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Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:57 pm +0000
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Hello,

I have a lot to say as a new reader to the Urantia Book. I tried talking about the book to people in my life but they only expressed mild to no interest. I tried to discuss it in other forums not related to the Urantia Book and there too interest is very limited. I can't even engage with critics.

How did I learn of the Urantia Book and come to obtain it? Well, I was born and raised a Lutheran Christian. In 2012, I became doubtful of my faith and was unsure for a long time if I really am a Christian at heart. So in 2015 I started reading the Bible cover to cover. I concluded that I am not a Christian. I then decided to read the Qur'an. After reading it, I gave up on religion completely. However, as a result of reading the Bible and the Qur'an I developed a fascination with religious texts. I read a lot of religious literature including The Book of Mormon. Searching the web for religious texts, I came across the Urantia Book. I was very fascinated and vowed to obtain a copy. My father helped purchase one for me online, but for complicated reasons, the book only arrived in my hands in January of this year. And now here I am reading it.

As I said, I have much to say about this book and hopefully this forum will be where I can find believers and non-believers to share in my interest in this book.

All I'll say now is that while I indeed am skeptical that the Urantia Book is of supernatural origin, I recognize many philosophical and scientific truths scattered within the text. I can appreciate how well written and put together the book is. I can also express my admiration for believers of the Urantia Book and that you serve as an example to how religious and spiritual people should be like ideally. In short, while I am not a believer, I recognize truths and beauty within the book and the community of readers.
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Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:03 am +0000
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.

Read on, William! When I discovered the UB (32 years ago) it was a 'personal religious experience'. THIS is what I had been searching for in all those other books, pure revelation from above.

.


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Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:29 am +0000
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Welcome William!

So glad to hear of your interest and early appreciation of the UB. I hope you find a community of readers here who are eager to support your reading and discovery of the Papers. Do not worry about accepting the authorship or the contents so much as to embrace the adventure of discovering a unique and wondrous presentation of universe reality that is sure to confirm so many beliefs and speculations you already have in mind and to deliver concepts which so reasonably complete a working philosophy and perspective of your origins and destiny.

There are indexes, key word search engines, on line text, study guides, videos and lots of supplementary stuff...but the book itself on the lap just reading is the very best of all methods of discovery and study for your first reading or two. There are some great audio versions which delivers the hearing of the book rather than the reading and adds a another dimension for those who like that.

Best wishes. Let us know of any questions you have. Remember that truth seeking requires patience and the setting aside of personal prejudice and the ability to discern truth wherever it is found, and it can be found most anywhere. I think you will find a great concentration of it within the UB...a glory hole of useful and practical knowledge about this life and the universe adventures to come.

Enjoy!

Bradly 8)

A reader for 40+ years...a believer for most of that time...but that took awhile....no hurry, eternity is not a race, progress is measured only by sincerity and direction, not by speed or distance. No urgency. Fear not. Be anxious for nothing. Time is a gift as is free will and the personality to utilize both in our quest to become and to understand. What a marvelous adventure!
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Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2019 6:11 am +0000
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Hello, William and all other readers of the Urantia Book!
Just like William, I started reading the book this year (2019), toward the end of January, and yet I had known about it for about two and a half years, half of 2016, the whole of 2017 and 2018. I had simply chosen to ignore it as another one of 'those fantastically-worded books which claim to hold the answer'...
By then I was doing a bible-study with J.Ws (who by the way I'll forever be grateful to and especially brother George Kimani for his patience in showing me that I had a chance at spiritual life).

Posting my spiritual journey here would take up so much space and you the readers' time- but I was born a questioning skeptic, grew up an angry atheist and nearly ended my life as a bitter misotheist but- it is been a true journey.

I have no doubts that this book is the answer to ALL questions concerning life, existence, and destiny. The sole challenge I have at the moment is finding anyone else here as awed and as elated as I am. This is Africa after all and most of the people I meet are always occupied with superstitious thoughts concerning nature and twisted ideas about God, the universe, the solar system, and even our own planet. Sometimes I wish I didn't know so much... and that everyone was as inquisitive as I am.

Reading the book made me make a few changes in life, some drastic, some commendable and others hard to understand (like marriage) but all in all, I consider it a small price to pay if compared to what awaits me as my ultimate destiny. If a fellow Kenyan reads this post please reach out to me.
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Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:14 pm +0000
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Location: Left Coast
Welcome

One thing comes to mind after reading your messages:
The religious books you read are nothing but paper with written words. They are not religion or truth.
Truth happens as you study the texts.
It’s a very personal experience.
As with any religious text if we approach it with skepticism, we are more likely to miss those truths being revealed.
I pray that you find what you are looking for.
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Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:29 am +0000
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Greetings and Welcome wiffinzebe!! Yes, there are not so many truthseekers as one might hope. Takes work and mental toughness and discipline. So glad you found us.

