Urantia book

The Urantia Book, also known as The Urantia Papers or The Fifth Revelation is a spiritual, theological and philosophical literary work about God, man, religion, philosophy and destiny. It was written between 1922 and 1939 and first published in the United States in 1955; the text indicates that it has been written directly by celestial creatures —who occasionally speak in the first person at the end of some documents— using a sleeping human being as a mode of contact. There are controversies about its content and interpretation, while for some it is a spiritual revelation and philosophical work, for others it is no more than science fiction. A distinctive feature of the Urantia Book is that there is no official interpretation of its content, there is no organization that defines Urantia orthodoxy, each reader must interpret it according to their good judgement.

Origin

The word Urantia originates from the Urantia Book, and is the name given to planet Earth in it. Urantiano is thus synonymous with terrestrial. Sometimes this term is used to refer to a reader of the book or to a movement inspired by it.

The Urantia Book was published without the name of a human author. According to Urantia Foundation in the early 1920s, Dr. William Sadler coordinated a forum that "as time passed became a cosmopolitan gathering consisting of professional men and women—doctors, lawyers, dentists, ministers, teachers—along with with individuals of all stripes—farmers, housewives, secretaries, clerks, and common laborers,” this forum spawned the contact committee that received the Urantia Papers.

The Urantia Foundation, formed from that forum, first published The Urantia Book in 1955 in the United States and in English; the book has since been translated into Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and translations into Chinese, Czech, Esperanto and are underway, Persian, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, and Urdu. In a 2001 court ruling, upheld on appeal in 2003, the Foundation lost copyright to the English edition so the text of the original edition is Since then, in the public domain. Complete copies of the book are available free of charge on the Internet in digital format, in all languages whose translations have already been completed. The publication, translation and defense of the copyright of the translations still corresponds to the Foundation Urantia based in Chicago (Illinois, United States).

Unlike all other translations, the 1993 Spanish translation was done by a New York City translation company that did business translations. The product of that translation is a text that is difficult to read, with unnatural syntax, and black pearls like "15" instead of "15." In 1999 it was reissued with part IV fully retranslated and with the other three parts retouched to avoid notorious translation errors. In 2009 the European Spanish edition was published, fully retranslated from the original in English.

The original English text is considered the authoritative text, translations include a statement that reads: “Since The Urantia Book is the product of human effort and therefore imperfect, the English text should be consulted in case of doubt. Urantia Foundation may decide to refine and improve this translation in subsequent editions." Urantia Foundation has a team working since 2011 to finalize a synthesis of the two current translations of The Urantia Book, the publication of which it is scheduled for 2021. There is currently at least one independent Urantia Foundation blog discussing flaws in current translations.

Today, Urantia Association International (UIA) and Urantia Fellowship are dedicated to coordinating reader groups around the world. Urantia Fellowship has always operated independently of Urantia Foundation but the AIU was dependent on it until 2004 and today defines itself as interdependent of Urantia Foundation. None of these organizations, nor Urantia Association International or Urantia Fellowship, nor Urantia Foundation, makes any interpretation of the text, they limit themselves only to to coordinate and promote groups of readers, the former, and to translate, distribute, and ensure the integrity of the text, the latter.

Revelation

The Urantia Book claims to be a celestial revelation, more precisely the fifth epoch-making revelation in the history of the planet. According to his story, the revelations that marked an epoch in planetary evolution are the following:

