Why, What & Who
Why UBtheNEWS? The Urantia Book exhibits an extraordinarily unusual characteristic regarding its relationship to science and history. For over fifty years scientific advancements have been increasingly substantiating, catching up to, the richly detailed scientific and historic information that is contained in The Urantia Book. Issues related to astronomy, geology, physics, paleontology and biology, as well as other fields of study, are covered in The Urantia Book. A history of our planet is given that begins with how our solar system came into existence and the formation of our planet. It chronicles the evolution of life from the first single celled organisms to the dawn of humanity and then recounts the one million year history of human beings. This comprehensive planetary history includes detailed information that relates to a wide range of scientific disciplines. The Urantia Book is not just a book about history and science. An exquisite theology, cosmology, and philosophy are presented. The Urantia Book also provides a complete biography of Jesus' life on earth. Not only does it cover all the years of his life, but also gives substantial background on the time period and the other people who played a key role in his life. Those issues, however, are not the focus of this site. In an effort to correlate scientific advancements with information in The Urantia Book, occasionally some information needs to be provided that touches upon these other subjects. But for the most part, this is not necessary. UBtheNEWS is focused on presenting information that relates to ways in which The Urantia Book has been ahead of science and our understanding of planetary history. How is it possible for The Urantia Book to demonstrate a consistent pattern of being ahead of science for over fifty years? The accuracy of The Urantia Book, from an internally consistent perspective, is rooted in the claim that angels are responsible for providing the information contained in the book. Whether or not you believe that this is possible or true, whether or not you even believe in God, if you care about having information about our world that is factually accurate, you may want to consider becoming more familiar with The Urantia Book. It is a source of information that has more than a fifty-year history of being ahead of science with regard to what is true about material reality. The Urantia Book provides a lot of value separate and apart from one's beliefs about its origins. The issue is credibility, not proof. This site has not been created in an effort to try to prove anything about The Urantia Book. It is here because The Urantia Book exhibits a unique quality of credibility that is worth knowing about. No other book provides such richly detailed information over such a broad spectrum of scholarly fields AND has been ahead of scientific discovery. The information in The Urantia Book remains constant. The contributions that scientific advancements make to our appreciation of physical reality and the history of our world is ever changing. Therefore, the relationship between science and The Urantia Book is also evolving. UBtheNEWS reports cover a wide variety of corroborations. Some issues are quite simple and/or settled points in science. Other issues regarding The Urantia Book's relationship to science are more complex and/or unsettled. In an effort to help visitors to this site appreciate the credibility of The Urantia Book, the first priority is to present material regarding The Urantia Book's relationship to science that is simple, straightforward, and reasonably settled. As the site develops, increasingly more of the complex and less settled areas will also be presented. The presentation of reports for this website began in January 2007. There is more than a lifetime of work associated with the scope of this project; it is in its earliest stages of development. Nonetheless, already extraordinary scientific corroborations have occurred that lend credibility and validity to The Urantia Book. Reports on some of these things are now available on UBtheNEWS. The rest are coming. Knowing about material reality and about the facts related to the history of our planet and humanity has its own value. Increasing our understanding of and appreciation for God and for our relationship to each other is even more important. Naturally, this website is being created with the hope that through an appreciation for the credibility of The Urantia Book with respect to material reality, visitors will become interested in looking to The Urantia Book as a good source of information about spiritual reality. If it is important to you that the writings you go to for inspiration and information about God and spirituality are in harmony with the facts of material reality, then The Urantia Book is definitely something to be considered. This is simply an effort to encourage appreciation for the credibility and validity of The Urantia Book. There is no need join anything or to buy anything; the entire book is available for free online. There is no charismatic leader or authoritative institutions or structures associated with The Urantia Book. No one is getting rich off of it, but many people have found The Urantia Book to be very enriching. What is UBtheNEWS? UBtheNEWS is a collective effort by individual Urantia Book enthusiasts to create, report on, and be a resource for news and information related to the emerging scientific and historical validity and credibility of The Urantia Book. It is provided as a free service. Additionally, Halbert Katzen, the creator of UBtheNEWS travels around the country offering slide presentation lectures. These are also provided as a free service. If you would like Halbert to speak at an event in your area please get in touch with him through the contact information provided on this site. UBtheNEWS works to advance, report on, fund, and coordinate with projects and people who are doing this kind of work. The goal of UBtheNEWS is to turn the credibility and the validity of The Urantia Book into old news as quickly as possible. Naturally, an ongoing effort of this magnitude that is provided as a free service needs funding to keep it going. If you are inspired to make a contribution, click here to do so on line or contact Halbert directly.
