Talking Back to The Urantia Book
With Personalised Teachings (Part 1)
(This article was presented by Stephen Carthew at the 2025 Conference in Brisbane)
This year I finished my first cover-to-cover reading of The Urantia Book. In this presentation I will read some of the annotations directly from my literally ‘deconstructed’ Urantia Book. About 50 years ago I pulled a The Urantia Book apart, so I could take a few papers away with me and hold thin rafts of the light pages, instead of taking the whole book. I also began writing in the margins and at the end of the papers. I have brought Papers 106-112 with me.
- to share some truths from papers selected, put into my own words
- to share my personal experience of engagement with these papers
- to encourage others to find their own ways of engaging with The Urantia Book
This presentation is threefold in nature and purpose. It is designed
I am reluctant to share the imaginary conversations with the celestial authors which I read in the live presentation, so this is a somewhat abridged version.
I will start with Paper 106 which I found terribly hard going. I became somewhat annoyed, and this had me feeling a bit like Job – but instead of shaking my fist at God, I was shaking my head at this anonymous Melchizedek who was making my head spin. I could easily take too long on this somewhat frustrating phase of my reading. Here are a few comments of me talking back to Mel:
The 2nd paragraph of Section 8. The Trinity of Trinities, p. 1170:
Reads like this – (emphasis mine):
Mel: “The Trinity of Trinities exists in several phases. It contains possibilities, probabilities, and inevitabilities that stagger the imagination of beings far above the human level.”
Me: I’m staggered Mel. Now stop!
Mel: “It has implications that are probably unsuspected by the celestial philosophers, for its implications are in the triunities, and the triunities are, in the last analysis, unfathomable.”
Me: SO PLEASE STOP. I BEG YOU Mel!
….But of course, he didn’t.
Mel: “There are a number of ways that the Trinity of Trinities can be portrayed. We elect to present the three-level concept…”
Me: Please don’t; ‘elect’ more … Sorry if I’ve been disrespectful Mel, but you bought this on yourself with all this. It’s 3 AM down here.
I finished this interaction at the top of 1171 in a comment about THE FIRST LEVEL:
Mel: On this initial level of association, it is believed ….
I interjected at this point after having reread the introduction to 8. I was done:
Me This is going too far Mel – I’m going to bed it’s now 4.00 am … so I did go to bed.
The next day I finished Paper 106. There were more interactions, but some were surprising; in that I got a glimpse of something profound, for instance, one long sentence stood out: Here is this Melchizedek of Nebadon in full flight (p.1171.5):
Likewise, in other phases not so immediately concerned with divinity and personality, does the First Great Source and Center self-realize the limitlessness of reality around the circle of eternity, from the absoluteness of self-existence, through the endlessness of self-revelation, to the finality of self-realization – from the absolute of existentials to the finality of experientials. 106:8.12 (1175.1)
I was gob-smacked; my comment was: That’s an amazing sentence Mel and quite a mouthful.
Although I continued to struggle with this paper to the end, I discovered two sentences in the last paragraph of the paper (at the end of page 1174) which would be lifechanging, if I were more fully capable of absorbing and living the truth explained: Here are those two sentences:
Sooner or later we all become aware that all creature growth is proportional to Father identification. We arrive at the understanding that living the will of God is the eternal passport to the endless possibility of infinity itself. 106:9.11 (1174.7)
My writing to Mel, in the large gap left at the end of Paper 106 reads:
Thank you, anonymous Melchizedek of Nebadon, it worked out well in the end – great finish – even if the middle was way over my head. Here is what I’m getting out of it all right now:
Living the will of God is the ‘Eternal Passport’ to the endless possibilities of infinity, eternity and anything else we haven’t yet thought about – which should cover everything – but in your book probably doesn’t.
Anyway, I get that to live divinely, is to live the will of God. To live the Father’s will, or at least to strive to live one’s conception of that will – with all the inevitable failures and setbacks – will take us one step closer to all the trinities, tiunities and triodities that you could ‘poke a stick at’… (it’s a saying we have in Australia Mel, it means ‘… a lot, or more than anyone could imagine’.)
