Urantia Book

(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)

Introduction
Examples Of Urantia Book Content
The Creator & Cosmology
Religion
Prayer & Worship
Undiscovered Energy
The Smallest Particles
Suggestions For Living
Spiritual Ministries To Humans
Life After Death
Other Topics In The Urantia Book
Conclusion
Bibliography

Introduction

Written by David Bradley

This section presents an introduction to some basic concepts of The Urantia Book, with examples of its teachings and viewpoints. Only a very small and selective fraction of the information contained in The Urantia Book is presented. Urantia Book quotes are listed by page and paragraph numbers. For example, 564§4 means page 564, 4th full paragraph. Three dots ... are shown where text is omitted from a quote. Where comments are added, they are [bracketed].

God is love, the creator, sustainer, and upholder of all creation. The Urantia Book is a revelation, a presentation of truth to us, about the Creator and about creation. It greatly expands our view and understanding of the creator and the cosmos, and with this bigger picture, science, religion, and history, and other areas of human knowledge become integrated. We are not alone in the universe, quite the contrary. The Urantia Book was written by love-respecting, civilized inhabitants of the universe. It was written by a revelatory committee, through a process involving a contact human, for the betterment of our planet. The identity of the contact human is not known, and not considered important. Urantia is the name of our planet.

The Urantia Book revelation is not small; the edition quoted has 2,097 pages of fine print. For most of us, it is not a quick study or easy reading.

The Urantia Book is great. It reveals a much larger perspective of the cosmos we live in, of God, and of universe inhabitants, than previously known here on Earth.

Its revelations are presented in four parts. Part 1, The Central and Superuniverses, is about God, God's relationship to creation, God's relationship to individuals, and the structure and inhabitants of the greater cosmos. Part 2, The Local Universe, is about our part of the cosmos. It presents topics including creation, evolution, administration, and the various inhabitants of our local universe. Part 3, The History of Urantia, includes information about the origin of our planet, and about its physical, biological, and social evolution. Part 4, The Life and Teachings of Jesus, is self-explanatory.

Let's begin with a two paragraph quote:

Your world, Urantia, is one of many similar inhabited planets which comprise the local universe of Nebadon. This universe, together with similar creations, makes up the superuniverse of Orvonton, from whose capital, Uversa, our commission hails. Orvonton is one of the seven evolutionary superuniverses of time and space which circle the never-beginning, never-ending creation of divine perfection―the central universe of Havona. At the heart of this eternal and central universe is the stationary Isle of Paradise, the geographic center of infinity and the dwelling place of the eternal God.

The seven evolving superuniverses in association with the central and divine universe, we commonly refer to as the grand universe; these are the now organized and inhabited creations. They are all a part of the master universe, which also embraces the uninhabited but mobilizing universes of outer space." 1§5 [The commission mentioned in this quote is, collectively, the author of the first section of The Urantia Book.]

As you can see, The Urantia Book introduces us to many new concepts, such as the "Isle of Paradise" mentioned above. There is, I believe, no easy way to prove the reality or truthfulness of The Urantia Book, other than by truth recognition, our ability to recognize and accept things that "ring true" to us. Truth recognition has to do with God.

The recognition of true relations implies a mind competent to discriminate between truth and error. The bestowal Spirit of Truth which invests the human minds of Urantia is unerringly responsive to truth―the living spirit relationship of all things and all beings as they are co-ordinated in the eternal ascent Godward." 647§4 [More about the Spirit of Truth is included below.]

Other than by truth recognition, credibility of The Urantia Book can be verified by comparing certain scientific and historic facts presented in The Urantia Book against observations that can be made here on Earth. For example, The Urantia Book discusses the geologic history of our planet, including continental drift, which can be checked against the existing planetary geologic record.

What does The Urantia Book ask of us? What does it teach, and what does it advocate? What are its "bottom lines?" The following is a list of what are, in my opinion, some answers to these questions.

