The Urantia Book: The Basics
 

We are not alone. The Universe is literally teeming with inhabited planets, evolving life, civilizations in various stages of development, celestial spheres, and spirit personalities.

We are not here by accident. The evolution of human beings on earth was planned. A glorious destiny of adventure, discovery and participation in the further evolution of the cosmos awaits each one of us.

A loving heavenly Father rules the universe by the power of his love. Our closeness and fellowship with God is limited only by our willingness and ability to open our inner life to his guidance and unconditional love. Anyone may choose to enjoy his presence in their lives.

Our little planet, Urantia, is poised on the brink of an enthralling epoch of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment -- the threshold of true civilization.

 

The Urantia Book: Contents

The Foreword -- Deity, Divinity, God, personality and the foundational relationships of the cosmos are described.

Part I: The Universe of Universes -- The nature of ultimate reality and the astronomical-cosmological organization of the universe is described. The relationship of the Paradise Trinity to universe personalities and realities is presented as the key to all events and phenomena. The Trinity, along with the Isle of Paradise -- the material and gravitational center of the universe -- is referred to as the source of all energy, matter, life and personality. An organized hierarchical universe is described which includes millions of inhabited planets in all stages of physical, mental, and spiritual evolution.

Part II: The Local Universe -- The divine plan for creating, developing, and governing local universes is detailed. The presence and ministry of Jesus is the central universe reality through which everything else finds meaning and purpose. Personality survival is determined by our free will decisions about our relationship with God, by our loyalty to truth, beauty, and goodness as these values are sincerely understood. In spite of this, error, evil, and sin remain difficult realities challenging each of us. Growth toward perfection is seen as the fundamental orientation to life. This growth is evolutionary, cumulative, and virtually endless. It is achieved through loyalty to God and unselfish service to our fellow creatures.

Part III: The History of Urantia -- A brief geophysical history of our planet sets the stage for an overview of our biological evolution. In addition, the development of civilization, culture, government, religion, the family, and other social institutions are described from the viewpoint of superhuman observers. The story is told in such a manner that the underlying archetypes of human religious civilization are revitalized, strengthening the foundations upon which further cultural development may take place. A description of human destiny is provided including a description of the worlds we will inhabit immediately following mortal death.

Part IV: The Life and Teachings of Jesus -- Seven hundred pages devoted to the life of Jesus make up the most spiritually compelling biography of Jesus anywhere in print.

The Urantia Book relates over 16 times as much information about Jesus' life and teachings than does the Bible. The literary depth of The Urantia Book clearly reveals and touchingly portrays his combined humanity and divinity.

Although the Urantia Papers have been in print for nearly fifty years, no formal religion has sprung from their teachings. The spiritual insights of the book are used by teachers, ministers, and lay persons of many faiths to enrich the highest values in their own traditions. Many individuals outside established religious institutions have developed rich, personal spiritual lives as a result of reading The Urantia Book. An international network of independent study groups continues to develop. Several translations exist and more are currently in progress.

The Urantia Book: Source

The Urantia Book is an anthology of 196 "papers" indited between 1928 and 1935 by superhuman personalities whose names are given with their respective papers in the book. The humans into whose hands the papers were delivered are now deceased. The means by which the papers were materialized was unique and is unknown to any living person.

Like all other sacred texts, the contents should not be evaluated by relying on claims of authorship or authority, but rather upon the "fruits of the spirit" which they produce. The new reader might explore the book as a fascinating piece of religious literature until such time as its spiritual quality authenticates its message and its source.