CHAPTER 31

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In a document dated April, 1996, Carolyn Kendall, former receptionist to William Sadler, wife to Tom Kendall, who was President of the Urantia Foundation Board of Trustees from 1963 to 1983, and daughter of Clarence Bowman, pioneer Forum member, provided her views of the history of the Urantia organizations, some background on the origins of the Revelation, and authority for policies which were adopted by Sadler and the later Board of Trustees.
She offered the following facts about herself:

About the author: the daughter of Forum member, Clarence N. Bowman, (1923-1956); joined the Forum in 1951; employed by William S. Sadler, M.D., 1952-1954, and 1957; charter member of First Urantia Society, 1956-1961; founding member of Orvonton Urantia Society, 1961-1977; rejoined First Society, 1977 to present (president, 1989-1993); served on General Council, 1976-1985, chairman, Fraternal Relations Committee, 1977-1982; vice-president, Urantia Brotherhood, 1982-1985; member of Foreign Extension (now IFC), Domestic Extension and Publications Committees, the wife of Thomas A. Kendall, trustee of Urantia Foundation, 1963-1983 (president 1973-1983); currently employed part-time by The Fellowship.

You will note that she made claim to be a member of the Forum, but the Forum, as a genetic body, was nonexistent in 1951. Many individuals who came into the Urantia group after 1942, and before creation of the Urantia Brotherhood coincident with publication of the Papers in 1955, claimed to be members of the Forum, but the claim was misleading. See Carolyn’s Note 7 below.

She entitled her document:

THE PLAN FOR THE URANTIA BOOK REVELATION

I offer that document here, for record purposes, and to show how many individuals, including Sadler, were influenced by “instructions” from evil sources. The document enlightens our understanding of the evil influence which crept into 533 after Lena’s death, and the cause of the corruption of the Revelation.

Carolyn’s information is uniquely important because it offers insight into how information was relayed from the Contact Commission members to intimates at 533, and how the evil was prosecuted.

Carolyn’s information is uniquely important also for she has the diary her father wrote during the period from 1923, the earliest date of the Forum, through the actual Revelation in 1935. Carolyn has refused to make public hard data on the dates and entries from her father. Therefore, it is not possible to separate information from that unique source, and Carolyn’s interpretation of that information.

Carolyn tells the story of how her father informed Bill Sadler of his diary, and how Bill urgently instructed him not to keep record of the Forum events. Clarence Bowman then used ink eradicator to blot out those entries. Many years later the eradicator faded, leaving the original ink entries visible for Carolyn to read.

In perusal of Carolyn’s document we encounter difficulty in separating her thoughts and ideas from true instructions, (from the actual Revelators), from false instructions, (from Caligastia), from anecdotal information, from opinions from the Contact Commissioners, and so on. The opinions of the Contact Commissioners were generally regarded as infallible truth. She always shows quotations marks around her authorities, but her comments are often intimately interwoven with her sources.

She numbers her reference citations, which can be found at the end of this analysis.

Remember that her conclusions are strictly her opinions.

The headings are hers, from her document.

INTRODUCTION

We are told in The Urantia Book that revelators came to earth on missions and for specific purposes. There was an ordained plan for how each bestowal son would carry out his program of upstepping evolutionary life and imparting new spiritual truth.

Carolyn’s reference is to passages in the Urantia Papers which describe the various dispensations of the earth, and the divine beings (bestowal sons) who administer those dispensations.

There was a master plan for The Urantia Book, and I believe it is still in operation. Its features were specific. They guided the content, the quality, the publishing, and the protection of the Fifth Epochal Revelation. It decreed the establishment and the function of Urantia Foundation and Urantia Brotherhood. The constitution of Urantia Brotherhood was approved by the highest planetary authority. The relationship between the Foundation and the Brotherhood was prescribed. This feature of the plan is where I believe the guidance was not followed, and where subsequent problems arose to bedevil both Foundation and Brotherhood.

As we read further on, we will find that Carolyn bases these premises on various instructions, true and false. Little did Carolyn realize the literal accuracy of her use of the word “bedevil.”

The plan was conveyed by the revelatory providers to the contact commissioners, who shared it with the groups known as the Seventy and the Forum. The commissioners had latitude to share elements of the plan with later arriving persons perceived to have leadership potential. The original messages which outlined the plan were not published as part of the revelation and would eventually be destroyed. The former Forum members who became Brotherhood leaders and Foundation trustees carried on knowledge of how the revelation was to progress. However, because of the recent schism, discontinuity occurred in the transmittal of information.

Nowhere in her document does Carolyn distinguish between instructions received prior to 1939, and those received after. Furthermore, the false instruction were channeled through Christy, a key member of the Contact Commission. Therefore, origins were thoroughly confused in everyone’s mind. The Sadler’s, the Kellogg’s, and Christy all accepted Christy’s channeling as valid.

