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The book informs us that slow evolution is usually more practical than revolution, so perhaps we first need to introduce the non-Christian world to the nature of God portrayed in Part I of The Urantia Book as preparatory to the task of introducing the personal revelation of the Universal Father provided by the actual life and teachings of Jesus. The task will be made easier if we can convey to the world the incredible love of God, remembering that:
"love is infectious, and when human devotion is intelligent and wise, love is more catching than hate. But only genuine and unselfish love is truly contagious. If each mortal could only become a focus of dynamic affection, this benign virus of love would soon pervade the sentimental emotion stream of humanity to such an extent that all civilization would be encompassed by love, and that would be the realization of the brotherhood of man. (1098) "
To date, the Urantia movement has made little progress on this aspect of the book's teachings.
To those individuals who feel that they should respond to the challenge to produce secondary works, we make one plea. If you have not had extensive experience and contact with mainstream Christianity and, like many Urantia Book readers, equate all church teachings to such as those of the Jehova's Witnesses, extremist protestanism, pre-Vatican 2 Roman Catholicism, some of the views of the present Pope, etc., then at least read some of the literature at the other end of the spectrum. That by Marcus J. Borg', or the account of Christianity provided in "The Religions of Man" by Huston Smith2 make profitable reading. The latter is also an excellent introduction to that which is best in other major, present-day religions.
Part of the task to be accomplished needs to be done without direct reference to The Urantia Book. That can be achieved without infringing the present copyright situation and without Foundation approval. In view of the Divine Counselor's exhortation and perhaps the tolerance recently displayed by the Foundation, we do not believe it is necessary to be excessively restrained.
References
1. Marcus J. Borg. "Jesus. A New Vision." (Harper SanFrancisco, 1991.)
2. Huston Smith in "The Religions of Man." (Perennial Library, Harper and Row, New York. 1965. )
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