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.