zeal and initiative. They
must be possessed with zeal and intelligent enthusiasm; they must
attend strictly to their Master's business. Oriental salutation
was a lengthy and elaborate ceremony; therefore had they been
instructed to "salute no man by the way," which was a common
method of exhorting one to go about his business without the waste
of time. It had nothing to do with the matter of friendly
greeting.
163:4.14 5. Kindness and courtesy. The
Master had instructed them to avoid unnecessary waste of time in
social ceremonies, but he enjoined courtesy toward all with whom
they should come in contact. They were to show every kindness to
those who might entertain them in their homes. They were strictly
warned against leaving a modest home to be entertained in a more
comfortable or influential one.
163:4.15 6. Ministry to the sick. The
seventy were charged by Peter to search out the sick in mind and
body and to do everything in their power to bring about the
alleviation or cure of their maladies.
163:4.16 And when they had been thus charged and
instructed, they started out, two and two, on their mission in
Galilee, Samaria, and Judea.
163:4.17 Although the Jews had a peculiar regard
for the number seventy, sometimes considering the nations of
heathendom as being seventy in number, and although these seventy
messengers were to go with the gospel to all peoples, still as far
as we can discern, it was only coincidental that this group
happened to number just seventy. Certain it was that Jesus would
have accepted no less than half a dozen others, but they were
unwilling to pay the price of forsaking wealth and families.
5. MOVING THE CAMP TO PELLA
163:5.1 Jesus and the twelve now prepared to
establish their last headquarters in Perea, near Pella, where the
Master was baptized in the Jordan. The last ten days of November
were spent in council at Magadan, and on Tuesday, December 6, the
entire company of almost three hundred started out at daybreak
with all their effects to lodge that night near Pella by the
river. This was the same site, by the spring, that John the
Baptist had occupied with his camp several years before.
163:5.2 After the breaking up of the Magadan
Camp, David Zebedee returned to Bethsaida and began immediately to
curtail the messenger service. The kingdom was taking on a new
phase. Daily, pilgrims arrived from all parts of Palestine and
even from remote regions of the Roman Empire. Believers
occasionally came from Mesopotamia and from the lands east of the
Tigris. Accordingly, on Sunday, December 18, David, with the help
of his messenger corps, loaded on to the pack animals the camp
equipage, then stored in his father's house, with which he had
formerly conducted the camp of Bethsaida by the lake. Bidding
farewell to Bethsaida for the time being, he proceeded down the
lake shore and along the Jordan to a point about one-half mile
north of the apostolic camp; and in less than a week he was
prepared to offer hospitality to almost fifteen hundred pilgrim
visitors. The apostolic camp could accommodate about five hundred.
This was the rainy season in Palestine, and these accommodations
were required to take care of the ever-increasing number of
inquirers, mostly earnest, who came into Perea to see Jesus and to
hear his teaching.
163:5.3 David did all this on his own
initiative, though he had taken counsel with Philip and Matthew at
Magadan. He employed the larger part of his former messenger corps
as his helpers in conducting this camp; he now used less than
twenty men on regular messenger duty. Near the end of December and
before the return of the seventy, almost eight hundred visitors
were gathered about the Master, and they found lodging in David's
camp.
6. THE RETURN OF THE SEVENTY
163:6.1 On Friday, December 30, while Jesus was
away in the near-by hills with Peter, James, and John, the seventy
messengers were arriving by couples, accompanied by numerous
believers, at the Pella headquarters. All seventy were assembled
at the teaching site about five o'clock when Jesus returned to the
camp. The evening meal was delayed for more than an hour while
these enthusiasts for the gospel of the kingdom related their
experiences. David's messengers had brought much of this news to
the apostles during previous weeks, but it was truly inspiring to
hear these newly ordained teachers of the gospel personally tell
how their message had been received by hungry Jews and gentiles.
At last Jesus was able to see men going out to spread the good
news without his personal presence. The Master now knew that he
could leave this world without seriously hindering the progress of
the kingdom.
163:6.2 When the seventy related how "even the
devils were subject" to them, they referred to the wonderful cures
they had wrought in the cases of victims of nervous disorders.
Nevertheless, there had been a few cases of real spirit possession
relieved by these ministers, and referring to these, Jesus said:
"It is not strange that these disobedient minor spirits should be
subject to you, seeing that I beheld Satan falling as lightning
from heaven. But rejoice not so much over this, for I declare to
you that, as soon as I return to my Father, we will send forth our
spirits into the very minds of men so that no more can these few
lost spirits enter the minds of unfortunate mortals. I rejoice
with you that you have power with men, but be not lifted up
because of this experience but the rather rejoice that your names
are written on the rolls of heaven, and that you are thus to go
forward in an endless career of spiritual conquest."
