A Course In Miracles or ACIM is a book devoted to spiritual teaching that was received through the process of "Inner Dictation" between 1965 and 1978 by Helen Schucman, with assistance and support from William Thetford. Inner dictation is generally regarded by those knowledgeable in such areas as a variant form of channeling. Helen was a professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University in New York City. William Thetford was a professor of medical psychology at that same university's College of Physicians and Surgeons, and was also Helen's direct supervisor. Students of ACIM tend to believe that the ‘voice’ that dictated these teachings to Mrs. Schucman was none other than the voice of the historical Jesus.
ACIM uses Christian concepts and terminology. Students of ACIM believe that its teachings correct and clarify various traditional misunderstandings about certain portions of the Bible. While the students of ACIM believe that ACIM’s teachings are generally in harmony with the teachings found in the Bible, opponents of ACIM often point out that many of the teachings found in this work cannot be found in most traditional Christian denominations.
One exception to this general harmony is ACIM's direct refutation of the Bibical quote; "Betrayest thou me with a kiss?" regarding the involvement of Judas in the crucifixion. ACIM teaches that what traditional Christianity would call the "sins" of Judas, are instead merely his mistakes in this regard, and that Jesus forgave Judas, even for these.
A typical instance of one of the many points where ACIM students feel there is Biblical harmony, yet many traditional Christians feel there is not, concerns the differing viewpoints regarding the nature of Heaven and Hell. On this question, ACIM teaches that it is possible for one to experience a certain type of Heavenly awareness while still alive, and that Hell is also possible to experience while still alive, depending on one’s ability to perceive correctly or incorrectly. Most mainline Christian denominations teach that these states of awareness can only be entered into after death. On this point, and others, both camps cite various points of scripture to support their arguments. The prospects for resolutions of these types of debates at any time in the near future would seem unlikely.
History
The raw material for ACIM was received by Schucman between 1965 and 1978 by means of a dictation from an “inner voice,” which she transcribed in shorthand. She joined with William Thetford, her supervisor at Columbia University, and so produced the original set of ACIM notes. In this collaborative process, Schucman would read each day’s shorthand notes to Thetford who would then type as Schucman read to him.
In addition to the substantive notes themselves, Schucman received messages from the inner voice that directed how the notes were to be processed and used. After the full set of notes, sometimes known as the Urtext, was received, Thetford 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. This version was later further edited by Schucman in conjunction with Kenneth Wapnick, who had joined the effort. These early versions were then circulated in various forms to interested people.
ACIM was first published in 1976 by The Foundation for Inner Peace, or FIP, which obtained a copyright on it. 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.
The current standard edition was released in 1992 and includes some minor edits, numbering to all chapters, sections, paragraphs, and sentences. 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.
ACIM has been translated into several languages. Through contractual arrangement, ACIM was published and distributed between 1995 and 2000 by Penguin Books. Due to the public domainstatus of the Criswell edition, most of the original text of ACIM as found in this edition is now free and also available online.
Over a 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.And the videos of ACIM presented by the Master Teacher.
Structure
The central texts of ACIM are comprised of four parts. A 650-page Text contains the main theoretical underpinnings of its teachings. A 500-page Workbook for Students contains 365 self-study lessons in mind training." The workbook is divided into two sections, the first dealing with the undoing of current erroneous perceptions and misperceptions, and the second with the restoration of true perception or sight."[workbook Introduction][1].
This spiritual practice, is reminiscent of but far more elaborate than the Spiritual Exercises of Loyola, to be taken one per day. A 75-page Manual for Teachers contains concise questions and answers on various topics related to the ACIM teachings. The fourth section included in most editions is the Clarification of Terms section. This is a 15 page section with additional questions and answers.
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 all received by Schucman through the same process of 'inner dication'. Some students of ACIM use the term ACIM to refer only to the four main sections listed above. Other students use it to describe all works received by Schucman via 'inner dictation'.
Main tenets
Introduction to 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."
Cosmology of separation
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 seeming contradiction between timelessness and eternal creativity is explained as God’s expression of his endless 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 was created but in turn also creates like the Father.
Heaven is actually omnipresent, but cannot be entered into without letting go of misperceptions, and the re-learning of how to see truly. 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 both singular and plural, consisting of all things created by the Father (called souls in earlier editions) which are eternally joined in one Son, and who ultimately share in a single identity of the Son of God.
The writings of ACIM teach that our basic conflict or fundamental problem, called the separation, arose when a thought of separation came into the mind of one of the Sons of God and was then shared with other members of the Sonship. This involved the mistaken belief in one’s ability to create one’s own self. It can be likened to the metaphorical apple from the Tree of Knowledge, which contradicted God's will. In the metaphysical system of ACIM, which holds that the separation is merely a mistaken idea, the separation did not really happen. Only Love is regarded as truly valid. Fear, and all of its corollaries are regarded as unreal.
