Now officially live–blogging. At the end of a fascinating panel at the AAR on the use of science by new religious movements, I was approached by a man named Halbert. He handed me a brochure about “History and Science in The Urantia Book: A Unique Case of Credibility,” then summarized its contents to me earnestly. I learned that this angelically-authored Urantia Book, first published in 1955, explains loads of things that are—as we speak—being confirmed by science. Among them: Adam and Eve lived (evolved) a million years ago and Eden was a sunken peninsula near Cyprus. He directed me to UBtheNews, “an independent project by Urantia Book enthusiasts,” to learn more.
I was floored. This guy had just sat though two and half hours of scholars critically assessing how certain new religious movements manipulate science to support their claims, and he thought this would be fertile ground (of all the panels he could have gone to) for doing just that. Maybe I am missing something here, a flabbergasting sign of how the same words can ring utterly differently in different ears. Or about how this specimen has made specimens of the scholars. But the Christian Science practitioner in the room had the perceptiveness to take issue with the condescending language of “legitimation” applied to her tradition.
Anyway, Halbert’s brochure will make a nice addition to my pamphlet collection.
Comments
5 responses to “A Specimen in Our Midst”
I have studied the Urantia Book for a number of decades. I know there are a few scientific facts in there that appear to be prophetic, but there are also a few errors. I know Halbert; he has a lot of enthusiasm, but I don’t think the science is the important part of the book; indeed, the science is only a small part of the book. The importance of the book is its superlative spiritual insights. It has a much more positive view of humanity and God than does traditional Christianity. In particular, it takes a dim view of the Atonement Doctrine and Paul’s doctrine of the depravity of man. The authors see us as imperfect but perfectible rather than depraved. But the book does affirm some Christian theology such as Jesus’ dual nature and the existence of the Trinity.
For anyone interested, there is a link to a one page description of the book on the home page of http://www.thespiritualfellowship.org. While you’re there, please check out my video series, Jesus: The Unknown Years. It’s about the years of Jesus’ life not recorded in the Bible. And it’s derived from the Urantia Book of course.
Namaste, Dick
Thanks for this. Your site helps explain some things that Halbert’s pamphlet didn’t.
Nathan writes: “Maybe I am missing something here, a flabbergasting sign of how the same words can ring utterly differently in different ears. Or about how this specimen has made specimens of the scholars.”
Yes, indeed Nathan, you are missing a couple things here.
First and foremost you’re missing out on what it means to be a scholar. Real scholars don’t bring a “know it all” attitude to the new things they come across. Real scholars don’t spout negative opinions about things of which they are admittedly very ignorant.
If you had honored the requirements of scholarship regarding this subject, you would have very quickly discerned significant distinctions between the way other new religious movements have tried to use science to bolster their religious beliefs and practices and the way the UBtheNEWS project is documenting how new discoveries and scientific advances are catching up to historic and scientific information in the Urantia Book.
For instance. . .
At the panel discussion we learned how some religions incorporate scientific language into their theologic doctrines in an attempt to give their theology an air of credibility. Such is not the case with the Urantia book.
At the panel discussion we learned how some religions hire researchers to perform experiments that are designed to support their beliefs and practices. In contrast, the UBtheNEWS project is documenting how new discoveries by researchers, who (to my knowledge) are unfamiliar with the Urantia Book, are corroborating information in the Urantia Book that was published back in 1955.
Most of these corroborations have to do with the historic content of the Urantia Book, a seven hundred page recounting of the history of the world that is richly detailed and distinct in this regard from an other spiritual text on the planet, as far as I know. So in this regard, there are no religious practices that are being supported. In fact, unlike the other religions that were covered in the panel discussion, which have or had leaders who are/were trying to create a following, here we simply have a text. The UBtheNEWS project does not suggest that anyone should join an existing group or engage in any specific ritual or practice.
And, by the way, your statements about Adam and Eve were incorrect. The Urantia Book says that humanity evolved a million years ago, that Adam and Eve were here about 37,000 years ago and that they were genetically superior to everyone else, thus precipitating a genetic upgrade for humanity. That there was a genetic upgrade in humanity at about this time is a well accepted belief among scholars. Genetics research from 2005 corroborates six different aspects of the Adam and Eve story found in the Urantia Book as well as providing one corroboration of when humanity began.
The good news for you, Nathan, is that this particular 8,000-word report has an “executive summary” written for it. So if you would like to take a baby step into real scholarship, you can get a good understanding of this report in only about 1,200 words.
Scholar is as scholar does.
Namaste,
Halbert
Halbert,
Thanks for your comment. I should have been a bit more clear about what I was getting at. I didn’t intend to be disrespectful to you or Urantia, which I will be the first to admit I am ignorant of. Forgive the factual errors. What I meant to stress was the way in which the condescension of the scholars on the panel, a condescension I tend to share, undid itself. Meeting you was a humbling moment in that respect, a reminder of how different our various world-interpreting lenses can be.
No worries. Rock on!
Namaste,
Halbert