Een inleiding tot het Urantia Boek
Een nieuwe spirituele visie
Heb je jezelf ooit afgevraagd: "Wat is de zin van het leven?" Vraag je je bij een crisis af: "Is er een doel voor mijn lijden?" Of voel je je verward als religieuze ideeën rechtstreeks in strijd zijn met wetenschappelijke feiten?
Er is een boek dat een frisse kijk biedt op deze eeuwenoude vragen. Het biedt ook geruststelling over de toekomst en een pad naar persoonlijke gemoedsrust. Het heet Het Urantia Boek, en het is een schatkamer van spirituele waarheid en intellectuele inzichten. Op de bladzijden ontdek je een geïntegreerd beeld van het leven, verenigd door wetenschap, religie en filosofie. Geworteld in de geschiedenis, verduidelijkt door feiten en verlicht door spirituele wijsheid, zullen de leringen je een nieuw doel geven op je levensreis.
The Urantia Book offers useful answers to life’s most perplexing questions:
- Why do evil and suffering exist?
- How can we achieve lasting world peace?
- Is there intelligent life on other planets?
- What is God’s purpose for my life?
- How can I become a happier and more fulfilled person?
- Who is Jesus? What did he teach?
- Where is he now? Will he come again?
- Is there life after death?
- What is heaven like?
We are not alone
Your planet is a member of an enormous cosmos; you belong to a well-nigh infinite family of worlds, but your sphere is just as precisely administered and just as lovingly fostered as if it were the only inhabited world in all existence. 15:14.9
God is a personal being
God is a transcendent reality. . . . He is a saving person and a loving Father to all who enjoy spiritual peace on earth, and who crave to experience personality survival in death. 1:2.2
The afterlife is real
Death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery. 14:5.10
Faith is the only requirement for eternal life
Said Jesus, “My Father will ever respond to the faintest flicker of faith.” 155:6.17
A fragment of God lives within each of us
Said Jesus, “There lives within every human mind a divine spirit, the gift of the Father in heaven. This good spirit ever strives to lead us to God, to help us to find God and to know God.” 133:3.7
Jesus reveals God
Jesus is the spiritual lens in human likeness which makes visible to the material creature Him who is invisible. 169:4.13
Love is real and powerful
Jesus said, “Devote your life to proving that love is the greatest thing in the world. . . . Love is the ancestor of all spiritual goodness, the essence of the true and the beautiful.” 192:2.1
What’s in The Urantia Book?
Part I: The Central and Superuniverses
“The myriad of planetary systems were all made to be eventually inhabited by many different types of intelligent creatures, beings who could know God, receive the divine affection, and love him in return. The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures.” 1:0.2
Part I is cosmic and mind-expanding. Its unique teachings will resonate deep within your inner being like the oldest truths on earth, reassuring you that you are not alone. The cosmos teems with countless inhabited planets, heavenly worlds, and spirit personalities. God shines forth as a loving and caring personality who relates to every human being as a trustworthy heavenly parent. You live in a friendly, highly organized, and well-administered universe. Your life on earth initiates you into an eternal adventure. You are not here by accident!
By the end of Part I you will learn:
- Who God is and where God resides
- How God can transform your life
- The nature and role of the Trinity
- Where the universe originates, how it is evolving, and how you fit into it
- How the central and superuniverses are organized and administered
- Fascinating details about divine and celestial personalities
Part II: The Local Universe
Just as our world is comprised of nations, a superuniverse is made up of many local universes. Part II describes in fascinating detail our local universe and its building blocks of constellations, systems, and many inhabited planets. It even maps out our location in the cosmos and where we go after we die. You will gain an appreciation for the administrative hierarchy and how Jesus fits into it. A better understanding of these personalities, their roles, and the historical events in our region of space will shed light on the current state of our world today.
In Part II you will discover:
- Who Jesus was before he lived on Earth and where he is now
- How love, mercy, and justice function throughout the universe
- How the local universe is astronomically and administratively organized
- The nature and role of celestial personalities, including your guardian angels
- Where you go after you die and what happens next
- How you will be reunited with family and friends
- What human life is like on advanced worlds
- Why there is so much confusion, hardship, and suffering on Earth
The human species is only one order of God's creation. The universe abounds with angels and many other spirit personalities. There exists a vast spiritual hierarchy living in and administering to the universe. The number and diversity of these intelligent spirit personalities stretch beyond our imagination.
Part III: The History of Urantia
Part III depicts the history of life on Earth since its origin more than four and one-half billion years ago. It traces the lineage of humanity from the first two human beings nearly 993,500 years ago, through the triumphs and tragedies of Adam and Eve, and continues with stories of Abraham, Moses, and other heroes of planetary history.
Beyond plotting our physical evolution, this section also describes the development of civilization, industry, government, religion, and family life. The records of human tribulation and progress indicate that we are indeed moving toward a better world.
Part III presents:
- A scientific explanation of the origin of our solar system and our world
- The stages of a divinely guided evolutionary process
- How and why human life evolved on Earth
- The rise and fall of ancient civilizations
- The bleak years of the Lucifer rebellion
- The evolution of government and the path to world peace
- How an indwelling Spirit of God works to ensure your eternal survival
- How to pray and worship more effectively
"The second Eden was the cradle of civilization for almost thirty thousand years. Here in Mesopotamia the Adamic peoples held forth, sending out their progeny to the ends of the earth from this region went those men and women who initiated the doings of historic times, and who have so enormously accelerated cultural progress on Urantia." 78:0.1
Part IV: The Life and Teachings of Jesus
Part IV is an inspiring biography of the life of Jesus. His birth, childhood, and young adulthood are described year by year, including his family life, travels, and occupations before beginning his career of ministry. This presentation of Jesus stands unique, packed with new information and fresh insights. You will gain a great admiration and understanding of his life and teachings.
Jesus was a strong and courageous man. His sincerity, warmth, good cheer, love of people, and devotion to truth are an inspiration for all ages.
"Jesus was the perfectly unified human personality. And today, as in Galilee, he continues to unify mortal experience and to co-ordinate human endeavors. He unifies life, ennobles character, and simplifies experience. He enters the human mind to elevate, transform, and transfigure it. It is literally true: 'If any man has Christ Jesus within him, he is a new creature; old things are passing away; behold all things are becoming new.'" 100:7.18
Highlights of Part IV include:
- The missing years of Jesus' life
- The premature death of Jesus' father
- Jesus helping to raise his seven brothers and sisters
- Rebecca's proposal of marriage
- Jesus' work as a carpenter, boat builder, scribe, teacher, and caravan conductor
- His journeys to Egypt, Rome, and the Caspian Sea
- His life with the apostles
- Events leading up to the crucifixion
- Jesus' resurrection and appearances
- The power of the Spirit of Truth