The writings of ACIM teach further that the world of time and space that followed the separation is the domain of perception rather than of true vision, and in reality the material world is only a mistaken belief system. The writings of ACIM do not fully detail the exact nature of the origins of the material world. The material world is said to be an illusion to those who are still trapped in it, and a device for the correction of illusion and the ending of separation for those who are prepared to return to the places prepared for them in the Sonship of the Father.
Reunifying psychology of forgiveness and atonement
ACIM postulates that reclaiming the awareness of unity, which it terms “salvation,” is the one viable solution to the only actual problem facing seemingly separated minds, the problem of believing they are separate from each other and from God. This awareness dawns through the process of forgiveness, making up an overall plan of atonement.
The concepts of forgiveness and of atonement are two concepts that ACIM enlarges on substantially, to the point where some would argue that it actually redefines them. These concepts as taught by ACIM are undoubtedly substantially enlarged or different from the way these two concepts are uaually taught in most mainline Christian denominations. Amongst Christian denominations, Quakerism, Unitarianism, and the Unity Church are normally regarded as being closest in temperament to the teachings of ACIM. Fundamentalist teachings are normally regarded as being the most distant from the teachings of ACIM.
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 fear of God. These fears stem from the mistaken belief that they have offended or attacked God by separating from Him. These minds close off from the awareness from love, and love’s absence is felt as fear. They instead engage in judgment against the illusory world and against others, allowing psychological projection of the fear and guilt felt inside them outward onto seemingly external forces and actors.
They believe that what is really coming from inside them is instead coming at them from outside, and so believe that problems are myriad, random, and unrelated, as opposed to there being only one problem, centered on their mistaken belief in separation. These minds invariably become angry at these perceived external threats and attempt to attack them and defend against them, when in truth, according to the teachings of ACIM, anger is never justified, attack has no foundation, and real strength lies only in defenselessness based on Truth.
These minds are locked in a cycle of experiencing imagined victimization and seeking vainly for solutions outside themselves, which is not where the true problem is. Rather, it lies inside themselves. The solution to all this, ACIM concludes, is atonement, achieved through forgiveness.
Forgiveness, according to the teachings of ACIM, is the letting go of apparent slights and seeming injuries inflicted by others in view of the recognition that others have not, and indeed cannot, harm or wrong the core identity of the individual. This outlook is possible, ACIM explains, because it is the mind of the perceiver, rather than anyone or anything else, who actually determines all the experiences that he will receive, and also because his mind is still as God created it, meaning that the events that seem to befall him in the world do not actually affect or change him in any real way.
ACIM takes its title from its teaching that forgiveness and atonement are accomplished with, and accompanied by, miracles. ACIM defines a miracle as being any change of a mind away from fear and separation and towards love and unity. This definition is far more broad than the definitions normally used by most mainline Christian belief systems. Still, traditional miracles like those found in the Bible, such as healing the sick and raising the dead do fall under ACIM’s definition of a miracle.
Points of Contrast With Most Mainline Christian Denominations
Because of its 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 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 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 mainline Christian denominations is present in ACIM, but is explained differently. For ACIM, God the Father is quite literally all in all, an egoless, limitless, perfect, loving, quintessentially real Creator, of whom the highest truth may be stated simply as, "God is." The Son, or Christ, is the aggregate or unity of all of God’s creation, rather than being synonymous with Jesus only, and thus is far more than any one single individual. The Holy Spirit is relied on heavily as the innate and unbreakable link or connection between the seemingly separated minds and the unified minds of Christ and God. The Workbook's purpose is to provide students with confirmatory experiences that connect each reader with the Holy Spirit as their own internal teacher; upon its conclusion after 365 days of daily lessons, the student is left in the internal teacher's care for all further guidance.
One central teaching found throughout ACIM is regarding the perfect ‘equality’ of all of the Sons of God. As such, for the most part, the students of ACIM tend to shy away form systems of strong central hierarchies, as can be found in most mainline Christian denominations. Thus, it would appear somewhat improbable that any strong central authority, dictating what can or cannot be done or believed in the name of ACIM, would be very likely to arise.
This does not mean that there have not been some few who have attempted from time to time to set up such hierarchies, however the nature of some of these temporary hierarchies, such as the Endeavor Academy of Wisconsin, would seem to be transitory at best (see below).
The eschatology of ACIM differs significantly from the eschatology of most mainline Christian denominations. ACIM makes very few predictions regarding the future, other than to say that when the atonement is complete and all seemingly separated minds have recognized their unity as Christ, which process ACIM suggests will take millions of years, the purpose of the world will be over and so the world will end. The world will not be destroyed, but instead “will simply cease to seem to be.”
