Questions asked by new readers to Urantia Book
Questions asked by new readers to Urantia Book
1. Is this a religious movement?
YES! It is a religious movement for two persons! That means between you and your Heavenly Father: a relationship/friendship he desires/CRAVES to have with you, his child, like any other parent does, but EVEN MORESO! – learning how to love him as he loves us! Thereby, if we understand that he is OUR Father, we are ALL his spiritual children, sisters and brothers in his worldwide family. We must act the way he would have us do so with each other.
He has NO need for RULES, DOCTRINES, MONEY, anybody to come between him and you,
Remember Jesus said: I am the way, the truth and the life. NO one comes to the Father except THROUGH ME! Can you see what that means, brothers and sisters? No interference by someone telling you how to approach your Father…do you need someone to go talk to your earthly father on your behalf?
And because he LOVES us so much, he sent an actual PART of himself to live within our minds, no need for spies, we cannot hide /from God or from our self, he knows exactly what we are thinking, sometimes even before we do!
2. What is the relationship between the UB and the Bible? Is it like a second Bible? Does the UB abolish the Bible?
Great questions!
The Bible first helps us to know the history of the Jewish people and, secondly, how they grew in their understanding of God…all in the Old Testament…that growing and developing understanding from a wrathful and vengeful God to a loving God, which we get from Jesus, as he WAS the visible form of the invisible Father…he SHOWED us who his and our Father was/is.
Think of the OT as serving as a tutor, a guardian, that prepared the Jewish mind for receiving the good news for when Jesus came. And he did say that he did not come to destroy the old covenant God had with the Jewish people, but to fulfill it, and that he did.
99:5.11 What a mistake for Christians to make when, in presenting Christ as the supreme ideal of spiritual leadership, they dare to require God-conscious men and women to reject the historic leadership of the God-knowing men who have contributed to their particular national or racial illumination during past ages.
And do not forget that you are not the Jewish people. There is no need for sacrifices in order to make our Father happy, he already LOVES you and me and ALL his children in all the universes of universes.
Your customs and traditions should not still be with the Jewish past. They developed their own over centuries as you have. Now it is time to make a break with what is taught by the olden Jewish writers and establish for yourself and yourselves a new agreement between you personally and your Heavenly Father. And the UB, introducing you to ALL your personal Spirit helpers will lead you in that!
As Jesus came to fulfill the covenant with Moses, the UB has come to ENHANCE/ADD ON to the missing parts in the Bible that every truth-seeker wants to know, in order for each of us to nurture, feed and grow our own relationship with your Father and mine, who is the God of all!
3. What do we benefit from studying the UB?
The benefit is greater knowledge of how we are so PERFECTLY and GRACIOUSLY loved by our Father. And remember that we are told by Jesus: Be you perfect even as my Father is. If I am to become the perfect ME, then must I know more about how to do so!
It teaches us about our ORIGIN, our world HISTORY and our DESTINY.
The book teaches us so much more about our Paradise Father, where he resides and of all the beings he has created to help us on our way to see him as we strive for perfection, after our mortal life here. It explains where we came from - the history of mankind and of our world, and why we have the problems we have today, what we may choose to do here and now, as well as the description of our eternal adventure towards perfection and the Father. Remember in the Bible how he said at one time: In my house there are many mansions. What does that mean? How can you have a “mansion" which is a HUGE house, INSIDE a house?! Explained in the UB.
Remember in the Bible when he spoke to his apostles of his “many sheep of other flocks" that they knew not of – ever think about that? You will be excited to learn of his whole universe that he and the Divine Mother created as well as these other types of children of theirs …
But the best part! Is Part IV, the Life and Teachings of Jesus, because in reading i, you FALL in LOVE with the small child, the boy, the adolescent, the young adult and the man, all the way up to his horrible, but triumphant physical end, wherein you WILL be transformed into his faithson/faithdaughter!
And I bet most of you are thinking: But I already love Jesus! I did,too! But you have no idea what else you are going to learn that will bring him that much closer to your heart and mind. We are also read of the 19 visits that Jesus made to various groups of believers after his resurrection. There I found his messages were even stronger as he knew he was to soon leave them in the flesh.
