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The Urantia Book The Urantia Book
The Urantia Book The Urantia Book

Love

Love is truly contagious and eternally creative. (p. 2018) “Devote your life to proving that love is the greatest thing in the world.” (p. 2047) “Love is the ancestor of all spiritual goodness, the essence of the true and the beautiful.” (p. 2047) The Father’s love can become real to mortal man only by passing through that man’s personality as he in turn bestows this love upon his fellows. (p. 1289) The secret of a better civilization is bound up in the Master’s teachings of the brotherhood of man, the good will of love and mutual trust. (p. 2065)

Prayer

Prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth in the very face of conflict. (p. 1002) The sincerity of any prayer is the assurance of its being heard. … (p. 1639) God answers man’s prayer by giving him an increased revelation of truth, an enhanced appreciation of beauty, and an augmented concept of goodness. (p. 1002) …Never forget that the sincere prayer of faith is a mighty force for the promotion of personal happiness, individual self-control, social harmony, moral progress, and spiritual attainment. (p. 999)

Suffering

There is a great and glorious purpose in the march of the universes through space. All of your mortal struggling is not in vain. (p. 364) Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation. (p. 556)

Angels

The angels of all orders are distinct personalities and are highly individualized. (p. 285) Angels....are fully cognizant of your moral struggles and spiritual difficulties. They love human beings, and only good can result from your efforts to understand and love them. (p. 419)

Our Divine Destiny

If you are a willing learner, if you want to attain spirit levels and reach divine heights, if you sincerely desire to reach the eternal goal, then the divine Spirit will gently and lovingly lead you along the pathway of sonship and spiritual progress. (p. 381) …They who know that God is enthroned in the human heart are destined to become like him—immortal. (p. 1449) God is not only the determiner of destiny; he is man’s eternal destination. (p. 67)

Family

Almost everything of lasting value in civilization has its roots in the family. (p. 765) The family is man’s greatest purely human achievement. ... (p. 939)

Faith

…Faith will expand the mind, ennoble the soul, reinforce the personality, augment the happiness, deepen the spirit perception, and enhance the power to love and be loved. (p. 1766) “Now, mistake not, my Father will ever respond to the faintest flicker of faith.” (p. 1733)

History/Science

The story of man’s ascent from seaweed to the lordship of earthly creation is indeed a romance of biologic struggle and mind survival. (p. 731) 2,500,000,000 years ago… Urantia was a well developed sphere about one tenth its present mass. … (p. 658) 1,000,000,000 years ago is the date of the actual beginning of Urantia [Earth] history. (p. 660) 450,000,000 years ago the transition from vegetable to animal life occurred. (p. 669) From the year A.D. 1934 back to the birth of the first two human beings is just 993,419 years. (p. 707) About five hundred thousand years ago…there were almost one-half billion primitive human beings on earth. … (p. 741) Adam and Eve arrived on Urantia, from the year A.D. 1934, 37,848 years ago. (p. 828)

From the Inside Flap

What’s Inside?

Parts I and II

God, the inhabited universes, life after death, angels and other beings, the war in heaven.

Part III

The history of the world, science and evolution, Adam and Eve, development of civilization, marriage and family, personal spiritual growth.

Part IV

The life and teachings of Jesus including the missing years. AND MUCH MORE…

Excerpts

God, …God is the source and destiny of all that is good and beautiful and true. (p. 1431) If you truly want to find God, that desire is in itself evidence that you have already found him. (p. 1440) When man goes in partnership with God, great things may, and do, happen. (p. 1467)

The Origin of Human Life, The universe is not an accident... (p. 53) The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. (p. 21) The evolutionary planets are the spheres of human origin…Urantia [Earth] is your starting point. … (p. 1225) In God, man lives, moves, and has his being. (p. 22)

The Purpose of Life, There is in the mind of God a plan which embraces every creature of all his vast domains, and this plan is an eternal purpose of boundless opportunity, unlimited progress, and endless life. (p. 365) This new gospel of the kingdom… presents a new and exalted goal of destiny, a supreme life purpose. (p. 1778)

Jesus, The religion of Jesus is the most dynamic influence ever to activate the human race. (p. 1091) What an awakening the world would experience if it could only see Jesus as he really lived on earth and know, firsthand, his life-giving teachings! (p. 2083)

Science, Science, guided by wisdom, may become man’s great social liberator. (p. 909) Mortal man is not an evolutionary accident. There is a precise system, a universal law, which determines the unfolding of the planetary life plan on the spheres of space. (p. 560)

Life after Death, God’s love is universal… He is “not willing that any should perish.” (p. 39) Your short sojourn on Urantia [Earth]…is only a single link, the very first in the long chain that is to stretch across universes and through the eternal ages. (p. 435) …Death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery. (p. 159)

About the Author

The text of The Urantia Book was provided by one or more anonymous contributors working with a small staff which provided editorial and administrative support during the book's creation. The book bears no particular credentials (from a human viewpoint), relying instead on the power and beauty of the writing itself to persuade the reader of its authenticity.

Leather Bound: 2097 pages
Publisher: Urantia Foundation; Box Lea edition (August 25, 2015)

A History
of
The Urantia Papers

by Larry Mullins
with Dr. Meredith Justin Sprunger


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Chapter Nine


WE NOW COME TO A DISTINCT line of demarcation in the history of the Urantia Revelation. A remarkable achievement had been accomplished by the small group of Urantians who had somehow interfaced with unseen Revelators. By means of an arduous process that spanned five decades, they had cooperated with the efforts of celestial beings who authored and materialized a manuscript unlike any that had ever existed on the planet before.

The six Contact Commissioners had, to the best of their human abilities, kept their sacred oaths to preserve the text exactly as it was received. Dr. Lena Sadler was gone by the time their work reached fruition. The five remaining Contact Commission-ers could take great pride in their human contribution to preserve the original text of the Fifth Epochal Revelation. No deliberate human intrusion had corrupted the Urantia Papers, and now the imperfect -- but sincere and valiant -- effort to duplicate the original text was safely plated, and 10,000 copies were printed (three copies of which were to be preserved "in perpetuity").

Important sacrifices had been made over the years. The greater portion of the lives of the Contact Commission had revolved around a corps of Midwayers who had provided strength and guidance at every turn. And now, after almost fifty years, the mortals were on their own.

For a time the thrilling reality of printed copies of The Urantia Book would provoke and sustain a tremendous euphoria. Urantia Books were mailed to prominent people, to friends, to family. Urantia Foundation and Urantia Brotherhood were launched. A School of the Urantia Brotherhood was formed in 1956. On June 17, 1956 the First Urantia Society was established in Chicago:

" . . . and the Forum, after 33 years, passed into history and most of its members became the 156 initial members of the new society. The intrepid Forum members now prepared to share The Urantia Book with the world."1

The School of Urantia Brotherhood had its first session in September of 1956 with 71 students. Dr. Sadler had purchased a property at Pine Lodge in Beverly Shores, Indiana. The idea was that students could live in cottages on the property as they prepared themselves to go out as teachers and leaders of the new Revelation. By 1960, 14 students had graduated and received Certified Leader Diplomas.2 Ordained Teacher Diplomas were also awarded.