Love, love, and more love.
Service to our fellow humans.
God is real, and God is good.
God's attributes are good things such as love, loyalty, mercy, compassion, truth, power, beauty, justice, goodness, etc.; not anger, vengefulness, or punishment.
You will do well to seek, find, and follow God through your own personal experience, rather than following religious rules, or religious authorities.
You are not coerced, you are a "will creature." You are free to choose.
God is a true and loving parent to every human being. All humans are brothers and sisters in this regard. This is the gospel that Jesus actually taught.
"That which the world needs most to know is: Men [and women] are the sons [and daughters] of God, and through faith they can actually realize, and daily experience, this ennobling truth." 2052§4
Your entry into the family of God (Kingdom of Heaven) is by your choice, the door is open.
God asks of us to learn, grow, and progress, to "Be you perfect, even as I am perfect..." 22§3 [But not overnight; more like a step at a time.]
Through a long evolutionary process/struggle, our planet will someday become "settled in light and life" (it will go positive).
A fragment of God, a spark of divinity, lives within each of us, guiding us Godward. "Every mortal who is consciously or unconsciously following the leading of his indwelling Adjuster is living in accordance with the will of God." 1176§4 [The Thought Adjuster or Mystery Monitor is that fragment of God that dwells within each of us.]
There is life after death. If we do not reject God, our lives continue after we physically die. Our souls, along with our personalities, are what survive death. Our souls are created by our choices that are acceptable to, or in accordance with, the indwelling guidance of God.
There is no hell; those that choose to reject God's ways are not punished forever, they are fairly and justly adjudicated, and if found to have no survival value, they are undone as personalities.
"Modern men and women of intelligence evade the religion of Jesus because of their fears of what it will do to them and with them. And all such fears are well founded. The religion of Jesus does, indeed, dominate and transform its believers, demanding that men dedicate their lives to seeking for a knowledge of the will of the Father in heaven and requiring that the energies of living be consecrated to the unselfish service of the brotherhood of man." 2083§2
"It is the very goodness of God that leads men into true and genuine repentance." 1610§2
The "...only possible gift of true value to the Paradise Father..." is the "...affectionate dedication of the human will to the doing of the Father's will..." 22§5

The Urantia Book is generally written in male oriented language, which I believe reflects social customs of the time in which it was written. For example, usages such as man, mankind, The Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of Man are common (see the three quotes immediately above). However, The Urantia Book, as Jesus did, asserts the equality of women and men. For example:

"The apostles were at first shocked by, but early became accustomed to, Jesus' treatment of women; he made it very clear to them that women were to be accorded equal rights with men in the kingdom." 1546§2. "We do not regard a planet as having emerged from barbarism as long as one sex seeks to tyrannize over the other." 564§6.

The book also reveals feminine attributes of God. For example, consider that our local universe (which contains approximately ten million inhabited planets) is named Nebadon, and that Salvington is its headquarters sphere, then:

At the head of all personality in Nebadon stands the Creator and Master Son, Michael, the universe father and sovereign. Co-ordinate in divinity and complemental in creative attributes is the local universe Mother Spirit, the Divine Minister of Salvington. And these creators are in a very literal sense the Father-Son and the Spirit-Mother of all the native creatures of Nebadon. 406§1

Before The Urantia Book was written, authorization to present the revelation to our planet, Urantia, was obtained from universe administrators "on high." Then, The Urantia Book was written by a revelatory corps or commission comprised of a variety individuals from throughout the universe of universes. Here on earth, the process that resulted in The Urantia Book began in about 1910. It involved a contact human, and resulting interactions with other humans, over several decades. The identity of the contact human is unknown and unimportant. The book was essentially completed in the 1930's, and first published in 1955.

Your planet is a member of an enormous cosmos; you belong to a well-nigh infinite family of worlds, but your sphere is just as precisely administered and just as lovingly fostered as if it were the only inhabited world in all existence. 183§1

The Urantia Book presents a wealth of information about creation, including the creation of humans. It presents information about nature, the universe, and the characteristics and roles of the many types and orders of individuals in the universe. It portrays, in depth, the role of God, the creator, sustainer, and upholder. It portrays the structure and administration of the universe, and the relationship of the created individual to the Creator. The book dispels much misinformation, which is helpful to truth seekers.

An Introduction to The Urantia Book: Index >>

Examples Of Urantia Book Content

The Creator And Cosmology

God is good. For example, The Urantia Book consistently describes God's attributes in terms such as "...infinite goodness, endless mercy, matchless wisdom, and superb character." 26§6

God is love, spirit, personality, and so much more. There are eternal aspects of God. There are aspects of God that transcend time and space. There is an evolutionary aspect of God, to which we as co-creators can add to, and in which material, spiritual, and in-between realities are coordinated. Divinity is the coordinating and unifying element of all aspects of God.

