© 2017 David Kantor
© 2017 The Urantia Book Fellowship
It is very instructive to set aside all that we have learned about the origin of the revelation and the conjectured intentions of its authors and look at what the book itself has to say about the most important tasks at hand. If we go through the book and note every point where the authors suggest that we do some particular thing, we find ourselves with a list of tasks which can be divided into three major categories:
The first category of tasks—those related to personal spiritual growth—are found throughout the book and are characterized by such quotes as:
“God-knowing creatures have only one supreme ambition…” [UB 1:0.3]
“The great goal of human existence is …” [UB 110:3.4]
“The transcendent goal of the children of time…” [UB 1:0.3]
Because the Fellowship is primarily dedicated to the tasks in Group two, I will not list Group one tasks. Neither will I list Group three tasks, many of which may be found in UB 52:6, UB 81:6, throughout Papers 70 and 71, and elsewhere in the text. Following are some of the Group two tasks noted in The Urantia Book. Had I included all of Jesus’ exhortations to the twelve the list would have been much longer.
“Of all human knowledge…” [UB 196:1.3]
“If Christianity persists in neglecting its spiritual mission…” [UB 195:9.4]
“One of the most important things in human living…” [UB 196:1.3]
“The overstressed and isolated morality of modern religion … would rehabilitate itself if…” [UB 2:7.9]
“A new and fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus…” [UB 195:9.2]
“The real purpose of all universe education is…” [UB 2:7.12]
“Paganized and socialized Christianity stands in need of …” [UB 195:9.2]
“Religion does need new leaders…” [UB 195:9.4]
“The religious challenge of this age…” [UB 2:7.10]
“To “follow Jesus” means…” [UB 196:1.3]
“Some day a reformation in the Christian church…” [UB 196:2.1]
“The ultimate goal of society’s most advanced achievement can never hope to transcend …” [UB 196:2.11]
“The quickest way to realize the brotherhood of man on Urantia is…” [UB 52:6.7]
“All Urantia is waiting…” [UB 94:12.7]
“The common people heard Jesus gladly and they will again respond … if…” [UB 196:1.4]
“The hour is striking…” [UB 94:12.7]
“The world needs more firsthand religion…” [UB 195:9.8]
“What an awakening the world would experience if…” [UB 195:9.8]
“…the religion of Jesus stands as the unsullied and transcendent spiritual summons…” [UB 195:9.9]
“If the Christian church would only dare…” [UB 195:10.10]
“…what is now most needed is Jesus…” [UB 195:10.1]
“The world needs to see Jesus living again on earth…” [UB 195:10.1]
“Modern culture must become spiritually baptized…” [UB 195:10.1]
“…when Jesus becomes thus lifted up…” [UB 195:10.1]
“…mankind languishes and stumbles… because…” [UB 195:10.5]
“The call to the adventure…” [UB 195:10.6]
“High-gear spiritual performances must await the new revelation…” [UB 195:10.18]
“If Christianity could only grasp more of Jesus’ teachings…” [UB 195:10.19]
“The hope of modern Christianity is that it should…” [UB 195:10.21]
“The great hope of Urantia…” [UB 195:10.16]
“Mortals in all stages of spirituality … may find in the personal life of Jesus…” [UB 196:2.4]
“Let all mankind benefit from…” [UB 178:1.11]
“…you are commissioned to preach this gospel…” [UB 178:1.11]
“…your mission among men is to proclaim the gospel…” [UB 193:0.4]
“That which the world needs most to know…” [UB 193:0.4]
“The world needs to see Jesus living again on earth…” [UB 195:10.1]
“Modern culture must become spiritually baptized…” [UB 195:10.1]
“…when Jesus becomes thus lifted up…” [UB 195:10.1]
“The time is ripe to witness…” [UB 196:1.2]
“Jesus of Nazareth must not be longer sacrificed…” [UB 196:1.2]
“What a transcendent service if, through this revelation…” [UB 196:1.2]
“…the religious revisions of Christian civilization would be drastic and revolutionary if…” [UB 196:1.2]
“If Christianity persists in neglecting…” [UB 195:9.4]
“The hour is striking…” [UB 195:9.5]
“This good news… must be carried to all the world…” [UB 193:1.2]
“Serve your fellow mortals even as I have served you…” [UB 193:5.2]
“Go to all the world proclaiming this gospel…” [UB 190:3.1]
It is instructive to review the comments made by Jesus in his post-resurrection appearances. The emphasis was always on the proclamation of the kingdom. If we go through his post-resurrection appearances and extract the action verbs from his comments, we end up with this list:
Proclaim | Confirm |
Minister | Strengthen |
Go | Proclaim |
Pray | Love |
Serve | Go |
Proclaim | Be wise |
Give | Publish the good news |
Go | Trust your brethern |
Bravely go forth | Joyously go forth |
Meet new experiences | Reveal |
Open eyes blinded by tradition | |
Draw close | Lead |
Serve | Proclaim |
Love | Go |
Feed my lambs | Minister to the sick |
Serve | Forgive |
Follow me | Serve me |
Go | Proclaim |
Preach the love of God and the service of man | |
Carry this good news to all the world |
Could the major hope and concern of the revelators be any clearer? It should be obvious from the foregoing that the authors of The Urantia Book place a very high value on the spread of the religion of Jesus in our world as quickly as possible. Over and over again it is indicated to us that this is a critical priority. It should also be noted that this exhortation was the major theme of nearly all of the Master’s post-resurrection appearances.
David Kantor has been a reader of The Urantia Book since 1966 and active in Urantia reader community affairs 1972. He has served on the General Council as well as the Executive Committee of the Urantia Book Fellowship. Between 1995 and 2014 he worked to create a presence for the Fellowship and the revelation on the Internet. In 2014 he started Urantia Book Films, focusing solely on a more aggressive promotion of the book through film, video, and social media. He produced and directed the feature- length film, Re-Imagining Jesus, which has been viewed by thousands of people.