Anyway, moving along… It appears that a ‘Father-like-life’ is one that is balanced along the lines of Jesus of Nazareth. Such a life follows truth wherever it leads; is sensitive to an appreciation of beauty and humour, while being dominated by goodness and fairness. God knowing humans are lit from within by their worshipful attitude and are devoted to service and kindness towards all humans and all other beings in the universe who they may come across. They forgive their enemies and are full of love, qualified by wisdom and freely share the fruits of the divine spirit (Paper 193.2.2). And they struggle with expanding reality awareness for ever and ever – with enough peace interspersed and interspaced to keep up their positive postulating and ‘possibilitising’ – for a very, very, very long time as you have suggested in your very, very, very difficult Paper, Mel.
Anyway. All’s well that ends well – and your Paper 106 did end well for me.
So many thanks for your input into The Urantia Book. I hope to track you down one day – despite your anonymity – and perhaps have a cuppa with you –perhaps a Celestial Seasoning Red Zinger or Sleepytime. I’d really like to discuss the concept of human simplicity – and the idea of ‘Universe Levels of Reality for Dummies’ in Simple English (Google it), and the difference between American spelling and English spelling. And I may well also like the chance to apologise for my familiarity, bordering on disrespect. Till then Mel, fare thee well, as you no doubt will.
This is the last of the Melchizedek papers before we move on to the first of the Thought Adjuster Papers.
Paper 107: ’Origin and Nature of Thought Adjusters’ (p.1176)
Having got to know the anonymous Melchizedek as ‘Mel’, it didn’t take me long to begin to address the anonymous Solitary Messenger of Orvonton as ‘Sol’. The five Papers he delivers, from Paper 107 -112 were probably the most engaging and thought provoking of my new cover-to-cover reading. I had not done enough work on this string of papers to comprehend much of the ‘Thought Adjuster’ concept.
Although it may be useful to have The Urantia Book page open when reading, what follows it should make sense as it is:
First Paragraph of Paper 107,
‘Origin and Nature of Thought Adjusters’ (p. 1178)
There is lots of stuff that happens in relation to the Though Adjusters and the classes of them which hasn’t been revealed to us. We can’t fully understand what takes place when God the Father gives part of himself to indwell us. It’s too mind-blowing, Awesome (with a genuine capital ‘A’ and a real OMG). The full possibilities of the creative partnership of God and us – the Divine and the Human – are not yet disclosed. It’s the unfolding mystery of finding God.
Re the classification of Adjusters, I get the ‘Liberated Adjusters’ (end p. 1178). It would be exhausting being inside silly humans for eons and eons. A sabbatical, or simply a new project, makes sense. Anyway, I was, and am, most interested in Fused Adjusters. No self-interest of course!
Fused Adjusters: While losing nothing of their divine nature, a fused Adjuster becomes linked for a very long time with our ascension to Paradise. Quite a commitment!
My summation of paper 107 takes the form of a letter of appreciation: A thank you to Sol, for sharing his understanding of the ‘Divine Gifts’:
Dear Sol,
I hope you don’t mind my shorting your name to Sol. (I began using the nickname, ‘Solly’, when addressing you, but I discontinued that, for it felt a bit too over-the-top-disrespectful, even if it did have a somewhat humorous – Reversion Director-on-steroids – touch to it.)
Anyway, back to what you shared. I really like the way you call the Thought Adjusters the ‘Divine Gifts’. I have decided to mainly use this term for myself, as to me, at this point in my understanding, it is more reflective of the love of God than the term ‘Though Adjuster’, or ‘Mystery Monitor’ – although I can see that these names do describe the functioning and nature of these Divine Gifts – which are no doubt useful for the more scientific types of this mechanistic age – but the name doesn’t quite gel with me yet. I may get over it, however, seeing that the words ‘Divine Gift’ are good enough for your order, then they are good enough for me, as an early-stage mortal having a crack at getting my head around the whole Ascension Plan – and all the other things shared in these Urantia Paper-Revelation to which you have relatively recently contributed.
