Study guide
A short path through the Urantia Book, from the source of all things to the life of Jesus. Read one stage at a time; every chapter opens at its own section on FreeUrantia.
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Use the reading goals and discussion questions below as your Great Pearl study path. Open Read and sign in on FreeUrantia for reading time to count; marking chapters here records completion only and does not add Great Pearl hours.
- 1
The source of all things
Begin with the book’s portrait of the Universal Father and the divine family.
Reading goal
Read Papers 1–5 and compare the Father's universal nature with the personal relationship described in Paper 5.
Discussion questions
- How does the book distinguish God's nature from human ideas about God?
- How does Paper 5 connect personal faith with daily experience?
- 1
The Universal Father
THE Universal Father is the God of all creation, the First Source and Center of all things and beings. First think of God as a creator, then as a controller, and lastly as an infinite upholder.
- 2
The Nature of God
INASMUCH as man’s highest possible concept of God is embraced within the human idea and ideal of a primal and infinite personality, it is permissible, and may prove helpful, to study certain characteristics of the divine nature which constitute the character of Deity.
- 3
The Attributes of God
GOD is everywhere present; the Universal Father rules the circle of eternity. But he rules in the local universes in the persons of his Paradise Creator Sons, even as he bestows life through these Sons.
- 4
God’s Relation to the Universe
THE Universal Father has an eternal purpose pertaining to the material, intellectual, and spiritual phenomena of the universe of universes, which he is executing throughout all time.
- 5
God’s Relation to the Individual
IF THE finite mind of man is unable to comprehend how so great and so majestic a God as the Universal Father can descend from his eternal abode in infinite perfection to fraternize with the individual human creature, then must such a finite intellect rest assurance of divine fellowship upon the trut
- 2
The local universe and your world
See how a local universe is organised and how life is planted on a world like Urantia.
Reading goal
Read Papers 33, 34, 36 and 39; trace the roles of administration, spirit ministry and the Life Carriers.
Discussion questions
- How do the different forms of ministry work together?
- What responsibilities are attributed to the Life Carriers?
- 33
Administration of the Local Universe
WHILE the Universal Father most certainly rules over his vast creation, he functions in a local universe administration through the person of the Creator Son. The Father does not otherwise personally function in the administrative affairs of a local universe.
- 34
The Local Universe Mother Spirit
WHEN a Creator Son is personalized by the Universal Father and the Eternal Son, then does the Infinite Spirit individualize a new and unique representation of himself to accompany this Creator Son to the realms of space, there to be his companion, first, in physical organization and, later, in creat
- 36
The Life Carriers
LIFE does not originate spontaneously. Life is constructed according to plans formulated by the (unrevealed) Architects of Being and appears on the inhabited planets either by direct importation or as a result of the operations of the Life Carriers of the local universes.
- 39
The Seraphic Hosts
AS FAR as we are cognizant, the Infinite Spirit, as personalized on the local universe headquarters, intends to produce uniformly perfect seraphim, but for some unknown reason these seraphic offspring are very diverse.
- 3
The Jerusem journey
The papers behind this site: the system capital, its worlds, and the first stages beyond mortal life.
Reading goal
Read Papers 45–48 and follow the journey from the mansion worlds to life on Jerusem.
Discussion questions
- What changes from one mansion world to the next?
- How does morontia education combine learning, service and relationships?
- 45
The Local System Administration
THE administrative center of Satania consists of a cluster of architectural spheres, fifty-seven in number—Jerusem itself, the seven major satellites, and the forty-nine subsatellites.
- 46
The Local System Headquarters
JERUSEM, the headquarters of Satania, is an average capital of a local system, and aside from numerous irregularities occasioned by the Lucifer rebellion and the bestowal of Michael on Urantia, it is typical of similar spheres.
- 47
The Seven Mansion Worlds
THE Creator Son, when on Urantia, spoke of the “many mansions in the Father’s universe.” In a certain sense, all fifty-six of the encircling worlds of Jerusem are devoted to the transitional culture of ascending mortals, but the seven satellites of world number one are more specifically known as the
- 48
The Morontia Life
THE Gods cannot—at least they do not—transform a creature of gross animal nature into a perfected spirit by some mysterious act of creative magic.
- 4
The system and its history
The rebellion, its problems, and the spheres of light and life that answer them.
Reading goal
Read Papers 50, 53, 54 and 55; compare planetary administration, rebellion and light and life.
Discussion questions
- How does the book relate freedom to responsibility?
- What contrasts appear between rebellion and a world settled in light and life?
- 50
The Planetary Princes
WHILE belonging to the order of Lanonandek Sons, the Planetary Princes are so specialized in service that they are commonly regarded as a distinct group.
- 53
The Lucifer Rebellion
LUCIFER was a brilliant primary Lanonandek Son of Nebadon. He had experienced service in many systems, had been a high counselor of his group, and was distinguished for wisdom, sagacity, and efficiency.
- 54
Problems of the Lucifer Rebellion
EVOLUTIONARY man finds it difficult fully to comprehend the significance and to grasp the meanings of evil, error, sin, and iniquity. Man is slow to perceive that contrastive perfection and imperfection produce potential evil; that conflicting truth and falsehood create confusing error;
- 55
The Spheres of Light and Life
THE age of light and life is the final evolutionary attainment of a world of time and space.
- 5
Your world and its story
How Urantia began, how life took hold, and how the human family appeared.
Reading goal
Read Papers 57, 58, 62 and 63; outline the book's account of planetary origins and early humanity.
Discussion questions
- Which milestones connect the four papers?
- How are the first human decisions described in Paper 63?
- 57
The Origin of Urantia
IN PRESENTING excerpts from the archives of Jerusem for the records of Urantia respecting its antecedents and early history, we are directed to reckon time in terms of current usage—the present leap-year calendar of 365¼ days to the year.
- 58
Life Establishment on Urantia
IN ALL Satania there are only sixty-one worlds similar to Urantia, life-modification planets. The majority of inhabited worlds are peopled in accordance with established techniques; on such spheres the Life Carriers are afforded little leeway in their plans for life implantation.
- 62
The Dawn Races of Early Man
ABOUT one million years ago the immediate ancestors of mankind made their appearance by three successive and sudden mutations stemming from early stock of the lemur type of placental mammal.
- 63
The First Human Family
URANTIA was registered as an inhabited world when the first two human beings—the twins—were eleven years old, and before they had become the parents of the first-born of the second generation of actual human beings.
- 6
The life of Jesus
The book’s long account of the life and faith of Jesus on Urantia.
Reading goal
Read Papers 120, 121 and 196; connect the setting of Jesus' life with the closing portrait of his faith.
Discussion questions
- How does the historical setting shape the story?
- What does Paper 196 emphasise about the faith of Jesus?
- 120
The Bestowal of Michael on Urantia
ASSIGNED by Gabriel to supervise the restatement of the life of Michael when on Urantia and in the likeness of mortal flesh, I, the Melchizedek director of the revelatory commission intrusted with this task, am authorized to present this narrative of certain events which immediately preceded the Cre
- 121
The Times of Michael’s Bestowal
ACTING under the supervision of a commission of twelve members of the United Brotherhood of Urantia Midwayers, conjointly sponsored by the presiding head of our order and the Melchizedek of record, I am the secondary midwayer of onetime attachment to the Apostle Andrew, and I am authorized to place
- 196
The Faith of Jesus
JESUS enjoyed a sublime and wholehearted faith in God. He experienced the ordinary ups and downs of mortal existence, but he never religiously doubted the certainty of God’s watchcare and guidance.