An Introduction to The Urantia Book Prepared by The Reverend Meredith J. Sprunger Grace Evangelical and Reformed Church 215 N. Slate St., Culver, Indiana October 1956 May I Introduce you to a most unusual book? Every advance in knowledge is a disturbing and painful experience for man. This is true of both quantitative knowledge (science) and qualitative knowledge (religion). Giordono Bruno was burned at the stake for contending the earth was not in the center of the universe. Louis Pasteur was denounced by the learned men of his day when he contended that diseases were caused by germs. When William Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood, most of the physicians of his day who were over thirty-five continued the rest of their lives to believe there was no such thing. Shortly before Wilbur and Orville Wright flew their first plane at Kitty Hawk, N.C., a distinguished scientist wrote a convincing article proving that it was scientifically impossible to fly a vehicle heavier than air. The list could go on and on. Scientists, however, are not the only people afflicted with this type of myopic vision. Growth in religious insight has been plagued with even greater resistance and suffering. The prophets have been stoned; the saviours are crucified -- by religious men and women who believe they are doing the will of God. The basic error responsible for our historic resistance to truth, both scientific and religious, is mankind's tendency to accept second-hand, once removed, sources of reality -- usually authoritarianism and tradition. The Bible does not contain the word of God because our theological professors, our pastors or our parents say it does. It is not Eternal Truth because the prophets have seen visions or worked miracles. The ultimate authority of truth is its intrinsic, self-validating nature. There is in every man a spark of the Divine which bears witness to the truth. The only way one can know the Bible contains the word of God is through this inner testimony of the Holy Spirit. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth...and will declare to you the things that are to come." John 16:13 With this background I should like to introduce you to a book which, at first impulse, you will no doubt reject. After this first impulse passes, I urge you -- with all the sincerity and urgency at my command -- to read and study this book carefully and critically. Remember that you never need fear Truth and that falsehood cannot stand careful scrutiny. This book is entitled: The Urantia Book. It was published by the Urantia Foundation, 533 Diversey Parkway, Chicago 14, Illinois, in 1955 and contains 2097 pages. Examining its contents you will discover that it claims to be written by numerous celestial beings as a special revelation to man living on this world, Urantia. It asserts that it contains the first major Divine Revelation since the coming of Christ to our planet. "These papers differ from all previous revelations, for they are not the work of a single universe personality (such as Melchizedek of Salem or Jesus of Nazareth), but a composite presentation of many beings. But no revelation short of the attainment of the Universal Father can ever be complete. All other celestial ministrations are no more than partial, transient, and practically adapted to local conditions of time and space. While such admissions as this may possibly detract from the immediate force and authority of all revelations, the time has arrived on Urantia when it is advisable to make such frank statements, even at the risk of weakening the future influence and authority of this, the most recent of the revelations of truth to the mortal races of Urantia." Page 1008 One would expect that any authentic revelation would be continuous with and not contrary to previous authentic revelations. Although the New Testament presents a loftier view than the Old Testament, it is continuous with it. You will discover this same parallel between the New Testament and the Urantia Book. Many of the things Bible students have wondered about and yearned to know are clarified in the Urantia Book. For this reason, I strongly suggest that you begin reading the Urantia Book at Part IV, page 1323 -- The Life and Teachings of Jesus -- and that you read this entire section before turning to other sections of the Urantia Book. Most laymen and some ministers will need help and time to grasp and follow much of the rest of the book. But by this time you will have understood its immense significance and will be willing to undergo this rigorous study -- or you will have thrown the book aside as impossible and preposterous. As you read the Urantia Book try to do so with an open mind and listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It stands or falls on its own inner validity or lack of it. If you only browse through the book, you will almost certainly reject it. Read Part IV through before even attempting to make a judgment. You will discover that it does not advocate a new religion. It cautions repeatedly concerning the dangers of fanaticism. If your religious convictions are mature and if you have grown in reasonable spiritual insight, inspired by the teachings of Christ, you will find that reading and accepting the teachings of the Urantia Book will not change any of your fundamental religious convictions -- and it will confirm many things which, through the guidance of the Spirit, you have surmised to be true. Although the Urantia Book may not change your fundamental convictions, it will add tremendously to your knowledge of God. October, 1956