© 2001 Kenneth T. Glasziou
© 2001 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
To many of its readers, The Urantia Book, from the moment of it publication in 1955, became either a fictional heresy or an infallible iconoclastic replacement for an outdated Bible.
I still recall my first visit to a Urantia Book study group where it was dogmatically proclaimed that to discover just one error in this book would irreversibly nullify its status as revelation. No-one disagreed. How did experienced early readers, claiming to have multiple cover to cover readings of the text, overlook the repeated denials by the book’s authors of infallibility for their revelation? Almost fifty years later, the farce still continues.
Underpinning the grant of infallibility was the book’s extensive cosmology with its panoramic depiction of the seven superuniverses, the outer space levels, all surrounding a hidden Central Universe called Havona at the center of which was Paradise itself — all seen as revealed knowledge that far outstripped the human knowledge of those times. Thus it was undeniable, and unexplainable, coming at a time when Hubble had just made his revision for the age of his expanding universe from its initial 500 million years to 2 billion years — still 2.5 billion years less than the 4.5 billion years given by the book for the solar system, an age which received scientific support in 1955 through the radioactive dating of meteoric materials.
By 1960, the universe age had been expanded to 8-10 billion years and the discovery of the mid-Atlantic ridge had upset the almost total rejection by geologists of the continental drift hypothesis upon which the Urantia Papers had based their evolutionary story of life on our planet. The book was infallible after all-except for the mildly expressed views of one reader, Dr Meredith J. Sprunger, whose academic contacts enabled him to glean that the book’s cosmology, taken as a whole, was only at approximately the same level as was orthodox science in the early 1930 's — but was now, in parts, outdated.
The second gross, but persistent, misreading of the Papers concerns attitudes toward Christians and Christianity. A large and vocal group of readers saw both of these as irrelevant, intractable adherents to an outmoded Bible, a matter solely their own fault and rectifiable only by their unconditional acceptance of the Papers. Again there was a small voice crying from the wilderness, that of Dr. Sprunger and his associates. Together with their Spiritual Fellowship Journal, they initiated positive action to bring the Urantia revelation to the notice of Christians whose original religion of the spirit had strayed from its earlier spiritual foundation to become an almost universal espousal of the religion of authority.
But how did such antagonistic opposition to Christians and Christianity develop in the face of the repeatedly expressed hopes in the Papers that this revelation was to be the catalyst for the return of individual Christians and “the church that bears his name” to the spiritual status of an individualized and personal relationship with the indwelling spirit of our Father-God? Can we make sense of what has happened? Apparently it has happened before:
“It was very difficult for the apostles to understand the Master’s reluctance to make positive pronouncements relative to scientific, social, economic, and political problems. They did not fully realize that his earth mission was exclusively concerned with revelations of spiritual and religious truths.” (UB 167:5.6)
Since the Fifth Epochal Revelation contains an expanded version of the Fourth Epochal Revelation, and then elaborates on Jesus and his mission throughout the Papers, might we not have expected that the mission of the Fifth could have had a similar motive to the Fourth? If so, the above lines could read:
“It was very difficult for the Forum members to understand the revelators’ reluctance to make positive pronouncements relative to scientific, social, economic, and political problems. They did not realize that this Urantian mission was to be exclusively concerned with revelations of spiritual and religious truths.”
The frustration of the revelators is revealed in the following indictment made after about twenty years of contact experience with the Sadler group through the sleeping subject in the attempt to upgrade their receptiveness to things of the spirit: “If you only knew what you are in contact with you would not ask such trivial questions. You would rather ask such questions as might elicit answers of supreme value to the human races.” (from History of the Urantia Movement, by Dr W. S. Sadler, 1960).
Dr. Sadler then makes this telling remark, “Later on that night, one of our number said: 'Now they have asked for it — let us give them questions that no human being can answer.” And in a section entitled “The Forum Begins to Ask Questions,” we find, “We decided to start out with questions pertaining to the origin of the cosmos, Deity, creation, and such other subjects as were far beyond the present day-knowledge of all humankind.”
The following Sunday, questions were brought in by Forum members, sorted, and presented. “Shortly thereafter, the first Urantia Paper appeared in answer to these questions… This was the procedure followed throughout the many years of reception of the Urantia Papers. No questions — no Papers.”
The frustration of the revelators again shows through in the section entitled “The First Urantia Papers”: “The first group of Papers numbered 57. We then received a communication suggesting that since we could now ask many and much more intelligent questions, the supervising agencies and personalities… would engage to enlarge the revelation and to expand the Papers in accordance with our new questions.”
Apparently all the Papers of Parts 1 to 3 were given in response to questions. Reading between the lines, it appears the revelators could not get the questions they really wanted, questions that would “elicit answers of supreme value to the human race.” Perhaps that is why Part 4 was provided independently of this question and answer procedure — which may lead us to conclude that most of the truly revelatory material in the Papers that is “concerned with revelations of spiritual and religious truths” is to be found in the Papers that constitute Part 4.
