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The writers of The Urantia Book list the Urantia revelation as being the fifth revelation of "epochal significance"[1] in the history of humankind. While the phrase "Fifth Epochal Revelation" does not appear in the book, it is sometimes used to refer to the book.

The nature of revelation

The Urantia revelation is considered to consist of "enlarged concepts and advanced truth" in an "endeavor to expand cosmic consciousness and enhance spiritual perception" about God and religion. Among many other topics, it expands on the origin and meaning of life, describes humankind's place in creation, discusses the relationship between God and people, and presents a detailed biography of Jesus.

There is a vast body of essential spiritual knowledge and truth indespensable to spiritual functioning that cannot be consciously received: to do so would jeopardize the reception of this knowledge. Faith and revelation are therefore used to allow us to progress rapidly and safely in spiritual development. Spiritual truth is always a revelation: self-revelation when it is presented by the indwelling Spirit of God (Thought Adjuster) in conjunction with human effort; epochal revelation when it is presented by the function of some other celestial agency, group, or personality(s).

Human wisdom must evolve on its own through life experience and in conjunction with spiritual influences. Revelation is a technique whereby ages upon ages of time are saved in the necessary work of sorting and sifting the errors of evolution from the truths of spirit acquirement. Science deals with facts; religion is concerned with values. Through enlightened philosophy the mind endeavors to unite the meanings of both facts and values, thereby arriving at an improved concept of reality. Revelation is an aid to developing a proper understanding of reality: that humans are spiritually related to God as a Father.

Five revelations

In historical order, the five epochal revelations listed by The Urantia Book are:

1. "The Dalamatian Teachings"
2. "The Edenic Teachings"
3. "Melchizedek of Salem"
4. "Jesus of Nazareth"
5. The Urantia Book

First revelation

The first revelation leading to the comprehension of the Paradise Trinity was made on this planet by a "Planetary Prince" about 500,000 years ago. The "Planetary Prince" was a spirit being whose mission was to instruct the human race to advance the living status of the primitive human races on earth at the time. He and his staff set up a headquarters and schools in Mesopotamia amidst primitive human beings to teach the tribes improved ways of living in areas as food production, health, trade, tribal and race relations, and religion. The first presentaton of the Trinity concept was lost to the world in the unsettled times following a planetary rebellion.

Second revelation

The second presentation of the Trinity was made by Adam and Eve, who are an order of being whose mission is to come to a planet and further develop the human races, and to expand the work of the preceeding Planetary Prince. In the case of Urantia, the Adam and Eve who came had to face the results of a planetary rebellion, and many of their plans to upgrade the planet could not be carried out. It is from the visitation of the Adam and Eve on our planet that the creation legend came from in Genesis of the Bible.

Third revelation

The third presentation of the Trinity was made by Melchizedek (the "King of Salem" in the book of Genesis in the Bible), about 4000 years ago. Melchizedeks are portrayed in the Urantia Book as an order of created being; they fulfill a wide variety of purposes in the universe organization, and Melchizedek of Salem came to re-present spiritual truths that had been previously presented by the Planetary Prince and Adam and Eve. He set up a spiritual school in Palestine, and this is the source of the stories of Abraham and the King of Salem in the Bible.

Fourth revelation

The fourth presentation of the Trinity was during the life of Jesus, when he also presented the concept of God as the Spiritual Father of the human race.

Fifth revelation

The expansion truth through the papers of The Urantia Book is said to be the fifth "epochal" revelation of God to the planet, which includes the Trinity concept as well as other ideas.

Epochal revelation

In The Urantia Book, epochal revelations are presentations of truth presented by celestial sources ordained by high spirit beings in various forms and at different times in the long evolutionary histories of the peoples of inhabited worlds like those on earth. These epochal revelations are not to be confused with John's "Revelation" as it is found in The Holy Bible, or other similar "Holy Revelations" as found in other relgious books.

Evolutionary religions tend to lose truth-value over long periods of time. The Urantia Book indicates that epochal revelations are "truth revealed", teachings of truth that would have taken ages for mankind to discover on his own. Therefore revelations that have epochal significance are monumental, stupendous undertakings with far reaching implications and consequences.

The four previous "epochal revelations" on our planet were given in the forms of actual high personalities. Two, Melchizedek and Jesus, were manifested in human form. They taught the people directly in order to impart their revelatory information. The other two were given as well-coordinated teams. They were given specific job duties and they worked in conjunction with the established planetary and universe government to impart their teachings to the people of those days.

The papers that constitute The Urantia Book are unique because they are the first of this type of epochal revelation. They are the only teaching that have been given on paper in the form of a non-living thing; a book.

Evolution of truth versus revelation

The amount of "truth" that human beings discover, learn and understand is generally earned by the slow process of evolutionary experience. One generation builds upon another. It is explained in The Urantia Book that revelation is a gift from God, or any of his ordained and assigned celestial personalities, "a technique whereby ages upon ages of time are saved in the necessary work of sorting and sifting the errors of evolution".

As humans collectively continue to attain more knowledge and wisdom, they will, from time to time, also eventually reach apexes where the potential for stagnation or regression is high. When crucial truths and facts are absent from science, philosophy, and religion, and when the quest for truth has become static and unspiritualized in its thinking, the elements of evil and iniquity become more manifest. At these times, celestial authorities may take action to safeguard existing truth and to impart new truths to mortal beings.

