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
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)
An Age of Transition
Thomas G. Gillespie, president of Princeton Theological Seminary, tells graduating seminarians not to be surprised if the church resists their spiritual vision, for the church today is an acculturated institution in need of reformation.
A Call to Revivial
Paul H. Sherry, president of the United Church of Christ, points out that our churches and our culture stand in need of spiritual revival. The Urantia Book presents an enlarged view of spiritual reality that will someday bring a spiritual renaissance to our world.
Confirming and Enlarging the Biblical Message
Marti J. Steussy, Old Testament professor at Christian Theological Seminary, acknowledges that there are many Biblical pasages in need of further thought and clarification. The Urantia Book is a seminal source of such clarification.
Articles
Thoughts on the Brotherhood of Man
Experiential evidence points to the fact that the family of God is a vigorous and substantial human reality, not just a theoretical ideal.
The Religion of Jesus
Bruce Jackson describes four key theological areas in which The Urantia Book has the potential to revitalize theology and bring about a new reformation in the Christian Church.
Prayerful Problem Solving
Prayer is not a means to circumvent universe laws. It may furnish insights through which we use these laws to solve problems. Occasionally, superhuman help appears to alter the outcome of natural laws.
Columns and Features
The Urantia Book and Spiritual Renewal: My Spiritual Journey
Sermon Series(part 2): Recognizing the Goodness of God
Interface: When Time is Not of the Essence The Power Behind Positive Thinking
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.
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.
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.
The Uversa Press edition of The Urantia Book, the Pathways edition of The Life and Teachings of Jesus, the Concordex, and the Paramony can be purchased from The Good Cheer Press, P. O. Box 18764, Boulder, CO 80303 (1-800-767-5683).
An exhaustive Urantia Book Concordance was published by the Urantia Foundation in 1993. If your local bookstore does not carry The Urantia Book or The Urantia Book Concordance, they can be ordered from the Urantia Foundation, 533 Diversey Parkway, Chicago, IL 60614 (1-888-872-6842). The Urantia Foundation also publishes French, Spanish, and Finnish editions of The Urantia Book.