In early 1962 Meredith Sprunger composed “A Brief History of the Urantia Movement,” explaining the origins of the Urantia Book for those who continued to ask questions. Before January 30 he sent a copy to Marian Rowley at Headquarters, as well as to some friends and potential readers. Alarmed, Marian phoned Meredith to dissuade him from spreading his account further, that it contained things “we don’t want to talk about.” While an original version of this particular “History” has not yet been found, below are Marian’s notes on their phone conversation.

* * *

UBH MARIAN ROWLEY’S NOTES

Re phone conversation with Meredith Sprunger regarding “History”

Chicago, January 30, 1962

About the history—called—things I didn’t want to explain on paper.

It’s very well done, but hope you haven’t given out any copies and that you won’t. [He has given out several but won’t any more until he hears from us.]

About 1-1/2 years ago—Doctor’s history. Think you have a copy. Overwhelmingly opposed by Executive Committee—Doc’s hurt and disappointed. Yours doesn’t give quite as many details but it does emphasize things we don’t want to talk about. Example: personal names: Sir Hubert, Howard Thurston, but most of all Dr. Sadler.

Years ago, Doctor was most insistent that his name should not be connected with this movement. That’s why he was not made a Trustee and I understand it was his own decision. Neither did he have a high office in the Brotherhood, just committee chairman. He felt it was most important and we all agreed it was better not to tie him in. However, now that his age has crept up on him, he has changed. Apparently, he yearns for a little personal mention, and he is forgetful of some of the things we all promised not to talk about. He is doing some rationalizing, but the rest of us recognize it as such.

Not to be repeated, but his age is showing. I’m editing his last textbook on books of the Bible and I see the change. Of course, Christy does, too. More talkative about things that shouldn’t be talked about. More forgetful.

So—Dr. Sadler is a personal name, which should not be officially connected. Even he is playing down the reference in The Mind at Mischief. Out of print. Got an inquiry recently asking him to comment. He said, “No further comment.” We do not want to emphasize this, and the book will soon be forgotten, we hope. Out of print now, secondhand stores and a few libraries.

Do you have Declaration of Trust of Foundation? Send you one. Wording.

We have been told, “Do not discuss the origin of the Book. You will make more trouble for yourselves if you do. Be determined to know only the teachings of the Book.” And those of us who are responsible for the organization are trying to do just that. I phoned [Brotherhood President] Warren [Kulieke] to ask if you had given him a copy of this and he said no. But he told me to tell you that he is in complete agreement with my feelings and is very much opposed to any written or verbal history that goes back much before the founding of the Foundation.

I don’t think it’s wise to say only 57 papers to start, and questions brought the rest. We have agreed that we could not even admit that we asked questions and got revisions. Yes, I know Doctor talks about it, but we agreed we wouldn’t.

On this basis, I’d say the first 2-1/2 pages should be destroyed. If you must have a history, it should start with the Foundation in 1950. For anything before this time, you can state flatly, “I’m sorry. Before that time there is nothing more I can tell you.” And if they insist, refer them to headquarters. [He says he can’t do this.]

Used to worry about this. Now it comes easy. Since the papers are dated 1934 and 1935, I do admit that the Book was in manuscript form for over twenty years and a small group was able to study it. But more than that I will not say. If I’m pushed very hard, I’ll say, “Look, those of us who know anything at all about how this came about (and most of us know darn little)—we all made a promise not to talk about this, and we’re keeping that promise. The Book must stand on its feet.” And that stops most everyone. The ones who cannot accept this statement will reject the Book, and that’s their privilege. No one has to believe it. [“It’s natural to wonder about it, but after a while it doesn’t matter.”]

If you must have a written history, I’d start about the middle of page 3. “To prepare for the publication of the Urantia Book and the U.F. . . .” Might throw in the bit about the anonymous contributors.

Could insert the paragraph just above, leaving out the bit about secrecy being relaxed.

