# What the hell is Urantia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-urantia/138378 "2002-11-23T20:10:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AdrienneEE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@AdrienneEE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdrienneEE)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-urantia/138378/1 "2002-11-23T20:10:58Z")
So, I’m a grad student at Indiana University, and every day for the past two years I’ve been here there’s been an ad in the student paper that says “Earn $25,000 for studying Book IV of the Urantia.” I’m curious. I go to their website ([www.eventodaward.com](http://www.eventodaward.com) I think) and it in turn passes me off the the main [Urantia.org](http://Urantia.org) page. Okay, I poke around. What the hell? Aliens? Old guys in Chicago penning tomes dictated by beings from another world about where we fit in the universe? Whatever… Anyway, anybody know the Straight Dope on these guys? Harmless new age crap or are they giving those creepy Scientologists a run for their money? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-urantia/138378/2 "2002-11-23T20:27:14Z")
Boy. There’s really no short answer. (Although you will find quite a few people who still will dismiss it with one.) And I just don’t have (and won’t make) the time to answer it thoroughly enough. This is truly a question for Bibliophage. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-urantia/138378/3 "2002-11-23T22:04:30Z")
[Here](http://www.skepdic.com/urantia.html) is a short and critical overview that should get you started. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-urantia/138378/4 "2002-11-23T22:39:10Z")
I have a guy call in to the library who asks me to read random paragraphs out of the Urantia Book every couple of days. It’s wierd stuff. Imagine Christianity mixed with a healty dose of Sufism, Buddhism, and Star Trek, and you might get a vague idea. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-urantia/138378/5 "2002-11-23T22:50:28Z")
So where does the $25,000 come in? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-urantia/138378/6 "2002-11-23T22:57:27Z")
Read Martin Gardner’s **The Urantia Book** (published by Prometheus Press, publishers of great debunking stuff.) ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-urantia/138378/7 "2002-11-24T08:38:40Z")
Wasn’t it finally admitted that a member of the Kellogg family (the cereal people ) “channeled” that book? It struck me as being pretty weird.