The benefit? To prepare us for the eternal adventure: when we die and leave this earthly vehicle, our soul, if we have grown it sufficiently, will be awakened after a time, then will begin the program of un-learning wrong ideas we had about God and religion, learning new ones as well as getting along with other beings, learning how to truly LOVE, as we become more and more refined on our way to perfection- millions of years until then! But there is NO time, we do NOT worry about it!
Soul? So, you will learn that when you die, you do NOT go directly to God, no WAY are we ready to see him, as we are only as advanced in knowing him as on the day we died here on Urantia, on earth. And it will depend on your daily practice to nurture your relationship with God which will give you your PASS/ticket to continue on to the other side! Not how long you have attended a religious organization or how much money you donated to it…salvation is by your FAITH and acceptance of our LOVING Father.
4. Are leaders going to be paid?
Not by any organization…this is not an organized religion where the religious leaders are paid; that might be left up to the people served, if they see value in what they are being taught…just like the listeners of Jesus who donated to the purse which Judas held for the apostles.
5. Is this a bank trying to recruit clients?
NO!
6.Why are we so much interested in teaching the UB ?
A. You each have to make that decision for yourself, reading and using your own intelligence, desire and the Spirit of Truth to guide you into making that decision.
B. It is NOT the book we share, it is what is INSIDE the pages, what the Revelators have given us to learn properly…the way it really was and really is and really will be!
If we want our world to move towards “peace on earth and goodwill amongst all men”, then we must start with the simple truth that Jesus spent his whole earth life proclaiming: that we all are the children of a Loving Heavenly Father and, as such, we must be spiritual brethren and treat each other so.
Because the language used in the UB is the best piece of English “literature" ever written and known to mankind, it will not be easy to grasp everything, however!! That simple and saving message of Jesus is easy for everyone… he knew what he was doing! And then, once that message has been thoroughly accepted, must we begin to do our best to live now as he would have us live as his children, even as his ambassadors. We also remember with gladness that at Pentecost and every day since(!) we have been given his Spirit of Truth, which he promised, to give us comfort and partner with us as we are led to speak spirit truths.
7.Does the UB have churches and clergy?
No, as it is not organized in the way man has done it for centuries, under man's controlling rules, etc.
There ARE UB organizations that help people gather to celebrate their common faith in the Father, as they are purely fun SOCIAL times. There are a great many study groups around the world, where small numbers of people meet each week, usually, to read, study and discuss the new ideas we have been given.
When we worship, it is privately, only between me and my Heavenly Father…just as Jesus did when you saw him go alone and commune with/pray to his Father. There can also be group singing in praise, because it is FUN and does tell our Father how worthy he is of our praise and it is all done together, every one is a leader in these sessions !
This quote was in a post-resurrection appearance to believers in Alexandria on April 18, AD 30:
191:6.3 (2044.4) “As the Father sent me into this world, even so now send I you. You are all called to carry the good news to those who sit in darkness. This gospel of the kingdom belongs to all who believe it; it shall not be committed to the custody of mere priests. Soon will the Spirit of Truth come upon you, and he shall lead you into all truth. Go you, therefore, into all the world preaching this gospel, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the ages.”
8. Where does the UB come from?
A. URANTIA is the word for “earth" in the universe records on high.
B.As you read and study the book, you will quickly learn that the information could never come from ANY human, no matter how inspired by God he or she might be. We do not yet know God well enough to relate such beautiful and knowledgeable accounts! The Bible may be seen to be “inspired" by God, and indeed it was! Men were inspired by the goodness of God, they just didn't understand everything he was trying to tell them and they ended up putting in their own misunderstood interpretations!
The UB was “commissioned" by God…you know what that means? It means that GOD himself, acting through his perfect representatives on high, mandated/ordered that it was time again on this planet to intervene in the affairs of mankind, in order to put us back on the right path as we have gotten too far away from him. He wants his children close to him! And this is the 5th time he did this.
Read the 2nd part of the UB to find out the other 4 times, although I shall tell you right now, the 4th time was the life here in the flesh on earth of our Creator Father Brother Jesus. And look how his teachings were thwarted/messed up over time…
9.Who is Michael that we read in the UB and does he replace Jesus? Another great question!
In the Bible, we first see Michael as an archangel who defeated the devil and threw him out of heaven. This is a SIMPLE way of looking at what really happened…you will learn about all that in great and accurate detail in Part 2 of the UB, much more than John the Revelator ever knew…well, I guess he knows now!
