Adamu

So be it.

Being that there is no proof for the existence of ETi, I too am skeptical it was dictated to nameless earthlings by celestial beings.
I don't find this to detract from the content of the book itself.

But IMO, making a case for its valuelessness based on a few skeptical excerpts is not very rigorous.
In fact, I think it borders on pseudoskepticism.

IMO, of course.

DancesWithCoffeeCups

Do you have any evidence of celestial beings? No? Then why go further? Why waste time?

There are plenty of philosophies available to ponder without resorting to investigating those claimed by none existent beings. Don't you think?

figuer

Content? As in philosophical teachings? It might be overflowing with them, as do many other fictional works....but if so present the compendium of Urentian philosophical teachings...I have little tolerance for bad literature.

Based on ample experience with books....after a while it takes only a few phrases to determine if something is worthwhile.

Ponzi

The tiny amount that I've just read sounds like the usual rambling, trying too hard to be profound style that is quite common for modern earth based attempts at making religious texts.

If this thing really came from space angels, then you'd expect it to be unlike anything that you've ever read before. Instead we get a third rate mixture of the bible and the essays of the worst freshman in philosophy 101. Whoever "channeled" this crap didn't even have the good sense to make it not be boring.

Adamu

Perhaps.
But this book actually encompasses all other religions and philosophies as well, and deals with much else too: scientific, historical, conceptual.

As for ETi, I can't claim none existent -sic- in the absence of evidence.
We ourselves have become an intelligent (though that's debatable) space faring species in quite the blink of an eye evolutionarily and so the notion of other intelligences doing the same seems rather probable.
That is, unless one thinks that what happened here for Life like ours to evolve was something special.

Adamu

Given that it is presented as an historical account I understand why it would strike one as bad literature.
As for me, I don't read it for good fiction or literature.

Fine, I often feel the same way.

Adamu

I think more than a cursory review will reveal it to be quite different from modern earth based attempts, though it is most like Buddhism than anything.

DancesWithCoffeeCups

I'm still trying to determine why I should care? Does this alien creature exist or not? Where's the proof? Secondly, I read books written by real people who are proficient in their fields. Again I have to ask, why would I read a space alien book especially if said alien cannot be proven to exist at all?

I didn't claim that aliens don't exist. It seems to me that somewhere out there life of some sort probably does exist. There is zero evidence that they've stopped by earth at any time. Space faring creatures? You're kidding, right? Hopping up to the moon isn't exactly my idea of space faring considering how much of it there is out there. Tossing a few satellites into space is one thing . . long term, long distance exploration quite another.

Honestly, the bottom line for me is that I prefer to acquire knowledge through sources other than woo.

Adamu

Listen, I'm not asking you to care or even read about the book, that's your prerogative.
I asked if anyone here has read or discussed it, not whether they can dismiss it based on a few snippets and the unproven ETH.

And that's ok, we all make judgement calls.

But whether or not you consider us so, we are in fact a space faring species, fledgling by all means, but space faring none the less.

Adamu

My last post, I think, veers off topic some.

If others would like to discuss the ETH (extra terrestrial hypothesis), I think another thread would be more appropriate.
If others would like to discuss The Urantia Book, here we are.