Unique_Quality_of_Credibility

The Urantia Book: A Unique Quality of Credibility

Written by Halbert Katzen, JD, creator of UBtheNEWS.com, 5/12/08

The Urantia Book exhibits a unique quality of credibility. The good news is that The Urantia Book is doing more than standing up to the test of time; like a fine wine, its quality is improving over time. Simply put, there is not another document anywhere on the planet that so specifically addresses such a wide range of historic and scientific issues AND also can boast the peculiar pattern of having assertions corroborated that were at odds with or not yet considered by science and scholarship when it was published.

To appreciate the implications of this change in The Urantia Book’s credibility we need to consider three aspects of this emerging pattern. First, we need to educate ourselves about this development so that we are reasonably familiar with the reality of what has transpired and are confident about making such a bold assert. Second, the fact-meaning-value relationship presents some challenges. It is challenging because of the tendency to think that scientific facts lead to scientific meanings and values. In this case, they do not. They lead to extraordinary outreach potential. As well, like learning about the information in the book but on a much smaller scale, the amount of time necessary to learn about how science is catching up to it can have a tendency to so occupy our focus that we do not balance out learning the facts with appreciating their meaning and value. It is easy to fall into the trap of ingesting, but not digesting, what we learn. Third, we must honestly face how our past experiences with sharing The Urantia Book can become a serious obstacle to embracing the new opportunities that are now available in light of recent developments.

The UBtheNEWS project started in January 2007. Since its inception, three things have happened that justify the assertion that The Urantia Book is not what it used to be regarding its outreach potential. 1) Reports on post-publication corroborations are written for people without a background in science and who are unfamiliar with The Urantia Book. 2) These reports are posted on the Internet in a way that is designed for outreach. 3) Some of the most impressive post-publication corroborations were not written up prior to the UBtheNEWS project. This last issue is a comment about the nature of the corroborations, not the author(s). Researching new subjects is an important part of the UBtheNEWS project. Even the reports on topics written about prior to the project are enhanced because they needed to be re-researched and updated.

The Times They Are A-Changing

UBtheNEWS.com is fundamentally a research, reporting, and outreach service. The website provides a variety of material in a manner designed to give people a powerful and positive first impression of the book: an introductory pamphlet, a 35-page overview of The Urantia Book (developed as syllabus material for Denison University’s World Religion classes), audio recordings, articles, and study aids created by one of the foremost scholars of The Urantia Book, Dr. Chris Halvorson.

Since launching the UBtheNEWS project, over eighty study group presentations have been done across the country. Along with educating approximately one thousand Urantia Book readers about the UBtheNEWS project, this effort also resulted in a foundation of grassroots support and the development of a team of people dedicated to helping move the project forward.

Notwithstanding that the focus in the first year was on educating Urantia Book readers about UBtheNEWS, about ten percent of the presentations were direct outreach, non Urantia Book audiences. These included presentations at three university classes, four churches, one interfaith group, a Theosophical Society, a business-networking group, and two at Capstone House (a “futuristic learning center”). Additionally, several meetings with researchers whose work has been used in UBtheNEWS reports took place.

All this is mentioned not to catalogue accomplishments but rather to emphasize that our community is becoming more aware of the potentials inherent in doing a new type of introduction and that non Urantia Book readers are receiving this very well. The non Urantia Book communities regularly request return engagements. Documenting for non Urantia Book readers the ways in which science and scholarship has been catching up to the book is an idea whose time has come. This development marks a dramatic shift in our ability to give a quick, positive, and powerful first impression of The Urantia Book.

When we are speaking with someone who has never heard of or knows next to nothing about The Urantia Book, we can provide an introduction that is inspiring, interesting, and intriguing. It only takes about one minute. All we have to do is convey the following information:

The Urantia Book was published over fifty years ago.
It is richly detailed with a wide variety of scientific and historic information.
Much of this information contradicted or was not yet given consideration by the scientific and scholarly community when it was published.
Science and scholarship have increasingly and dramatically been catching up to The Urantia Book.
Verification of this information is freely available at UBtheNEWS.com and is written for people who are unfamiliar with The Urantia Book and who do not have a background in science.

