© 1998 Dick Bain
© 1998 The Brotherhood of Man Library
In Paper 12 of The Urantia Book, “The Universe of Universes”, the author, a Perfecter of Wisdom, gives us some clues about the structure and size of our universe. At another place in the book, we are informed that such information may one day be outdated as we progress in our understanding of the universe. [1] Is this information now outdated, some 64 years after it was given to us? Have the discoveries of our astronomers discredited the size of the visible universe given in The Urantia Book?
¶ The Urantia Book Universe
In order to compare the discoveries of our astronomers with the information in The Urantia Book, we first need to understand the picture the author of Paper 12 tries to paint for us. Figure 1 shows how the various parts of the master universe are layered. For simplicity, the two rings of dark bodies between Havona and the superuniverse level are not shown. The author tells us that Paradise is the stationary center of all reality and that it is very large, but the author doesn’t say how large. Paradise is orbited by the seven circuits of one billion spheres of Havona, also known as the central universe of Havona. The next level is the grand universe, which consists of the seven superuniverses and Havona. Intervening between Havona and the superuniverse level are the two circuits of dark gravity bodies. No size is given for the central universe of Havona, but we are given one piece of information that allows us to get a rough size for a portion of it.
On UB 14:1.12, the author of Paper 14 tells us that the inner circuit of Havona spheres requires 1000 years to complete one circuit or revolution around Paradise. We are also told that they travel at a high rate of speed. We are not told how fast they travel, but we can calculate the maximum speed. If the spheres are material, then they are limited to the speed of light. On UB 14:3.6, the author says that the Havona spheres are material, but of a different order than the material of the superuniverses. Nevertheless, it appears that the spheres are gravity responsive. The dark gravity bodies help balance the gravitational forces between the central universe and the rest of the grand universe; this implies that the spheres of Havona are gravity responsive and therefore are likely subject to the same limitations on velocity as the material of the superuniverses. If this is the case, then the maximum speed or velocity the spheres can attain is the speed of light. The maximum circumference of the inner circuit of Havona spheres must be less than or equal to 1000 light years, and the maximum radius is therefore 159 light years. If the circuits of the Havona spheres were separated by one light year, then the maximum radius of the central universe would be about 165 light years. But there is one other piece of information that needs to be investigated to see if the circumference of the inner circuit of spheres is reasonable.
On UB 14:1.9 we read that there are 35 million spheres in the inner circuit of Havona spheres. If the circumference of the inner ring is 1000 light years, then how much space exists between any two spheres? We know that the spheres are much larger than any of our planets, but we aren’t told how large. If we choose one million miles as the diameter of each sphere, then we calculate a distance between spheres of about 25 million miles. If the gravitational fields of these spheres are not excessive, this seems to be an adequate spacing for them. If a greater spacing is required for these spheres, then we would be forced to conclude either that they are moving at a velocity greater than the speed of light, or that they are significantly smaller in diameter than one million miles. In any case, even if the central universe had a radius of a thousand light years, its size would have little impact on the volume of the first outer space level as we shall see.
¶ Beyond the Central Universe
Encircling the superuniverse level is a 500,000 l.y. (light year) wide quiet zone that separates it from the first OSL. (UB 12:1.14) The first of the outer space levels appears to be 50 million l.y. in thickness or cross sectional diameter (two times r in Figure 2.) This is based on the author’s statement on UB 12:1.14: “But about one-half million light-years beyond the periphery of the present grand universe we observe the beginnings of a zone of an unbelievable energy action which increases in volume and intensity for over twenty-five million light-years. These tremendous wheels of energizing forces are situated in the first outer space level, a continuous belt of cosmic activity encircling the whole of the known, organized, and inhabited creation.” The implication seems to be that the point of maximum activity is in the center of the level, so it appears that the total thickness is 50 million l.y. But is the outer edge of the first OSL as far as the visible universe extends?
¶ The Second Outer Space Level
On UB 12:1.15, the author of Paper 12 has this to say about the second OSL: “Still greater activities are taking place beyond these regions, for the Uversa physicists have detected early evidence of force manifestations more than fifty million light-years beyond the outermost ranges of the phenomena in the first outer space level. These activities undoubtedly presage the organization of the material creations of the second outer space level of the master universe.”
From this wording, it is unclear whether the “force manifestations” are visible or not, though the statement “presage the organization of the material creations” seems to indicate that material creations (galaxies) have yet to appear in the second OSL. To further confuse matters however, on UB 12:4.15 the author says, “It appears that the second outer universe of galaxies, like the seven superuniverses, revolves counterclockwise about Paradise.” If indeed there are galaxies visible in the second OSL, then we need to know its size in order to determine the size of the visible universe. Unfortunately, the authors do not give us this information, but there are some clues we can investigate to determine a figure. In one of his books [2], Bill Sadler Jr. came up with a thickness for the second OSL of 5000 million (5 billion) light years. He did this by noting that the ratio of the first OSL to the superuniverse level is 100 and he assumed that that ratio held between the four OSL’s. Is there anything in The Urantia Book that supports the idea that the levels increase in size?
¶ The Increasing Size of the Space Levels
On UB 31:9.4-9 of The Urantia Book, we are informed of the number of Master Architects of the master universe that are assigned to the various segments of the master universe. Of interest to us is that 7 are assigned to the seven superuniverses, 70 to the first OSL, and 490 to the second OSL. It seems logical that more Architects are assigned to the second OSL than the first because the second OSL is larger. In fact, later on UB 31:9.9 we are informed, “This, the final and largest corps, consists of 24,010 Master Architects, and if our former conjectures are valid, it must be related to the fourth and last of the ever-increasing-sized universes of outer space.” The author seems to be referring to the space levels as universes. So, we can reasonably conclude that the second OSL is larger than the first one, and it may be as much as 100 times thicker, or 5 billion light years thick. Will the first OSL accommodate all the galaxies in the master universe, or is the volume of the second OSL required to contain this many galaxies?
