We believe The Urantia Book can make a significant contribution to the stimulation of spiritual creativity in churches, synagogues, and other religious institutions and their people.
We believe that at the present stage of spiritual development it is wise for ministers, priests, and rabbis to use The Urantia Book as a resource for preaching and teaching rather than referring to the book itself or directing attention to it. Almost every concept in The Urantia Book can be associated with some theologian, philosopher, or scientist in the past or present.
We believe that, although one should not be secretive about interest in The Urantia Book, one should use discretion in recommending it to people. The light of enhanced truth can frighten and blind as well as guide and illuminate.
We believe The Urantia Book’s claim to a revelatory source and status is not germane to its usefulness in the presentation of spiritual truth. Truth has an inherent appeal, regardless of its source, and can be used to enrich one’s preaching, teaching, and living.
We believe the Spirit of God works among us in a differential and evolutionary manner; therefore, we recognize that for whatever reason some clergy may not wish to read and critically evaluate The Urantia Book. This diversity should in no way stand as a barrier to our mutual respect, fellowship, and love.
We believe the leavening process of creativity stimulated by The Urantia Book should be ecumenical in nature.
We believe The Urantia Book will eventually be recognized by the great majority of the world’s religious leaders as one of the most constructive spiritual messages our world has received since Jesus’ ministry on earth.
Read the entire Urantia Book to get its sweeping universe view of reality. Many of us started reading the book at Part IV, The Life and Teachings of Jesus. If you should like to get a quick overall view of the book you might read “The Gift of Revelation,” a twenty-two page summary of the basic facts and truths of The Urantia Book.
Have the Concordex of The Urantia Book available to help in researching topics on which you are preaching or teaching.
Use the Paramony, which is a parallel and harmony of the Bible and The Urantia Book,to locate Urantia Book material on the Biblical text you are using in sermon preparation.
Editorial Committee
Bud Bromley
Judy Smith
Irene Sprunger
Jack Williams
Resource Consultants
Vivian Albert
Marilyn Buchanan
Nancy Long
Jack Rogers
Dorothy Sloffer
Everett Sloffer
Marvel Zuercher
Paul Zuercher
The Spiritual Fellowship Journal is an ecumenical publication published twice yearly by The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Subscription orders, changes of address, and editorial correspondance should be sent to:
The Spiritual Fellowship Journal
4109 Plaza Dr.,
Fort Wayne, IN 46806
(219-745-4363)
The Fullness of Time
There is a striking parallel between the spiritual hunger of Jesus’ day and our contemporary society.
The Dynamics of Empowerment
When spiritual values are not actualized, we are cut off from our full human potential. Creative living is the product of a divine-human partnership.
Spiritual Courage
The spiritual courage of most ministers does not extend to examining anything purporting to be revelatory.
Articles
The Second Enlightenment: Liberalism and Religion
Liberalism, with its emphasis on tolerance and individual freedom, has triumphed in economics and politics. We are moving to a time when it will finally triumph in the arena of religion as well.
Concepts of Salvation: The Bible and_The Urantia Book_ Compared
Biblical and Urantia Book concepts are symbiotic and mutually reinforcing. The historical view of Irenaeus and many contemporary theologies dovetail with The Urantia Book.
Columns
Interface: The Church and the Kingdom
The Urantia Book and Spiritual Renewal
Sharing a Gift Beyond Words
Media and Values The Urantia Book and Religious Institutions
Music in Worship
Media, Missions, and Culture
Departments
Psalms Today: The Larger View
Sermon: The Power of New Spiritual Insight
Urantia Book Resources
About the Editors
Meredith Sprunger is a United Church of Christ minister, and college teacher, retired. He served pastorates in the Midwest and taught at Elmhurst College and Indiana Institute of Technology. Merlyn Cox is a United Methodist minister serving in the North Indiana Conference.
¶ The Philosophy of The Spiritual Fellowship Journal
The Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of all people is the guiding principle of the Fellowship. We acknowledge and welcome as kindred spirits all individuals from any tradition who affirm this truth. Recognition of the religion of Jesus as the ultimate ideal of living is central in our thinking, but we seek to avoid all forms of coercive literalism and legalism.
The Fellowship is, therefore, ecumenical and nonsectarian in orientation. We invite into our Journal community all who recognize the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of humanity.
The Fellowship recognizes the key role of evolution and becoming in the development of individuals and congregations and seeks to encourage the positive growth of both. We should like to stimulate each person to visualize, articulate, and actualize supreme purposes and goals of living in accordance with their spiritual guidance.
The Fellowship seeks to foster the most inspiring intellectual, emotional, and service sentiments in each individual and religious community. We strive to facilitate spiritual growth, encourage a truly universal perspective, and stimulate the highest expression of personal religious living.
The Fellowship encourages the recognition and enhancement of the home as the key institution where the highest values of living are learned and the community in which the most loving and supportive relationships are experienced and nurtured.
The Fellowship seeks to promote the development of ritual and ceremony that symbolizes and celebrates the highest expressions of truth, beauty, and goodness, along with the supreme values of love and social service. These ministrations should dramatize spiritual loyalties, stimulate warm fellowship, and inspire a wise outreach ministry to the world.
The Fellowship affirms the mystery of personal and epochal revelation. We stand in awe at the incomprehensible love which God has for us imperfect, finite beings in bestowing a part of his own spirit essence to live with us and guide us toward reality and eternal life. We are confronted by the inexplicable efficacy of intercessory prayer and the mysterious integration and coordination of persons and events. We are challenged by the potential of the spirit mastery of our animal drives and urges and the reality of spiritual transformation. We believe The Urantia Book is one of the best expressions of this philosophy on our planet.
The rich mine of universe knowledge and spiritual wisdom found in the 2097 pages of The Urantia Book tends to overwhelm the reader with its encyclopedic profusion. A detailed table of contents helps make the book manageable, but one soon realizes that reference tools are needed to find information hidden in its pages.
Clyde Bedell (1898-1985), a widely recognized author and speaker in the field of advertising, over many years compiled an index-concordance of words, concepts, ideas, topics, and themes found in The Urantia Book. He published the first edition of the Concordex in 1971. The third edition came out in 1986 and has over 110,000 references. The Concordex is an indispensable research tool for finding passages and studying topics in The Urantia Book.
The Urantia Book reader also discovers information in many sections of the book which parallels Biblical material. Numerous young friends of the editor did not become interested in the Bible until they read The Urantia Book. The two books are mutually enhancing. Recognizing this close relationship, Dr. Duane L. Faw, Professor of Law emeritus of Pepperdine University School of Law, spent six years compiling a parallel and harmony of The Urantia Book and the Bible. The Paramony was published in 1986 and contains 25,000 cross-references revealing the similarities and differences between the facts and concepts of these two great books. Dr. Faw has been a teacher of adult Bible classes for 40 years and a certified lay speaker in the United Methodist Church for over 25 years. The Paramony is an essential reference tool for studying relationships between The Urantia Book and the Bible. A long time scholarly reader of The Urantia Book describes the Paramony as, “a well-structured volume, indispensable for those engaged in serious hermeneutics, particularly of the gospels.”
If your local bookstore does not carry The Urantia Book, it can be ordered from The Urantia Foundation, 533 Diversey Parkway, Chicago, IL 60614. The Concordex and Paramony can be purchased from the Good Cheer Press, P. O. Box 18764, Boulder, CO 80308 .