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by celestial beings to a group in Chicago. But he was unable to convince me that the book is not at least in part a revelation of some sort. I informed him that I am now a pragmatist regarding this book. I judge the book by its value to our world and to individuals, not on the flaws I may see in it.
I can't in all honesty say that all of the book is a revelation. I judge the worth of the book by the effect it has had on my life (inner and outer) and on the lives of other Urantians. I judge it by the vision that it gives us of our possibilities and those of our world in the future. This vision is, in my opinion, unexcelled by any other. And if there is something our troubled world needs now it is a vision of what we and our progeny can do if we align ourselves with the will of our spirit Father. I asked Martin if he thought that the book would be beneficial or detrimental to those who studied it. He didn't have an answer to that. I do.
My journey with The Urantia Book started with curiosity, moved through a leap of faith to a bit a skepticism and finally to a pragmatic outlook. Perhaps this is the best relationship I could have with this body of writings. I once worked with a fellow who proclaimed himself agnostic. We often argued about the existence of God. He finally said to me one day, "Why don't you admit it, you believe in God because you made a leap of faith." After a moment of thought, I admitted that he was right. But what of my all but vanished faith in The Urantia Book as completely revelational? My own definition of faith is a trusting relationship between two persons. As such, faith is appropriate in our relationship with God, but not in our attitude towards a book. God is the end, The Urantia Book is but one of the means.
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