View source for A Course in Miracles

{{Short description|1976 book by Helen Schucman}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}

{{Infobox book
| name              = ''A Course in Miracles''
| image             = ACIM3COVER.jpg
| caption           = ''A Course in Miracles'', Combined Volume, Third Edition as published by the<br /> Foundation for Inner Peace
| author            = There is no author attributed to ''ACIM'', although it was "scribed" by Helen Schucman
| editor            = [[Helen Schucman]], [[Bill Thetford]], Kenneth Wapnick
| illustrator       = 
| cover_artist      = 
| country           = United States
| subject           = [[Spiritual transformation]]
| publisher         = 1976 (New York: Viking: The Foundation for Inner Peace) <br /> 2007 (The Foundation for Inner Peace, 3rd ed.)
| media_type        = Print (hardback and paperback)
| pages             = 1333
| isbn              = 978-1-883360-24-5
| oclc              = 190860865
| preceded_by       = 
| followed_by       = 
}}
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{{NewThought}}

'''''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.<ref>''A Course in Miracles''. Foundation for Inner Peace. [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Course_in_Miracles/Text Introduction], p. 1. Retrieved December 29, 2017.</ref> Schucman said that the book had been dictated to her, word for word, via a process of "inner dictation" from [[Jesus]] [[Christ (title)|Christ]].<ref name="scribes">{{cite web|title=ACIM: About the Scribes|url=http://www.acim.org/Scribing/about_scribes.html|website=acim.org|publisher=Foundation for Inner Peace|access-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref><ref name="ACIMPrefaceHowItCame">{{cite book|author=Foundation for Inner Peace|title=A Course in Miracles: Combined Volume|date=1992|publisher=The Foundation|location=Glen Ellen, Calif.|isbn=0-9606388-9-X|pages=vii–viii|edition=2nd|url=https://www.acim.org/AboutACIM/how.html|access-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref> The book is considered to have borrowed from [[New Age]] movement writings.<ref name="Newport" /><ref name="Carroll" /> The book has been called everything from "New Age psychobabble"<ref name="BoaBowman1997">{{cite book |last1=Boa |first1=Kenneth |last2=Bowman |first2=Robert M. |title=An Unchanging Faith in a Changing World: Understanding and Responding to Critical Issues that Christians Face Today|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hJuUtcoUOysC|access-date=September 28, 2014|year=1997|publisher=Oliver Nelson|isbn=9780785273523}}</ref> to "a Satanic seduction"<ref name="Miller2011"/> to "The New Age Bible".<ref>{{Cite web |first=Suzette|last=van IJssel|url=http://www.bemidjistate.edu/academics/publications/social_work_journal/issue09/articles/2_Immanent.htm |title=The Imminent Heaven: Spiritual Post-Metaphysics and Ethics in a Postmodern Era |access-date=September 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160621164247/http://www.bemidjistate.edu/academics/publications/social_work_journal/issue09/articles/2_Immanent.htm |archive-date=June 21, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''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.<ref name="Miller2011">{{cite book|last1=Miller|first1=D. Patrick|title=Understanding A Course in Miracles: The History, Message, and Legacy of a Spiritual Path for Today|date=November 23, 2011|publisher=[[Celestial Arts]]|location=[[Berkeley, CA]]|isbn=9780307807793|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ugFYKozgIgC|access-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref> The copyright and trademarks, which had been held by two foundations, were revoked in 2004<ref name="Miller2011"/> after lengthy litigation because the earliest versions had been circulated without a copyright notice.<ref name="Beverley2009">{{cite book |last=Beverley |first=James |title=Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Religions of the World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ul0kFIxtMfkC&pg=PT397|access-date=December 29, 2017|date=May 19, 2009|publisher=[[Thomas Nelson Inc.]]|isbn=9781418577469|pages=397–}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Recipient's Common Interest in Subject of Work Does Not Limit Publication|journal=[[Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal]]|year=2003|volume=67|issue=1645|pages=16–17|publisher=[[Bureau of National Affairs|Bureau of National Affairs (BNA)]]}}</ref>

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.<ref>Hammer (2021: p. 450)</ref> The largest growth in sales occurred in 1992 after [[Marianne Williamson]] discussed the book on ''[[The Oprah Winfrey Show]]'',<ref name="Miller2011"/> with more than two million volumes sold.<ref name="Miller2011"/>

