© 1985 Kathleen A. Friedel
© 1985 The Urantia Book Fellowship (formerly Urantia Brotherhood)
I would like to direct your attention to a word. The word is “partnership”-partnership as found in several places in The URANTIA Book:
“In the beginning the Father does all, but as the panorama of eternity unfolds in response to the will and mandates of the Infinite, it becomes increasingly apparent that creatures, even men, are to become God’s partners in the realization of finality of destiny. And this is true even in the life in the flesh; when man and God enter into partnership, no limitation can be placed upon the future possibilities of such a partnership.” (UB 118:5.2)
“God, having commanded man to be perfect, even as he is perfect, has descended as the Adjuster to become man’s experiential partner in the achievement of the supernal destiny which has been thus ordained.” (UB 107:0.3)
“With the Son and in the Spirit did God project eternal Havona, and ever since has there obtained the eternal pattern of co-ordinate participation in creation — sharing. This pattern of sharing is the master design for every one of the Sons and Daughters of God who go out into space to engage in the attempt to duplicate in time the central universe of eternal perfection.” (UB 54:2.1)
“Every creature of every evolving universe who aspires to do the Father’s will is destined to become the partner of the time-space Creators in this magnificent adventure of experiential perfection attainment. Were this not true, the Father would have hardly endowed such creatures with creative free will, neither would he indwell them, actually go into partnership with them by means of his own spirit.” (UB 54:2.2)
“In short, what God [had] given men and angels…[is] the divine privilege of participating in the creation of their own destinies and of the destiny of this local system of inhabited worlds.” (UB 54:2.4)
Why “partnership”? Because it seems to me that this concept goes a long way toward explaining why we have this revelation-even why it begins with the Universal Father!
After all, how does one explain why we have this new revelation? One would think — and certainly Christians, for example, think — that the incarnation and revelation two thousand years ago of the Creator Son himself as Jesus of Nazareth would be for all time; that it could not be improved upon — so to speak! Yet here we have The URANTIA Book described in Paper 92 as the fifth revelation of epochal significance.
Now I think that one reason for this revelation is to promote this idea of partnership with God which hinges on the fact of the Universal Father’s indwelling presence, the Thought Adjuster. I feel this is one of the purposes of the papers because, as I see it, the sharpest difference between The URANTIA Book and the New Testament is a clear concept of the Father’s indwelling spirit. Now while it is true that this concept is in the New Testament (for example, 1 Corinthians 3:16: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”), it has been so attenuated through the years, and confused with the Holy Spirit, the Creative Mother Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, and the Spirit of Truth, that its power as a liberating concept and a personal experience for each and every one of us individually has all but been lost.
I have come to the conclusion that a re-introduction, a re-revelation, of the truth that we are planetary sons and daughters of God in partnership with him through the presence of his Adjuster is the goal (or at least one of the goals) of this revelation. It is stated in Paper 102 (where evolutionary religion is being contrasted with revelation) that “…revelation glorifies man and discloses his capacity for partnership with God.” (UB 102:3.7) And further, this disclosure of sonship and partnership is consistent with other statements made in The URANTIA Papers which explain that a primary purpose of all epochal revelation is to reveal, enlarge, expand our ideas, concepts, and understanding of the Paradise Father. A Divine Counselor says, “The idea of the personality of the Universal Father is an enlarged and truer concept of God which has come to mankind chiefly through revelation.” (UB 1:5.10)
“All our efforts to enlarge the human concept of God would be well-nigh futile except for the fact that the mortal mind is indwelt by the bestowed Adjuster of the Universal Father and is pervaded by the Truth Spirit of the Creator Son. Depending, therefore, on the presence of these divine spirits within the heart of man for assistance in the enlargement of the concept of God, I cheerfully undertake the execution of my mandate to attempt the further portrayal of the nature of God to the mind of man.” (UB 2:0.3)
Similarly Immanuel explains that Jesus’ mission was to reveal the Father:
“‘Your great mission to be realized and experienced in the mortal incarnation is embraced in your decision to live a life wholeheartedly motivated to do the will of your Paradise Father, thus to reveal God, your Father, in the flesh and especially to the creatures of the flesh.’” (UB 120:2.8)
The midwayers state that “… the supreme spiritual purpose of the Michael bestowal was to enhance the revelation of God.” (UB 120:4.4)
And on page 1343 this revelation is actually characterized as a “restatement” of Jesus’ life and teachingwhich was the good news that men and women are the sons and daughters of the Universal Father and in partnership with him through his indwelling spirit presence.
Jesus himself declares that “… we will … shortly begin the bold proclamation of a new religion-a religion which is not a religion in the present-day meaning of that word, a religion that makes its chief appeal to the divine spirit of my Father which resides in the mind of man…” (UB 155:5.12)
And further on Jesus’ mission is characterized as the “…proclamation of a new religion, the religion of the spirit of the living God who dwells in the minds of men.” (UB 156:6.10)
In light of the preceding statements I feel that it is precisely the need to expand our understanding of the Universal Father and re-reveal the truth of his spirit indwelling that The URANTIA Book opens with the five papers on the Universal Father. For it is the truth of his fathership, our son-and daughtership, and his indwelling presence, the truth of our divine-human partnership, and the power of this truth that liberates us (see UB 101:10.4) and further, renders us more competent (see UB 140:8.18) to solve our own political, social, and economic problems.
—Kathleen A. Friedel
Toledo, Ohio