Sadler had two criteria for judging channeling and channeled materials:

a) they were either of psychological origin, in the subconscious, (marginal consciousness), or

b) they were fraudulent, consciously created by persons who were trying to deceive others.

He did not admit to evil spirits as the origin of such productions. Although he admitted to spirit communications, (after all, he was in the thick of it from first-hand experience), he never reached the insight to recognize that real transmissions were taking place from malevolent spirit beings through the minds of human mortals. He just did not believe the Devil had such power. His acceptance of Christy’s “communicat ions were based on these premises:

a) He knew Christy was not psychologically confused to create foolishness in her subconscious.

b) He also knew she was not fraudulent.

Therefore, when she came with messages he did not reject that material. He probably viewed it as part of an ongoing process. He may have felt that the Revelators had merely resorted to a different technique. Perhaps he did carefully distinguish between communications through human mind, and the manipulation of the muscles and voice of SS by the midwayers. The difference was crucial.

We should understand the environment at 533. For more than thirty years Sadler had been dealing with strange events. SS would speak unexpectedly in the middle of the night, causing his wife to call Sadler. He would write if a pencil were placed in his hands and requested to do so, completely in his sleep. Large masses of writing appeared mysteriously in his home. The actual Revelation appeared mysteriously out of nowhere. World War II was imminent; the Revelation had been delayed. SS was no longer active. Lena was no longer present with her wise counsel. Sadler may have felt a great loss. He may have desired direct communications and instructions. He may have longed for counsel and help. Many conversations certainly took place among the insiders at 533 on the best path of action.

He was uncertain and confused. He really did not know what to do.

The decisions were taken out of his hand. Christy came to his rescue. Unaware of what she was doing, she sat down at her famous typewriter and sought help. She opened her mind to the “midwayers.” She got much more than she, or Sadler, or anyone else, bargained for.

When Christy channeled she received messages typed out on her typewriter through “automatic writing.” Was that any different from the Sleeping Subject? Not in her eyes, and probably not in the eyes of Sadler. Voices were then heard coming from the air. What more did Sadler, Christy, Bill Sadler, and the Kelloggs need to convince them of the authenticity of the communications?

The creation of visual images and audible speech is prevalent in the “spiritualist” community. See my examination of the Marcus Bach experience, and my other presentations on Spirit Entry Into Human Mind. The Devil, as the source of that phenomenon at 533, could then pretend to be a midwayer speaking audibly with them. Prior to 1939 Sadler never heard audible voices from thin air. Now he did.

What could Sadler do? He was caught in that morass, without the mental perception to delineate the difference. He was forced to accept those materials, although he may have held serious reservations about them. He was indeed caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. This was the reason he became so irascible after Lena’s death. Christy began spiritualist adventures. The text of the Great Revelation was altered. Sadler had an intuitive sense that something was wrong but never came to grips with it.

The plan was never presented as a 1-2-3 listing of do’s and don’t’s. If one is discerning, facets of the plan will emerge, just as they dawned upon each Forum member and Brotherhood leader. As was true in past revelations, in the realm of revelatory planning, timing is everything.

The “plan,” of course, was the new direction under the management of no less a personality than Caligastia himself.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE URANTIA PAPERS

The revelators began planning the content of the Urantia Papers in the Middle Ages. It was instigated and approved by Michael himself — the Word made Book. Though neither a bestowal nor emergency mission, The Urantia Book is both a remedial and upstepping enterprise, an array of resident and visiting celestial beings were conscripted for service to the revelatory undertaking. The celestial beings functioned as invisible behind-the-scenes directors to the contact commissioner, the dependable human facilitators who carried the project to completion.

The idea that the content of the Urantia Papers began in the Middle Ages may have been part of the diversion of Caligastia, or it may have been wild imagination, part of the myths which developed strictly out of human minds at 533. It shows a gross inability to recognize planetary destiny developed over eons of time. The statement that —

“no comprehensive plan for far-reaching world welfare was promulgated to the mortals of earth until the arrival of Machiventa Melchizedek, in the times of Abraham, who, with the power, patience, and authority of a Son of God, did lay the foundations for the further uplift and spiritual rehabilitation of unfortunate Urantia,”

— page 853, certainly is a specific indication that the plans for this world extend over far reaches of time, and that the timing of the Urantia Revelation can be understood only within that context.

The phrase “the Word made Book” is pure Devil talk. By these simple phrases he denigrates our Creator. The “Word,” of course, is a silent but suggestive reference to the use of “Word” in John’s Gospel.

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Now the Devil would make our Creator, the Word, into a book. How repulsive!

While Carolyn states that the Revelation came under the auspices of our Creator, she interprets this phrase as the Creator creating the book.