On page 1109 of the book the revelators refer to some new developments that they could foresee, then remark: “but we are forbidden to include such humanly undiscovered facts in the revelatory records. Let it be made clear that revelations are not necessarily inspired. The cosmology of these revelations is not inspired. It is limited by our permission for the co-ordination and sorting of present-day knowledge. While divine or spiritual insight is a gift, human wisdom must evolve.”
It is essential to understand that “cosmology” in the Urantia Papers does not mean astrophysics. The revelators use of the word cosmology has little relationship to its current meaning as the study of astronomy and astrophysics. In the Papers it has its traditional meaning that covers topics as far from its current meaning as St. Thomas Aquinas’ cosmological argument, metaphysics, or features of the world as a whole, inclusive of speculative philosophy. [1]
Probably eighty percent or more of Parts 1-3 could be contained within the mantle of the early twentieth century use of that word cosmology. Its current usage as referring almost exclusively to astrophysics did not really become general until well after the time of receipt of the Papers.
Cosmology, as it is used by the revelators, is the primary subject of remarks such as: “Information and intelligence, gleaned from even high sources, is only relatively complete, locally accurate, and personally true.” (UB 2:7.1) “Conceptual frames of the universe are only relatively true;…” (UB 115:1.2) “…within a few short years, many of our statements regarding the physical sciences will stand in need of revision… Truth may be but relatively inspired…statements with reference to cosmology are never inspired…” (UB 101:4.5)
“No revelation short of the attainment of the Universal Father can ever be complete. All other celestial ministrations are no more than partial, transient, and practically adapted to local conditions in time and space. While such admissions as this may possibly detract from the immediate force and authority of all revelations, the time has arrived on Urantia when it is advisable to make such frank statements, even at the risk of weakening the future influence and authority of this, the most recent of the revelations of truth to the mortal races of Urantia.” (UB 92:4.9)
If we hark back to the acknowledgements at the end of the Foreword, we find, “But we know that there dwells within the human mind a fragment of God, and that there sojourns with the human soul the Spirit of Truth; and we further know that these spirit forces conspire to enable material man to grasp the reality of spiritual values and to comprehend the philosophy of universe meanings. But even more certainly we know that these spirits of the Divine Presence are able to assist man in the spiritual appropriation of all truth contributory to the enhancement of the ever-progressing reality of personal religious experience-God-consciousness.” (UB 0:12.13)
The above statement is summarized by Dr Sadler in the section entitled, “How we Got the Urantia Papers” as: “The Revelators depend upon the indwelling Adjusters and the Spirit of Truth to help us in the appropriation of truth in the Urantia Revelation.” However, Forum members did not even ask the right questions, let alone attempt the “appropriation of truth in the Urantia Revelation.”
Recognition of spiritual and religious truth and spiritual meanings and values is virtually impossible for us humans unless, by faith, we enter into an individual contract with the indwelling spirit forces of Deity to always seek to do the Father’s will. Only then will true revelation become real to us — but as individuals and on a personal basis. The truth of this reality seems to have remained unrecognized among Forum members.
Thus it appears that the whole of the phase in which the Forum received Parts 1 to 3, about 10 years, was actually a training phase for the creation of a group of God-conscious, spiritualized individuals, in which each would achieve a personal relationship with the FatherSpirit. Subsequently this group was to be a testing ground, a sounding board for the production of a new revelation “exclusively concerned with revelations of spiritual and religious truths.”
If this speculation approximates the truth, then it appears the plan did not achieve the desired result. A compromise became necessary and our planet received the new, major revelation, now Part 4 of The Urantia Book, complete, all in one piece, but untested with regard to human appreciation and comprehension. But perhaps Part 4 was also a compromise? And the new revelation is still to come — for what else can these Part 4 comments mean? “The great hope of Urantia lies in the possibility of a new revelation…High-gear spiritual performances must await a new revelation and the more general acceptance of the real religion of Jesus.” (UB 195:10.18)
This leaves open an arena for speculation on what happened, or should have happened, with Parts 1-3. Maybe their content was never intended for publication as a whole — which offers an explanation for some of the peculiarities, errors, etc., present in some of the Papers of this group.
Having assimilated the true message of the Papers and having attained a personal relationship with our indwelling spirit forces, what then? What is the purpose? What are we to do? The Papers inform us that we must “be” before we can “do.” By this they mean, “When men see you so love them, and when they behold how fervently you serve them, they will perceive that you have become faith-fellows of the kingdom of heaven, and they will follow after the Spirit of Truth which they see in your lives.” (UB 191:6.2)
It is because of what we become as faith fellows, exponents of living as Jesus lived, demonstrating the Spirit of Truth in our lives, that we can serve in a manner that may aid the spiritual growth of our brothers and sisters. But note that at least initially, the expected audience is Christian — for only Christians are likely to comprehend the significance of the Spirit of Truth, Jesus spirit, at work in our lives.
There are now about two billion nominal Christians on this planet. It should not be surprising that such people would constitute the main target for a revelation that devotes about forty five percent of its content to the central figure of Christianity and the nature of his Father-God.
