Urantia

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The Urantia Book (English. The Urantia Book ) is a 1955 published book in English, in which the term "Urantia" is introduced as the actual name of the planet earth . The book was written in Chicago , Illinois , USA between 1924 and 1955 and is based on a revelation from superhuman personalities. The anonymous authors of the Urantia book state that their intention is to present "broader concepts and an advanced truth" in an attempt to "expand cosmic consciousness and heighten spiritual awareness." Among many other topics, they refer to the origin and meaning of life, describe the place of humanity in creation, and discuss the relationship between God and man.

Established in 1950, the Urantia Foundation first published the Urantia Papers as The Urantia Book in 1955 . The book has been translated into several languages ​​including Spanish, Finnish, French, Dutch, Lithuanian, Russian and German.

In 2001 the Urantia Foundation was denied US copyright for the English version in a court ruling and the Urantia papers became public domain .

Structure of the book

The Urantia Book (1955)

Cosmological ideas

According to the Urantia book, Urantia , the earth, is part of a local universe called Nebadon , which consists of 10 million inhabited worlds. Nebadon in turn belongs together with other universes to the "superuniverse" Orvonton , which is part of the "central universe " Havona . There is “the eternal paradise island” as God's abode.

Michael is considered to be the creator and ruler of Nebadon . In the Urantia book he is not an archangel, but the 611121. Son of God who goes through incarnations in different worlds (called “ bestowal ” in the book) in the form of a creature. In the seventh and final incarnation he becomes Jesus Christ on Urantia in order to finally overcome Lucifer's rebellion and then to take over "the highest power and judicial authority over the universe".

symbol

The Urantia logo, which is also shown on the cover of the book, consists of three light blue concentric circles, which are intended to represent "the material symbol of the rule of the Trinity over all creation". At the same time, the logo should represent the banner of Michael in the fight against the rebellious Lucifer, whose symbol is a black dot with a surrounding red circle on a white background.

Structure of the book

The book, which is close to Gnosis , deals with God , science , religion , history, philosophy and fate. Both the English and the German language edition, which appeared in 2005, comprise 2,097 pages. The book is divided into four parts plus a foreword and consists of 196 chapters. The four parts are arranged in an " anthropocentrically narrowing perspective".

Preface

In the introduction the terms and philosophical concepts of the book are presented. This foreword was supposedly written by a "Divine Advisor of Orvonton".

Part I: The Central Universe and the Superuniverses

31 chapters describe the nature of the Supreme Reality and the astronomical-cosmological organization of the universe. The paradise is, together with the island of paradise - the material and gravitational center of the universe - described as the source of all energy , matter, of life and properties of the world. It also describes a universe in the organized hierarchy that arose in a relative process of creation and how numerous inhabited planets evolve in all stages of spiritual, biological, intellectual and social development.

Part II: The Local Universe

25 chapters concern our local universe . It speaks of the history of substance , of energy and of the constellations of the local universe. Also the areas of light and life and growth that man achieved through his faithfulness to God. It describes the self-sacrificing service to our fellow creatures, the plans for creation and development, and the government of the local universe.

Part III: The History of Urantia

63 chapters describe the history of the earth. It describes in detail the history of geological development , the arrangement of life, the evolutionary history of man and the emergence of civilizations , governments and institutions. The story is told in such a way that the underlying pious civilization of human beings wins new life and that the foundations of a broader cultural development can be built on that.

Part IV: The Life and Teachings of Jesus

This most extensive part describes the life of Jesus in 77 chapters on 775 pages from the point of view of “twelve mediators of Urantia” under the supervision of a “leader of revelation” , who, like the Adventists , is equated with the archangel Michael and is considered the incarnation of Michael. In this part, the childhood and the work of Jesus between the ages of 12 and 30, which are not handed down in the canonical gospels, are told in an epic manner.