Nowhere in the Revelation does it say that Michael was directly involved in the creation of the Revelation. Assignment is to various divine commissions:

“the accompanying papers dealing with Deity and the universe of universes . . . have been formulated by an Orvonton commission sent to Urantia for this purpose,”

“sponsored as a group by a commission of Nebadon personalities,”

“sponsored by a commission of twelve Urantia midwayers,”

“I, the Melchizedek director of the revelatory commission intrusted with this task,”

are all phrases indicative of the celestial personalities involved in the revelation task.

However, a clear statement shows that nothing occurs on this planet without the express consent and approval of our Creator:

“a Michael-bestowal world becomes the individual and personal ward of a Master Son and, as such, is wholly subject to his own plans and rulings.”

The first Urantia paper was read to the Forum on January 18, 1925. This paper consisted of answers supplied by ABC, the midwayer, to 181 written questions pertaining to Deity and the cosmos. These questions were compiled from hundreds of questions which had been solicited from the Forum in December 1924 by the revelators. The questions were sorted, classified and duplicates discarded. Questions were then presented to the Revelatory Commission. More questions and more papers followed. Altogether 57 papers comprised the first series and consisted of at least 1700 typewritten pages. This period lasted until 1929.(See Backnotes: (1.1)) & (4.1)

These dates are unverified in any other source known to me. Carolyn obviously obtained them from her father’s diary. They are exceptionally helpful to tell us how rapidly the Revelation was appearing. We should remember that these Papers were not the actual Revelation, but precursors to the Revelation. We do not have evidence to show how closely the content of the precursor Papers were parallel with the actual Papers given in 1934. We also don’t know how many additional precursor Papers were given between 1929 and 1934. Carolyn’s following remark is not helpful to determine these facts.

The first 57 papers were further expanded through the asking of more questions by the Forum. “The first three parts were completed and certified to us in A.D. 1934. The Jesus Papers were not so delivered to us until 1935.” (1.1) This second series, plus the Jesus Papers, totaled about 4,500 typewritten pages.

4,500 typewritten pages is about nine reams of 8 ½ X 11 paper, or about one carton according to paper vendor packing methods.

Important Note: Carolyn distinguishes the actual Revelation as the “second series.” The first series were the precursor Papers. The “third series” was the corrupted text.

(4.1) The Forum was then invited to review the 196 papers and “ask questions concerning clarification of concepts and the removal of ambiguities.” “During this period very little new information was imparted. Only minor changes were made in any of the Papers. Some matter was added — some removed — but there was little revision or amplification of the text.”(1.1)

This is the point at which corruption entered.

This comment is from the “History” document. We do not know if Carolyn had independent sources to provide this evidence. This is also the comment Matthew Block uses to justify the changes he believes were made to the Revelation after 1935.

The original papers were received in English in the handwriting of the unidentified contact personality. (1.2) & (2.1) The handwritten papers were never seen by the Forum. (4.2) Each was typewritten on an Underwood upright typewriter. The papers were typed at least three times. (3.1)

Carolyn here fails to distinguish the earlier Papers in the handwriting of SS, and from the actual Revelation in an unknown handwriting. She cites Christy. Christy may never have stated the difference.

THE “CONTACT PERSONALITY”

Regarding the human subject: “His was an exemplary and inspiring life else he would not have been chosen for such an important task by the Revelatory Commission.”(3.2) “We were enjoined to refrain from discussing the identity of the Contact Personality and, after the publication of the Book, to make no statement at any time as to whether the ‘subject’ was still living or was deceased.” (1.1) “The human subject was necessary for any written communications and for the Urantia Papers.”(1.2)

The phrase “exemplary and inspiring life” is sheer hogwash. Christy fabricated this picture, to elevate the status of SS. This remark should be contrasted to the remarks from William and Bill Sadler to a “hard-nosed businessman” “who didn’t believe in that nonsense.”

The last remark is curious because it suggests that the process of the actual Revelation involved SS. It contradicts the anecdotal accounts of Papers appearing in bank boxes, or mysteriously appearing in Sadler’s office. The remark pertains to both the precursor Papers, and the “second series” of the actual Revelation. If so, all Papers appeared mysteriously in the home of SS while he was asleep, both the precursor Papers and the actual Revelation.

