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Caligastia

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Caligastia is, in The Urantia Book, the Planetary Prince of Urantia, a secondary Lanonandek Son who arrived about five hundred thousand years ago and ruled the planet for some three hundred thousand years 66:0.2 67:1.1. When Lucifer rebelled, Caligastia took Urantia with him, and the book calls this betrayal the event that "profoundly influenced" the whole superphysical history of the planet 67:0.1 67:1.2. It identifies him with "the devil" of later tradition 53:1.4.

Paper 66, presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon, describes his reign; Paper 67 describes his fall 66:8.8 67:8.6.

Background

Caligastia was number 9,344 of the secondary order of Lanonandeks, experienced in local universe administration and in the affairs of Satania 66:1.1. Before Lucifer's reign he served on the council of Life Carrier advisers on Jerusem, and Lucifer then raised him to his personal staff, where he filled five successive assignments 66:1.2. He repeatedly asked to be made a Planetary Prince, especially of a "decimal or life-modification world," and his petition was turned down several times by the Constellation Fathers before he was sent to Urantia 66:1.3.

The narrator, who was present at his departure, writes that "no prince of the planets ever embarked upon a career of world rulership with a richer preparatory experience or with better prospects" 66:1.5. The only warning sign in his record was that he was "ultraindividualistic," inclined to side with "almost every party of protest" and mildly resentful of supervision, though he had always proved loyal when tested 66:8.1. Both he and Lucifer had been "patiently instructed and lovingly warned" about their pride, and both took the warnings as interference with their liberty 66:8.2.

Reign at Dalamatia

Caligastia arrived at about the time the six Sangik races appeared, when there were almost half a billion primitive humans on earth 66:0.2. His associate was Daligastia, another secondary Lanonandek 66:2.2. His corporeal staff, the Caligastia one hundred, were ascendant citizens of Jerusem chosen from more than 785,000 volunteers and given bodies carrying the life plasm of one hundred Andonites 66:2.4 66:2.6-7. A shrub of Edentia, the tree of life, sustained them 66:4.13.

The headquarters city, Dalamatia, stood in the Persian Gulf region, within a wall forty feet high, and was named in honor of Daligastia 66:3.1 66:3.3. The staff worked through ten councils, covering food, animal domestication, education, industry, religion, health, art and science, tribal relations, and a supreme court under Van 66:5.1-31. Their policy was "progression by evolution and not revolution by revelation" 66:6.6. Its moral code, "The Father's Way," included a command not to disobey "the Father's Son, the world's ruler" 66:7.8 66:7.10. The book says civilization "progressed in a fairly normal manner for almost three hundred thousand years" under this regime 66:8.3.

Betrayal

After three hundred thousand years, Satan visited on an inspection and told Caligastia of Lucifer's planned "Declaration of Liberty"; the Prince "agreed to betray the planet upon the announcement of the rebellion" 67:1.1-2. The book singles out this "premeditated betrayal of trust" for particular disdain, saying that "his mind has never since been able fully to regain its equilibrium" 67:1.2-3.

In midwinter, Daligastia called the ten councils into session and announced that Caligastia was about to proclaim himself absolute sovereign of Urantia 67:2.1. Van called this rebellion and appealed to Lucifer; when Jerusem confirmed Caligastia as supreme sovereign, Van indicted Daligastia, Caligastia and Lucifer in a seven-hour address and appealed to the Most Highs 67:2.2. The planet was cut off, and Daligastia proclaimed Caligastia "God of Urantia and supreme over all" 67:2.3-4.

The struggle lasted more than seven years 67:2.6. Sixty of the staff, almost half the administrator and transition seraphim on the planet, and 40,119 primary midwayers went over to Caligastia 67:3.2. The loyalists under Van and Amadon camped a few miles east of Dalamatia and kept the tree of life 67:3.4. When every personality had decided, a Most High of Edentia arrived with the emergency Melchizedeks to take control, and Caligastia's reign-records on Jerusem were obliterated 67:3.10.

