The Urantia Book?

[Sergius_Lucius]

Just now, in my Internet wanderings I ran across this: Eastern Orthodoxy and The Urantia Book. Looks like an occult sect playing with Orthodoxy.

 

[Reader Nilus]

I first came across Met ANTHONY (Bloom) in a book called Lost Christianity by Jacob Needleman. It was a new age book. Kyriacos C.Markides was a new ager that is finding Orthodoxy. To me the new agers are a ripe mission field, if we would just plunge in. It is a shame that sites such as the Urantia one sees the connection where we do not.

For us in the west our outlook is so radically different than our fellows, we take spirituality seriously and the unseen as real. Part of the sickness of Christendom in the West is the loss of the mystical, the loss of the spiritual from everyday reality. Where the Eastern Church has never gone through the rationalist enlightenment. We can offer so much to seekers, and so I am not so troubled by the link, it is just that we need to engage these folks to point out the huge gulf between Orthodoxy and other mystical types of things. We as Christians are less concerned with my happiness, my fulfillment and more concerned with life and health of our fellows. For us as it was for St John the Baptist, I must decrease and He must increase, which is almost a 180 degrees different than most new age philosophies.
Jeff the Finn

 

[The Prokeimenon!]

The Universal Father lives on Paradise at the geographical center of infinity

So that's where it is! All this time trying to find Paradise and I never thought to look at the geographical center of infinity!

Moses

 

[Eusebios]

I first came across Met ANTHONY (Bloom) in a book called Lost Christianity by Jacob Needleman. It was a new age book. Kyriacos C.Markides was a new ager that is finding Orthodoxy. To me the new agers are a ripe mission field, if we would just plunge in. It is a shame that sites such as the Urantia one sees the connection where we do not. .
Jeff the Finn

Jeff,
I have a good friend who is reading Needleman's book. Was Met. ANTHONY somehow involved with it? I'm confused. I've always tried to discurage him from pursuing this book too fervently as he is already Orthodox, but another friend, a former Buhddist, recommended it to him. What's the scoop, and how is it all related to the Urantia book?
Thanks in advance,
His unworthy servant,
Eusebios.

 

[Kripost]

While reading the the last paragraph/conclusion of that article, I am quite certain it is somewhat gnostic, and is definitely not Orthodox.

 

[Reader Nilus]

Jeff,
I have a good friend who is reading Needleman's book. Was Met. ANTHONY somehow involved with it? I'm confused. I've always tried to discurage him from pursuing this book too fervently as he is already Orthodox, but another friend, a former Buhddist, recommended it to him. What's the scoop, and how is it all related to the Urantia book?
Thanks in advance,
His unworthy servant,
Eusebios.

Needleman interviews Met ANTHONY in the book, and it is one of the three people he uses about lost Christianity. Met ANTHONY has a chapter to himself in it.
The book has no relation to Urantia, except that Met ANTHONY concented to be interviewed by Jacob Needleman and thus his witness appears in a New Age book. Met ANTHONY took the plunge.
Jeff the Finn

 

[marc37]

some one in the non christian religion section is posting from that book,when I read them the feel wrong and even scare me a little.

 

[nyj]

some one in the non christian religion section is posting from that book,when I read them the feel wrong and even scare me a little.

If they're posting that stuff in an attempt to push it forth as an agenda, report it. It's against the rules. There is no promotion of other religions here at CF, other than Christianity, and I'll be especially darned if I'll let something like that be promoted in a forum I oversee.

 

[Photini]

F. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR ME AND MY FAMILY -- WHEN WILL THE WORLD END?

The world is quivering on the brink of a bright new age. The URANTIA Book was given in 1929-1935, a hundred years before its time, "to prepare leaders." It takes little math to project that the "time" of the book is the second quadrant of the 21st century. The world is ripe for the visitation of a Magisterial Son (227:18-19) or Trinity Teacher Son (231:34-41), and it may occur at that time. The trial of Lucifer and his arch-rebels is under way. (611:23-25) Upon its completion and execution of judgment we can expect a return of the spiritual circuits and a lifting of the Norlatiadek quarantine. (529:11-15)

After the Lucifer rebellion, the Caligastia betrayal, the Adamic default and the untimely murder of Jesus Christ, it is difficult to see how anything worse could happen to our planet. Yet it is now physically possible for man to completely destroy all human life in a matter of days. I do not believe this will happen. The Most Highs, who rule in the kingdoms of men, have an observer on this planet, a Vorondadek Son, who has the power to seize the planetary government in times of grave planetary crisis (1253:20-45). I have faith in both the wisdom and the strength of our planetary government (augmented), and do not believe we would have been given a book "timed" for after 2025 if there would be no one around to read it at that time.

Barring cataclysmic accident, this planet is destined to be settled in Light and Life, a form of planetary "salvation." As such it would not undergo natural planetary decay. (621:20-23) There is no natural "end of the world" before the end of time. If a physical catastrophe should doom this planet, there is an emergency plan by which the evolving human race can be saved. (582:20-31)

Science is still outstripping religion, and philosophy suffers as a result of it. This situation will continue until the world discovers and follows the soul-saving teachings of Jesus (from The URANTIA Book or elsewhere), or receives a celestial visit from a high Son, or the spiritual circuits are reopened, or any combination thereof.

Our families probably will not observe much spiritual progress for the next three or four decades; but the foundation is being laid for the exciting events which will occur thereafter.

Jeff, I think you have a good point. And reading stuff like this kind of opens my eyes to what kind of "times" we're living in. I see more sense in the pagan religions of ancient times then in this off-the-wall stuff.

 

[Michael G]

So that's where it is! All this time trying to find Paradise and I never thought to look at the geographical center of infinity!

Moses

Ummm, I tried to point my compass at the geographical center of infinity....hmmm...it is a spiritual place and not a physical one. In all seriousness, though, God is at the geographical center of all being. He is the source of everything, everything is his, and everything should praise him.

 

[Plan 9]

I heard the Urantia was making a comeback. It's been many years since I read the thing, but, as I recall, it was "dictated" to a psychic by an alien on Venus???