Following is an overview of the anatomy and contents of The Urantia Book, a 2,097 page text containing 196 “Papers” (or chapters) and is divided into four large parts. This summary is essential background for grasping its general import and core teachings.
Part I. “The Central and Superuniverses” presents the infinitely loving and merciful nature of the Universal Father, the “First Source and Center” of all things and beings. It also depicts his absolute and coordinate deity equals—the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit—as well as the self-distributions of the Trinity into all domains of reality. The three eternal Persons—utterly transcendent to gender distinction—are said to be distinct “source-personalities.” They differ in attributes, but they can act as one perfectly unified Trinity and may also function in various permutations for diverse purposes. This section of the text further depicts the universe activities associated with the “reality domains” of each of member of the Trinity, plus the nature and functions of the high universe personalities created by them—while offering still other disclosures about the ultimate nature of deity, divinity, and the cosmos including the so-called “Seven Absolutes of Infinity” (which embraces all personal and impersonal realities in all universes). Part I also describes the far-flung domains of universal creation, painting a riveting picture of the perfect, eternal, and extra-dimensional central universe that lies at the center of the evolving time-space universe and that serves as its infinite source. At the very core of this eternal mother universe is Paradise, the everlasting residence of the Persons of the Trinity as well the home of a unique population of perfect citizens, its permanent inhabitants. The Isle of Paradise, as it is often called, is also the longed-for destiny of all ascending pilgrims hailing from the lowly material planets. Paradise is the motionless center-point of infinity and the absolute paragon, pattern, and source of all forms of energy, gravity, and matter in all domains and dimensions. Entirely surrounding the central universe is a region called Havona—which contains the highest-dimension spheres, worlds that exist from eternity and are populated by “non-experiential” perfect citizens. The central universe is, again, extra-dimensional and is therefore invisible to those looking inward toward it from the time-space domains. Encircling Havona is a stupendous ring of material galaxies containing inhabited planets and comprising the grand universe (as noted). And beyond this are four regions of organized creation containing trillions of uninhabited galaxies called “the outer space levels,” now coming into better visibility thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope. I believe there is nothing in world literature comparable to the lofty exposition of the cosmic and theological realities depicted in Part I, or the complex overview provided in the Foreword.
Part II. “The Local Universe” details the origin, nature, and structure of the “local” sector of our Milky Way galaxy that contains about six million inhabited planets, also covering its history, administration, and governance. The organization of a local universe features many subdivisions down to the level of local systems that encompass up to 1,000 inhabited worlds. In addition, this section details the vast celestial host of the local creation who, as mentioned earlier, ministers in co-creative fashion to the human inhabitants on each material planet and also provides for the implantation and overcontrol of all forms of evolving life. Part II offers considerable detail on the ascension scheme, the divine plan for each person’s afterlife ascent toward ultimate perfection that proceeds in a long series of “graduations” upwards through increasingly more rarefied worlds. The final stop in the local universe is the glorious headquarters sphere called Salvington, the last step before entering the more advanced superuniverse regime of ascent that leads upward and inward to the central universe and then to Paradise. All pilgrims from our planet will awake after death on what is known as the first mansion world—the very first of the abodes of heavenly life. (cf. John 14:2: “In my Father's house are many mansions.”) Each ascender begins their afterlife career on that world, embarking on a vast regime of self-understanding, personal healing, spiritual training, holistic education, and cosmic socialization (a process whose full description is spread across Parts I–III in the text.) One of the highlights of Part II is the introduction of the Father-Creator of our local universe known as Christ Michael. It is he who incarnated as Jesus of Nazareth on Urantia. Also introduced is Michael’s complemental deity partner and perfectly coequal Co-Creator (with him) of this local universe, the Universe Mother Spirit. They both reside on Salvington as our compassionate Creators and local-universe rulers.
Part III. “The History of Urantia” narrates the astrophysical origin of our solar system and offers a chronological account of the entire history of earth (Urantia) beginning with the implantation and evolution of all life on the planet, and including the biological, anthropological, racial, and spiritual history of humankind. This section also unveils and unpacks the story of the four previous epochal revelations to Urantia—The Urantia Book being the fifth. Significantly, Part III includes detail about the Lucifer Rebellion that traumatized Urantia as well as 36 other planets in the local system. This event occurred in the far-distant past but its effects are still profoundly felt. This rare disaster of planet-wide angelic rebellion led to the default and wreckage of the first two phases of epochal revelation on our sphere. These epochal visitations include the earth mission of Adam and Eve, one of the most dramatic and fascinating narratives in the Urantia text. This gloomy start to humankind’s history was the key reason why Christ Michael chose to incarnate on our lowly sphere as Jesus of Nazareth. We are told that Urantia’s disastrous history—its unique burden of sin and suffering—offered the starkest backdrop against which to demonstrate Michael’s sublime and merciful love for his most wayward human creatures. Part III then provides a comprehensive picture of the seven-stage process known as “cosmic individuation.” This complex but coherent discussion details the nature and function of the soul and the phenomenon of soul evolution before and after death; the true nature and function of religion; the nature of personhood as well as the concept of the Indwelling Spirit, also called the Father Fragment, that is dispatched to live within the minds of each one of us to guide us to perfection. This entity of pure divinity works in tandem with our powers of choice to co-create our soul as we engage in the work of soul-making. Whereas Part I introduced the Eternal Trinity on Paradise, Part III reveals the evolving cosmic deity known as the Supreme Being, the dynamic repository and synthesis of the totality of ongoing creator-Creator experience in the grand universe.
Part IV. “The Life and Teachings of Jesus” contains a comprehensive account of Jesus’s life, in actuality a coherent “restatement” based on human, biblical, and angelic sources. This expansive narrative often covers events day by day and sometimes hour by hour—including the story of the “lost years” of Jesus’s childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. It also contains an extensive account of his private and public ministries, his miracles, and his wide proclamation of the Gospel in the form of personal instruction, parables, sermons, and interactions with the Apostles and close disciples. In its 180-page closing section, Part IV details the last week of his life, his death and resurrection (and nineteen post-resurrection appearances), and ends with the story of the bestowal of his Spirit of Truth at Pentecost. Perhaps the most inspirational material is its culminating paper, “The Faith of Jesus,” a “summa” of Jesus’s life and message. Ultimately, readers of Part IV are able to uplift and renew their understanding of Jesus, thanks to a seamless narrative that builds both upon the sacred foundation of the biblical record along with numerous previously unknown episodes. They also discover an elevated portrayal of a Jesus who teaches a Gospel of loving service, self-respect, soul evolution, artistic living, love for one’s enemies, self-mastery, and sublime worship of the God on Paradise in the context of the UB’s advocacy for planetary and cosmic citizenship. In regard to its relationship to Christianity, it may be little wonder that some regard the UB as a postmodern Bible, but it is more appropriate to say that it provides a very wide range of vital corrections and updates to key biblical narratives and Christian tenets, now transplanted into a modern evolutionary framework and a post-Einstein cosmology.