A Course In Miracles

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Image:Acim-book-framed.jpg A Course In Miracles (ACIM) is a self-study book of "spiritual psychotherapy" that was "scribed" by Dr. Helen Schucman. The book, often referred to by its students and followers as simply The Course, is written in first person in the voice of Jesus Christ. It was first published in 1976 as a three volume set and has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide in 15 different languages.

The Course is written in Christian terminology and its subject aims to teach how to attain the direct personal experience of God. On the level of spiritual or religious belief, its stated purpose is to aid the individual in "removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence." The primary means for this, according to ACIM's teaching, is via improving one's understanding and practice of the spiritual principle of forgiveness. The book goes into great detail to elucidate the exact nature and means for the comprehension and application of this spiritual principle.

The initial penning of the book by Dr. Helen Schucman, a medical psychology professor at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, was accomplished using what she described as a certain type of process which she referred to as inner dictation. In this process, Schucman describes herself as having been the scribe of the work, but not its author.

The primary means of studying A Course In Miracles is intended to be via self-study. Still, its students often choose to band together into small informal study groups who usually meet on a weekly basis, often in the homes of study-group members. Some groups have banded together into larger more formal study groups which more closely resemble traditional Christian church organizations, however these larger organizations tend to be more the exception than the rule. No single organization attempts to regulate or to closely track all of the approximately 2,000 of these study groups currently existing, reflecting a predominantly informal organizational tendency among the students of this book. Due to this lack of any generally recognized central membership tracking organization, the exact number of individuals who consider themselves to be students of A Course In Miracles is difficult to determine. Its students tend to be quite individualistic and varied, coming from a number of differing religious and philosophical backgrounds.

The Course enlarges substantially upon the terms: miracle and ego. Within the terminology used by A Course In Miracles the term miracle still incorporates its original meaning, but additional connotations are added. These additional connotations are roughly synonymous with the connotations usually associated with the term: love. As such, the book shifts its focus towards teaching the various aspects of love, and how one might better recognize love’s presence in one’s life. A Course In Miracles teaches that love is a miracle which surpasses all others, and that all other true miracles are in fact intended to bring people to the awareness of love itself.

Within the terminology used by A Course In Miracles, the term ego is roughly synonymous with the term self-concept. As such, the ego as described by the Course is something which is often misinformed or confused about itself, and which by definition requires correction. Not unlike a ship still moored to its dock, A Course In Miracles emphasizes the great need for us first to work diligently to untie ourselves from, or to let go of, our old self-concepts, before we can then freely set sail for the awareness of God's love for us, and in us.

Contents

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Authorship and prepublication editing

Dr. Helen Schucman was the individual who first "penned" A Course In Miracles. The book's three primary sections were written down in shorthand between 1965 and 1972. The brief section titled "Clarification of Terms" was also received or channeled at this time.

Dr. Schucman insisted that she was not the author of A Course In Miracles but only the "scribe" of the text. Dr. Schucman was said to have originally penned the material in a manner more akin to a secretary taking dictation than as an actual author. Both Schucman, and the actual text itself, claim that the true author of this book was the historical Jesus. The original copyright claim filed for the book lists the author(s) of the book as "Anonymous (Helen Schucman)". Presumably, the listing of "Anonymous" as the author was a reference to Schucman's belief that Jesus Christ was the true author.

Dr. William Thetford was also a professor of medical psychology within the same department at Columbia University. Dr. Thetford, Schucman's work supervisor and friend, assisted and supported Schucman during the initial transcription process. They were the only persons who knew about the "Inner Voice" that Schucman heard and the scribing of what the voice was teaching. During the initial transcription process, often during the evening, Schucman would take shorthand notes of what the "Inner Voice" would dictate to her. Typically, on the following day, she would read these notes to Thetford and he would type them.

In addition to the substance of the notes themselves, Schucman claims to have received instruction from the "Voice" which directed how the notes were to be processed and used. After completing the original full set of notes, referred to by students of ACIM as the "Urtext", Thetford and Schucman then edited out certain sections of material identified as personal or ancillary, rearranged some of the material, and added chapter and section headings to it. In 1973, Schucman and Thetford were joined in their editorial efforts by Dr. Kenneth Wapnick who soon took over responsibility as primary editor of the "Urtext," which had previously rested upon Thetford. Wapnick and Schucman continued to refine and edit the manuscript through 1975, whereupon it was decided that it was now nearly ready for publication. A few draft versions were then shown to a few close friends and associates prior to the actual initial publication. Some additional minor editing was done in 1975, a copyright was filed for, and then in late 1975 the initial publication began.

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Publication

ACIM was first published in 1976 by the Foundation for Inner Peace, or FIP in a three volume set. In 2003, after some copyright litigation, it was determined that an earlier edition of ACIM, known as the Criswell edition, did not qualify for the same copyright protection accorded to the standard edition currently published by the FIP. This ruling was made as a result of the court's finding that a few unintentional oversights had been made regarding the earliest distribution of the material. (see http://stephenhorrillo.com/criswell_acim/index.html for scanned images of the Criswell edition)

During the copyright litigation, three earlier editions surfaced and have been widely circulated. These are the Urtext edition, the Hugh Lynn Cayce edition, and the Criswell edition. An associated entity, headed by Wapnick, The Foundation for A Course in Miracles, or FACIM, was established in 1983 as a teaching organization. Numerous other ACIM related organizations have been formed as well.

The current standard second edition of ACIM was released in 1992 and includes some minor edits, numbering for all chapters, sections, paragraphs, and sentences. In 1997 a matching concordance for ACIM was also released as edited by Wapnick. This concordance was exhaustive and thorough, and was developed along lines similar to many popular Biblical concordances.

