Urantia: The Great Cult Mystery (Paperback)

~ (Author) "In the last half of the nineteenth century, when Spiritualism was rampant, thousands of what were called "direct-voice" trance mediums flourished around the civilized world,..." (more)
Key Phrases: fifth epochal revelation, secondary midwayers, first mansion world, Sister White, Battle Creek, Ellen White (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The media has temporarily turned its large but constantly blinking eye away from cult-of-the-day reportage after the Waco conflagration, but such organizations continue to collect adherents. Martin Gardner, best known as mathematical-games-meister for Scientific American, turns his refreshingly unblinking gaze on the origin and continuing growth of the Urantian cult. It is a marvellous study of the ways in which ideas can be propagated through society. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

First published in 1955, the Urantia Book, a 2097-page tome hailed by its advocates as the channeled wisdom of celestial beings, posits one infinite God, the great I AM, and billions of lesser gods. It contains pronouncements on evolution, cosmology, physics and quantum mechanics, which Gardner (The New Age: Notes of a Fringe Watcher) finds deeply flawed, and it includes a biography of Jesus that asserts he toured Rome and Greece at ages 28 and 29, becoming an adept of Greek philosophy, mathematics and art. The Urantia cult was founded by two former Seventh-day Adventists?Chicago psychiatrist William Sadler (1875-1969) and his brother-in-law, Wilfred Kellogg (1876-1956), a businessman. In this intriguing expose, Gardner, former Scientific American mathematics columnist, makes a strong case that the Urantia Book is filled with plagiarized passages from other cult books. He also charts bitter schisms among the Urantians and looks at other Adventist splinter groups, notably David Koresh's Branch Davidian cult consumed by flames near Waco, Tex.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 468 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (August 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591026229
• ISBN-13: 978-1591026228
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #411,774 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth Reading - Even for Urantians!, December 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Urantia: The Great Cult Mystery (Hardcover)

Given that Martin Gardner is a skeptic, and that the Urantia book is a so-called "revealed" Bible-like text which mixes Christianity, philosophy, history, and many strange, wild, and often nutty ideas, Gardner's book is primarily worth reading for the history and background of the Urantia Book and movement based upon it. Gardner's opinions are condescending and nasty at times, but one expects that from so harsh a critic of spirituality as he. I am a liberal Christian and an open-minded skeptic, not a "Urantian", yet I have read much of the Urantia Book and know many Urantians, good people all of them. While I am generally skeptical of any claims of spiritual revelation, I have found the Urantia movement peaceful and positive in nature, not worthy of being labeled "cult" and lumped in with Waco, Heaven's Gate, etc. I do not buy most of what the Urantia Book claims as reality, but that does not mean I do not respect much of what the readers stand for. I do believe Martin Gardner has done us all a service in tracking the cloudy history of the Urantia movement and how "the book" came to be, and I believe as he that the U Book is simply a creation of human minds. Educated human minds, but human minds, nonetheless. Yet that does not lessen my appreciation for the merits of the U Book, it's devoted readers, and the message it tries to get across. I would recommend this book with very few reservations, to all Urantia readers and believers, and anyone interested in the real history of the movement. It not only enhanced my understanding of the U Book, it filled in most of the blanks on the creation of that mammoth text. To Urantians afraid of reading this book or critical of Gardner, I believe you do yourselves and your movement a disservice. I would invite you to open the windows a bit. Start with this book.

78 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging expose' of the Urantia movement, April 12, 1999

By	Dale E. Essary "strgzrs" (Fresno, CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Urantia: The Great Cult Mystery (Hardcover)

