The Incredible or Incredulous Urantia Book.

Discussion in 'Pseudoscience Archive' started by kwhilborn, Feb 19, 2013.

  1. kwhilborn Banned Banned

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    I have been known to endorse a famous book, screenplay, and movie writer who was also a celebrated "telepath" whether you believe in that sort of thing. He was quite famous and his name appears obviously on the myriad of movies he has written. His name was Harold Sherman and originated my own interest in powers of the mind.

    Now Harold Sherman greatly endorsed a man named "Harry Loose" who had once mystified Harold Sherman by allegedly summoning him to his location without Harold aware he was being psychically influenced (according to him and not me). Harold Sherman was so intrigued by Harry Loose that he was mentioned in at least three of his books and some articles.

    This psychically advanced (allegedly) Harry Loose was heavily endorsing a very strange book that was coming to market.

    http://www.theoquest.com/ubstudy/pdf/UrantiaBook1955.pdf

    That will link you to the book and you can copy it to your computer.

    Now this book is over 2000 pages long and the authors of it are supposedly spirits who dictated the book to subjects. It has topics ranging from wave particle duality and atomic energy to where we fit in the great cosmos and describes how the "god consciousness" works, etc. It claims to explain everything.

    Now that I have looked at it, it seems to be very crazy. The puzzling parts about it are
    a) It is well written.
    b) It is supposedly written by aliens and spirits and now free open source.
    c) I have seen a lot of history portrayed , but am unable to distinguish if they are correct in historical references.

    Nevertheless I am intrigued how this cult book came about. If it is pure fiction it contains some amazing accuracies, and yet it is too absurd to be taken seriously.

    I do not think I will weigh in any opinions on this book, but It is highly controversial (mostly as woo), but yet I keep reading various chapters looking for flaws. It describes races of blue and green people dating back 700 000 years, but how could we know this to be true or not?

    I just thought this book is interesting if nothing else. It is surprising to see such a well written book with this amount of crazy.

    i.e. It states the first humans are said to have been a pair of twins called Andon and Fonta, born in 991,485 B.C.

    Here is wikipedia view. Even wikipedia says it is messed up.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Urantia_Book

    So some alternate psychic history here folks....
     
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  3. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    It was the favorite book of my schizophrenic friend. Besides the Bible. Which should tell you all you need to know.
     
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  5. Lakon Valued Senior Member

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    The ESP book written by Sherman, as linked in the other thread, as I said there, is IMO really good in how it deals with the mind, feelings, etc. I read it years ago and skimmed through it again recently after your link. He does however, eventually fly off into laa laa land in the latter part of the book, with his heavy reliance on anecdote, etc.

    Yes, I just re-read the passage where he was summonsed by Loose. What to make of it ? Fantactic, but anecdote.

    So what to make of Loose's 2100 pages (plus) work. Even to form a cursory opinion, one would have to read a good deal of it, which I won't be doing any time soon.

    But the aliens bit worries me, as I don't believe in 'em. Also, it seems to be replete with an entire alternative view on Christianity.
     
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  7. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    It's no different than the Book of Mormon. Biblical fan fiction.
     
  8. Furchizedek Registered Member

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    Hello. I have a Urantia “Google Alert” set up, it lets me know when “Urantia” is in someone’s discussion. Most often I just ignore them but sometimes I’m forced to comment. (I hope all the quotes come out OK. I don't sew a "Preview" screen.)

    I have had The Urantia Book since 1959. My grandmother in Chicago was involved with it early on. I was 16 when she sent me one. More below...

    I do not.

    You may want to read “The Sherman Diaries: Vol 2: Revelation and Rebellion, 1942” It’s one of 5 in the set. It’s the one which deals with Harry Loose and The Urantia Book.

    I appreciate your use of the qualifications (allegedly, etc.)

    Several other sites have TUB (The Urantia Book) on their sites as well. I usually go here:

    (I had to remove the link in order to post. Some rule.)

    Um, while your write up above is VERY good (and thank you) the only thing I would take issue with is that it does NOT claim to explain everything. Perhaps that’s something that it says on some site or other, but TUB doesn’t say that. On the other hand, feel free to prove me wrong.

    To the extent that spirits (or angels, etc.) are “aliens,” then yes, but otherwise, there are no aliens in The Urantia Book, as we use the term, to mean perhaps, mortals from other planets.

    Oops. What is a “cult book”? I never heard that one before.

