Frequently Asked Questions about A Course in Miracles (3)

Christianity and A Course in Miracles

Q: Why is the universal message of the Course delivered in Christian language?

Though the Course's message certainly is universal, we believe it uses Christian language because its main target audience is a group whom well-known author John Shelby Spong has called "the church alumni association": people who have a history with Christianity and still find aspects of it attractive, yet who have become disillusioned with traditional Christian teachings and churches. Course scribe Helen Schucman herself, while ethnically Jewish and a self-professed atheist, had a lifelong fascination with Christianity. During her childhood, she explored Catholicism and the Baptist church, and embarked on a "failed" quest for God that actually led to her later profession of atheism. In retrospect, her "militant atheism" seems more like anger at God than actual belief that there is no God.

Therefore, a major task of the Course's author—who claimed to be Jesus—was to help Helen see God, Jesus, and Christianity in a whole new way. And we at the Circle believe that a major purpose of the Course is to reinterpret Christianity for everyone—to present Jesus' message once again, stripped of the distortions that have been added to it by Christian tradition, yet retaining the positive aspects and emotional resonance of that tradition. So, in the Course, Jesus uses the old Christian terms, but imbues them with radical new meanings. For instance, the term "hell," which Christian tradition has used to refer to an abode of eternal damnation for unbelievers, is reinterpreted in the Course to mean our current condition of illusory separation from God. No one is damned, and we can undo the illusory condition of hell simply by changing our minds. By reinterpreting Christian terms, Jesus hopes to heal our wounds associated with those terms and help us to see them in a fresh new way.

For more on this topic, see the articles under the heading "Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible" on this website's online articles page. You also may want to order Allen Watson's book Seeing the Bible Differently: How 'A Course in Miracles' Views the Bible.

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Q: What are the similarities and differences between the Course and traditional Christianity?

There are both similarities and differences between the two paths. The following lists are not exhaustive, but include some of the more significant examples of each category. (Note: We are certainly aware of the great diversity within the Christian tradition; when we speak of "traditional Christianity," we are speaking of beliefs that have been widely held by Christians throughout history, even if not held by everyone):

Similarities

Both teach that God is love.
Both see God as a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Both are historical, in the sense that they see time having a definite beginning and end, rather than being a repeating cycle.
Both teach that some sort of "fall" or separation from God happened, a "fall" which brought about the current condition of our world.
Both depict God as a loving father eagerly waiting for his prodigal son to return home.
Both see forgiveness as crucial to salvation.
Both see Jesus as a central figure.
Both see the guidance of the Holy Spirit as important.
Both see the ultimate goal as reunion with God.

Differences

Traditional Christianity says that God created the world. The Course says that the world is a product of the ego, an illusory consequence of the illusory "fall" from awareness of God.
Traditional Christianity sees Jesus as the unique, "only begotten" Son of God, and the rest of us as, at best, adopted sons. It sees Jesus as a deity to be worshipped. The Course uses the term "Son of God" to refer to all created beings. Jesus is not a deity to be worshipped, but an elder brother, differing from the rest of us only in time, in that he was the first to remember his true Identity as the Christ, an Identity shared by us all.
Traditional Christianity depicts two powers at war with one another: good and evil, God and the devil. The Course depicts only one power, God, unopposed by any real evil force. The only opposition to God in the Course is the ego, which is an illusion with no real power.
Traditional Christianity has usually seen hell as a real abode where unbelievers will suffer eternal damnation. The Course sees "hell" as a current state of mind that is caused by our thoughts of self-punishment. The Course teaches that no one is damned; everyone will eventually remember God and return to Him, because in fact no one has ever left Him except in his or her own imagination.
Traditional Christianity teaches the idea of substitutionary atonement or "vicarious salvation"; that is, the concept that when Jesus died upon the cross, God was punishing him for the sins of all mankind, so that he suffered death in our place in order for us to receive life. The Course directly refutes this idea. It sees sin as unreal, a mistake to be corrected rather than punished, and asserts that salvation has no cost. Atonement is not the price paid for sin, but simply the correction of our error in believing separation from God to be real.

For more on this topic, see the articles under the heading "Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible" on this website's online articles page. You may also want to order Allen Watson's book Seeing the Bible Differently: How 'A Course in Miracles' Views the Bible.