• The first revelationIt was half a million years ago, after the appearance of the six races of color, when the Planetary Prince Caligastia founded a city in the middle of the east—called Dalamatia—for the purpose of helping to convert the man of hunter to the fire. For three hundred thousand years it worked perfectly but with the Lucifer rebellion and Caligastia's commitment to its cause the plan was interrupted and many of the social advances achieved were reversed by the subsequent confusion.
• The second revelationIt took place thirty-seven thousand years ago when Adam and Eve came to Urantia and settled in an area called Eden, with the mission of improving the genetic quality of the human races through the crossing of them with their progeny. This did not come true because one hundred and seventeen years after his arrival Eve fell into the mistake of procreating with a human, contravening the divine indication that only his progeny could proceed in that way once he had reached the million individuals. This error of Eve, and Adam's unconditional decision to accompany his consort in any fate that corresponded to him by his error, caused both to lose their status of immortality and that four centuries after the fault they died of old age.
• The third revelationIt was made by Machiventa Melchizeddec who appeared in Palestine about four thousand years ago for the purpose of keeping monotheism alive because he went in frank retreat all over the planet and agreed with Abraham that if he and his offspring kept the faith in a monotheistic god, a high envoy would be born from his people.
• The fourth revelationJesus made it of Nazareth with the dual purpose of revealing the personality of God to man—acting on every occasion as God himself would have acted to have been here—and to reveal to the universe the personality of a consecrated human creature to fulfill the will of God.
• The fifth revelation It's him. Urantia Book

Content

Overview

The book is divided into a prologue and four parts:

• Prologue

Detailed description of the terms and concepts that will be used throughout the book; some concepts are redefined in a very specific way to specify the meaning they will have throughout the book —eg. God: Personal manifestation of the deity; Divinity: Measure of the similarity with the deity; Deity: Creator and sustaining Entity of the universe—, others need a complete definition because they originate from the Urantia Book —eg: Absonite, Trioity, Majeston, etc.—

• Part One: The Central Universe and the Superuniverses

This first part describes the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit, the Paradise Trinity, the Paradise Island, the highest personalities of the universe administration, the central universe of Havona and the superuniverses, the orders of ministering spirits—the seraphic hosts of the Central Universe and the Superuniverses—and the Corps of the Finality, among other topics.

• Part Two: The Local Universe

Describes the formation and creation of the local universe, the Sons of God of the Local Universes, the Mother Spirit of the Local Universe, the implantation of life —the Life Carriers—, the seraphic hosts of the Local Universes, the Adams and planetary Eves, the inhabited worlds, the planetary epochs, the rebellion of Lucifer and the universal Unity, among other topics.

• Part Three: The History of Urantia

Describes the history of planet earth from before the formation of the solar system to the time of Jesus of Nazareth, including a geological, sociological, and cultural analysis of evolution. Some titles are: The Origin of Urantia, The Establishment of Life on Urantia, The First Human Family, The Evolutionary Colored Races, The Overcontrol of Evolution, The Planetary Rebellion, Primitive Human Institutions, The Development of the State, The Lack of Adam and Eve, Creatures in Between, The Evolution of Marriage, The Origins of Worship, The Evolution of the Concept of God Among the Hebrews, Deity and Reality, The Origin and Nature of Thought Adjusters, The Survival of personality and The Supreme Being, among others.

• Part Four: The Life and Teachings of Jesus

A complete and detailed account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth and his teachings, from before he was born to after he died, year by year. This story occupies a third of the total pages of the book, the three previous parts make up the conceptual framework where the life of Jesus must be interpreted. Includes titles such as: The Birth and Childhood of Jesus, The Teenage Years, The Transition Years, John the Baptist, Baptism and the Forty Days, The Twelve Apostles, Mount Transfiguration, The Raising of Lazarus, The betrayal and arrest of Jesus, the crucifixion, the period in the tomb, the resurrection, the morontia appearances of Jesus, the advent of the Spirit of Truth and the faith of Jesus, among others.

Theological and cosmological content

The Urantia Book declares the existence of a triune, personal, self-conscious, and volitional God who is creator and sustainer of the Universe and is motivated—in relationship with his creatures—primarily by Love He defines Love as the desire to do good to others. He declares that as far as the creatures of the universe are concerned, God is, above all, a Father.

Although it has similarities with Christianity, it is neither an extension nor a division of it. It presents a new perspective of the dogmas of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, and describes a universal-minded personality coordinated with the divinity of Jesus: the Creative Spirit of the Local Universe —which can be equated to a mother in terms of spiritual—; but it denies Christian dogmas such as the virginity of Mary, the doctrine of original sin, atonement, hell, the purgatory and the resurrection of the flesh, although he offers explanations for these theological positions.

