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What the Urantia Revelation really says! Why is there error in The Urantia Book?
One answer is that because there are definite limitations to revelation--some of which are set out under the heading of The Limitations of Revelation on page 1109 of Paper 100:
"Because your world is generally ignorant of origins, even of physical origins, it has appeared to be wise from time to time to provide instruction in cosmology. And always has this made trouble for the future. The laws of revelation hamper us greatly by their proscription of the impartation of unearned or premature knowledge. Any cosmology presented as a part of revealed religion is destined to be outgrown in a very short time. Accordingly, future students of such a revelation are tempted to discard any element of genuine religious truth it may contain because they discover errors on the face of the associated cosmologies therein presented." (1109)
If this statement is taken exactly as it was written then surely no Urantia Book reader should be surprised when they discover errors in the Book's cosmology?
The revelation continues with: "Mankind should understand that we who participate in the revelation of truth are very rigorously limited by the instructions of our superiors. We are not at liberty to anticipate the scientific discoveries of a thousand years. Revelators must act in accordance with the instructions which form a part of the revelation mandate. We see no way of overcoming this difficulty, either now or at any future time. We full well know that, while the historic facts and religious truths of this series of revelatory presentations will stand on the records of the ages to come, within a few short years many of our statements regarding the physical sciences will stand in need of revision in consequence of additional scientific developments and new discoveries. These new developments we even now foresee, but we are forbidden to include such humanly undiscovered facts in the revelatory records." (1109)
And at the bottom of page 1109 the revelators conclude with, "statements with reference to cosmology are never inspired." What else can "never inspired" mean other than that their cosmology is "never infallible?"
Interpreted literally then, we should expect that where it was necessary to provide continuity in some area of the sciences, the revelators would be forced to include material that, though not factual, would nevertheless act as a stop-gap until such time as our science caught up.
On page 1260, such stop-gap material is termed a "framework in which to think:"
"Partial, incomplete, and evolving intellects would be helpless in the master universe, would be unable to form the first rational thought pattern, were it not for the innate ability of all mind, high or low, to form a universe frame in which to think."
And in the next paragraph, "Conceptual frames of the universe are only relatively true; they are serviceable scaffolding which must eventually give way before the expansions of enlarging cosmic comprehension."
There appears to be very little, if any, of the erroneous science in earth-moon relations that is not covered by these statements.
Our God-given free will is sacrosanct!
Another answer to why there is error--in fact why there must be error in the Urantia Papers--is that God has given us free will. Hence to provide us with a revelation that is infallible and demonstrably free of all error would surely place a severe strain upon our liberty to choose to either believe or not to believe that revelation.
"No personal creature can be coerced into the eternal adventure; the portal of eternity opens only in response to the freewill choice of the freewill sons of the God of free will." (71)
"No other being, force, creator, or agency in all the wide universe of universes can interfere to any degree with the absolute sovereignty of the mortal free will, as it operates within the realms of choice, regarding the eternal destiny of the personality of the choosing mortal. As pertains to eternal survival, God has decreed the sovereignty of the material and mortal will, and that decree is absolute." (71)
"Free will is supreme in moral affairs, even God's indwelling Spirit refuses to compel any individual to think a single thought or to perform a single act against the choosing of their own will." (753)
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