FUNCTIONING OF THE CONTACT COMMISSIONERS

“The individuals charged with the responsibility of gathering up the questions and comparing the typewritten text with the original handwritten manuscript came to be known as the “Contact Commissioners” [O]nly these Contact Commissioners attended ‘contacts’ and received written communications through the contact personality.” (1.1) The Commissioners were the custodians of the Urantia Manuscript, keeping the carbon copy of the typewritten transcript in a fireproof vault. They were also charged with full responsibility for supervising all the details connected with the publication of the Book, securing the international copyrights, etc. “The Papers were published just as we received them. The Contact Commissioners had no editorial authority. Our job was limited to ‘spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.'” (1.1) During these early years the Contact Commissioners received many communications and directives in writing.” … “Between 1939 and 1955 eight written communications were given to the Seventy by the Seraphim of Progress attached to the Superhuman Planetary Government of Urantia.” (1.1) The last new written communication was read to the Forum in 1952. (see below) (8.1) “Almost all of these messages had a notation at the bottom of the last page which read: “To be destroyed by fire not later than the appearance of the Urantia Papers in print.’ It was the design of our unseen friends to prevent the appearance of an ‘Urantia Apocrypha’ subsequent to the publication of The Urantia Book. (1.1) Dr. Sadler and Christy were permitted to retain several of the communications after publication, but she was required to destroy them before her death. (3.1) In 1982 during her final illness Christy directed their destruction by two trusted associates. (9.1)

The comment: “[O]nly these Contact Commissioners attended ‘contacts’ and received written communications through the contact personality” is from the History document. Prior to 1939 communications were strictly through writing. “Audible” communications began after 1939, with Christy’s channeling.

Note that Carolyn cites no authority for “securing the international copyrights, etc.” This instruction came through Christy’s channeling and was not quoted by William Sadler or Bill Sadler, Jr. as authority, although they relied on it for later policies.

The remark, “”Between 1939 and 1955 eight written communications were given to the Seventy by the Seraphim of Progress attached to the Superhuman Planetary Government of Urantia,” is cited by Carolyn as part of the “History” document, but this statement is not in any version of the “History” document known to us. She is here confusing two sources, the earlier written instructions, and the later channeled instructions. Her entire presentation displays a lack of recognition about the two different methods of communication.

This comment is highly important. It confirms my deduction that changes to the text did not begin until 1939. This was the beginning of the deception of Sadler through Christy. That corruption came from the “instructions” through the mind of Christy.

It is highly probable that Sadler was unaware of later “instructions” “received” by Christy, and that some came after his death. Carolyn stated in public presentation in Montreal in 1993 that Christy continued to receive “instructions” through the 1970’s, at least ten years after Sadler died. She confirms these late dates in the remark below.

The statement, “Seraphim of Progress attached to the Superhuman Planetary Government of Urantia,” was an invention of Caligastia to provide authority for his “instructions” and “directions.” We will see other aspects of this sham authority in the balance of Carolyn’s document.

The presence of the contact personality was not required for verbal contacts between the Revelatory Commission or the successor Midwayer Commission and Contact Commissioners. The verbal contacts which had begun twenty years before the papers appeared, continued into the early 1980s. (1.2 & 1.3) “The midwayers were very real to us — we frequently talked with them during our varied ‘contacts.’ We quite fully understood that the secondary midwayers supervised the contacts.” (1.1) Once when asked why words unique to The Urantia Book were pronounced in a certain way, Dr. Sadler answered, “We heard some of them spoken.” Verbal contacts have not been reestablished since the demise of the last contact commissioner. (9.1) & (9.2)

This is one of the most revealing remarks we have available concerning Caligastia communications, and the corruption of the Revelation.

In my notes on the “History” document I raised the concern about the form of the “verbal” contacts. There I expressed doubt that the communications were audible through the air. When I prepared those remarks I was unwilling to admit that channeling was taking place at 533, or that Caligastia had inveigled himself into those environs. Since that time I have become convinced that, indeed, Christy was engaged in such nefarious machinations. Earlier above I indicated how those “verbal” communications can take place. A human channeler must be present before audible communications are possible. If Sadler and other members of the Contact Commission heard voices, Christy was at that moment in a trance state.

Carolyn is clearly confused about the form of the “verbal” contacts. She may have been led into this confusion by Christy. Even Christy was not present until 1923, some fifteen years after the onset of the revelation process. Later, when she began to channel, Christy may have felt that written “verbal” transmissions, and audible “verbal” transmissions were equivalent.

The “successor midwayer commission” is a more precise indicator of the sham by Caligastia to take over the revelation activities after Lena’s death. This new “administration” was created by the Devil to begin control of the Revelation.

Note that Carolyn states the “contact personality” was not required for these “verbal” communications. Of course, she refers to the later audible communications. In other words, some other mechanism of communication was used. The Devil had taken over, and SS was no longer necessary.

Matthew Block’s work opened to me the possibility of corruption taking place at 533. He caused me to examine sources more carefully, and to collate the information that was available to us. Carolyn Kendall has contributed immeasurably to this investigation, but she did not have a glimmer of how her document would confirm our suspicions of the corruption at 533. Her unquestioned faith in Christy opened this window for us.

