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    Frequently Asked Questions

    How to Read The Urantia Book

    Deciding how to read The Urantia Book is more a matter of choice than determining the “best” or “right” way to read and study it. This is because the book’s structure invites many approaches to enjoying and appreciating the book.

    On the page before the table of contents, you learn the book has four parts: The Central and Superuniverses; The Local Universe; The History of Urantia; and The Life and Teachings of Jesus.

    Start from the Contents

    The Urantia Book Fellowship’s online book for students provides a drop-down feature in its table of contents. This feature allows you to see the titles listed in each of the book’s four parts. You can also access each paper using this drop-down feature. 

    In most print editions, the table of contents offers the student two “looks” at the book’s contents. The first, “The Titles of the Papers,” shows the titles of each paper, along with the author’s name. Suppose you scroll through the list until you see a familiar name, such as Lucifer, in the paper entitled “The Lucifer Rebellion.” Your curiosity is aroused. Suppose you choose to explore Part IV on Jesus, and you see, “On the Way to Rome.” You ask yourself, Could Jesus have been to Rome? You decide to explore.

    The second, more detailed table of contents, entitled, “Contents of the Book,” presents the names of each section in each paper. A quick glance at Paper 1, “The Universal Father,” reveals a section named, “The Mystery of God.” That sounds enticing, so you turn to that section. Or perhaps you are browsing through Part IV to learn what Jesus taught. You notice, under the paper entitled “The Third Preaching Tour,” the first section, “The Women’s Evangelistic Corps.” The idea of women as evangelists in the time of Jesus intrigues you, so you turn to that section.

    Start at the Beginning

    If you choose to start at the beginning with the Foreword, revel in the many wonderful concepts and definitions. Make mental notes of them without struggling too hard to understand them all. Everyone finds the Foreword challenging. As you proceed through the book, you will have countless occasions to flip back and look for terms that you will recall are in the Foreword. You can then go back and reread. 

    Don’t Start at the Beginning

    If you want to take a thematic approach, you will be happy to note that papers dealing with a specific theme are often grouped together in the book.  The first five papers focus on God the Father. Papers 82-84 deal with marriage and family. My favorite papers outside Part IV, “The Life and Teachings of Jesus,” are on the Thought Adjuster, papers 107-111; and on the Supreme, papers 115-118.

    You can never go wrong by beginning with Part IV. If you want to begin with the Jesus papers, I recommend first reading the last paper in Part III, Paper 119, “The Bestowals of Christ Michael.” Paper 119 will give you a good sense of how Michael’s incarnation as Jesus fits in with his other bestowals, and why they were such vital parts of his education and training as a Creator Son.

    Start at the End

    Some experienced students suggest skipping to the end, Paper 196. Find, in this final paper, a summary of Jesus’ personal, sublime faith in and touching relationship with God. Learn of the noble character of Jesus the man. Stand in awe of, and be inspired by, the religion of Jesus, in contrast to religions about Jesus. Contemplate the gems of wisdom in the very last section in the book, “The Supremacy of Religion.”

    When I was first given the book by the man upstairs (his name was Wayne and he lived in an apartment directly above me), I flipped through the book reading passages at random for five hours until I fell asleep. No method. No agenda. No end in mind. I read because it felt good. It felt good because it felt true. It felt so good, so true, I did not want to stop. Now, when I read with groups, I read more methodically, but I still enjoy picking the book up late on a Saturday night and reading at random until I fall asleep. 

    In fact, I have a friend who lets himself drift off to sleep while listening to the audio version of some part of the book that he selects at random. He believes this method has helped him better understand the Foreword. 

    Though I haven’t yet tried his technique, I’ve discovered that my comprehension deepens each time I read The Urantia Book. New insights always await us.

    Use Reading Aids

    If you find yourself struggling with some term or concept (mota recently was baffling me), check a topical index, either online or some print editions. There you will find other sections of the book that deal with the term. Reading about it in different contexts will help you better understand the concept. Another option is to simply keep reading. You might find something in the next paragraph that helps you better understand.

    Remember to make use of The Urantia Book Fellowship’s search engine. Click in the “Urantia Book Search” box in the upper right of the home page and enter the word or name you are curious about. Suppose you enter “Gabriel” and click. On the right-hand side of the page and at the top, you will see the number 125, with the number 160 in parentheses. This tells you that the name Gabriel is mentioned 160 times in 125 paragraphs in the book. The name Gabriel is highlighted in each reference and linked to the text.

    As you can see, many different approaches to reading the book are available to you. If you make use of several or even all of these methods, you will discover that each one can help you increase your knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of The Urantia Book.

    Several online reading aids are available to help increase your enjoyment and comprehension of The Urantia Book:

    Here are three books that summarize The Urantia Book: