Rating: 
Summary: A must for any student, or new reader of the Urantia Papers!
Review: I first discovered the Urantia Book over 30 years ago while in New York. I was only 19 years old, and there was much mystery about both what the book was, and where it came from. Even though the mystery was there, I still read the book and if you'll pardon a much used cliché, "It changed my life."After about four years of studying the book on my own, I contacted Christy in Chicago to hopefully, "solve the mystery." From there I began to meet and study with many Urantia Book students throughout the world. By stories I heard from many of the older readers, (many who were around when the "Papers" first starting coming), I was eventually able to get an idea of how the "Papers" came to be. Although there was still "some" mystery, most of the ridiculous rumors were dispelled. Now, 30 years later, a group of highly respected, and scholarly students of the Urantia Papers, have lovingly put together the history for all to know. What a wonderful service they have provided future students and this planet! How I wish that this book, "A History of the Urantia Papers," had been available when I first found the book. I highly recommend this book for all new readers, seasoned students and curious seekers. It's a fantastic piece of work! Thank you Larry Mullins, and Dr. Meredith Sprunger!
Rating:
Summary: A must for all students of the Urantia Book
Review: I have the honor of being one of the editors of this wonderful project. Mr. Mullins & Dr. Sprunger have brought to us information that otherwise might have been lost to future students forever. I believe that the Urantia Book is the most important book ever to appear in print on this planet. It is my personal belief that "A History of the Urantia Papers" will give readers a much clearer understanding to the questions of how it all came about. This book is extremely well written and goes far beyond any other publication or book that has been written on this subject. It is my opinion that this book will become one of the text that will be used by future students of the Urantia Book when trying to look at the early days of the Revelation.
Rating:
Summary: A must for all students of the Urantia Book
Review: I have the honor of being one of the editors of this wonderful project. Mr. Mullins & Dr. Sprunger have brought to us information that otherwise might have been lost to future students forever. I believe that the Urantia Book is the most important book ever to appear in print on this planet. It is my personal belief that "A History of the Urantia Papers" will give readers a much clearer understanding to the questions of how it all came about. This book is extremely well written and goes far beyond any other publication or book that has been written on this subject. It is my opinion that this book will become one of the text that will be used by future students of the Urantia Book when trying to look at the early days of the Revelation.
Rating:
Summary: gary@mcsweeneyassociates.com
Review: Larry Mullins and Dr. Meredith Sprunger have provided the peoples of Urantia with a wonderfully historical resource surrounding the evolution and early dissemination of the Urantia Papers and Urantia Book dating back to 1906. This inspired accounting will assist every reader towards gaining a more holistic perspective of the individual and collective activities required to bring to print this Fifth Epochal Revelation for all humanity. A must read for all Urantia Book readers and perhaps more importantly, required reading for all earth travelers. A First Edition must!
Rating:
Summary: Great secondary work
Review: Mr. Mullins has finally provided the world with a much needed history of the Urantia Papers. His writing is clear and straightforward, but has enough personality and wit to make the history come alive with excitement. I was enabled to share the emotions of the early readers as they waited for the release of the book, and wondered at its future. The story of how Dr. Sadler was introduced to the one mystery he couldn't solve, and how he eventually became a full believer in the revelation, is a thrilling ride through human psychology and spirituality. Mr. Mullins has made a great contribution to my historical understanding of the greatest book in the world.
Rating:
Summary: Great secondary work
Review: Mr. Mullins has finally provided the world with a much needed history of the Urantia Papers. His writing is clear and straightforward, but has enough personality and wit to make the history come alive with excitement. I was enabled to share the emotions of the early readers as they waited for the release of the book, and wondered at its future. The story of how Dr. Sadler was introduced to the one mystery he couldn't solve, and how he eventually became a full believer in the revelation, is a thrilling ride through human psychology and spirituality. Mr. Mullins has made a great contribution to my historical understanding of the greatest book in the world.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating!