Introducing the book in this way sets up a completely new conversational dynamic. It establishes that The Urantia Book provides uniquely credible information and has a fifty-year track record that is constantly improving. Starting with the book’s unique quality of credibility turns the tables one hundred eighty degrees with respect to the awkward issue of authorship. Information about authorship that formerly sounded strange can now be heard as an internally consistent and objectively verifiable explanation of the assertion about its credibility.

The possibilities of this approach become particularly apparent when we appreciate that introductions are not a time to try to convert people or to try to convince them about anything. The benefit of this wisdom requires more than applying it as a tactical tool; it requires embracing it as a respectful and loving way to relate to others.

If you have not tried this approach before, it is like breathing fresh air. But do not make the mistake of judging its merits by how things go the first time. Like any new conversation it takes a little time to develop one’s ability to do it smoothly and to graciously handle the variety of responses that reflect human diversity. As well, it is important to judge the value of this method for introducing The Urantia Book by how it is generally received. This means that we have to give ourselves the benefit of a sample population AFTER we have become adept with the conversation. If we go through these steps, then we are in a position to compare it to the other approaches we have used to introduce it.

By informing people about how they can verify this information for themselves for free whenever they want to, we have liberated ourselves from having to be “an expert” about the various corroborations. Naturally, if we also let people know that the website has a Topic Summaries page that allows visitors to get a quick overview, the conversation will become all the more powerful because people will understand that it does not take a lot of time to learn about The Urantia Book’s unique quality of credibility.

Sometimes people will ask us to provide examples. Sometimes we need to ask if people would like to hear a few examples. Fortunately, little time is needed to learn how to summarize the reports.

The Urantia Book says that Adam and Eve lived about 37,000 years ago and that they were responsible for significant changes in human genetics. Genetics research done in the last couple of years correlates with it’s story about Adam and Eve in six different ways.

In describing the Garden of Eden and how it sank to the bottom of the eastern Mediterranean Sea 33,000 years ago, The Urantia Book gives numerous details regarding its size and shape. When it was published, we did not have detailed maps of the Mediterranean Sea’s basin. Today these detailed maps show correlations with all the details provided in The Urantia Book.

The Urantia Book asserts that all animals have a sensitivity to the earth’s magnetic field. In 1955 the scientific community thought this field was too weak to be detected by animals and knew of no biological mechanism that could do the job. We have now confirmed that many animals can sense this energy and have discovered various biological mechanisms related to this sensitivity.

It describes aspects of our atmosphere that were totally at odds with science when The Urantia Book was published. Videos taken from space shuttles now reveal an atmospheric phenomenon that strongly supports what it describes.

A supernova that exploded in 1572 is said to have had a double star origin, which is to say that a couple of stars orbited around each other. Eventually the larger one pulled in enough matter from the smaller to cause an explosion. The nature of this supernova explosion was not verified until the 1970’s with additional support coming in just the last few years.

The Urantia Book says that the Native Americans came across the Bering Strait land bridge 85,000 years ago. Scholars in 1955 believed that Native Americans entered by this route about 12,000 years ago. Today, discoveries in both North and South America have pushed this date back as far as 60,000 years ago.

The Urantia Book says the Vikings reached North America around 1000 A.D. This was not widely believed until Viking settlements were excavated in the 1960’s.

Learning how to list several examples to support an introduction is easy and gives us confidence in making the assertion that The Urantia Book exhibits a unique quality of credibility. Becoming familiar with the various reports allows us to pick topics that may be of special interest to the person with whom we are speaking.

Like the tide that raises all ships, starting out with The Urantia Book’s extraordinary quality of credibility will uplift everything else we have learned about conversing with people who do not know about it. However, suggesting that we start with its credibility does not mean that we should focus only on this issue or attempt giving as many examples as possible.

Giving a good first impression of The Urantia Book requires not only beginning the conversation well but also ending it well. The key is to allow the other person to direct the course of the conversation once we have provided the essential introductory information (Of course, because people new to a topic often do not know how to ask good questions, we need to respond wisely.) By monitoring their interest level, we will know when they have heard enough. At that point it is time to initiate a gracious end to the conversation.

As quickly as we are willing to embrace the blessing, we are liberated from the awkward authorship issue. The UBtheNEWS project marks a new and joyous opportunity for service. Now we can all quickly provide a powerful and positive first impression of The Urantia Book as we pass by. Of course, the UBtheNEWS project can be helpful to us in talking about The Urantia Book with those who are part of our daily lives. But I suggest starting with those beyond our inner circles. We can learn the value of this new approach better when the stakes are lower and there is no history of disinterest.

