3. Problem Nouns


1. Did the Revelators Transliterate Difficult Words?
2. Problem Adjectives

Mota

          The Urantia Book does provide a definition of mota: "mota—morontia wisdom." (p. 518, §2)

          So we know it is a kind of higher wisdom, meta wisdom, i.e., wisdom in the morontia world.



Morontia

          The etymology of morontia has not been determined, although it has been widely debated among the readers. The Urantia Book clearly defines it:

"Morontia is a term designating a vast level intervening between the material and the spiritual. It may designate personal or impersonal realities, living or nonliving energies. The warp of morontia is spiritual; its woof is physical." (p. 9, §2)

          The book also suggests that "material" could be used in a larger sense, and hence "meta-material" is probably the most concise definition of morontia:

"You might possibly regard these Havoners as material creatures in the sense that the word —material' could be expanded to describe the physical realities of the divine universe." (p. 157, §3)

Why Didn't the Revelators Call it Super-Material?

          The word "supermaterial" is used forty times in the Urantia Book.

          It is used to denote all levels above the physical. By "morontia" they wanted to designate a specific level, between the physical material and the spiritual level. Why they chose that particular word, I have no clue.


Monota

          A Mighty Messenger says "We incline to the belief that monota is the living, nonspirit energy of Paradise — an eternity counterpart of the living, spirit energy of the Original Son—hence the nonspiritual energy system of the Universal Father."

          It is literally non-spiritual mono-dimensional energy.


Seconaphim and other ministering spirits

          Supernaphim, seconaphim, tertiaphim, and omniaphim seem to be derivatives of seraphim. Some have argued that seraphim are not angels.

          The Urantia Book introduces these ministering spirits with the sentence: "Angels are the ministering-spirit associates of the evolutionary and ascending will creatures of all space." (p. 285, §2) Webster's Third New International Dictionary also defines seraphim as one of the six-winged angels (but we know they do not have wings).

          Angel is also a transliteration of the Latin word, angelus, derived from the Hebrew word mal'akh, meaning "messenger."

          It should be obvious to any readers that seconaphim is obtained by combining "secon-" in "secondary" and "-aphim" in "seraphim," i.e.,

seconaphim = secondary + seraphim. Tertiaphim is a synthesized word:

tertiary + seraphim. Similarly, omniaphim is a composite word:

omniaphim = omni+ seraphim. However, supernaphim is a synthesized word from "supern-" (not super-) in "supernal" and "-aphim." However, their services are often called "superaphic," the sum of "super" and "seraphic." If they were super seraphic, they would be called "superaphim," but the Revelators did not employ this term.

In any case, tThe Urantia Book repeatedly refers them as "high angels." (p. 287 and 288)


Miscellaneous terms

triball "Spironga" are "spirit helpers" of the local universe (p. 416, §2).

triball "Spornagia" are an animal order of existence, and they seem to be perfect animals. They are "landscape gardeners," (p. 527, §6) affording physical ministry to all orders of universe personalities requiring material service.

triball "univitatia" is a residential order of beings, permanent residents of the constellation worlds. They might be translated as "one-lifers" or "persons with one life," who spend one life in one place permanently.


Nouns without Clear Definitions or Etymology


          There are nouns which are sparingly used, and whose meanings are not clearly defined in the Urantia Book.

For instance, "susatia" are permanent residents of Salvington. Except the fact that they are closely associated with ascendant mortals, there is no clue as to why susatia are named as such.

          "abandonter" is a person who is abandont, but are "abandonters" abandoned in the capitals of the superuniverses, or did they abandon their ascendent career there during the present universe age?


Baptism of ConstantineChristus Rex et Redemptor Mundi, Musei Vaticani Raphael's painting