    That’s always been my idea too, but maybe the opposite. I would say, It’s too strange NOT to be true. Or as the saying goes, “Truth IS stranger than fiction.” Every time I read the book or almost anywhere that I open it to, I think, “No human beings wrote this.”

    What does “mostly as woo” mean?

    It describes the colored races starting about 500,000 years ago. Science’s ideas have mankind originating in Africa as blacks, and then walking out of Africa and somehow in the process, some turned into Norwegians and Swedes and others turned into Chinese and Japanese, and so on. LOL.

    Please read it all. It’s all new and strange, unfamiliar stuff, but it’s not crazy. It just seems that way at first. I do understand the feeling.

    The Urantia Book has a different criteria for what is “human” than science does. For TUB, humanness is defined by the ability to make moral choices and other decisions. A human can think into the future. A human can think, I’m going go to Walmart tomorrow. A dog, for example, and I think we can assume, never thinks, “I’m going to go down to the river tomorrow and splash around and have fun with Fido and Rover.”

    (I had to remove the link, it wouldn't let me post it until I post 50 times, apparently. I wonder what the reason for that rule is?)

    What do you think is there in the Wiki article that says it’s messed up? Maybe I can shed some light on it.

    ------------------------------

    What 2100 page book are you referring to above? Not The Urantia Book. Loose didn't write The Urantia Book or have anything to do with the writing of it. I’m just asking. Maybe you are talking about some other book. I’m not familiar with Loose’s writings

    On the other hand, if one reads 10 pages a day in TUB from start to finish, one would be done is six months or so.

    What aliens?

    The deal is more like if there are two witnesses to a car wreck. The car wreck happened, but the two witnesses noticed and reported different things, and some were incorrect and some were correct. The Urantia Book is the angelic records/witness of the car wreck, whereas the bible is the human records, such as it is. And no, The Urantia Book is not an alternative view of Christianity because that conflates Christian with Jesus and his life and teachings. The Urantia Book is an alternative view of Jesus and his life and teachings. Christianity is something different, it’s Paul’s teachings ABOUT Jesus.

    I decided to pass on spidergoat since he doesn't seem to be a serious contributor here with his one-liners like “It's no different than the Book of Mormon,” and his comments about a friend with schizophrenia, etc. LOL.
     
  9. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Does it contain anything that could not have been known at the time? Why should anyone take it the least bit seriously? It has all the tedium of the Bible with none of the historical/ cultural value.

    Hey, according to wikipedia, two of the authors of the Urantia book used to be 7th Day Adventists. So there.
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2013
  10. Furchizedek Registered Member

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    Instead of paraphrasing in your mind and in your own words what you think the Wikipedia says, it'd be a whole lot better if you quoted the Wiki (copy and paste) so that we can see what it says instead of what you say you think it says. All of the authors of The Urantia Book are listed in the book, and none of them are Seventh Day Adventists. And if you have not read it then you really aren't qualified to opine on its tedium level. Since it's from the universe records that God's angels keep, it does in fact have all of the historical and cultural value from perfect sources. I shouldn't really be taking your bait and quibbling with you. It's clear that you know nothing of the subject and are simply interested in ridicule for the purpose of protecting your own, apparently meager belief system, whatever that is. I don't blame you, it's human nature.
     
  11. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Au contrare my new friend, the Urantia Book was explained at length to me by a Prophet from the Solar City. I bet you haven't even annotated it with the proper elemental bookmarks (feathers and tar, but pieces of blue glass sometimes work). Entire pages require unique code books to decipher, did you even know that? And if you keep it in a properly sealed container (suspended in 2 blue jars with 7 holy seals around), the devil can't suppress the book's power to highlight certain text in temporary fire, allowing the reading of new messages tailored exactly to your life. It's clear you know nothing about it.
     
  12. AlexG Like nailing Jello to a tree Valued Senior Member

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    Shouldn't this thread be in Religion?
     
  13. Furchizedek Registered Member

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    LOL! That's all very interesting but you forgot to quote the Wikipedia telling about the two Seventh Day Adventists who you say it says wrote The Urantia Book. It'd be nice if we cold focus on one anecdote at a time.
     
  14. Furchizedek Registered Member

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    I donno. Maybe the OP should answer the question. Is it a rhetorical question? I'm "new" here. How many forums are there?
     
