The Conceptual Organization of the Urantia Papers

David Kantor

Introduction

This document contains a suggested grouping and conceptual organization of the Urantia Papers for more meaningful study.

Four papers may be considered separately. These include the Foreword, Paper 56, Paper 118 and Paper 196. The Foreword and Paper 56 studied together will provide significant insights, but to be productive such a study must be preceeded by a thorough reading of Papers 1 through 55.

Paper 118 examines the theological implications of the materials developed in Parts I, II and III, and provides a conceptual foundation upon which future theological insights may be developed through a combination of rational philosophic extension and personal revelation.

Paper 196 provides a meditative reflection on the implications of the faith of Jesus for our personal spiritual lives.

Part I -- The Universe of Universes

• Foreword: Orientation to some conceptual structures and relationships developed in the text.
• Papers 1 - 15: Primary cosmological foundations of The Urantia Book's model of reality.
  • Papers 1-5: The Nature of God.
  • Papers 6,7: The Eternal Son.
  • Papers 8,9: The Infinite Spirit.
  • Papers 10, 104: The Trinity.
  • Papers 11-15: Geography of the Cosmos.
• Papers 16-31: Introduction to the interpersonal Deity relationships which constitute the architectural structure of the personal cosmos in the present universe age.
  • Papers 16, 17: Personalities of origin in the Paradise Deities
  • Papers 18, 19: Personalities of origin in the Paradise Trinity
  • Papers 20 - 22: Personalities of origin in the Eternal Son
  • Papers 23-29: Personalities of origin in the Infinite Spirit
  • Papers 30, 31: Other personalities functioning in the Grand Universe.

Part II -- The Local Universe

• Papers 32 - 40: An introduction to the Local Universe of Nebadon.
  • Papers 32, 41,42: Physical Cosmology of Local Universes.
  • Papers 33-35: Local Universe Administration.
  • Papers 36-39: Service Mechanisms of the Local Universe.
  • Paper 40: Ascending Personalities.
• Papers 41-42: Physical Energy
• Papers 43-44: Administration and Culture of the Constellations.
• Papers 45-48 (with Paper 55): An introduction to the local System.
  • Papers 45-46: Administration and Culture of Local Systems.
  • Papers 47-48, 55: Cultural Life Immediately Following our Life on Urantia.
• Papers 49-54: An introduction to inhabited worlds of mortal life.
  • Papers 49-52: Administration and Culture of Inhabited Worlds.
  • Papers 53-54: The Lucifer Rebellion
• Summation--Paper 56: A philosophic essay on the nature of the cosmic unity integrating the realities explored in The Urantia Papers. Paper 56 is a special paper. Papers 1-55 build a conceptual foundation upon which the philosophic developments in Paper 56 reasonably may be made. Paper 56 also summarizes the cosmology presented in the preceeding papers. Paper 56 and the Foreword should be studied together as a review of the material in the first 55 Papers .

Part III -- The History of Urantia

• Papers 57-65: Super-human management of evolutionary processes.
  • Papers 57-61: Geological and Biological Evolution on our Planet, Urantia.
  • Papers 62-64: Early Human Evolution.
  • Paper 65: The Intelligent Management of the Evolutionary Process.
• Papers 66-77: Super-human efforts to foster planetary civilization.
  • Papers 66,67: Initial Superhuman Efforts to Foster Civilization on our Planet.
  • Papers 68-71: Human Socio-Political Evolution.
  • Paper 72: Government on a Neighboring Planet -- Implicit Critique of Contemporary Human Socio-Political Systems.
  • Papers 73-76: Second Superhuman Effort to Stimulate Civilization on our Planet -- the Mythology of the "Garden of Eden."
  • Paper 77: The Midwayers -- A superhuman Order of Beings resident on Earth.
• Papers 78-92: The evolution of human institutions
  • Papers 78-81: Human Racial Anthropology and the Development of Contemporary Civilization.
  • Papers 82-84: Family Life and the Evolution of the Marriage Institution.
  • Papers 85-92: Evolution of Human Religion.
• Papers 93-103: Recent epochal revelations and the development of present day levels of theological understandings about the nature of Deity.
  • Papers 93-95: The Visit of Melchizedek.
  • Papers 96-98: Development of Hebrew and Greek Thought Prior to the Times of Jesus.
  • Papers 99-103: A philosophic critique of contemporary human religious institutions and the nature of personal spiritual experience.
• Papers 104-118: Conceptual foundations for the fifth epoch; the revelators compose the highest achievements of human theology and philosophy into a platform from which future philosophical and theological development may proceed. This involves a revealed integration of Trinitarian and Process theologies. If it is felt that the revelators had a specific purpose in ordering the Papers, the student might ask why the gap in the material in this section between that related to the Trinity and that related to the Supreme is bridged with a discussion of the Thought Adjusters and the Seraphim of Planetary Supervision.
  • Papers 104-106: Some understandings from which an advanced religious cosmology might be developed.
  • Papers 107-112: A revelation of some ontological realities supporting the development of a deeply enriched spiritual life.
  • Papers 113,114: A revelation of the nature of superhuman assistance available for the advance of civilization.
  • Papers 115-118: The Supreme Being -- A theological expansion of Jesus' teaching about "the kingdom of heaven"
  • Paper 118: The cosmological foundations for guiding conceptual progress during the remainder of the present dispensation. The objective of the present dispensation is the world-wide recognition of the nature of the "kingdom," the reality of the emerging Supreme. This world-wide conceptual foundation will provide the context within which a Teacher Son can profitably inaugurate the next dispensation.
    
    This paper, in the way in which its concepts are presented, also provides a model for the maintenance of conceptual integration as scientific, philosophic, and thelogic advances continue to progress beyond the time period during which The Urantia Book was assembled. This is based upon the approach articulated in Paper 19, Section 1, Paragraph 6: "The true perspective of any reality problem--human or divine, terrestrial or cosmic--can be had only by the full and unprejudiced study and correlation of three phases of universe reality: origin, history, and destiny. The proper understanding of these three experiential realities affords the basis for a wise estimate of the current status."
• Paper 119: Universe Antecedents to Jesus' Visit to our World.

Part IV -- The Life and Teachings of Jesus

• Papers 120-134: The mortal career of Jesus of Nazareth
  • Papers 120-121: Introductory background to the life of Jesus.
  • Papers 122-129: The Life of Jesus: Birth Through Age 29
  • Papers 130-134: Early Travels and Teachings.
• Papers 135-158: The public work of Jesus, the son of man.
  • Paper 135: John the Baptist.
  • Paper 136: Personal Preparation for Public Ministry.
  • Papers 137-140: Building the Core Group of Apostles.
  • Papers 141-147: Beginning the Public Work
  • Papers 148-151: Training Evangelists and Continuing Ministry.
  • Papers 152-156: Growing Opposition of Religious Leaders
  • Papers 157-158: Mount of Transfiguration
• Papers 159-188: The public work and personal experience of Jesus, the son of God.
  • Papers 159-170: Concluding the Public Ministry
  • Papers 171-182: Events Leading up to Jesus' Arrest
  • Papers 183-188: Arrest, Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus
• Papers 189-193: Resurrection and Appearances to Believers
• Papers 194-195: Bestowal of the Spirit of Truth
• Paper 196: Philosophic reflections on the Life of Jesus