Describes the master universe as centered on the Eternal Isle of Paradise, the focal point and eternal abode of the deity. It reports on the existence of a central universe, called Havona, which surrounds the Isle of Paradise made up of a billion worlds organized into seven concentric levels. Both Paradise and Havona are described as co-eternal with the deity, as are all the native inhabitants of that central universe.

Seven supercreations of time and space revolve around this central universe, the seven Superuniverses in the process of creation and evolution. Each superuniverse is organized into ten major sectors, each major sector into one hundred minor sectors, each minor sector into one hundred local universes, each local universe into one hundred constellations, each constellation into a thousand local systems, and each system in turn is made up of up to a thousand planets. inhabited. According to this description, Urantia is the planet 606 of the system of Satania in the constellation of Norlatiadek of the local universe of Nebadon; Nebadon is a local universe from the minor sector of Ensa in the major sector Splandon in the seventh superuniverse, Orvonton.

The seven superuniverses were each created in the image of one of the possible combinations of the three persons of Godhead: Father, Son, Spirit, Father-Son, Father-Spirit, Son-Spirit, and Father-Son- Spirit and in each one one of the seven purposes of the deity is developed primarily. Beyond the seven superuniverses are the outer space levels where matter is accumulating and organizing but where there is as yet no life. Each level is notoriously greater than the previous one in extension and potentiality of contained matter.

The elevation and spiritualization of the material creature to the level of paradisiacal perfection, through an intermediate level called morontia, is the primary purpose of the Orvonton superuniverse and is the central theme of the Urantia Revelation.

The Urantia Book maintains that every human being on this planet whose mind is normal—that is, capable of moral decision—and has reached the age of six, is inhabited by a qualified absolute fragment of the Universal Father. God himself resides in the mind of each person sharing and experiencing all their emotions, thoughts, feelings, joys, sadness, fears and anxieties with the goal of functioning as an inspiring guide of the personality, but it acts only when the creature —using its free will— seeks that guide. This resident fragment makes a copy of every experience that is of spiritual value and preserves it to be an integral part of the creature upon awakening after physical death.

Defines sin as the conscious and willful opposition to the will of the Father, the conscious and deliberate will to do evil to other personal creatures as opposed to the wishes of the Universal Father for a kingdom spiritual of good; and he makes constant references to our search for truth in carrying out God's will. It indicates that the remission of sins must be understood as the restoration of loyal relations between the creature and its creator.

The Urantia Book portends a very long path of perfection and spiritualization to transform the material creature into an exalted spirit: more than five hundred dimensions of morontia evolution and more than a billion scales in the universe. spiritual path before reaching the Father.

Includes topics such as history, sociology, paleontology, archaeology, evolution and many others that make up the overall conceptual framework of the book. It holds the existence of a vast universal organization created in large part to further the evolution of material creatures to the level of Paradise perfection, basing that evolution on the creature's personal experience.

Outlines of Urantia Cosmology

Jerusem, the capital of the Satania system.		Edentia, capital of the constellation of Norlatiadek.			Salvington, capital of the local universe of Nebadon.
Umenor the 3rd, capital of the small sector Ensa.		The 5th largest sector capital Splandón.			Uversa, capital of the superuniverse of Orvontón.
The stationary island of Paradise.		The Paradise-Havona system.			The grand universe and its administrative divisions.
Scheme of space "respiration".		The way of the ascending pilgrim.			Cross-section vertical section of the entire space.

Interfaith Dating

In the following paragraph, the sacred books of various religions are cited without mentioning them: Hinduism (Átharva-veda, Brijad-Araniaka, Upanishad, Bhagavata-purana, Bhagavad Gita, Vishnu Purana), Islam (Quran), Sikhism (Japji), Taoism (Tao-Te-King, Shi Jing), Zoroastrianism (Yasna) and Christianity (Bible).