163:6.3 And it was at this time, just before
partaking of the evening meal, that Jesus experienced one of those
rare moments of emotional ecstasy which his followers had
occasionally witnessed. He said: "I thank you, my Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, that, while this wonderful gospel was hidden
from the wise and self-righteous, the spirit has revealed these
spiritual glories to these children of the kingdom. Yes, my
Father, it must have been pleasing in your sight to do this, and I
rejoice to know that the good news will spread to all the world
even after I shall have returned to you and the work which you
have given me to perform. I am mightily moved as I realize you are
about to deliver all authority into my hands, that only you really
know who I am, and that only I really know you, and those to whom
I have revealed you. And when I have finished this revelation to
my brethren in the flesh, I will continue the revelation to your
creatures on high."
163:6.4 When Jesus had thus spoken to the
Father, he turned aside to speak to his apostles and ministers:
"Blessed are the eyes which see and the ears which hear these
things. Let me say to you that many prophets and many of the great
men of the past ages have desired to behold what you now see, but
it was not granted them. And many generations of the children of
light yet to come will, when they hear of these things, envy you
who have heard and seen them."
163:6.5 Then, speaking to all the disciples, he
said: "You have heard how many cities and villages have received
the good news of the kingdom, and how my ministers and teachers
have been received by both the Jew and the gentile. And blessed
indeed are these communities which have elected to believe the
gospel of the kingdom. But woe upon the light-rejecting
inhabitants of Chorazin, Bethsaida-Julias, and Capernaum, the
cities which did not well receive these messengers. I declare
that, if the mighty works done in these places had been done in
Tyre and Sidon, the people of these so-called heathen cities would
have long since repented in sackcloth and ashes. It shall indeed
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment."
163:6.6 The next day being the Sabbath, Jesus
went apart with the seventy and said to them: "I did indeed
rejoice with you when you came back bearing the good tidings of
the reception of the gospel of the kingdom by so many people
scattered throughout Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. But why were you
so surprisingly elated? Did you not expect that your message would
manifest power in its delivery? Did you go forth with so little
faith in this gospel that you come back in surprise at its
effectiveness? And now, while I would not quench your spirit of
rejoicing, I would sternly warn you against the subtleties of
pride, spiritual pride. If you could understand the downfall of
Lucifer, the iniquitous one, you would solemnly shun all forms of
spiritual pride.
163:6.7 "You have entered upon this great work
of teaching mortal man that he is a son of God. I have shown you
the way; go forth to do your duty and be not weary in well doing.
To you and to all who shall follow in your steps down through the
ages, let me say: I always stand near, and my invitation-call is,
and ever shall be, Come to me all you who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am true and loyal, and you shall find spiritual rest
for your souls."
163:6.8 And they found the Master's words to be
true when they put his promises to the test. And since that day
countless thousands also have tested and proved the surety of
these same promises.
7. PREPARATION FOR THE LAST MISSION
163:7.1 The next few days were busy times in the
Pella camp; preparations for the Perean mission were being
completed. Jesus and his associates were about to enter upon their
last mission, the three months' tour of all Perea, which
terminated only upon the Master's entering Jerusalem for his final
labors on earth. Throughout this period the headquarters of Jesus
and the twelve apostles was maintained here at the Pella camp.
163:7.2 It was no longer necessary for Jesus to
go abroad to teach the people. They now came to him in increasing
numbers each week and from all parts, not only from Palestine but
from the whole Roman world and from the Near East. Although the
Master participated with the seventy in the tour of Perea, he
spent much of his time at the Pella camp, teaching the multitude
and instructing the twelve. Throughout this three months' period
at least ten of the apostles remained with Jesus.
163:7.3 The women's corps also prepared to go
out, two and two, with the seventy to labor in the larger cities
of Perea. This original group of twelve women had recently trained
a larger corps of fifty women in the work of home visitation and
in the art of ministering to the sick and the afflicted. Perpetua,
Simon Peter's wife, became a member of this new division of the
women's corps and was intrusted with the leadership of the
enlarged women's work under Abner. After Pentecost she remained
with her illustrious husband, accompanying him on all of his
missionary tours; and on the day Peter was crucified in Rome, she
was fed to the wild beasts in the arena. This new women's corps
also had as members the wives of Philip and Matthew and the mother
of James and John.
163:7.4 The work of the kingdom now prepared to
enter upon its terminal phase under the personal leadership of
Jesus. And this present phase was one of spiritual depth in
contrast with the miracle-minded and wonder-seeking multitudes who
followed after the Master during the former days of popularity in
Galilee. However, there were still any number of his followers who
were material-minded, and who failed to grasp the truth that the
kingdom of heaven is the spiritual brotherhood of man founded on
the eternal fact of the universal fatherhood of God.
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