Antiquity
99-665: The Urantia Book (sometimes called The Urantia Papers or The Fifth Epochal Revelation ) is a spiritual , philosophical , and religious book that originated in Chicago , Illinois , United States sometime between 1924 and 1955. When first published, it claimed to have been written by celestial beings. The actual authorship remains a matter of debate, though it has been noted that it appears to have plagiarized multiple sources, without attribution. It received various degrees of interest ranging from praise to criticism for its religious and science-related content, its unusual length, and
198-531: A supernatural realm beyond the ordinarily observable world, personal growth , a quest for an ultimate or sacred meaning , religious experience , or an encounter with one's own "inner dimension". The term spirit means "animating or vital principle in man and animals". It is derived from the Old French espirit , which comes from the Latin word spiritus ( soul , ghost, courage, vigor, breath) and
297-456: A "voluminous handwritten document," which from then on became the regular method of purported communication. The individual was never identified publicly but has been described as "a hard-boiled business man, member of the board of trade and stock exchange." The Sadlers were both respected physicians, and William Sadler was a sometime debunker of paranormal claims. In 1929, he published a book called The Mind at Mischief , in which he explained
396-648: A United States jury trial in Arizona found that the Urantia Foundation's 1983 renewal of the book's copyright was invalid. However, that decision was overturned on appeal. In 2001, a United States jury trial in Oklahoma again found that the Urantia Foundation's 1983 renewal of the book's copyright was invalid. However, this decision was upheld in the United States Court of Appeals for
495-511: A book otherwise highly critical of The Urantia Book , writes that it is "highly imaginative" and that the "cosmology outrivals in fantasy the cosmology of any science-fiction work known to me." Gooch says that for nonbelievers, the book is a mixture of being "fascinating, inspiring, compelling, haunting, entertaining, annoying, incomprehensible, and always wordy." Parts I, II, and III are chiefly written in expository language. The papers are informational, matter-of-fact, and instructional. Part IV of
594-462: A commissioned work for hire. These two arguments having been rejected, a U.S. court held that, since the "sleeping subject" (whom the court referred to as "the Conduit") had died prior to 1983, only the Conduit's heirs would have been eligible to renew the copyright in 1983 and, since they had not done so, the Urantia Foundation's copyright on the book had expired and the book had therefore passed into
693-475: A person ultimately is destined to fuse with his or her divine fragment and become one inseparable entity with it as the final goal of faith. Uniting with the Adjuster fragment is the "reward of the ages," the moment when a human personality has successfully and unalterably won eternal life, described as typically taking place in the afterlife, but also a possibility during earthly life. The result during human life
792-432: A predominantly vegetarian lifestyle. Parasparopagraho jīvānām (the function of souls is to help one another) is the faith's motto and the Ṇamōkāra mantra is its most common and basic prayer. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through a succession of twenty-four leaders or Tirthankaras , with the first in the current time cycle being Rishabhadeva , whom the tradition holds to have lived millions of years ago;
891-401: A social and psychological meaning. Socially it denoted the territory of the clergy: "the ecclesiastical against the temporary possessions, the ecclesiastical against the secular authority, the clerical class against the secular class". Psychologically, it denoted the realm of the inner life: "the purity of motives, affections, intentions, inner dispositions, the psychology of the spiritual life,
990-470: A supernatural realm or afterlife, or to make sense of one's own "inner dimension". Bergomi detects "an enlightened form of non-religious spirituality" in late antiquity . Words translatable as "spirituality" first began to arise in the 5th century and only entered common use toward the end of the Middle Ages . In a Biblical context the term means being animated by God. The New Testament offers
1089-592: A total membership of 486 people over the years from diverse backgrounds and a mix of interest levels. A smaller group of five individuals called the Contact Commission, including the Sadlers, was responsible for gathering the questions from the Forum, acting as the custodians of the handwritten manuscripts that were presented as answers, and arranging for proofreading and typing of the material. Bill Sadler, Jr.