Results

Caligastia's plan to rebuild society at once on his ideas of "individual freedom and group liberties" failed quickly; "liberty was quickly translated into license" 67:5.1 67:5.3. Tribes taught these doctrines prematurely besieged Dalamatia and drove the rebel staff north, and 162 years after the rebellion the city sank beneath the sea 67:5.2 67:5.4. The rebel staff, led by Nod, founded the Nodites 67:4.2. Fifty thousand years later the human race had gained very little over its status at Caligastia's arrival 67:7.3.

Against Adam and Eve

Caligastia was deposed as world ruler but not removed from the planet, and he remained titular Planetary Prince until the time of Christ Michael 74:5.5 75:2.2. He opposed Adam's attempts to organize the outlying tribes and was invisible to mortals, which made it hard for Adam to warn against him 74:5.5. He visited the Garden often but could not move Adam or Eve, so he made "a wily flank attack on Eve" through leading Nodites 75:2.1 75:2.3. The Nodite Serapatatia who proposed the plan that led to Eve's default "never once suspected that he was playing into the hands of Caligastia and Daligastia" 75:3.6. The book says Caligastia trapped the pair but failed to lead them into open rebellion 75:7.7.

Decline and present status

The book says his power was "enormously curtailed" by the incarnation of Machiventa Melchizedek in Abraham's time 66:8.5. On Mount Hermon, before his baptism, Jesus met Satan and Caligastia and refused their proposals 134:8.6-7; there "he had met and defeated the Urantia pretender, Caligastia, the prince of this world," and became Planetary Prince of Urantia on the universe records 136:3.1. Michael's last act before leaving was to offer mercy to Caligastia and Daligastia, which they refused 53:8.6.

Caligastia, your apostate Planetary Prince, is still free on Urantia to prosecute his nefarious designs, but he has absolutely no power to enter the minds of men.53:8.6

The book insists that neither Caligastia nor Daligastia "was ever able to oppress mortals or to coerce any normal individual into doing anything against the human will," and that he has been "comparatively impotent since the cross of Christ" 66:8.6 53:8.9. He awaits the judgment of the Ancients of Days on all who joined the Lucifer rebellion 66:8.7. Recent rulings, the book reports, suggest that Machiventa Melchizedek "is destined to take the place of the fallen Planetary Prince" 93:10.6.

Caligastia and the Bible

The book reads the New Testament's language about the devil and the ruler of this world as referring to Caligastia:

  • The devil. "The 'devil' is none other than Caligastia" 53:1.4 Mt 4:1; Rev 12:9. The book says the doctrine of a personal devil had "some foundation" in his presence but was "wholly fictitious" in claiming he could override the human will 66:8.6.
  • Prince of this world. Jesus' sayings "now shall the prince of this world be cast down" and "the prince of this world is judged" are taken to refer to Caligastia's loss of title 53:8.5 Jn 12:31; Jn 16:11.
  • God of this world. Paul's phrase "the god of this world" is linked to Daligastia's proclamation of Caligastia as "God of Urantia" 67:2.4 2 Co 4:4.
  • A falsifier. The book attributes to Michael a saying that echoes John 8:44: Caligastia is "like your leader, Lucifer," who "abode not in the truth" 67:1.2 Jn 8:44.
  • Toil. The book rejects the idea that "in the sweat of your face" was a curse for Caligastia's rebellion; cultivation of the soil was the center of the Prince's teaching 66:7.19 Gn 3:19.
  • The land of Nod. The Nodites, descended from his rebel staff, gave their name to the "land of Nod" of Genesis 67:4.2 Gn 4:16.

