What is A Course in Miracles?
A Course in Miracles (ACIM, often called simply “the Course”) is a self-study spiritual curriculum written in English. It has three parts: a Text, a Workbook for Students, and a Manual for Teachers. It uses Christian vocabulary (God, Holy Spirit, Christ, atonement, forgiveness) but reinterprets those terms in a nondual framework. Its central claim is that the physical world and the ego’s sense of separation from God are illusory, and that a “miracle” is a shift in perception from fear to love, which the Course equates with forgiveness. The Course describes itself as “a required course,” though the time taken is voluntary. It does not describe itself as a religion.
Origins & lineage
The Course originated in New York City. Helen Schucman (1909–1981) was a medical psychologist at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia–Presbyterian Medical Center), where she had worked since 1958. In 1965 her colleague and department head, William Thetford, said that there must be “another way” to handle the tension in their working relationship. Schucman then began to experience inner dictation from a voice that she identified as Jesus. She took it down in shorthand, and Thetford typed the notes as she read them aloud.
The Foundation for Inner Peace dates the Text to October 1965–October 1968, the Workbook to 1969–1971, and the Manual for Teachers to 1972. Schucman, Thetford and the psychologist Kenneth Wapnick edited the material. A first edition was privately issued in 1975 through the Foundation for ParaSensory Investigation, run by Judith and Robert Skutch. The Foundation for Inner Peace dates its published three-volume edition to June 1976. Sources therefore differ on whether publication was 1975 or 1976. Two short supplements, Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice and The Song of Prayer, were scribed later.
The Course has no formal lineage, clergy or initiation. Its transmission has run through publishers and teachers. Wapnick founded the Foundation for A Course in Miracles and wrote Schucman’s biography, Absence from Felicity. Robert Skutch wrote an institutional history, Journey Without Distance. After many years of litigation, a US court in 2004 voided the copyrights and trademarks held by two foundations, because early versions had circulated without a copyright notice. Courts treated Schucman, not Jesus, as the author.
How it’s practiced
The central practice is the Workbook’s 365 lessons, intended to be done one per day for a year. Each lesson gives an idea, such as “Nothing I see means anything,” with brief instructions to repeat it at set times and apply it to ordinary experience. Practice is mostly silent and individual. It consists of reading, short periods of mental review, and what the Course calls “forgiveness,” which means withdrawing the belief that other people or events are the true cause of one’s distress. Many students read the dense, blank-verse-like Text alongside the lessons. Many also meet in study groups to read aloud and discuss it.
A Course in Miracles today
The Course has been translated into many languages. Wikipedia reports 27, which this entry has not independently verified. Sales rose through the 1980s, and a large further increase followed Marianne Williamson’s discussion of it on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1992. Gerald Jampolsky’s Love Is Letting Go of Fear (1979), based on its principles, also popularized it. Today students meet in local and online study groups, follow podcasts and recorded lectures, attend retreats and conferences, and use the complete text online. Teachers differ in emphasis. Some, following Wapnick, treat it as a strictly nondual psychological system. Others read it devotionally or combine it with wider New Age and contemplative ideas.
Common misconceptions
- It is not a Christian denomination or a Bible commentary. Many Christian writers criticize it as incompatible with Christianity. Examples include Benedict Groeschel, who called it a “false revelation,” and critics who object to its reinterpretation of sin and atonement. Some scholars place it in the traditions of channeled texts, Gnosticism and New Thought.
- It does not teach that the physical world is a pleasant spiritual reality. It teaches that the world as perceived is a projection of the mind’s belief in separation.
- It is not simply positive thinking. Its “miracle” is a change in perception and involves no suspension of natural law.
- Its authorship is disputed. Schucman attributed it to Jesus. Wapnick reportedly believed it expressed her own experience of divine love. Courts treated her as the author. The text does not name its speaker explicitly.
- It does not require a teacher or group. It is designed for self-study, though many people choose to study in groups.
How to begin
Most people begin with the Workbook. They first read the Introduction to the Workbook, then do Lesson 1 and continue at one lesson per day. The Foundation for Inner Peace publishes the standard edition, the Combined Volume. Kenneth Wapnick’s books and recorded lectures offer a structured, nondual interpretation. Marianne Williamson’s A Return to Love (1992) offers a more accessible and popular one. Beginners who want company can look for a local or online study group, which usually reads the Text aloud in sections.