Standard Reference Text Committee Report

Printer-friendly version

Nancy Johnson & Marvin Gawryn

Merritt Horn

By Marilynn Kulieke, Trustee, Urantia Foundation, Illinois, USA

Editors Note: The inviolate text has been an issue of concern by many readers of The Urantia Book. This led to the creation of a committee to evaluate changes and recommend a "Standard Reference Text" and referencing system. The committee's appraisal will be completed by July 1, 2009.

In the winter of 2007, a joint committee was formed by Urantia Foundation and The Urantia Book Fellowship to review the text of The Urantia Book based on the 1955 edition. The committee was chaired by Seppo Kanerva (Uusikaupunki, Finland). Committee members from Urantia Foundation are Marilynn Kulieke (Illinois, USA) and Jay Peregrine (Illinois, USA). Members from The Urantia Book Fellowship are Marvin Gawryn (Nevada, USA), Merritt Horn (Colorado, USA), and Nancy Johnson (Texas, USA).

Since the first edition of The Urantia Book was published in 1955, there have been a number of changes to the following:

1. The text.
2. The formatting.
3. The table of contents.
4. The referencing system.

The committee reviewed over 300 changes or inconsistencies in the different editions and has made a recommendation on their validity. Each edition of The Urantia Book was assessed, and the findings were placed in a spreadsheet. The committee has also made a recommendation on the referencing system which will be useful for internet formatting.

If you are interested in studying the work of the committee, please contact Jay Peregrine. All feedback received by May 1 will be examined by the committee in order to create a standard reference text to be considered by those who publish or translate the text of The Urantia Book.