The confusion over all of this information was the failure to distinguish between the form of communications prior to 1939, and that after. The earlier communications were strictly through writing; thus the remarks about written communications. The later communications were through both writing and audible mechanisms. The former writing was produced by midwayer control of the muscles of SS, or materialized directly on paper. The later writing was “automatic,” produced by Christy during her channeling sessions. The audible was those “voices” created by Caligastia when he had Christy’s mind under his control.

THE DELAY IN PUBLISHING THE URANTIA BOOK

Had not World War II occurred, the book might have been published in 1940 or 1941. It was assumed that when the war concluded, permission would be granted to publish The Urantia Book. (4.2) The war was barely over in 1945 when a new menace arose that postponed the dream of worldwide peace and spiritual regeneration. In January 1946, the Melchizedeks declared war on communism. They viewed communism as one of the “great[est] threat[s] to the religion of Jesus and to the freedom of man: in two thousand years.” “[T]he seraphim advocates of the past [angels of the churches] and of the future [angels of progress] have been mandated to abandon their traditional perspectives while they have been bidden to stand shoulder to shoulder in defense of the present.” The Melchizedeks promised: “The Master’s teachings at Urmia will sometime prevail. The brotherhood of men will someday begin. Whether it requires a decade or a century, we will prevail against the forces of retrogression and enslavement.” They expressed the hope they could “prevent global war. But most of all we crave to foster a spiritual awakening of your fellow mortals.” (10.2) The course of communism was watched as the Melchizedeks worked behind the scenes. Finally, rather than delay until the downfall of the Godless, oppressive system, the go-ahead was given in August 1952 to publish the Papers in 1955.

This is the first occasion in which Carolyn actually quotes the spurious “instructions.” The paragraph is based entirely on perverse communications received after Lena’s death. I show actual quotes in italics.

The Melchizedeks do not declare war on any human institution, tradition, or practice. They view those elements of mankind as evolutionary steps in the long climb out of animalism.

The fear expressed in 1946 was purely human. Caligastia played on that fear, to divert attention from righteous goals. This diversion is starkly portrayed in the statements:

“The seraphim advocates of the past [angels of the churches] and of the future [angels of progress] have been mandated to abandon their traditional perspectives while they have been bidden to stand shoulder to shoulder in defense of the present.”

Neither immortal angels, nor immortal midwayers, nor members of the immortal celestial host abandon any plan for the long-term rehabilitation of mankind. Neither do they defend current human concerns when they view the far reaches of the future in the salvation of mankind.

These statements are pure perversion, to sidetrack Sadler, the other members of the Contact Commission, members of the former Forum, and to corrupt the Revelation.

I have been unable to obtain copies of the complete text of these perversions. Therefore we cannot determine if Carolyn’s statements about the 1952 release of the Revelation for publication in 1955 is accurate.

Unfortunately, for those who cannot see beyond the day, godlessness is pervasive throughout the world, and is not limited to the communist economic system. We have now witnessed the demise of Communism as a social philosophy, yet the world continues to degenerate into further godlessness.

ASSIGNMENTS OF RESPONSIBILITIES

The following instructions were read to the Forum in November, 1951. They were directed “to the Contact Commissioners (the Custodians of the Urantia revelation) from the personal regent of the acting Planetary Prince of Urantia”:

Clearly, another celestial personality has taken over the management of the Revelation, one who identifies himself as the “personal regent of the acting Planetary Prince of Urantia.” Actually, he was the Planetary Prince of Urantia before he was demoted, or “cast down” by Jesus. Here he impresses himself upon the mortal Urantia personnel as still acting. And he really is. He is still free on Urantia to prosecute his nefarious designs, page 610.

How sadly disappointing to realize that Sadler was hoodwinked into accepting these spurious perversions of the Revelation, and the Revelatory process.

This following is part of the November, 22, 1951 “Instruction.”

“I desire to inform you concerning certain decisions and rulings formulated by the planetary government which pertain to the affairs of The Urantia Book and the ensuing Urantia Brotherhood. Today, I am calling into being a supreme planetary conclave to signalize my creation of the Supreme Court of Urantia. I have recently had a meeting with all persons and groups concerned with the Urantia revelation. As a result of this conference, I have made certain decisions and am handing down the following rulings:

In the Papers the Revelators referred to the Revelation as Papers. They did not use the word “book.” Only this perverted personality reduces the status of a divine Revelation to that of a secular “book.” And it has been known as a secular “book” to most people since. Individuals loyal to holiness and righteousness do not conceive of placing private ownership through copyright on a divine Revelation. Individuals not loyal to the Creator easily place commercial control through copyright on a secular book.

As we can see, he is here structuring a new management, which consists only of himself and his equally nefarious companion, Daligastia. The “supreme planetary conclave,” the “Supreme Court of Urantia,” and the other “persons and groups” were nothing more than figments of his invention. How could Sadler know the difference?

