© 1993 Tom Mulhall
© 1993 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
| A Further Statistical Investigation Of Writing Styles In The Urantia Book | Vol 14 No 3 May 1993 — Index |
Tom Mulhall, Melbourne
Jesus continued to teach the twenty four, saying:
“The heathen are not without excuse when they rage at us. Because their outlook is small and narrow, they are able to concentrate their energies enthusiastically. Their goal is near and more or less visible; wherefore do they strive with valiant and effective execution. You who have professed entrance into the kingdom of heaven are altogether too vacillating and indefinite in your teaching conduct. The heathen strike directly for their objectives; you are guilty of too much chronic yearning. If you desire to enter the kingdom, why do you not take it by spiritual assault even as the heathen take a city they lay siege to? You are hardly worthy of the kingdom when your service consists so largely in an attitude of regretting the past, whining over the present, and vainly hoping for the future. Why do the heathen rage? Because they know not the truth. Why do you languish in your futile yearning? Because you obey not the truth. Cease your useless yearning and go forth bravely doing that which concerns the establishment of the kingdom.” (UB 155:1.3)
Although largely a matter of history now, The URANTIA Book was published in 1955 by The Urantia Foundation in Chicago. Since that time over thirty major works by theologians, philosophers, psychologists and laypeople have appeared on our shelves related to the book. The Urantia movement, which grew principally from the book itself, has given rise to a bourgeoning Church, numerous centres for theology and philosophy around the globe, social reform programs too numerous to mention and has been called “…the only new religion this century to truly grasp the minds of modern peoples”.
The URANTIA Book became a noticeable item carly in the 1960s. The outstanding feature of the book was its apparently effortless ability to inspire the minds of people from almost every walk of life and persuasion. What should have been on the surface, like so many other things of its kind, an obscure esoteric oddity, became readily appealing to business people, professionals, teachers, tradespeople as well as the rebellious youth of that age. The book seemed to have something for everyone and although conversation and dispute was much varied, and often hot, the ‘Revelation’ of The URANTIA Book provided a framework that brought a new way of viewing the age-old Christian message and also a new way of seeing society’s potential. It gave an enormous variety of people a unified goal which seemed to transcend social prejudices. By 1970 the term ‘Urantian’ was commonplace.
By the early 70s, the groundwork was being laid that would provide for the movement’s continued growth and influence. Small churches were formed in many major cities around the world and the Christian churches began to take notice. Urantian centres of every kind provided the opportunity for people to meet and exchange ideas.
The book’s great appeal was the modernity of its timeless spiritual message. People everywhere began to see the relevance of the age-old Christian message to a rapidly changing and technological environment.
With the healthy economic climate of the 70 s, social justice issues came to the fore and many notable politicians paid more than a fleeting interest to The URANTIA Book. In the business world, the concept of the ‘service motive’ overcoming the ‘profit motive’ took hold in the minds of many of the wealthy. Outreach work, often funded by major companies, began in the form of private Community Centres, Youth Centres, even Centres for Social Equality and Justice which sprang from the soil of the spiritual movement.
By the mid to late 70s it seemed that The URANTIA Book was here to stay. Many people, disillusioned with mainstream Christianity, embraced the teachings while many Christians themselves, certainly at grass-roots level became more and more sympathetic with the message.
The early 1980s saw Urantian representatives at the United Nations, exerting a small but significant influence. The explosion really came in the 1980s when the new generation of young people began looking for a new and positive way to view society. The message of God’s in. habited and structured universe took on new meaning for the young.
‘The Master Universe’ seemed to allay the fears and disillusionments of a world becoming increasingly smaller and the more easily controlled by man’s incompetency. Many rock musicians sang of Urantian issues and when the ‘Live-Aid’ phenomenon swept the world, the concentric circles banner was among many others on the stages.
That the book exerted a completely unexpected influence on the young of the 80s is perhaps not so surprising considering the enormous capacity for idealism among the young of any age. The URANTIA Book became the catalyst to inspire and maintain that idealism. What could have ended as a decade of increasing despair, most notably as a return to more drugs and loud, discordant music, rose more noticeably on new wings.
War, prejudice, and poverty still claim the lives of thousands of people today. But the 20th century has also given rise to a new, bold, and remarkably appropriate spiritual message. Urantians of the 90 s continue to provide benevolent social facilities of many kinds. That the book has influenced the personal spiritual lives of thousands is without question.
As one reader said: “The URANTIA Book is a modern book for modern people. It belongs to all the peoples of the world. There was always the danger of the Movement becoming a self-contained esoteric sect. Any individual would be foolish to imagine he or she has authority over its teachings. The common people heard Jesus’ message gladly, and still today, nothing else has such relevance and meaning”.
What does the future hold? Publishers of The URANTIA Book, now in seven translations, claim: “The book itself seems to accomplish everything that justifies its authorship. We were always in the very fortunate position to give God’s latest message to the world a chance to work”.
Always a unifying influence, perhaps its [the UB’s] future is as inevitable and secure as its simple and age-old message: “Love your neighbour as yourself”.
Perhaps the future will see continued and greater sympathy between the Movement and the Christian churches. Always a unifying influence, perhaps its future is as inevitable and secure as its simple and age-old message: “Love your neighbour as yourself”. What has been received from ‘on high’, Urantians have never been slow to freely give to their fellow man:
“He loved men as brothers, at the same time recognizing how they differed in innate endowments and acquired qualities. He went about doing good. Jesus was an unusually cheerful person, but he was not a blind and unreasoning optimist. His constant word of exhortation was, “Be of good cheer”. He could maintain this confident attitude because of his unswerving trust in God and his unshakable confidence in man. He was always touchingly considerate of all men because he loved them and believed in them. Still he was always true to his convictions and magnificently firm in his devotion to the doing of his Father’s will.” (UB 100:7.8-9)
| A Further Statistical Investigation Of Writing Styles In The Urantia Book | Vol 14 No 3 May 1993 — Index |