Urantia - divine revelation of the 20th century?

[Philthy]

I was talking with my friends father (former Catholic) who has bought into this Urantia book as “divine revelation which occured in 1934” He claims it has explained so much that was missing in his faith and that he now knows how to worship and is comfortable praying many times a day. He even claims his prayers, which are for spiritual things, are all answered.
I was very low key in order to try to get him to at least listen to me. I requested to know how he knew it was, in fact, divine revelation. “Any religion can make that claim regarding their texts”, I said. I went on to say that the authenticity of the Bible comes from the witnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: the lives they led and the deaths they embraced rather than to deny our Lord. Where is the beef for Urantia? He was forced to appeal to some astronomical data that is revealed in the book that only could result from divine knowledge(stuff we now only know about from the Hubbel telescope).
Two things he specifically mentioned:

1. 
   *]The birth of Jesus as August 22nd in the year 7 BC. For proof he sited the alignment of three planets, named in the book, which he claimed were the “bright star” followed by the wisemen in the biblical account. He looked for those 3 planets in an astronomy book to see the last time they aligned, and the year was… 7 B.C.
   *]Knowledge of “other universes” beside our own are described in the book(again, circa 1934). He claimed no one on earth knew this and that this “revelation” preceded the scientific discovery of other universes (result of the Hubbel telescope) much later.
   
   Does anyone know about this group, what their agenda is, who started it, how to debunk them, etc…? Are these specific astronomical claims refutable? Im concerned…
   
   Thanks,
   
   Phil

 

[mhansen]

I leafed through that book once upon a time, and if you plan on debunking it, be prepared for a long battle. The book is over 2000 pages, with very small type. That’s a lot of debunking to do.

I never did get to read it though, so I can’t cite any specific examples. Sorry.

Mike

P.S. I don’t think using your example regarding the “witnesses of the resurrection dying for their beliefs” as a basis for the authenticity of the Bible holds too much water, IMHO. There are people dying for the Quran every day, and have been doing so since it came into existence, for example. It doesn’t mean that the Quran is “authentic.” Just my two cents.

 

[Lady_Cygnus]

Looking at the website (first link on Google) it says the book was published in 1955. That was well after “other universes” (aka galaxies) were confirmed by Hubble (1920’s).

I have no idea when the planet alignment theory was first suggested, but it’s a common one. I wouldn’t take an alignment of planets as anything - that’s astrology. We had an alignment recently (4 in fact) and I didn’t see the end of the world or Jesus’ return…

maybe I missed it

 

[Philthy]

mhansen:

I leafed through that book once upon a time, and if you plan on debunking it, be prepared for a long battle. The book is over 2000 pages, with very small type. That’s a lot of debunking to do.

I never did get to read it though, so I can’t cite any specific examples. Sorry.

Mike

P.S. I don’t think using your example regarding the “witnesses of the resurrection dying for their beliefs” as a basis for the authenticity of the Bible holds too much water, IMHO. There are people dying for the Quran every day, and have been doing so since it came into existence, for example. It doesn’t mean that the Quran is “authentic.” Just my two cents.

Hi Mike -

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my thread. I just wanted to point something to you: There is a very big difference between killing yourself (suicide bomber) and innocent others and being killed by others (martyrs) for peaceably remaining faithful. If that is what you meant by people dying every day for the Quran I don’t consider that testimony at all.

Thanks,

Phil

 

[mhansen]

Philthy:

Hi Mike -

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my thread. I just wanted to point something to you: There is a very big difference between killing yourself (suicide bomber) and innocent others and being killed by others (martyrs) for peaceably remaining faithful. If that is what you meant by people dying every day for the Quran I don’t consider that testimony at all.

Thanks,

Phil

Hey Phil,

Remember, it’s all in context. From the perspective of those dying for the Quran (suicide bombers), they ARE martyrs. Which brings up a good point: Anytime we want to “debunk” or have someone re-think their opinion on a matter (such as faith, Urantia book, etc), we really DO have to look at it from their perspective. Only until we understand what (and more importantly - why) they’re thinking, feeling, etc, the way they do, will we ever be able to make any type of impact on their way of thinking.

Remember too, things that WE wouldn’t consider testimony, someone else WOULD. After all, that’s how they got themselves into this mess in the first place, right? Hence, the problem in trying to convert others, or having them leave their way of thinking. I think this is a big point that people miss, whether in apologetics, relationships, whatever: We really have to consider things from EVERY perspective. Once we get stuck in the “my way is the best way and that’s all there is to it” mode of thinking, we’re lost in any apologetic endeavor or relationship that we have. Best of luck to you!

Mike