There is a study group of readers north of Nairobi in Ruiru. I'll post particulars and a link soon. There are many UB readers in Africa....yeah I know, big place Africa...Urantia Association International has a Continental Coordinator and free books and help forming study groups.

Blessings to you. Be back soon.

:smile: 8)
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Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2019 6:11 am +0000
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Hello FanofVan! It is unbelievable that just an hour's drive away from me is a study group of the Urantia Book. I look forward to communicating with and also joining them. Thanks!
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Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:29 am +0000
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wiffinzebe wrote:
Hello FanofVan! It is unbelievable that just an hour's drive away from me is a study group of the Urantia Book. I look forward to communicating with and also joining them. Thanks!


Here's the information I found. I've added links to the internet school and the study group committee. Lots going on in Africa with the Urantia Association International (UAI). Let me know if you need more information, contacts, books, or other resources to serve readers in your area. Best wishes. The Urantia Book Internet School (UBIS) is very good...classes for new readers to old dogs like me! I've had 3 classes with students from over 12 countries! Awesome!

UBIS:

https://new.ubis.urantia.org/moodle/

Study Group Committee/Joint Task Force:

https://www.urantiastudygroup.org/en

Global Map of Study Groups:

https://www.urantiastudygroup.org/global-map

Contact for Study Group in Kenya:

Ruiru, Nairobi Area, Kenya

Ruiru

Face-to-Face
City
Ruiru
Postal Code
00202
Primary Language
English
Meeting Day
Sunday
Meeting Time
2:00pm
Meeting Regularity
Weekly

Primary Contact Name
Ezekiel motsi
Primary Contact Email
motsiezekiel@gmail.com
Primary Contact Phone
+254-720376723
every sunday afternoon

Urantia Association International - UAI:

https://urantia-association.org/

TruthBook:

https://truthbook.com/

:biggrin: :wink: 8) :idea:
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no sophist wrote:
Welcome

One thing comes to mind after reading your messages:
The religious books you read are nothing but paper with written words. They are not religion or truth.
Truth happens as you study the texts.
It’s a very personal experience.
As with any religious text if we approach it with skepticism, we are more likely to miss those truths being revealed.
I pray that you find what you are looking for.


I agree that you should not start to read a text already assuming you will reject what it teaches. What I will say however, is that the truth contained in the text is not one constant flow of truth. There are parts in the Bible for instance where you have to take a step back and say "wait... that's not truth". The parts where truth is in fact revealed are moments or flashes of "revelation" or moments of profound realization of truth.

Truth in my opinion can not be absolute in just a single document. I would hope the Urantia Book readers would grant me this because according to the Urantia Foundation on their website they say that religious people should practice their religion of choice and all that is untrue and useless within that religion will eventually fall away. The Catholic church for instance has now accepted evolution.
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Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:14 pm +0000
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William S. wrote:
no sophist wrote:
Welcome

One thing comes to mind after reading your messages:
The religious books you read are nothing but paper with written words. They are not religion or truth.
Truth happens as you study the texts.
It’s a very personal experience.
As with any religious text if we approach it with skepticism, we are more likely to miss those truths being revealed.
I pray that you find what you are looking for.


I agree that you should not start to read a text already assuming you will reject what it teaches. What I will say however, is that the truth contained in the text is not one constant flow of truth. There are parts in the Bible for instance where you have to take a step back and say "wait... that's not truth". The parts where truth is in fact revealed are moments or flashes of "revelation" or moments of profound realization of truth.


Truth in my opinion can not be absolute in just a single document. I would hope the Urantia Book readers would grant me this because according to the Urantia Foundation on their website they say that religious people should practice their religion of choice and all that is untrue and useless within that religion will eventually fall away. The Catholic church for instance has now accepted evolution.


The Urantia book informs us and readers would agree that absolute truth is the very source himself, God the Father. All truth that we experience is relative to that which is absolute, subject to growth and it readily dies when attempt is made to capture and dogmatize truth. Truth is alive and dynamic.
Churches tend to dogmatize but this is an evolutionary process, Gods laws are in our hearts, not on stone tablets.

195:9.2 [Part IV]
But paganized and socialized Christianity stands in need of new contact with the uncompromised teachings of Jesus; it languishes for lack of a new vision of the Master's life on earth. A new and fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus is destined to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism and to overthrow a world sway of mechanistic naturalism. Urantia is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment

But quivering on the brink should be taken literally: quivering means we could go in either direction. Evolutionary religions as well as civilizations tend to come and go.


Last edited by no sophist on Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:18 pm +0000, edited 2 times in total.

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Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:00 pm +0000
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Location: Savannah GA
Hi William! Welcome to out little dysfunctional family. We are glad you are here.
Yeah, we've all, (well most of us anyways) tried singing the praises of the Book from the rooftops. Most of us have the scars from trying that route.
I have found that living the life which the text teaches us to live is one of the better ways of spreading the message. Most times folks just like to be loved, but occasionally (very occasionally) someone will really be interested, and that is the time to share just a pinch of the Truth of the Book. The really had part is just limiting it to a pinch, usually my pinch turns into an avalanche, and, yep, I've lost another candidate. Turns out its really hard to stop once the floodgates are opened! But maybe you will have more restraint.