==Origins==
''A Course in Miracles'' was written as a collaborative venture between Schucman and psychologist [[William Thetford|William ("Bill") Thetford]]. In 1958, Schucman began her professional career at [[Columbia–Presbyterian Medical Center]] in New York City as Thetford's research associate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://acim.org/Scribing/about_scribes.html|title=Helen Schucman's Career}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://acim.biz/a-course-in-miracles-book-acim/|title=A Course in Miracles Book ACIM Lessons Online and Text|work=ACIM Portal|access-date=December 25, 2017}}</ref> In 1965, at a time when their weekly office meetings had become so contentious that they both dreaded them, Thetford suggested to Schucman that "[t]here must be another way".<ref name="Collaboration">{{cite book | title=Helen Schucman: Autobiography, in "Origins of A Course in Miracles" 3:27–28 |publisher=Foundation for Inner Peace Archives, Tiburon, CA)}}</ref> 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).<ref name="Hammer 2021 p. 153"/><ref name="Clarke2004"/> 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.<ref>Skutch, Robert. ''Journey Without Distance: The Story Behind A Course in Miracles''. [[Ten Speed Press]], Berkeley, CA, 1984, p. 58.</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.miraclestudies.net/Scribe.html|title=The Scribe: Helen Schucman and A Course in Miracles©|website=www.miraclestudies.net}}</ref>

[[Image:Ken wapnick seattle unity cropped.jpg|thumb|right|Kenneth Wapnick helped edit the book and founded the Foundation for A Course in Miracles.]]

For copyright purposes, US courts determined that the author of the text was Schucman, not Jesus.<ref name="Joseph pp. 94–125"/> 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{{'"}}.<ref name="Joseph pp. 94–125"/>

==Reception==
Since it went on sale in 1976, the book has been translated into 27 languages.<ref name="translations">{{cite web | url = http://www.acim.org |title=ACIM Translations |publisher=Foundation for Inner Peace |access-date=August 10, 2021}}</ref> It is distributed globally, spawning a range of organized groups.<ref name="Cosgrove Cox Kuhling 2010 p. ">{{cite book | last=Bradby | first=Ruth | editor-last=Cosgrove |editor-first=Olivia |editor2-last=Cox |editor2-first=Laurence |editor3-last=Kuhling |editor3-first=Carmen | editor4-last=Mulholland | editor4-first=Peter | title=Ireland's New Religious Movements | publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing | year=2010 | isbn=978-1-4438-2615-0 | chapter=A course in miracles in Ireland | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vY0nBwAAQBAJ | access-date=21 January 2022 | pages=147–162}}</ref>

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".<ref>Dean C. Halverson, "Seeing Yourself as Sinless", ''SCP Journal'' 7, no. 1 (1987): 23.</ref> 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."<ref name="Joseph pp. 94–125"/> "''Course''-teachers Robert Perry, Greg Mackie, and Allen Watson" disagreed about that.<ref name="Joseph pp. 94–125"/> 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"<ref>Groeschel, Benedict J., ''A Still Small Voice'' (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993) p. 80</ref> and that it has "become a spiritual menace to many".<ref>Groeschel, Benedict J., ''A Still Small Voice'' (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993) p. 82.</ref> 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.<ref name="Newport">{{cite book|last=Newport|first= John P. |title=The New Age movement and the biblical worldview: conflict and dialogue  |url=https://archive.org/details/newagemovementbi00newp|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/newagemovementbi00newp/page/176 176]|quote=a course in miracles christian criticism.|year=1998|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-4430-9}}</ref>

Olav Hammer locates ''A Course in Miracles'' in the tradition of channeled works from those of [[Madam Blavatsky]] to [[Rudolf Steiner]]'s<ref name="Hammer 2021 p. 153">{{cite book | last=Hammer | first=Olav | title=Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age | publisher=Brill | series=Numen Book Series | year=2021 | origyear=2004 | isbn=978-90-04-49399-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zpJOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA153 | access-date=21 January 2022 | page=153 | quote=''A Course in Miracles'' is said to have been channeled from a discarnate entity perceived as Jesus but never explicitly named as such in the ensuing text.}}</ref> and notes the close parallels between [[Christian Science]] and the teachings of the Course.<ref>Hammer (2021: 444)</ref><!-- no source has been provided for this: Alternatively, it can be seen more broadly as part of the tradition of mystical literature described in [[William James]]' ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]'' and [[Aldous Huxley]]'s ''[[The Perennial Philosophy]]''.--> Hammer called it "gnosticizing beliefs".<ref>Hammer (2021: 55)</ref> 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.<ref name="Joseph pp. 94–125">{{cite journal | last=Joseph | first=Simon J. | title='Knowledge is Truth': A Course in Miracles as Neo-Gnostic Scripture | journal=GNOSIS | publisher=Brill | volume=2 | issue=1 | date=22 March 2017 | issn=2451-8581 | doi=10.1163/2451859x-12340028 | pages=94–125}}</ref> Daren Kemp also considers ''ACIM'' neo-Gnostic and agrees with Hammer that it is a channeled text.<ref name="Clarke2004">{{cite book|editor-first=Peter|editor-last=Clarke|first=Daren|last=Kemp|chapter=A COURSE IN MIRACLES|title=Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DouBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|date=March 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-49970-0|page=1}}</ref> The course has been viewed as a way that "integrates a psychological world view with a universal spiritual perspective" and linked to [[transpersonal psychology]].<ref name=ACIM>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</ref>