Authorship

William S. Sadler 1915

According to recent studies, the physician, psychiatrist and lay preacher William S. Sadler (1875–1969) is the main author of the Urantia book. Sadler, who was close to the Adventist theology of Ellen Gould White until 1906 , later recorded texts from a medium that were published five years after the Urantia Foundation was established.

A reference to an origin around 1934 can be found in the book itself at the end of the first part: “[...] we are acting in fulfillment of a decree of the elders of the days of Uversa, which determines that we do this on Urantia, the number 606 of Satania in Norlatiadek of Nebadon, in 1934. ”According to the information in the book, the second part is also said to have been created“ in 1934 Urantian calendar ”, while the third part was allegedly recorded“ in 1935 Urantian calendar ”. In the final fourth part, dates are missing, so that a period up to 1950 could apply, when the Urantia Foundation was founded in order to ensure that printing was true to the original. At that time the board of this foundation included a. the putative author William S. Sadler as Vice President and William M. Hales as President.

What is certain is that the final editing of the book was completed by 1955 at the latest when it went to press.

criticism

Criticism from the Catholic side was apart from theological objections on the role of Jesus Christ and the evaluation of his death on the cross and the like a. also because of the "to be named (n) tends to hardly Christian eugenics loud call" Matthias Pöhlmann and Christian Ruch as a "demon" and as a phenomenon of the first half of the 20th century, "this not only to the Nazi Germany limited ".

Reception and adaptations

  • Karlheinz Stockhausen's opera cycle light and his chamber music cycle sound were largely inspired by the Urantia book , whereby in a scene from Thursday he even adapted the Urantia symbol in the stage directions for the lighting and in the costumes.
  • In the album Heavy Weather by jazz rock group Weather Report , published in 1977, the title Havona clearly alludes to the Urantia book .
  • The French rock band Magma invoked a myth of Kobaïa , which in turn was influenced by the Urantia book .

literature

Primary literature

  • The Urantia Book (sic). Translation of The Urantia Book , published by the Urantia Foundation, Chicago, Illinois, Second Edition, Canada 2008. ISBN 978-1-883395-56-8

Web links

Commons : Urantia  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: The Urantia Book  - Full Text

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Original spelling according to the German edition, 2nd edition 2008.
  2. ↑ a b c The Urantia Book. German edition, 2008, foreword, p. 1.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Matthias Pöhlmann and Christian Ruch: German translation of the “Urantia” book published ( Memento from January 15, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ). Reviewed on July 19, 2006 at: Infosekten, Katholisches Medienzentrum (Switzerland).
  4. ↑ The Judgments and Verdicts Against Urantia Foundation ( Memento of 8 February 2012 at the Internet Archive ). The Friends of The Urantia Revelation Official Website.
  5. ↑ The Urantia Book . German translation of The Urantia Book , Second Edition 2008. p. 1326.
  6. ↑ Quotation from the German translation of the Urantia book, 2008 edition, pp. 605–606.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f Markus Bandur: Karlheinz Stockhausen and the reception of “The Urantia Book” (Chicago 1955) in “Light. The seven days of the week ” ( Memento of October 11, 2003 in the Internet Archive ). Infosects, Catholic Media Center (Switzerland), August 22, 2003.
  8. ↑ The Urantia Book . German translation, second edition, 2008, p. 17.
  9. ↑ The Urantia Book. German edition, 2008, p. 1321.
  10. ^ Quote from the German translation of the Urantia book , edition 2008, p. 354.
  11. ↑ The Urantia Book . German translation, edition 2008, p. 648.
  12. ↑ The Urantia Book . German translation, edition 2008, p. 1319.
  13. ↑ Ilja Stephan: Musical hour prayers. Karlheinz Stockhausen's cycle »Sound - The 24 Hours of the Day« , in: SHMF program from August 24, 2009, without page numbering.
  14. ^ Volker Schmidt: Sound carrier. Bitch for eternity , in: Zeit Online from July 6, 2009 .