Thus far ACIM has been translated into 15 major languages. Through contractual arrangement, ACIM was published and distributed between 1995 and 2000 by Penguin Books. Due to the recently released public domain status of the Criswell edition, most of the original text of ACIM as found in this edition is now also available online.

Over 1.5 million copies of ACIM have been distributed since its release, and it has gained adherents worldwide. ACIM is not associated with any one centralized church or body, but a number of groups and organizations worldwide have emerged that study ACIM or are centered on or significantly influenced by it. Many of those meet in person or have an Internet presence. A number of seminars, tapes, and books have been developed that interpret, teach, or reflect the material in ACIM, perhaps the most widely known of which are the books by Marianne Williamson.

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ACIM based publications of note

Several subsequent authors have published successful ACIM based books, which were written with the primary intention of either commenting on, or expounding upon the philosophy and teachings of ACIM. Some of these have sold over 1 million copies. Amongst these are:

Additionally, over 200 other books based primarily on the subject of ACIM have been published as well, which appear to have sold less than 1 million copies. Template:Ref

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Decentralized leadership amongst most ACIM students

ACIM teaches that religion is best when it is practiced at the internal level, as an act directly between a person and God (or another person). Accordingly, no central organization or authority exists within ACIM that is fully analogous to the central authority structure usually found attached to most other spiritual belief systems. Neither does any system of formalized membership, or membership tracking exist amongst the majority of the students of ACIM. Still, a few smaller more highly structured study organizations do exist that are membership based. For more information about these membership based ACIM organizations, refer to ACIM church movement below.

The preface of ACIM advises that:
"(ACIM) is not intended to become the basis for another cult. Its only purpose is to provide a way in which some people will be able to find their own Internal Teacher."

True to form, Schucman never saw herself as a particularly unique type of person (outside of her apparently unique ability to channel/scribe the writings), and was never known to have sought after, or accepted, anyone else's offer to become a personal follower of hers. Since its initial publication, ACIM students have most often tended to shy away from relying too heavily on any type of earthly spiritual authority figures.

The teachings make no attempt to codify or structuralize any system of earthly spiritual authority. Instead the material stresses that true authority comes from either God, or from within the individual who has come to know God. Regarding the setting up of a spiritual authority as something that would extend out from one living person over another living person, ACIM teaches that such an arrangement is inherently unnatural, and temporary at best. ACIM's teachings state that:
"Freedom cannot be learned by tyranny of any kind, and the perfect equality of all God's Sons cannot be recognized through the dominion of one mind over another."

The teachings of ACIM also make it clear that anyone who would 'teach' ACIM must also be able to 'learn' from each person he or she meets.Template:Ref This egalitarian type of teaching is found consistently throughout the material and appears to be in sharp contrast to some portions of the Christian Bible which are undoubtedly aimed at establishing an earthly hierarchy of spiritual authority. Even though some controversy does exist regarding the teachings of ACIM, when compared to most other new spiritual movements, the level of controversy surrounding ACIM is relatively small.

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Contents of ACIM

The central texts of ACIM are comprised of four parts:

A Text section that includes teachings on the nature of forgiveness, and about how to let go of one's faulty misperceptions regarding the true nature of human relationships. These misperceptions are a part of the faulty belief system of the ego. Once let go of, these mistaken beliefs are then naturally replaced by unconditional forgiveness, which ultimately leads one to the awareness of God. Forgiveness is considered to be a critical aspect of love. The faulty belief system of the ego is considered to be based on the mistaken belief in lack, or fear. This Text section is approximately 650 pages long in the hardbound 2nd edition.

A Workbook for Students section that contains 365 practical self-study lessons designed to correspond to the 365 days of the year. This section is designed to assist a student of ACIM in internalizing the teachings found in the first Text section, and includes various meditations, prayers, and mental exercises. The workbook leads the student to recognize fear (the blocks to the awareness of love's presence), and helps her/him to choose love, via forgiveness instead. It also teaches the student to listen for and hear the Holy Spirit, who is called the Voice for God. It is the path to the experience of which the Course speaks. The Workbook section is approximately 500 pages long.

The Manual for Teachers containing concise questions and answers on various topics related to the ACIM teachings, which is approximately 75 pages long.

A short Clarification of Terms section which contains in-depth discussions regarding 11 key terms used throughout ACIM. This last section is 15 pages long.

In addition, two separate pamphlets, Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice and The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness, Healing, were also received by Schucman and published. These additional materials, along with some others, were received by Schucman through the same process of 'inner dictation'. Some students of ACIM use the term ACIM to refer only to the four main sections of the work listed above. Other students use it to describe all works received by Schucman via 'inner dictation'.

One point of note regarding ACIM standard phraseology is its nearly exclusive use of masculine pronouns. It would appear that this choice of pronoun usage within ACIM may be intended to emphasize the singular unity of all, rather than to de-emhasize or emphasize the importance of one gender vs: another. Nowhere in ACIM is the existence of gender treated as anything more than one of the many different temporary aspects of what ACIM refers to as 'The Separation'. On at least one occasion Schucman was known to have expressed some concern about this choice of pronoun phraseology within ACIM.

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Main tenets

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Introductory paragraph of "A Course In Miracles"

The introductory paragraph of the book is included here as it does indeed seem to give a fair summary of the work itself:

"This is A Course In Miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite. This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God."
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Definitions of cause and effect in the material world

Some observers have questioned the practicality and feasibility of ACIM, pointing out that ACIM consistently advises that:

"There is no point in trying to change the (external) world."

It is true that ACIM does teach that it is a mistake and a waste of time to believe that peace and happiness are to be found by somehow improving one's external circumstances for the better. However, nowhere does ACIM recommend that students of ACIM must drop out of their involvement in the world that they see around themselves. In fact, ACIM holds back entirely from discussing any specific changes that students of ACIM should or should not make in their normal daily routines (other than asking for the relatively small amount of time that is naturally required to read and study ACIM itself).