Hello fellow truth seekers. My name is Donna Whelan, but you may have previously known me (in the Urantia community) as Donna Brown. Perhaps you have even read my story in How I Found The Urantia Book, a compilation of readers’ stories put together by Saskia Raevouri. Anyhow, as my story tells in that book, I first found this Urantia revelation in 1993 while walking through and exploring the booths at a Whole Life Expo in Pasadena, California. If you are interested, you may read further details of my early discovery in that above-mentioned book.
Ever since that time I have been enthusiastically involved in Urantia Book study groups, conferences (both local and international), projects and activities encompassing a wide range of what I would term Urantia Book outreach and ministry. I do believe that this book with its teachings and revelations has the potential to change the world in a profoundly positive way. I believe it is what spiritual seekers the world over have been looking for and that it will satisfy much of their deep inner longings and fill the empty part of their spiritual bellies when it is taken in and given the time to digest. I think I probably inherited some of my father’s ‘way with words’ and love of the English Language as well as ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ philosophy of life. My father was once co-owner and publisher of a small local newspaper – The San Gabriel Sun. He also, later was a proofreader for the L.A. Times and much earlier when he was an officer in the U.S. Navy, he was a war correspondent. In any case, spelling, vocabulary and an ease with words has always come easily to me. I was also an early lover of reading, poetry and a well-turned phrase or story. Prior to my finding The Urantia Book, the 5th Epochal Revelation, I had been an active member for over twenty years in a church that I had found as an answer to my search for a church in which I could enthusiastically believe and also raise my two children. This church had also been founded as a result of more current day revelation. So, going back, I sort of divide my life up into four phases, so far. The first phase was growing up in Temple City, Calif. and graduating from Temple City High School and then working at my first full time job at the Santa Fe Railway in Los Angeles. When I left the Railway, five years later, I was the Secretary of the Manager of the Industrial Department. The second part was marrying a man named Tony Brown, thus my former last name of Brown. Though we met at the Santa Fe Railway, while I was working there, he later became a Fireman and worked in that capacity for the City of L. A., while I was a fulltime housewife and mother. We had two children; a daughter and a son. The third phase was my returning to school for college when the children were older and my earning an Associate’s Degree at Pasadena City College and then a Bachelor’s Degree at Calif. State Polytechnic University in Pomona in Behavioral Science and, finally a Master’s Degree at Loyola Marymount University in L.A. My Master’s Degree was in Marital and Family Therapy with specialized training in the art therapy modality. All of this education was in pursuit of my goal of becoming a psychotherapist in order to help people with their various life problems. While I was going to school, my husband and I divorced. There had been long-standing problems which we were unable to resolve. Included in this third phase of my life was a very rewarding and fulfilling career as a Marriage and Family Therapist. My work began at a state hospital as a rehabilitation therapist using art therapy with the patients. I was part of the treatment team which included a psychiatrist, psychologist, nurses and psych techs as well as other rehabilitation therapists using art (myself), music and recreation to help these people regain some health and stability in their lives. I worked there for two years and then moved on and out into the outpatient field working as an MFT intern at Eastland Counseling Center in Covina, CA. While at Eastland, as an intern, I also saw some young patients in the local hospitals as well as seeing individuals, couples, children and various family groups in this private practice setting. After becoming licensed in 1990, I was asked to work part time at two girls’ group homes in the area. This was in the capacity of a therapist doing individual and group therapy with the girls weekly. The girls ranged in age from 12 to18 and they were in the system, having been removed from their homes for various reasons. Eventually this career evolved into working only out of my own home office in Temple City. At this point my clients/patients came from referrals from several of the large Health insurance companies. Next came the fourth (current) phase, which I would say overlapped with the third as well. This section goes back to 1993 when I first found The Urantia Book and began to be involved in as many activities as I could which revolved around learning more about this book and also socializing with other readers. Then in the year 2000 I met Larry Whelan who was living in Ventura, CA. He came over to our group in Arcadia to introduce himself. To make a long story short, Larry and I really hit it off, fell in love, and were married in the year 2002. Thus, my name is now Donna Whelan. As a part of this current phase of my life I have become even more interested in serving this Urantia Book outreach along with my new partner and husband Larry. In order to have more time I have put my license on renewed but inactive status as an MFT. Larry and I have explored and are now doing outreach in several different ways, which I won’t go into in this short biography. But one of the ways I have decided to ‘help’ is by volunteering my proofreading services to Halbert for this UbtheNews project, which we both feel is very worthy of supporting as best we can. So now you know Who I am and I hope my services add to the worth and success of this exciting outreach endeavor.
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