© 1991 Isabelle Masel
© 1991 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
New readers of The Urantia Book are often so overwhelmed and excited about its contents that in their enthusiasm they may tend to antagonize those with whom they try to share it. The greatest stumbling block to the book’s acceptance is the hesitancy of many church members to consider any spiritual truth beyond the Sunday School stories of their childhood. Because of this fearful reluctance to be challenged, we should go slowly in leading them to the insights of the book rather than trying to force it upon them. They need to be given time to evaluate and understand something which is not packaged in the religious forms of their early training.
I am sure it would have been difficult for me if I had been introduced to The Urantia Book in my thirties or forties. When it came to my attention, I was in search of something that would answer my questions and satisfy my desire for deeper spiritual truth than I had hitherto been offered. I believe that God never meant for us to leave our brains at the church door when we enter. We have our God-given minds to think, to ask questions, and even to doubt. This is the only way we can grow in wisdom. “Every human being defines religion in the terms of his own experiential interpretation of the divine impulses from the God spirit that indwells him,” and a “person can maintain his religious experience in the face of giving up or changing many of his religious beliefs.” (UB 103:1.4)
I believe that leaders of the churches should have information about The Urantia Book, and as they become acquainted with its high spiritual quality and are convinced of its credibility, they will be able to help others who wish to learn of its inspiring message. When they realize that Urantia Book students do not wish to deny the validity or importance of the Bible, but strive to enhance and add to its credibility, they will feel less threatened.
Strength and insight can be gained from sources other than the Christian Bible, and we must keep an open mind and be willing to change as we learn. This is not to say that we must trade one belief for another, but as we grow spiritually, we ought to assimilate new precepts which ring true and can be honestly accepted. Revelation is ongoing, and The Urantia Book is an expression of spiritual reality which deserves attention. As Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet admonishes us, “Say not, I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”
Because religion so greatly stirs the emotions, perhaps we have to accept the fact that some will never give credence to the book’s validity, but we may look forward to the day when many more people who read it’s inspiring pages will say “Hallelujah” with the mind as well as with the heart.