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#17327805867881188-573: A whole. Urantia is said to be located in a remote local universe named "Nebadon," which itself is part of superuniverse number seven, "Orvonton." The physical size of a local universe is not directly stated, but each is said to have up to 10 million inhabited worlds. The book's extensive teachings about the history of the world include its physical development about 4.5 billion years ago, the gradual changes in conditions that allowed life to develop, and long ages of organic evolution that started with microscopic marine life and led to plant and animal life in
1287-529: Is "vastly inferior to the UB both in ideas and style of writing," they are similar in claiming to have been written by celestial beings channelled through a human conduit, teaching that there is "one ultimate God who oversees a vast bureaucracy of lesser deities" while both outline an elaborate cosmology . The book's claimed supernatural origin has been compared to similar claims of the Book of Mormon , Science and Health ,
1386-450: Is a "fusion flash," with the material body consumed in a fiery light and the soul "translated" to the afterlife. The Hebrew prophet Elijah being taken to heaven without death in "chariots of fire" is said to be a rare example in recorded history of a person who translated instead of experiencing death. After a person fuses with his or her fragment of God, "then will begin your real life, the ascending life, to which your present mortal state
1485-561: Is a blend of humanistic psychology, mystical and esoteric traditions, and Eastern religions. In modern times the emphasis is on subjective experience and the "deepest values and meanings by which people live", incorporating personal growth or transformation, usually in a context separate from organized religious institutions. Spirituality can be defined generally as an individual's search for ultimate or sacred meaning, and purpose in life. Additionally it can mean to seek out or search for personal growth, religious experience , belief in
1584-581: Is a central teaching of the book and is also referred to as a "Mystery Monitor" and "indwelling presence," as well as a "divine spark." The idea is compared within the book to the Hindu atman and the ancient Egyptian ka . In relation to biblical traditions, the Thought Adjuster is said to be the meaning behind the phrases "being made in God's image" and the "kingdom of God is within you": The Adjuster
1683-623: Is accurate in its history, coming directly from higher beings in position to know, or it is a work of fertile imagination by someone who knew the New Testament by heart and who was also steeped in knowledge of the times when Jesus lived." The authors refer to the book as the fifth revelation of "epochal significance" to humankind, the fourth epochal revelation having been the life of Jesus. The assertion in The Urantia Book that it constitutes "the most recent presentation of truth to
1782-523: Is also derived from Latin spiritualis . There is no single, widely agreed-upon definition of spirituality. Surveys of the definition of the term, as used in scholarly research, show a broad range of definitions with limited overlap. A survey of reviews by McCarroll, each dealing with the topic of spirituality, gave twenty-seven explicit definitions among which "there was little agreement". This causes some difficulty in trying to study spirituality systematically; i.e., it impedes both understanding and
1881-581: Is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought of Judaism. Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal and mysterious Ein Sof (no end) and the mortal and finite universe (his creation). Interpretations of Kabbalistic spirituality are found within Hasidic Judaism , a branch of Orthodox Judaism founded in 18th-century Eastern Europe by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov . Hasidism often emphasizes
1980-492: Is an important concept in Buddhist praxis ( Patipatti ). The word bhavana normally appears in conjunction with another word forming a compound phrase such as citta-bhavana (the development or cultivation of the heart/mind) or metta-bhavana (the development/cultivation of loving kindness). When used on its own bhavana signifies 'spiritual cultivation' generally. Various Buddhist paths to liberation developed throughout
2079-414: Is an individual experience, and referred to as ksaitrajña ( Sanskrit : क्षैत्रज्ञ ). It defines spiritual practice as one's journey towards moksha , awareness of self, the discovery of higher truths, Ultimate reality, and a consciousness that is liberated and content. Traditionally, Hinduism identifies three mārga (ways) of spiritual practice, namely Jñāna (ज्ञान), the way of knowledge; Bhakti ,
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#17327805867882178-427: Is but the vestibule." A person continues as an ascending citizen in the universe and travels through numerous worlds on a long pilgrimage of growth and learning that eventually leads to God and residence on Paradise. Mortals who reach this stage are called "finaliters." The book goes on to discuss the potential destinies of these "glorified mortals." The book regards human life on earth as a "short and intense test," and
2277-587: Is claimed to have been kept anonymous in order to prevent undesirable future veneration or reverence for him. Martin Gardner claims that an explanation concerning the origin of the book more plausible than celestial beings is that the Contact Commission, particularly William Sadler, was responsible. Gardner's conclusion is that a man named Wilfred Kellogg was the sleeping subject and authored the work from his subconscious mind, with William Sadler subsequently editing and authoring parts. Brad Gooch believes Sadler wrote
