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Also known as: The Isle of Paradise, The Eternal Isle, The Central Isle, The Isle of LightKey papers: Paper 11 (The Eternal Isle of Paradise), Paper 12 (The Universe of Universes), Paper 42 (Energy—Mind and Matter)

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What Is Paradise?

Paradise is the eternal, stationary Isle at the geographic center of infinity. It is the dwelling place of the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit — the three Persons of the Paradise Trinity. It is the largest organized body of cosmic reality in all existence, and it serves as the absolute center of material gravity for the entire master universe. Every physical force, every material energy circuit, finds its origin and anchorage in the Isle of Paradise. Paradise is unique in several ways. It is not a sphere — the Urantia Book describes it as an ellipsoid body, essentially flat, with an upper surface, a lower surface, and a periphery. It does not exist in space as we understand it; rather, space exists relative to Paradise. It is absolutely motionless. While all the physical universes revolve around it, Paradise itself does not rotate, orbit, or move in any way. It is the one truly stationary thing in the universe of universes. The Urantia Book distinguishes between “Paradise” as the personal dwelling place of Deity and “paradise” as a quality of perfection. The Eternal Isle is an actual place — the most real, the most substantial, and the most glorious location in all creation. Paradise is composed of a single form of materialization called absolutum — a material that is not found anywhere else in the wide universe. This substance is neither dead nor alive; it is the original nonspiritual expression of the First Source and Center. It is neither energy nor matter as mortals understand these terms, but something entirely unique to the Eternal Isle.

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The Three Domains of Paradise

The Isle of Paradise is described as having three great domains: Upper Paradise is the divine residential area. Here the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit maintain their personal presence. It is surrounded by the three spheres of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Upper Paradise is the most holy place in all creation, and its beauty and grandeur exceed anything that finite minds can conceive. Ascending mortals who eventually reach Paradise will stand on this surface in the presence of God. Peripheral Paradise is devoted to activities that are neither strictly residential nor transport-related. It includes the landing and dispatching fields for various classes of spirit personalities and the seven trillion historic reservoirs of the Master Architects. The periphery also serves as the location for certain universe-management and energy-control functions. Nether Paradise is the absolute center of material gravity. All physical-energy circuits and all material-gravity forces of the master universe converge here. This domain has no known personal functions. The Urantia Book indicates that nether Paradise is the source and center of the space force that pervades all creation. It is also associated with the origin of the space zones that extend outward from the Isle. The three-domain structure of Paradise reflects the three-fold nature of reality itself: personal and spiritual (Upper), functional and administrative (Peripheral), and energetic and material (Nether). In this sense, Paradise is the physical archetype of all cosmic organization — the pattern from which all subsequent reality takes its form.

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Paradise and Space

One of the most remarkable teachings about Paradise is its relationship to space. Paradise does not exist in space — rather, space approaches the inner edges of Paradise but does not touch it. Space is a bestowal of Paradise, and the zones of quiescent mid-space that separate the successive space levels appear to originate from the periphery of the Isle. The universe is not infinite, but it is surrounded by what the Urantia Book calls unpervaded space. Paradise is the nucleus of this vast cosmic arrangement, the eternal anchor point from which all reality extends outward through the central universe of Havona, the seven superuniverses, and the four outer space levels. This relationship between Paradise and space is one of the most conceptually challenging teachings in the Urantia Book. Space is real — it has motion and contains energy — but Paradise transcends space entirely. The Isle serves as the motionless reference point for all motion and the non-spatial center of all spatial reality. Time, as mortals experience it, also finds its origin in the relationship between Paradise and the moving universes of space.
For more on the cosmic structure surrounding Paradise, see Havona and Grand Universe.

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The Destination of Ascenders

For ascending mortals — humans who survive death and traverse the mansion worlds, the local universe, the superuniverse, and the billion worlds of Havona — Paradise is the ultimate geographic destination. To reach Paradise and stand in the presence of the Universal Father is the supreme achievement of the ascending career. Upon arrival, ascenders are embraced by the Father, receive residential status on Paradise, and are enrolled in the Corps of the Finality to begin an eternal career of universe service. The journey from the worlds of time and space to Paradise is the longest and most transformative adventure available to any created being. It is, in essence, the entire purpose of mortal existence — to begin as a finite creature on an evolutionary world and ascend to the very center of all things. The Father’s command to the creatures of time — “Be you perfect, even as I am perfect” — finds its geographic fulfillment in the Paradise arrival. The mortal who began life as a helpless infant on an evolutionary world finally stands on the eternal shores of the Isle of Light, perfected in purpose, purified in character, and ready to serve the universes of eternity as a member of the Corps of the Finality.

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Paradise Gravity

Paradise serves as the absolute center of all gravity in the master universe. The Urantia Book describes four gravity circuits: personality gravity (centered in the Father), spirit gravity (centered in the Eternal Son), mind gravity (centered in the Infinite Spirit), and material gravity (centered in nether Paradise). This fourfold gravity system anchors all reality to the Eternal Isle, making Paradise not only the geographic center of the cosmos but also its functional and energetic nucleus. Material gravity is absolute and inescapable — every physical particle in the universe is held in the gravity grasp of nether Paradise. This is what gives the cosmos its coherence and structure. Without the gravity anchor of Paradise, the physical universe would fly apart into chaos.

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Selected Quotes

“Paradise is the eternal center of the universe of universes and the abiding place of the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit, and their divine co-ordinates and associates.” — Paper 11:0.1
“Paradise is the absolute of patterns; Havona is an exhibit of these potentials in actuality.” — Paper 11:9.5
“The Isle of Paradise has a universe location but no position in space.” — Paper 11:2.1
“Paradise is not spherical. It is definitely ellipsoid, being one-sixth longer in the north-south diameter than in the east-west diameter.” — Paper 11:2.2
“Paradise is the geographic center of infinity.” — Paper 11:9.2
  • Havona — The billion perfect worlds surrounding Paradise
  • Grand Universe — The cosmic structure centered on Paradise
  • The Supreme Being — The evolving experiential Deity whose emergence is connected to the completion of the grand universe
  • Thought Adjusters — Fragments of the Father who originate from Paradise

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Try the API

Search for paragraphs about Paradise: 
curl -X POST https://api.urantia.dev/search \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"q": "Isle of Paradise eternal", "type": "and", "limit": 10}'
Read Paper 11 (The Eternal Isle of Paradise): 
curl https://api.urantia.dev/papers/11
Find entities related to Paradise: 
curl https://api.urantia.dev/entities?q=paradise
Try searching for “Paradise” on the interactive demo.
No. One of the most distinctive teachings of the Urantia Book is that Paradise does not exist in space. Space exists relative to Paradise and approaches the inner edges of the Isle but does not touch it. Paradise has a universe location but no position in space as mortals understand it. This makes Paradise fundamentally different from every other material body in the universe.
Yes. The entire ascension plan is designed to bring surviving mortals from the worlds of time and space to Paradise. After traversing the mansion worlds, the local universe, the superuniverse, and the billion worlds of Havona, ascending mortals arrive on the shores of Paradise, are embraced by the Universal Father, and are enrolled in the Corps of the Finality. This journey takes an immense amount of time but is the destiny of every surviving mortal.
Paradise is the central stationary Isle — the dwelling place of the Trinity and the gravity center of the master universe. Havona is the central universe of one billion perfect worlds that circle Paradise in seven concentric circuits. Havona is in space and moves around Paradise; Paradise itself is motionless and not in space. Havona is the pattern creation; Paradise is the absolute source. Ascending mortals traverse Havona before reaching Paradise.