Rather than recommending for any specific changes in behavior, ACIM attempts to shift one’s focus for change in one's life from the external to the internal. In terms of cause and effect, ACIM says that everything we see "outside" of us actually has an internal mental cause. Everything we see and experience "outside" is actually the result of a thought. So by trying to fix something outwardly, we are ignoring how the problem truly arose.

Borrowing heavily from Plato's allegory of the cave regarding the nature of illusion, ACIM's analysis of cause and effect might be likened to two people who happen to be sitting in a movie projection room, and who happen to have just come to the unfortunate realization that they are watching a very bad movie. One of these two happens to understand the principles of movie projection and one of them does not. When the one who does not understand the principles of movie projection feels strongly enough that he does not like what he is seeing, he might get up from his chair and attempt to somehow actually save the damsel he sees in distress up on the silver screen (as has occasionally been known to actually happen when showing movies to aborigonal peoples for the first time). One who truly understands the nature that what he is watching is just a movie cannot get upset by it, just as someone who realizes they are dreaming is no longer scared of "scary" creatures in a dream.

ACIM says that our state of peace and happiness (or lack thereof) is always caused by the state of our thoughts, as opposed to the state of things around us. Using this 'movie projection room' allegory as a basis for comparison, the person who jumps up from his chair, attempting to save the damsel on the screen would correlate to the person who mistakenly believes that he can somehow find peace and happiness by trying focus his efforts for change on the external level of effect (the movie screen). The person who instead understands that their happiness is not dependent on what is outside would not be as frantic to change and shape the world to the way they want it.

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Cosmology of the separation and the Atonement

In ACIM’s cosmology, God the Father and Christ the Son are united in a single purpose, unchanged and unchanging in timeless eternity. This purpose is eternally creative, the never-ending extension of love. The Father and the Son share an almost complete identity, the main distinction between them being that God is Creator and First Cause who created the Son, while the Son is the created but in turn also creates like the Father.

Heaven is actually omnipresent, but cannot be recognized into without letting go of misperceptions, and the re-learning of the true workings of the principle of forgiveness. The Father and the Son are actually the expressions of all that is. The Father being God, the Son being all of God’s creation. The Son is also called the Christ or Christ-Mind. The Son is both singular and plural, consisting of all things created by the Father, which are eternally joined in one Son, and who ultimately share in a single identity of the Son of God. Accordingly, each person is a member of the Sonship of God and is Christ.

At one point, the writings of ACIM use the allegory of Adam in the Garden of Eden to teach how our basic conflict or fundamental problem, called the separation first arose. This primordial separation first occurred when a thought of separation from God the Creator, first came into the mind of the allegorical Adam when he first gave ear to the lies of the serpent. These lies of the serpent (the ego's faulty thought system) convinced Adam (God's Son) that he had the ability to forget his unity with God, and to then ask, "What am I?" This was the first question which first led Adam to seek for answers in places where there were no answers, the world around him. Only when Adam remembers to seek for the answer to this question, only from the Father Himself, will he find this one answer, and only then will his seemingly endless restless seeking come to an end.

The Holy Spirit is the voice for God, which ever works to gently remind us to turn to God for the answer to this question. On the level of thought, the answer to the question, "What am I?" could be said to be "love". Yet ACIM teaches that a true understanding of what love is, is not limited to the level of mere thought, but must be learned on the deeper level of actual experience.

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Reunifying psychology of forgiveness and the Atonement

ACIM enlarges greatly upon the concept of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not simply the act of pardoning another for error. ACIM teaches that forgiveness also requires that the one who would forgive must also recognize the essential Godliness of the one whom he would forgive. Once genuine forgiveness is achieved, not only is a way for healing now offered to the one who would be forgiven, but more importantly, a way of healing has now been achieved for the one who has learned forgiveness.

The Atonement, or the settling of accounts between God and man, is not viewed in the traditional sense as the propitiation of God for the debt owed to Him for mankind's sins, via the proxy payment of Jesus' suffering through the crucifixion. ACIM views the Atonement merely as a reconciliation between God and man, that does not in fact require any propitiation, but instead, only the remembrance of man's unity with God. Many students of ACIM have noted the similarity of the word 'Atonement' with the words 'at one-ment', meaning the remembrance of unity, or one-ness with God.

The writings of ACIM teach that forgiveness is the solution because only it has the ability to heal the seemingly separated minds in the world which feel guilt and the fear of God. These fears stem from the mistaken belief that we have somehow offended or attacked God by separating from Him. These fears sometimes even lead us to believe that we have somehow 'created' who we are, which in truth, only God is capable of doing. Our minds then close off from the awareness of love, and love’s absence is felt as fear. Now believing that we are separate, vulnerable and weak, on the external level we feel compelled to engage in judgment against those around us and against the illusory world which we now believe is real, in order to defend and protect our perceived weakness. Internally this sense of inadequacy and separation expresses itself in the forms of fear, anger, guilt, etc. etc... In fact all negative emotions are traceable back to this original sense of inadequacy.

All of these self defense mechanisms are destined to fail, as none of them are able to address the underlying problem — namely, our fear that we are separate from our brothers, and from our Creator. The primary means by which the beliefs in the separation are expressed, namely anger and judgment, are never justified. In reality these things are merely attacks upon one’s self, since Christ is in all. All true strength lies in defenselessness and in the recognition of the true Unity of all. The ‘cure’ for man’s mistaken belief in the separation is the Atonement, which is achieved through forgiveness.

Forgiveness is first the recognition of our own true selves in our brothers and second, what naturally follows, the recognition of the vast realm of peace and unity which lies beyond the petty illusion of the separation between men and of the scarcity of God's love. This recognition is possible because, in reality, the unity that exists between all of the Sons of God is more real than the illusion that we are separate. In this recognition is it possible to find the true source of all real strength, real peace, and genuine health. This recognition ultimately leads one back to the awareness of Heaven, and to perfect knowledge.