On another note, I was fascinated by the last short paragraph (almost a footnote) in Paper 107? And I quote:
There are no created beings that would not delight to be hosts of Mystery Monitors, but no orders of beings are thus indwelt excepting evolutionary will creatures of finality destination. 108:7.7 (p. 1184.23)
I am encouraged by this Sol. I have occasionally felt that my status as a lowly mortal, is an annoying handicap, when compared with beings like you. However, the idea that being a genuine, full-on, card-carrying agondonter is desirable to other orders of being, is really, really interesting, and makes me feel good about my struggling-self. So, your comment is an inspiration, which helps me to focus on my faith, when things don’t feel so good, and disappointments loom large. Initially I was cheeky enough to write the following to you. I might not write it now that I have read all your papers – but here it is anyway:
Okay Sol,
Do I detect a smidgeon of jealousy, in this mini-footnote at the end of Paper 107? Could it be true that high-end beings like yourself, actually miss out on something important by not having a ‘Divine Gift?
Well, there is nothing I can do about that Sol, you’ll just have to live with it. Get over it; it is what it is – two well-known one-liners down here these days. When you feel some FOMO (that’s ‘Fear Of Missing Out’ – in case you hadn’t caught up with that), just think about the downside of being a human being only recently getting started, and still partially an animal – it’s really annoying, believe me Sol!
I’m getting used to the idea of not bucking the divine system and order of God’s Plan. Lucifer’s bogus ‘freedom for men and angels’ sure did put a spanner in the works of my early life – and still tosses me about sometimes. Lucifer, and those who took up the spurious call of sophistry, have sure messed up many of the baby bomber generation and beyond – and I haven’t fully snapped out of it yet – even with the help of your paper and The Urantia Book – and a perfect Divine Gift.
So just be happy with who you are and don’t complain to me about it… only joking.
I hope to meet you one day Sol and discuss this issue. Might be a while, but hopefully we will both remember my annoying letter to you.
Cheers for now,
Stephen John Carthew
Having had these imaginary, and informal one-way conversations with these two higher-being-authors – Mel and Sol – has made my reading of The Urantia Book more engaging, and at times even humorous, at least to me – and I hope for Mel and Sol too – if it is ever cc’d to them. While I well know it is all a bit outrageous, I think this approach has helped me to absorb aspects of the teachings of the Thought Adjuster papers, which I may not have been able to access if I were too serious about it all, and ignored my intuitive and creative ideas and impulses which came to me while endeavouring to find meaningful and experiential ways of relating to the concepts presented in these papers.
I hope to find out one day if it has been worthwhile. I’m not holding my breath. I guess neither the anonymous Melchizedek of Nebadon, or the (also anonymous) Solitary Messenger of Orvonton would want every random readerof The Urantia Book harassing them over their contributions made about a hundred years ago.
By the way, I have to tell you, the reader, I will be happy to apologise formally to them, if someone, either here or hereafter, reveals to me that the kind of informal conversing with the ‘higher-ups’ is inappropriate. For me at this point, frank conversations make sense; for having worked out a level of frustration, I gradually worked towards a more serious approach.
Paper 108 ‘Mission and Ministry of Thought Adjusters’ (p. 1185)
Here are a few samples of what I wrote above and in the margins of Paper 108, as I tried to personalise the content into what it all meant for me – and by extension ‘you’ the listener, and now reader… and ‘us’ mortals generally:
Q: ‘What are Adjusters good for? What are they trying to do? How are they trying to do it?’ What is their main work and reason for being? Without answering these questions individually or definitively, here is my take on the two introductory paragraphs couched in the first person:
The Divine Gift within me, acts for, and represents the Universal Father to me – a simple person of time and space. This is their main work and reason for being. In addition, their mission is to elevate my mind and take me on to spiritual perfection in Paradise – if I am up for it… and I do want to give it my best shot… well, most of the time. There is a long way to go though, and I do stuff up more than occasionally. Anyway, let’s not go there at the moment. This isn’t about my stuff ups.
