The Urantia Diaries of Harold and Martha Sherman: Volume Six: 1955-1998

The years from approximately 1924 to 1955, in which the evolving manuscript of the Urantia Book was shared with a small group in Chicago called the Forum, is an intriguing period in the history of the Urantia Book and its readership. Only one source of extensive and detailed information about this period has come to light: the diaries and letters of Forumites Harold and Martha Sherman. During their stay in Chicago, from 1942 to 1947, the Shermans recorded what was said and done at every Forum meeting they attended. They also recorded their conversations with their Forumite friends and acquaintances outside Forum meetings. Their diligent documenting resulted in close to two thousand pages of eyewitness accounts which portray Forum life with unmatched vividness and immediacy. What makes their story especially piquant is that Harold was a controversial figure. Outspokenly critical of some of the plans of Forum leaders Dr. William S. Sadler and his son Bill, Harold was accused by Dr. Sadler of disrupting the superhumanly authorized running of the Forum. Sadler allowed the Shermans to continue to attend Forum meetings, but they became estranged from the Sadlers and kept aloof from most of the Forumites. Feeling unjustly blamed, the Shermans wrote sharp, critical reports of the ensuing Forum activities, which contrast with the vague, rosy accounts of the Forum given decades later by non-Forumites. In the six volumes of The Urantia Diaries of Harold and Martha Sherman, we present the Shermans’ Urantia-related experiences, as reported by themselves in their letters and diaries.