“There is only one God, the infinite Father [1 Corinthians 8:6]who is also a faithful Creator [1 Peter 4:19]. The Divine Creator is also the Universal Computer [Atharva Veda 13.4.3,12,20]the source and destiny of souls [Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad 3.9.1,10]. He is the Supreme Soul [Bhagarata Purana 11.18.32]The Primordial Mind [Bhagavad Gita 10.12,13,1,16]and the Unlimited Spirit of All Creation [Vishnu Purana 1.1.35]. The Great Controller does not make mistakes [Shi Jing 3.3.3.12.8-10]. He shines in majesty and glory [Quran 57:3]. God the Creator is completely free of fear and enmity. It is immortal, eternal, existing by itself, divine and magnanimous [Japji, preamble]. How pure and beautiful, how deep and unfathomable is the excellent predecessor of all things! [Tao-Te-King 4.2.1] Infinite is more excellent so he imparts himself to men [Tao-Te-King 41,3]. It is the beginning and the end, the Father of every good and perfect purpose [Yasna 31.8]. With God all things are possible [Matt. 19:26]; the eternal Creator is the cause of causes [Vishnu Purana 1.1.35]. »

Urantia Foundation (ed. 1999). Urantia BookThe nature of God. United States. p. 34 §1. ISBN 978-1-883395-02-5

Symbol

Emblem of the Paradise Trinity

The signature symbol of Urantia Book readers consists of three concentric sky blue circles on a white background and is a registered trademark of Urantia Foundation in the United States. Urantia Foundation has published a policy on the use of the symbol that allows, among other things, its use at weddings, funerals, and worship services. The Foundation places this symbol on the cover of The Urantia Book and uses it to identify its publications. as well as other affiliated organizations.

The symbol arises from the same story of the Book, in it it is said that it is the emblem of the Trinity of Paradise, three concentric circles that represent the eternity, infinity and universality of the Trinity. It was used as a banner by the hosts loyal to the Universal Father at the time of the Lucifer rebellion and also by Machiventa Melchizedek as his insignia during the course of his ministry in the time of Abraham.

Criticism

There is an opinion that the Urantia Book has had a limited impact since its first publication in the 1950s. Furthermore, it has received criticism from various quarters, both theological and scientific.

Its best-known critic is Martin Gardner who published a book on the subject: "Urantia, Divine Revelation or Publishing Business?" where he exposes his research on the origins of the Book of Urantia. From the perspective of some readers, it is an unreliable criticism made with a notorious ignorance of the text in its entirety; there is an analysis of the weaknesses of this criticism carried out by David Carrera Ibáñez, following the structure of Gardner's book chapter by chapter. Other readers, however, found in Gardner's work the explanation for what they understand to be inaccuracies and falsehoods contained in the book, resulting in the abandonment of his study.

Criticism as “revealed” book

Martin Gardner has expressed the personal opinion that the Urantia Book has had very little influence to date, that it presents itself as a heavenly revelation while including concepts already expressed by other human authors, that it is not fully consistent with existing Christian principles and that it is excessively long and complex. In response, its adherents refer to the founding, public and legal document of the institution: the "Declaration of Trust for the Creation of Urantia Foundation", in order to confirm the purposes of the The Urantia Book related to with these criticisms and their focus on the long-term religious growth of individuals, rather than creating an institutionalized religion.

"2.1. PRINCIPAL OBJECT: The object by which this Foundation is created is the promotion, improvement and expansion among the peoples of the world of understanding and understanding of the cosmology and the relationship of the planet in which we live with the universe, of the genesis and the destiny of man and his relationship with God, and of the true teachings of Jesus Christ; and for the inculcation and promotion of the individual's understanding and appreciation of the so- »

Urantia Foundation, Declaration of Trust. (Referred on 03/07/2019)

Scientific criticism

Critics such as Martin Gardner see in the Urantia Book a clear reflection of the scientific postulates of the time it was written, some of which have been identified as incorrect by post-publication advances. These errors are considered proof that this book cannot be the work of superior beings but of human beings from the years 1920-1940.