With regards to the more traditional definition of the word miracle, namely the types of miracles attributed to Jesus in the Bible, ACIM teaches that indeed "the body can be healed as an effect of true forgiveness," but ACIM consistently gives priority to the healing of the mind through forgiveness first. This is somewhat similar to how a good doctor might insist upon first identifying and addressing the root cause of a given pain, before prescribing any easy or temporary solutions. While a patient might ask a doctor for an aspirin in response to a case of appendicitis, a good doctor will seek out the underlying cause first, enabling a more complete cure, before offering any such temporary solutions. Similarly the Holy Spirit asks us to try to focus our energies first on the solutions to whatever inner turmoils might exist within us, before trying to focus our energies on attaining solutions for mere bodily turmoils or ailments.

A short concise "picture" of ACIM might include: God is love (in Latin: "Deus Caritas Est"). Since God is love, He created us in love and nothing was created that was not love. Therefore God did not create anything that has a dualistic nature such as... the universe, this Earth, tangerines, fear, human bodies, the Devil, or time itself. At some time God's Son forgot God's love, or "forgot to laugh", and this forgetfulness set all of the wheels of illusory creation into motion that eventually became the material universe as we know it, and everyone in it. The evolution (or devolution) of the material world progressed methodically as the ramifications of this forgetfullness unfolded from the mere forgetfulness of God, to fear of God, to fear of self, and onwards until the entire material world manifested from this first forgetfulness.

But this forgetfulness was only to be a small footnote in the truth of God's unending love, and his Son's forgetfulness was but a dream. Now we seem to be here in the dream, but in truth we remain at home with God. We seem to live in these bodies that our egos ("fears") have "imagined into existence" for us and which we feel drawn to protect, even to the death. In fact death is no more real than any other part of the dream (or nightmare) that we are no longer loved by God. Believing that death is real, we attack and defend (reject and embrace) clinging to what we believe to be the reality of our mortality. Our own forgetfulness of God's love is our only obstacle, and our remembrance of it is our only goal. Regardless of all appearances to the contrary, we are even now, at this very moment, standing at the "end of time", engulfed in God's unending love, and on the verge of our reawakening to God's gentle and kind embrace. Our reawakening is finally achieved by our learning the lessons of forgiveness of self and of our brothers.

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Comparisons of ACIM to other spiritual belief systems

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Comparison of ACIM to Christianity

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Comparison of ACIM to the Christian Bible

According to the historical theological roots of most Christian denominations, the most favorable view is that a manuscript such as ACIM must be as an apocryphal work. Early Christian teachings recommend that such documents, at their very best, must always be considered as secondary in authority to the Bible. This official teaching of the early Christian Church regarding such writings was finally agreed upon by the Church Fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries, at which time the New Testament as we now know it was canonized as a selection from among various books of claimed Apostolic authorship that had been circulating in the Christian world for centuries.

As with other non-standard or apocryphal religious works that claim to have a divinely inspired origin, many Christians have voiced strong disbelief and concern regarding the claims of authorship and content made within ACIM. Such strong objections are found particularly amongst more conservative Christian denominations, who sometimes view the Bible as the final and exclusive Word of God (see Biblical inerrancy), and who most often find other materials that may claim to have divinely inspired origins to be particularly objectionable. Generally, both ACIM students and traditional Christians agree, there are certain portions of ACIM that directly refute certain sections of the Christian Bible, particularly refuted are Biblical views stated in the Biblical book of Revelation. (See below: Comparison of theology- eschatology.)

Within the more liberal and mainline Christian denominations such criticism of ACIM is rare. However, such silence on this question certainly does not imply that these same denominations accept or endorse the claims of divinely inspired origins made within the texts of ACIM. Students of ACIM (of whom the majority probably consider themselves to be Christians as well) would invite the curious to find out for themselves, and to read a few pages for themselves to perhaps arrive at their own conclusions.

ACIM's primary stress on the importance of forgiveness and brotherly love could arguably be said to be in harmony with the teachings of the Biblical Jesus. ACIM's teachings about sin and its consequences, the nature of Heaven and Hell, and its teachings concerning the origin and destiny of the material universe are generally recognized as being quite different from the teachings of the Bible (as it is most often interpreted).

According to the teachings of ACIM, sin is merely a temporary mistake that only begs for correction. Sin is not an act deserving of guilt, shame or retribution, and it certainly is not an act that requires the appeasement of God via the crucifixion of God's son. Hell is merely our belief in our separation from God. Heaven is our recognition of God's presence, which we can sometimes catch a faint glimmering of, even while still on earth. The only world that God created is the heavenly realm of His eternal love. The material world that meets our eyes, being fixed in time, with a beginning and an end, is a transitory artifact of our dream of our separation from God. In and of itself, it is not real.

ACIM suggests that the 'cure' for our mistaken belief in our separation from God is very different from the Bible's teaching that merely being baptized, sincerely professing a belief in Jesus, then leading a life that is relatively free of sin, is all that is really necessary to enter Heaven. Instead, ACIM consistently highlights the importance of the forgiveness of one's neighbor/ brother and that the consequent realization of our true unity with our brothers is the true 'cure' for our belief in our separation from God.

Some students of ACIM consider it to be on par with, and to be a continuation of, the Christian Bible. Other students of ACIM point out that there are numerous major differences between the teachings of ACIM and those of the Christian Bible. Among these differences are: the true nature of Heaven and Hell, the true relationship between Jesus and his "students" or disciples, the origin and ultimate destiny of the Universe, etc. etc.