2376-467: Is not being presented is consistent with a book written by humans in the 1950s instead of celestial beings with superior knowledge. Examples of criticisms regarding the science in The Urantia Book include: Spirituality Medieval Early modern Modern Iran India East-Asia The meaning of spirituality has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality
2475-415: Is noted to have composed the table of contents that is published with the book. The Sadlers and others involved, now all deceased, claimed that the papers of the book were physically materialized from 1925 until 1935 in a way that was not understood even by them, with the first two parts being completed in 1934 and the third and fourth in 1935. The last Forum gathering was in 1942. After the last of Part IV
2574-547: Is referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape of man", oriented at "the image of God " as exemplified by the founders and sacred texts of the religions of the world. The term was used within early Christianity to refer to a life oriented toward the Holy Spirit and broadened during the Late Middle Ages to include mental aspects of life. In modern times,
2673-604: Is related to spirare (to breathe). In the Vulgate , the Latin word spiritus is used to translate the Greek pneuma and Hebrew ruach . The term "spiritual", meaning "concerning the spirit", is derived from Old French spirituel (12c.), which is derived from Latin spiritualis , which comes by spiritus or "spirit". The term "spirituality" is derived from Middle French spiritualité , from Late Latin spiritualitatem (nominative spiritualitas ), which
2772-406: Is said to be a markedly "confused and disordered" planet that is "greatly retarded in all phases of intellectual progress and spiritual attainment" compared to more typical inhabited worlds, due to an unusually severe history of rebellion and default by its spiritual supervisors. More than one third of the content of The Urantia Book is devoted to a narrative of the life and teachings of Jesus, and
2871-531: Is sometimes associated today with philosophical, social, or political movements such as liberalism , feminist theology , and green politics . Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was a pioneer of the idea of spirituality as a distinct field. He was one of the major figures in Transcendentalism , an early 19th-century liberal Protestant movement, which was rooted in English and German Romanticism ,
2970-631: Is stressed by both Muslim and non-Muslim authors. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi , an 11th-century Islamic scholar, referenced a statement by the companion of Muhammad , Jabir ibn Abd-Allah : The Prophet ... returned from one of his battles, and thereupon told us, 'You have arrived with an excellent arrival, you have come from the Lesser Jihad to the Greater Jihad ;– the striving of a servant (of Allah ) against his desires (holy war)." The best known form of Islamic mystic spirituality
3069-441: Is studied and practiced are varied and range from ecstatic visions of the soul's mystical union with God to simple prayerful contemplation of Holy Scripture (i.e., Lectio Divina ). Progressive Christianity is a contemporary movement which seeks to remove the supernatural claims of the faith and replace them with a post-critical understanding of biblical spirituality based on historical and scientific research. It focuses on
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3168-584: Is taught to exist in a Trinity of three perfectly individualized persons who are co-equal: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. These persons are referred to by additional titles in the book, primarily as the "Universal Father," "Eternal Son," and "Infinite Spirit." While stating that the concept of one God in three persons is difficult to fully understand, the book says that the idea: "...in no manner violates
3267-463: Is that it resulted in the appearance of answers in the form of fully written papers. They became more impressed with the quality of the answers and continued to ask questions, until all papers now collected together as The Urantia Book were obtained. The group was known as the Forum, and was formalized as a closed group of 30 members in 1925 who pledged not to discuss the material with others. Over time, some participants left and others joined, leading to
3366-627: Is the Sufi tradition (famous through Rumi and Hafiz ) in which a Sheikh or pir transmits spiritual discipline to students. Sufism or taṣawwuf ( Arabic : تصوّف ) is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam . A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ṣūfī ( صُوفِيّ ). Sufis believe they are practicing ihsan (perfection of worship) as revealed by Gabriel to Muhammad , Worship and serve Allah as you are seeing Him and while you see Him not yet truly He sees you. Sufis consider themselves as
3465-597: Is the mark of divinity, the presence of God. The "image of God" does not refer to physical likeness nor to the circumscribed limitations of material creature endowment but rather to the gift of the spirit presence of the Universal Father in the supernal bestowal of the Thought Adjusters upon the humble creatures of the universes. Each person is said to receive one such fragment at the time of his or her first independent moral decision, on average around
3564-525: Is the path of cultivating necessary virtues, self-discipline, tapas (meditation), contemplation and self-reflection sometimes with isolation and renunciation of the world, to a pinnacle state called samādhi . This state of samādhi has been compared to peak experience. Urantia Foundation The Urantia Foundation is a Chicago -based non-profit organization, founded in 1950, that provides materials, promotes events, and provides guidance associated with The Urantia Book . The main purpose of