Regarding this type of criticism, the Urantia Book states the following:

"The laws of revelation slow us down considerably because of the prohibition of imparting unearned or premature knowledge. Every cosmology presented as part of the revealed religion is meant to be overcome in a very short period. Therefore, future students of such revelation are tempted to rule out any element of genuine religious truth that may contain, because they discover errors in the face of the associated cosmologies that arise there. »

Urantia Foundation (ed. 1999).Urantia BookThe true nature of religion. United States. p. 1109 §2. ISBN 978-1-883395-02-5

These are some of the scientific statements in the Urantia Book that according to Martin Gardner have been dismissed as wrong by later science:

• The Urantia cosmology exposes a universe much older than that defined by current science (13,700 Ma). According to this work our part of the universe, Andronover's nebula, began to be created 875,000 Ma.

• The existence of an elemental particle called "ultimaton" is proposed. Each electron would be composed of 100 "ultimatons". This hypothetical particle is not included in modern physics theories and standard particle physics model

• The idea of evolution defended by The Urantia Book refers to a type of Darwinian evolutionism integrated with the theory of intelligent design, a form of creationism similar to that defended by Christian theologians.

• Them Life Carriers They would have implanted life 550 Ma. Rocks found in Isua's supracortical belt pose the existence of isotopian imbalances caused by photosynthetic activity 3,850 Ma.

• According to the Book there are ten planets in the Solar System. At present the number of planets—according to the redefinition of planet of the International Astronomic Union (IAU) of 2006—is eight, without including the ex-Pluto and other dwarf planets such as Eris, which is the largest of the dwarf planets.

• The Urantia Book affirms that the first human beings originated in the Indian subcontinent, when research proposes an African origin.

• According to Book Six multicoloured human races suddenly appeared in a generation and in one family, giving rise to brothers of different color (blue, yellow, red, green, orange and indigo) as they grew and whose descendants adopted the paternal colour. Later, Adam and Eve produced another described as the violet race. According to this story the yellow and red blue races are considered primary while the green, orange and indigo are secondary. Some of the original races are now modified by racial mixtures, while others disappeared for extinction and complete racial mixtures from which modern racial groups derive. The theories of current evolution and the knowledge provided by archaeology raise positions that differ with what is presented in this narrative

In response to these criticisms, followers of the Urantia Book adopt various attitudes: Some readers hope that in time all the statements contained in the Book will be proven true. true; others accept these errors and reject the use of the Book as a source of scientific knowledge.

On the other hand, some scientific advances produced between 1925 (supposed date of first writing) and 1955 (date of first edition) that do appear in the Book are presented by some of its followers as proof of its prophetic character, while skeptics maintain that these are fragments added during the long process of revision and editing.

Historical criticism

There are also criticisms of its historical inaccuracies. There is no direct evidence that a city of Nazareth existed in the I century, which is widely debated today due to the weakness of archaeological and historical evidence. Nor did a census for the entire Roman Empire occur in 8 BC. C., but only a partial census for Judea and Samaria in the year 6 d. C., when Quirinio was governor of Syria, once Archelaus was deposed and exiled, that is, ten years after the death of Herod the Great. The Roman censuses would not require population displacements since they were in the place of residence to calculate taxes from the patrimony, so the people of Galilee would have no reason to travel to a census that was only for Judea and Samaria, since Galilee was part of an autonomous tetrarchy, not a Roman province. The belief that Saint Joseph was a carpenter is the result of a translation error from the Greek "technón", which actually means builder or mason. The Jews did not use tables to eat, that type of furniture is anachronistic for a story that pretends to be from the I century d. C. There was never a city called "Judea" seven kilometers west of Jerusalem. The route to Jerusalem did not go over Mount Gilboa, but over the Roman road across the Jordan, or along the Mediterranean coast. Some priests from Ur could not visit Jesus, because that city had declined at the end of the Neo-Babylonian empire, so it no longer existed in the days of the Roman empire.

It is false that Jewish law forbade burial in a Jewish cemetery for those who died crucified. Indeed, in Jewish law women cannot participate in preparing the bodies of deceased men, so the Urantia Book only repeats what the canonical gospels say by presenting a group of women going to the tomb for that purpose on Sunday morning. The Jewish Sabbath does not end at midnight but at six in the afternoon of the same Saturday, so it would be unnecessary to have to wait until Sunday morning to prepare the body again. Regarding the latter, in Jewish law and culture it was aberrational to reopen a grave or intervene in an already buried corpse, so it would not have been acceptable to go to "finish preparing" the body that had already been buried. Jewish priests cannot approach a tomb to guard it because they would be ceremonially contaminated, and the temple guards were priests, and they would even less approach a tomb on Saturday and, even worse, in the middle of the Passover festival. Jewish law forbids embalming bodies which can only be washed with pure water. Etc.

