I came from the same place where this person is comeing from. I first read the UB for intertainment, as I’ve read other religious texts (other than the Bible of course) being an ultra conservative fundamentalist Christian. However, that is not the end of the story. I read it a second time, this time, with a view of doing what the person who started this post is most likely trying to do, convert those who believe the UB either to Christianity or back to Christianity if they left the faith.
What really convinced me to give the UB a second read with this in mind was the fact that virtually every Christian who comes out against the UB will admit that they have never completely read the text and that they have no intention of doing so. In short, they say “I’ve never read much of The Urantia Book, I have no intentions of ever completely reading The Urantia Book, but I can tell you what is wrong with it. It is not my particular religion. ” In an article written by an UB believer, this was pointed out along with the fact that you can not truly speak against something unless you do your research first.
So, Here I go, carefully rereading the UB with this in mind. And what a treasure-trove of ammunition I found!
How dare this book contradict everything that I was ever taught!
I then decided to go after the UB as one who had read it from cover to cover, not once, but twice!
Before doing so, however, I decided to read the Bible for myself first. It was the cornerstone of my faith, and so I thought that if I was going to go after someone elses faith, I’d better be well versed in my own first.
In order to get as much of an unbiased view as possible, I decided to let the Bible speak for itself, just as I let the UB speak for itself. To that end, I used no notes or other Bible helps of any kind. The only thing that I did use was a chronological Bible schedule to give my reading some structure. This allowed me to put everything in a timeline order. Though the schedule was not perfect, (none of them are) it was able to allow me to completely read the Bible in such a way that I could understand it.
I completed a chronological reading of the Bible… Then I had a crisis of faith. As I said, I used no outside helps when reading either The Urantia Book or the Bible. I did my best to allow both religious texts to speak for themselves.
And what happened? as I said, I had a crisis of faith. All of my life I’d been taught that the Bible was perfect. It was to be the final authority on all of my major life decisions.
After reading the Bible, I began to question such blind obedience to a book that had such cruelty and open contradiction. When I went to my pastor for guidance I was basically told to believe it and that I had to take what the Bible said on faith. Unsatisfied with what my pastor told me I continued to look for answers. I was unable to find answers that satisfied either my mind, my heart, or my spirit.
I was left with a hard choice. 1. Believe the Bible… somehow. I found myself unable to do this to any great degree after reading it and doing some research. 2. I could become an atheist. This was a very real possibility. I’d done some preliminary research into other religions over the years and none of what I’d found really had the ring of truth to me. 3. I could except wholeheartedly The Urantia Book.
Having narrowed my choices to 1 and 3, (I rejected 2 because I have seen God do to much for me and others over my life to say he doesn’t exist) I decided to read The Urantia Book for a third time, this time, with a more opened mind. After completing this reading I became a full believer in The Urantia Book.
Has it been an easy road? No, it has not. I am from Alabama, and this part of the United States is ultra conservative. If you are not Christian, but belong to another religion instead, you are considered to be involved with a cult . This also applies to other major religions including some branches of Christianity… ex, Cathilism. Sorry for the misspelling. Hope everyone understands what I meant… The religion with the Pope.
Basically, I can, and do, tell everyone that I am a follower of Jesus. If they want to press me and I tell them that I follow the teachings found in The Urantia Book, wich includes 700 pages devoted to the life and teachings of Jesus, I am then told that I am involved in a cult. It doesn’t matter that I follow Jesus. In their eyes, because I do not draw my inspiration and beliefs from the Bible, I belong to a cult. People who make this assertion about me also include my family.
As I said, this is not a easy road. But the things most worth doing are not easy. I have no regrets about this particular life choice.
I hope that this can help everyone who reads this understand where this person is comeing from.
