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.

The text, which claims to have been composed by celestial beings, 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, the book discusses the origin and meaning of life, mankind's place in the universe, the history of Earth, 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 In 2001, a jury found that the English-language book's copyright was no longer valid in the United States after 1983. Analysis of The Urantia Book has found that it repeated portions of numerous pre-existing published works by human authors with only the above "basis" as attribution. Despite this general acknowledgment of derivation from human authors, the book contains no specific references to those sources. It has received both praise and criticism for its religious and science-related content, and is noted for its unusual length and the unusual names and origins of its reputed celestial contributors.

Background

Authorship

thumb|upright|right|[[William S. Sadler]]

thumb|upright|right|[[Lena Sadler|Lena K. Sadler]]

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.

William S. Sadler and his wife Lena Sadler, physicians in Chicago and well known in the community, are said to have been approached as early as 1911 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 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 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: On another level, the Urantia Book itself credits midwayers in relaying material to the sleeping subject. 38:9.9, 121:0.1. 0:0.1 credits an "Orvonton corps of truth revealers" later detailed to include:

As of 2006, the Urantia Foundation has accepted that the international copyright on the English text has expired.

  • The jazz fusion band Weather Report have a song entitled 'Havona' on their 1977 studio album Heavy Weather. 'Havona' is the last track on the respective studio album on side two and was composed by bassist Jaco Pastorius (1951–1987) as a reference to a term (i.e. The Paradise-Havona System) which appears in The Urantia Book.
  • Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007) based his seven-opera cycle Licht on the cosmology of The Urantia Book.
  • American alternative metal band Deftones' ninth album, Ohms (album), features a track named Urantia.
  • American synth-metal band Deadsy's song "The Mansion World" from their 2002 album Commencement (album) has many references to themes in The Urantia Book.

Symbols

thumb|right|130px|The symbol of Paradise Trinity as described within The Urantia Book.

An important symbol, described in The Urantia Book as "the banner of Michael" and the "material emblem of the Trinity government of all creation," consists of three azure blue concentric circles on a white background. The circles are said to be "emblematic of the infinity, eternity, and universality of the Paradise Trinity".

The incarnated priest and contemporary of Abraham, Machiventa Melchizedek, wore on his breast an emblem of three concentric circles representative of the Paradise Trinity. During a system-wide rebellion instigated by Lucifer, the so-called "war in heaven," Lucifer's emblem was a banner of white bearing one red circle with a solid black circle at its center.

See also

  • New religious movement
  • Oahspe: A New Bible

Notes

References

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Bibliography

Books

  • Johnson, J.J. (2025), Exploring the Urantia Revelation: Bridging Science and Spirit with the Truth of Reality, Skyhorse Publishing,

Journal articles

  • Urantia Foundation
  • The Urantia Book Historical Society
  • Urantia Book Related Websites
  • The Urantia Book Explorer
  • Truthbook by The Jesusonion Foundation