Paper 89 - Square Circles Publishing

SOURCE OR PARALLEL URANTIA PAPER 89[contd] The vow is a sort of contractwith the spirits;In time these vows assumed the form ofcontracts with the godsand, in that sense, represented trueevolutionary progress in that the godswere supposed to[Often something definite was expected in return,as when Ezra proclaimed a fast at the river ofAhava, “that we might afflict ourselves before ourGod, to seek of him a right way for us, and for ourlittle ones, and for all our substance. . . . So wefasted and besought our God for this: and he wasintreated of us” (S&K IV 637).]and it may promise either renunciation orpositive sacrifice (S&K 1195).India is a land of extreme vows, ashas already appeared.... Lippert thinksthese vows of self-torture in India werethe substitute for positive sacrifice ofwhich poverty did not permit (S&K 1195-96).do something definite in return for thisself-torture and mortification of the flesh.Vows were both negative and positive.Pledges of this harmful and extremenature are best observed today amongcertain groups in India.§281.* Continence. (Sumner & Keller 1183)89:3.6 It was only natural that the cultof renunciation and humiliation shouldhave paid attention to sexual gratification.When the Maori went to war, “theywere separated from their wives, and didnot again approach them until peace wasproclaimed ...” (S&K 1184). [See S&K 1184for more cases.]The continence cult originated as a ritualamong soldiers prior to engaging inbattle;in later days it became the practice of“saints.”[Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let everyman have his own wife, and let every woman haveher own husband (1 Cor. 7:2).][Compare S&K 1186.]This cult tolerated marriage only as anevil lesser than fornication.Many of the world’s great religions havebeen adversely influenced by this ancientcult, but none more markedly thanChristianity.16