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.
I discovered The Urantia Book in the early 90's as a result of an unusual set of circumstances that I still reflect on with a comforting smile. This, coupled with my Catholic upbringing and education, primed my fertile young mind and piqued my curiosity and hunger for higher and more harmonious truth in such a way that when The Urantia Book and I were finally brought together, I felt a sublime certainty that I had finally found the answers I had always searched for, but had never been able to find and, surprisingly, even answers to questions I had not yet thought to ask. After the first complete reading of the book all those years ago, I reached out and attended a study group in Phoenix, Arizona, but then decided to solo study for a while. That turned into over 15 wonderful years of reading, contemplating, and applying the higher meanings and values taught in The Urantia Book to my life in every way possible. Recently, I have started to reach out to the community once again--first on the Internet forums, and now by organizing and fostering group study here in Jacksonville, Florida. I have started a weekly group dedicated to gaining a deep understanding of this Divine Revelation in order to foster our knowledge of Universal Truth and appreciation for the beauty and goodness all around us. (http://jacksonville.urantiabookstudy.org) It is truly a marvelous and breathtaking moment when that inevitable individual transformation occurs as a result of the decision to discover Universal Truth and to look Godward in the quest for increased cosmic insight and spiritual vision. When I came across the UBtheNEWS project's website, I was intrigued by the amount of human scientific achievement that had already occurred relating to subjects already detailed in The Urantia Book over 50 years ago. The scientific material in the book had always made me smile due to the beautiful manner in which it harmonized and supplemented my fragmented and incomplete knowledge of various subjects. Until I came across the UBtheNEWS site, I had never really seen such a thorough repository that documented the correlation of Urantia Book science with human science. Several months later, I received a call from Halbert about coming to town for a UBtheNEWS presentation and I was reminded of the outreach aspect of UBtheNEWS. It struck me that this method of outreach really does provide a unique way of sparking curiosity in certain types of individuals that may lead to their discovery of The Urantia Book and the truths therein as it did for me many years ago. Halbert and I subsequently spoke many times on the phone and developed an appreciation of our mutual understanding and love of The Urantia Book. As I pondered the level of commitment and dedication that Halbert has shown in his unselfish service to the Urantia community, I could not help but to ponder ways that I could help the project continue. As a long-time Information Technology professional, I know first-hand how expensive our services can be so it seemed to me that if Halbert has the courage to liquidate all of his personal assets and live in a small motor home traveling the country for the purpose of direct outreach, I can certainly use the skills I've gained over the years to help in something so important to the sometime world-wide acceptance of The Urantia Book as a catalyst to the next age of planetary spiritual attainment. And so Halbert and I came to an arrangement that I would perform this service, as a service, and at minimal cost to the project. It is my sincere hope that my time and my knack for things technical will help Halbert and the UBtheNEWS project introduce many more souls to the Fifth Epochal Revelation so that they may potentially enjoy the same spiritual enlightenment, transformation, and growth that I continue to experience each day as I marvel at the truth, beauty, and goodness all around me. Truth, beauty, and goodness that I would be unaware of without The Urantia Book. . . In loving service to all of you,
|
