A major New Age author said, “A Course in Miracles, an unorthodox contemporary approach to Christianity based on a profound shift in perception.”1)Marilyn Ferguson, Aquarian Conspiracy, p. 87 When a leading New Age conspirator confesses A Course In Miracles is unchristian in its very nature, why are professing Christians today still studying it and thus by being so deceived? Can the church truly be so ignorant or is this the “falling away” Paul prophesied of in Thessalonians 2:3. New Age philosophy has unquestionably “crept in unawares.” (Jude 4)
“In October of 1965, [Helen] Schucman, a Jewish atheist psychologist and associate professor of medical psychology at Columbia University in New York, began receiving channeled messages from an unknown spirit guide that claimed to be the voice of Jesus.”2)Erwin W. Lutzer, Oprah Miracles and the New Earth, Moody Publishing, 2009, p. 19
This voice told Schucman, “This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.” Being an atheist and psychologist, she was rather reluctant at first. After confronting her supervisor and friend at the University Dr. William Thetford about her dilemma, he contacted Hugh Lynn Cayce, son of the celebrity psychic Edgar Cayce, at his Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia to seek his council. Once Schucman finally met with Cayce, she was convinced and immediately started recording what she describes as a “rapid inner dictation,” also known within occult circles as automatic writing. The collaborative efforts of Helen Schucman and William Thetford (who was raised in the Christian Science cult) after seven and a half years, produced The Course.
The original draft consisted of 1,500 pages placed in a black binder, which was brought to The Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP), which was originally called the Foundation for Para-Sensory Investigations, Inc. (FPI)., founded on October 21, 1971, by Robert Skutch, and Judith Skutch Whitson. In August 1975, one hundred copies of the first edition was printed and distributed. Reed Erickson, a wealthy transsexual philanthropist, received a copy of this first printing and donated $440,000 to use for future printings. The next printing was released in a three volume set spanning 1,188 pages, divided into three sections: the Text, the Workbook, and the Manuel. The Course which was originally a New Age underground fascination, has recently become a mainstream cult classic thanks to endorsements from New Age celebrity Oprah Winfrey and other New Age cults such as New Thought and Unity Church.
“Having spent many hours perusing the book [A Course in Miracles], I can say with confidence that when you pick it up, you are, in effect, holding a version of The Satanic Bible. It attacks everything taught in Scripture, especially the atonement and the work of Jesus on the cross. There are powerful reasons to believe that ‘the entity’ that dictated the book was an evil spirit – a demon – who knew much more about Christianity than Schucman could have known; and whatever the demon knew, he hated with a vengeance.”3)Erwin W. Lutzer, Oprah Miracles and the New Earth, Moody Publishing, 2009, p. 21
This opinion of a demonic inspiration is interestingly shared by the editor of the Course, Kenneth Wapnick; “…if the Bible were considered literally true, then the Course would have to be viewed as demonically inspired.”4)Kenneth Wapnick, cited by Dean C. Halverson, “A Course in Miracles: Seeing Yourself as Sinless,” SCP Journal, vol. 7, no. 1, 1987, p. 23
Lets take a look at the content of this Course that we may confirm the allegations of be compared to the Satanic Bible. Remember as we look at some quotes from this material, it is supposedly Jesus speaking through Mrs. Schucman. “There is no separation from God and His creation.”5)Helen Schucman, A Course in Miracles, The Foundation for Inner Peace, 1977, Text, p. 147 “God is All in all in a very literal sense. All being is in Him Who is all Being. You are therefore in Him, since your being is His.”6)Ibid, Text, p. 119 So it is clear that there is a very definite message of pantheism.
“The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself.”7)ibid, Text, p. 147 “Everyone God created is part of you and shares His Glory with you.”8)ibid, Text, p. 174 This is a obvious presentation of deification. One must question if A Course in Miracles is the doctrinal bases behind the heretical teachings of Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland, or did he and Schucman share a similar revelation from such a deceiving spirit? Consider these quotes in comparison to their teachings:
“God is God. He is a Spirit…. And He imparted in you when you were born again. Peter said it just as plain. He said, ‘We are partakers of the Divine Nature.’ That Nature is alive, eternal in absolute perfection, and that was imparted into you by God just the same as you impart into your child the nature of humanity.
That child wasn’t born a whale. It was born a human…. Well, now, you don’t have a human, do you? … You don’t have a god in you. You are one.”9)Kenneth Copeland, “The Force of Love,” Tape BCC – 56.
