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Gaining a satisfactory understanding of our book is challenging. One reason is because we approach studying The Urantia Book while carrying preconceived notions about what certain words mean. Sometimes the authors of this revelation need to use words in a different way so they can introduce enlarged and partly spiritual concepts to us material minded mortals; personality and character fall into this category.
Character is used with the customary meaning: distinguishing attributes of an object or an individual, for example.
Personality is an entirely different situation; it is used over 1,000 times in the book but what does it mean? They tell us it would be presumptuous to attempt the definition of personality….[1] ( ! )
Their concept of personality involves concepts partly beyond material reality; it is complex, understanding it will take some effort. To fully understand their use of personality we must first disregard any non-Urantia Book definition.
Characteristics
We discuss characteristics of personality itself, not features of individual personalities. For a detailed investigation into levels of personality see Paper 112 section 1 “Personality and Reality” starting on 1226.5.
At the beginning of Paper 112, “Personality Survival,” some characteristics of personality are given;[2] following is part of this list; their use of personality is complex, its definition cannot be squeezed into a few simple words.
First and foremost it is a gift from the Father. God alone bestows personality and this is separate from the Thought Adjuster.
It may be given to anything having a mind or a spirit.
Personality is creative or cocreative; our moral choices today create our eternal reality.
Since we have it, we can use our mind to manipulate our environment; this goes beyond making simple tools.
It can be used to identify a particular living energy system since each personality is unique. This identity holds constant as we pass from our material mechanism (physical body) to our morontia form, beyond into the spiritual region, into Paradise, and beyond.
In the presence of change this does not change.
Personality can give a gift to God: a free will determination to do God’s will.
Each personality is unique in all creation.
It reacts to other personalities.
Depending on its choices it achieves eternal life with identity in the soul.
Fine Tuning our Understanding
Because of our personality, each of us is a spiritual being. God who is spirit gave us our personality; our unity of selfhood and self-consciousness of personality are supermaterial.[3] The reason personality is so difficult to comprehend is because it is non-physical while our consciousness is rooted in materialism.
Personality is that feature of an individual which we know, and which enables us to identify such a being at some future time…. Personality is that part of any individual which enables us to recognize and positively identify that person as the one we have previously known….[4]
When we die, we prefer to call this graduating from our material reality into a more spiritual region, our personality is disrupted because, even though it is not wholly material, our personality depends on our physical body to function.[5] Our personality is preserved for us; ready when repersonalize on a world on high, ready for our eternal adventure.
After graduation, when we become conscious on the mansion world, our personality will recognize other personalities we have known; we will remember them based on their unique personality. Into eternity.
[1] 1225.2
[2] 1225.3-1226.4
[3] 1228.4
[4] 194.4
[5] 1234.3