Did you give Doctor and Christy a copy? [He didn’t. I was the only one who got a copy.]

Haven’t discussed this with them. I did call Warren. We hope very much you won’t use it.

UBH A BRIEF HISTORY of the URANTIA MOVEMENT⁸

By Meredith Sprunger

The origins of the Urantia Book are to a degree hidden in a cloak of silence. The Book tells that the papers were indited and materialized in the English language in 1934 and 1935. The Urantia Book was published by the Urantia Foundation on October 12, 1955.

Although it is clear that the purpose of the Urantia Book is not to start a new religion or religious denomination, the Urantia group recognized that some sort of fraternal organization was sure to grow out of the teachings of the Urantia Book. Accordingly, a group of 36 people assembled in Chicago on January 2, 1955, and organized the Urantia Brotherhood. These charter members, one finds, are individuals from many vocations and professions and are from diverse religious backgrounds.

The Constitution of the Urantia Brotherhood designates it as a voluntary, locally autonomous, fraternal organization. Provision is made for chartering local Societies and fostering study groups. To date a number of such groups have been organized throughout the country and world.

Since the Urantia Brotherhood is not a legal corporation, the Urantia Brotherhood Corporation was chartered as a non-profit organization of the State of Illinois on October 25, 1955. This corporation is the fiscal agent of the Brotherhood and in a general way takes care of the varied financial and legal interests of the Brotherhood. The headquarters for all three of these organizations is at 533 Diversey Parkway, Chicago, Illinois.

In December 1959 the Internal Revenue Bureau of the United States government ruled that the Urantia Foundation, the Urantia Brotherhood, and the Urantia Brotherhood Corporation were exempt from paying income taxes, and that any contributions made to these organizations are deductible from the income taxes of such donors.

The Book tells that an individual was used in transmitting the revelation (p. 865) but those who were a part of the group when the papers were received will not talk about this person nor furnish details concerning the coming of the papers. This, they explain, is because they took vows of silence concerning these things. Two basic reasons are given for this silence:

1. The main reason for not revealing the identity of the contact personality is that the revelators do not want any human being—any human name—ever to be associated with the Urantia Book. They want this revelation to stand on its own declarations and teachings. They are determined that future generations shall have the Book wholly free from all mortal connections—they do not want a St. Peter, St. Paul, Luther, Calvin, or Wesley. The Book does not even bear the imprint of the printer who brought the Book into being.
2. There is much connected with the appearance of the Urantia papers which no human being fully understands. No one really knows just how this phenomenon was executed. There are numerous missing links in the story of how this revelation came to appear in written English. If anyone should tell all he really knows about the technique and methods employed throughout the years of getting this revelation, such a narration would satisfy no one—there are too many missing links. Actually just about all that is known about the origin of the Urantia papers is to be found in various parts of the Urantia Book. A list of such references can be found on the back of the dust jacket of the Book.

The Urantia group was told the world is not ready for the Book at this time but that permission to publish was given so that study groups could be formed to train teachers and leaders and so that men of means might be interested to provide for translations into other languages. This type of work is now being carried on quietly, largely by personal contact, as they feel this method at the present time is the wisest procedure.

In conclusion, while members of the Urantia Brotherhood acknowledge that the facts concerning the historicity of the Urantia Book may have some limited value, they constantly emphasize that the quality and importance of the philosophical and religious insights of the Urantia Book can be ascertained only by evaluating the content of the Book. Origin or authorship does not establish the worth of a book, a poem, or a piece of art. Its worth must rest solely on its own intrinsic merit.

UBH A BRIEF HISTORY about the URANTIA MOVEMENT⁹

By Marian Rowley

Prior to February 28, 1962

Handwritten note on copy sent to Meredith Sprunger March 3: I sent this to Warren [Kulieke] as my suggestion to replace Meredith’s history.
Because of numerous inquires which have been received, it has seemed necessary to make a brief statement regarding the origin of the Urantia movement.

