Thanks so much for this question. “New Age” is a term that has been bandied about for decades now. In fact, New Age explorations were a factor in my stepping out of the box of authoritarian religion back in the 70s. But for me, the New Age was just a stepping stone—scaffolding; once I found The Urantia Book in the 1985, I never looked back at these beliefs in any serious way.

The teachings of The Urantia Book are certainly new in many respects, and in a sense its presence here bears witness to a new age on earth. However, the book is also a reiteration of a message that is anything but new to mankind. The proclamation that every human being is a member of the family of God and that each person can come to realize this fact by faith and through grace is surely not “New Age.” The teaching of life after death is not new, nor the reality of a non-material phase of existence—the spirit world. These were truths taught throughout the millenia, and even taught by Jesus.

As I was thinking about your question, I found this website, which outlines the New Age movement. It is interesting to me now that in that long list of sources and influences, there are few that are mentioned in The Urantia Book. And when they are mentioned, it is to put them into reasonable context. Outside of the list of world religions, many of the New Age sources are traced back to 19th century mortals—like us who were also truth-seekers—like us. They were looking for the truth, but their take on it was incomplete. Even now, so much of the New Age thinking is fuzzy—touchy-feely, but not rooted in reason or logic, and without an overlying philosophy upon which to hang one’s hat. It’s a lot of longing, but no real comfort.

The Urantia Book exquisitely weaves the past with the present and the future to give us a wholistic vision of our existence. It is an integrated revelation of reality. The Urantia Book is truly unprecedented, and is nearly impossible to label, but I would not place it under the “New Age” umbrella. It transcends all I ever learned from New Age philosophy, and then some…