Joseph declared: {{blockquote|Consequently, new manuscript discoveries, lost gospels, and new “scriptural” revelations represent an effective way of subverting the traditional picture of early Christian origins and destabilizing traditional Christian authority by redefining the cultural boundaries of Christianity in contemporary culture. [...] Since the Course’s redefinition of terms is so offensive to its critics, [...] the Gospel narrative that the Course subverts and redefines is the suffering, death, and crucifixion of Jesus.<ref name="Joseph pp. 94–125"/>|Simon J. Joseph}}

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 [[Central Intelligence Agency|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".<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Heti| first1=Sheila |title=The New Age Bible| magazine=Harper's Magazine|date=September 2024 |page=48 |url=https://harpers.org/archive/2024/09/the-new-age-bible-sheila-heti-a-course-in-miracles/
}}</ref>

''[[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.<ref name="Carroll">{{cite book|last=Carroll|first=Robert Todd |title=The skeptic's dictionary: a collection of strange beliefs, amusing deceptions, and dangerous delusions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6FPqDFx40vYC&q=skeptic+%22a+course+in+miracles&pg=PA84|year=2003|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|isbn=978-0-471-27242-7}}</ref>

==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.<ref name="Miller2011"/><ref>[[Tom Butler-Bowdon|Butler-Bowdon, Tom]].[https://books.google.com/books?id=GT0JJOCNU_8C&pg=PA223 ''50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom From 50 Great Books of Inner Discovery, Enlightenment and Purpose'']. [[Nicholas Brealey Publishing]], 2010. p. 223.</ref><ref>[[Tom Butler-Bowdon|Butler-Bowdon, Tom]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=GraTRTr9UIsC&pg=RA4-PA223 ''The Literature of Possibility'']. [[Nicholas Brealey Publishing]], 2013. p. 223.</ref><ref>Coburn, Lorri.  [https://books.google.com/books?id=AjtE4SY2U-QC&pg=PA193 ''Breaking Free: How Forgiveness and A Course in Miracles Can Set You Free'']. [[Balboa Press]], 2011. p. 193.</ref> ''The Disappearance of the Universe'', published in 2003 by Fearless Books, was republished by [[Hay House]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wilson |first=Brandy |date=July 29, 2006 |title=Community of Faith: News from Houses of Worship: 'Disappearance of Universe' author to host workshop |url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/1132C530A58FA578?p=WORLDNEWS |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |access-date=August 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201143022/http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/1132C530A58FA578?p=WORLDNEWS |archive-date=December 1, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' reported that Renard's examination of ''A Course in Miracles'' influenced his book.<ref>{{cite news |last=Garrett |first=Lynn |date=March 7, 2005 |title='Disappearance' Appears Big Time |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20050307/28564-disappearance-appears-big-time.html |newspaper=[[Publishers Weekly]] |access-date=August 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809091512/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20050307/28564-disappearance-appears-big-time.html |archive-date=August 9, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{portal|Books}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

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* Editions in public domain:
** <!--[https://archive.org/details/ACourseInMiraclesOriginalEdition Original Edition] - Published by Course in Miracles Society-->
** [https://archive.org/details/ACourseInMircalesUrtextEdition Urtext Edition] – Published by Miracles in Action Press
** [https://archive.org/details/ACourseInMiraclesSparklyEdition Sparkly Edition] – Published by Diamond Clear Vision
* [https://matthewremski.medium.com/why-a-course-in-miracles-is-not-good-for-you-or-those-you-love-e36d26ddadda 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

{{A Course in Miracles}}
{{Books about new religious movements}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Course In Miracles, A}}
[[Category:A Course in Miracles| ]]
[[Category:1976 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Books about Christianity]]
[[Category:Channelled texts]]
[[Category:Christian mysticism]]
[[Category:New Age books]]
[[Category:New Thought literature]]
[[Category:Nonduality]]
[[Category:Unity Church]]
[[Category:English-language non-fiction books]]