Eventually the main activities of the school were conducted at 533 Diversey in Chicago, with classes being held in the evening. Some Urantians had felt that only professional teachers or retired persons could devote entire summers to the original Pine Lodge program, and the new evening classes were well attended. Dr. Sprunger reports that a Reverend David Schlundt traveled over 120 miles from Goshen, Indiana to attend the evening classes. Unfortunately, the formal teacher training program had lost momentum by 1975. Summer workshops and seminars are still offered by the Urantia Book Fellowship. However, the replete Teacher's Curriculum and intensive training program of Dr. Sadler has been abandoned. Urantian Jose Manuel Rodriguez Vargas of Bogota, Columbia is developing a formal training program along the lines of the original, with the idea of graduating certified teachers and leaders. Other schools have been attempted, such as The Boulder School established by John Hay in the mid-Eighties (now closed), and Polly Friedman's School of Meanings and Values in Los Angeles.

Dr. Sadler wrote that the mandate to publish the book was accompanied by several admonitions and suggestions. These included the development of schools for teachers and leaders. Although the Fellowship has developed in-depth study programs, they are a shadow of the original concepts of Dr. Sadler and Dr. Sprunger. Carolyn Kendall has expressed regret about the loss of formal Urantian schools:

"If this advice is to be taken seriously, it would be imperative to consider the reinstitution of formal schools, regionally situated, to address the matter of in-depth training and qualification of teachers of The Urantia Book."3

In spite of all these activities, however, it surely began to dawn on the humans: A Revelation of Epochal significance has been placed in our hands, but no one knows how to run a Revelation. And -- now we are on our own. No longer were there superhuman communications and advice to rely upon. The Revelators had unceremoniously broken the connection, and "didn't even say goodbye."


The fate of the Contact Commission

Within eight years, three more Contact Commissioners would follow Dr. Lena Sadler in the afterlife journey. On August 31, 1956, less than a year after the publication of The Urantia Book, Wilfred C. Kellogg died at the age of 75. His wife, Anna Bell Kellogg, died February 24, 1960, at the age of 82.4 In the meantime, Bill Sadler, Jr. and Dr. Sadler fell into estrangement.

Bill and his wife Leone had lived at 533 Diversey Parkway with Dr. Sadler. Bill and Leone divorced around the time of publication. On the day after Christmas, in 1955, Bill and Leone's 19 year-old son was drinking a cup of coffee after a Christmas dinner with his mother and Dr. Sadler when the young man fell into a coma and died. His health had been degenerating, possibly due to a brain tumor. He had lost sight in one eye and vision in the other eye was deteriorating.


Sometime in 1956 Bill Sadler, Jr. married Florine Seres.

Bill was a chain smoker and also a heavy drinker. In the midst of all the tragedy and unhappiness in his life, he and his father were now in open rift, chiefly due to his divorce. Bill Sadler went on to form the Second Society Foundation of Chicago. During this period a group in Oklahoma discovered The Urantia Book and, on their own, started a "Urantia Church." Bill began to make regular visits to Oklahoma City, where his wisdom, philosophical insights and deep knowledge of the Papers were warmly appreciated. As the first "Field Representative" of Urantia Brotherhood, Bill Sadler, Jr. gave lectures on the Book all over the United States. A series of lectures in Pasadena and Malibu in California, 1958-1959, are preserved on tape and are available from The School of Meanings and Values.

Bill Sadler had written his marvelous A Study of the Master Universe, and was working on a companion volume of Appendixes when his health began to fail. A sudden stroke deprived him of speech. He was attempting to regain his ability to speak when he was hospitalized for cirrhosis of the liver.

Later, in 1963 he was again hospitalized with embolisms in both legs. A few months later, at the age of 56, a heart attack ended his life on earth. The date was November 22, 1963. Another star-crossed prince fell that day, John F. Kennedy. Clyde Bedell, who was a good friend of Bill Sadler, Jr., wrote of him:

"Bill was one of the most interesting men I have ever known. His conversation flowed from a vastly superior intellect flavored, colored and under-structured by a simply prodigious knowledge and understanding of the Urantia Papers."5


The question of continuing special guidance

When did the Midwayers cease their communication with the Contact Commission? Was it over in 1955, immediately after the message "You are now on your own"? Or did the Midwayers continue to give verbal instructions? In this author's judgment, the evidence and weight of testimony overwhelmingly indicates that the communications ended completely in 1955.

As we shall see, Urantia Foundation and many who support their policies believe special and privileged celestial guidance continued until at least 1982.

Because of the importance of this question, I will treat it in depth. Since I have an admitted prejudice against the notion that special celestial guidance continued, I have assembled nearly all of the supporting documentation for this discussion from material of Foundation supporters -- or from Urantia Foundation itself. I have also presented Dr. Sprunger's slightly different philosophical perspective separately. It is hoped that interested readers can now have a reasonable basis to decide these questions and to weigh the full ramifications of the answers, based upon what the editing team (listed on the back of the title page of this book) believe is a fair assessment of the available information. The critical pivotal point in the events that drive this discussion can be established at the time of the preparation of the second printing which took place in 1967 - 1968. The second printing is copyrighted 1967 but was not actually printed until May of 1968, according to the Fellowship's website timeline. This anomaly may be understood by examining the peculiar process of preparation, which has never been carefully explored until now. Because of the copyright date, we will henceforth refer to the second printing as the 1967 printing.


The second printing of The Urantia Book

By the time the second printing was being prepared, there remained of the members of the former Contact Commission only Dr. Sadler, who was 92 years of age and failing, and Christy, 77. Many years before, Dr. Sadler had made it clear to Meredith Sprunger that after the connection of the sleeping subject went dead in 1955, there were no more messages. We have no idea when the sleeping subject himself may have died. The Contact Commission had been previously cautioned by the Revelators that after publication they should not make any commentary or announcement as to whether the sleeping subject was living or deceased.6 If the established protocol for contacts remained in force, we can reasonably assume he was alive when the final "You are now on your own" message was received by the Contact Commission shortly after the book was published in 1955.

It is clear that Dr. Sadler did not have access to the Revelators when he replied to the questions in the letter from Reverend Adams on March 17, 1959. (See Chapter Six. Also see Appendix B for a reproduction of his letter). Interested readers will note that Dr. Sadler has few replete answers for the various points brought up by the Biblical scholar. Donald Green, one of the editors of this book, has made the observation that if Dr. Sadler had the ability to question the Revelators about these possible inconsistencies in the text in 1959, he surely would have done so. Likewise, he would have been prudent to inquire of the Revelators the best way to resolve the text questions. As to the more difficult problems presented by Reverend Adams, Dr. Sadler's only comment in his letter was that: ". . . our mandate forbade us to in any way alter the text of the manuscript."

By 1967 the 92-year old Dr. Sadler, who was never a Trustee, was virtually removed from administrative leadership. More and more responsibilities had been deferred to Christy. As a Urantia Foundation Trustee and Secretary she answered most of the correspondence from readers, or decided who was best qualified to do so. Often she called upon Meredith Sprunger to respond to particularly difficult letters. As the need for a new printing loomed, Christy had to confront serious questions. In addition to the collection of typos she and Marian Rowley had acquired since the plates were made, more consequential problems with the text were being reported by astute readers such as Dr. Adams. It was obvious that, in the next printing of The Urantia Book, certain editorial inconsistencies, or seeming inconsistencies, would need to be addressed by Urantia Foundation.