3663-957: Is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God". Alternatively, in the words of the Darqawi Sufi teacher Ahmad ibn Ajiba , "a science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine , purify one's inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits". Jainism , traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is an ancient Indian religion . The three main pillars of Jainism are ahiṃsā (non-violence), anekāntavāda (non-absolutism), and aparigraha (non-attachment). Jains take five main vows: ahiṃsā (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (not stealing), brahmacharya (sexual continence), and aparigraha (non-possessiveness). These principles have affected Jain culture in many ways, such as leading to
3762-533: Is the spiritual practice of living out a personal faith. Pope Francis offers several ways in which the calling of Christian spirituality can be considered: The terminology of the Catholic Church refers to an act of faith ( fides qua creditur ) following the acceptance of faith ( fides quae creditur ). Although all Catholics are expected to pray together at Mass , there are many different forms of spirituality and private prayer which have developed over
3861-543: The Immanent Divine presence and focuses on emotion, fervour , and the figure of the Tzadik . This movement included an elite ideal of nullification to paradoxical Divine Panentheism . The Musar movement is a Jewish spiritual movement that has focused on developing character traits such as faith , humility , and love . The Musar movement, first founded in the 19th century by Israel Salanter and developed in
3960-644: The Judeo-Christian tradition is given an importance exceeding any other. The book's teachings claim to be a clarification and expansion of Christian belief. However, numerous differences are noted between its teachings and commonly accepted Christian doctrines. Jesus is held in high regard by The Urantia Book, as he is in the New Testament of the Bible . The following are attributed to him in both texts: Some differences with Christianity include: Gardner notes similarities between Seventh-day Adventism and
4059-451: The Quran , and the Bible , with belief in it not being seen as necessarily a greater leap in reason. Comparisons with facets of various world religions are incorporated in the book, including Buddhism , Islam , Taoism , Judaism , Hinduism , Shinto , and Confucianism . For example, Paper 131, "The World's Religions" discusses the aspects of these religions that are in common with what
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4158-510: The spiritual science of Martinus was an influence, especially in Scandinavia. The influence of Asian traditions on Western modern spirituality was also furthered by the perennial philosophy , whose main proponent Aldous Huxley was deeply influenced by Swami Vivekananda's Neo-Vedanta and universalism , and the spread of social welfare, education and mass travel after World War II . An important influence on western spirituality
4257-478: The 196 papers included in The Urantia Book . McMullan and the Michael Foundation subsequently sought a legal declaration that the Urantia Foundation's US copyright in The Urantia Book was either invalid or, alternatively, that the copyright had not been infringed upon. Urantia Foundation's copyright was held to have expired in 1983 because the book was deemed to have been neither a composite work nor
4356-445: The 21st century by Alan Morinis and Ira F. Stone , has encouraged spiritual practices of Jewish meditation, Jewish prayer, Jewish ethics , tzedakah , teshuvah, and the study of musar (ethical) literature . Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism have often emphasized the spirituality of Jewish ethics and tikkun olam , feminist spirituality , Jewish prayer, Torah study, ritual, and musar. Christian spirituality
4455-488: The Biblical criticism of Johann Gottfried Herder and Friedrich Schleiermacher , the skepticism of Hume , and Neoplatonism . The Transcendentalists emphasized an intuitive, experiential approach to religion. Following Schleiermacher, an individual's intuition of truth was taken as the criterion for truth. In the late 18th and early 19th century, the first translations of Hindu texts appeared, which were also read by
4554-633: The English text of the book became a public domain work in the United States, and in 2006 the international copyright expired. The exact circumstances of the origin of The Urantia Book are unknown. The book and its publishers do not name a human author. Instead, it is written as if directly presented by numerous celestial beings appointed to the task of providing an "epochal" religious revelation. As early as 1911, William S. Sadler and his wife Lena Sadler , physicians in Chicago and well known in
4653-543: The Second World War, spirituality and theistic religion became increasingly disconnected, and spirituality became more oriented on subjective experience, instead of "attempts to place the self within a broader ontological context". A new discourse developed, in which (humanistic) psychology, mystical and esoteric traditions and eastern religions are being blended, to reach the true self by self-disclosure , free expression, and meditation. The distinction between
4752-669: The Supreme; God the Ultimate; and God the Absolute. Of these three, God the Supreme, or "the Supreme Being," is given the most explanation, as the person of Deity evolving in time and space to unify finite reality and the infinite. The persons of God the Ultimate and God the Absolute are considered to be remote from the possibility of comprehension and are covered on a limited basis. Many types of celestial beings are enumerated in
4851-709: The Transcendentalists, and influenced their thinking. They also endorsed universalist and Unitarianist ideas, leading to Unitarian Universalism , the idea that there must be truth in other religions as well since a loving God would redeem all living beings, not just Christians. A major influence on modern spirituality was the Theosophical Society , which searched for 'secret teachings' in Asian religions. It has been influential on modernist streams in several Asian religions, notably Neo-Vedanta ,
