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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
(with multiple answers from
readers around the world)
3. Who wrote the Urantia Book?
ANSWER #1: To understand who wrote the book one must
believe in angels. The true authors are a team of higher
beings in the universe who were assigned the task of giving
us this knowledge. Because humans and superhumans cannot
communicate directly with each other, a uniquely talented
human being was used as a transmitter. Nobody knows who he
was or how it was done, and those who knew at one time died
without revealing the secret to prevent us from creating
another “gallery of saints.” What we are left with is a
stupendous 2097-page revelation of truth that will stand or
fall on its own merits.
ANSWER #2: Twenty-three separate authors are attributed
to be responsible for the content of the 196 Papers and
Foreword of the Urantia Book. They’re described and their
credentials are provided within the book itself. As the
Urantia Book contains much of the best historical,
scientific, philosophical, and religious thought from across
the ages, there is currently considerable research underway
to identify the original authors of the supporting material.
ANSWER #3: The Urantia Book is the result of a team
effort by many personalities. Who these personalities are
and how they relate to us is described in the writings and
explained in the cosmology presented therein.
ANSWER #4: No human being is listed as author of the
Urantia Book. The book itself refers to the authorship as a
collaborative effort by many superhuman and celestial
beings, each of whom brought to this endeavor individual
areas of knowledge and expertise. They are listed in the
Table of Contents and at the end of each of the 196 Papers.
The Foreword describes how these beings were commissioned to
bring to our world this revelation intended to provide us
with a cosmic perspective of who we are and how we fit into
the greater flow of cosmic events.
ANSWER #5: The authors are beings claiming to be
celestial personalities of various kinds—angels, archangels,
Melchizedeks, and others. The content of the book explains
the origins and functions of all of these orders of
celestials. The best way for anyone to assess these
extraordinary claims is to read the entire book and assess
it as a whole.
ANSWER #6: Its authors are celestial beings with
names like Divine Counselor and Mighty Messenger. It came
through a single human being in Chicago. Who that person
was, or the exact method of its transmission, is unknown.
The person most closely associated with it was Dr. William.
S. Sadler. He wrote many books himself, but his writing
style is quite different from the Urantia Book, and he was
probably not the author.
ANSWER #7: Oral tradition holds that the book was
received from superhuman revelators working through a human
contact personality. This information was assembled into 196
papers over a twenty-year period which resulted in The
Urantia Book. Dr. William S. Sadler, a Chicago psychiatrist,
was involved in this process although the contact
personality was never identified. In the appendix to his
book The Mind at Mischief, Dr. Sadler stated the
information imparted from this source was “always consistent
within itself” and said it was “in a class by itself.”
ANSWER #8: The authors are a collection of celestial
beings who identify themselves at the end of each paper. It
is said that these papers were transmitted through an
individual in Chicago during his sleep and that when he
awoke he was totally unaware of what had transpired. It was
mandated that his identity be kept secret because he was
simply a conduit; that the message was important, not the
messenger. This individual came to the attention of Dr.
William Sadler, a noted psychiatrist and debunker of
spiritualism, who began to take great interest in the
material being transmitted. Sadler then gathered a handful
of people who became known as the Contact Commission. They
began recording the information which came through as a
series of papers. The next twenty years were spent reviewing
the information, asking questions of the revelators and
taking their revisions.
ANSWER #9: Although the origins of the Urantia Book
may seem out of the ordinary, when we read its contents we
are engaged by its resonance of truth, advanced information,
spiritual eloquence, and powerful message for our generation
and those to come. When taken in full context, the book is
self-authenticating. We must also remember that all of our
religions have elements of mystery in their origins. Yet,
over time we have come to accept them because of the
transformational qualities they contain for us individually
and collectively. The same applies to the Urantia Book.
ANSWER #10: There is much detailed speculation and
conjecture on the origin, organization, and method of
reception of the Urantia Papers, but how they actually were
obtained constitutes an amazing mystery about which little
is truly known or understood. The authors are listed in the
Table of Contents and at the end of each of the 196 papers
comprising the Urantia Book. The authors identify themselves
as a diverse group of heavenly beings who were commissioned
to bring to our world the next in a series of revelations
intended to restore to humankind an understanding of the
true nature of God, of our origin, history, and destiny, and
to provide us with a cosmic perspective of who we are and
how we fit into the greater flow of cosmic events.
ANSWER #11: No human being is listed as author of the
Urantia Book. The book itself refers to the authorship as a
collaborative effort by many superhuman and celestial
beings, all of whom brought to this endeavor individual
areas of knowledge and expertise. However, they tell us from
the beginning that they were mandated to give priority to
any human expressions of truth that represented “the highest
and most advanced planetary knowledge of spiritual values
and universe meanings” as would convey the truth “as they
were directed to reveal it” before resorting to their own
superior expressions of truth-knowledge. The various and
diverse writings of many human beings were masterfully
coordinated, enhanced, and improved by the authors
responsible for the creation of the Urantia Book.
ANSWER #12: It is known that one human being was
utilized as a “sleeping subject” to produce the Urantia
teachings, but this man did not want to be known for the
phenomenon. Records of the events concerning the book’s
origin state that six people knew his identity, but none
ever revealed his name. Witnesses to these events have
reported that the authors of the Urantia Book indicated it
was best that he remain anonymous, because the truth and
wisdom of the teachings would endure on their own merits
without a human personality to authenticate them.
ANSWER #13: In the early 20th century, a physician
practicing in Chicago became the head of a small group known
as the Contact Commission, the primary custodian of and
focal point for producing the text of the Urantia Book. They
were sworn not to disclose details about the transactions in
order to discourage future generations from venerating the
participants. It was considered important that no
individuals be exalted through their association with the
Urantia Book. Because of its revelatory nature, the book
stands on its own merit. As the contents of were being
transcribed, the individual papers were read to the Forum, a
group that had been meeting regularly for philosophical
discussions at the doctor’s residence. The Forum was
encouraged to ask questions, and many of the answers were
then incorporated into the papers.
ANSWER #14: The authorship of The Urantia Book is not clearly
understood and is currently a topic of research by a small group of
readers. You may find out a little more about this by reviewing the
materials on our website at
http://urantiabook.org/sources. Unfortunately these research
efforts have only deepened the mystery of how such a text could have
been created or compiled, especially without the use of computers
and word processors. I have put together a short summary of what the
book itself says about its authorship at
http://urantiabook.org/sources/origin_quotes.htm. |