In Carolyn Kendall's 1996 paper, THE PLAN FOR THE URANTIA BOOK REVELATION, Carolyn explains her under-standing of the process by which presumed errors and inconsistencies were gathered and "corrected" in the 1967 second printing of The Urantia Book. She writes on page 5:

"In the years after publication, errors brought to Christy's or Marian's attention were welcomed. The Foundation wanted the book to be perfect. However - Christy was adamant: no arbitrary changes. Between 1955 and 1982 proposed corrections and changes were submitted by either of the two surviving Contact Commissioners to the revelators for permission."

This statement is what Carolyn reported that Christy said to her. It is not clear what Carolyn meant by the term "revelators." Many readers have raised philosophical questions about the process that Carolyn has described. As stated before, neither the Midwayer Commission nor the Revelatory Commission were available, according to what Dr. Sadler reported to Meredith Sprunger and Clyde Bedell.

By 1958, in an intra-office memorandum, Bill Sadler, Jr. referred to the Contact Commissioners as "defunct." If, as Carolyn states, either Dr. Sadler or Christy could have unilaterally initiated contact and "submitted" proposed changes to superhuman intelligences in 1967, that clearly meant a totally different form of communication than had existed during the Revelatory process. There is no mention by Carolyn of the Contact Personality in this new procedure. The team of Midwayers had always been present at contacts, but neither History One nor Two mentions that they communicated with individual Contact Commissioners other than in the presence of other Commissioners. In fact, there was a rule that no communications would be made unless two or more Contact Commissioners were present.7 Abundant evidence -- not the least of which was Dr. Sadler's age and his long established repugnance regarding so-called "psychic" activities -- indicates that it was Christy alone who was in supposed communication with "Midwayers" during the preparation of the second printing.

What Carolyn next discloses about the "correction" process is even more remarkable:

"The Trustees of Urantia Foundation did not participate in the process of correcting the text of The Urantia Book. Their job was to publish the text with whatever changes were authorized by the midwayers. They were to maintain the text inviolate, backing it up by copyright.8 It ought to be clarified to the readership by the Foundation that the corrections made after 1982 were apparently made without the authorization of the midwayers.9 Reportedly, in publishing their latest edition, the Foundation is reversing changes made after 1982."10

This series of comments that Carolyn published in 1996 generally represent the point of view of those readers who believe that direct celestial messages, delivered through Christy, continued to counsel and guide the Trustees of Urantia Foundation for nearly three decades after the 1955 printing. Let's very cautiously and reasonably consider this information, and the sources that Carolyn documents, from the perspective of readers who object to the process Carolyn describes above, and who oppose the implications of the notion of continuing direct celestial guidance.

FIRST, Carolyn reports that her husband, Tom Kendall, told her: "The Trustees of Urantia Foundation did not participate in the process of correcting the text of The Urantia Book." Yet, recall that, according to the Declaration of Trust, the primary duty of the Trustees is, in Article III, Duties of the Trustees: "PRESERVATION OF THE TEXT OF THE URANTIA BOOK: It shall be the primary duty of the Trustees to preserve inviolate the text of THE URANTIA BOOK. . . preserving and safekeeping of copies of the original text of THE URANTIA BOOK . . . from loss, damage, or destruction and from alteration, modification, revision, or change in any manner or particular." Moreover, in part 3 of the same section, PRESERVATION AND CONTROL OF REPRODUCTION OF THE URANTIA BOOK, it states: "It shall be the duty of the Trustees to retain absolute and unconditional control of all plates and other media for printing and reproduction of THE URANTIA BOOK . . ."

These duties are logically complementary. If the Trustees were to be responsible and accountable for the preservation of the original text as defined in paragraph 3.1 of the Declaration of Trust, it would be necessary for them to be granted absolute authority and control of the reproduction of The Urantia Book. How could it logically follow, then, that the Trustees were not involved in the decisions and processes to "correct" the second printing? Yet, Carolyn writes that her husband, Tom Kendall, who was a Trustee at the time, told her that the Trustees "did not participate in correcting the text of The Urantia Book." This is puzzling -- and common sense requires these questions: Since Christy herself was still a sitting Foundation Trustee in 1967 (she did not become a Trustee Emeritus11 until 1971), how could this statement be fully accurate? Christy and Tom Kendall, as Trustees, were both bound by oath to protect the original text from any changes whatsoever. By what authority and in what capacity was Christy acting, independent of the other Trustees? And how did Tom Kendall, himself a Trustee, know changes were being authorized "by the midwayers," as he had evidently reported to Carolyn? If Christy had told Tom this, was he not obligated to inform all the other Trustees that changes were being made to the text of the Revelation that was under their watch?

SECOND, Carolyn reports that: "Their job was to publish the text with whatever changes were authorized by the midwayers. They were to maintain the text inviolate, backing it up by copyright." However, The Declaration of Trust of Urantia Foundation and the oath taken by the Trustees was never "to publish the text with whatever changes were authorized by the midwayers," but rather to: "preserve the original text of The Urantia Book" from "alteration, modification, revision, or change in any manner or particular." Neither the Midwayers nor the copyright are mentioned in the Trust. From a purely technical legal perspective, in the Declaration of Trust there is simply no provision allowing for "correcting" the text of the 1955 edition of The Urantia Book. Had the Revelators desired such a provision, we can reasonably assume they would have clearly advocated it.

THIRD, in the next sentence we are told by Carolyn that: "It ought to be clarified to the readership by the Foundation that the corrections made after 1982 were apparently made without the authorization of the midwayers." 1982 was the year Christy died. Carolyn implies that the changes prior to and including 1982 were made with the authority of the Midwayers. (In her endnotes of The PLAN FOR THE URANTIA BOOK REVELATION Carolyn writes that this is her personal opinion.) However, we have only Christy's statement (as reported by Carolyn) that Christy got her authorization from the "Midwayers" to make the word and number changes and deletions. Unlike the Midwayer communications to the Contact Commission, there were no other verifying humans present. Such statements or claims about "communications" are problematic and fall within the realm of unverifiable psychic phenomena because they could neither be validated nor refuted by empirical means, nor could they ever be corroborated by others. Further, some Urantians are puzzled by the notion that the Revelators and the Contact Commission had gone to such strenuous lengths for fifty years to prevent the discovery of the Contact Personality -- only to have the Midwayers begin informal conversations with Christy, who then readily discloses her status as a "contact" to several other people.

FOURTH: Carolyn's final comment informs us in her 1996 paper that: "Reportedly, in publishing their latest edition, the Foundation is reversing changes made after 1982." She gives as her source Richard Keeler, President of Urantia Foundation. The date of 1982 is when Carolyn believes the "Midwayers" stopped giving information about changes, evidently because Christy died in 1982. Some readers may wonder if Urantia Foundation can so readily reverse the "changes made after 1982" in The Urantia Book, why they cannot reverse changes made after 1955. One possible reason was posted in 1999 on Urantia Foundation's web site commentary, "Setting the Record Straight" (http://www.urantia.org/newsinfo/strs.htm). In their explanation of the changes made in the original text after the first printing (Point #7) Urantia Foundation states:

"While there is no official documentation as to the reason for some of the changes after the first printing of The Urantia Book, we know from analyzing these changes (see the Foundation's brochure: `Changes to the Text') that most of the changes were typographical in nature. We have reason to believe that none of the more significant changes were made without approval from the revelators." (My emphasis.)