The Paradise Trinity consists of the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit. There are also impersonal and undeified aspects of God, yet these aspects are also positive realities. However, there is complete Deity unity. The Paradise Trinity and all other attributes of God are divinely One, divinely coordinated.

Creation is immense. The master universe, or simply creation, has a gravity center, the central Isle of Paradise.

"... But the depths of the spiritual beauty and the wonders of this magnificent ensemble [The Isle of Paradise] are utterly beyond the comprehension of the finite mind of material creatures. ..." 118§2

The Isle of Paradise is the dwelling place of the eternal God and the Paradise Trinity. Around and including the central Isle of Paradise is Havona, a perfect, eternal, divine, harmonious, and beautiful central universe.

"The perfect and divine universe [Havona] occupies the center of all creation; it is the central core around which the vast creations of time and space revolve. Paradise is the gigantic nuclear Isle of absolute stability which rests motionless at the very heart of the magnificent eternal universe. ... [Havona] is of enormous dimensions and almost unbelievable mass and consists of one billion spheres of unimagined beauty and superb grandeur..." 152§1

Elliptically orbiting around Havona are seven huge, evolutionary, superuniverses. The central Isle of Paradise, the central universe Havona, and the seven superuniverses are all inhabited. Together, they are called the grand universe.

There are approximately seven trillion inhabited planets altogether. Each of the seven evolutionary superuniverses contains about one trillion inhabited worlds.

Outside the seven inhabited superuniverses, there are four uninhabited outer space levels:

"Far out in space, at an enormous distance from the seven inhabited superuniverses, there are assembling vast and unbelievably stupendous circuits of force and materializing energies." 129§6

Our local system, Satania, has "...619 inhabited worlds...located in over five hundred different physical systems [solar systems]. Only five have more than two inhabited worlds, and of these only one has four peopled planets, while there are forty-six having two inhabited worlds." 359§7

The Paradise Trinity consists of the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit. When the Father and Son participate in a certain type of creative interaction, they give birth to a Creator Son. Creator Sons are schooled in the central universe, and then, in association with a daughter of the Infinite Spirit, position themselves in space, and, from space potential, and with the help of other orders of beings, mobilize, create, and materialize the whirling gasses and matter from which evolutionary solar and planetary systems emerge. In this way, a Creator Son, working with a Daughter of the Infinite Spirit, creates a local universe of solar and planetary systems. These created systems are not harmonized and perfect, they are evolutionary. Meteors can and do collide with planets. There are also architectural (non-evolutionary) spheres made for administrative purposes.

Once an evolutionary planet is stable enough to support life, life plasma is usually carried from life laboratories of the local universe headquarters spheres and placed on the planet. This task is performed by Life Carriers, an order of local universe sons of God, who carry life to, and foster it on, the planets. On Urantia (Earth) it was a little different.

"That we are called Life Carriers should not confuse you. We can and do carry life to the planets, but we brought no life to Urantia. Urantia life is unique, original with the planet. This sphere is a life-modification world; all life appearing hereon was formulated by us right here on the planet; and there is no other world in all Satania, even in all Nebadon, that has a life existence just like that of Urantia." 667§5 [Satania is the name of our local system, and Nebadon is the name of our local universe.]

The life plasma is "programmed" in accordance with divine plans. Part of this programming is that only one "will creature" or human is created on any one planet.

On our planet, the life plasma evolved into the plant and animal kingdoms, and evolution on our planet is much as our scientists have deduced, except for God's role in it. And, until maybe recently, our scientists have not deduced that evolution can sometimes proceed by leaps or steps, rather than always being slow and steady:

"... you will not be able to find such connecting links between the great divisions of the animal kingdom nor between the highest of the prehuman animal types and the dawn men of the human races. These so-called ‘missing links’ will forever remain missing, for the simple reason that they never existed.

From era to era radically new species of animal life arise. They do not evolve as the result of the gradual accumulation of small variations; they appear as full-fledged and new orders of life, and they appear suddenly.

The sudden appearance of new species and diversified orders of living organisms is wholly biologic, strictly natural. There is nothing supernatural connected with these genetic mutations." 669§3

On Urantia, the first two humans were a brother and sister, who were an evolutionary jump ahead of the primates who had parented them.

It is interesting to note that the religionists and the scientists on our planet are both right, partly, in the controversy about creationism versus evolution.

