October 28, 1999

This responds to your letter dated October 13, 1999, in which you seek to dissuade me from my efforts to share Jesus' gospel with the world. As you know, the Master gave clear instructions—more than twenty times—that his followers do exactly that. An example:

“If you would obey me, go then into the lands of the gentiles and proclaim this gospel. … There is but one law to obey—that is the command to go forth proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. Cease to fear men; be unafraid to preach the good news of eternal life to your fellows who languish in darkness and hunger for the light of truth.” (192:2.11)

Notwithstanding your theories about my motivations, you should understand that in assisting Michael Foundation in publishing Jesus—A New Revelation, I am determined to obey Jesus by carrying out his instructions as given in his statement above. I will do this for the remainder of my life according to my best understanding of his instructions, with all the energy, purpose, and resources available to me, and regardless of the consequences.

In your attempt to provide a Urantia justification for legal action against me you cited four situations in which legal action is supposedly justifiable. The first concerned the universe spiritual government, the second and third referred to action by civil government, and the fourth had reference to action within one’s religious group. As we know, however, Urantia Foundation is neither the universe government nor the civil government, and I do not belong to your religious group, the IUA. The distinction between a voluntary religious group and civil government is elementary to serious students of the Urantia Book. Is it possible that you are unaware of this?

The Creator of our universe spoke plainly and repeatedly on the issue of believers seeking to forcefully compel one another. Should you decide to initiate legal action against me, it will be you, not I, who choose to ignore the Master's instructions concerning this matter. Here is some of what he said:

“Never should a righteous cause be promoted by force” (159:3.2)

“In the kingdom of heaven true believers will not resort to the employment of physical force. … [N]either should you employ the physical forces of earthly governments, whose rulers may sometime become believers, in the work of furthering the mission of the spiritual kingdom.” (178:1.2-3)

“[You] should not employ temporal power in the furtherance of the spiritual kingdom….” (178:1.6)

“You must not seek to promulgate truth nor to establish righteousness by the power of civil governments or by the enaction of secular laws.” (178:1.12)

“Be willing to suffer injustice rather than to go to law among yourselves.” (140:3.14)

“We clashed with these established leaders and recognized rulers only when they threw themselves directly in the way of the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the sons of men. And even now, it is not we who assail them, but they who seek our destruction. Do not forget that you are commissioned to go forth preaching only the good news.” (178:1.16)

Have you so far misunderstood and perverted the spiritual mission of Urantia Foundation that you now seek to prevent by threat of force a serious attempt to bring the true gospel of Jesus to the world? Jesus made it clear that his gospel belonged to all who believe it, not to any self-appointed group seeking to control it. I believe that your attitude is manifestly inconsistent with the teachings of Urantia Book. Said Jesus:

“That which my Father sent me into the world to establish belongs not to a race, a nation, nor to a special group of teachers or preachers. This gospel of the kingdom belongs to both Jew and gentile, to rich and poor, to free and bond, to male and female, even to the little children.” (191:6.2)

“As the Father sent me into this world, even so now send I you. You are all called to carry the good news to those who sit in darkness. This gospel of the kingdom belongs to all who believe it; it shall not be committed to the custody of mere priests.” (191:6.3)

You say your only concern is for the integrity of the revelation. I and Michael Foundation are equally concerned. Jesus—A New Revelation is completely faithful to the original text; not a single word has been changed. Furthermore, it is puzzling why you are so concerned here when you do nothing to stop J. J. Benítez, who copies large parts of the Urantia Book and interweaves it with commercial fiction. Why do you do nothing when the integrity of the book is truly at stake, and now threaten a lawsuit to stop a non-profit work which is altogether faithful to the revealed text? Truly, you "strain at gnats and swallow camels."

Your letter attempts to make the case that I am isolated from the Urantia community in this project. While this may seem so to you, it is the absolute contrary of my experience. I assure you that I have never received so much support from the Urantia community for anything I have ever done. But of course that’s not the point. Even if I received no support whatever for this effort, my determination to accomplish it would be undiminished. I am attempting to carry out Jesus' instructions as I understand them and I fully intend to do that regardless of anyone’s approval or disapproval. Whose instructions do you seek to obey? Here, for example, is an important one:

“Had the followers of Jesus taken more seriously his injunction to ‘go into all the world and preach the gospel,’ and had they been more gracious in that preaching, less stringent in collateral social requirements of their own devising, then many lands would gladly have received the simple gospel of the carpenter's son, Arabia among them.” (95:7.3) (italics added)

Should you initiate legal action to stop the publication and dissemination of Jesus—A New Revelation, it will be you, not I, who will become increasingly isolated from the Urantia community. Have you learned nothing from your past experience? Your self-serving justifications will not fool sincere students of the Urantia Book. They will not look favorably upon your refusal to follow the Master's repeated instructions about using force against fellow believers. Nor will they approve of your self-deceived effort to prevent me and others from following his instructions to take his gospel and the true account of his life to the world.