Quote:
56:10.20 To finite man truth, beauty, and goodness embrace the full revelation of divinity reality. As this love-comprehension of Deity finds spiritual expression in the lives of God-knowing mortals, there are yielded the fruits of divinity: intellectual peace, social progress, moral satisfaction, spiritual joy, and cosmic wisdom. The advanced mortals on a world in the seventh stage of light and life have learned that love is the greatest thing in the universe—and they know that God is love.

56:10.21 Love is the desire to do good to others.


So if you simply go about doing good to others then you are living the will of God, which is pretty much what the entire Book is about. After all, the words on the pages are just that, words. It is how YOU interpret them into YOUR life which matters. This Revelation is just beginning to take hold on the world. We are the first raindrops, scattered widely across a dry and dusty plain, but behind us in the distant future will be a torrent of spiritual uprising. It is our job to simply dampen the earth.

Peace out.
Al
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William S. wrote:
no sophist wrote:
Welcome

One thing comes to mind after reading your messages:
The religious books you read are nothing but paper with written words. They are not religion or truth.
Truth happens as you study the texts.
It’s a very personal experience.
As with any religious text if we approach it with skepticism, we are more likely to miss those truths being revealed.
I pray that you find what you are looking for.


I agree that you should not start to read a text already assuming you will reject what it teaches. What I will say however, is that the truth contained in the text is not one constant flow of truth. There are parts in the Bible for instance where you have to take a step back and say "wait... that's not truth". The parts where truth is in fact revealed are moments or flashes of "revelation" or moments of profound realization of truth.

Truth in my opinion can not be absolute in just a single document. I would hope the Urantia Book readers would grant me this because according to the Urantia Foundation on their website they say that religious people should practice their religion of choice and all that is untrue and useless within that religion will eventually fall away. The Catholic church for instance has now accepted evolution.


According to the UB truth is universal and absolute only in Paradise or the central and eternal abode. In time and space truth is relative but only in relationship to the spiritization, experiential wisdom, maturity, understanding, and perspective of each being and mind. Therefore truth is relative and partial to all unperfected beings.

However, that does not confirm or support your inference that the UB, like the Bible, contains that which is untrue. You will find that you disagree with perhaps or you do not understand or that which conflicts with current beliefs...which does not make anything untrue or lacking truth. Please share here all that you might find in the UB you think to be false.

I think you will find, like most readers, the voice of each author and Paper and each concept and perspective presented will begin to form a tapestry of truth and that each of those threads of concept will become like notes played by different instruments and musicians to eventually become a symphony of truth that will present a perspective of truth and universe reality and a philosophy of living that you too will find thrilling and far more logical and satisfying than anything you have considered or encountered before.

Keep reading....and best wishes.

Bradly. 8)


Last edited by fanofVan on Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:53 am +0000, edited 1 time in total.

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Bradly used the phrase above, "a tapestry of truth" and that's exactly how I see the UB. Have you ever been in a large museum and seen an artwork or tapestry that takes up and entire wall? If you stand too close to it, you can see the threads and the different colors, but you don't get a sense of the unity and the interconnectedness of the overall image or message it is trying to convey.

Similarly, as you read each paper, you get individual truths and details, but it is not until you finish the entire book (and truly, for the second time rather than the first read), that you truly get a sense of perspective that allows you to figuratively step back and see the entire unified story as a comprehensive whole. It's a marvelous and unforgettable experience! But while you are deep in the threads and the different colors, it can feel like a strange picture; like being in a foreign land or something. It's really interesting.
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Aloha William and all... It's been way to long since I've been here and enjoyed what you said. That's great that you have fellow readers so close by. Quick bio... Raised Catholic and left the church when I grad HS with a head full of questions. I am a Truth seeker and enjoyed my journeys learning others teachings, Eastern and Western. Searching for my Guru and one day I heard in my heart that Jesus was just that. Happy!!! Not too long down the road staying with a friend here in Hawaii, alone at night I spotted a big Blue book on the coffee table. I opened at random and started shaking... I knew I was home. That was in 1974. Daily reader ever since.
I sure understand our wanting to share and I must be mindful before I do. I prefer to respond to the things I know to be true. I don't debate. Dig this one... I worked for 10 years for a huge telescope and loved my environment and fellow Astronomers, Scientists and Team from around the world.... HOW I wanted to show the image of the Master's Universe and say...We are here :smile: but held my tongue and learned from them...
Have fun on your journey William and may our paths cross in time in Eternity.
Aloha to many I know from way back!!!

_________________
A fellow Agondonter...
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Aloha to you, Tootsie! How nice to see you here again.
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