So, Michael is the name of our Creator Father, who came to earth and became a human known to us as Jesus of Nazareth, to reveal his and our Father to us in new glory, to show us his love and mercy - that he is a LOVING Father, not the angry, wrathful, vengeful one of the OT. And after he ascended to the Father, he was approved as full Master Son, the Sovereign of his own created universe, of which we are apart!
And the name his earth parents, Mary and Joseph, gave him was Joshua ben Joseph. (As instructed to Mary by Gabriel) The name Jesus came about after years, decades later as the Greeks changed it to Jesus.
Why not think of Michael/Jesus this way :
- You are an adult with a name, which your community and friends know you by…yes?
- If you are a parent, you are called by the word in your language for Father or Mother.
- You ARE a son or daughter! And your parents might call you something different, a name only used by family members.
- You are a sister or brother, and again you MAY have another name…
Do you see my point? You are ONE person with different ROLES and perhaps even different names in your life! The same with our Universe Creator Father Brother – Michael! But often, I call him Jesus, because I really love my elder brother! And he truly is our God. You are not wrong when you think of him like this.
10.Does the UB encourage same sex marriage or relationships?
The UB does not encourage nor discourage same sex relationships, has no policy on this…not anyone's business what we do in the privacy of our own home. We are each loved by our Father. However, the parts of the UB where we learn the value of marriage between a man and a woman, as being the way to bring children into the home, clearly indicates that this is the starting point for sharing and learning about loving relationships.
11. What does the UB describe as “sinning"?
Jesus clearly defines the difference between evil, sin and iniquity…Paper 148:4. 3 – 6
Evil is the LEAST of the transgressions against the divine will.
Sin is a deliberate moment where going against God's will/doing the wrong thing as opposed to the right thing means we have left him and made our own decision. We all do and have done this many times in our life.
Evil is inherent on our world because of what happened in the past. We commit evil and sin, but neither of those is a SURVIVAL issue, as they are not a regular or constant form of living.
Iniquity is the daily, repetitive, deliberate and constant choice to NOT do what is morally correct, to go against the highest choice possible in the face of potential alternatives. This is what Lucifer did when he rebelled against his own Father Michael AND against the Heavenly Father, thinking HE was the king of all. BIG mistake! He and Satan are now imprisoned and are awaiting final judgment. Although, there still remains at large on this world, one who works his nefarious deeds along with those men and women who choose against the Father, and he is the deposed planetary prince, commonly thought of as the devil.
12. Does God change in the UB? Such a good question!!!
Change? GOD has NEVER changed! He has ALWAYS been a Loving Father. In ALL WAYS. It is we humans whose idea of God has changed over a long period of time as we evolved in our brain development and intellect.
Think of it like this: when you were a child, and you disobeyed your parent, your parent disciplined you, punished you in some way. But as an adult, you do not remember such things and now you see how wise it was of your parent to help correct you in these behaviours in order to grow up to be a disciplined and mature adult. Your parent never changed, you did!
13. Can we use the UB as a Bible in church?
Not sure why you would – cannot think of why you would do that…unless!!! You share some truths that you have learned with your fellows, but be warned! Many church people do not WANT to hear anything that would require them to think for themselves and DO the work of being God's faithson. It takes WORK to practise your personal faith each morning, throughout your day and evening as you dynamically dedicate your life to God and his will.
Know that Jesus came to thaw out the frozen forms of institutionalized religion, in order to bring us into the liquid liberties of sonship with God.
The words like faithson and sonship are for all of us no matter if we are male or female. We ARE his offspring which makes us his sons. Offspring of the Divine Mother are all daughters – our angels! They HELP us to DO the work of the Father with the hel0 of our Universe Mother and her agents, using the Holy Spirit to bring to us personally Michael's Spirit of Truth.
14. Does Jesus mean God in the UB?
While you will learn exactly who is who as you study the whole UB, it is enough to know before starting that, the full human life of Jesus here on earth/URANTIA, as he lived a sinless life, one where he never once went against his Father's will, was the unified life of the Son with the Father, he WAS the visible reflection, representation and revelation of the invisible Father. And it is true, a faith-fact, that once you have seen the Creator Son, you have seen the Father. So, in essence Jesus is our Universe God. He is not offended by that, however, he will graciously bow out of the way as he will direct us towards to his /our Father in Paradise.
