Customer Reviews
Read the Urantia book, judge it by its contents. - By: , 09 Apr 2001 
I'm nearing the end of a first reading of the Urantia book. While it's possible to raise all sorts of pros & cons, I feel it's never going to be possible at this distance to absolutely prove or disprove its provenance - only to make a personal judgement based on its content.
From my own perspective it feels like a homecoming following a lifetime of struggling to reconcile the many inconsistencies of individual behaviour, religions, society, work organisation, materialism, spirituality & so on - of holding off on beliefin anything very much because I could not square the inconsistencies. It's already irrevocably changed my life & my outlook.
I've read quite a lot on spiritual, religious & academic topics, but have never before encountered anything like it. It sets out a cosmology, a history of the earth & of evolution, &in this context tells the story of & the reason for the existence of humanity. It at the same time beautifully sets out how life can if we heed the advice of our own indwelling piece of God be lived as a journey of spiritual evolution & progress. It is a source of joy on the big questions of God, life, death, & life after death; but is at the same time very clear that we cannot survive either individually or as a race as non-spiritual materialists.
Far from rubbishing the Bible, the great religions, science, philosophy, sociology & the practical problems of faith & survival at the material level it manages through subtle reinterpretation of meanings & insights to show the role & central importance of each to the continuing evolution & development of the human race, while at the same time pointing out the pitfalls of adherence to absolute ideologies based on any of them.
For me it feels like truth - the internal consistency, the wisdom, the simplicity, the insight & the humanity are sublime.
At worst an incredibly benign conspiracy....at best?????? - By: , 20 Jan 2001 Sublime philosophy aboundsin this incredible tome.
Attemping to just 'read' & absorb this book would be the equivalent of attempting to stuff a sandwich seven miles highin your mouth. The centre of increasing speculation & debate- (As it should be) demonstratesin itself the potentially world-changing import this book possesses.
This book does not claim to be a religion unto itself, & only people broad-minded enough to get past the initial 'It's a cult' reaction will really benefit which is a shame. I am not a member of the foundation although I have been reading this for 4 years now.Detractors are fine & are neededin fact, although a lot of negativity levelled at this publication is inspired by ignorance & understandably a fear of cults & their horrendous impact on people's lives.
This book does NOT carry a disclaimer anywhere saying....NOW U HAVE READ THIS, U WILL GO TO HELL/NOT PROGRESS IF U DO NOT DO THIS/THAT/THE OTHER. THERE IS NO CHRIST-LIKE FIGURE, NO LEADERS.The foundation is a non-profit-making organisation. It is about taking the church out of the church into the worldin general. Many thingsin the book are too fantastic to believe. Why should they not be? We livein a fantastic world. The Urantia book can do no real harm to anybody, & everybody should read it.
One more point I feel I must make- the language & terms used throughout sound ridiculous & at first read, I laughed cynically.
In fact I found out these terms are used because there is no equivalentin English & so many are derived from Latin. As is indeed-'Urantia' itself. Anyway, I like it. It's a great happening waiting to happen.
If you are at all curious about our universe, get it! - By: , 08 Jul 1999 I purchased the softcover version about 5 months ago & have now read about two thirds of this enormous 2000 page work. This book is simply without parallel.
I remember thinking many years ago, 'Why do I have to wait until I die to find out the reasons for such & such...' Well I never did expect to get those questions answeredin this life. But then, I hadn't read the Urantia book.
This book has managed to appear to assimilate the best from the world religions & philosophies to form an incredibly cohesive cosmic worldview. In fact, the way the entire book holds together in its self consistency, profundity, sublime morality, & sheer original brilliance has convinced me that it mustin fact be a divine revelation, as it indeed purports itself to be. Indeed, after reading much of this book, the religions & philosophies of the world appear to be dilutions of the real thing.