Although ACIM contains passages that would seem to imply 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 can be found the Bible. Witness the Biblical description of the origins of John the Baptist as found in the Gospel of Matthew. Here at least one clear instance of reincarnation is undeniably laid out as fact in the Bible.
Relation to other spiritual paths
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. Many students consider ACIM to have a non-dualistic orientation, and it has variously been compared to Quakerism, Gnosticism, Buddhism, and Advaita Hinduism.
Relation to philosophical idealism, responsibility assumption, and the New Thought Movement
ACIM displays a strong orientation toward 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. While ACIM itself might set little stock in other origins, commentators have noted a number of ACIM teachings suggest direct or indirect influence by or relation to 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 atonement; the reformulation of the Trinity; and the emphasis on God's love and forgiveness rather than eternal damnation. An Urtext passage that was not included in the published version calls Christian Science "clearly incomplete," but praises the formulation of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy which notes that while Adam of the metaphorical Garden of Eden is mentioned in the Bible as being put to sleep, it is never mentioned that he ever woke up, a reinforcement of the illusory and dreamlike nature of the world. In this connection, it is notable that Thetford's parents were reportedly both Christian Scientists, though he himself minimalized this influence.
Controversy and criticism
While less controversial than many new religious movements, ACIM has encountered controversy and criticism in several areas.
Independent Critical Views
ACIM has attracted attention in Christian apologetics and countercult groups due to its interpretations (or re-interpretations) of Christian concepts and ideas in radically different ways from the ways most mainstream Christian denominations interpret these ideas, and also possibly due to concerns regarding its widespread popularity.
Citing the philosophical differences between ACIM and many of their mainstream Christian denominations, such apologists have sometimes labeled ACIM as heretical, counterfeit, and demonically inspired. A similar view was voiced in an Internet essay by an exponent of The Urantia Book, who viewed ACIM's de-emphasis of sin as specially beneficial for, and therefore likely authored by, the Devil. Skeptical groups look askance at the material's origins in channeling, allegedly emanating from Jesus.
Other more well known commentators in modern mainstream media, such as Oprah Winfrey and Marianne Williamson have praised the teachings of ACIM as beneficial and helpful.
ACIM: A Foolish or subversive doctrine?
In common with other spiritual doctrines asserting that the world is illusion and that internal thought rather than external physical factors determine what befalls each observer, ACIM doctrines are viewed by some Christian apologists as foolish or dangerous. ACIM denies that physical laws, sickness, tragedy and death are ultimately real. Still ACIM teaches that the thought-system of the separation does seem real enough to those who subscribe to it, and to such individuals, it can seem to have tragic consequences.
Some Christian apologists argue that ACIM's teaching, 'That only in defenselessness does safety lie', might lead adherents to harm through foolhardy strategies of utter pacificism in the face of aggression (see "turn the other cheek"). The students of ACIM would argue that defenselessness does not equal passivity, and that truth in and of itself can sometimes wither the fiercest assault, witness the saying: "The pen is mightier than the sword.”
Some Christian apologists hold that ACIM's doctrines are subversive to the proper functioning of a rational society. ACIM advises adherents to not bother attempting to change the world, but instead simply to change their thinking about the world. The students of ACIM would explain this belief by citing the ACIM teaching that a single mind that is truly clear has the power to save/ change the entire world. They offer proof of this in the many social activist and charitable works started by ACIM students around the world, such as The Light Party, and the Conscious Citizenship Movement
These types of criticism, and many other similar concerns expressed by Christian apologists, and debated by the students of ACIM can be found through any brief study of ACIM and the many questions and controversies that it has spawned amongst some of the mainline Christian communities.
Due to the fact that ACIM has no official church or monitoring body, it has generated a wide spectrum of interpretations. A small but significant minority of ACIM students adhere to extreme interpretations of the ACIM teachings that appear, even to other students of ACIM, to be counter-intuitive and even cult-like.
Group controversy
One group in particular, the New Christian Church of Full Endeavor, along with its teaching arm, Endeavor Academy, has generated pointed controversy both inside and outside the ACIM community. The group is headed by an American, Chuck Anderson, who is referred to by himself and his followers as "The Master Teacher." The group currently has established intentional communities in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconson, USA and approximately four other cities in Europe and South America (see Endeavor Academy article). The Wisconsin community is its headquarters. These communities have come under criticism of cult behavior. The vast majority of ACIM students feel that ACIM teachings are quite contrary to the establishment of any type of cult or personality cult movement.
Related Wikipedia Articles
External references and links
- The entire ACIM online, with a Hand-Held-Device section, and simple, straightforward, study aids.
- Endeavor Academy Related: The Miracle Times - Your Miracles homepage featuring the daily lesson from A Course In Miracles, articles and stories of transformation plus instant access to our latest audio/visual offering a window to the real world.
- 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.
- 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.
Last updated: 08-13-2005 02:41:49
