Standard Referencing System
The English text and its translations on this website are displaying a format implemented by Urantia Foundation at the end of 2009, the Standard Referencing System. This new markup is the reference pattern that will be used for Urantia Foundation's electronic versions of The Urantia Book.
Within the text, shown at the beginning of each paragraph or indented line is the reference for that section of text, superscripted and displayed in a lighter shade than the text itself. Other references may show this same reference system at the end of a quote or paragraph. Please see the text at https://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-11-eternal-isle-paradise#U11_6_2 [2] which is used as the example in the following referencing explanation:
The first reference, eg. (123.4) — this set of numbers enclosed within parenthesis beginning at the left margin first shows the page number of previous Urantia Foundation printings of The Urantia Book. It is followed by a period and the paragraph being cited on that page. Paragraphs are counted down from the top of each page with the first indented paragraph or standalone line being number one. Portions of paragraphs or lines at the top of the page that were carried over from the bottom of the previous page are not counted. Section titles and page ornaments are not counted. In this example, the page number of a Urantia Foundation printing is 123. Counting from the top of that page the reference is to the fourth indented paragraph which in this example begins "As the universes of the horizontal..." This page.paragraph refernce is provided for readers who prefer the referencing system that has been in use since the 1930s.
The second reference, eg. 11:6.2 — immediately following the numbers in parenthesis are a set of numbers segregated by a colon and a period. These designate the Paper:Section.paragraph reference to that paragraph or indented line. These P:S.p numbers are similar to those used in Uversa Press printings but the paragraph numbering between Urantia Foundation files and Uversa Press files will differ. The number before the colon is the Paper number, in this example, Paper 11. The number between the colon and the period is the Section number within that Paper, Section 6 in this example. The number following the period is the paragraph within that section, paragraph 2. Paragraph numbering begins with 1 as the first paragraph in a Section and continues sequentially until the next section or the end of the Paper is reached. This numbering system is the basis for providing links into the text.
Recommendation for Linking to the Text of The Urantia Book
Anyone wishing to reference a particular paragraph within the Urantia Foundation's standardized text can do so using the following 3 steps:
1) Select the Paper being referenced from the index at https://www.urantia.org/urantia-book/read [3] and highlight and copy the web address of that Paper, in this example Paper 11 at https://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-11-eternal-isle-paradise [4]
2) Locate the paragraph within that Paper, in this example the second paragraph of Section 6, which begins “As the universes of the horizontal...” and highlight and copy the P:S.p reference of that paragraph, 11:6.2.
3) Type a “#U” after the Paper address and paste the P:S.p reference after the “U”. Change the colon and period to underscores. The internet link to that specific paragraph becomes https://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-11-eternal-isle-paradise#U11_6_2 [2]
Further explanation of the reference system is given on page 4 of the Urantia Foundation's News Online found at https://www.urantia.org/sites/default/files/docs/ufnews0909.pdf [5]