Also, there are not less than twenty-five paragraphs in the Papers that support the concept that a primary aim of the Papers is the spiritualization of authoritarian Christianity:
“The great hope of Urantia lies in the possibility of a new revelation of Jesus with a new and enlarged presentation of his saving message which would spiritually unite in loving service the numerous families of his present-day professed followers.” (UB 195:10.16)
“The living Jesus is the only hope of a possible unification of Christianity. The true church — the Jesus brotherhood-is invisible, spiritual, and is characterized by unity, not necessarily by uniformity…And this brotherhood is destined to become a living organism in contrast to an institutionalized social organization.” (UB 195:10.11)
“But paganized and socialized Christianity stands in need of new contact with the uncompromised teachings of Jesus; it languishes for lack of a new vision of the Master’s life on earth. A new and fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus is destined to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism and to overthrow a world sway of mechanistic naturalism. Urantia is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment.” (UB 195:9.2)
And there are many, many more such statements about revelatory hopes and aims. Most Urantians have yet to realize that the mission of the revelators has little to do with “scientific, social, economic, and political problems.” Like the Fourth Epochal Revelation, its Urantian mission was intended to be dominated by the revelation of spiritual and religious truth.
Logically that mission must be directed to Christians and the Christian church for, realistically, only they have the numbers sufficient to permit followers of other religions to actually observe the Spirit of Truth fully functional in human lives. Hence only if the mission to Christians succeeds can there be any rational expectation that a significant proportion of “God-knowing believers” from other religions (Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc) will be provided with good cause to ponder the uniqueness and virtues of a truly living religion of the spirit.
Primarily we need to seek a personal relationship with our God-Spirit within, leading us to God-consciousness.
Secondly, we need to seek always to do God’s will. How can we know? Simply by the feeling of peace that comes with each decision.
Thirdly, how can we serve our fellows, yet give God the credit? One way is group service but if recipients are to know of the Urantia revelation, an identifying icon would help. Little else is needed other than our heartfelt faith.
Most early readers of the book accepted more or less unquestioningly that the whole of The Urantia Book was true revelation from superhuman sources. Only with the passage of time, the revealing of out-datedness in sections of the book’s cosmology, plus its error content, plus the increasing knowledge about the human sources used by the book’s authors, was there any call for many readers to modify their earlier view ascribing near or total infallibility to the text of the book.
Regardless of what the detailed truth really is, the fact remains that in the Urantia Papers we have, all in one place, the most advanced collection of spiritual and religious truths ever to exist on our planet.
It is largely because of the unprecedented advances in scientific knowledge over the past fifty years that many of us are being forced to rethink those earlier views. But despite all else, the quality of the book as a whole is such as to force the conclusion that it is special, it really is quite unique — and particularly so in respect to spiritual and religious truths, meanings, and values.
That is one side of the coin. The other is that there are sections that defy credulity and force the question of how could, or why did, the revelators include such materials. One scenario is that much of Parts 1-3 of the book resulted from questions of Forum members “that no human being could answer.” By not answering, the revelators endangered acceptance of their credentials. By answering in a way consistent with the universe ruling proscribing unearned knowledge (UB 101:4.1), they were compelled to downgrade the relative truth value of their response.
Compounding our difficulties is the fact that many of the stories relevant to receipt and publication of the Urantia Papers are inconsistent to the point that the shadow of doubt hangs over all. This may lead to an alternative scenario postulating that contact with the authors of the Papers was lost soon after the receipt of Part 4, and no further contact was ever established. If so, the Sadler group were left to their own devices to communicate the revelation to the world-which is what happened to the apostles following Jesus’ resurrection.
Such a scenario could mean that the Sadler group had to decide which of the Papers they had received were truly revelatory, and which were accumulated materials resulting from the Forum members’ questioning. A possibility is they avoided that decision-making by printing the lot.
There is now no sure way to find answers to these questions. Certainly many of the Papers in Parts 1-3 contain much having great spiritual value, but still could have been in response to questions from the Forum rather than being revelation for all Urantia. Part 4 must certainly be in the latter category, not only because of its history as a distinct entity but simply because it has that mysterious “ring of truth.”
Regardless of what the detailed truth really is, the fact remains that in the Urantia Papers we have, all in one place, the most advanced collection of spiritual and religious truths ever to exist on our planet. And we have a task to complete — to make the world aware of these truths. So, in drawing upon them, what do we find is the minimum set of basic fundamentals to which all God-knowing men and women of all religions could subscribe? My choice:
Attributes of God: God is First Source and Center, origin of all that is. God is holy, just, and good, loving, compassionate, merciful, forgiving — and “Fatherly” in the highest possible sense of that word; God is perfect in all respects.
As God’s earthly children, we recognize that God’s spirit dwells within each of us seeking to inspire a personal Father-child relationship of love and trust.
Our first duty — to seek to become God-like, to become God-aware, to become God-conscious.
Our earthly obligation: to serve our brothers and sisters with love, and in humility, that they might know the Father-Spirit-within as we ourselves know him.
“Christianity has indeed done a great service for this world, but what is now most needed is Jesus. The world needs to see Jesus living again on earth in the experience of spirit-born mortals who effectively reveal the Master to all men.” (UB 195:10.1)
The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, The Oxford University Press, 1995. ↩︎