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Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book

Spiritual Advice and Guidance Blog: Urantia Book
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Thursday, October 29, 2009

Did you read the revelations of Anne Emmerich, who stated that jesus was born on 25th November 6 BC and not on the 21st August 7 BC ...?

Q: Who wrote The Urantia Book? Was there a revelation to the author by God? Did you read the revelations of Anne Emmerich, who stated that jesus was born on 25th November 6 BC and not on the 21st August 7 BC as you are alleging?

A: Thank you for your note to Truthbook.com. We are always glad to hear from people who are interested in the revelations of The Urantia Book.

The Urantia Book was written by a group of spiritual beings, including angels, Melchizedeks, and other various orders of celestial beings. HERE is a link to the "Table of Contents" of The Urantia Book, which lists the authors. You can use our handy SEARCH feature to find out more about each of them, if you wish. Simply type in the name of the author and press "search."

The Urantia Book is totally unique in that it is a revelation given in book form. The book is, in itself, the revelation - not to the authors, but to humanity. The authors were mandated by the Ancients of Days to deliver the revelatory information in this form, and it was completed in 1934, published in 1955.

The Urantia Book is unlike Scripture, in that it is not an "inspired" document. It is, however, a revelation of epochal significance - the 5th of such revelations that have been given to our planet. Each of the five revelations of God to mankind has been an attempt to communicate spiritual truth to the races of Earth (Urantia). Among the previous revelations, you'll no doubt recognize Adam and Eve, Melchizedek, and the incarnation of Jesus as the babe of Bethlehem.

Epochal revelations are rare, and periodic; all are designed to uplift mankind into a new understanding of God, and man's relationship to God. The Urantia Book contains within its pages the newest and most replete descriptions of God and the created universes, the detailed history of our own universe and our planet, and a full third of the book contains a complete restatement of the life and teachings of Jesus, including all the "lost years" that have been heretofore unavailable anywhere else.

Part of this new revelation of the Master's life is the accurate date of Jesus' birth, which is revealed as August 21, 7BC. I am adding a link HERE so that you can read for yourself a scientific and scholarly exploration of the accuracy of that date. To me, it makes the conclusive case for the accuracy of the date given in The Urantia Book.

I did look into Anne Emmerich, and I discovered that she was an 18th century German Catholic nun who was known as a "Mystic, Visionary, Stigmatist, Prophet." I could not find the specific reference regarding the birthdate of Jesus, however, I do understand that many, many people over many, many centuries, have claimed - and still claim - to have visions of God and special knowledge of, and from him, and that many people put a lot of credence into such visions.

Persons such as Anne Emmerich have a certain appeal, simply because their lives are so extraordinary - they seem to have a direct pipeline to God; but the mental states that produce such lives are not always healthy, nor are they reliable as avenues to God. By saying this, I do not intend to demean her, or her visions; she certainly did live a life which appears to have been dedicated to God. However, I am reluctant to place any faith in the accuracy of her visions simply because they appear to be the result of extraordinary physical deprivation.

About Jesus, The Urantia Book states:

(100:5.11) However favorable may have been the conditions for mystic phenomena, it should be clearly understood that Jesus of Nazareth never resorted to such methods for communion with the Paradise Father. Jesus had no subconscious delusions or superconscious illusions.

If Jesus did not rely on such things, I question whether he means for his children to experience such things, either. That Anne Emmerich did experience them speaks more to her religious fervor than of actual communication with God. This is however, my opinion. You are of course, free to form your own opinion.

The Urantia Book reveals the nature of the indwelling God - that "spark" of Divinity that lives in the mind of every person, and which provides everyone their own "pipeline to God." The Urantia Book calls this fragment of God the Thought Adjuster. God's communion is available to all of us - not as visions and mystical experiences, but as the gentle leadings into the knowledge of God's will through the proof of individual spiritual experience in ordinary day-to-day living. We are also blessed with the ministry of the Spirit of Truth - that good Spirit who Jesus promised, and who was poured out on all flesh on the occasion of Pentecost. This Spirit of Truth gives all people the ability to discern and sort out Truth - and to find the Truth wherever it may appear. It is through the Spirit that one can discern for themselves whether The Urantia Book - or any other spiritual revelation - is true or not. With sincerity of motive and prayerful approach, the truth can be felt by the sincere seeker as an unmistakable inner resonance.

