A Course In Miracles

''A Course in Miracles'' (also referred to as ''ACIM'') is a 1976 book by Helen Schucman. The underlying premise is that the greatest "miracle" is the act of simply gaining a full "awareness of love's presence" in a person's life. Schucman said that the book had been dictated to her, word for word, via a process of "inner dictation" from Jesus Christ. The book is considered to have borrowed from New Age movement writings. The book has been called everything from "New Age psychobabble" to "a Satanic seduction" to "The New Age Bible".

''ACIM'' has three sections: "Text", "Workbook for Students", and "Manual for Teachers". Written from 1965 to 1972, some distribution occurred via photocopies before the Foundation for Inner Peace published a hardcover edition in 1976. The copyright and trademarks, which had been held by two foundations, were revoked in 2004 after lengthy litigation because the earliest versions had been circulated without a copyright notice.

Throughout the 1980s, annual sales of the book steadily increased each year. According to Olav Hammer, the psychiatrist and author Gerald G. Jampolsky was among the most effective promoters of ''ACIM''. Jampolsky's first book, ''Love is Letting Go of Fear'', based on the principles of ''ACIM'', was published in 1979 and, after being endorsed on Johnny Carson's show, sold over three million copies by 1990. The largest growth in sales occurred in 1992 after Marianne Williamson discussed the book on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', with more than two million volumes sold.

Origins

''A Course in Miracles'' was written as a collaborative venture between Schucman and psychologist William ("Bill") Thetford. In 1958, Schucman began her professional career at Columbia–Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City as Thetford's research associate. In 1965, at a time when their weekly office meetings had become so contentious that they both dreaded them, Thetford suggested to Schucman that " ere must be another way". Schucman believed that this interaction acted as a stimulus, triggering a series of inner experiences that were understood by her as visions, dreams, and heightened imagery, along with an "inner voice" that she identified as Jesus (although the ''ACIM'' text itself never explicitly claims that the voice she hears speaking is that of Jesus). She said that on October 21, 1965, an "inner voice" told her: "This is a Course in Miracles, please take notes."

Schucman said the writing made her very uncomfortable, though it never seriously occurred to her to stop. The next day, she explained the events of her "note-taking" to Thetford. To her surprise, Thetford encouraged her to continue the process. He also offered to assist her in typing out her notes as she read them to him. The process continued the next day and repeated regularly for many years. In 1972, the writing of the three main sections of ''ACIM'' was completed, with some additional minor writing coming after that point.

For copyright purposes, US courts determined that the author of the text was Schucman, not Jesus. Kenneth Wapnick, psychologist, devotee and teacher of the ''ACIM'', believed that Schucman did not channel Jesus, but was describing her "own mental experience of divine 'love.

Reception

Since it went on sale in 1976, the book has been translated into 27 languages. It is distributed globally, spawning a range of organized groups.

Wapnick said that "if the Bible were considered literally true, then (from a Biblical literalist's viewpoint) the Course would have to be viewed as demonically inspired". He also said, "I often taught in the context of the Bible, even though it is obvious to serious students of ''A Course in Miracles'' that it and the Bible are fundamentally incompatible." "''Course''-teachers Robert Perry, Greg Mackie, and Allen Watson" disagreed about that. Though a friend of Schucman, Thetford, and Wapnick, Catholic priest Benedict Groeschel criticized ''ACIM'' and related organizations. Finding some elements of ''ACIM'' to be "severe and potentially dangerous distortions of Christian theology", he wrote that it is "a good example of a false revelation" and that it has "become a spiritual menace to many". The evangelical editor Elliot Miller says that Christian terminology employed in ''ACIM'' is "thoroughly redefined" to resemble New Age teachings. Other Christian critics say that ''ACIM'' is "intensely anti-biblical" and incompatible with Christianity, blurring the distinction between creator and created and forcefully supporting an occult and New Age worldview.

Olav Hammer locates ''A Course in Miracles'' in the tradition of channeled works from those of Madam Blavatsky to Rudolf Steiner's and notes the close parallels between Christian Science and the teachings of the Course. Hammer called it "gnosticizing beliefs". In "'Knowledge is Truth': A Course in Miracles as Neo-Gnostic Scripture" in ''Gnosis'': '' Journal of Gnostic Studies'', Simon J. Joseph outlines the relationship between the Course and Gnostic thinking. Daren Kemp also considers ''ACIM'' neo-Gnostic and agrees with Hammer that it is a channeled text. The course has been viewed as a way that "integrates a psychological world view with a universal spiritual perspective" and linked to transpersonal psychology.Miracles with Counselors, David Aldrich Osgood, University of Massachusetts Amherst (1991), Transpersonal Psychology and A Course in Miracles P.43 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5794&context=dissertations_1

Joseph declared:

Another dismissal of ACIM and claim for its subversiveness comes from some on the political left, who note that William Thetford, who encouraged and helped bring Schucman's work to press, was a CIA operative and psychologist. In Harper's Magazine, Sheila Heti quotes a post asserting the CIA sought "to infiltrate and dilute the American left with New Age ideas and inwardly-focused, anti-rational religious movements".

'' The Skeptic's Dictionary'' describes ''ACIM'' as "a minor industry" that is overly commercialized and characterizes it as "Christianity improved". Robert T. Carroll wrote that the teachings are not original but culled from "various sources, east, and west". He adds that it has gained increased popularity as New Age spirituality writer Marianne Williamson promoted a variant.

Associated works

Two works have been described as extensions of ''A Course in Miracles'', Gary Renard's 2003 ''The Disappearance of the Universe'' and Marianne Williamson's '' A Return to Love'' published in 1992. ''The Disappearance of the Universe'', published in 2003 by Fearless Books, was republished by Hay House in 2004. ''Publishers Weekly'' reported that Renard's examination of ''A Course in Miracles'' influenced his book.

References

External links

* Editions in public domain:
** Original Edition
- Published by Course in Miracles Society-->
*
Urtext Edition
– Published by Miracles in Action Press
*
Sparkly Edition
– Published by Diamond Clear Vision

Why A Course in Miracles Is Not Good For You, or Those You Love
– An open letter from Matthew Remski, investigative journalist on spirituality and cult

{{DEFAULTSORT:Course In Miracles, A

1976 non-fiction books
Books about Christianity
Channelled texts
Christian mysticism
New Age books
New Thought literature
Nonduality
Unity Church
English-language non-fiction books