Or his mention that there were supposedly two Jewish schools of thought in the I century B.C. C., that of Babylon and the Hellenists, who each of Jesus' parents supposedly followed, when such a division only came into existence after the Bar Kochba revolt in the II d. C. But he does not mention at all the schools of Hillel and Shamai that did exist.

The same with respect to the many dates of events in the life of Christ that appear mentioned according to the Gregorian Calendar, but if they are converted to the Hebrew calendar they constantly err when they claim to indicate days that, supposedly, would correspond to Jewish religious holidays. For example, on June 22 of the year 26 d. C. was not Saturday, but Monday. The 15th year of Tiberius Caesar's empire was not the year 26 AD. C., but the year 29, because the Romans did not count the years of imperial government since the emperor was associated with the government or adopted by the current emperor, but since the Roman Senate proclaimed them Caesar. Even so, the Urantia Book affirms that Christ was 31 years old when he was baptized, but at the same time it affirms that he was born in the year 7 B.C. C., which yields an age of 33 years at the time of his baptism, since 26 plus 7 does not equal 31.

And we cannot fail to mention the supposedly Jewish anachronisms and doctrinal accusations that lack foundation for the time and place of what is narrated. Jews do not believe in original sin, nor that all human beings are inherently evil from birth, nor do they believe in the figure of a Devil. In fact, in Isaiah chapter 14 the word “Lucifer” only appears as a translation in the Latin Vulgate, and in the original Hebrew the word hellel means the morning star, explicitly indicating the text that it refers to. only to the kings of Babylon, who indeed appear in reliefs with the star of the goddess Ishtar on their throne and head, as a banner and emblem. Therefore both beliefs are actually the result of Christian doctrinal elaborations of later centuries.

Thus the Urantia Book echoes the gospel narratives and ecclesiastical traditions in an arbitrary way, choosing which ones to believe and which ones not, but dishonestly presenting as historical memory its gnostic and new age version of the alleged facts.

Criticism for plagiarism

Regarding the human sources of the Urantia Book the book states the following:

"The successive planetary revelations of divine truth invariably contain the highest concepts that exist about spiritual values, as a part of the new and better coordination of planetary knowledge. Therefore, in order to present God and his associates of the universe, we have selected as the basis of these documents more than a thousand human concepts that represent the highest and most advanced planetary knowledge about spiritual values and universal meanings. When these human concepts, compiled between the mortals of the past and of the present who know God, are inappropriate to describe the truth as we have been commanded to reveal it, we will complete them without hesitation by resorting to our own higher knowledge about the reality and divinity of the Paradise Deities and the transcendent universe where they reside. »

Urantia Foundation (ed. 1999). Urantia BookForeword. United States. p. 17 §1. ISBN 978-1-883395-02-5

Although the Urantia Book itself acknowledges that it has reused “more than a thousand human concepts representing the highest and most advanced planetary knowledge about spiritual values and universal meanings” “collected among mortals of the past and present", does not cite the sources used. A reader of the Book , Matthew Block, published an article in which he tracked down sources for the work and managed to identify more than 125 scientific and scholarly publications of the time.

It should be noted, however, that the use of these materials is never done verbatim so no formal accusations of plagiarism have been raised against the Book. Its unknown authors almost always resort to paraphrasing, extensions or modifications of their sources. Several of its readers —among them Block himself— consider that this use of previous or contemporary texts does not deny the superhuman origin of the Book, some affirm that this capacity for choice and coordination of available human knowledge is a of the evidence that the book gives —in itself— of its superhuman origin.

Conversely, some of the works of the Navarro writer Juan José Benítez take content and inspiration from The Urantia Book. The plagiarism was revealed in the Interviú magazine in 1987 and led to the publication of a book explaining the details of the matter.