We must surmise from this statement that Urantia Foundation supports the notion that "Revelators" were directing "significant" changes in the text. Yet, as previously documented, there were no Revelators available when the changes were made. The celestial Urantia Revelatory Commission had been replaced by the Midwayer Commission in the early fifties. After the making of the plates, no text changes were made until 1967. Foundation President Keeler testified in the Maaherra litigation (1991-1999) that there had been no further contacts after 1955. Regardless, if the Foundation's statement refers to "messages" from anonymous entities that were supposedly received by Christy, this would seem to fly in the face of the teachings of the Urantia Papers, and elevate unverifiable "channeled" messages above the oath of Urantia Foundation Trustees to honor the Declaration of Trust.

In the final analysis, the three "authenticated copies of the original text of THE URANTIA BOOK" that Urantia Foundation is bound by Trust to keep and protect from "loss, damage, or destruction and from alteration, revision, or change in any manner or particular" no longer matched, word for word, either the plates or what the Foundation printed in 1967. Through 16 subsequent printings from 1967 through 1999, 12 are different and none match the original text of 1955. (See Appendix D) Surely, it is reasonable to suggest that this contradiction is a problem for all readers, regardless of whether they believe the post-1955 changes were authorized by Midwayers or not. As Trustee Emeritus James C. Mills wrote to Ken and Betty Glasziou in the letter dated March 5, 1991 (See Chapter Seven):

"It looks like we need to carefully proofread the present printing against the first printing. In my opinion, there can be only one edition of The Urantia Book, the first."


What went wrong?

In the opinion of those who support the notion of continued special celestial guidance, nothing went wrong. They believe Christy was in contact with "Midwayers." However, those of us who do not believe unique celestial guidance extended beyond 1955 must confront the question of exactly what happened to motivate Trustee Christy to alter the original text (the plates) in the face of The Declaration of Trust that forbade any modification whatsoever. The most plausible explanation to us is that Christy believed she got the approval of Midwayers to correct the considerable number of typographical errors and apparent editorial inconsistencies that had been collected since the plating of The Urantia Book in 1942-45. We cannot know exactly what Christy's thought-processes were, but it is likely they were similar to ideas that drove the tragic channeling episode of Vern Grimsley, which we will examine in the next chapter. Vern came to believe he was hearing "Midwayers" talking to him.

Can people really delude themselves to the point that they actually believe they hear "voices" talking to them? Yes, they can. In a 1984 Report on the Grimsley channeling, Hoite Caston, a former Trustee, quoted Dr. Julian Jaynes, author of the famous book: The Origin of Consciousness and the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Dr. Jaynes observed:

"Whatever brain area is utilized, it is absolutely certain that such voices do exist and that experiencing them is just like hearing actual sound . . . They are heard by many completely normal people to varying degrees. Often it is in time of stress, when a parent's comforting voice is heard."

What situation could have triggered such stress in Christy? Certainly the weight of responsibility for an epochal revelation would be sufficient. Dr. Sadler, as I have indicated, was 92 and deteriorating rapidly. All the other Contact Commissioners were gone. Christy was virtually alone; very serious decisions had to be made, and there was only human wisdom to rely upon. The Midwayer Commission had long since departed. Some have postulated that Christy sincerely believed she had been chosen to "correct" and "perfect" the text, even though this mission would violate her oath as a Trustee. Granting the situation, what would push this otherwise normal woman over the edge to imagine the Midwayers had returned to help her?

Again we turn to Mr. Caston's report on Vern Grimsley. As we shall see, Grimsley was very close to Christy, and he believed she received messages from Midwayers. She confided in Grimsley that she "was told" he was a "destiny reservist." [Refer to The Urantia Book, pages 1257-1258]. Just months after Christy's death in 1982, Vern was in a very serious emotional crisis. Now Christy was gone, and Vern believed himself to be the "spiritual leader" of the Urantia Movement. Grimsley was contemplating the purchase of a very expensive property in California for his Family of God organization. Standing under a tree he looked down on the 25 acre property and the spacious 75-room building. The Appendixes of Caston's report features a letter by Dr. Paul Knott, who informally examined Vern. Dr. Knott reports:

"Vern, in this state of consternation, wandered off by himself and suddenly, `out of the blue' (Vern's words) a voice above him and to his right speaks commandingly (and tells him what he wants to hear) `This is it.' The difficult decision is thus made for him, his anxiety is relieved, and the purchase is subsequently made."

Hoite Caston adds this comment:

"An `unseen friend,' one of the only advisers on the planet who Vern could unquestioningly believe would possess the wisdom to counsel him, has apparently `spoken' to him."

Returning to Christy's dilemma, a similar scenario is possible. In the company of the other members of the Contact Commission, she had heard the Midwayers speak, and experienced disembodied voices. Now she felt alone and in desperate need of advice. She "hears" a "voice" tell her to "correct" the text, and her problem is solved. It appears that Carolyn and Tom Kendall believed that Christy had a special "connection" to celestial beings. Perhaps such support encouraged Christy to believe she had unique status, and by resolving the apparent inconsistencies she was "restoring" the original text. There is evidence that she did believe this. In a letter to Urantian scholar James Johnson dated September 4, 1981, Christy responded to a list of questions and apparent typos that JJ had submitted for clarification. JJ did not expect that his inquiries would be taken as suggestions for changing the text of the Book. However, in a brief letter that accompanied the list of inquiries, Christy astonished JJ by informing him that two of his inquiries would be accepted and corrected. (see exhibits, pp 206-207):

"Dear `J. J.'

"I know you have done a great deal of work hunting out these errors, but we have strict orders to leave the text inviolate. Therefore, we do not change errors unless typographical, misspelling, or punctuation. You and I cannot rewrite the URANTIA Revelation. It is as near as we can make it an identical copy of the Midwayers work. Let's bear this in mind at all times."

A hand-written P.S. was added by Christy to the bottom of the letter :

"We didn't get your note in time to make any changes in the Seventh Printing but corrections necessary will be made in the Eighth."

This dichotomous response perplexed JJ. On one hand, Christy told him she was under strict orders to leave the original text inviolate. JJ agreed with this completely, and had never advocated or even suggested changing anything. On the other hand, Christy stated that she would "correct" two of the items he discovered (one of which changed the meaning of a phrase) in the next printing. Christy died the next year, and the changes were never made.

However, the question remains: how was it that no Trustee challenged Christy? As we shall see, it is very probable that only those Trustees sympathetic with the supposedly "channelled messages" knew that a substantial number of plates had been replaced by altered substitutes, and the originals destroyed.


Were all the Trustees informed of the changes?

Many readers have difficulty believing all the other Trustees were not informed of the changes. Yet, there is compelling evidence that they were not. Consider the documented statements by James C. Mills, Ph.D., who was selected to replace Christy as a Trustee in October of 1971. Dr. Mills was a former President of Urantia Brotherhood, and served many years as a Trustee Emeritus. In this capacity he "officially" answered much Foundation correspondence.

