Księga Urantii: How the Polish Translation Came to Be

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Gosia and Paul Jaworski
Księga Urantii

Gosia and Paul Jaworski
Gosia and Paul Jaworski

By Gosia and Paul Jaworski, Adelaide, Australia

We were both born in Poland, where we completed our secondary and tertiary education, and then worked there for several years. We have been married for 46 years and have two sons, two daughters-in-law, and six grandchildren. In 1985 we emigrated from Poland to Australia; since then we have lived in Adelaide. Throughout our lives, we read many books and looked for answers to questions, including subjects such as religion, archaeology, physics, and astronomy.

In 1995 an encyclopedia of spiritual knowledge led us to The Urantia Book. We found the book in a private library, borrowed a copy, and from that day on, our life changed. We still remember trying to verify whether The Urantia Book revelation is real. Late one night, Gosia found Paul, surrounded by textbooks on astronomy and physics, checking information from The Urantia Book. While browsing the scientific chapters of the book, we tried to catch some falsehood that would discredit it. Instead, we found the science consistent and in modern terminology. The book even describes facts unknown to science at the time of its publication.

It gave us answers to many questions and cleared up many ambiguities in existing religious systems. But it took time to realize that we had something unique in hand, a heavenly revelation.

We wanted to share our discovery and our joy with our Polish friends, but for some, the original language of this work was too difficult to understand. In 1996 we started translating excerpts from the book. The first was translated for a friend whose son had died, and who was upset and spiritually confused.

We made contact with Urantia Foundation in 1998 and began the Polish translation as a team of three. One member quit after translating three papers, so we continued as a team of two. Soon we found how accurate are these words: “Intellectually, socially, and spiritually two moral creatures do not merely double their personal potentials of universe achievement by partnership technique; they more nearly quadruple their attainment and accomplishment possibilities.” 43:8.11 (494.10)

When we visited Poland in 1999 and 2000, we placed 10 copies of The Urantia Book in various universities and libraries. Altogether, 78 copies of The Urantia Book were placed in 67 Polish libraries, including some French and Russian translations. We also started to place The Urantia Book in libraries across Adelaide.

Our translation work continued. Paul translated Parts I, II, and III, and Gosia translated Part IV. We edited each other’s work and edited the entire translation many times. Sometimes our discussions about which Polish word best expresses a particular English meaning would become very passionate and loud.

Before the first draft was completed, we concluded that information about the book would be useful to future readers. But how would we convey it to people in Poland, so far from Australia? In 2000, we started a website in Polish about Księga Urantii.

In 2005 we started a second website for the text of the translation. Every month we posted one paper, and if ever there was a delay, readers would ask what happened. By 2006, the complete text of Księga Urantii was on this site. To date, there have been more than half a million unique visitors to both websites.

In 2010, Urantia Foundation published and printed Księga Urantii; the fourth printing was in 2019. We are currently working on a revision and are convinced that revisions to the text never end.

In 2014, one reader started a Facebook group for Księga Urantii readers. Before leaving for the mansion worlds, he handed it over to us, and later we passed it on to the younger generation. And more groups for readers are starting to appear on Facebook. We are running one such group ourselves.

Two years ago, we noticed the need for online videos as a method of disseminating the teachings. There were on YouTube two relatively good informative videos about Księga Urantii in Polish. And because other readers are working on dissemination, we are sometimes surprised and delighted to find new websites, new Facebook groups, and new videos from readers.

But along with the growing popularity of the book, there have also been many videos about the book made by people who clearly have not read it. To counter misleading information, we decided to upload a few videos of our own on YouTube. To date, we've made 16 of them. If interested, you can find them here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYOtSFuyXLrEwh4s_po8se3nZfQvyQljF.

While we were doing the translation, Gosia often commented that if our work helps only one person, it's worth it. Paul says he's addicted to the book. We can both say that our lives changed for the better when we got to know The Urantia Book!

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