Not only does The Urantia Book reveal factual information to us, it can also challenge us. For example:

"But the moment you lose sight of the spirit sovereignty of God the Father, some one religion will begin to assert its superiority over other religions; and then, instead of peace on earth and good will among men, there will start dissensions, recriminations, even religious wars, at least wars among religionists." 1487§5

An Introduction to The Urantia Book: Index >>

Religion

The Urantia Book discusses different types of religion, and the evolution of religion.

Humans have a tendency to worship. This leads to evolutionary religion across the world in primitive humans. These primitive religions are usually fear based. There also is revealed religion, from personal religious experience, and from truth about the Creator and Creation revealed to humans from time to time, to advance civilization. The life and teachings of Jesus are such a religious revelation, and so is The Urantia Book. In society, religion tends to become ordered and established.

While the religions of the world have a double origin―natural and revelatory―at any one time and among any one people there are to be found three distinct forms of religious devotion. And these three manifestations of the religious urge are [emphasis by UMS]:

Primitive religion. The seminatural and instinctive urge to fear mysterious energies and worship superior forces, chiefly a religion of the physical nature, the religion of fear.
The religion of civilization. The advancing religious concepts and practices of the civilizing races-the religion of the mind-the intellectual theology of the authority of established religious tradition.
True religion-the religion of revelation. The revelation of supernatural values, a partial insight into eternal realities, a glimpse of the goodness and beauty of the infinite character of the Father in heaven―the religion of the spirit as demonstrated in human experience. 1728§4

The barbarous idea of appeasing an angry God, of propitiating an offended Lord, of winning the favor of Deity through sacrifices and penance and even by the shedding of blood, represents a religion wholly puerile and primitive, a philosophy unworthy of an enlightened age of science and truth. Such beliefs are utterly repulsive to the celestial beings and the divine rulers who serve and reign in the universes. It is an affront to God to believe, hold, or teach that innocent blood must be shed in order to win his favor or to divert the fictitious divine wrath. 60§3

While the religion of authority may impart a present feeling of settled security, you pay for such a transient satisfaction the price of the loss of your spiritual freedom and religious liberty. My Father does not require of you as the price of entering the kingdom of heaven that you should force yourself to subscribe to a belief in things which are spiritually repugnant, unholy, and untruthful. It is not required of you that your own sense of mercy, justice, and truth should be outraged by submission to an outworn system of religious forms and ceremonies. The religion of the spirit leaves you forever free to follow the truth wherever the leadings of the spirit may take you. And who can judge perhaps this spirit may have something to impart to this generation which other generations have refused to hear? 1731§3 [Jesus speaking, as quoted in The Urantia Book.]

The religions of authority can only divide men and set them in conscientious array against each other; the religion of the spirit will progressively draw men together and cause them to become understandingly sympathetic with one another. 1732§2 [Jesus speaking, as quoted in The Urantia Book.]

An Introduction to The Urantia Book: Index >>

Prayer And Worship

"As prayer may be likened to recharging the spiritual batteries of the soul, so worship may be compared to the act of tuning in the soul to catch the universe broadcasts of the infinite spirit of the Universal Father." 1621§7

"Worship is for its own sake; prayer embodies a self or creature interest element; that is the great difference between worship and prayer. ... We do not worship the Father because of anything we may derive from such veneration; we render such devotion and engage in such worship as a natural and spontaneous reaction to the recognition of the Father's matchless personality and because of his lovable nature and adorable attributes." 65§5

"...while in true praying it is the sincere and trusting communication of the spiritual nature of the creature with the anywhere presence of the spirit of the Creator." 1001§5

"Words are irrelevant to prayer ... God answers the soul’s attitude, not the words." 1002§4

"...prayer is not a process of getting your way but rather a program of taking God's way, an experience of learning how to recognize and execute the Father's will..." 1946§2

An Introduction to The Urantia Book: Index >>

Undiscovered Energy

The Urantia Book makes various references to realities not yet discovered here on Earth (as of about 1935.)