I might suggest that, while you explore this subject of visionary knowledge by mystics, that you do yourself the favor of exploring The Urantia Book as well. Line them up and see how they differ, and how they correspond with each other. Allow Jesus and the Spirit of Truth to guide you in this endeavor. And please feel free to sign up for our free Quote of the Day service, which will deliver to your inbox a daily passage from the matchless teachings of The Urantia Book.

Again, thank you for your note. Please write back any time...

Labels: Anne Emmerich, authorship, inspiration, Jesus, mysticism, Pentecost, revelation, Spirit of Truth, The Urantia Book

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

How compatible is the Urantia Book with the Book of Mormon?

Q: How compatible is the Urantia Book with the Book of Mormon? Since the Book of Mormon and The Urantia Book differ slightly, which one is a more accurate representation of God as we know him?

A: On one level, The Urantia Book is fully compatible with no other avenues of study, whether geology, anthropology, astronomy, physics, philosophy, genetics, history, religion, or spirituality... and there's a reason for that. The Urantia Book claims to be an epochal revelation, providing new and heretofore unknown facts, meanings, values from which we can derive a better understanding of the cosmos and our place in it. Your first challenge then will be to determine whether you believe this claim or not. If not, then whether the teachings of The Urantia Book are compatible with the Book of Mormon or not will have little value for you.

The Urantia Book and the Book of Mormon differ more than slightly. Joseph Smith was inspired, was called upon to translate mysterious writing on gold plates, produced the Book of Mormon, was martyred along with many of his followers, and founded what in about a century and a half has become a major religious movement on the planet. The Urantia Book is associated with no human subject, was produced in English exactly as you see it today, has received little public acclaim as it spreads its influence slowly around the globe. Both Mormons and Urantians have a belief in God and angels and in the validity of revelation. Jesus has a predominant position in each.

The God and Jesus presented in the Book of Mormon represent God and Jesus from Joseph Smith's inspiration. Joseph was a strongly fundamental Bible believer before being visited by the angel -- the BoM presents a strongly fundamentalist relationship with God, a viewpoint that appeals to much of struggling humanity in need of authority and spiritual direction. The historical perspective of the BoM rests on Israelites coming to the New World around 1000 B.C., evolving a culture, and being visited by Jesus at the time of his death on the cross.

The God and Jesus presented in The Urantia Book have little resemblance to what any previous religious forms provide other than the distillation of the truth, beauty, and goodness of these religions augmented by what is newly revealed by TUB. Its historical perspective spans billions of years, the New World became inhabited by a red race traveling over the Bering Strait land bridge about 80,000 years ago, and the red race is the only race not to have been visited in some manner by Jesus in person.

Joseph Smith is not unique in the world of spiritual inspirations. Many prophets of the past felt God's hand touch them and they interpreted what they perceived -- the results are found in the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Torah, the Old and New Testaments, the Koran -- they're the foundations upon which civilization and culture rest and most people are satisfied with the traditions of the past. The Urantia Book is unique. It illuminates the past from a perspective that's not part of that past. It provides an umbrella under which all religions can be gathered and coexist peacefully. It provides a glimpse of God unfettered by human mind filters. It offers Jesus back to the world, as he intended, unencumbered by Christian doctrine. It presents a view of our place in the cosmos that is consistent, logical, meaningful, insightful, joyful and uplifting.

If I believed any religion offered a more accurate representation of God I would be an adherent of that religion, but as a long-time student of The Urantia Book and believer in its teachings I obviously believe that the facts contained in the UB and its spiritual perspective provides the most accurate and meaningful portrayal available. But that's me; you need to make this determination on your own and for yourself.

Thanks for this interesting and important question. I hope that you are subscribed to our daily "Quote of the Day," an easy and inspiring way to learn more about the teachings of this book. If not, just go to Truthbook.com, and click on Quote of the day (right in the middle of the page) and then click on "subscribe." It is a free service that you can discontinue at any time. Also, you might be interested in viewing some of our flash movies - in particular, "After You Die," and "You Can Live Forever" or click on "Audio Book Video" in the left column for a list of all our videos.

Labels: Book of Mormon, God, inspiration, Jesus, Joseph Smith, religion, revelation, The Urantia Book

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Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Jesus in The Urantia Book, the whole story

Readers of The Urantia Book describe why these teachings stand unique, packed with new Jesus stories, his lost years, and fresh insights. This detailed portrayal of Jesus emphasizes the religion of Jesus rather than the religion about Jesus. If you love Jesus as portrayed in the Bible, you will gain an even greater admiration and understanding of his life and teachings from Part IV of The Urantia Book.