The Urantia Book tells of its own origin and the page references appear on the back of the paper jacket. From this list we quote the following:

“In the contacts made with the mortal beings of the material worlds, such as with the subject through whom these communications were transmitted, the midway creatures are always employed. They are an essential factor in such liaisons of the spiritual and the material levels.” p. 865.

“It was the work of this secondary group (midwayers), ably seconded by certain of the primary corps, that brought about the coordination of personalities and circumstances on Urantia which finally induced the planetary celestial supervisors to initiate those petitions that resulted in the granting of the mandates making possible the series of revelations of which this presentation is a part.” p. 865.

“On many worlds the better adapted secondary midway creatures are able to attain varying degrees of contact with the Thought Adjusters of certain favorably constituted mortals through the skillful penetration of the minds of the latters’ indwelling. (And it was by just such a fortuitous combination of cosmic adjustments that these revelations were materialized in the English language on Urantia.)” p. 1258.

“The Adjuster of the human through whom this communication is being made enjoys such a wide scope of activity chiefly because of this human’s almost complete indifference to any outward manifestations of the Adjuster’s inner presence; it is indeed fortunate that he remains consciously quite unconcerned about the entire procedure. He holds one of the highly experienced Adjusters of his day and generation, and yet his passive reaction to, and inactive concern toward, the phenomena associated with the presence in his mind of this versatile Adjuster is pronounced by the guardian of destiny to be a rare and fortuitous reaction.” p. 1208-9.

The subject through whom the papers were transmitted and the very small group which had the responsibility for the protection of the manuscript are anonymous and will remain so. It was the intention of the superhuman authors of these papers that no human name should be attached to this revelation and the group has proceeded accordingly. The revelation must stand on its own declarations and teachings.

The phenomenon of the transmittal of the material through the human mind into English was not fully understood by anyone who had any connection with it, but it may be stated that it is not similar to other known types of psychic performance, such as hypnotism, automatic writing, clairvoyance, trance, spirit mediumship, telepathy, double personality, or anything else of this sort.

While the papers were in manuscript form, a somewhat larger group was permitted to read and study the papers. It was this group which provided the money to have the plates made and these plates were presented to the Urantia Foundation, a non-profit trust, which was organized on January 11, 1950, by a Declaration of Trust under the laws of the State of Illinois. The Foundation owns the international copyright on the Book and is responsible for protecting the text and for arranging for the reprints of the Book and for translations. The Urantia Book was published by the Foundation on October 12, 1955.

[Editor’s note: At this point a comment in Warren Kulieke’s handwriting is inserted in the left margin, saying, “Begin here.” In essence, the following five paragraphs are all that he would approve as an official history of the Urantia movement.]

Although it is clear that the purpose of the Urantia revelation is not to start a new religion or religious denomination, the Urantia group recognized that some sort of fraternal organization was sure to grow out of the teachings of the Urantia Book. Accordingly a group of 36 people assembled in Chicago on January 2, 1955, and organized the Urantia Brotherhood. The Constitution of the Urantia Brotherhood designates it as a voluntary, locally autonomous, fraternal organization. Provision is made for chartering local Societies and fostering study groups. To date a number of such groups have been organized throughout the country and world.

Since the Urantia Brotherhood is not a legal corporation, the Urantia Brotherhood Corporation was chartered as a non-profit organization of the State of Illinois on October 25, 1955. This corporation is the fiscal agent of the Brotherhood and in a general way takes care of the varied financial and legal interests of the Brotherhood.

In December 1959 the Internal Revenue Bureau of the United States government ruled that the Urantia Foundation, the Urantia Brotherhood, and the Urantia Brotherhood Corporation were exempt from paying income taxes, and that any contributions made to these organizations are deductible from the income taxes of such donors.

Although the world is not ready for the Book at this time, permission to publish was given so that study groups could be formed to train teachers and leaders and so that men of means might be interested to provide for translation into other languages. This work is now being carried on, not by advertising and promotion at the present time, but largely by personal contact, which has proved to be more effective.