We now come to the actual mechanisms by which he subverted the Revelation. This continues the November, 1951 “Instructions.”

1.For five hundred years from February 11, 1935, the overall welfare and direction of The Urantia Book is placed in the hands of the Seraphim of Progress.
2.The immediate fostering of the Urantia revelation — from decade to decade – – (at least for the next one hundred years) will be entrusted to the Seraphim of the Churches. I have instructed this group to create a special commission to carry on this work.

3.The human aspects of The Urantia Book will be placed in the hands of the Trustees of the Urantia Foundation, subject to the advisory suggestions and veto powers of the Revelatory Commission of the United Midwayers of Urantia.

4.For the time being, mediation between the overall and superhuman supervision of this commission and the directly human functioning of the Trustees of Urantia Foundation shall be vested in the Midwayer Commission, the successor of the original Urantia Revelatory Commission. This Commission shall continue to function as advisor to both the Seraphic Overseers and the Trustees of the Urantia Foundation, but their veto powers shall extend only to the decisions and acts of the human Trustees.

5.In the absence of Midwayer intervention after February 11, 1954, the Trustees of the Urantia Foundation shall proceed in accordance with their own judgment.” (10.4)

The “seraphim of progress,” and all other groups in this “mandate,” of course, are part of his fabrication. These include the “Seraphim of the Churches,” the “Midwayer Commission,” (note that they are the successor of the original Urantia Revelatory Commission), and the “Seraphic Overseers.” I’m sure the personnel at 533 were impressed with all the attention they were getting with these imaginary celestial organizations.

Caligastia had to interleave his new management strategy with the former instructions and human organizational thinking. We know from the letter from Clyde Bedell to Wilfred Kellogg, dated October 30, 1933, that thinking toward the Urantia Foundation was already well underway at that early date. This includes instructions Sadler received on June 24, 1933.

“This communication represents my ruling up to this date respecting your Forum, the Seventy, The Urantia Book, the Urantia Foundation, and the proposed Urantia Brotherhood.
6.Your Forum shall continue under the supervision of the Contact Commission as directed June 24, 1933.

7.The Urantia Brotherhood — The plan of organization [constitution] as it exists on this date is hereby provisionally approved for the inauguration of the Brotherhood. The plan provides for its own subsequent amendation.

8.The Starting of the Brotherhood — The launching of the Brotherhood shall be left to the decisions of the Trustees of the Urantia Foundation. They shall act personally –unofficially — and no record of such action shall appear in the transactions of the Urantia Foundation. They shall assume all and full responsibility for the organization and inauguration of the Urantia Brotherhood.

9.The Urantia Book — By mandate of the Supreme court of Urantia,…the full custody of The Urantia Book has been placed in my hands. I now make the following rulings:

a. I, and I alone, will direct the time of the publication of The Urantia Book.

b. If I do not provide such instructions on or before January 1, 1955, then the Trustees of the Urantia Foundation should proceed with plans for future publication in accordance with their own judgment.

c. I approve of your plan to publish the Index of The Urantia Book in a separate volume.

10.The Seventy — This is a project which will terminate with the launching of the Brotherhood. I would continue the present supervision. If for any reason this supervision should be terminated, I direct the Trustees of the Urantia Foundation, acting unofficially, to appoint a new leader to act pending the inauguration of the Urantia Brotherhood.

We can see how he casts his management in the first person. “…the full custody of The Urantia Book has been placed in my hands. He is the one now in charge. He will “now make the following rulings . . .”

He, and he alone, will direct the publication of the Papers.

We can readily see how he explicitly guides the policies of the Foundation and the Brotherhood.

In August, 1952 he offered the following:

“I share in your aspirations, concur in your longings, minister to your shortcomings, and wholeheartedly bless your undertakings.” (10.5)

Well, yes, he does offer his blessings, under his direct supervision.

THE TIMING OF THE URANTIA BOOK

In April 1955 William S. Sadler, Jr., prepared a paper, “Timing of The Urantia Book,” for the files of the Executive Committee drawn from “certain wise comments and advices.” It was known that these “wise sayings” were originally written communications addressed to the contact commissioners. We had heard them read in 1951 in their original form. Bill had adapted the language for “public” consumption, and he also read this paper to the Forum:

This shows explicitly that the channeled “certain wise comments and advices” were edited for public consumption. This was necessary because of their impurity. Many channeled communications are polluted by the mind of the channeler, in this case Christy, and could not be presented for public perusal and inevitable analysis in raw form. The “originally written communications” shows that they were written by Christy under “automatic control,” and then edited by Bill Sadler.

We come now to a most famous Instruction. It has been published by various individuals because of its importance to Foundation and Brotherhood policy. Carolyn assigns it to the August, 1952 instruction.

