The Teachings Speak for Themselves

We have decided that Urantia Foundation will not publish an official history of events that occurred before The Urantia Book was published in 1955. Instead, the Foundation will continue to emphasize that the teach­ings speak for themselves. We based our decision on the following four reasons.

A DESIRE FOR HUMAN HEROES.  We recognize that publication of an official history by Urantia Foun­dation could cause human beings to focus on or venerate the lives and character of individuals who played prominent roles while the revelators were developing the contents of The Urantia Book. This increased focus on human personalities could distract from the study of its transformative teachings. On Urantia the desire for heroes is stronger than on a normal planet because the Caligastia betrayal and Adamic default left us with no visible representatives of the spiritual government. We wish to avoid any action that could eventually turn highly regarded persons into “saints.”

RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY.  Urantia Foundation has no interest in asserting authority in religious matters. In the Western tradition, sponsors of institutional religions and spiritual movements have often used accounts of historic events to proclaim doctrinal or disciplinary authority. In contrast, we do not wish to use the history associated with The Urantia Book as a potential source of any kind of religious authority.

THE TRUE PERSPECTIVE.  Publishing an official history would attract attention to human facts and circumstances that are not sufficient to give a true perspective on the reality problem that the fifth epochal revelation represents.

Even in the study of man’s biologic evolution on Urantia, there are grave objections to the exclu­sive historic approach to his present-day status and his current problems. The true perspective of any reality problem — human or divine, terrestrial or cosmic — can be had only by the full and unprejudiced study and correlation of three phases of universe reality:  origin, history, and destiny.
[A Divine Counselor, 215:3]

An official history would be incomplete and misleading, for it could not possibly provide accurate information on the revelation’s origin and destiny.

SPIRITUAL TRUTHS.  Publication of an official history by Urantia Foundation would not prove that the teachings of The Urantia Book are true and valid, for no argument from history or logic could possibly do that. To the contrary, an official history could detract from an individual’s personal experience with the teachings. “Reason is the proof of science, faith the proof of religion, logic the proof of philosophy, but revelation is validated only by human experience.” [A Melchizedek, 1106:7] Since personal experience with revelation is the only truly convincing proof, we are convinced that the teachings of The Urantia Book must speak for themselves.

Sincerely,
The Trustees of Urantia Foundation

Gard Jameson   Seppo Kanerva   Richard Keeler
Georges Michelson-Dupont   Mo Siegel

23 February 2006