On March 5, 1991, Dr. Mills wrote in reply to a question from Dr. Kenneth & Betty Glasziou of Australia that indicates he was unaware of the scope and number of editorial changes Christy had made under his watch as a Trustee:

"I had only one experience with a textual change being made between printings. I told you about this during your visit in Pensacola. This was due to the diligence of a high school science teacher who had a BS in science and had read in a scientific journal that a specific figure given in The Urantia Book expressing the relationship between the mass of the nucleus and the planetary electron in the hydrogen atom had changed by one digit. He was able to persuade the people at 533 to change it in the second printing. At that time I had moved to Wisconsin and the chap instituting the change had followed me as president of the Brotherhood. Quite by accident, the change was pointed out to me by a young woman student who was incensed at obvious tampering with what she firmly and correctly believed should be left alone by human hands. I raised quite a ruckus about the matter and it was returned to its original status in the very next printing. Since that move, with the exception of 1973-1975, I have not resided in Chicago and have not been informed of any other apparent discrepancies between printings until your letter of Nov.20. I am taking up this matter with the Foundation immediately." [See Appendix B for a full text of the letter. It should be noted that the change referred to by Dr. Mills was not reversed in later editions, contrary to what he had assumed.]

Certainly, the Trustees were honorable, intelligent individuals who were aware of their solemn trust and responsibilities. One problem was the practical reality that most of the Trustees met only periodically at 533 Diversey Parkway, while Christy lived and worked there on a full time basis. As the Trustees gradually became distanced from actual involvement with the text, the culture at 533 more energetically revolved around the dominating personality of Christy.

It appears that Carolyn's statement is accurate that the Trustees did not participate in the "process" of "correcting" The Urantia Book, in the sense that all the Trustees were not aware that the 1967 text was being altered by Christy with the "approval" of what she perceived were the voices of the "Midwayers."12 And perhaps, as indicated, Christy believed she was "restoring" the text to its proper state by "corrections" of what she deemed were human copying errors. At the same time, some Urantians are puzzled about this claim because the original manuscript was no longer available. What empirical method did Christy use to verify "copying errors?"


Was there a "technical" printing problem?

In another part of his letter to Dr. Kenneth Glasziou, Dr. Mills seems to have been under the impression that the entire book had to be reset in 1967 due to the change in printing technology, and this resulted in many new typos and copying errors:

"In the twelve year interval between the first and second printings new photographic techniques and higher speed presses rendered the original plates obsolete and new plates had to be produced. As the original plates were planned to yield one million impressions, this was quite a blow."

However, this was not the case. The original plates were used to print the 1967 Urantia Book, with the exception of at least 48 pages that were replaced with altered text. Also, what had changed was the technology used to make plates. The Urantia Brotherhood Bulletin reported in their Winter and Spring, 1979 edition, page 2, that: "[The first] five printings had been performed on the same press." This agrees with two R.R. Donnelley's employees, now retired, who were there at the time. Mr. Bart Paddock, the plate foreman, and a Mr. Krohn, who was a press supervisor in 1967, agree that an M-1000 press, housed in the original Donnelley building in Crawfordsville, Indiana, would have been used for both the 1955 and the 1967 printings. This press could still accommodate the original plates in 1967. The Urantia Brotherhood Bulletin also reported that: "The text of The Urantia Book was the same with minor grammatical corrections. That, as many readers know, is one of the main purposes of Urantia Foundation, to protect the text of The Urantia Book and keep it from being changed."

We now know that changes went beyond this self-contradictory and euphemistic description. To achieve editorial changes in the second printing, it is clear that someone decided the simplest course was to alter the plates by replacing the designated problem pages with at least 48 newly etched pages. As stated, the use of the original plates in 1967 would not have posed a technical problem to the M-1000 press, other than the age of the plates themselves.13 Both the 1955 and 1967 printings show evidence of deteriorating plates. However, after examining the 1955 printings and the 1967 printings we can be virtually certain that the original plates were first altered, and then used in the 1967 printing. The pages that "required" word and number changes and deletions were physically removed and replaced with newly etched and cast pages. [See the Addenda following the endnotes of this chapter for the evidence Merritt Horn and I collected that compelled us to come to this conclusion].

We can be reasonably certain that, in addition to Dr. Mills, other highly respected leaders were not directly informed that several editorial changes had been made by altering the plates. Clyde Bedell wrote in 1976:

"Every word of the Urantia Papers, even the use of `the highest existing human concepts' was placed in the URANTIA Papers by the Revelators. None was inserted by any human being whatsoever. I would stake my life on this."14

Note that Clyde used the term Urantia Papers, not Urantia Book. Because of his extensive work with his Concordex, Clyde was aware in 1976 that there were typographical problems with various printings of the text.15 However, if he had known the original text had been deliberately altered, based upon strange new "celestial messages," I am certain he would have, to put it mildly, taken vigorous exception to the process. The purported "channeled" messages were not taken seriously by everyone at 533 Diversey Parkway.16 It was not until the death of Dr. Sadler that rumors of Christy's channeled "messages" began to surface beyond the inner power structures of Urantia Foundation and Urantia Brotherhood. Gradually, stories of supposed special Foundation "guidance" began to circulate among Urantians. In 1981, Clyde Bedell published a clear evaluation of the alleged "secret" messages and special "celestial guidance" that had continued to be rumored after the death of Dr. Sadler:

"I do not believe the Trustees are any more divinely guided than you are, or I am. The everywhere repeated words we hear, reportedly communicated to the forum when the Book was published, in 1955: `You are now on your own,' I believe to be true and I believe they were meant. We are on our own and should take our privilege and our responsibility far more seriously than we do . . .

"Yes, I have heard on rare occasions the whispered gossip and maunderings: `The Trustees must be right. They are so set in their policies they must be getting guidance, communications.' Examine this idea, which, when stated, is usually in querulous tones about the [copyright] issues I have been discussing in this paper. Any reader who believes it, is saying in effect that the teachings of our vast and great Revelation, The Urantia Book, are already being superseded by secret communications to a handful of humanly named servants of the Urantia Movement . . . I believe The Urantia Book will never be superseded until some distant date from now, and then by another Epochal Revelation, not by anonymous spirits secretly passing little `do's and don'ts' to fallible Trustees."17


Something had to be done

Returning to Christy's dilemma just before the 1967 printing -- certainly something had to be done. One final conclusion seems self-evident: The decision to change the text itself by secretly altering the plates, rather than openly footnoting or endnoting the apparent inconsistencies, created fresh problems. The supposedly "corrected" text was no longer in agreement with either the original plates or the 1955 printing. It is also self-evident that one cannot have multiple and differing sets of inviolate replications of the same original text. In addition, there has never been a candid and complete disclosure to readers. Very few purchasers of later printings of The Urantia Book have been informed that the book they were buying was not in complete conformity with the original 1955 text. It is reasonable that readers should be the judge of the importance of the changes that were made, and be able to weigh their buying decisions accordingly.

In the next few pages, Dr. Sprunger reviews the situation just described, weighs its significance, and suggests a solution. His perspective differs slightly from the author's, and is presented here for the consideration of the reader:

Dr. Meredith Sprunger reviews the ambiguities associated with the publication of the Urantia Papers

"It is generally agreed by most students of The Urantia Book that the Papers were composed by supermortal personalities and, except for changes in spelling, capitalization, and punctuation, were not edited by any human being. The Urantia Papers were published exactly as they were received from the Revelators.

"Since the Papers were typed numerous times and set in type by R. R. Donnelley & Sons, it is obvious that mistakes in copying could, and probably did, take place. The Midwayers probably were aware of these errors and inconsistencies but did not consider them serious enough to stop the publication.