¶ The Volume of the First Outer Space Level
On UB 12:2.3, the author informs us: “In the not-distant future, new telescopes will reveal to the wondering gaze of Urantian astronomers no less than 375 million new galaxies in the remote stretches of outer space.” Of course that was 1935, and this is 1998, the era of the Hubble telescope. A recent Hubble deep space survey of the most distant galaxies revealed 1500 to 2000 in a very tiny patch of sky. On the basis of this measurement, some astronomers now estimate that there are over 50 billion galaxies in the universe [3], and there may be more that we have yet to see. Is the first OSL large enough to accommodate 50 billion galaxies? To find out, we need to compute the volume of the first OSL. It seems to be in the shape of a torus (or doughnut), and the volume of a torus is:
V = 2p2 x R x r2, where r and R are the distances shown in Fig. 2.
r = 25 million l.y., and R = about 26.5 million l.y., assuming a 1.5 million l.y. radius from Paradise to the inner edge of the first OSL.
Using this formula, the volume of the first OSL is 316 quadrillion cubic l.y. (316 x 1021 l.y.). How much space exists between galaxies? According to The Urantia Book, our galactic system is about 500 light years in diameter. Astronomers calculate the size of the Milky Way galaxy at 100 light years diameter, but the whole system is several times larger if the companion galaxies are included. The closest galactic system to our Milky Way system is M31 at 2.2 million l.y. The next closest galactic systems are about 10 million l.y. distant. A cube of 5 million l.y. on a side seems to be a reasonable minimum volume of space for a typical galaxy. This is a volume of 125 million cubic l.y. This figure likely errs on the small side, since galaxies tend to occur in groups with significant space between the groups. In order to contain 50 billion galaxies with a volume of 125 million cubic l.y., a total volume of 6.25 quadrillion cubic l.y. (6.25 times 10 to the 15th power) is required. Therefore, the first OSL is about 50 million times larger than needed to contain 50 billion galaxies. Even if the average spacing between galaxies were 100 l.y., there would be more than adequate space for 50 billion galaxies. Thus we do not need to consider the second OSL; the first OSL will accommodate all the visible galaxies.
¶ The Size of the Astronomer’s Universe
Using red shift data, astronomers calculate that the most distant galaxies are between 10 and 15 billion light years from us. [4] Our astronomers’ universe is thus two to three times larger than the second OSL. This difference is large, but nothing like the difference between 50 million light years for the first OSL and 10 to 15 billion light years for the universe. This is a ratio of 2500. The authors of The Urantia Book explain that this discrepancy is due to the fact that much of the red shift we see is not due to the Doppler red shift where the color of the light is shifted due to effect but rather to the effect of space on light passing through it. There are a few contemporary astronomers, people such as Halton Arp, who have reached the same conclusion. If these few rebels turn out to be right, the result will be a revolutionary change in our picture of the universe, and a partial vindication of the cosmology in The Urantia Book.
¶ Conclusions and Ruminations
The foregoing analyses are a rather speculative attempt to correlate what astronomers see through their telescopes with the cosmology of The Urantia Book. The scientific and astronomical information the authors give us is generally vague and even seemingly contradictory at times. It would be easy to write off the science and cosmology in the book as a hopeless morass of outdated information, but I am of the opinion that the authors have given hints about how the universe is rather than precise information. Or perhaps they have provided concepts that are analogs of the features rather than exact pictures. Apparently, their intention was that we would have to do a great deal of work to find what they are implying about the structure and nature of the universe. I have read nothing outside the book to convince me that the universe is structured exactly as the book describes it, but nevertheless, astronomers are finding an amazing amount of structure in the universe as they study it. The astronomers see bubbles, filaments, great walls and superclusters of galaxies.[4:1] Unfortunately, they do not yet agree on what structures are actual and which are just apparent. There are still too many pieces of the puzzle missing to decide what’s going on out there.
This speculation about the size of the universe is a necessary step towards looking at the space respiration phenomenon (UB 12:4.8) and attempting to correlate it with current astronomical findings, which I hope to do in a future article. I am hopeful that there are features of the universe like space respiration that are accurately described in The Urantia Book. I will be very disappointed if there is no evidence supporting the space respiration concept in the results of our astronomers investigations. Nevertheless, I think that we owe it to the future generations of Urantia Book students to look at the validity of the various scientific concepts in the book and honestly assess which are supported by the evidence, and which are not. As Jesus said, “. . . the truth never suffers from honest examination.” (UB 153:2.11)
Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe—the starry skies above me and the moral law within me.
Immanuel Kant
¶ External links
- Article in Innerface International: https://urantia-book.org/archive/newsletters/innerface/vol5_6/page11.html
¶ References
Appendices to a Study of The Master Universe, William Sadler Jr., The Second Society Foundation, Chicago, IL. ↩︎
“The Hubbell Deep Field Project”, Notre Dame Science Quarterly, Mar., 1996 ↩︎
“Constructing the Cosmos” by John Horgan, “Scientific American Explorations,” on www.sciam.com/explorations/index.html, (Jan 20, 1997) ↩︎ ↩︎