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and ahead into the eternal future with equal demands on the imagination. Perhaps such detail will seem crude to future generations, but to our twentieth century minds, this precise information is nothing short of a revelation. Such detail is necessary if we are to grasp the size and grandeur of God's creation, and the importance of our co-operation and participation in our own universe evolution.
Essential concepts of life after death
The Urantia Book is different from other scientific/philosophical and spiritual writings because of its unprecedented context. Over one third of the book tells us, in detail, about life after we leave this planet. The remainder continually refers to our post-Urantia experiences.
It may be essential that, at this point in history, we humans have a dire need to know, beyond all shadow of doubt, how and why our personalities survive after death. If we do not fully grasp and internalize why each and every person is of supreme value to God, the peoples of Urantia will surely lose hope. That this is so may be seen in the widely disseminated philosophy of European existentialists who perceive life as absurd, even an obscene and meaningless joke.
Without new information about our history, our destiny, and the unseen assistance available to us, how can we feel safe enough to abandon ourselves to divine guidance, much less to trust ourselves and each other? Without grasping these new concepts and insights contained in The Urantia Book, without widespread and enlightened dedication to the service motive, how can we possibly think of progress in our world? Yet without a paradigm shift in the basis of human motivation from that of self-interest to the service of God and our neighbor, the people of Urantia are surely on a path to self-destruction.
The integrity of personal religious experience
There is no human authority, religious or otherwise, by which the truth of The Urantia Book's teachings can be validated. No authoritative voice exists that can assure the new reader of the reliability of its information. Therefore, it is the individual reader who must resolve this issue and eventually reach a decision--either to embrace its teachings, or to ignore or reject them. For many, the truths contained within the book strike a deep, personal chord of truth that is self-authenticating. For others an inner voice beckons saying, "this is the way." Ultimately, placing our full trust in that inner voice is the most important lesson of our spiritual life. And it is the very essence of personal religious experience.
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