Review: The front flap cover of A History of the Urantia Papers (AHOTUP) provides the following advertence to the reader: "With the publication of this new history, for the first time a serious reader can examine the complete, documented story of the Urantia Papers and weigh the credibility of the individuals who were somehow involved with the work's publication as a book." Unfortunately, AHOTUP does not live up to this claim. It falls woefully short of anything that could be considered an objective historic account, and is nothing more (or less) than the latest attempt at damage control by spinning the old yarn of how the mighty words of the alleged celestial revelators were made book (i.e., The Urantia Book), for those who want to hear it. AHOTUP first tips us off regarding its slanted approach in an endnote on page 57: "I developed the dialogue between the various individuals in the seminal contact with some artistic license. It . . . is a plausible dramatization that fits the known facts." Artistic license? Plausible dramatization? Are these disclaimers the cornerstones of objectivity, or are they the earmarks of subjectivity? And read how AHOTUP blatantly blows its cover by exposing its true purpose: "Future readers, whether we prefer it or not, may learn of the origins before they have the opportunity to ponder the message. We should strive to see that a reader has enough information to establish informed conclusions. We should also aspire to a quality of analytical thinking about such questions that is consistent with the philosophy of the Urantia Papers" (75). In other words, let's indoctrinate the novice readers before anybody else can get to them! AHOTUP reluctantly relies heavily on information provided by outcast Harold Sherman's How to Know What to Believe to give a first-hand account of the Forum days. (The only other available primary sources are scant reports provided by William Sadler, founder of the movement and self-ascribed "custodian" of the "revelation.") And yet, when convenient, information Sherman provides that might lead the reader to draw conclusions that are not in concert with the revelatory paradigm is virtually ignored. Despite the fact that Martin Gardner's was the first book-length treatise to provide heretofore unpublished information regarding the Urantia movement, said reference is given scant mention.... Your copy of the "inviolate" fifth epochal revelation, supposedly indited by celestial minds, has been revised by mere mortals who apparently took issue with the angelic authors! Or were those errors of human origin to begin with? Either way, it looks as though we have a conundrum on our hands, folks.
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Summary: Definitive History of the Fifth Epochal Revelation
Review: The Urantia Papers, published as "The Urantia Book," constitute an epochal revelation of spiritual truth to our beleaguered planet ("Urantia"). There is a mystery associated with the origin of the Papers, a mystery which has given rise to much controversy, confusion, and misinformation, both innocent and scurrilous. In "A History of the Urantia Papers," Larry Mullins, assisted by Dr. Meredith Sprunger, presents the most complete, thoroughly researched, well-documented, cogently-structured, and intelligently-argued account of the Urantia Papers and what people have done with them that we are likely to get in this world. This History is a must for students of The Urantia Book and a great service to Urantia.
Rating:
Summary: Definitive History of the Fifth Epochal Revelation
Review: The Urantia Papers, published as "The Urantia Book," constitute an epochal revelation of spiritual truth to our beleaguered planet ("Urantia"). There is a mystery associated with the origin of the Papers, a mystery which has given rise to much controversy, confusion, and misinformation, both innocent and scurrilous. In "A History of the Urantia Papers," Larry Mullins, assisted by Dr. Meredith Sprunger, presents the most complete, thoroughly researched, well-documented, cogently-structured, and intelligently-argued account of the Urantia Papers and what people have done with them that we are likely to get in this world. This History is a must for students of The Urantia Book and a great service to Urantia.
Rating: 
Summary: The Disease Continues
Review: This book and all others in the genre are cult orientated and promoting. The custodian of the Urantia Book, Dr. Sadler, did his best to avoid and prevent any historical documentation which would lead to the development of a human tainted record of the papers, and it was also the mandate for all orgainizations he founded. The Urantia Book was meant to stand on it own and speak for itself. If someone wants a 'history' of the book they can look at the authors in the book index, then simply read it. After many of the founding members died there was an upswell of vain-glorious groupies seeking self promotion. They and their work is not worth a bucket of warm spit.
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