While transforming me from a creature of clay to an eternal finaliter, these Adjusters bring into existence something much more than me as I am now. They create a unique being – an eternal union of a perfect fragment of God and a perfected lump of clay – that’s the me of the future. Me – the creature – fuses with the creator of me – The Father – and this fusion can’t be done any other way. So, a big thanks to my Divine Gift for sticking with me so far.
Nothing in the whole universe can substitute for my own experience. It is becoming clear to me that God is wholly, completely, and infinitely inclusive of everything except evil, and my own personal experience. And my God Fragment really wants what I have: Not the evil, but the experience. What I want is heavenly help to become more Father-like.
God never does wrong. However, God can’t know what God hasn’t experienced: my freewill experience. So, my ultimate Parent descends from Paradise to live inside me, partly to experience every useful experience of my (hopefully) ascending career. I suspect he looks sideways when I get it wrong, wrong, wrong, and then picks me up again when I correct myself. He invariably guides me when I ask sincerely for direction. But he doesn’t make clear objections when I decide on experiences that don’t progress my soul. In some ways I wish he did insist; but this would not have been my own free choice – so I get why he just lets me go on my merry way until I ain’t merry anymore and ask for forgiveness – and I get back on track.
Anyway, via this genuinely liberating and compassionate method, God becomes my experiential Father. In a much, much, much more remarkable manner, the eternal God encompasses and embraces the potential for finite experience which my life represents. And so it is that a fragment of God – my Heavenly Helper – through such ministry to me, shares my life’s problems and helps me to adjust to the many challenges of being human. I look forward to becoming a fully accredited partner with my Divine Gift.
I know it is up to me as to when I get to be fused with my Divine Gift. To be honest, I am not holding my breath. Having said this, I know we can become one. This seems to be an important element of true ‘faith’ – much, much, much more than mere belief in such a concept.
There are a number of other notes in the margins of this paper – too many to cite; but on
p. 1189 – a fascinating page, which includes Tabamantia’sacknowledgment of the Mystery Monitors, I colloquialised this magnificent, quoted statement in the following way:
Volunteering to indwell such a rag-tag mob of mortal bodgies and widgies is a an exceptionally selfless task. Resisting the temptation of interfering in their unbelievably stupid free-will decisions, makes these Mystery Monitors even more amazing. This is the OMG of all OMGs.
The real Urantia Book version is such a beautiful and touching acknowledgment, I need to quote a taste of it after my all-too-human colloquial version: “You are marvelous beings, exquisitely selfless guardians of the good in the souls of this backward realm.’ (It is worthwhile reading this whole acknowledgment again if you haven’t read it for a while (see page 1189, 2nd Paragraph)
The Adjusters Mission, on the bottom of p.1191:
The Divine Gifts are not our ‘thought helpers’; they rather adjust our own thinking and spiritualise our minds making us ready for a new world. They prepare us for our future in the present. They are not keen to make our life easy; on the contrary, they want to make it reasonably rugged so that our decisions are stimulated and multiplied and our thinking is strenuous. All the while these Divine Indwellers can gift us a sublime peace of mind and a superb tranquillity of spirit.
It is hard not to quote the exact words that this Solitary Messenger uses when he says something so “simply complicated”. A term Dolly Parton used when explaining her songwriting approach in regard to her song ‘The Coat of Many Colours’ which she said, “had enough depth to be appreciated and enough simplicity to be understood” – a wedding of the deeply personal and the universal.