4950-413: The achievement of his exalted life purpose. Of all human knowledge, that which is of greatest value is to know the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it. God is described as the Father of each individual, and through the direct gift of a fragment of his eternal spirit, called a Thought Adjuster , is said to be able to guide the individual toward an increased understanding of him. The Thought Adjuster
5049-405: The afterlife as a continuation of training that begins in material life. The "religion of Jesus" is considered to be practiced by way of loving God the Father, thereby learning to love each person the way Jesus loves people; that is, recognizing the "fatherhood of God and its correlated truth, the brotherhood of man," resulting in unselfish service to others. The book describes that at the center of
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#17327805867885148-428: The age of five years and 10 months. The Adjuster then serves noncoercively as a divine partner in the mind of the individual for the rest of life, and to the extent that a person consents with their free will to want to find God, it leads the person toward more mature, spiritualized thinking. A person's Thought Adjuster is described as distinct from either the soul or the conscience . In The Urantia Book 's teachings,
5247-612: The ages. Best-known is the Noble Eightfold Path , but others include the Bodhisattva Path and Lamrim . Hinduism has no traditional ecclesiastical order, no centralized religious authorities, no governing body, no prophets nor any binding holy book; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, henotheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, or atheistic. Within this diffuse and open structure, spirituality in Hindu philosophy
5346-623: The analysis of the feelings". In the 17th and 18th centuries, a distinction was made between higher and lower forms of spirituality: "A spiritual man is one who is Christian 'more abundantly and deeper than others'." The word was also associated with mysticism and quietism , and acquired a negative meaning. Modern notions of spirituality developed throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, mixing Christian ideas with Western esoteric traditions and elements of Asian, especially Indian, religions. Spirituality became increasingly disconnected from traditional religious organizations and institutions. It
5445-476: The authors write: We full well know that, while the historic facts and religious truths of this series of revelatory presentations will stand on the records of the ages to come, within a few short years many of our statements regarding the physical sciences will stand in need of revision in consequence of additional scientific developments and new discoveries. These new developments we even now foresee, but we are forbidden to include such humanly undiscovered facts in
5544-476: The book claims is the "religion of Jesus." The stance of the book is that "There is not a Urantia religion that could not profitably study and assimilate the best of the truths contained in every other faith, for all contain truth." The Urantia Book has been enjoyed by some as a form of science fiction , historical fiction , or fantasy . The Urantia Book is noted for its high level of internal consistency and an advanced writing style. Skeptic Martin Gardner, in
5643-485: The book discusses the origin and meaning of life , mankind's place in the universe , the history of the planet, the relationship between God and people, and the life of Jesus . The Urantia Foundation , a U.S.-based non-profit group , first published The Urantia Book in 1955. In 2001, a jury found that the English-language book's copyright was no longer valid in the United States after 1983. Therefore,
5742-480: The book in depth, and according to Sadler and others, permission to publish it was given to them in 1955. The Urantia Foundation was formed in 1950 as a tax-exempt educational society in Illinois, and through privately raised funds, the book was published on October 12, 1955. Only the members of the Contact Commission witnessed the activities of the "sleeping subject", and only they knew his identity. The individual
5841-523: The book is that the human concept that most closely approximates the nature of God is that of a Father. Specifically, "the Father idea is [still] the highest human concept of God." It is also said that, "The face which the Infinite turns toward all universe personalities is the face of a Father, the Universal Father of love." God, according to the book, is one Deity who functions on a range of different levels of reality, both personal and impersonal. God
5940-542: The book is written as a biography of Jesus' life, and some feel it is a rich narrative with well-developed characters, high attention to detail, woven sub-plots, and realistic dialogue. Considered as literature, Part IV is favorably compared to retellings of Jesus' life, such as The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago and Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock . Martin Gardner considers Part IV to be an especially "well-written, impressive work," and says, "Either it
6039-404: The book, and one of particular note is a joint "offspring" of the Universal Father and Eternal Son called a "Creator Son." A divine Creator Son is considered the highest personification of the Universal Father and Eternal Son that is possible for people to know and: "...is, to all practical intents and purposes, God." Jesus of Nazareth is identified as a Creator Son who incarnated on Earth, and
