© 2006 Meredith Sprunger
© 2006 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
| Gifts and Graces of the Urantia Community | Spring 2006 — Last Issue — Index | Urantia Brotherhood — Origin, History, and Destiny |
In the April issue of The Atlantic, Philip Jenkins refers to The Urantia Book as a cult classic. Many thoughtful people, including mainline Christians, believe it is much more than this. It has a ring of truth that increasing numbers of searching people respond to, and this resonance only increases with years of careful examination and study.
Various prophetic observers of contemporary Christianity have stated that we are in a period of crisis and transition. They are predicting that the Christian religion will be much different in the future than the present traditional orientation. Jenkins, in his book The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, states his belief that the most significant and revolutionary event of the past hundred years is the change that has taken place in religion. Mainline Christianity has lost its creative dynamic. The most gifted young people are no longer inspired by traditional religion. There is, at the same time, a search for spiritual meaning seldom paralleled in history.
Theological views also continue to evolve. There is a growing appreciation of the religion of Jesus — the Fatherhood of God and the brother/sisterhood of all people, as opposed to the religion about Jesus — something basically acceptable to all of the world religions. The ecumenical movement is demonstrating that people do not have to believe alike or think alike to be unified in their goals and ideals.
Increasingly, many of Paul’s theological and cultural influences are being questioned: Women are no longer seen as second-class citizens and the blood atonement doctrine is seen as a distortion of the nature of God as a loving Universal Father. The love of God is seen as more significant than the legalism of God’s justice. Along with this, the literal interpretation of scripture is viewed as a distortion of the nature of revelation.
All of these evolutionary developments are working together to change the character of Christianity and, in my opinion, will lead to the discovery of the teachings of The Urantia Book. In the next few hundred years, I believe that The Life and Teachings of Jesus in the Urantia Papers is destined to bring a renaissance to Christianity and a harmonious relationship among the major religions of the world.
| Gifts and Graces of the Urantia Community | Spring 2006 — Last Issue — Index | Urantia Brotherhood — Origin, History, and Destiny |