Author's Afterword Gospel, Gospel

March 27, 2007

 

INTRODUCTION by lubart@concordbroadband.net

 

 

Dear Fellow Readers,

 

The Urantia Foundation's 50-year policy of slow growth might recently have gotten just a little less slow. 

 

There's a second-party work, a serious biography of Jesus of Nazareth based on Part IV of the Urantia Book, which has been making steady headway into the mainstream world.  This biography not only mentions the Urantia Book as its source, but holds out earnest hope that its readers will be further motivated to discover the big book, our beloved Urantia Book.  This biography is titled: Gospel Gospel.

 

For the first three months immediately after its release, Gospel Gospel appeared on Amazon's Hot New Release List for the category of Religious Biography.  This list is updated hourly and is based on Amazon sales.  Gospel Gospel enjoyed a full 12 hours or so in position #1 and retired from this list (three months is the limit) in position #4, a respectable showing by any standard.  Online sales-tracking services indicate that the book is enjoying even greater success at the Barnes and Noble website.

 

This book is NOT, as others have done in the past, a word-for-word copy of Part IV of the Urantia Book. Rather, this has been lovingly re-written making this great story more accessible to a larger readership than had it remained the closing section of a magnificent but otherwise obscure book. Gospel Gospel would make a great gift to someone to whom you're trying to introduce the Urantia Book.

 

The following is reprinted from the Author's Afterword which appears at the end of the book:

 

By Author: Louis J Bartolomeo

 

"Once again, my role here has been more editor and compiler than that of author.  This incredibly moving story, this expanded narrative of the miraculous incarnation on our world of a Paradise Creator Son, has Part IV of The Urantia Book for its source.

I’ve been reading the Urantia Book since 1975.  This is not at all unusual.  Serious students of this book often end up reading it for life, often in small study groups.  It’s large (2,097 pages), heavy, and, to many, intimidating. To those who’ve read it, it’s a book of epochal significance that has changed their lives.  As a new reader, if you were to pick up the book and start at the Forward, you might find it well nigh impenetrable.  It is ponderously written by authors who must stretch language to its limits, often confessing frustration at the paucity of our language.  I’ve come upon sentences over 80 words long, many containing confusing sequences of three or four or five serial prepositional phrases.  There’s not a single contraction within the original text, no sentences ending in prepositions, and no split infinitives.  The original authors, in effect, have chosen to go boldly where I’ve merely chosen to boldly go.

I’ve sought to take Part IV from The Urantia Book, The Life and Teachings of Jesus, and rework it into something more approachable, digestible, and manageable.  I’ve endeavored to remove the intimidation factor of such a huge book and to retell this amazing story more simply yet without compromising its essence.  All this was lovingly done in an effort to reach a larger readership than had Part IV remained the closing section of a large and relatively obscure book. 

It was never my intention to replace Part IV.  Rather it’s my ardent hope that this book will lead my readers to pick up the big book, The Urantia Book, and begin the adventure for themselves."

 

I bring this to your attention because I believe this great and moving biography can serve as an effective vehicle to expose the Urantia Book to a larger readership.  This work was joyfully compiled and edited with only the highest of intentions: that it may serve the Kingdom of God on earth. 

 

The following link will help you locate the book on Amazon.com although it's also available just about any online bookseller around the world.  Gospel Gospel is usually available on eBay if you do a simple "urantia" search, although Amazon will have the better price.  Books bought through eBay, however, offer a personalized inscription by the author.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Expanded-Biography-Louis-Bartolomeo/dp/0741437082/sr=1-1/qid=1171616809/ref=sr_1_1/002-8071995-4640840?ie=UTF8&s=books

 

Thanks for allowing me to share this with each of you. If you have recently received a similar email, please forgive the duplication on my various mailing lists.

 

Peace to all,

 

Louis J Bartolomeo

 

 

Excerpt from Paul Bond

 

Our planet is experiencing a major transitional period in human history. We desperately need enlarged spiritual foundations to give stability and guidance to the new era struggling to be born. We believe The Urantia Book has the greatest potential for serving in this capacity of any philosophical-religious resource now available to mankind. It is a unique source of enlightening spiritual truth.

 

The Urantia Book has the most exciting and hopeful message of the twentieth century! We invite you to discover this wonderful book for yourself.