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The language of A Course in Miracles

Q: Why is the Course written in such poetic language?

The Course was said by Helen's inner Voice to have taken the form of its language from both Helen and Bill. Helen was a lover of literature, in particular of Shakespeare and iambic pentameter. Much of the Course is in blank verse. The Text begins to break in and out of iambic pentameter around Chapter 15; the last six chapters (Chapters 26-31) are entirely in this form, as is the Workbook from about Lesson 99 on. Many have voiced the opinion that the rich language of the Course permits it to carry much deeper, multileveled meanings.

At a talk in 1976, Helen Schucman answered a similar question by saying:

I do agree with you that it is quite a literary thing and it does require a certain background, but, you know, people with literary backgrounds should have a break too. Let's not be prejudiced against them. There are many things that I have subsequently seen that say exactly the same thing in a much simpler way. I happen to like this stuff from a literary viewpoint. I'm kind of a snob, but there are many of us...You know, salvation shouldn't cut us out simply because we're snobs. (quoted in Miracles Magazine, Summer 1992)

In our opinion, a major reason for the Course's poetic style is that the author intended it to be not only a course of instruction, but also a great work of art. He imbued it with the power not just to inform us through teaching intellectual concepts, but to transform us through touching our hearts with depth and beauty as only a great work of art can.

For more on the topic of the Course as a work of art, see the following articles by Greg Mackie: Appreciating the Masterpiece (Part 1), Appreciating the Masterpiece (Part 2), and Artistic Techniques Used in the Course.

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Q: How can I make sense of the Course's impenetrable language?

Our experience at the Circle is that the Course is actually crystal clear, once it is understood that the Course is written in a unique, transformative style. Once you learn how to read this unique style, the Course will come to life for you. This is how to make sense of the Course's seemingly impenetrable language.

This style can be broadly summed up as follows:

It is symphonic and holographic rather than linear.
It is designed to transform rather than merely inform.
It is characterized by filling familiar terms with new meaning.

All three of these characteristics reflect a single intent: The Course wants to change our minds at the deepest level. Because this intent is embodied in the Course's style of writing, just reading the Course is transformative. And if one reads it in a way that is in harmony with its style, the Course will become crystal clear, fulfilling Jesus' promise that his words are "almost impossible to distort" (T-3.I.3:11)

For a wealth of practical instruction in how to study the Course, you may want to order the book Bringing the Course to Life: How to Unlock the Meaning of A Course in Miracles for Yourself, by Robert Perry and Allen Watson.

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Q: Why does the Course use exclusively masculine terms?

First off, it is important to note that the masculine terminology does not indicate that God and His creations are literally male. In the Course, the body is said to be a fabrication of the ego, a purely illusory symbol of separation. Gender is purely a body thing. Therefore it has no application either to God or to His creations.

Why, then, is masculine terminology used? We believe this usage is deliberate. It is a prime example of the Course's author filling old terms with new meaning, as mentioned in the previous question. His goal is to evacuate the masculine terms—especially those associated with Christianity, like "Father" or "brother"—of their gender connotation by using them in a non-gender-specific manner. By using only one set of words that apply equally to men and women, he minimizes sexual difference rather than emphasizing it. (There is, however, one feminine reference in the Course: In the Clarification of Terms, we read that "the miracle corrects as gently as a loving mother sings her child to rest" [C-2.8:2].)

One specific example of how this use of language works: The phrase "Son of God" has traditionally been used to refer to Jesus, and only Jesus, as the "only begotten Son of God." It was, and still is, a phrase that emphasizes the uniqueness of Jesus. The Course, in using this phrase to refer to all of us, infuses it with an entirely new meaning that undoes the mistaken historical meaning. If the words were replaced with "daughter of God" or "child of God," that entire corrective aspect would be lost.

For more on this topic, see Greg Mackie's Q & A entitled Why does the Course always use masculine terms when referring to God, the Holy Spirit, and the beings that God created? See also the entries for "he, him," and "Son of God" in Robert Perry's Course Glossary.

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Q: What foreign language translations of the Course are currently available?

The Course is currently available in the following languages: Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Slovene, and Swedish.

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