Paper 130 - "On the way to Rome":

"Knowledge is the sphere of the material or fact-discerning mind. Truth is the domain of the spiritually endowed intellect that is conscious of knowing God. Knowledge is demonstrable; truth is experienced. Knowledge is a possession of the mind; truth an experience of the soul, the progressing self. Knowledge is a function of the nonspiritual level; truth is a phase of the mind-spirit level of the universes. The eye of the material mind perceives a world of factual knowledge; the eye of the spiritualized intellect discerns a world of true values. These two views, synchronized and harmonized, reveal the world of reality, wherein wisdom interprets the phenomena of the universe in terms of progressive personal experience."

"The Urantia Book"101:9.1: Revelation unfailingly enlarges the ethical horizon of evolved religion while it simultaneously and unfailingly expands the moral obligations of all prior revelations.

Comparison to Christianity

Of all current world religions, The Urantia Book's teachings are likely the most consistent with the teachings of Christianity. There are significant differences between The Urantia Book and commonly accepted Christian beliefs though. Many believers see it as extending Judeo-Christian religious concepts in the same way the New Testament may be considered an extension of Old Testament ideas.

Jesus is held in high regard by The Urantia Book, as he is in the New Testament of the Bible. Part IV, more than one third of the content in The Urantia Book, is devoted to a narrative of his life and teachings.

The following are attributed to Jesus, as in the Bible:

• He was a Son of God incarnate, born to Mary and Joseph
• He was God in man, both human and divine
• He lived a perfect life
• He revealed God to man as "the way, the truth, and the life"
• He performed many of the miracles described in the Bible, such as the resurrection of Lazarus, the turning of water into wine, the feeding of the five thousand, and numerous healings of the blind, diseased, and infirm
• He taught twelve apostles, eleven of whom went on to spread his teachings
• He was crucified, and on the third day after his death, rose from the dead
• He will return to our world again some day

The Urantia Book shares the following general concepts with most Christian faiths:

• God is the creator of all reality
• God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite, and eternal
• God is described as a loving personality–"God is love"
• God is a single deity that exists in a Trinity of three persons
• God has a vast "heavenly host"
• Believers who have a personal relationship with God are "born of the spirit"
• Those having faith survive death
• Angels and divine personalities exist and can be sent to guard and minister to people throughout their lives.

Some differences with Christianity include:

• Jesus' crucifixion was not an atonement for the sins of humanity. The crucifixion was an outcome of the fears of religious leaders of the day, who regarded his teachings as a threat to their positions of authority.
• God is never wrathful or angry. He is a personality entirely motivated by Father-like love.
• Jesus is the human incarnation of "Michael of Nebadon," one of more than 700,000 "Paradise Sons" of God, or "Creator Sons." Jesus is not considered the second person of the Trinity as he is in Christianity. The book refers to the Eternal Son as the second person of the Trinity.
• Jesus was born on earth through natural means of conception. The Virgin Birth is the product of human myth developed later.
• Jesus did not walk on water or perform some of the miracles that are attributed to him in the Bible. These were attributed to him after his life.
• Jesus rose from the dead in a "more glorified form," a transitional stage between material and spiritual existence known as the "morontia" form. As with all mortals, his physical body was subject to decomposition, but celestial beings removed his body from the tomb for the immediate dissolution of his remains through a process of "accelerated time."
• The book says that Jesus may return to the world many times. Common Christian eschatology doctrines, such as the Rapture, where Jesus returns to take faithful believers to heaven and leaves behind unbelievers for tribulation, are not supported.

Comparison to Buddhism

The Urantia Book considers Buddhism one of the "great international, interracial faiths" and says it "has shown an adaptability to the mores of many peoples that has been equaled only by Christianity."

Gautama Siddhartha is called a real prophet whose doctrines were revolutionary and amazing for their time. He is credited with being one of the seven outstanding teachers in human history, a group that includes Moses, Laozi, and the Apostle Paul.

The teaching that a divine nature — the Buddha-nature — resides in all people, and that through their own endeavors people can attain a realization of this inner divinity, is cited as one of the clearest presentations of the concept of the Thought Adjuster to be found in non-revelatory religion.

The book says Gautama's experience was tragic, however, in that he was an "orphan prophet" whose philosophy failed early on to envision the reality of a spiritual God.

Despite this, the book states: "Buddhism is a living, growing religion today because it succeeds in conserving many of the highest moral values of its adherents. It promotes calmness and self-control, augments serenity and happiness, and does much to prevent sorrow and mourning. Those who believe this philosophy live better lives than many who do not."

Comparison to other world religions

Numerous facets of the book are recognizeable in other world religions. There are commonalities with Islam, Taoism, Judaism, Hinduism, Shinto, and Confucianism, and several other religions throughout recorded history. The authors of The Urantia Book encourage the study of all religions to take "the best" from each.

Paper 131, "The World's Religions", discusses more in-depth those facets of some of the world's religions that have commonalities with the "religion of Jesus," but there are also numerous other references to the world's various religions throughout Part III, "The History of Urantia," beginning with Paper 86, "Early Evolution of Religion".