© 1993 Meredith Sprunger
© 1993 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
There is a remarkable degree of unanimity about Jesus among contemporary Christians. Last year Interchurch Features commissioned a random selection survey of 6,000 readers of the official news publications of eight mainline denominations. Within the common circle of agreement, however, there were some interesting differences.
The United Church of Christ, which takes pride in being a non-creedal, non-hierarchical denomination, was the group most often dissenting from the norm. They disagreed more than others to the questions: Is Jesus the son of God? Did he rise from the dead? and, Will he come again? United Church of Christ members tend to see Jesus as more human than do members of other denominations. Over 50% of United Church of Christ and Roman Catholic people believe there are paths to salvation other than believing in Jesus.
Over the centuries, the stature of Jesus keeps growing throughout the world. People in all of the religions of the world, such as Mahatma Gandhi, are recognizing the high quality of Jesus’ life, even while disagreeing with the dogmas of Christianity. Everyone from the “Death of God” theologians to secular humanists are magnifying the significance of Jesus to our common life. More best selling novels have been written about Jesus than any other personality.
This brings me to ponder the question as to why the 700 page life and teachings of Jesus in The Urantia Book, the most inspiring life of Jesus ever written, is virtually unknown in our culture? The answer, I believe, is obvious. It is a part of a book purporting to the the Fifth Epochal Revelation to humankind. As such, it is feared and shunned.
If this life and teachings of Jesus had been published by itself as a novel written by a well known author, it would be the rage of church leaders as well as secular, literary people! Unfortunately, this has been the fate of new truth and epochal revelation on our world. But, doubt not, it will one day become the touchstone of a new spiritual renaissance!
If this life and teachings of Jesus had been published by itself as a novel written by a well known author, it would be the rage of church leaders as well as secular, literary people!
“The time is ripe to witness the figurative resurrection of the human Jesus from his burial tomb amidst the theological and religious dogmas of nineteen centuries. Jesus of Nazareth must no longer be sacrificed to even the splendid concepts of the glorified Christ. What a transcendent service if, through this revelation, the Son of Man should be recovered from the tomb of traditional theology and be presented as the living Jesus to the church that bears his name, and to all other religions!” (UB 196:1.2)
"When we are tempted to magnify our self-importance, if we stop to contemplate the infinity of the greatness and grandeur of our Makers, our own self-glorification becomes sublimely ridiculous, even verging on the humorous. One of the functions of humor is to help all of us take ourselves less seriously. Humor is the divine antidote for exaltation of ego.” (UB 48:4.15)
“We cannot judge religion by the status of its accompanying civilization; we had better estimate the real nature of a civilization by the purity and nobility of its religion. Many of the world’s most notable religious teachers have been virtually unlettered. The wisdom of the world in not necessary to an exercise of saving faith in eternal realities.” (UB 102:8.2)
“Some day a reformation in the Christian church may strike deep enough to get back to the unadulterated religion of Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. You may preach a religion about Jesus, but, perforce, you must live the religion of Jesus.” (UB 196:2.1)