Fact, Meaning, and Value

The Urantia Book’s emerging pattern of credibility presents a relation between fact, meaning, and value that is challenging for both Urantia Book readers and non Urantia Book readers alike. The challenge is that the presentation of the facts can easily misdirect our attention away from the meaning and value of these facts. The tendency to over-focus on the facts is exacerbated when we find their meaning and value to be personally challenging with regard to our attitude about outreach.

The meaning is clear and simple; The Urantia Book is now enjoying a unique and extraordinary quality of credibility. The value for Urantia Book readers is that it presents an opportunity for doing much more effective outreach.

In order for us to develop confidence about this growing forest of credibility, we must take the time to appreciate the various trees in this forest, the facts. Most people are only willing to sit and listen for so long during a presentation. Far less time tends to be given to reading through the website. (Programs provide date that tracks the pages that people view on UBtheNEWS.com and how long they stay on.) This is not an implied criticism. It is a necessary perspective for appreciating the process that we are collectively engaged in. Some time must be invested in considering the quality of the individual trees before we can step back and appreciate the forest (the meaning and value). The good news is that overcoming this challenge is simply a matter of time. Eventually, from varying degrees of exploration and osmosis, we will all see the awesome implications of this growing pattern.

Fortunately humanity is hardwired to appreciate this type of credibility. We all tend to conclude that a pattern of stating information in advance of its widespread acceptance means that the source, no matter what it is, is credible. Generally, people who are new to The Urantia Book will not jump to the conclusion that the best parts of it are not directly related to why it has a unique quality of credibility; we need to tell them. And, of course, the value for them has to do with being informed about something that is intriguing. Just as this new opportunity for service, for sharing good news, inspires each of us to varying degrees, non Urantia Book readers also respond in a variety of ways.

The Past

There are a number of issues related to the past that need to be considered in order to appreciate the present circumstances and realize the potentials of future outreach efforts. We need to take an honest look at ourselves both individually and as a group. Of course, only the group dynamics can be addressed here.

Because our individual experiences are varied and personal, we may find ourselves more or less related to the generalizations that will be made here about our collective experiences. These comments come not only from over twenty-five years of experience with Urantia Book readers, but also from all the study groups presentations and one-on-one experiences that have come with spearheading the UBtheNEWS project.

There has been an emphasis on identifying ourselves as “reader-believers” in the last fifty years. New cultural movements must of necessity start with congealing “true believers” in order to generate enthusiasm and create a foundation for future growth and development. The process we have been going through, the challenges we have faced and the differences we have had, in a general sense, are common to all new cultural developments.

Ironically, the attitude that was necessary and appropriate in this initial developmental stage also made it harder for us to effectively introduce The Urantia Book. Our personal identification with it and the emphasis on being a reader-believer had a tendency to alienate and repel those who are not part of the group. The previous epochal revelations had incarnate beings associated with them. This justified some degree of “hard sell” tactics because evangelism was reliant on interpersonal dynamics. A book requires a different approach. Most people are disinclined to become “true believers” who are dedicated to creating a new cultural movement, no matter what it relates to. People are especially and reasonably cautious about wholeheartedly embracing new spiritual source material. When people pick up even the slightest hint that someone is trying to convert them, they tend to go running for cover.

What were the factual circumstances we faced?

The Urantia Book claims to be written by celestials. It came filled with scientific and historical information that was inconsistent with the science of the day. The first two thirds are very challenging to read even with a good education. It has mysterious origins. It is over 2000 pages. Not a pretty picture for quick and broad social acceptance.

To make matters worse, reader-believers, for the most part, have not been particularly interested in the scientific and historic material, except for the parts on cultural development. Consequently, for these and other reasons, our collective ability to appreciate and make use of The Urantia Book’s emerging quality of credibility has been hampered because scientific credibility was never that important for us.

How did we handle the initial lack of scientific and historic credibility?

We avoided talking about the issues with science and history. We learned how to become apologists when we could not avoid the subject or if we happened to be interested in those aspects. We learned to quote phrases like “very rigorously limited by the instructions of superiors,” or “not at liberty to anticipate the scientific discoveries of a thousand years,” and especially “the physical sciences will stand in need of revision in consequence of additional scientific developments and new discoveries.” That last one has been a big favorite.