"In my judgment the greatest mistake religious fundamentalists make is their belief in the literal inspiration, the infallibility, of scripture. The basic purpose of revelation is to enhance spiritual insight by expanding the spiritual paradigm.

"In the years following the publication of The Urantia Book in 1955, many of these possible errors and inconsistencies were pointed out and something had to be done about them in the 1967 printing. Someone decided to try to correct these problem areas in the text by altering the plates. In hindsight, the great mistake the Foundation made was not to list these changes along with the reasons for them in endnotes of the book.

"At this point, we should review evidence as to who made the decision to make these changes. Carolyn Kendall tells us, from information provided by Tom Kendall, that the Trustees of Urantia Foundation did not participate in the process of `correcting' the text of The Urantia Book. This would indicate that the changes were made by Christy in the 1967 printing, and subsequent printings until her death in 1982. This assumption is apparently confirmed by Scott Forsythe, Administrative Assistant for Urantia Foundation, when he wrote JJ Johnson, `Christy's relationship to the text of The Urantia Book was unique.' (See Appendix B)

"Carolyn Kendall and Tom Kendall believed these changes were approved by the Midwayer Commission. This assumption, of course, is challenged by Dr. Sadler's statement to me that all contact with the superhuman revelators had ceased, and some questions about the nature and authenticity of Christy's alleged Midwayer contacts were raised by some of the power structure of the Brotherhood.

"In my judgment, unless you are a Urantia Book fundamentalist, believing in the `literal inspiration,' the absolute truth of every word in The Urantia Book, from the pragmatic viewpoint it makes little difference whether these changes were approved by the Midwayer Commission or not. These changes do not affect the revelatory authenticity of the Fifth Epochal Revelation. In any case, there is no objective way to prove definitively whether these changes were approved by the Midwayers or not.

"Perhaps the best solution to this unfortunate brouhaha is to list all of the changes made after the 1955 edition, along with the reasons for the changes, and permit each individual to make his or her own decision as to the revelator's original text. Hopefully, the Foundation Trustees will do this by placing endnotes in future printings."


Revisiting the original question

Dr. Sprunger's cautions about Urantian Fundamentalism are well taken, but I do not believe that question is at issue. While, from a pragmatic viewpoint, it may be said that the changes in the text to date have been minor and do not affect our spiritual destinies, I believe we should carefully consider future readers and the overall welfare of the Revelation one, three, or five hundred years hence. If we do, in my judgment it does matter whether these changes "were made by the Midwayer Commission or not." The question of special celestial guidance after 1955 cannot be avoided, its ramifications are too significant to ignore.

My reasons for believing that the long-range viability and integrity of the Revelation are at stake are four-fold:

[1]. There is a need for a reliable lineage of successive printings with the authentic original (1955) text as a touchstone for future scholars.

[2]. It is illogical, disingenuous, and philosophically inconsistent for Urantia Foundation to "preserve" one original text while printing and selling to the public several different texts, implying that each is an "inviolate" replication of the original text.

[3]. The letter and spirit of the Declaration of Trust forbids any changes whatsoever to the text. It should be honored in deed as well as in rhetoric.

[4]. The questionable process by which the changes were originally made may impinge on classic "psychic" activities, which the Papers themselves refute. The nature of the policy that so long concealed them is repugnant to many Urantians. And Urantia Foundation's refusal to ameliorate the problem is divisive and damaging to the Urantia community.

On the first point, scholars need an accurate touchstone by which to verify their evaluation of the Revelation. The wisdom of the Revelators in mandating the principle of printing and preserving an uncompromised original text seems obvious to many scholars of the Papers. Dr. Mark McMenamin, a professor of geology at Mount Holyoke College, responded to a letter by JJ Johnson with these comments: "If it was written in 1955, parts of it are strikingly ahead of their time. I could only locate the 1984 edition; can you confirm that pages 664-671 appeared as is in the 1955 edition?" Because of JJ's persistence and efforts, Dr. McMenamin included very favorable comments about The Urantia Book in his own book, The Garden of Ediacara, published by Columbia University Press in 1998. (See Appendix C). JJ wrote me later: "It should be evident this is going to crop up more and more . . . the quicker we nail this down . . . the sooner scientists like Mark won't have to ask these questions and hesitate to include them in their research/books and other works." JJ points out that if a scholar in 1998 has difficulty finding a 1955 printing, imagine how difficult it will be one or two hundred years from now. Indeed, of what value are three (3) copies of the original text of The Urantia Book if they are preserved in some unknown location where no one gets to see them and the Foundation is printing different texts?

The second point is self-evident, or should be: There cannot be two or more versions of the text, each of which is said to be an inviolate reproduction of the original. Urantia Foundation President Richard Keeler told me in 1998 that the Foundation retains the Declaration of Trust's mandated part of the "Substantive Estate" of "not less than three (3) printed copies" of the "original text of THE URANTIA BOOK" that were printed from the original plates. Mr. Keeler believes this fulfills the Trustees oath to preserve the original text inviolate. Unfortunately, as previously stated, the various "inviolate" versions of the text of The Urantia Book that Urantia Foundation has been printing and selling for decades are different from the three (3) printed copies of original text of The Urantia Book the Trustees presumably are keeping so carefully preserved.

Some Urantians believe Urantia Foundation's policies put the original text itself at risk. Dr. Sadler died on April 29, 1969, at the age of 93. Just after the third printing, on May 6, 1971, Urantia Foundation ordered R. R. Donnelley & Sons in Crawfordsville to complete destruction of the approximately "two thousand two hundred (2,200) nickel-plated stereotype plates of patent thickness for the printing and reproduction of such book." It is almost certain that the Donnelley Company also destroyed the original paper tapes from which the type was set and the negatives from which the plates were made. These tapes and negatives were routinely kept in order to recast plates that had become worn from printing. The destruction of the original plates leads to the third point.

The third point is the Declaration of Trust expressly forbids any alteration of the text. This is also self-evident, or should be. Aside from the principle of printing as well as preserving inviolate the original text, there is the pragmatic legal argument that the Declaration of Trust was designed and intended to protect the text of the Revelation from human folly. Carolyn tells us the clear parameters of the Trust were supplanted by this human aspiration: "The Foundation wanted the book to be perfect." This well-intended desire by humans in 1967 resulted in a violation of both the direct instructions of the Revelators and the restrictions of the Declaration of Trust.

It seems clear that a decision was made in 1967 to destroy a portion of the Substantive Estate in defiance of the Declaration of Trust. It is a fact that Urantia Foundation made a decision in May of 1971 to complete the destruction of the historic plates after only 10,000 copies of the original text had been made. To many Urantians the original plates were not merely a curiosity any more than the original typed manuscript was a curiosity. The plates were the "original text" of The Urantia Book as defined in the Declaration of Trust. And the plates were also the first of the two parts of the "Substantive Estate" described in paragraph four of the Trust document, they had been proofed, cast and sanctioned when the Revelators were in contact. All that now remains of the entire Substantive Estate are three printed books, a generation removed from the original plates (as the original plates were a generation removed from the typed manuscript). Because these books were not printed on acid-free paper, they must eventually disintegrate. Since the original text is no longer being printed, some readers are not comfortable with the reality that the last vestiges of the bona fide revelatory process are three paper and cloth copies of the original 1955 printing of the Book. Many readers and believers are uneasy, even though the current designated "keepers of the original text" assure Urantians that these three Books, printed from the original plates, are being "preserved" in storage somewhere.