Index of references

Caligastia is the titular Planetary Prince of Urantia until he was deposed at the time of Jesus 75:2.2

Caligastia advocated the cause of Lucifer on Urantia 49:5.23 53:7.2

he is now the deposed Planetary Prince of Urantia. He receives various names such as the devil, the evil one 53:1.4 75:2.3 179:2.3 189:3.3

Abaddon was Caligastia's chief of staff (53:1.5)

    Before rebelling

    Rebellion

    • Caligastia patiently was warned about pride and critical tendencies 66:8.2
    • Caligastia was proclaimed God of Urantia by Daligastia 53:8.5 67:2.4
    • ideas for premature freedom failed on rebellious worlds 67:5.3

    Personal characteristics

    • Caligastica had an experienced, brilliant and original mind 66:1.5
    • he was extremely individualistic; restless; he resented the supervision; he had a tendency to disagree with the established order, and to join protest parties 66:1.4 66:8.1
    • but he fell in love with himself 66:1.5
    • deliberate sin completely distorted his personality 67:1.3
    • he was invisible to humans 74:5.5
    • after his rebellion he was still an elevated Son, but a local universe misleader 75:2.2

    Power of Caligastia

    Sin of Caligastia

    • his iniquity consisted in bypassing the temporary regulator of progressive human liberation 118:8.7
    • perverted all planetary schools 50:4.11-13
    • he willfully betrayed the trust reposed in him 67:1
    • prostituted the divine talents for his own aggrandizement 136:6.9
    • tried to preempt a slow and sure way to accomplish the divine purpose 136:8.5

    Adam and Eve arrival

    • held many conferences with Adam 75:2.1 76:4.5
    • but he failed to involve Adam and Eve in the rebellion 51:3.4 75:7.7
    • Serapatatia, one of Adam's lieutenants, was not aware of having been used by Caligastia for his own ends (75:3.3,6)

    Jesus arrival

    • Emmanuel instructed Michael to rule on the claims of the rebels as Caligastia, and to do so as a mortal and not as a heavenly being 120:2.2
    • Caligastia was fully visible to Jesus on Mount Hermon, along with Satan 134:8.6
    • Jesus defeated Caligastia on Mount Hermon and since then Jesus is the Planetary Prince of Urantia 136:3.1 174:5.12
    • the rebels were silenced forever thanks to Jesus' life of selfless service 120:4.1
    • Judas' betrayal pleased Caligastia 179:2.3 183:0.4
    • someone sat in Caligastia's place at the council of Planetary Princes that took place while Jesus was in the tomb 188:3.14
    • Michael's last act on Urantia was to offer mercy to Caligastia, but Caligastia refused 53:8.6 53:9.1
    • Caligastia is still free on Urantia 53:8.6-7

    > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil

      Bible parallels

      Passages that the paragraphs cited above parallel, quote or reinterpret, from Duane Faw’s Paramony cross-references. Hover a reference to read it.

      Where it appears

      Caligastia is linked in 72 paragraphs of the text; the first 40 are listed.

      4:3.334:7.437:8.343:5.1745:4.1849:5.2350:3.150:4.1151:3.452:5.553:1.453:6.553:7.253:8.553:9.258:4.263:7.164:6.1565:4.865:5.166:0.266:1.166:2.266:4.1366:5.966:7.1966:8.167:1.167:2.167:3.267:4.167:5.367:6.967:7.368:5.969:7.570:6.473:0.173:2.173:6.3

      See also

      1-2-3 the FirstAbaddonAdamAmadonAndovontiaAuthorityBody, humanBonChineseCivilizationConfusionConsecration of choiceContemptCriticismDalamatiaDaligastiaDemon possessionDevilDisasterDue processEducationEnemyErrorEveEvil oneEvolutionExperienceFadFearGeneticsGreeceIndividualismIrrigationJerusemJesusLanguageLanonandek SonsLife CarriersLife plasmLuciferLucifer rebellionMachiventa MelchizedekMelchizedek receiversMesopotamiaMichael of NebadonMidwayersMidwayers, primaryMidwayers, secondaryMindMosesMotivesMount HermonNoditesPanorama, exhibit (Jerusem)Paradise TrinityPersonalityPlanetary Prince of UrantiaPlanetary PrincesPleasuresPopulationPridePrince of darknessPrince of this worldRed raceReligionRevolution (abrupt change)SatanSelf-assertionSelf-gratificationSelf-importanceSelfishnessSerapatatiaSinSpirit of TruthSufferingSupernaphimThought AdjustersTree of lifeTruthUrantiaVan (Prince’s staff)VegetarianismWarningsWeavingWellsYellow race
      Categories: People and personalities · Paper 66