SpiritualFamily.Net

2-2.who is the earthly father of Jesus according to the UB?

According to The Urantia Book (often abbreviated as UB), the earthly father of Jesus (referred to as Joshua ben Joseph) is Joseph of Nazareth.

This is explicitly stated in Paper 122: Birth and Infancy of Jesus, which details the selection of Joseph and Mary as the human parents for Michael's (Jesus') bestowal incarnation on Urantia (Earth). Key excerpts include:

• "Joseph, the human father of Jesus (Joshua ben Joseph), was a Hebrew of the Hebrews..." (122:1.1).
• Joseph is described as a carpenter and later a contractor, from a line of mechanics and builders, with a mixed racial ancestry tracing back through Abraham and earlier lines, though not directly to David, Adam, David, or Solomon in the main paternal line.
• Gabriel selected Joseph and Mary from nominated couples because they offered the most ideal combination of racial connections and average personality endowments for Jesus to appear as an "average" man among common people.

The book distinguishes clearly between:

• Joseph as the earthly/human/adoptive father — the one who raised Jesus, provided for the family, taught him carpentry, and died in a construction accident when Jesus was about 14 (Paper 126), after which Jesus became the head of the household.
• The heavenly/Paradise Father (the Universal Father / God) — the divine source, with Jesus as the Creator Son (Michael of Nebadon) revealing the Father's nature through his life.

Jesus often referred to Joseph in everyday human terms (e.g., talking to his "heavenly Father" much as he would to "Joseph, his earthly father" in Paper 123), and the text emphasizes Joseph's mild-mannered, conscientious character and role in Jesus' early upbringing.

This aligns with but expands on the biblical portrayal of Joseph as Mary's husband and Jesus' legal/raising father (e.g., in Matthew and Luke), while providing extensive biographical and ancestral details not found in the Gospels. For the full narrative, see Papers 122–-123–-124–-125–-126 on urantia.org, or spiritualfamily.net which cover Jesus' birth, infancy, childhood, and Joseph's death.