The fourth point is the clandestine manner in which the changes were made, the implications of the policy that embraces them. Mark Kulieke unintentionally expresses the resulting paradox on page 24 of Birth of a Revelation (second edition):

"Dr. Sadler and Christy both indicated that the Urantia Papers were published exactly as received except for errors in copying, most of which were subsequently identified and corrected. The Contact Commission was limited to making changes in spelling, capitalization, and punctuation."

There are a few dozen documented statements by Christy and Dr. Sadler, as well as many Trustees and Forum members, and both Histories, to the effect that "the Urantia Papers were published exactly as received." However, I could not find a single one that added: "except for errors in copying, most of which were subsequently identified and corrected." Moreover, the statement: "The Contact Commission was limited to making changes in spelling, capitalization, and punctuation" leads to other questions: [1]. Was not The Urantia Book published by Urantia Foundation, not the Contact Commission? The Contact Commission was long-defunct by 1967. [2]. Were the plates, defined in the Declaration of Trust as the original text of The Urantia Book, not transferred to Urantia Foundation on January 11, 1950? [3]. Christy was a sitting Trustee in 1967. Why, regardless of her sincere motives, was Christy allowed, independent of the other Trustees, to make alterations in the plates, an action forbidden by the Declaration of Trust and blatantly exceeding the authority of the original Contact Commission?

A letter from Scott M. Forsythe, Administrative Assistant for Urantia Foundation, to JJ Johnson in 1988 clearly confides that Christy indeed had assumed a "unique" relationship with the text of The Urantia Book. Forsythe wrote in reply to an inquiry by JJ about certain questions he had submitted. Christy had written JJ that she had decided to make two changes in the next printing. As previously indicated, Christy died shortly after her 1981 letter to JJ and the changes were never made. Forsythe wrote:

" . . . as you are well aware, Christy's relationship to the text of The URANTIA Book was unique . . . It is quite probable that the current Board of Trustees do not feel they have the same relationship with the text of the book that was enjoyed by Christy. In other words, the Trustees may not feel they can exercise the same latitude that was available to Christy in these matters . . . For obvious reasons, a matter such as this is an issue of delicate and sensitive proportions, and the Board may not wish to expand the written record on this matter." [See Appendix B for the full text of this letter.]

This reaction naturally perplexed JJ. If Christy's relationship with the Urantia Papers was considered authentically "unique" by the Trustees, why did they fail to carry through on her final "corrections?" Other than this somewhat candid letter expressing the discomfort of the Trustees, a policy of polite but resolute silence and concealment continued to be generally in force until the proclamation of support for the changes in 1999 by Urantia Foundation on their web site titled: Setting the Record Straight. Regardless of how one may view the above comments, we are confronted with one clear fact: By no later than 1994 all the Trustees were aware of the changes that were made and their implications. To date, there has been no movement in the direction of correcting the problem. Although a "list of corrections" was published by Urantia Foundation in 1994, it was not annotated and no disclaimer was placed in the published books to inform purchasers of the changes and the availability of the "corrections" list until 1999. Such half-measures, in any event, are inadequate for most Urantians who want faithful reproductions of the original text to be published and the Declaration of Trust honored.


We must be able to trust the scribe

Aside from: [1]. the need for a reliable lineage of faithful reproductions of the original text as a touchstone for future scholars, and [2]. the philosophical fallacy of preserving one text and printing another, and [3]. the letter and spirit of the Declaration of Trust that forbids Urantia Foundation from making any changes whatsoever to the text, and [4]. the questionable process by which the changes were originally made -- and the undefined policy that has so long concealed them and continues to support them -- there is a fifth compelling argument.

This argument for printing the original text has been described succinctly by Eric Schaveland: "We must be able to trust the scribe." The inescapable fact is: no one -- including the Trustees -- really knows how much the current printings of The Urantia Book differ from the original text of the 1955 edition. We will not know until we follow the advice of Dr. Mills and, resolutely and fearlessly, use available technology to compare the current text to the 1955 original. It may be that we shall discover that the current text is "reasonably close" to the 1955 printing. Of course, the Declaration of Trust does not suggest that "reasonably close" is good enough. However, put the "reasonably close" argument aside for a moment.

Surely, the Midwayers had good reasons why they left no discretion whatsoever in human hands regarding the text of The Urantia Book. The Declaration of Trust was designed by the Contact Commission to protect the original text from human folly. Despite this safeguard, we know the door was opened in 1967, and changes to the text took place under the watchcare of Urantia Foundation. This precedent has fostered a policy of human discretion by Urantia Foundation -- an oligarchy of five self-appointed individuals. Urantia Foundation has continued to make "corrections" in the text in every printing since the second printing. Many subsequent Trustees were evidently unaware of the degree to which these liberties have impacted the text. However, as I have indicated, all of the Trustees are now cognizant of the alterations to the text, yet they have individually and collectively refused to confront the issue. One Trustee, Morris (Mo) Siegel, told me in 1998 that he was indifferent to the question of the text because from a commercial marketing perspective he was aware of "very little reader concern" about the alterations in the original text. Yet, the Declaration of Trust was supposedly designed to insulate Trustees from the changing tides of popular opinion.

Urantian scholar David Kantor believes that if rank and file Urantians remain silent and docile about their Revelation, future Trustees, operating in social contexts which we cannot conceive today, may easily follow this course of uncontrolled and unmonitored latitude and elect to take additional liberties with the text. We know that, from Carolyn Kendall's statements and Richard Keeler's admission, changes to the text continued after 1982. If Carolyn's account is accurate, Mr. Keeler promised to reverse the changes made after 1982. Merritt Horn's research indicates that these changes were not reversed in current printings as promised. (See Appendix D). Surely, no one can predict where the current philosophy of allowing an oligarchy of five individuals laissez alter in regard to the text of the Urantia Revelation will one day lead. Without a trustworthy "keeper of the text," a touchstone of an authentically inviolate printed version of the original text, and an established lineage back to the original printing, both the spirit and the letter of the Urantia Foundation's Declaration of Trust have been, in effect, dishonored.


The search for truth

The information and arguments above are disclosed in the spirit of a search for truth. The Revelation belongs to the people, and they must be responsible for its destiny. The Revelators provided us with a grand, ennobling, creative task; Urantia Foundation was established to serve us. In choosing the means by which we struggle to achieve the task before us, we must not defer our quest for truth. For truth is one of the triad of precious core values that embody the goal itself.

The truth will not go away by killing the messenger. The adversary system is as necessary for history as it is for science and law. Nor will the truth go away if we simply avoid expanding "the written record on this matter." It will not go away if we use sophistry to redefine the term "inviolate." Concern about the alterations is not making a "fetish of the text." On the contrary, it may be the endless, clandestine series of changes from printing to printing by a committee of five humans in an unattainable effort to "make the Book perfect" that is making a "fetish of the text."