This is not intended as a critical commentary on our community. Quite the contrary, it was good wisdom for the day. We needed to learn how to become good Urantia Book apologists.

This initial stage of cultural development must be now be seen as by-gone days and good riddance to them.

What was our psychological response to these challenging circumstances?

Introducing people to The Urantia Book and inspiring them to read it was tremendously challenging in the first fifty years. We passionately tried to introduce the book to our family and friends. It was inherently a difficult task and our unrefined zealousness made it worse. For the most part we failed miserably. With our failures came embarrassment and marginalization, being ostracized, ridiculed, disrespected, and worst of all, simply ignored.

Not surprisingly, we had a natural reaction to these experiences. We felt hurt and disillusioned. We stopped talking about it openly. We created a filtering system that excluded most people and only brought it up to those who seemed “ready for it.” We concluded that America was not ready for it. A lot of resources and time were spent on translations and international outreach, thereby deemphasizing the wisdom of the revelators, who wrote it in English and placed The Urantia Book in the United States.

Fortunately for our collective psyches, because slow growth was all we were capable of anyway, early leadership put out a “directive” supporting “slow growth.” Whether this was good wisdom or came from superhuman sources is not the issue. The point is that we are past this point. (An interesting side note is that Prof. Fein from Denison University considers that in comparison to other new religions, appreciation for The Urantia Book has developed reasonably well for the first fifty years.)

The opportunity to make a positive and powerful introduction on a person-to-person basis is significantly different today than it has been in the past. Society is different. And most importantly, the opportunity to communicate that The Urantia Book has a unique and extraordinary quality of credibility is very different. All of this merits reconsideration of our person-to-person approach and how enthusiastically we “should” inform people “as we pass by.” It is time for the whole process of personal outreach to be reconsidered.

The Present

The pattern of corroborations supporting The Urantia Book’s credibility is extraordinary. This type of credibility, generally speaking, resonates well with most people. Many people in the United States are especially hungry for harmony between spirituality and science because the controversy between evolution and creation is constantly in our media, bogging down our legislatures, and undermining our educational systems.

People may reasonably be disinclined to believe an assertion about the book’s credibility when they hear of it for the first time. People may embrace a theology that requires them to discount the value of this type of credibility once they find out more about its theological positions and purported origins. People may not be psychologically ready to deal with something that exhibits superhuman qualities. People may be preoccupied with other concerns when we bring it up and simply not be ready to hear it at the moment. But all these considerations are accompanied by a general human appreciation for anything and anyone that provides factually accurate information in advance of its widespread acceptance.

Humanity is hardwired to appreciate the type of credibility that The Urantia Book now exhibits. This is today’s version of epochal superhuman credibility. The first epochal revelation had an immortal staff of one hundred. The second epochal revelation had the even more impressive and immortal Adam and Eve. Melchizedek came without linage, apparently did not age, and left as mysteriously as he came. Michael’s appearance was marked by many miraculous events. All epochal revelations are designed to have a particular quality of superhuman credibility. And this one is no different, notwithstanding that it is developing over time and comes in book form.

Today, informing people about The Urantia Book is a lot like showing them a gradually unfolding miracle that they can go see for themselves. Leveraging this quality is timely and part of the plan.

Being of service to others means we need to get beyond our own relationship to the book. The relevant question is: What type of introduction stands the best chance of intriguing someone who has never heard about The Urantia Book before? It is necessarily true that most all of us who are reader-believers became so in the absence of the type of credibility that the book now exhibits. This does not mean that this issue of credibility should not be important to others. Having an attitude about how the corroborations of science and history are not its most important aspect, though true, is not helpful.

Who are we to ask people to trust our experience with The Urantia Book when a verifiable, superhuman quality of credibility is available?

Life is a smorgasbord of spiritually enriching opportunities. The essential element of a good introduction is to impressively distinguish The Urantia Book from everything else. Unless they succumb to sophistry, people long for harmony between spirituality and science, especially science (and history) that is ahead of its time. We would do well to honor and encourage the natural human desire to have spiritual beliefs be in harmony with scientific developments. People are starving for The Urantia Book’s revelatory credibility and we hold the keys to the pantry.

