© 2021 Pato Banton
© 2021 The Urantia Book Fellowship
by Minister Pato Banton
When I first found The Urantia Book 35 years ago, my friends and family were terrified because they thought I was getting involved with a cult. They were also afraid because the book looked so big and scary, and they couldn’t imagine how long it would take them to read it. Especially with all those long words.
But I was already on a 15-year journey of reading as many religious books as I could find, because I wanted to know the truth. After 15 years of reading and asking questions of every religious person, teacher and preacher I met, I was starting to feel as though I would never have the answers to all of my many questions. So one night I went outside, looked into the starry sky and begged my Heavenly Father for a Revelation. Within a w eek I had The Urantia Book in my hands and felt my whole body tingling with electricity!
As soon as I opened the book, one of my questions was answered immediately and within six months all of my questions were answered. I finally felt at peace with myself and at home in this universe. I also realized that I didn’t need to go anywhere to find God, because I am a child of god and My Heavenly Father lives within me! I no longer felt sad about being rejected by the churches that thought I was being disrespectful for questioning the Holy Bible and for asking questions that they couldn’t answer. I no longer felt like a religious outcast, because now, I had come to the realization that I am already an evolving spiritual being on an eternal journey towards my spiritual parents.
Now, after 35 years of reading the mindblowing truths contained in The Urantia Book, after reading about the complete “Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ” (yes every single year of His amazing life, of which the Holy Bible contains about 10%), after learning so much about God and my beautiful celestial family, and after reading so many other books on this planet, I am convinced that The Urantia Book is the most beautiful gift of revelation that has been sent to this world.
Yes, after 35 years of experience within the Urantia movement I can truly say that “The Urantia Book is not a cult,” in the negative meaning of that word. We have no leader, no middle man between us and God (except Jesus), no church, no enforced tithes, no rules or regulations of any kind, and no constraints. We are spiritually free! We enjoy Jesus’ new religion, which is not a religion. It’s called “spiritual liberty” and we enjoy the freedom to choose a direct personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. We are responsible to God and God alone for our ethics and morality. We respect everyone’s right to believe what they want to believe, because we believe that if your religion brings you closer to God, we’ll see you in Heaven too!
Jesus has commanded us to do two things:
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“Go to all the world and spread the good news that everyone is a child of God and that you are all His children, brothers and sisters.”
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“Devote your lives to proving that love is the greatest thing in the world.” Not everyone is ready for the challenges that Jesus has given us, but we do our best and those who blossom into confident, bright lights of loving service are encouraged and assisted by their circle of supportive friends.
You see, the Urantia book readership is more like a spiritual book club of people from all over the world who share the belief that The Urantia Book is the fifth epochal revelation to humanity. When we find other people who read The Urantia Book, we try to get together so we can study the book and learn together. We come from all races, sexes, religious backgrounds & political preferences and we are all equal! We play together, pray together, laugh together and encourage each other to live the best life we can - connected to God and serving our brothers and sisters, regardless of their color, class or creed. With no strings attached! Unity without uniformity.
You can not know how satisfying The Urantia Book is if you’re not hungry for truth. You can not know how soul quenching The Urantia Book is if you’re not thirsty for righteousness. You can not know how beautiful The Urantia Book is just by looking at the cover. You have to dive in and feel the truth, beauty and goodness of its spiritual contents. Find something in the index that interests your curiosity. Take a bite and see how the fruit of truth tastes on the palette of your intellectual mind. Mmmmm Yummy! LOL!
The Urantia Book says, “Human things must be known in order to be loved, but divine things must be loved in order to be known.” [UB 102:1.1] And so it is with advanced truth; only a sincere lover of truth, knows truth when they find it. Thank you Jesus for your Spirit of Truth!
But we also understand that The Urantia Book is not for everyone. Not everyone can cope with the new words and challenging concepts of this revelatory text containing 2,097 pages. And, in this complex society of modern technology, most people just don’t have the interest or the time. Still even more importantly, we know that salvation is not attained by the book you read or what you believe, but by the life you live.
When Jesus walked on this planet he had a direct relationship with God. He rejected all religions and encouraged us all to do the same. He also encouraged us to love each other and practice the golden rule. After His ascension His followers decided to start a small new cult called Christianity that is now the biggest religion on the planet with over two billion followers. This Christian cult has now become a part of modern culture and is generally accepted by society as a tool for
When Jesus walked on this planet he had a direct relationship with God. He rejected all religions and encouraged us all to do the same. He also encouraged us to love each other and practice the golden rule. good. However, with over 300 references in the Bible about Hell, fire and eternal damnation for sinners and non-believers, it is often used as a tool of fear, by some, to frighten people and keep them within its clutches. Some preach a God of Hate and will even tell you that, “Unless you are saved by the blood of Jesus you are going to burn in Hell for all eternity.” That is why so many young people are turning aw ay from institutional religion in search of the God of love!
Urantians do believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, but we also know that in our Father’s house there are many mansions for all the people who won’t find Jesus in this lifetime. So we all get to wake up together in the resurrection halls of mansonia number one. Yes all of us! Regardless of what we believe! And once we have experienced the celebrations of life after death, we will actually be able to see our guardian angels and know the one truth, sing the same song, praise the one God and recognize the King of Kings who is Jesus Christ, the sovereign ruler of this local universe. Some Urantians, like me, are excited to share this good news with the world, even though we get criticized for being in a so-called cult. 0 thers are quite happy to just read The Urantia Book privately (and sometimes even secretly) while enjoying a unique personal spiritual experience from having an inner relationship with our heavenly Father. And it’s all good because, “the will of God can be done in any earthly occupation.” [UB 155:6.11]
The Urantia Movement is not a cult in the negative meaning of that word. But if we are a new cult with one million people quietly studying in the comfort of their own homes, many of us will not be activated until Jesus Christ our cult leader, personally returns to this world or sends one of His representatives (as revealed in The Urantia Book) to unite all people and make this world more like Heaven. Closer to Light & Life!