Presentation by Byron Belitsos, followed by audience discussion. Presented June 17, 2023. Every person of faith eventually wonders: How can I speak confidently of God’s providential care on a planet riddled with crime and corruption and even threatened by genocide and a new world war? In other words, how do we as believers in an all-powerful and loving God come to terms with the many evils around us, some of them verging on iniquity?

0:00 Introduction

4:46 Background on theodicy

11:06 The Urantia Book perspective

19:42 History of theodicy

37:18 Integrative theodicy

41:40 Questions and discussion

There are many compelling teachings in The Urantia Book that warrant a closer look. Our guest speakers set the stage with a brief presentation highlighting one of these interesting topics, followed by a discussion with the audience. The ideas and opinions presented are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent those of Urantia Foundation or Urantia Book International School (UBIS).

Byron is veteran book publisher and author or editor of many books, including four related to the Urantia revelation: The Center Within (1998); One World Democracy (2005); The Adventure of Being Human (2012); Your Evolving Soul: The Cosmic Spirituality of the Urantia Revelation (2017), and his latest book, Truths About Evil, Sin, and the Demonic (2023).

He holds a bachelor’s degree in history of ideas from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree from Union Theological Seminary. His new book is based on his master’s thesis at the seminary, now greatly revised. Two of its ten chapters cover the The Urantia Book, offering one of the first-ever academic introductions to it. This book is also suited for anyone interested in philosophy and theology. A reader of The Urantia Book for 48 years, Byron has spoken widely on its teachings on radio shows and many other venues. Past seminars and presentations: https://www.urantia.org/study/seminar...