Bearing these many fundamental differences in mind, many such students of ACIM believe that it is best to view it in a completely new light, without attempting to regard it as a new means of interpreting the Christian Bible, or somehow as a Third Testament of the Bible. Clearly the voice of the author of ACIM regards the Christian Bible with a great deal of respect, and quotes often from it. Still, this voice does not hesitate to make the claim that the Christian Bible is not the inerrant Word of God, as it explains that those who wrote it could not help but to allow their own limited perspectives to, at times, affect the ways in which they wrote it down.

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Comparison of teachings on forgiveness, brotherly love, and the 'fatherhood' of God

Most theologians agree that some of the most radical spiritual principles first introduced by the historical Jesus include:

  • Jesus' teaching about radical forgiveness.
  • Jesus' radical reformulation of the old Jewish law to highlight the need for 'brotherly love' to mean neighbor-as-self.
  • Jesus' teaching regarding the parental relationship between all men and "God the Father".

Despite these three radical departures made in Jesus’ teachings from all prior religions, many Christians have noted that the Bible provides precious few details about what exactly was meant by the teaching of these three new spiritual principles. Some passages in the Bible regarding these principles appear to be slightly inconsistent with other Biblical passages regarding these same principles. For example: Jesus, teaching in the 'Lord's Prayer' about forgiveness says, "God forgives our trespasses just as we forgive (the trespasses of) those who trespass against us." This seems to be slightly inconsistent with other Biblical passages describing how we are forgiven only through "Christ's blood, even the forgiveness of sins".

For some, the teachings of ACIM are believed to clarify many of these types of apparent Biblical inconsistencies and shortcomings. Teachings regarding the exact mechanics of the spiritual principle of forgiveness are central to the ACIM teachings. Regarding forgiveness, ACIM goes into far greater detail, providing far more instruction regarding the logic of, the purpose for, and the practical application of this principle, than does the Christian Bible. Many students of ACIM who are (or have been) involved in traditional Christian churches, and who have faithfully studied ACIM for a significant length of time, report their sense that the teachings of ACIM on forgiveness have finally clarified for them, in very practical ways, how forgiveness can now be fully realized in their daily lives.

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Comparison of theology of ACIM to typical Christian theology

The teachings of ACIM place little importance on theology, stating that "a universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary." Still, a very definite, consistent and unique theology can be derived from the teachings of ACIM. The theology of ACIM provides a radically different perspective regarding many common concepts.

Because of ACIM's perspective on reality, separation, and forgiveness, ACIM does not accept sin, death, or sacrifice as being real. ACIM rejects the definition of sin as an evil act having unalterable consequences and necessarily deserving of punishment by God or by others. This is because under its cosmology sin exists only as an illusion or a mistake, and therefore the most logical response to it is to simply correct the mistake, rather than to give it more weight via punishment. ACIM defines mistakes as mental misconceptions having no real (eternal) consequences beyond the need for correction. Accordingly, all acts of others are to be interpreted either as expressions of love, or as calls for love, and nothing more.

Death is both illusory and ultimately meaningless for ACIM, because of its position that only by salvation, and not by death, do separated minds cease to believe in the illusory world of separation and return to unity in the Sonship. Sacrifice is similarly impossible for ACIM because of the eternal wholeness of the Sonship. ACIM thus rejects the more traditional Christian belief that Jesus's crucifixion was meant as a sacrificial proxy in payment for the sins of mankind. Instead ACIM explains the crucifixion as a necessary part of the lesson of the resurrection. As such it is a part of an amazing demonstration of the invulnerability of the spirit and of love.

The Holy Trinity of most Christian denominations is present in ACIM, but the definitions that ACIM uses for The Son, and for The Holy Spirit are somewhat different from most traditional Christian definitions. The Son, or Christ, is the unity of all of God’s creation, rather than being synonymous with Jesus only, and thus encompasses all of God's children. The Holy Spirit is the Voice for God and the means given to the seemingly separated (yet in reality, united) minds of God's Sonship to first remember and then to return to their natural inheritance of unity with God. The Holy Spirit is the aspect of God the Creator which understands the world we live in. The Holy Spirit is aware of the perceptions of people, and is simultaneously aware of the knowledge of God (Heaven's version of perception). The Holy Spirit is the aspect of God which leads us back home to Heaven, as it sees clearly the way back home, which is where God would have us be.

The teachings of ACIM about how the world will one day end (or the eschatology of ACIM) differ significantly from most traditional Christian eschatologies. ACIM makes only one prediction regarding the future. ACIM predicts that the Atonement (when all seemingly separated minds have recognized their unity as Christ) will require millions of years to complete. In ACIM's counterpart to the Biblical prediction of the Apocalypse as expressed in the book of Revelation, ACIM teaches that the illusory material world will not be tumultuously destroyed by fire, famine and pestilence, but instead that it “will simply cease to seem to be,” once it has fulfilled its true purpose of enabling the Atonement. It will then be gently replaced in our awareness by the real world of God's eternal love. Should one interpret the apocalyptic symbolism of the 'lamb' ruling over the 'beast' as portrayed in the book of Revelation, as the power of peace, gentleness and innocence, reigning over the powers of war, brutality and sin, then this particular symbolism might be considered to be consistent with the teachings of ACIM.

Regarding the question of reincarnation, although ACIM does contain passages that would seem to imply the likelihood of the existence of reincarnation, nowhere does it unequivocally state it as fact. In comparison to Biblical statements about reincarnation, this is actually a less firm endorsement of it than some of those who adhere to a belief in reincarnation would claim can be found the Bible. These adherents to this belief in reincarnation point to the Biblical description of the origins of John the Baptist as found in the Gospel of Matthew, which states that "John is Elijah". These adherents to this belief assert that if this Biblical assertion is to be taken literally, then it can only mean that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Jesus. (Most Christians do not accept this interpretation of this verse.) ACIM neither directly supports, nor does it directly deny the possibility of reincarnation. Instead it attempts to focus one's energies on gaining a fuller awareness of the present moment, to the exclusion of concerns for the past or for the future.