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#17327805867886138-696: The book, possibly with help from others on the Contact Commission. A statistical analysis, using the Mosteller and Wallace methods of stylometry , indicates at least nine authors were involved in the Urantia documents. Comparing Sadler's The Mind at Mischief to the Urantia documents does not indicate authorship or extensive editing of the latter by Sadler, without ruling out the possibility Sadler made limited edits or contributions. In 1991, after having compiled an index of The Urantia Book and distributed free copies via computer disk and printouts, Kristen Maaherra
6237-711: The capacity to communicate findings in a meaningful fashion. According to Kees Waaijman, the traditional meaning of spirituality is a process of re-formation that "aims to recover the original shape of man, the image of God. To accomplish this, the re-formation is oriented at a mold, which represents the original shape: in Judaism the Torah , in Christianity there is Christ , for Buddhism , Buddha , and in Islam , Muhammad ." Houtman and Aupers suggest that modern spirituality
6336-493: The central theme of the book's section recounting his life and teachings is that the religion he preached is the highest known to the world. The final paper states: To "follow Jesus" means to personally share his religious faith and to enter into the spirit of the Master's life of unselfish service for man. One of the most important things in human living is to find out what Jesus believed, to discover his ideals, and to strive for
6435-663: The centuries. Each of the major religious orders of the Catholic Church and other lay groupings have their own unique spirituality – its own way of approaching God in prayer and in living out the Gospel . Christian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity . It has often been connected to mystical theology , especially in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. The attributes and means by which Christian mysticism
6534-434: The community, are said to have been approached by a neighbor who was concerned because she would occasionally find her husband in a deep sleep and breathing abnormally. She reported that she was unable to wake him at these times. The Sadlers came to observe the episodes, and over time, the individual produced verbal communications that claimed to be from "student visitor" spiritual beings. This changed sometime in early 1925 with
6633-414: The concept of being driven by the Holy Spirit , as opposed to living a life in which one rejects this influence. In the 11th century, this meaning of "Spirituality" changed. Instead, the word began to denote the mental aspect of life, as opposed to the material and sensual aspects of life, "the ecclesiastical sphere of light against the dark world of matter". In the 13th century "spirituality" acquired
6732-423: The cosmos is the stationary Isle of Paradise—the dwelling place of God —with Paradise being surrounded by "Havona," an eternal universe containing a billion perfect worlds, around which seven incomplete and evolutionary "superuniverses" circle. The word "universe" in the book is used to denote a number of different scales of organization. A "superuniverse" is roughly the size of a galaxy or group of galaxies, and
6831-443: The degree to which a human mind chooses to accept its Adjuster's guidance becomes the degree to which a person's soul "grows" and becomes a reality that can then survive death. The soul is in essence an embryonic spiritual development, one parental factor being the divine Adjuster and the other being the human will. The book says: "But you yourself are mostly unconscious of this inner ministry. You are quite incapable of distinguishing
6930-516: The foundation is to provide for the dissemination of The Urantia Book and to ensure that the text remains as unaltered as possible. It published the first copy of the book to be made available to the public in 1955. The organization maintains integrity of the text and authorizes specific translations. The Urantia Foundation was inaugurated to preserve exclusive domain over the names "The URANTIA BOOK," "Urantia Brotherhood," "Urantia Foundation," and "Urantia Society" for at least one generation. In 1995,
7029-477: The fraudulent methods of mediums and how self-deception leads to psychic claims. He wrote in an appendix that there were two cases that he had not explained to his satisfaction: The other exception has to do with a rather peculiar case of psychic phenomena, one which I find myself unable to classify. ... I was brought in contact with it, in the summer of 1911, and I have had it under my observation more or less ever since, having been present at probably 250 of
7128-651: The growth of secularism in the western world have given rise to this broader view of spirituality. The term "spiritual" is now frequently used in contexts in which the term "religious" was formerly employed. Both theists and atheists have criticized this development. Spirituality in Judaism ( Hebrew : רוחניות , romanized : ruhniyut ) may involve practices of Jewish ethics , Jewish prayer , Jewish meditation , Shabbat and holiday observance, Torah study , dietary laws , teshuvah , and other practices. It may involve practices ordained by halakhah or other practices. Kabbalah (literally "receiving")
7227-542: The lived experience of spirituality over historical dogmatic claims, and accepts that the faith is both true and a human construction, and that spiritual experiences are psychologically and neurally real and useful. An inner spiritual struggle and an outer physical struggle are two commonly accepted meanings of the Arabic word jihad : The "greater jihad" is the inner struggle by a believer to fulfill his religious duties and fight against one's ego . This non-violent meaning