Expect adequate answers to these questions, & more:
Who is God & what is He like? How does God 'interface' with our universe? How was the universe created, & why? How did biological life come into existence? Why is life progressing? What really is the detailed biologic & geologic history of earth? When did man appear, & what is his detailed history? What really makes man unique from other animals? How did the different races & cultures begin? What is involvedin 'mind' & 'spirit'? How can God livein us? How does God communicate with us? What are the nature & kinds of celestial intelligences? What really happened in the rebellion of certain celestial intelligences? Why are there so many religions? Why does God allow suffering & injustice? Is there life on other planets? What is earth's ultimate destiny? What is our destiny after death? Who will survive? How does Jesus really fit into all of this? What is my ultimate purpose here? How can I be happy & fulfilled?
I have spent so much time pondering these questions on my own. As a Christian, I have become personally convinced of many truths (like 'Jesus is Lord'), but still there remained questions that I felt even the bible was not really clear on.
Well, now I can spend less time pondering & more time living out amazing truths that I could not have 'pondered into'in a thousand years. This book truly is a gift, whether one agrees that it was from superhuman sources or not.
If you have a friend who is spiritually minded with lots of questions, give them this book as a gift. Even if they don't believe it for what it says it is, they will come away with insights that would have taken a lifetime to learn.
Without a doubt, the most important book in print today! - By: , 02 Jul 1999 .
Doubt its' source, question its' Truth, be sceptical, or even mock it, but read it. Cover to cover.
Merges the belief systems of humanity, no matter what one's background is: Jew, Christian, Doukhobor, Materialist, Athiest or Agnostic. See p 1130: "While your religion is a matter of personal experience, it is most important that you should be exposed to the knowledge of a vast number of other religious experineces to the end that you may prevent your religious life from becoming egocentric..."
You want simplicity? Buy a colouring book or read a romantic novel. Not that it is completely complicated, a good portion is elusive.
This book does not offer itself as complete, nor The final source. It is but a step along the path of eternal growthin knowledge. Be prepared to re-read it.
A few words of caution on the last 1/3 of the book. This section is about the intimate & personal experience of Jesus' life here on earth. It may provide a depth of insight about the way many people think that you had never expected, & you could wind up much more connected to everyone on earth!
After reading this book it will be easier to accept the lack of uniformity of thought among the people of earth, & easier also to see the spirit essense that binds us & makes all men equal.
The most enlightening spiritual book of our time!!! - By: , 22 Jun 1999 In my honest opinion, of all the religous, spiritual & new age books out there, this is positively the most comprehensive, engrossing, & all-encompasing book of our time. The Urantia Book will undoubtedly change humanity & your nature & style of living for the better! I would suggest starting with The Jesus Papers as that is the most treasured & familiar part of this book. This section of the book will make you fallin love with the Jesus you learned aboutin the Bible.
The beauty of this book is that it combines the nature of religion & science into REALITY. It does not pit science against religion or vice versa. It also does not directly contradict any religions. In fact it gives people a greater appreciation & understanding for whatever religion they may be in! In addtion to that, this book will give you an incredible understanding of the universe, where you are going, where you came from, & hundreds of other BIG questions that WILL be answered! This is the Fifth Revelation of God to Man. Many wish to the live life according to the Fourth revelation, the revelation of God Jesus taught 2000 years ago, & that is fine. For those who wish to degrade this book, that is mainly because they are comfortable & secure with the Bible, Koran, etc., & are not comfortable with change or dynamism. But for those of you who feel as though you need more, & are willing to broaden your perspective of the nature of God, Man, & your rolein the Universe, this book is the beginning of an enthralling, exciting, epic, & ever-lasting journey to ultimately find God & be like him!!!
There is only one book that tries to make a mockery of & debunk The Urantia Book. After completing the Urantia Book, read Martin Gardners book, Urantia: The Great Cult Mystery. After completing The Urantia Book you will realize that Mr Gardner describes ALL religions, Catholics, Mormons, Christians, & Muslims, as Cults & that he has spent very little time studying The Urantia Book, & spent very much time proving his ignorace by taking almost everything out of context, commiting hundreds of errorsin regards to science, & misqouting many passages. I myself would be weary of any author who is an aethist & has a large cult of science-beliveing, religion-bashing, followers, but hey, criticism & skeptisim is always healthy & only aidsin strengthening your true beliefs.
Pay the 15 bucks, & begin reading the Life of Jesus on Page 1332. It will be the greatest investment you could ever make!!
