Q: What exactly are “angelic records, ” and where did they appear originally, if not in the Bible?

A: For a long time, particularly in popular New Age mysticism, supposed angelic records have been called “Akashic records” and they’re used to explain all manner of esoteric things. This may be a totally made up concept New Agers rely on to explain the things in which they believe, or it may be an indirect reference to angelic records that actually do exist.

I guess we should begin with… do you believe in the possibility that there are unseen beings not far removed from us who are the agents of deity, otherwise known as angels? If you don’t believe that angels may exist then we’ll have to back up a bit more, but, let’s assume that you accept that angels may actually exist although we don’t see them. The Urantia Book covers in great detail what angels are and what they do – -devoid of religious dogma; no New Age trappings. In that discussion in TUB are described a number of orders of angelic beings who are recorders – -everything of value or interest is recorded, everywhere. In the Bible we’re told “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

If we believe then, and a reading of TUB will help us decide whether such a belief is sensible or not, that angels exist and that some of them are record keepers, then it would make good sense that an event as monumental as Jesus’ life and teachings here on Earth would be recorded in greater detail than humans were able to do. An excerpt of that angelic record comprises Part IV of The Urantia Book.

As for the revelatory of The Urantia Book‘s teachings… all that is known for certain is specifically what the book relates about itself… everything else is pretty much speculation. Briefly though, if you’ll read the Acknowledgment at the end of the Foreword you’ll find the authors have used the highest and best of previously recorded human sources in presenting their material and have resorted to revelation only when a concept or idea has not been humanly expressed.