The most serious consequence of deferring responsibility for the revelation to an oligarchy is not necessarily a question of the quality of the individual Trustees. Philosopher Mortimer Adler expressed the most serious affect of an oligarchy in this way:

 "Granted such [superior] men can be found, the point is that letting them rule, with wisdom and benevolence, reduces the rest of the population to perpetual childhood . . ."18

The question of publishing as well as preserving the original text remains, to this day, "an issue of delicate and sensitive proportions." Yet, I submit that it is precisely for the very reasons that it is delicate and sensitive that it demands the courageous scrutiny of Urantians. It cannot be repeated too often: the Revelation was a gift to the people of this planet; the people are responsible for their Revelation.

I remain cautiously optimistic about the outcome of this delicate and sensitive issue. For as long as we Urantians creatively debate this question with tolerance and respect, we have not yet wholly descended into a prideful utopian torpor for the sake of "unity." Unity at any price has historically signaled the drift of many a glorious mortal enterprise into cosmic oblivion.

By the time of Dr. Sadler's death, the stage was set. An inner circle within the inner circle had been formed. This ultra-inner circle had replaced the Trustees as the entity in charge of the text of the Revelation. What has happened in the decades that followed was to be aptly described by Dr. Sprunger as the launching of the Revelation upon the "troubled and turbulent seas of evolutionary struggle."



Footnotes

1. BIRTH OF A REVELATION by Mark Kulieke, second edition, 1992, page 24. However, the "Forum" had passed into history long before, on May 31, 1942, when they were informed no further questions would be entertained. (See History One page 6 and History Two page 10). The Forum was then replaced by a Sunday study group.

2. HISTORY OF THE URANTIA MOVEMENT ONE, "by a Group of Urantia Pioneers, assisted by Members of the Contact Commission, 1960," page 13. In her "Report to the Ad Hoc Committee" Carolyn Kendall provides the information that there were 71 students. She believes there were 17 diploma students in 1960, History One states there were 14. [See "History of the Urantia Movement" (one)]

3. April, 1992 paper titled AD HOC COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH: PRINCIPLES, PATTERNS, AND STRUCTURES IN THE URANTIA BOOK AND RELATED SOURCES by Carolyn Kendall page 29. [Ad Hoc Committee Report by Carolyn Kendall]

4. URANTIA, The Great Cult Mystery, by Martin Gardner, Prometheus Books, New York, 1995, pages 98 and 100.

5. IBID., pp. 40-43. Also, Meredith Sprunger provided some background information. Clyde Bedell's quote was taken from THE PLANETARY PRINTS, Spring 1985, page 35. [See Planetary Prints, Spring 1985, Page 35] [See entire Spring 1985 issue of Planetary Prints]

6. HISTORY TWO, prepared by a Contact Commissioner, undated, page 21. A History of The Urantia Movement (Two)]

7. The intra-office memo by Bill Sadler, Jr. was quoted by Carolyn and Tom Kendall in their RESPONSE TO URANTIA FOUNDATION'S REPORT TO READERS OF THE URANTIA BOOK, June 21, 1990, page 2. As previously noted, Christy told David Kantor that one of the rules of the revelation process was that at least two Contact Commissioners had to be present for any communications to take place.

8. The PLAN FOR THE URANTIA BOOK REVELATION, by Carolyn B. Kendall, Paper distributed January 18, 1996, page 5. She gives the source for these comments as her husband, Thomas Kendall, who was a trustee of Urantia Foundation from 1963-1983, and its president from 1973-1983. [The Plan for The Urantia Book Revelation]

9. IBID., page 5. Carolyn says this statement is her personal opinion.

10. IBID., page 5. Carolyn gives as her source Richard Keeler, Trustee and President of Urantia Foundation. Merritt Horn reports this action was not taken. (See Appendix D).

11. According to the Declaration of Trust: "A Trustee Emeritus shall have no rights, duties or powers hereunder, but that name shall be given such a person only as an expression of his past services as a Trustee." However, Christy's duties and dominance were apparently not curtailed by this stipulation. (See Appendix F).

12. It was some time before Urantia Foundation seemed to be awakened to the fact that such changes were made. It was stated in Urantian News, November, 1991: "From time to time the Trustees have authorized changes which corrected spelling, grammatical, or printing errors. The current Trustees are also aware of a few changes to the text undertaken in the second printing. These were changes made necessary because of incomplete proofing of the first printing." However, in reality the "Trustees" do not seem to function as a cohesive group in making observations and decisions about the text. I had personal conversations with three current Trustees in 1998, and none of them seemed aware of exactly what changes had been made in the text. They seemed confused about how they are to police the content of the Book when they are, for all practical purposes, insulated from the printing process. Moreover, they expressed little interest in the problem. The Trustee's duties, their oath, and the Declaration of Trust not withstanding, the culture at 533 that established a resident inner circle within the inner circle in the late sixties still seems to prevail. The Trustees, in general, are titular personages and have never had a hands-on relationship with the preservation of the original text after 1955. The Trustees generally remain passive about the content of the various versions of The Urantia Book that are being printed. At this writing, no less than three different supposedly "inviolate" versions of the original text are being published by Urantia Foundation, none of which actually agrees with the original 1955 text that the Foundation is supposedly "preserving."

13. This information was obtained from phone conversations I had with Mr. Krohn and Mr. Paddock, on October 26, 1999. Both of these gentlemen are now retired, and live in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

14. A RESPONSE TO A THINLY DISGUISED ATTACK ON THE URANTIA BOOK by Clyde Bedell, a paper dated September 5, 1976, page 13.

15. In a letter to JJ Johnson dated May 11, 1976, Clyde expressed knowledge of specific typographical problems between the 1955 printing and later printings. In a later note (October, 1977) to JJ he suggested ways to obtain a 1955 printing, copies of which were already becoming difficult to find.

16. Meredith Sprunger personally disclosed this observation to me.

17. A MONOGRAPH ON A VITAL ISSUE CONCERNING THE URANTIA BOOK AND MOVEMENT by Clyde Bedell, March, 1981, pp. 18-19. [Emphasis in original] [See "Monograph on a Vital Issue" by Clyde Bedell]

18. HAVES AND HAVE NOTS by Mortimer J. Adler, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1991, pp. 116-117.




TABLE OF CONTENTS



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Disclaimer

Disclaimer:
Some material presented will contain links, quotes, ideologies, etc., the contents of which should be understood to first, in their whole, reflect the views or opinions of their editors, and second, are used in my personal research as "fair use" sources only, and not espousement one way or the other. Researching for 'truth' leads one all over the place...a piece here, a piece there. As a researcher, I hunt, gather and disassemble resources, trying to put all the pieces into a coherent and logical whole. I encourage you to do the same. And please remember, these pages are only my effort to collect all the pieces I can find and see if they properly fit into the 'reality aggregate'.

Personal Position

Personal Position:
I've come to realize that 'truth' boils down to what we 'believe' the facts we've gathered point to. We only 'know' what we've 'experienced' firsthand. Everything else - what we read, what we watch, what we hear - is what someone else's gathered facts point to and 'they' 'believe' is 'truth', so that 'truth' seems to change in direct proportion to newly gathered facts divided by applied plausibility. Though I believe there is 'truth', until someone representing the celestial realm visibly appears and presents the heavenly records of Facts And Lies In The Order They Happened, I can't know for sure exactly what "the whole truth' on any given subject is, and what applies to me applies to everyone. Until then I'll continue to ask, "what does The Urantia Book say on the subject?"
~Gail Bird Allen

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