There is so much on p. 1192 about these ‘Supernal Gifts’ and ‘Perfect Guides’ which I found highly inspirational, even though Sol admits that he is unable to explain to us what these do in our minds and for our souls. In other words, he says he really doesn’t know exactly what is going on ‘in the cosmic association of a divine Monitor and a human mind.’ But this doesn’t deter him from having a crack at giving an explication of this subject rather than a general explanation of it.By admitting to the mystery – ‘not as to plan and purpose but as to the actual accomplishment’ – Sol was able to draw me into his confidence, and I could better understand why it was so difficult for him and his mates to find ‘an appropriate name for these supernal gifts to mortal men’. And Sol just gave me another noun for my own Marvelous Monitor too: My ‘Supernal Gift’. (3rd paragraph on page 1192). The next paragraph suggests that our Supernal Gift would love to change our ‘feelings of fear to convictions of love and confidence’ – but that is largely our job. Yet, if we supply a ‘psychic fulcrum’ the Adjuster can apply a ‘spiritual lever’ to uplift, advance and illuminate us.
I found it hard to stop myself from having a go at sharing my notes on each paragraph on these pages, however I will focus on the following:
Here is the verbatim last paragraph of Paper 108: Section 6, ‘God in Man’ on page 1194). It inspired some writing I will share directly after the quote:
You humans have begun an endless unfolding of an almost infinite panorama, a limitless expanding of never-ending, ever-widening spheres of opportunity for exhilarating service, matchless adventure, sublime uncertainty, and boundless attainment. When the clouds gather overhead, your faith should accept the fact of the presence of the indwelling Adjuster, and thus you should be able to look beyond the mists of mortal uncertainty into the clear shining of the sun of eternal righteousness on the beckoning heights of the mansion worlds of Satania. 108.6.8 (1194.1)
Okay. I thought to myself how could I make this sublime, yet practical teaching my own? This was my question to myself. My attempt at making it more real to me involved the creation of a long Affirmation of Faith. Here it is:
An Affirmation about My Heavenly Helper and Me
I have begun an almost infinite universe pilgrimage; one which opens to an ever-expanding eternal life of boundless possibilities for enjoyable opportunities and exhilarating service, full of incredible adventures. And while always underscored by uncertainty, my life is yet packed with accomplishments, which are both meaningful and fulfilling for my ever-growing soul.
In the hard times of depression and despair, when the clouds seem thick and dark, my faith in God keeps me awake to the indwelling presence of my own mysterious but personal Divine Gift – my own inner-spiritual friend, who can and does, adjust my thoughts and monitor my mind, to enable me to see beyond and above the world’s material and mental smog. So I to see my bright future, lit by the shining sun of eternal truth, beauty and goodness, as personified in the Son of Man and Son of God: Jesus of Nazareth, who lived on our planet, so that I, and all my brothers and sisters, can imagine ourselves into a future of perfection; and as ‘Finaliters’, to visit the Isle of Paradise – the ultimate destination of the universal pilgrimage:
The Ascension Plan
By following the still small voice of my inner Heavenly Helper, I look forward to each new day, to do the Father’s will and to know the joy that he loves every one of us. I am encouraged to be cheerful in all the work I do – both my worldly work, and in specific service to others – and to know that my next life, as an ever-evolving soul, is certain and promising; so that nothing really phases me here on Earth.
My faith remains strong in any of the world’s storms, because I can and do see above and beyond these storms which take place in worldly teacups. This is especially so, when I converse with my mysterious God Fragment who lives within me, and is wanting to fuse with me, as soon as I am truly up for it. I try to make myself fit for such fusion – even though I so often forget my ultimate goal and purpose. But I don’t want to end this affirmation by bringing up my inevitable failures. So, I won’t. Rather, I will affirm that:
“I am sure I will eventually be successful in becoming who I know I can become:
a cosmic partner with the God who lives inside me today – even as I am.
I am free to do the Fathers Will today.
It is My Will that Thy Will be done.
While I recognise that this affirmation is quite a mouthful, I also know it is a worthwhile faith-goal. Turning the teachings of these created beings, into the first person, as affirmations of the kind of faith we desire to have, may add personal immediacy to the study of these wonderful teachings about our Divine Gift. I have found the process rewarding.