I was first introduced to The Urantia Book when I was working for Greenpeace over twenty-five years ago. The job was going door-to-door on membership drives. I thought the most important thing to talk about was the work that Greenpeace was doing on nuclear weapons, waste, and energy issues. The problems associated with these issues seemed to put everyone’s life in danger. Naturally, this was more important to me than saving the whales. Eventually, after needlessly missing out on the opportunity to sign up Greenpeace memberships, I learned that what I thought was most important was not what was most inspiring for others. And besides, once they became members, they would get a monthly newsletter to inform them about all the other issues. Similarly, we need to respect where people are at, if we want to be of service in a manner that is gracious and effective.

The point here is not that most people are into scientific issues or that its emerging pattern of credibility proves its authenticity or that this type of introduction will immediately “turn people on to The Urantia Book.” The point is that most people want to get a sense of the book’s unique quality of credibility first. People will naturally assume, or at least be willing to consider, that if the book can be ahead of science, then it probably is worth checking out for its spiritual, philosophical, theological, and cosmological content. And they would be right. There IS a direct link between these issues. Starting with the book’s credibility both prepares the soil and plants the seed. And sometimes people are so ready the fruit ripens very quickly.

Traveling around the country this last year doing UBtheNEWS presentations has taught me a lot about the diversity of our community.

On one end of the spectrum, some people are immediately intrigued and inspired by the UBtheNEWS project. They are already passionately interested in the ongoing process of learning how to upgrade their outreach efforts. On the other end of the spectrum are people who are not inspired to develop themselves as evangels of the Urantia revelation. They are not particularly interested in doing the “as we pass by” type of introductions. They are cautious and suspicious of using the angle encouraged by the UBtheNEWS project. Near as I can tell we are quite evenly distributed over the breadth of this spectrum.

There are several not-so-surprising factors that influence how open Urantia Book readers are to the UBtheNEWS project. These factors include how long people have been reading the book. Is the “new reader” zeal at play? Geographic considerations have an impact. Some of us have got the “bible-belt blues.” How much are we still feeling the hurt from when we unsuccessfully tried to introduce the book to family and friends? The early history of corroborating science and history in The Urantia Book was not suited for outreach and some of it did not pan out. Are we jaded regarding this approach? Many of us simply are not interested in the subjects that relate to the corroborations. So to varying degrees and for various reasons our community varies in its appreciation for the approach to outreach promoted by the UBtheNEWS project.

Outreach brings up issues that can be challenging for us to confront. “Where am I in that spectrum between the Alpheus twins, who returned to their nets, and the preaching of Simon Peter?” Ironically, the easier it is to introduce The Urantia Book, the more we find ourselves confronted by issues that we can no longer pin on “the people who are not ready for it yet.”

Just as it is important to be gracious with people when making an introduction to The Urantia Book and to be respectful no matter what their response might be, we also need to be gracious and respectful with each other. The quality of the emerging pattern of credibility is a subjective experience and our personal dispositions and experiences are diverse. Fortunately, we know that God loves us just as much no matter where we fall in the spectrum that runs from “private life” to “public preaching.”

The Future

When I got involved with the Urantia community over twenty-five years ago, people were rarely quoting phrases like, “the historic facts. . .will stand on the records of the ages to come,” or “authoritative elimination of error,” or “co-ordination of known or about-to-be-known facts and observations,” or “restoration of important bits of lost knowledge,” or “information which will fill in vital missing gaps in otherwise earned knowledge.”

I expect we will hear these quoted a lot more in the future! (Hint. Hint.)

When it comes to advancing the fifth epochal revelation on Urantia, the greatest challenge we face is the person staring back at us in the mirror. We are the wellspring to the world for wisdom relating to the fifth epochal revelation. The current cultural circumstances, particularly in the country where this gift was bestowed, are well suited for receptivity. The real question is: Can we let go of the past, embrace the present, get out of our own way, and move boldly forward with the exquisite opportunity for service that lies before us?

The first step is our willingness to find joy in simply letting people know that The Urantia Book exists. Then, when we are willing to develop skills with this new type of introduction and be the kind of people who measure success in terms of whether or not we open our mouths, we will find enormous satisfaction in sowing seeds destined to grow and in harvesting some of the low hanging fruit.