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Differences regarding the role of the Savior

One common misquote from ACIM is "We don't need a savior. Salvation is nothing more than right-mindedness. We are the source of our own salvation" Template:Ref. This misquote is an apparent misreading of ACIM's teaching that in order to be saved, it is not necessary to believe that Christ's death atoned for mankind's sins. ACIM does radically reinterpret the crucifixion and the resurrection to be an example of how the power and example of Christ's forgiveness was so great that ultimately even the greatest of physical assaults could not hold or affect him Template:Ref. Still, nowhere does ACIM teach that a 'Savior' is unnecessary for salvation. In fact, the need for a 'Savior' is stressed consistently throughout ACIM. ACIM's definition of a 'Savior' is somewhat different from the traditional definition, as according to ACIM, the full recognition of the presence of the Christ (or 'Savior') in one's brother is considered enough for salvation Template:Ref.

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Differences regarding the meaning of Jesus’ incarnation

A great deal of controversy has arisen regarding ACIM's teaching that, “Strictly speaking.. (it) is impossible (for) the Word (to be made flesh).” Template:Ref”, in reference to the Biblical quote from the book of John Template:Ref about the relationship between God and the Christ. Some have taken this quote out of context to imply that ACIM teaches that the historical Jesus was never fully human in the same sense as all other humans are. ACIM does teach specifically that, “Jesus is the name of one who was a man Template:Ref", however ACIM also teaches that all humans are not truly the bodies that they seem to be, but that all bodies are essentially illusory. This includes Jesus’ body as well. Thus, the manner in which ACIM differs sharply from traditional Christianity in its interpretation of all of the material world as being fundamentally illusory, is cause for some theological debate on the question of the nature of Jesus’ incarnation.

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Differences regarding Jesus' suffering

While ACIM does not specifically state whether or not Jesus suffered during the crucifixion, it does consistently teach that the knowledge and awareness of God’s love is capable of removing all pain and suffering in every psychological and/ or physical circumstance. From this teaching it can be inferred that according to the teachings of ACIM, one with the awareness that ACIM claims that Jesus had, would not have truly suffered, even as he was rejected and crucified. This apparent teaching of ACIM is in marked contrast to the Biblical teaching found primarily in the Epistles of the New Testament, that Jesus did indeed suffer greatly during the crucifixion, and that his suffering in this was somehow necessary in order to prevent God from justly punishing the rest of mankind, being some form of a substitutionary punishment.

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Comparison to philosophical idealism, responsibility assumption, and the New Thought Movement

ACIM displays a strong orientation toward the concepts of philosophical idealism and responsibility assumption in its prescription that the mind and its thoughts control all physical outcomes in the world, even to the point of healing the sick and raising the dead. In this, ACIM shares the outlook of the New Thought Movement, including Religious Science and Christian Science. In contrast to these belief systems, ACIM consistently focuses on inner vs: outer healing, and as noted above, would view such a primary focus on outer healing over inner healing first as similar to how an inexperienced doctor might too easily comply with a patient's initial request for aspirin, when in fact a far more serious causative problem may be requiring his or her attention.

Some observers have noted the fact that a number of ACIM teachings have many things in common with the teachings of Christian Science, including the metaphysical appeal to a perfect, absolute, divine reality outside of material existence; the Idealist idea of healing or resurrection through improved thought and understanding; the subordination of imperfection as illusory; the reformulation of the Atonement; the reformulation of the Trinity; and the emphasis on God's love and forgiveness rather than eternal damnation.

One Urtext passage that was not included in the published version calls Christian Science "clearly incomplete," but praises one of the observations of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy. This is Eddy's observation that while the Bible describes how Adam, while in the Garden of Eden was put into a deep sleep, nowhere does the Bible ever describe that Adam was awakened from that sleep. This same observation about Adam is also made within the pages of ACIM.

Within the Urtext, prior to publication, many such highly specific and personal passages were edited out. Such assertions by critics, claiming that such passages somehow prove that ACIM was in fact personally authored by either Thetford or Schucman, are not at all borne out by a careful study of the Urtext. Such personal references within the original text appear to merely be discussions of a few very personal aspects of both Schucman's and Thetford's lives. Being of a highly personal and specific nature, it is quite understandable as to why these references were not included in the final edition, which was intended to have a more universal application.

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Similarities between ACIM and other miscellaneous spiritual belief systems

Many similarities have been found between the teachings of ACIM and those of early Christian Gnosticism, Buddhism, Advaita Hinduism and early Quakerism.

Some of the similarities found between early Christian Gnosticism and ACIM are:

  • Both place primary emphasis on the need for an individual to have a direct experience of God.
  • Both teach that a part of each person is in fact divine.
  • Both teach that the world was created with the intention to imprison

Some of the similarities found between Buddhism and ACIM are:

  • The illusory nature of the physical world.
  • The need for right mindfulness in order to release one's self from this illusion (which is analogous to the right perception called for in ACIM).
  • The need for a compassionate disposition in order to release one's self (which is analogous to ACIM's emphasis on the need for an awareness of unconditional love).

Some of the similarities found between Advaita Hinduism and ACIM are:

  • The illusory nature of the physical world.
  • The Monistic nature of reality.
  • The belief that reliance on dogmatic formulas is not helpful, and that instead an individual does best to rely on one's own innate ability to reason, which ultimately assists in leading one back to God or Moksha.

Some of the similarities found between early Quakerism and ACIM are:

  • Both teach that a part of each person is in fact divine.
  • Both reject the need for a spiritual hierarchy on earth.
  • Both place primary emphasis on the need for an individual to have a direct experience of God.
  • Both teach that God's infinite ocean of light and love is more real than ('above all' in Quaker terminology), the limited world of darkness and death.