In conclusion, it should be emphasized that while the facts concerning the historicity of the Urantia Book have some limited significance, the quality and importance of the philosophical and religious insights of the Urantia Book can be ascertained only by evaluating the content of the Book. Origin or authorship does not establish the worth of a book, a poem, or a piece of art. Its worth must rest solely on its own intrinsic merit.

UBH MARIAN ROWLEY to MEREDITH SPRUNGER

Chicago, March 1, 1962

Dear Meredith,

I am sure you were as much shocked and stunned by Warren’s death¹⁰ as the rest of us. I simply can’t tell you how it hit Doctor, Christy, and me especially. We had all depended on him so very much. Whenever problems came up I consulted him. We talked frequently on the phone and he was often at 533. I could always depend on him to back me up on my own judgments and to help me make decisions when I needed help. My job will be much more difficult now. We can ill afford to lose men like Warren. There are too few of them. I’m enclosing a little piece I wrote for the benefit of some of the out-of-town folks.

I had not forgotten about your “history” and your request that we let you have something that we thought was suitable. First of all, I have said nothing to Doctor and Christy about this matter and I do not intend to. If you want to take it up with them, that’s up to you. I don’t want to worry them with it. But I did send your copy to Warren, along with one which I wrote myself, to see what he thought of both. I had previously talked with him about it on the phone. On February 14 he returned my copy with a letter giving his opinion and here is what he said:

“I have read carefully both of the documents regarding the Urantia movement—yours and Dr. Sprunger’s. I feel very strongly against officially endorsing either one of them. In my opinion we should not be pressured into this situation simply because a few people feel it is necessary. I do not feel that our unseen friends would have been so careful in insisting on secrecy over the years if they wanted any of these things known. A halfway measure would do more harm than good. I would like to see everything prior to the publication of the Book and the establishment of the Brotherhood remain legend—like a vague uncertain dream shrouded in mist. On the copy of your ‘History’ I have indicated where we might begin.”

In view of his opinion I am attaching a copy of the part of my effort which he approved. I think this part is mostly yours. I did not send this to you right away because I did not agree completely with him and I wanted to talk with him again and try to persuade him to let me include more of my story.

I phoned him on Tuesday, February 20, to talk it over, but [wife] Gerry said he had a fever and she wouldn’t let him get out of bed so I said I would call a couple of days later when he would probably be all right. I intended to call Thursday night, but decided to put it off one more day so he would be sure to be up—and he died Friday morning. However, even if I had called Thursday I couldn’t have talked to him, because Christy phoned that night and talked only to Gerry, though Warren did seem better at the time.

Because I respect his judgment so much, I am sending you only the part he approved. However, the next time you’re in Chicago I’ll show you what I have written. Perhaps at that time we might agree that you could use it if you wish, but not as an official statement from headquarters.

Meredith, I hate to say this, but I feel very strongly that you would be doing us a serious disservice if you continue to give out copies of your original “history.” If anyone brings a copy to us to ask if it is true, we will do as we have done in several other cases and say, “Sorry, we cannot confirm this. It is not official, it did not come from headquarters, it was not written by anyone who knows all the facts. We can make no comment on what is true and what is speculation.” I know what Doctor has said in other cases (one came pretty darn close) and I’m sure this will continue to be our official attitude.

You have been told a great many things in confidence—far more than most newcomers. I truly feel that you should respect our wishes in this matter and keep these things in confidence. As Warren said, the revelators wouldn’t have made such a big point of secrecy if they hadn’t meant it. Everyone was asked to make a promise not to talk about these things and we have never been released from that promise in spite of your statement that secrecy or restrictions were somewhat relaxed at one point. (I don’t have your piece before me so I don’t know your exact wording, but the statement is not true.) You see, we have the memory of some of the experiences which you have missed—some of the things which occurred before you joined us.