"Light, heat, electricity, magnetism, chemism, energy, and matter are―in origin, nature, and destiny-one and the same thing, together with other material realities as yet undiscovered on Urantia." 472§2

"The mesotron explains certain cohesive properties of the atomic nucleus, but it does not account for the cohesion of proton to proton nor for the adhesion of neutron to neutron. The paradoxical and powerful force of atomic cohesive integrity is a form of energy as yet undiscovered on Urantia." 479§4

"There is innate in matter and present in universal space a form of energy not known on Urantia. When this discovery is finally made, then will physicists feel that they have solved, almost at least, the mystery of matter. And so will they have approached one step nearer the Creator; so will they have mastered one more phase of the divine technique; but in no sense will they have found God, neither will they have established the existence of matter or the operation of natural laws apart from the cosmic technique of Paradise and the motivating purpose of the Universal Father." 467§5

An Introduction to The Urantia Book: Index >>

The Smallest Particles

"Matter―energy―for they are but diverse manifestations of the same cosmic reality, as a universe phenomenon is inherent in the Universal Father. "In him all things consist." Matter may appear to manifest inherent energy and to exhibit self-contained powers, but the lines of gravity involved in the energies concerned in all these physical phenomena are derived from, and are dependent on, Paradise. The ultimaton, the first measurable form of energy, has Paradise as its nucleus." 467§4 Ultimatons are"... the basic units of materialized energy ..." 473§1, and ultimatonic matter is "...the prime physical units of material existence, the energy particles which go to make up electrons.?" 471§9

An Introduction to The Urantia Book: Index >>

Suggestions For Living

"The spirit world is governed on the principle of respecting your freewill choice provided the course you may choose is not detrimental to you or injurious to your fellows." 552§4

A display of specialized skill does not signify possession of spiritual capacity. Cleverness is not a substitute for true character.
Few persons live up to the faith, which they really have. Unreasoned fear is a master intellectual fraud practiced upon the evolving mortal soul.
Inherent capacities cannot be exceeded; a pint can never hold a quart. The spirit concept cannot be mechanically forced into the material memory mold.
Few mortals ever dare to draw anything like the sum of personality credits established by the combined ministries of nature and grace. The majority of impoverished souls are truly rich, but they refuse to believe it. ...

The weak indulge in resolutions, but the strong act. Life is but a day's work―do it well. The act is ours; the consequences God's.
The greatest affliction of the cosmos is never to have been afflicted. Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation. ...

Anxiety must be abandoned. The disappointments hardest to bear are those which never come. ...

The evolving soul is not made divine by what it does, but by what it strives to do...

The argumentative defense of any proposition is inversely proportional to the truth contained.
556§3 [From a list with some items deleted for brevity.]

"Everything nonspiritual in human experience, excepting personality, is a means to an end. Every true relationship of mortal man with other persons―human or divine―is an end in itself. And such fellowship with the personality of Deity is the eternal goal of universe ascension." 1228§3

"Let man enjoy himself; let the human race find pleasure in a thousand and one ways; let evolutionary mankind explore all forms of legitimate self-gratification, the fruits of the long upward biologic struggle. Man has well earned some of his present day joys and pleasures. But look you well to the goal of destiny! Pleasures are indeed suicidal if they succeed in destroying property, which has become the institution of self-maintenance; and self-gratifications have indeed cost a fatal price if they bring about the collapse of marriage, the decadence of family life, and the destruction of the home―man's supreme evolutionary acquirement and civilization's only hope of survival." 943§1

"The normal urges of animal beings and the natural appetites and impulses of the physical nature are not in conflict with even the highest spiritual attainment except in the minds of ignorant, mistaught, or unfortunately overconscientious persons." 383§1

"In every mortal there exists a dual nature: the inheritance of animal tendencies and the high urge of spirit endowment. During the short life you live on Urantia, these two diverse and opposing urges can seldom be fully reconciled; they can hardly be harmonized and unified; but throughout your lifetime the combined spirit ever ministers to assist you in subjecting the flesh more and more to the leading of the spirit. Even though you must live your material life through, even though you cannot escape the body and its necessities, nonetheless, in purpose and ideals you are empowered increasingly to subject the animal nature to the mastery of the spirit. There truly exists within you a conspiracy of spiritual forces, a confederation of divine powers, whose exclusive purpose is to effect your final deliverance from material bondage and finite handicaps." 381§3

The following are portions of a discourse on the art of living by Rodan of Alexander, as presented in The Urantia Book:

Mutual self-expression and self-understanding. Many noble human impulses die because there is no one to hear their expression. Truly, it is not good for man to be alone. Some degree of recognition and a certain amount of appreciation are essential to the development of human character. Without the genuine love of a home, no child can achieve the full development of normal character. Character is something more than mere mind and morals. Of all social relations calculated to develop character, the most effective and ideal is the affectionate and understanding friendship of man and woman in the mutual embrace of intelligent wedlock...
Union of souls - the mobilization of wisdom... Fear, envy, and conceit can be prevented only by intimate contact with other minds...
The enthusiasm for living. Isolation tends to exhaust the energy charge of the soul. Association with one's fellows is essential to the renewal of the zest for life and is indispensable to the maintenance of the courage to fight those battles consequent upon the ascent to the higher levels of human living. Friendship enhances the joys and glorifies the triumphs of life. Loving and intimate human associations tend to rob suffering of its sorrow and hardship of much of its bitterness. The presence of a friend enhances all beauty and exalts every goodness...
The enhanced defense against all evil. Personality association and mutual affection is an efficient insurance against evil. Difficulties, sorrow, disappointment, and defeat are more painful and disheartening when borne alone. ... Man languishes in isolation. Human beings unfailingly become discouraged when they view only the transitory transactions of time. The present, when divorced from the past and the future, becomes exasperatingly trivial. Only a glimpse of the circle of eternity can inspire man to do his best and can challenge the best in him to do its utmost. And when man is thus at his best, he lives most unselfishly for the good of others, his fellow sojourners in time and eternity.
1775§6

An Introduction to The Urantia Book: Index >>

Spiritual Ministries To Humans

There are ministries provided to help you. The various spiritual ministries come from various attributes of God, and these are unified, co-ordinated.

"There are many spiritual influences, and they are all as one." 95§7

Some ministries to humans are portrayed below, and there are a few others as well.

The Thought Adjuster or Mystery Monitor: At the time of a person's first moral choice, currently at about age 5 years and 10 months on the average, the Heavenly Creator gives a fragment of himself to indwell that person's mind, and this is currently true for every normal minded human on the planet. This indwelling fragment of God, called the "Thought Adjuster" or "Mystery Monitor," continually works with you to lead you Godward. You might say that from about age 5 years and 10 months, God has been with you, superconsciously perhaps, letting you know the divine will.

"Thus they [the Thought Adjusters] begin work with a definite and predetermined plan for the intellectual and spiritual development of their human subjects, but it is not incumbent upon any human being to accept this plan. You are all subjects of predestination, but it is not foreordained that you must accept this divine predestination; you are at full liberty to reject any part or all of the Thought Adjusters' program... The Adjusters respect your sovereignty of personality; they are always subservient to your will." 1204§5

"It is the indwelling Adjuster who individualizes the love of God to each human soul." 40§2

"The infinity of the perfection of God is such that it eternally constitutes him mystery... the divine presence in the mind of man is the mystery of mysteries." 26§3

The Holy Spirit: The local universe Mother Spirit or Divine Minister, who is a daughter of the Paradise Infinite Spirit, has her own ministering Spirit, the Holy Spirit.

"The presence of the universal spirit of the Eternal Son we know―we can unmistakably recognize it. The presence of the Infinite Spirit the Third Person of Deity, even mortal man may know, for material creatures can actually experience the beneficence of this divine influence which functions as the Holy Spirit of local universe bestowal upon the races of mankind. Human beings can also in some degree become conscious of the Adjuster, the impersonal presence of the Universal Father. These divine spirits which work for man's uplifting and spiritualization all act in unison and in perfect cooperation. They are as one in the spiritual operation of the plans of mortal ascension and perfection attainment." 100§7

Christ and The Spirit of Truth: Our local universe Creator Son (Christ) is personally accessible "...Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if any man will open, I will come in." 1765§4. The Creator Son has also bestowed the Spirit of Truth onto the planet.

"Do not overlook the fact that the Spirit of Truth was bestowed upon all sincere believers; this gift of the spirit did not come only to the apostles. The one hundred and twenty men and women assembled in the upper chamber [at the time of Pentecost] all received the new teacher, as did all the honest of heart throughout the whole world. This new teacher was bestowed upon mankind, and every soul received him in accordance with the love for truth and the capacity to grasp and comprehend spiritual realities. At last, true religion is delivered from the custody of priests and all sacred classes and finds its real manifestation in the individual souls of men." 2063§4

"... the Spirit of Truth, who directs the loving contact of one human being with another." 1950§6

"...Spirit of Truth... in every crisis of ascension unfailingly directing the Paradise pilgrim, ever saying: "This is the way..." 1286p7

Angels: There are many types of angels, and they have many functions.