Some of the similarities found between Sufis and ACIM are:

  • Both teach that the only ultimate reality is love, i.e. God's love for His creation, and God's creation's love which returns back to its creator.
  • Both teach that by removing one's blocks to the recognition of this divine love (or in Sufi terminology: one's veils of concealment of this divine love), that one can achieve a personal reawakening to this love, even while still alive.
  • Both teach that one's love for other human beings can, when perceived in the correct light, help to remove one's veils of concealment or blocks to the awareness of love's presence.
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Unique aspects of ACIM's spiritual belief system

ACIM professes respect for various other spiritual methods and paths that may be used to reach the same goals it pursues. ACIM describes its main benefit as saving time toward the eventual remembering of the unity of the seemingly separated parts of Christ, and cites interpersonal relationships as its special mode for doing so. The theology of ACIM is decidedly Monistic in its orientation.

One striking feature of the methodology laid out in ACIM is the great attention paid to the nature of the faulty belief system of the ego. ACIM goes to great length to evaluate the psychological underpinnings and dynamics that support this belief system. It then goes into similar detail about exactly what must be accomplished in order for one to achieve release from, and afterwards to continue to avoid a return to this belief system. Such subjects as the root causes of anger, guilt, shame, projection, denial, and dishonesty are thoroughly addressed in ACIM, as well as the best methodologies that one can use to overcome such perceptual limitations. It also spends considerable time discussing the special relationships of the ego, and the Holy Spirit's equivalent transformative equivalent to this, the holy relationship.

Few, if any other spiritual teachings are known to go to such great lengths to illuminate not only the proposed solution(s) to such problems typically faced along the spiritual path, but also to attempt to explain their root causes.

ACIM accepts the paradox of what we think of as existence: Although we are timeless, deathless, eternal beings created by God, we also — for example — feel the need to feed our bodies.

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Critical reviews

While less controversial than many new religious movements, ACIM has encountered controversy and criticism in several areas.

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Some negative critical reviews

Some conservative Christian reviewers have expressed concerns that the doctrines of ACIM may incorporate some cultic tendencies. Citing the theological and philosophical differences between ACIM and traditional Christian theology and philosophy, such apologists have sometimes labeled ACIM as heretical, counterfeit, and as possibly even demonically inspired. Template:Ref Some skeptical groups look askance at the material's origins in (so-called) "channeling", allegedly emanating from Jesus. Some such reviewers hold that ACIM's doctrines are subversive to the proper functioning of a rational society, as nowhere does ACIM encourage its students to actively attempt to improve or change the world for the better, and instead ACIM teaches that the material world is merely an illusion.

Noted psychologist and author James Hillman -- who developed the polytheistic Archetypal psychology -- has described the philosophy of ACIM as fascist. He has claimed that: "The roots of fascism exist within... [ACIM] philosophy.... Everybody would make the world as he or she would like it. But trying to get the power to make the world that way is a form of insanity. This is also what Mussolini and Hitler had: omnipotent fantasy." He has also described ACIM as, "Republican right-wing politics in the guise of spiritual reformation." However when asked on numerous occasions to explain the basis for this claim, he has replied only that "I have no answers to your questions and do not have the interest to pursue them." Template:Ref

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Some positive critical reviews

Popular commentators such as Oprah Winfrey and Marianne Williamson have praised the teachings of ACIM as beneficial and helpful. In response to claims that ACIM is a defeatist or disengaged philosophy preaching non-participation in the world, students of ACIM point out that nowhere does ACIM advise that one should drop out from society or alter one’s daily routines in any way. Admittedly ACIM places primary emphasis on the development of one’s inner awareness first, before the development of any one particular external goal or cause. Still, the philosophy of ACIM also stresses that by first securing a solid foundation in one’s life and a unified purpose, one is thereby enabled to then achieve far greater rewards in one's life. ACIM teaches that such an inner foundation enables one to fulfill all of one’s spiritual and material needs with ease.

Students of ACIM often point out the similarities between ACIM’s strong emphasis on internal development first before setting any external aims, and certain statements regarding internal vs. external priorities as taught by the historical Jesus, such as Jesus' allegory of the "cup that must first be clean within". Comparisons between fascism and ACIM as suggested by author James Hillman, see above, are not known to be made by any ACIM critics who have seriously studied the actual texts of ACIM itself.

Because ACIM has no official church or monitoring body, it has generated a wide spectrum of interpretations. Currently a small but significant minority of ACIM students adhere to an extreme interpretation of the ACIM teachings that appears, even to other students of ACIM, to be counter-intuitive and even cult-like.

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Two common critical misunderstandings

Due to the many radical re-interpretations that ACIM makes to most traditional Christian theologies, some inherent difficulties in making comparisons between these two different theological systems exist. These difficulties have in turn occasionally led to two particular misunderstandings. Some Christian critics of ACIM have mistakenly asserted that ACIM teaches that the crucifixion is not an historical fact, and that one need not have a Savior in order to achieve salvation. Please see the above sections: Differences regarding the role of the Savior and Differences regarding the meaning of Jesus' incarnation, for more information on these subjects.

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Related movements

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Some concerns expressed regarding Charles Anderson's study group

One study group in particular, the study group led by ACIM teacher/ studentTemplate:Ref Charles Buell Anderson, which is also known as Endeavor Academy has caused many Course students to express some serious concerns about this group. Others outside of the ACIM community have also raised some concerns about this group as well. Within this study group of a few hundred individuals, Anderson has introduced an interpretation of the Course which few Course students outside his group appear to be able to comprehend. Many Course students outside of Anderson's group have expressed the concern that Anderson's teaching of, or acceptance of, the role of himself as 'The Master Teacher' appears to be at odds with ACIM's advice to always seek out 'perfect equality' with all, rather than the mastery, or dominion of, 'one mind over another'. Other concerns have been expressed regarding claims of a cult-like environment at Endeavor Academy (in which typically, an imbalance of authority exists). (See also Charles Buell Anderson.)