Really, Meredith, it would be so easy for you to turn aside inquiries, and you wouldn’t have to lie about it either. I don’t. When I’m pushed too hard, I simply say, “Yes, I do know something about the origin and the early history—not much, but a little. But I have made a promise not to talk about it, and so I can’t. And all the others who know anything about this have made the same promise.”

Have you ever discussed this with Bill Sadler? Why don’t you, the next time you see him? I know what his position used to be and I have no reason to think it’s changed in recent years. At least he could tell you how he handles such problems. If he agrees with you, or if he doesn’t, I’d appreciate hearing the result of your conversation or correspondence.

Enough of this. Jim Mills will be the President for the rest of the term, but we are going to appoint or elect a new President to back him up. As you know, he [Mills] lives in Neenah and travels through Wisconsin and Minnesota constantly so he is difficult to reach. And in view of the fact that he doesn’t have a very good heart we want a second man available. There is no provision in the Constitution for replacing officers except by meetings of the General Council and we may have to call a special meeting. But we will probably consult our lawyer to see if we can perhaps appoint one who would have legal authority. You will be notified well in advance if we call a special meeting. It will be on a Sunday, of course.

Dave Schlundt and Bob Streit unexpectedly dropped in last night just before our meeting. It was so good to see Dave. He seemed in good spirits and I was delighted. Said he definitely is not going into teaching and will stay where he is. His last letter to me sounded very depressed. I was glad too to meet Bob Streit. He is originally from Dallas but is in Toledo now. I had heard about him from Bill Sadler and had corresponded with him. He sounds very nice, is genuinely interested in the Book, and I hope with all my heart that he and Dave can help each other. I think they both need a little support. Bob was divorced some time ago and apparently feels pretty lonely and in the dumps.

Sincerely,
Marian

P.S. I prefer to handle this on a personal basis, so I’m not using the official stationery. And I’m using my home address because sometimes my mail gets opened before I get to the office.

UBH HOW THE URANTIA PAPERS CAME INTO EXISTENCE

Comments made by Bill Sadler at the home of Berkeley Elliott, talking with the study group there assembled, concerning the origin of the Urantia Book. Transcribed from tape.

Oklahoma, February 18, 1962

“Many years ago my parents, who were physicians, had brought to their attention a man who had some rather strange things happening to him. In one of the books my father wrote, The Mind at Mischief, he made mention of this case in the last part of the book—in the Appendix—which was published in the 1920s.

“My father had spook-hunting as a hobby. He was an exposer of mediums. He had two partners in this endeavor—the head of the psychology department at Northwestern University and Howard Thurston, a professional magician. There is a book now out of print which my father wrote called The Truth About Spiritualism, in which he puts so-called spiritualists as falling into one of two categories: there are practicing frauds—deliberately working for gain or for glory—and there are people who are self-deceived. I think in that book he says ‘with one possible exception.’

“My parents became interested in this case. This man would go to sleep and he’d talk and what came out was intriguing and different. He was never interested in the lost watch or the stock market or in talking with your Uncle George who had passed on—never anything practical. This was different, distinctly odd. About this time a Sunday evening meeting came to be organized at our house. It came about when Pop was giving a commencement address at a local university. I was in high school at the time and he wrote me a letter saying that we were not church people but that Sunday should be productive as well as a day of rest. He asked what I would say if they invited in some friends and they had a discussion group—kind of a forum—and talked about health and history and politics, etc. That group came into existence in, I think, 1922.¹¹ This group became interested in spiritualism because Pop was writing on that subject at the time.

“My dad was mischievous—there was a mind-reading vaudeville show in town. Pop attended twice. He took a pair of wire cutters and clipped the wires that hooked the guy in the audience with the gal on the stage. At which point she fainted and they asked if there was a doctor in the audience, and Pop had the gall to go back and take care of her.

“The question came up whether all such phenomena is fraudulent. My dad was an honest guy so he said there was one such case that was a puzzle. So they asked him to tell them about it. So the Forum became intrigued with the shorthand notes that had been taken of things this man talked about.