7326-655: The mortals of Urantia" has been criticized as a product of "human efforts." Because the book asserts certain tenets of Christianity, such as the atonement doctrine , are of human origin, while presenting a great deal more of Jesus' life not recorded in any versions of the Bible, others with a Christian viewpoint have argued it cannot be genuine. Gooch notes that while its "somewhat dated, elegant" prose could be read as fiction, due to its claim of divine revelation "the book invites reactions far more scathing than [it] ... might otherwise merit." In Paper 101, "The Real Nature of Religion,"
7425-512: The night sessions, many of which have been attended by a stenographer who made voluminous notes. A thorough study of this case has convinced me that it is not one of ordinary trance. ... This man is utterly unconscious, wholly oblivious to what takes place, and, unless told about it subsequently, never knows that he has been used as a sort of clearing house for the coming and going of alleged extra-planetary personalities. ... Psychoanalysis , hypnotism , intensive comparison, fail to show that
7524-492: The oceans, later on land. The emergence of humans is presented as having occurred about a million years ago from a branch of superior primates originating from a lemur ancestor. The first humans are said to have been male and female twins called Andon and Fonta, born "993,419 years prior to 1934." The Urantia Book teaches not only biological evolution, but that human society and spiritual understandings evolve by slow progression, subject both to periods of rapid improvement and
7623-573: The original true proponents of this pure original form of Islam. They are strong adherents to the principal of tolerance, peace and against any form of violence. The Sufi have suffered severe persecution by more rigid and fundamentalist groups such as the Wahhabi and Salafi movement . In 1843 the Senussi Sufi were forced to flee Mecca and Medina and head to Sudan and Libya. Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as "a science whose objective
7722-567: The perspective of the book being a "revelation," it could be claimed the "celestial beings" simply found areas of Adventist belief to be accurate and therefore presented and expanded on them. While the book supports aspects of Adventism, it also is mixed with teachings that are heresies to Adventists. The book can be seen as belonging in the genre of spiritual literature that includes A Course in Miracles and Conversations with God . Gardner compares it with Oahspe , noting that though Oahspe
7821-430: The possibility of retrogression. Progress is said to follow a divine plan that includes periodic gifts of revelation and ministry by heavenly teachers, which eventually will lead to an ideal world status of "light and life" in the far distant future. Although there is the ideal and divine plan of progression, it is said to be fostered and administered by various orders of celestial beings who are not always perfect. Urantia
7920-406: The product of your own material intellect from that of the conjoint activities of your soul and the Adjuster." The book is strongly fideistic and teaches that neither science nor logic will ever be able to prove or disprove the existence of God, arguing that faith is necessary to become conscious of God's presence in human experience, the Thought Adjuster. Persistently embracing sin is considered
8019-487: The public domain. This decision was upheld on appeal. In 2006, the international copyright on the English text expired. The Urantia Book is approximately 2,000 pages long, and consists of a body of 196 "papers" divided in four parts, and an introductory foreword: According to The Urantia Book , God is the creator and upholder of all reality—an omniscient , omnipresent , omnipotent , infinite , and eternal spirit personality. The most fundamental teaching about God in
8118-500: The revelatory records. Let it be made clear that revelations are not necessarily inspired. The cosmology of these revelations is not inspired. As pointed out by skeptic Martin Gardner , the science in The Urantia Book reflects some views that prevailed at the time the book originated. The claim by the authors that no unknown scientific discoveries could be imparted can function as a ruse to allow mistakes to be dismissed later. The appeal to consequence that post-1955 scientific knowledge
8217-511: The revival of Theravada Buddhism , and Buddhist modernism , which have taken over modern western notions of personal experience and universalism and integrated them in their religious concepts. A second, related influence was Anthroposophy , whose founder, Rudolf Steiner , was particularly interested in developing a genuine Western spirituality, and in the ways that such a spirituality could transform practical institutions such as education , agriculture , and medicine . More independently,
8316-604: The same as rejecting the leadings of the Adjuster, rejecting the will of God. Constant selfishness and sinful choosing lead eventually to iniquity and full identification with unrighteousness, and since unrighteousness is unreal, it results in the eventual annihilation of the individual's identity. Personalities like this become "as if they never were." The book says that: "...in the last analysis, such sin-identified individuals have destroyed themselves by becoming wholly unreal through their embrace of iniquity." The concepts of Hell and reincarnation are not taught. The book says that
8415-420: The seven superuniverses along with Paradise-Havona are together designated as the "grand universe." A "local universe" is a portion of a superuniverse, with 100,000 local universes being in each superuniverse. Beyond the seven superuniverses, uninhabited "outer space levels" are described. The term "master universe" refers to what in modern usage would be the total universe—all existing matter and space taken as
8514-629: The spiritual and the religious became more common in the popular mind during the late 20th century with the rise of secularism and the advent of the New Age movement. Authors such as Chris Griscom and Shirley MacLaine explored it in numerous ways in their books. Paul Heelas noted the development within New Age circles of what he called "seminar spirituality": structured offerings complementing consumer choice with spiritual options. Among other factors, declining membership of organized religions and