"Angels do not have material bodies, but they are definite and discrete beings; they are of spirit nature and origin. Though invisible to mortals, they perceive you as you are in the flesh without the aid of transformers or translators; they intellectually understand the mode of mortal life, and they share all of man's nonsensuous emotions and sentiments. They appreciate and greatly enjoy your efforts in music, art, and real humor. They are fully cognizant of your moral struggles and spiritual difficulties. They love human beings, and only good can result from your efforts to understand and love them." 419§1

"Angels are superior to you in spiritual status, but they are not your judges or accusers." 419§4 "You do well to love them, but you should not adore them; angels are not objects of worship." 419§5 "The human race was created just a little lower than the more simple types of the angelic orders." 1248§3

"Angels do not invade the sanctity of the human mind; they do not manipulate the will of mortals; neither do they directly contact with the indwelling Adjusters. The guardian of destiny influences you in every possible manner consistent with the dignity of your personality; under no circumstances do these angels interfere with the free action of the human will. Neither angels nor any other order of universe personality have power or authority to curtail or abridge the prerogatives of human choosing." 1245§7

"Seraphim function as teachers of men by guiding the footsteps of the human personality into paths of new and progressive experiences. To accept the guidance of a seraphim rarely means attaining a life of ease. In following this leading you are sure to encounter, and if you have the courage, to traverse, the rugged hills of moral choosing and spiritual progress." 1245§3

An Introduction to The Urantia Book: Index >>

Life After Death

In your material body, your are experiencing your first life on your planet of nativity, Urantia (Earth). Here you formulate choices (consciously or unconsciously) with or away from God that will determine continuation of your life after physical death. The divine Mystery Monitor, a fragment of God, your Thought Adjuster, dwells within you. Consciously or unconsciously you are choosing with or away from God. The indwelling God is working with you to lead you Godward. God has attributes like love, understanding, truth, beauty, goodness, compassion, mercy, power, service, progress, etc. If you choose to co-operate with God, one way or another, consciously or unconsciously, or if you are still even capable of recognizing God, your life continues after your physical death.

Every time you make choices in cooperation with God, you are creating your soul. Your soul is real, but not either spiritual or material. It is "morontial," between the material and spiritual.

"Morontia is a term designating a vast level intervening between the material and the spiritual. It may designate personal or impersonal realities, living or nonliving energies. The warp of morontia is spiritual; its woof is physical." 9§2

Your soul and personality are the "you" that survives physical death. You are reborn in morontia form on one of the "mansion worlds," which are some of the architectural (directly created, not evolutionary) headquarters worlds of our local system, Satania.

"...the real and conscious reassembly of actual and complete personality takes place in the resurrection halls of mansonia [mansion world] number one. Throughout all eternity you will recall the profound memory impressions of your first witnessing of these resurrection mornings.

From the resurrection halls you proceed to the Melchizedek sector, where you are assigned permanent residence. Then you enter upon ten days of personal liberty. You are free to explore the immediate vicinity of your new home and to familiarize yourself with the program which lies immediately ahead. You also have time to gratify your desire to consult the registry and call upon your loved ones and other earth friends who may have preceded you to these worlds. At the end of your ten-day period of leisure you begin the second step in the Paradise journey, for the mansion worlds are actual training spheres, not merely detention planets." 533§3

"On mansion world number one (or another in case of advanced status) you will resume your intellectual training and spiritual development at the exact level whereon they were interrupted by death. Between the time of planetary death or translation and resurrection on the mansion world, mortal man gains absolutely nothing aside from experiencing the fact of survival. You begin over there right where you leave off down here.

Almost the entire experience of mansion world number one pertains to deficiency ministry. Survivors arriving on this first of the detention spheres present so many and such varied defects of creature character and deficiencies of mortal experience that the major activities of the realm are occupied with the correction and cure of these manifold legacies of the life in the flesh on the material evolutionary worlds of time and space." 533§5

It is possible to choose away from God. And I imagine this means choosing things like hate, deceit, egotism, ugliness, pride, resentment, bigotry, badness, disservice and disloyalty to others, and rejection of the leadings of God within.

You choose, you are not coerced. You are fairly adjudicated by high-order superuniverse beings called Ancients of Days.

The personalities of those who have chosen to reject God, to the point where they are judged to have no survival value, are undone; they are made as if they never were. Certain attributes of them become part of God the Supreme, which is an evolutionary attribute of God. God is not vindictive; those who choose away are not punished eternally.