I have questioned the origins of this instruction. It contains much truth. I expounded on that truth in my letter to Bobbie Dreier, and other places. I believe there were two versions of this Instruction. The original came from the Revelators. The other was a 1952 “doctored” version of the original. Other evidence suggest valid instructions were later doctored to meet the needs of Caligastia. The following continues with Carolyn’s text.

“We regard The Urantia Book as a feature of the progressive evolution of human society. It is not germane to the spectacular episodes of epochal revolution, even though it may apparently be timed to appear in the wake of one such revolution in human society. The Book belongs to the era immediately to follow the conclusion of the present ideological struggle. That will be the day when men will be willing to seek truth and righteousness. When the chaos of the present confusion has passed, it will be more readily possible to formulate the cosmos of a new and improved era of human relationships. And it is for this better order of affairs on earth that the Book has been made ready.
“But the publication of the Book has not been postponed to that (possibly) somewhat remote date. An early publication of the Book has been provided so that it may in hand for the training of leaders and teachers. Its presence is also required to engage the attention of persons of means who may be thus led to provide funds for translations into other languages.

“You who dedicate your lives to the service of the Book and the Brotherhood can little realize the import of your doings. You will doubtless live and die without fully realizing that you are participating in the birth of a new age of religion on this world.

“The future is not open to your mortal comprehension, but you will do well to diligently study the order, plan, and methods of progression as they were enacted in the earth life of Michael when the Word was made flesh. You are becoming actors in an ensuing episode when the Word is made Book. Great is the difference in these dispensations of religion, but many are the lessons which can be learned from a study of the former age.

“You must again study the times of Jesus on earth. You must carefully take note of how the kingdom of heaven was inaugurated in the world. Did it evolve slowly and unfold naturally? Or did it come with sudden show of force and with spectacular exhibition of power? Was it evolutionary or revolutionary?

“You must learn to possess your souls in patience. You are in association with a revelation of truth which is a part of the natural evolution of religion on this world. Over rapid growth would be suicidal. The book is being given to those who are ready for it long before the day of its world-wide mission. Thousands of study groups must be brought into existence and the book must be translated into many tongues. Thus will the book be in readiness when the battle for man’s liberty is finally won and the world is once more made safe for the religion of Jesus and the freedom of mankind.” (10.5)

This is the famous “possess your souls in patience” instruction. It was quoted in its original form by Sadler, Christy, Martin Myers, and others. However, this version has been polluted by Christy’s channeling. How this came about we do not know. It may be that Caligastia suggested that the version the Contact Commission had received earlier was incomplete, and he here completes it for them. As I shall show in following Chapters, one of his easiest techniques for corrupting the Revelation was to take valid text, and then insert compromising phrases. This same technique shows here.

Many of the phrases are insertions for this revised version:

1.”Its presence is also required to engage the attention of persons of means who may be thus led to provide funds for translations into other languages.”

If this “instruction” came out of Caligastia the current efforts of the Foundation to translate the Papers into so many other languages may be strictly a misguided effort. There were profound reasons the Revelation was provided in the United States in the English language.

2.”The future is not open to your mortal comprehension, but you will do well to diligently study the order, plan, and methods of progression as they were enacted in the earth life of Michael when the Word was made flesh.

This advice is nebulous, to say the least. What was the “order, plan and methods of progression” enacted by Jesus? How is that related to present world circumstances? I have not encountered any serious treatise on this subject as a position paper by the Foundation, nor by the Brotherhood, except to express “slow growth,” without fanfare, and with no advertising.

3.”You are becoming actors in an ensuing episode when the Word is made Book. Great is the difference in these dispensations of religion, but many are the lessons which can be learned from a study of the former age.”

Here is one of the great perversions I discussed above. Again, suggestion of “a study of the former age” is pure nebulosity. And nebulosity is the stock-in-trade of Caligastia.

4.”You must again study the times of Jesus on earth. You must carefully take note of how the kingdom of heaven was inaugurated in the world. Did it evolve slowly and unfold naturally? Or did it come with sudden show of force and with spectacular exhibition of power? Was it evolutionary or revolutionary?”

We can see the seeds that were planted for the philosophy of “slow growth.” The phraseology is notably different from that of the Revelation. It has the appearance of human editing.

5.”You must learn to possess your souls in patience. You are in association with a revelation of truth which is a part of the natural evolution of religion on this world. Over rapid growth would be suicidal. The book is being given to those who are ready for it long before the day of its world-wide mission. Thousands of study groups must be brought into existence and the book must be translated into many tongues. Thus will the book be in readiness when the battle for man’s liberty is finally won and the world is once more made safe for the religion of Jesus and the freedom of mankind.” (10.5)

This last paragraph probably is part of the original instruction, not a perverted insertion.