Martin Gardner's book entitled URANTIA: The Great Cult Mystery is a skeptic's critique of The URANTIA Book (UB), a 2097-page compilation of several papers allegedly authored by several `divine revelators,' each one claiming to be a representative of God's vast celestial hierarchy. These `authors' were commissioned by their heavenly `supervisors' to enlighten the inhabitants of this planet (which they call Urantia) as to how mankind has been supposedly misled throughout human history by the errors of religious thinking. The primary target for which the UB `authors' claim is in need of `correction' in the arena of religion is the Bible, with all its misconceptions regarding the nature of God, who Jesus was, etc. Mr. Gardner, although not a Bible-believer himself, finds it difficult to accept the truth-claims that these alleged celestial authors present, in light of several factors. To begin with, Gardner takes exception to the many scientific errors to be discovered within the pages of the UB. He devotes two full chapters of his book to illustrate portions of the UB's vast science content which have been rendered outdated because of discoveries made since its publication in 1955. In some cases, the science content became outdated even before the UB was published, and in still others, the purported scientific `facts' were already incongruent with the science of the time, which can only be attributed as outright errors on the part of these alleged higher minds! Why would these divine revelators allow the publishing of such self-damning evidence? Gardner points out a disclaimer inserted in an attempt to `inform' the reader that the authors were given a `prime directive' by their superiors not to reveal any unearned science to us evolving mortals and to write their scientific treatises within the limits of our then-current vernacular. However, Gardner does not buy this pitch, because at the same time these intergalactic messengers are bedazzling us with their brilliance as pertains to things known, they also baffle us with a fantastic model of the universe that is beyond our wildest dreams and which is, of course, unearned science. One might be compelled to ask how the UB allegedly got into print in the first place, assuming it was commissioned by unseen heavenly beings. In probing for answers to this question, Gardner provides more compelling evidence that the UB was the brainchild not of celestials, but of mere terrestrials. The UB authors purport that its papers were presented through the thought patterns of a certain unnamed human contact whose disposition was suitable for said transferences of knowledge. By some `unrevealed' process, these revelations were transposed into a written format, from whence we got the UB after several of these `contact' sessions. The term `channeling' comes to mind, although UB adherents vehemently deny that this was the method used, preferring instead to keep both the method and the human contact a mystery for the sake of mystique. However, Gardner's skeptical nose smells a rat. He reports that a man named Wilfred C. Kellogg, patient and brother-in-law of then psychiatrist William S. Sadler III, was the `human contact' from whose subconscious the revelations began to emanate. In addition to the spiritual content of the early sections of the UB (the source of which may well have been Kellogg's channelings), Gardner cites Sadler as a major contributor to the making of the UB. Gardner provides ample evidence to substantiate his assertion. Dr. Sadler's earlier published books reveal him to be a racist and a proponent of eugenics, both concepts of which are given full endorsement by the `divine revelators.' But what tips the scale of human invention is the weight of Seventh Day Adventist influence to be found in the UB. Both Sadler and Kellogg were one-time Adventists who were expelled from the church around 1906; and henceforth began the nocturnal `contact sessions' at the good doctor's residence. The UB authors wholeheartedly endorse such 7DA doctrines as soul-sleep, the annihilation of the wicked, the denial of the existence of hell, and that Jesus Christ is (the archangel) Michael. What Gardner denotes as amazing irony is Sadler's connection with Ellen White, Adventism's seer and prophetess. Prior to his expulsion, Sadler wrote a letter to Sister White (a complete copy of which can be found in Gardner's book), wherein he began questioning her authenticity as a prophetess in light of her recently-discovered plagiaristic tendencies. One can read between the lines of Sadler's letter that he was really asking whether plagiarism was a legitimate mode of divine revelation (as though he were contemplating the same). Not coincidentally, Gardner lastly reveals and elaborates upon a long list of plagiarisms recently discovered within the pages of the UB! If the reader is endowed with even a basic ground-level knowledge of the Bible, then many particular contrasts will stand out clearly when comparing notes. As Mr. Gardner points out, the UB vehemently denies such historic Christian doctrines as the Atonement and the Virgin Birth. But even though Gardner's book provides ample and compelling evidence that the UB was written by humans, Gardner does not go far enough to expose the spiritual con from this Christian's point of view. In exchange for bestowing divinity upon the would-be believer, the UB compromises traditional Christian doctrine. These are but a few of the observations that a discerning Christian will make when comparing the UB with the Bible. The UB author(s):

1) Claim that the Old Testament represents the evolved religion of a superstitious desert clan; 2) Rewrite the four Gospels to fit their own preconceived agenda; 3) Write up a history of Jesus' years as a youth and young adult, again agenda-driven; 4) Disparage Paul as having influenced Christianity by injecting Hellenism and Paganism; 5) State that Jesus was not the Messiah, nor did He claim to be;

and the list goes on and on (but enough about my personal beef). Martin Gardner's book is a fascinating and entertaining read, if the reader can get beyond his penchant for making condescending remarks toward UB adherents.