There are even opportunities here for planting seeds in the conservative Christian community. Consider a conversation with someone from this community in which we express the following (after we have gotten beyond the initial introduction of the book’s unique quality of credibility):

“I can easily appreciate and respect that when you came to accept Jesus as your savior, you felt you had to choose between Jesus and science. You made an excellent choice. If I had found myself confronted with such a choice, I might have done the very same thing. As it turns out, my belief in Jesus has developed in such a way that it allows me to accept Jesus as my savior as well as appreciate and respect the discoveries of science.

“On the most important issues, you and I share the same beliefs. We both believe in his combined human and divine nature and that he resurrected and ascended to the right hand of our Heavenly Father, where he had all power in heaven and earth placed into his hands. We both believe that he performed miracles and even raised Lazarus from the dead. We believe in his teachings and that he is the way, the truth, and the life. We believe that he will one day return as he promised. The Urantia Book even says that, of all knowledge, knowing about the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it is the most important.

“I just wanted to share what I thought was good news and do not wish to continue the conversation if it is not being mutually appreciated.”

Consider what opportunities are now available for the Thought Adjuster to work with that person’s mind and soul.

When Spirit knows that we are willing to introduce the book in this way, then Spirit has an opportunity to guide us to those individuals in the conservative Christian community who would be most open to this approach. We will not experience the dead statistics if the living Spirit knows we have developed and are willing to use a new talent.

The good that comes from introducing The Urantia Book is something that we will often not get to see directly. This is simply the nature of informing people about something for the first time. Often people need to be exposed to new things several times before they are willing to take an interest. But one thing is for sure. This type of introduction raises the bar. It lets people know a book exists that does more than harmonize spirituality and science; it is also exhibits a unique quality of credibility in this regard. Even conservative Christians will have to respect that we see validation in our text in a way similar to how they often attempt to validate the Bible.

It is high time we stop sizing up people we have never met before and making excuses about how they are the ones who are not ready. The real issue these days is whether we are ready to embrace a shift that has already occurred.

The Urantia Book Is Not What It Used To Be. Are you?

The shift in The Urantia Book’s relationship to science and history, coupled with our ability to provide reports on these developments to the whole world as quickly as we can get them done and for very little money, changes everything when it comes to introducing the book. The Internet has also changed our ability to do good research and to collaborate with each other in the process of providing quality reports on the emerging corroborations. The question we need to ask is: How much of our time are we willing to invest to make this happen?

Using the emerging pattern of corroborations to demonstrate The Urantia Book’s unique quality of credibility is not a brilliant idea or original with the UBtheNEWS project; it is an idea whose time has come. This is the transition period when the harvest is great and the laborers are few.

It is true that some of the activities necessary to develop the UBtheNEWS project are best suited to those of us with a good education, writing skills, and presentation skills. But most aspects of this project do not require these qualities, especially when we consider that the most important thing to do is share the good news as we pass by. If you want to make a big difference in how quickly and powerfully The Urantia Book reaches the world, get involved with the UBtheNEWS project at least by using it as a tool for your own outreach efforts. Learn from and tell people about UBtheNEWS.com.

This project is one of the most efficient and rewarding ways that you can use your time to foster the development of the fifth epochal revelation to Urantia. There are so many different aspects to this project that any amount of time you are willing to spend and talents you have can immediately be put to good use.

The most important thing is to learn anew how to introduce The Urantia Book. Generally speaking, we all meet people that no other Urantia Book reader is likely to meet in the near future. These are the souls that need us to inform them about the Urantia revelation. On this increasingly incredible planet, credibility is increasingly hard to find. Feed the hungry, lost sheep.

I am not suggesting that we do away with all we have learned over the years about introducing the book. We have developed a lot of talents because it has been so difficult. Rather the suggestion is that by first making sure the other person in a the conversation knows about its unique quality of credibility, all these other skills we have learned over the years will become all the more powerful. These days, credibility is everything. Interestingly enough, by first talking about the impersonal and verifiable aspect of The Urantia Book’s credibility, we enhance our own personal credibility.

Since starting this project, my life has been opening up in well nigh miraculous ways. I believe in the teaching that the individual is not important, the work is. The obvious implication of this precious wisdom is that you too can similarly experience the exquisite joy and extraordinary response of Spirit that comes with engaging yourself in this new and timely opportunity to share The Urantia Book, the fifth epochal revelation, with our brothers and sisters everywhere.