8613-455: The spiritual practice often includes chanting, singing and music – such as in kirtans – in front of idols, or images of one or more deity, or a devotional symbol of the holy. Karma marga is the path of one's work, where diligent practical work or vartta ( Sanskrit : वार्त्ता , profession) becomes in itself a spiritual practice, and work in daily life is perfected as a form of spiritual liberation and not for its material rewards. Rāja marga
8712-456: The strange communications when Sadler mentioned the case at their fourth meeting and read samples at their request. Shortly afterwards, a communication reportedly was received about which this group would be allowed to devise questions and that answers would be given by celestial beings through the "contact personality." Sadler presented this development to the group, and they generated hundreds of questions without full seriousness, but their claim
8811-475: The teachings of The Urantia Book , and sees this as evidence that William Sadler and Wilfred Kellogg had a role in editing or writing the book, since they both were one-time believers in Adventism. For instance, two basic Adventist beliefs that distinguish it from mainline Christianity are the doctrines of soul sleeping and annihilationism , both of which The Urantia Book also supports. Lewis notes that from
8910-405: The term both spread to other religious traditions and broadened to refer to a wider range of experiences, including a range of esoteric and religious traditions. Modern usages tend to refer to a subjective experience of a sacred dimension , and the "deepest values and meanings by which people live", often in a context separate from organized religious institutions . This may involve belief in
9009-421: The truth of the divine unity. The three personalities of Paradise Deity are, in all universe reality reactions and in all creature relations, as one." The Father, Son, and Spirit are considered "existential" persons of Deity, those in existence from the eternal past to the eternal future. In addition, three persons of Deity are described who are "experiential," or incomplete and in the process of actualizing: God
9108-429: The twenty-third tirthankara Parshvanatha , whom historians date to 9th century BCE; and the twenty-fourth tirthankara, Mahavira around 600 BCE. Jainism is considered to be an eternal dharma with the tirthankaras guiding every time cycle of the cosmology . Buddhist practices are known as Bhavana , which literally means "development" or "cultivating" or "producing" in the sense of "calling into existence". It
9207-438: The unusual names and origins of the authors named within the book. The text introduces the word "Urantia" as the name of the planet Earth and states that its intent is to "present enlarged concepts and advanced truth." The book aims to unite religion, science, and philosophy. Its large amount of content on topics of interest to science is unique among documents said to have been received from celestial beings. Among other topics,
9306-409: The way of devotion; and Karma yoga , the way of selfless action. In the 19th century Vivekananda , in his neo-Vedanta synthesis of Hinduism, added Rāja yoga , the way of contemplation and meditation, as a fourth way, calling all of them "yoga". Jñāna marga is a path often assisted by a guru (teacher) in one's spiritual practice. Bhakti marga is a path of faith and devotion to deity or deities;
9405-450: The western world and Asia, which also influenced western religiosity. Unitarianism, and the idea of Universalism, was brought to India by missionaries, and had a major influence on neo-Hinduism via Ram Mohan Roy 's Brahmo Samaj and Brahmoism . Roy attempted to modernise and reform Hinduism, from the idea of Universalism. This universalism was further popularised, and brought back to the west as neo-Vedanta, by Swami Vivekananda . After
9504-503: The written or spoken messages of this individual have origin in his own mind. Much of the material secured through this subject is quite contrary to his habits of thought, to the way in which he has been taught, and to his entire philosophy. In fact, of much that we have secured, we have failed to find anything of its nature in existence. In 1923, a group of Sadler's friends, former patients, and colleagues began meeting for Sunday philosophical and religious discussions, but became interested in
9603-424: Was Neo-Vedanta , also called neo-Hinduism and Hindu Universalism , a modern interpretation of Hinduism which developed in response to western colonialism and orientalism . It aims to present Hinduism as a "homogenized ideal of Hinduism" with Advaita Vedanta as its central doctrine. Due to the colonisation of Asia by the western world, since the 19th century an exchange of ideas has been taking place between
9702-409: Was obtained in 1935, an additional period of time supposedly took place where requests for clarifications resulted in revisions. Sadler and his son William (Bill) Sadler, Jr. at one point wrote a draft introduction and were told that they could not add their introduction. The Foreword was then "received." The communications purportedly continued for another two decades while members of the Forum studied
9801-407: Was sued by the Urantia Foundation for violating their copyright on the book. In 1995, Maaherra won a summary judgment declaring the Urantia Foundation's copyright renewal invalid. Upon appeal, the judgment was reversed and awarded to the Urantia Foundation. Four years later, in 1999, Harry McMullan III and the Michael Foundation published a book, Jesus–A New Revelation , which included verbatim 76 of
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