67 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If possible, read this book before reading the Urantia Book., August 22, 2003

By	Dale E. Marxen (Lafayette, Colorado USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Urantia: The Great Cult Mystery (Hardcover)

Even though Gardner's book is fairly formidable (445 pages; 1.7 pounds), do yourself a favor and read it before you buy and read the Urantia Book (2,097 pages; 4.3 pounds, per Gardner). By doing so, you will hopefully save the cost of buying, the time spent reading, and, most importantly, avoid a possible commitment to the Urantia Book.
I first ran across the Urantia Book (UB) in 1973, bought it and spent months of careful reading before finishing it in early 1974. At that time I got rid of the UB because I felt that, although unconventional, it was essentially Christian and capable of only producing yet another Christian sect, and was therefore limited in perspective and usefulness. The racial and religious prejudices, spread throughout the book but concentrated especially in the Jesus papers, were obvious, and likely not the product of those with a comprehensive view of the world, as assumed by the UB's purported cosmic authors. Because of the UB's complexity and obviously Christian focus, I concluded at the time that the source must be, say, a very cynical Christian mathematician.
Although I have not paid much attention to the UB for the last 30 years, I was very interested to recently run across Gardner's book in the library and to find that my initial reaction to the UB had some elements of truth. From Gardner's book, I learned that the authors of the UB, or at least its editors/compilers, were from a strong Christian (Seventh Day Adventist) background. Also, to date, approximately 50% of the UB has been shown to be directly copied or summarized from a variety of early 20th century religious, scientific, sociological, and historical publications that were available to UB authors prior to its publication in 1955. Of course this fact runs counter to the extraterrestrial origin claimed by the UB's naturally very secretive human sources. Whether their motivation was to create a special aura around the book, or to shield themselves from public accountability, in the short term it is clear that the miraculous origin gathered more attention than would have the open acknowledgement of its copyrighted human origin. Who would have given any attention to this eclectic mishmash if the sources had been duly cited? The fact that much of the material was illegally plagiarized is not in doubt, and is clearly presented by Gardner. This is not just his opinion, as stated by some UB devotees, because Gardner's book contains multiple instances of, and references to, identical passages copied word for word from identified, copyrighted sources into the UB. This activity has been shown, to date, to account for approximately half the UB; perhaps the remaining 50% of the UB is also plagiarized, or portions of it may have been authored by its editors/compilers. The complexity of some of the UB can be attributed in part to the complexity of some of its sources; at least one of the sources noted was a physics publication by an acknowledged expert of the day. Some of the testable scientific assertions presented in the UB were generally accepted in the early 1900's, but have since been discredited. However, to non-scientists unaware of the plagiarized sources, the complexity of the UB can be dazzling. This is understandable, because even though the accuracy of science increases over time, the complexity of any particular scientific theory is more likely a function of the individual author than its era.
If one wishes to be dazzled by complexity, why not simply pick up any college textbook of higher mathematics, particle physics, or astronomy and attempt to read that? If one doesn't understand it, or is amazed, confused, or dazzled by it, does that make the source extraterrestrial? No, because the authors don't claim such a source. Instead, they rely on their own effort, expertise, and availability as well as the honesty and testability of their work. The UB authors eliminate these sources of true credibility, and rely instead on the dazzle factor of the UB, as well as the significant credulity factor expected to be supplied by disenfranchised Christian readers, who are eager to see Jesus again at the top, even if in an unusual way.
As any potential readers of the UB have their resources, their time, and perhaps their very futures to consider, I think a skeptical attitude should definitely be taken before reading the UB. Fortunately, Gardner's book now makes the information available to apply this reasonable skepticism, and perhaps prevent some gullible individuals from being conned by undeserving charlatans.
If you have already read the UB, reading Gardner's book may help you achieve a new perspective. However, as Gardner notes in his book, in many instances this does not occur. It seems that the weaknesses of the UB, resulting from its particular human sources, tend to fit those of its devotees, resulting in a kind of symbiotic fit. To me this seems unfortunate, but not surprising. As these individuals are adults, they are obviously free to choose what they wish, and are ultimately responsible for themselves.