The purpose of this community is to explore the intersection of the Holy Bible and A Course in Miracles from a Christian perspective. One of the main claims in ACIM is that the earth is just a dream and that the body is an illusion. This appears to contradicts what the Holy Bible says about God creating the heavens and the earth, along with everything in it (Gen 1:1; Genesis 1:27). But does this mean Christians and spiritual seekers cannot glean wisdom from ACIM, and that it is a heretical text that must be thrown out? I don’t think so.
The purpose of this community is not to offer pat answers or even to debate. The purpose is to find the correlations between the Holy Bible and ACIM, ask the Holy Spirit to show us how and where we can glean from both, and discover what God might say to us in the process (Jn 16:13). As a Christian mystic who believes strongly in the physical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:3–4), I believe that there are ways to learn from both the Holy Bible and ACIM and discover an incarnational way of applying both. By incarnational, I mean in a way that honors and stewards the material, physical world and everything in it (Jn 1:14).
I created this community because I know that there are other Christians like me who believe God can speak through other voices and prophets outside of the Scriptures (Acts 17:22–28), and that we can discern His voice together in light of Reality revealed in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. He is risen and is therefore speaking to people in various streams of thought (Matt 28:20; Rev 1:17–18). He might even use Helen Schucman, an atheist American clinical psychologist and research psychologist, to bring a much-needed revelation about grace and forgiveness to help and bless the world. I really believe that He has.
The purpose of this community will be to discern God’s voice together and discover how (or if) ACIM and Christianity can co-exist, and whether A Course in Miracles is a text we can apply in our lives together. By “if,” I mean that it will really be up to the participation and acceptance of this community throughout the world. For people who value honest and open theological conversations that stretch you beyond your comfort zone, and for people who are willing to wrestle with different ideas, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us toward all truth (John 16:13), this community is for you. I don’t come having all the answers, but I created this group as a space for healthy and open dialogue about the Holy Bible and A Course in Miracles.
I hope that it finds a place in this world and that Christians who believe in the physical, bodily incarnation and resurrection of Jesus, and in the reality of a physical world, can discuss and discern what principles and teachings in ACIM are helpful and applicable to us in our faith journey today.
As an extremely black-and-white person who likes to “throw the baby out with the bath water,” making this community is a big step of faith for me. Growing up, I always looked for clean-cut, easy answers, but God and the universe are much too complex for that. We must be open to learning and receiving from the Holy Spirit in various contexts so that our faith doesn’t grow stale.
I am reminded of Jesus’ words in Mark 10:15, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Could it be that ACIM offers unique and childlike ways of rediscovering God and engaging with His work, word, and will? I think so, but it is really up to us whether we are brave enough to engage both texts, asking for the leading of the Holy Spirit.
There are going to be people in this community who are much more well-versed in ACIM than the Bible, and vice versa. I want to make it abundantly clear from the inception of this community: all are welcome here. Some might enjoy lurking and reading the various theological discussions from a distance, while others might want to help me build this community by volunteering as contributors. If you are one of these people, please contact me via email or appointment and let me know. As a married man with a full-time job, I don’t expect myself to be able to commit hours every week to growing this community. But I do believe God will send the right people at the right time, with the right insights, to help inspire charitable and fruitful conversations and dialogue.
With this in mind, I will begin by sharing the following two passages: one from the Holy Bible, and the other from ACIM, as a starting point for dialogue moving forward.
“God has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man” (Ecclesiastes 3:11–13).
“Now you must learn that only infinite patience produces immediate effects. This is the way in which time is exchanged for eternity. Infinite patience calls upon infinite love, and by producing results now it renders time unnecessary” (ACIM, T-5.VI.12:3).
You can clearly see the distinction between the two passages. The Bible fleshes out the reality of living in the eternal now: being joyful and doing good, taking pleasure in the work of our hands, enjoying life to the full, including things like eating and drinking. It’s all a gift from God.
The passage from ACIM speaks more to how eternity is not about time or space as much as it is about living in the present moment and being patient. It speaks to how patience produces immediate effects in that it frees us from linear, time-bound thinking and sets us on a course to experience God’s presence—His infinite love—in the here and now. That is how I would interpret it as a Christian, anyway.
See, the purpose of this website is not to bring clean-cut answers, but to provoke wonder, thought, and discernment. The Bible clearly says, “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” (1 John 4:2). ACIM does not directly contradict that Jesus came in a physical body, but it does state that the body is an illusion or a dream. As a Christian, because I believe in the literal, physical body and creation as a gift from God (Gen 1:27–28).
Therefore, I don’t take ACIM’s metaphor of the “dream” literally, but see it as a helpful image for describing a life under the law of sin and death (Rom 7:24–25). That law says that if you sin, you will die. It emphasizes the work of the flesh over the work of the Spirit, and striving over accepting. The law gives sin its power, but the Spirit releases us to live free and empowered lives, full of His love for others and creation (Rom 8:1–11).
These are examples of how I will personally engage both The Bible and ACIM in this community. I hope to set the tone with a couple of posts in this community so that you can get a feel for the kind of culture I want to create here. You can also discover more of my voice and vision in The Bible and ACIM podcast.
The main thing I hope to inspire is a openness and willingness to engage the Holy Spirit and ask for His direction, despite varying interpretations, beliefs and theological differences. I believe He gives such beautiful and practical wisdom so that we might shine His light and love wherever we go and in all that we do. Amen!