  According to the standard model, an active galactic nucleus (AGN) consists of
an inner accretion disk with a jet around a central massive black hole, and a
number of outer broad line regions (BLRs) and narrow line regions (NLRs). The
geometrical relationship between the BLRs and the accretion disk is not well
understood. Assuming the motion of the BLRs is virialized and its configuration
is disk-like, we derived its inclination to the line of sight for a sample of
AGNs from their bulge stellar velocity dispersion, their size of the BLRs and
their H$\beta$ linewidth. Compared with the inclination of the accretion disk
obtained from the X-ray Fe K$\alpha$ emission lines, we found that there is no
positive correlation between the two. Our results showed that BLRs are not
coplanar with the accretion disk and that we should be cautious of using the
BLRs inclination as the disk inclination. The non-coplanar geometry of the
outer BLRs and the inner accretion disk provides clues to the origin of BLRs
and the properties of the accretion disk. Our preferable interpretation is that
BLRs arise out of the outer part of a warped accretion disk.