  15. kwhilborn Banned Banned

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    @ Alex G,

    Perhaps, however the Urantia Book covers many Theories and seemed more suitable for here and does not conform to any known religion although it does speak authoritatively on the subjects of God and Christianity. It does dwell on topics such as "How we evolved", and "Wave/Particle Duality" which are "ALTERNATE THEORIES", and they do appear to have research involved, but the theories allegedly are written by mediums who get it from the spirit realm. Look at the book itself and you can see what I mean. It does seem to make sense on many topics and is well written. It is a puzzle.

    @ Furchizedek ,
    Thank-you for joining Scforums to lend your opinion of the Urantia Book. This is a science based website for the most part, so trying to grasp that a book cold be written by spirits will not fly with the large majority of anti-religious folk here.

    I am enjoying exploring this book however and likely will read the entire book. You appear religious yet you do not believe in telepathy, and yet it is my belief in telepathy that has led to my belief in religions. The way I speak of the Urantia book must be filled with terms like "allegedly" written by spirits or I would have every point of this book challenged. I do find the book a bit of an enigma so have endorsed it in fairly strong terms if you understood the Sciforum crowd.

    I have to admit the book has some interesting yet very strange sounding concepts. I will use "Thought corrector's" as an example. These are spirits who work with and correct and preserve thoughts. That is a pretty strange thought when hearing it for the first time, and yet this book makes them sound so normal.

    So far I cannot say much more than it is a puzzle. How can people capable of writing so well be insane. I am not saying insane to insult the book as I also think it is well written and an enigma. When I speak of aliens I am talking about the books claims to have different universes and talks about inhabitants in more than one.

    So far I am looking for scientific inaccuracies. I THINK it said there are 100 elements, yet mankind has now found at least 117 elements, so that seems to be an inconsistency. Maybe I was wrong, but will look again.

    I have only just found this book and am curious by nature so I will spend a lot of time reading various subjects in it and will perhaps finish it. Heck, I read over 6000 pages of a Robert Jordan Story and the stupid story would never end, at least this book has less pages and an ending.
     
  16. youreyes amorphous ocean Valued Senior Member

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    I adhere to the view of the insanity of the writer and general religious made up babbling.
     
  17. kwhilborn Banned Banned

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    @ Your eyes,
    Have you perused this free PDF.

    There is too much accurate information for the writing to be all done by the same person unless they were versed in many subjects. Atomic explanations seem very accurate for 1955 as well as Historians viewpoints on ancient cultures.

    I do agree Insanity is possible, however it would need to be to more than one writer, and much of the writing of our current state of knowledge seems accurate and somewhat plausible. I do not know if I could ascribe the word "babbling" to this. It has been very well thought out and written well and the timelines suggested seem orderly. I still say it defies logic. If anything I would suggest some eccentric billionaire of the time hired a floor of writers and historians to make a fake book that was like an add-on to the bible. Then after it was published he had the writers sworn to secrecy or had them thrown to the lions.

    You can start this book in any chapter and it is somewhat captivating. It is hard to see insanity in many parts of it, and as you become engrossed in some areas you wonder about the truth in other areas. It is a puzzle. Stupid Eccentric Billionaires messing with our heads.
     
  18. Furchizedek Registered Member

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    Wow! Tough crowd. How much of The Urantia Book have you read so that you can opine on the insanity of the writer? :huh:
     
  19. Lakon Valued Senior Member

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    I thought the OP siad it was written by Loose. My mistake.

    Aliens were also mentioned by OP.
     
  20. Lakon Valued Senior Member

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    Pick any page, any chapter, any part. I have never in my life seen such superflous word salad, eg,

    In a special manner these Trinity observers co-ordinate the administrative
    activities of all branches of the universal government, from those of the local
    universes up through the sector governments to those of the superuniverse, hence
    their name—Unions of Days. They make a threefold report to their superiors:
    They report pertinent data of a physical and semi-intellectual nature to the
    Recents of Days of their minor sector; they report intellectual and quasispiritual
    happenings to the Perfections of Days of their major sector; they report
    spiritual and semiparadisiacal matters to the Ancients of Days at the capital
    of their superuniverse.


    What the hell does that mean ? Who wrote it, and how would they know these things. Sounds like bureaucracy gone mad and taken to a higher dimension or two.
     
  21. Imperfectionist Pope Humanzee the First Registered Senior Member

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    The Table of Contents
     
  22. Furchizedek Registered Member

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  23. Imperfectionist Pope Humanzee the First Registered Senior Member

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    Havona is within our grasp, I know this now.
     

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