Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Q: I am much surprised to read so many details about Joseph of Nazareth on your website. Where would you find sources to claim things e.g. "Joseph was employed by Maryâ€™s father", "Mary brought him a cup of waterâ€¦" "Joseph had 8 brothers and sistersâ€¦." Many more claims about specifics that I have not encountered in biblical publications. Could you enlighten me as to your actual source or are you just creating a story?

A: Thank you for stopping at our site and for asking your question. Truthbook.com is a site dedicated to the teachings of The Urantia Book, a book which claims to be a revelation. Is it? The only reliable way to accept or refute its claim is to read the book and decide for oneself. I expect that nearly everyone comes to the book with some measure of skepticism -- it's a pretty audacious claim isn't it, especially at this time when there are so many books claiming to be conversing with God and all manner of spirit entities. There is, however, no other book like The Urantia Book.

You asked about the details given regarding Jesus' life. The Urantia Book consists of four parts, the fourth part being devoted exclusively to the life and teachings of Jesus. This is the caveat given at the beginning of Part Four:

PART IV

THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS

This group of papers was sponsored by a commission of twelve Urantia Midwayers acting under the supervision of a Melchizedek Revelatory Director. The basis of this narrative was supplied by a secondary Midwayer who was onetime assigned to the superhuman watchcare of the Apostle Andrew.

Basically, what this is saying is the 76 chapters in Part Four that detail Jesus' life from before conception through resurrection and ascension are taken from the angelic records that were recorded as these events transpired. This record is not based on the Bible although there are of course a lot of similarities and we did not just create a story. All told, there are just a few more than 70 pages in the Bible that chronicle Jesus' life and teachings -- enough material to have changed the course of history. The Urantia Book depiction of his life is over 700 pages in length -- there are no missing years.

If you have an interest in Jesus spend a bit more time with our site and with The Urantia Book. The links on the left side of our home page offer such great topics as "Joseph of Nazareth" which may be what caused your initial question. Take a look at our short videos. You can go directly to Part IV if you wish with this link to begin reading.

Feel free to ask questions... that's what we're here for. We're not trying to sell anything or to convert or coerce anyone -- we'd just like to encourage you to read (and listen... each paper has a "Listen" button at the top so you can listen as you read along).

Labels: Jesus, Joseph, The Urantia Book

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Why Jesus is called the son of David?

Q: Why Jesus is called the son of David?

A: Lineages were important to ancient people - kings were chosen because of their parentage. The Jews had a tradition that the deliverer would come from the lineage of David and be a mighty king. Here is some of what The Urantia Book has to say about the lineage of Jesus' parents:

Joseph, the human father of Jesus (Joshua ben Joseph), was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, albeit he carried many non Jewish racial strains which had been added to his ancestral tree from time to time by the female lines of his progenitors. The ancestry of the father of Jesus went back to the days of Abraham and through this venerable patriarch to the earlier lines of inheritance leading to the Sumerians and Nodites and, through the southern tribes of the ancient blue man, to Andon and Fonta. David and Solomon were not in the direct line of Joseph's ancestry, neither did Joseph's lineage go directly back to Adam. Joseph's immediate ancestors were mechanics â€“ builders, carpenters, masons, and smiths. Joseph himself was a carpenter and later a contractor. His family belonged to a long and illustrious line of the nobility of the common people, accentuated ever and anon by the appearance of unusual individuals who had distinguished themselves in connection with the evolution of religion on Urantia.

Mary, the earth mother of Jesus, was a descendant of a long line of unique ancestors embracing many of the most remarkable women in the racial history of Urantia. Although Mary was an average woman of her day and generation, possessing a fairly normal temperament, she reckoned among her ancestors such well known women as Annon, Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba, Ansie, Cloa, Eve, Enta, and Ratta. No Jewish woman of that day had a more illustrious lineage of common progenitors or one extending back to more auspicious beginnings. Mary's ancestry, like Joseph's, was characterized by the predominance of strong but average individuals, relieved now and then by numerous outstanding personalities in the march of civilization and the progressive evolution of religion. Racially considered, it is hardly proper to regard Mary as a Jewess. In culture and belief she was a Jew, but in hereditary endowment she was more a composite of Syrian, Hittite, Phoenician, Greek, and Egyptian stocks, her racial inheritance being more general than that of Joseph. (122:1.1)

Labels: Abraham, David, Jesus, Joseph, Mary