Aside from these types of concerns as noted above, Course students generally react more favorably towards Anderson when considering Anderson's recent involvement in a certain copyright litigation. In this litigation, Anderson's attorneys succeeded in overturning the copyright protections previously accorded to the earlier Criswell Edition of the Course. This was a long and difficult legal battle, spanning nearly a decade, in which ultimately Anderson's attorneys, along with some support from other concerned students of ACIM, succeeded in releasing copyright protection over approximately 98% of the wording of ACIM. Also released was the previous Trademark/Servicemark protection over the words: "A Course in Miracles". These legal proceedings regarding the Criswell edition concluded in 2003. Anderson's decision to press this litigation through to a successful conclusion is generally quietly applauded by students of ACIM, as it has given them greater personal access to the study of various Course-related materials. (Still the majority of these same students also remain grateful to the FACIM organization, the publisher of the popular 2nd edition of ACIM as headed by Dr. Kenneth Wapnick for that organization's continuing work of the publication and dissemination of these materials)

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ACIM church movement

Within the larger body of all of those who study ACIM, some have found themselves to be most comfortable in their study of ACIM while surrounded by a more traditional church-like environment. While the teachings of ACIM make no specific recommendations about how such a traditional church-like environment might best be structured, they do teach that Jesus will "build" a church.

Regarding the church that Jesus will "build", some portions of the ACIM material advise for the minimization of formality in religion. They make it clear that the truest type of church that ACIM aims to build is more of an inner habit of reverence for the presence of God in one's brothers, rather than any kind of external physical building or human organization.

Being as ACIM places no specific limits on the types of forms by which it may be learned or taught, ACIM students are free to seek out whichever learning-teaching format might work best for them.

Presently the majority of the students of ACIM appear to prefer to study ACIM in a more informal setting, ranging from the individual ACIM student who may make no effort to contact any other students of ACIM, to the informal ACIM study group member, who may join a small local study group that may meet on a weekly basis.

Regardless of the fact that, to date, these ACIM church-like organizations appear to attract only a minority of ACIM students, their impact on the larger body of ACIM students has often been disproportionate to their size.

These organizations often serve as a means by which the students of ACIM might gather together with one another, where there is currently no other regular system in place to enable this to happen. Also, they often provide a certain format by which the true meanings of the ACIM materials might be discussed or debated amongst ACIM students — where such discussions might otherwise not be possible. For more information on this subject, please refer to the ACIM church movement article.

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Other ACIM related movements of note and support organizations

Several other related ACIM movements of note and student support organizations exist, which are not as easily categorized, yet which are regularly active publishers, providers, and/ or public presenters of ACIM related materials and services. For more information on these related ACIM movements and support organizations, please refer to the Miscellaneous ACIM movements of note and support organizations article.

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Related Wikipedia articles (listed alphabetically)

Template:Wikisource

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External links

(listed alphabetically)

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References

  • Anonymous (1992). A Course in Miracles (2d ed.). Mill Valley: Foundation for Inner Peace. ISBN 0-9606388-8-1.
  • Anonymous (1996). Supplements to A Course in Miracles. New York: Viking Penguin. ISBN 0-670-86994-5. Contains the pamphlets, Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice and The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness, Healing.
  • Wapnick, Kenneth (1997). Concordance of 'A Course in Miracles' Amazon.com listing, ISBN 0670869953.
  • Miller, D. Patrick (1997). The Complete Story of the Course: The History, the People, and the Contoversies Behind A Course in Miracles. Berkeley: Fearless Books. ISBN 0-9656809-0-8. Discusses the post-publication history of ACIM and various pertinent groups.
  • Skutch, Robert (1996). Journey Without Distance: The Story Behind A Course in Miracles. Mill Valley: Foundation for Inner Peace. ISBN 1-883360-02-1. Discusses the pre-publication history of ACIM.
  • Wapnick, Kenneth (1999). Absence from Felicity: The Story of Helen Schucman and Her Scribing of A Course in Miracles (2d ed.). New York: Foundation for A Course in Miracles. ISBN 0-933291-08-6. Discusses Helen Schucman and the pre-publication history of ACIM.
  • Williamson, Marianne (1996). A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060927488. Widely-read adaptation of ACIM principles.
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Footnote references

  1. Template:Note Entering a subject search under the subject "A Course In Miracles" at Amazon.com yields 217 different publications. Jul-2005.
  2. Template:Note There is no one from whom a teacher of God cannot learn... ACIM Manual, 3 1:3.
  3. Template:Note Misquote found at: University of Virginia: New Religious Movements Website. (See IV. Issues and Controversies section.), Edward R. Hryczyk article and others.
  4. Template:Note The only message of the crucifixion is that... ACIM Text, 4 Intro, 3:8.
  5. Template:Note When brothers join in purpose .. (recognizing the Christ in one another)... they quickly reach the gate of Heaven itself. ACIM Text, 30-V, 7:1 through 8:2.
  6. Template:Note “The Bible says, "The Word (or thought) was made flesh...” ACIM Text, 8-VII, 7:1 through 7:2.
  7. Template:Note “And the Word was made flesh...” Bible, John 1:14.
  8. Template:Note “The name of Jesus is the name of one who was a man...” ACIM C. of Terms, 5, 2:1.
  9. Template:Note The Complete Story of the Course/ by D. Patrick Miller/ Fearless Books, 1997/ ISBN 0-9656809-0-8/ pg. 2.
  10. Template:Note The Complete Story of the Course/ by D. Patrick Miller/ Fearless Books, 1997/ ISBN 0-9656809-0-8/ pg. 164.
  11. Template:Note Ibid footnote 2 above.
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