I adjusted the title of Paper 109 from ‘Relation of Adjusters to Universe Creatures’. To ‘The Relationship of Heavenly Helpers to Universe Personalities’ (Page 1202).
Here is my response to this whole paper:
These Divine Gifts are clearly amazing. So amazing it is hard for me to comprehend just how amazing it is to have one within my own mind – quietly adjusting and monitoring my thinking; helping me to be a better me than I was yesterday.
So, I give thanks to you my Divine Gift and declare my intention to follow your leading – as my own special and Mysterious Divine Helper. Reading about you in these Thought Adjuster Papers has made me more alive to your presence within me, expanding my understanding of the idea of the ‘God within’; and exponentially increasing me comprehension of ‘God within every man’, a term which the Quakers first taught me nearly 57 years ago. Having you – a dedicated Fragment of God within me – and needing me – for the experience of ‘personality’, gives me more confidence in my own ancestral heritage and personal endowments. So, I want to thank you too, Solitary Messenger of Orvonton for helping me to get a better grasp of the great truth of the God who lives inside me.
To make the title of Paper 110 (Page 1203) less formal and more personal,I adjusted the title from ‘Relation of Adjusters to Individual Mortals’, tothis: ‘The Relationship of the Divine Gifts to us Ordinary People’.
This has become a very important paper for me, for it shares a number of alternative names for the Thought Adjuster that lives within the normal human mind: What follows, could be seen as a list of the alternative descriptors which have been given to us to help us in our relationship with our Divine Gift. I have created an asking prayer, or prayer of petition, in which I have capitalised the descriptors turning them into Nouns – using many of the terms used to describe My God within me- OMG:
OMG: Oh My God
Oh My Gods, I call upon you my Heavenly Helper, to take me safely inward and upward to the celestial haven of happiness.
I thank you my Tireless Toiler, for encouraging me to peruse truth and long for everlasting life.
I appreciate you my Watchful Worker, as you help me navigate my soul away from the shoals of evil, towards the eternal shores of perfection.
May my soul hear you my Loving Leader, andI thank you for wanting to guide me through the dark and uncertain maize of my earthly life.
I want to listen to you my Patient Teacher, who urges me forward on the path of progressive perfection.
I really thank you my Careful Custodian, for awakening me to the sublime values of my better self; and I ask you to show me what is morally right and true and appropriate in my life.
Please excuse me my Divine Indweller, I wish I could love you more and cooperate with you more fully, so as to cherish you more affectionately.
Help me as a soul my own Marvelous Gift from God, to be wise and strong enough to avoid the physical and mental pollutants of life – so that you are free to guide me on my eternal path to Paradise.
Inspire me in my courtship with you my Beloved Mysterios Monitor, so that I prove myself faithful in the trust you have in me, so that the never-ending blending of identity – you and me – becomes so intertwined that no one in the universe can see the difference between us as fusion partners.
Please assist me in my relationship with you my Supernal Gift, I know fusion is a little way off, and I shouldn’t get too overexcited right now, to become puffed up, discouraged, or annoyingly impatient with the time it is taking to fuse with you.
Anyway, thank you Thought Adjuster, Divine Gift, Heavenly Helper, Tireless Toiler, Watchful Worker, Loving Leader, Patient Teacher, Careful Custodian, Divine Indweller, and Marvelous Gift of God for the life we are sharing in our courting days – with you as my Beloved Mysterious Monitor, Supernal Gift and Perfect Guide. Please keep encouraging me to continuously affirm:
“Oh My God, it is my will that your will be done.
Having created this prayer, I thought: “OMG! Can I really do this?” I realised that the popular term OMG – ‘Oh My God’ – took on a whole new meaning! Can I live up to such prayers which I have made? I hope and pray that I will. Without vision people like me perish. So that’s essence of my sharing regarding the Thought Adjuster Papers at the 2025 ANZURA Conference.
End Part 1