Susan Best
A Course in Miracles is not so much a book as a phenomenon.
Unpack the issues...
First published in 1976 and drawing from Christianity, Eastern religions, mysticism and psychology, A Course in Miracles (ACIM) has been branded both heresy and cutting-edge doctrine that reclaims and recasts the message of Jesus.
I first heard about ACIM back in the 80s when it was making its way around a circle of friends. I assumed it was one of many crack-pot, self-help trends and ignored it. Then about eighteen months ago, in the midst of a dark night of the soul, I came across a CD by Marianne Williamson who has famously written and given talks on ACIM.
There was much in Williamson’s message that made sense to me in my hour of need. I’ve never been a card carrying, church-going Christian and I’ve always found The Bible hard to comprehend and relate to. But here were words about forgiveness and God’s love that I could understand, that seemed located in the here and now rather than in some ancient and alien cultural context. And so it was that I bought myself a copy of the book on which Williamson’s work is based.
ACIM is a big book comprised of a “text”, which details the teachings, a “workbook for students”, which is a year’s worth of daily lessons/meditations and a “manual for teachers”, which addresses readers as potential “teachers of God” (though ACIM doesn’t view mission in the way orthodox Christianity does).
Though extremely detailed and complex, ACIM is summed up by one central premise:
“Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.”
ACIM asserts that nothing unreal exists and that love is all that is real. This means that everything that is not love, including death, all manner of suffering and evil, and the many petty and ugly faces of humanity do not, in Course terms, have any real power even though we believe, trapped in the illusion of the world, that they do.
This is a confronting notion at best and a downright offensive one at worst. Try telling a person dying of cancer that the cancer isn’t real. Try telling the mother of a murdered child that murder isn’t real. Try telling a girl stood up by a disrespectful date that being stood up isn’t real. The Course does qualify that while the hardships and horrors of the world are experienced as real, and therefore are real at one level, it is ultimately only love that endures and has any true meaning. Unsurprisingly this is one of the key points that critics of ACIM seize on.
ACIM defines a miracle as a change in perception. It says that we cannot, of our own will, create miracles but that they occur naturally wherever love is present. The Course sees healing as forgiveness and corrected perception. It is brought about by atonement — the shift from the perception of the ego to the perception of the spirit. It is this shift that undoes errors and releases one from sin and guilt, which are merely born of a lack of love.
Christian critics object to this disowning of the traditional notions of original sin and a God that punishes sin. In Course terms God corrects rather than punishes and God guides when given the slightest invitation to do so.
Some Christian critics take the view that ACIM is a watered down and dangerous misrepresentation of Christianity. They fear those who might otherwise explore traditional Christianity are being hijacked by ACIM, missing out on the purity of Christianity proper.
The most controversial aspect is arguably the claim by authors Dr Helen Schucman, an Associate Professor of Medical Psychology at the time of writing ACIM, and her colleague, Dr William Thetford, that ACIM was “channelled” from a “voice”, which Schucman identified as Jesus.
So, what are we to make of these challenging aspects of ACIM? Obviously that depends on the starting point of the individual. It’s easy to see how a committed Christian, familiar with the New Testament, might have difficulty with ACIM. For a new-age type who wholeheartedly believes in channelled entities and other para-normal activity, ACIM will likely be readily digested. For someone like myself, who identifies as neither but who likes to think of themselves as open-minded and intelligent, both rejection and acceptance prove problematic.
On one hand I see no reason to refuse something that offers a useful framework and practical suggestions for spiritual growth. On the other I don’t swallow ACIM whole or live my life by it word for word. For a spiritual bower bird like me, who draws on various teachings, including traditional Christianity, it’s simply another doorway to the divine.
The aspect of ACIM that most raises my brow is the declaration that it is the word of Jesus himself. I tend to agree with the Skeptic’s Dictionary when it suggests that though the Course may well hold some value it would be more credible had the authors owned the work rather than making the outlandish claim that Jesus chose them through which to transcribe his thoughts to the modern age.
But even then, cynical though we may be, we can’t be entirely sure. They didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah when he was alive either and, as Shakespeare reminds us, “there are more things in heaven and earth… than are dreamt of in [our[ philosophy”… or that make sense to our rational minds.
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written by Chris S , May 07, 2009
Hello thanks for the article. I fear it may have been more relevant if it was posted in the 1980s. Perhaps something about a mor recent phenomenon like "the secret" (which is really a bit old for a blog post) might have been better. I'm sure a lot of the good reflections would still apply.
Thanks
written by Phillip Smith , May 10, 2009
I haven't read the book so I can't really say much. Suffice to say that it sounds quite progressive(which is what I class myself as in terms of my faith, by the way. I guess we progressives define a miracle, and I could be wrong here, as to quote the Oxford Dictionary"a supernatural occurrence which requires no natural explanation"
I have but one gripe, to change the subject slightly(and this is not pointing the finger at anyone, by the way) is that it doesn't, on my computer, anyway, seem to be fully updated, a seemingly regular occurrence. So if that is true, and if that could be rectified, that would be greatly appreciated. Congrats otherwise, and all the best. Yours in the Spirit of Life and Love in Christ Jesus. Phillip Smith.
written by Niklas C , June 26, 2009
I like to declare myself a "recovering Catholic". Intuitively I never believed much of what my Mom, the teachers of Catechism and the nuns tried to instill into me. I find the idea of the God portrayed in the Old Testiment very discomforting.And I never could really understand the concept of Jesus dying for our sins. Along came the Course in Miracles. I have read the text 3 times and have been; currently am in a study group. I ask, for those of you who do believe in Jesus, are you telling me that he could awaken from death and ascend into heaven, but cannot channel the truth through a person who knew or cared nothing about Christianity at the time of the channeling? The way the text is structured along with the lessons is just too perfectly structured to be written by anyone else. And it answers all those things I have questioned over the yrs. There is no doubt in my mind that the Course will become the model for the Truth about God, who or what he is, who we are, why we are here, and how to find a real genuine peace. I am slowly understanding what Jesus meant when he said "Heaven is within you". People have to have an open mind to read, practice and understand "A Course in Miracles". I am finally uderstanding why much of what is says is true. It is not an overnight endeavor and is indeed a practical solution to practice what Jesus specifically emphasized; Forgivness.
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