Your letter compares the printing of Jesus—A New Revelation to the miscarriage of the second epochal revelation. You said: “We know from Eve’s folly that one’s own personal plans for improving mankind can miscarry and retard, instead of stimulate, growth.” I agree with you and strongly encourage you to take your own advice. It is you who are following your own personal plans, whereas I am only doing precisely what Jesus so explicitly and repeatedly commanded.

Through arrogance and presumption you have deluded yourselves into thinking that there is only one way to obey the Master's instructions—your way. Worse still, you seek to impose your personal convictions, even by force, upon all believers. There are many ways to follow Jesus' command to bring his gospel to the world, of which Jesus—A New Revelation is one. Jesus was clear on this point:

“Many times during the training of the twelve Jesus reverted to this theme. Repeatedly he told them it was not his desire that those who believed in him should become dogmatized and standardized in accordance with the religious interpretations of even good men. Again and again he warned his apostles against the formulation of creeds and the establishment of traditions as a means of guiding and controlling believers in the gospel of the kingdom.” (141:5.4)

Regarding the benefit of bringing the true life and teachings of Jesus to the world, the Urantia Book clearly states:

“Jesus understood the minds of men. He knew what was in the heart of man, and had his teachings been left as he presented them, the only commentary being the inspired interpretation afforded by his earth life, all nations and all religions of the world would speedily have embraced the gospel of the kingdom.” (149:2.1)

This perfectly describes what Jesus—A New Revelation is intended to accomplish.

You speak of your desire for peace. I also desire peace, as do all sincere believers, but we are not told to seek peace at any price. The price you demand of me is that I abandon not only my personal convictions of what Jesus requires of me, but also the Master's express instructions. Further, you inform me that if I refuse to comply with your demands, you will employ legal means to force me into submission. The price you demand of me for peace is too high. Your narrow and obstinate insistence that yours is the only way is the true source of discord and the destroyer of peace. How do you square your attitude with the Master's direct teachings?

“Only when one religion assumes that it is in some way superior to all others, and that it possesses exclusive authority over other religions, will such a religion presume to be intolerant of other religions or dare to persecute other religious believers. … Religious peace—brotherhood—can never exist unless all religions are willing to completely divest themselves of all ecclesiastical authority and fully surrender all concept of spiritual sovereignty. God alone is spirit sovereign.”(134:4.3-4) (italics added)

“The kingdom of heaven in the hearts of men will create religious unity (not necessarily uniformity) because any and all religious groups composed of such religious believers will be free from all notions of ecclesiastical authority—religious sovereignty.” (134:4.6)

“There can be no lasting religious peace on Urantia until all religious groups freely surrender all their notions of divine favor, chosen people, and religious sovereignty. Only when God the Father becomes supreme will men become religious brothers and live together in religious peace on earth.” (134:4.10) (italics added)

Your recent letter states, “The real question is whether your decision to reproduce, as a separate work, the final 76 Papers of The Urantia Book constitutes an infringement of the copyright.” I disagree. From Michael’s standpoint—the only one that counts for me—the “real question” is our relationship to him, to his gospel, and to his unmistakably clear instructions as to what we must do with his gospel. Once again I repeat the words of Jesus:

“There is but one law to obey—that is the command to go forth proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.” (192:2.11)

I do not relish the prospect of a protracted legal contest with Urantia Foundation. I much prefer and pray that all believers live in peace with one another, each pursing the truth and serving the revelation as they best understand it. But my obligation to carry out Jesus' instructions as I understand them supercedes all other considerations. I trust this letter will make both my purpose and unshakeable determination clear to you. Jesus has commanded us to take his gospel to the world. I am simply trying to obey him in this as best I know how. I will not—cannot—do otherwise, regardless of the consequences.