“The Oneness of the Creator and the creation is your wholeness, your sanity and your limitless power.“10)A Course in Miracles, The Foundation for Inner Peace, 1977, Text, p. 125
“God has made us as much like Himself as possible… . Man lived on terms equal to God… This is the end of the weakness message!”11)Kenneth E. Hagin, ZOE: The God – Kind of Life, Rhema Bible Church, 1981, p. 36
Now we can begin to understand why the church has fallen for the deception of A Course in Miracles. It’s because the Course teaches the same lies the popular charismatic teachers have been teaching. The Course further blasphemes the name of Jesus. “The name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol. It is that symbol that is safely used as a replacement for many names of all the gods to which you pray.”12)A Course in Miracles, The Foundation for Inner Peace, 1977, Manuel, p. 58 However, if the name of Jesus represents every god, and the Course introduces the pantheistic view of everything and everyone is god, then every time the biblical Jesus is ridiculed, so is everything and everyone.
How is the Biblical Jesus ridiculed? The Bible says about Jesus name “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) So when the sacrifice on the cross which Jesus made to shed His blood for the remissions of our sins is ridiculed in the Course, it becomes an offensive stench to the Biblical Jesus, who is the God of the creation. The Course teaches “The journey to the cross should be the last useless journey…Do not make the pathetic error of ‘clinging to the old rugged cross.’ The only message of the crucifixion is that you can overcome the cross. Until then you are free to crucify yourself as often as you choose.”13)ibid, Text, p. 52 The apostle John told us “Herein is love, not that we love God, but hat he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
Jesus on the cross is the very essence of God revealing His “love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Roman 5:8) “Sacrifice is a notion unknown to God. It arises solely from fear, and frightened people can be vicious. Sacrificing in any way is a violation of my injunction that you should be merciful even as your Father in Heaven is merciful.”14)ibid, Text p. 32-33 Mercy is not receiving the punishment that you deserve. To procure God’s mercy, we must accept His grace. Grace is receiving what we don’t deserve and cant earn. God’s grace was offered to us by Jesus sacrifice on the cross so that we can be saved mercifully from the punishment we deserve for our sin. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
“According to the Course, love is all there is. And because God is love, God is therefore in everyone and everything.”15)Warren Smith, Reinventing Jesus Christ, Conscience Press, 2002, p. 10 If “love is all there is” then everything we hear on the six O clock News is a lie. The Course contradicts reality as we experience and know it, and even more so does it contradict the truth as is found in the Bible. Aristotle called the law of contradiction self-evident, meaning it is obvious and undeniable. The separation between the Course and the Bible show that one is error compared to the other, and those within the church cannot be yoked to such irreconcilable heresy. Let us consider a few more of these contradictions.
The Course, Lesson 35 – “My mind is part of God’s. I am very Holy.”
The Bible, Isaiah 55:8-9 – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
The Course, Lesson 96 – “Salvation comes from my one self.”
The Bible, Ephesians 2:8 – “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”
The Course, Lesson 163 – “There is no death. The Son of God is free.”
The Bible, Romans 5:12 – “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”
The Course, Lesson 186 – “Salvation of the world depends on me.”
The Bible, 1 Timothy 1:15 – “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”
The Course, Lesson 191 – “I am the holy Son of God Himself.”
The Bible, Romans 8:14 – “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
The Course, Lesson 337 – “My sinlessness protects me from all harm.”
The Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:21- “For he [God the Father] hath made him [God the son] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
There is a massive deception led by Satan and his angels (Revelation 12:9). The Bible warns us that some preach “another Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:4) and “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6-9). Any and every flakey evangelist preaching a watered down message to simply “trust Jesus” without the biblical truth of Jesus and his gospel, the Bible says “let him be accursed.” We can only “trust” the biblical Jesus Who is “God manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16), born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25), shed His blood for the remission of sin (Romans 3:24-26), died on the cross as a substitute for our deserved penalty (Galatians 3:13), was buried and rose bodily from the grave on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and will come again quickly (Revelation 22:20) with the same pierced body (Zechariah 12:10). To simply say “trust Jesus” is void of this truth and is NOT biblical. Trust what Jesus? Jesus of the Course, or of the Mormon cult, or Jehovah Witnesses? Trust what Jesus? Any and every evangelist neglecting these matters has “perverted the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:7).
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If you liked this article, you may also be interested in Crept In Unawares: Mysticism by Heath Henning is available for purchase here.
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