“One evening when they were talking to this man, a kind of an argument came up. They were talking with someone who claimed to be a ‘Mighty Messenger.’ They asked if he could prove he was a Mighty Messenger. ‘No,’ he said, ‘but you can’t prove I’m not, either. If you knew what I know, you wouldn’t ask these silly questions. You would prepare some of the most deep, searching and far-reaching questions you could possibly imagine.’

“My father was half English and half Irish and he got kind of mad—he was investigating this phenomena and now he was being challenged. Pop looked at the others in the group and said, ‘Let’s pursue this and see what happens.’

“So the next Sunday, when the Forum met, the whole group came in on the deal. I was told that approximately five thousand questions were given. Some were silly—how old is God, who created him, and so forth. What happened was this: one day the questions were gone and where the questions had been was the first of the Urantia papers and was entitled, ‘The Universal Father.’

“I’ll tell you how I think this paper was written. And my theory is not one-hundred-percent correct. But it’s the best I can find. Visualize several places in space—points A, B, C and D. I think the papers were dictated or conceived at point A, and had we been there when any of these papers was written we would have seen nothing. A Divine Counselor is presenting his concepts in the language of Uversa. A translator is there who translates it into the language of Salvington. There is another translator there who translates from the language of Salvington to the language of Satania and another translator who translates from Satania into English. You cannot translate from Uversa into English because the languages are too far apart.

“I suspect that 99% of the original concept was lost in translation—English is too primitive a language. Take Bantu where they have one, two and then ‘many’—the end of their numbers—and you want to translate into large number systems, you simply can’t do it. See the problem?

“Point A was linked by some sort of communication circuit to point B. At point B there would be something to see, but it would be rather dull. It would be a man asleep—doing nothing. Remember the resurrection and the way the stone was moved by the midwayers? At point C you would see a pencil moving over paper with no visible means of motion. That’s where the physical writing took place. Now point D would be where we found the papers. This individual was never seen to write one of these papers—and don’t think we weren’t trying to watch him. If he wrote them he was more clever than we—he was never observed to write them.

“We tried everything we could think of to see how this was being done, but were baffled. The text was entirely written in pencil—all in the handwriting of this individual.

“Who was this man? I took an oath not to divulge who he was. That was required of all who know his identity and it was required by the commissioner who sponsored the last of the papers. We think we know why it was required. He would have asked us to maintain secrecy. One of the reasons this man was picked is that he has a passion for privacy—a very stable man. He doesn’t want to be known.

“These papers were read to the Forum. At the end of each paper was a note suggesting the next title on which questions should be asked. This is how they led us through the first time. They were read to the Forum and they generated more questions, and over a period of years this Book accumulated. And eventually when we had money we published it.

“In 1950 we completed the preparation of our plates. As money came in we forecast inflation, so we took the money we had and spent it in getting Donnelley (the publisher) to prepare the plates. If you went to Chicago, you’d see that the Urantia Foundation was established in 1950 by the anonymous donation of the plates of the Urantia Book. We got nickel-coated plates. If you write to Donnelley, they’ll tell you they negotiated with Mr. Wilfred Kellogg. The Urantia Foundation owns the copyright. There are five Trustees. In about 1954 these five Trustees selected thirty-six people who organized the Urantia Brotherhood. The Book was published in October of 1955 and has been spreading ever since.

“I was there most of the time. I’m a management man, not the kind of man you would expect to see mixed up in something like this—and I was very suspicious of all this. I asked myself, ‘Who is making money on this?’ I found that it was going to cost money. I realized there was no commercial end. And, as the Book cleared up some personal quarrels I had with religion, I felt it was a pretty good thing. So I elected to spend my spare time telling people about it. I don’t get paid, but I get a lot of satisfaction. This is a firsthand story except for the years from 1924 to 1928 when I was doing military duty. And this is the first time this story has ever been recorded.”