Clearly the personnel at 533 were in a state of great confusion concerning their instructions, and guidance from “above.” They had received instructions. Now they were being told that those instructions were not complete, or needed rephrasing. No wonder Sadler was confused and irascible. Furthermore, once started on this path, the entire text of the Revelation was subject to “improvement.”

THE PLATES OF THE URANTIA BOOK

“Before the demise of Dr. Lena K. Sadler in August, 1939 she had collected about twenty thousand dollars for the publication fund, and this was used to set type and prepare plates for the printing of the Book. ” It was these plates of The Urantia Book which constituted the basis for the formation of the Urantia Foundation. This Foundation, set up under the laws of Illinois, was completed on January 11, 1950. The first Board of Trustees were: William M Hales, president; William S. Sadler, Jr., vice president, Emma L. Christensen, secretary; Wilfred C. Kellogg, treasurer, and Edith Cook, assistant secretary.

Carolyn is quoting from a section of the “History” document, with additional remarks by herself. Unfortunately, she offers no information about the date of the preparation of the plates. That date would be extremely helpful to determine the changes to the Revelation after Sadler understood the Revelation to be “complete and certified.” We then would be able to trace the corruption more precisely.

“It was learned that one of the wealthy members of the Forum desired to contribute fifty thousand dollars for the publication of the Book. By instruction, this was circumvented, because, they told us, it was best to give all parties concerned an opportunity to contribute to the publication fund. “Accordingly, an appeal was made for $50,000.00 to defray the expense of printing ten thousand copies. The response was immediate. The sum contributed was in excess of forty-nine thousand dollars.” (1.1) The plates were destroyed between the second and third printings of The Urantia Book in 1971. New offset printing technology had made the old letterpress plates obsolete. (9.5)

Again, she is mixing remarks from the “History” document with other sources.

URANTIA FOUNDATION
PUBLICATION OF THE URANTIA BOOK

When she joined the Forum in 1939, Marian Rowley recalls that she read the papers in their typewritten form. After the book was plated — sometime during World War II, an employee of Donnelly Printing Co., Mary Penn, proofread the papers. When she had questions about certain items, she came to 533 Diversey to consult with the contact commissioners. (5.1) The final set of galley sheets read by the Forum in the late 1940s and early 1950s were stamped, “Proofed by Oppy.” (7.0)

Carolyn confuses galleys and the press plates. Galleys might have existed years before the press plates were finally cast. The press plates could not have been cast sometime during World War II if galleys were still being proofed in the early 1950’s, unless the Caligastia changes were then being incorporated. Carolyn does not have this process clear in her mind.

When the book was published by Urantia Foundation on October 12, 1955, it was not portrayed as being error-free. The multiple processes of transcribing from handwritten manuscript to typewritten pages; the retyping of these pages two to five times; and from the typewritten to typeset form, presented opportunities for errors to creep into the papers which were not caught by even two professional proofreadings. (3.1) By publication day, Christy and Marian had already collected a list of errors noticed by sharp-eyed Forum members. (8.1) The midwayers did not volunteer the location of errors, just the information that there were errors in the published text. (3.1)

Carolyn apparently is unaware that the errors were more than typesetting. Actual text contradictions were found, as well as other serious errors. See my paper on “Text Changes in the Urantia Papers,” and my following chapters.

In the years after publication, errors brought to Christy’s or Marian’s attention were welcomed. The Foundation wanted the book to be perfect. However, Christy was adamant — no changes could be made arbitrarily. Between 1955 and 1982 proposed corrections and changes were submitted by either of two surviving contact commissioners to the revelators for permission. (3.1)

The corrections and changes made by Sadler and Christy, the only two surviving members of the Contact Commission, had time constraints. Sadler died in 1969, and could have contributed to text changes only in the second printing. Christy could have been the only person submitting the changes for approval, and they could have been submitted only through her channeling.

The true Revelators had long since left the scene. Any permission was now made through Christy as channeler. This statement by Carolyn is another direct confirmation of Christy’s channeling.

This remark is useful in another respect. It suggests that Sadler knew Christy continued to channel, and submitted to the “instructions” received through her.

The trustees of Urantia Foundation did not participate in the process of correcting the text of The Urantia Book. Their job was to publish the book with whatever latest changes were authorized by the midwayers. They were to maintain the text inviolate, backing it up by copyright. (9.1) It ought to be clarified to the readership by the Foundation that the corrections made after 1982 were apparently made without the authorization of the midwayers. (8.2) Reportedly, in publishing their latest edition, the Foundation is reversing changes made after 1982. (9.3)

Again, this remark confirms Christy’s channeling. When she died the Trustees no longer had her authority to warrant the changes.

(Discussion continued in next Chapter.)