Those who have survival value progress and ascend upward and inward through the universe of universes, to eventually "sit at the right hand of the Father," before going back out to do service in the universes, as an order of beings called finaliters.

"As to the chances of mortal survival, let it be made forever clear: All souls of every possible phase of mortal existence will survive provided they manifest willingness to co-operate with their indwelling Adjusters and exhibit a desire to find God and to attain divine perfection, even though these desires be but the first faint flickers of the primitive comprehension of that "true light which lights every man who comes into the world." 447§4

"If ever there is doubt as to the advisability of advancing a human identity to the mansion worlds, the universe governments invariably rule in the personal interests of that individual; they unhesitatingly advance such a soul to the status of a transitional being, while they continue their observations of the emerging morontia intent and spiritual purpose. Thus divine justice is certain of achievement, and divine mercy is accorded further opportunity for extending its ministry." 1233§3

"Mortal man may draw near God and may repeatedly forsake the divine will so long as the power of choice remains. Man's final doom is not sealed until he has lost the power to choose the Father's will. There is never a closure of the Father's heart to the need and the petition of his children. Only do his offspring close their hearts forever to the Father's drawing power when they finally and forever lose the desire to do his divine will―to know him and to be like him." 64§2

"Of all the dangers which beset man's mortal nature and jeopardize his spiritual integrity, pride is the greatest. Courage is valorous, but egotism is vainglorious and suicidal. Reasonable self-confidence is not to be deplored. Man's ability to transcend himself is the one thing which distinguishes him from the animal kingdom.

Pride is deceitful, intoxicating, and sin-breeding whether found in an individual, a group, a race, or a nation. It is literally true, "Pride goes before a fall." 1223§1

"Salvation should be taken for granted by those who believe in the fatherhood of God. The believer's chief concern should not be the selfish desire for personal salvation but rather the unselfish urge to love and, therefore, serve one's fellows even as Jesus loved and served mortal men." 2017§4

An Introduction to The Urantia Book: Index >>

Conclusions On The Urantia Book

I am a believer in The Urantia Book. To me, it makes many things in life make sense. I grew up non-religious in a non-religious family, yet I had an attraction to "doing good." Then, I became attracted to 'magic' attributes of life like synchronicity (coincidences that are more than coincidental), still with the intuition that I wanted to be a "good person." I concluded that there was an inexplicable, seemingly magic, good side to life (serendipity), that scientists couldn't grasp. Finally, I was attracted to The Urantia Book. I found it consistent, intelligent, and coherent. Through it, I came to the realization that God is real, and is love and spirit.

To me, it is very helpful to have "the straight story." I can now see that my early life attractions to being a "good person" can be in good part attributed to the indwelling fragment of God at work, and that meaningful, more-than-coincidental "chance" meetings with people can be attributed to the work of the Angels. I also like the big picture The Urantia Book gives me, such as the concept of religions of authority as contrasted with religion based on personal experience, described above, or the concept that the Creator is not a vengeful, wrathful Diety (which agrees with my experience).

I believe The Urantia Book to be what it says it is, a true revelation about the Creator and Creation. I am also aware that there is no way to prove the existence or love of God to anyone; one has to come to like or love God through their own personal perception and experience. God bless everyone.

An Introduction to The Urantia Book: Index >>

Bibliography

No Author Indicated (1955)
The Urantia Book. The Urantia Foundation; Chicago, Illinois.

Bedell, Clyde (1986)
Concordex of The Urantia Book. Good Cheer Press, P.O. Box 18764, Boulder, CO 80308. If Good Cheer Press is no longer available, try Morning Star Foundation, P.O. Box 9343, Green Bay, WI 54308‐9343.

Bradley, D. R. ( 2002)
An Introduction to the Urantia Revelation. White Egret Publications, 251 F Street, Arcata, California 95521

Web Sites

The Urantia Fellowship: http://urantiabook.org/
The Urantia Foundation: http://www.urantia.org/
An Introduction to the Urantia Revelation: http://www.reninet.com/drb/

An Introduction to The Urantia Book: Index >>

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Urantia Book

Introduction

Written by David Bradley

Examples Of Urantia Book Content

The Creator And Cosmology

Religion

Prayer And Worship

Undiscovered Energy

The Smallest Particles

Suggestions For Living

Spiritual Ministries To Humans

Life After Death

Other Topics In The Urantia Book

Conclusions On The Urantia Book

Bibliography

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