15. If you study the UB, will it change your life like the Bible?
Think of it like this: when you were a small child you read stories for small children, not too hard to read or to understand. As an adult, you have no more interest in childlike stories, you want something that will help you grow as a grown person, give you more knowledge for living and for work, etc. Right?
The same with the Bible. It is a GREAT way to introduce people to having better thoughts about a higher power, and then, the UB which adds SO much and fills in the blanks that the Bible did not have, expands our thinking and prepares us for our eternal adventure while correcting and presenting a loving understanding of God! We are intelligent enough to accept these life-changing truths!
So, YES! It will change your life! Are you ready?!
16. Does hell exist?
NO! Can you imagine a parent punishing a child for the rest of its existence?! Makes no sense to me, does it to you?
But here is what happens to those who refuse to know God, and refuse to serve him:
If and when we are awakened on the other side, then we will continue to advance by correcting all the false ideas we adopted here, like Jesus dying for our sins, for example, and progress towards that amazingly wonderful moment when we choose to serve our Father forever, and become one with that portion of him that lived within us. That's called fusion.
However, for those whose Father Fragment does not respond at the roll call of survivors, that person is gone. Died on Urantia here. Had no soul that had anything of spiritual value to go on. The personality of the individual is absorbed by the Supreme Being and the individual identity or person simply no longer exists. No painful suffering for eternity, but, because of free will and their earthly choices, they had determined that the journey to the Father was too much work for them.
And please know, that we are mercifully adjudged…exhaustingly so! The Father loves us and the Son is merciful…
17. Didn’t Jesus die for our sins? Paper 188 explains this well!
Actually no. He died because the church rulers and temple bureaucrats at the time were too worried about their income being threatened as Jesus taught that our Father has no need for sacrifices nor monies to be paid in order to be saved, and feared all their power/control over their people being taken from them as more and more were attracted to the teaching of Jesus... neither do we need "mere priests" to present us to the Father:
191:6:3 (2044.4) This gospel of the kingdom belongs to all who believe it; it shall not be committed to the custody of mere priests.
They did not like this and had to get rid of him. Besides the fact that he seemed to be in “league with the devil" healing people on the Sabbath(!), bringing people back from the dead, even calling himself God! He had to go. So they invented some charges so they could accuse him and sentence him to death with the help of the Roman overseers.
Let's face it. If he died for our sins, two things should stand out to us:
1. Did it make a difference? Have we stopped sinning? Was his death a mistake?
2. Does that mean we can continue to sin, because after all, he took care of all that centuries ago and we will be forgiven anyway?
Neither makes sense to me…to you?? Although, please know, that our Father forgives us even before we ask, yet in the asking we are opening up the forgiveness channel to receive his forgiveness and to forgive others!
18. Why are the Bible verses not quoted in the UB?
Actually they are! When you read the whole UB you will notice MANY quotes that come from the Bible, as they are in quotation marks. In fact, now as I read my hardcover book and I see quotations, I check them out in the Bible and write that source in my book beside the quote. Jesus quoted often from those Scriptures, as they were the only ones at the time! But the Revelators also refer to any truths which were later written down by the NT authors.
Even in the Bible, you read how Jesus quoted the olden prophets, since there was no NT at the time, just the OT. And what he chose were the ones that spoke of the truth given to them by our Father. Equally so, the UB authors, who were instructed to take as many true thought gems from human sources over our human history(!)in order to help us humans understand better what they were trying to bring to us. When it was nowhere possible to find what they needed to teach us, they had permission to come up with statements or words themselves.
19. The UB or the Bible…which should we read the most?
First, let's talk about where your faith is? Is it in a church/religion that has led you to believe that if you do not follow it/them, you will not get your certificate to go to heaven? Or is it in God, the ONLY one who determines if you continue on towards him?
Secondly, depends on what you are looking for… one book has a VERY small part of what we will need to learn as we try to understand God, or one which reveals the personality of the Paradise Father, all the many creatures/ children of his grand creation, the actual history of our world explaining the reason for poverty, sickness and wars, as well as the whole life of our Creator as he lived his perfect life here on earth.
…and to help you see the big difference between the Bible and the UB , especially for us who love Jesus, the Bible portrays only 28 days of his human life where the UB describes in great detail EVERY year of his life how he lived each year, how he grew closer to God, showing us the way, until he came into full recognition of his divinity at the Baptism.
You are FREE to choose!!
