A Course in Miracles

A Course in Miracles

A Course in Miracles, Combined Volume, Third Edition as published by Foundation for Inner Peace.
Author	no "personal name" listed with U.S. Library of Congress
Language	English
Genre	Spiritual life
Publisher	New York: Viking: The Foundation for Inner Peace
Publication date	orig. 1976; 2nd ed., newly rev. 1996
Media type	Softcover, Hardcover, Paperback MME, and Kindle, Sony & Mobipocket ebooks
ISBN	978-1-883360-24-5 Soft cover
OCLC	190860865

A Course in Miracles (also referred to as ACIM or the Course) is a self-study curriculum for spiritual development. The book sets forth an absolute non-dualistic metaphysics yet integrates into it the concept of "forgiveness", emphasizing its practical application in daily living.

There is no author listed on either the cover or the title page of the publication, nor is there a "personal name" listed for author/creator with the United States Library of Congress. However, in the Preface of the Course, under the section entitled "How It Came," there is a first-person account by Helen Schucman who describes in her own words the process by which the material came to fruition. Schucman claimed to have written the material, with the help of William Thetford, based on the dictation of an inner Voice, which voice Schucman identified as Jesus. In the last paragraph of this section, Schucman explains why the names of the collaborators do not appear on the cover.

The most recent copyrighted, published edition of A Course in Miracles is one that contains the writings that Helen Schucman had "scribed". It is published solely by the Foundation for Inner Peace, the organization chosen by Schucman for this purpose. It consists of preface, text, workbook for students, manual for teachers, including clarification of terms, and two supplements: 1) Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice; and 2) The Song of Prayer (see image and infobox to right). Kenneth Wapnick and his organization was awarded the copyright to this edition after the original copyright was overturned. It earned copyright status since it derives from the original manuscript as 'edited' by Kenneth Wapnick and Helen Schucman, and then re-edited by Kenneth Wapnick after Schucman's death.

There is also currently one "un-copyrighted", published edition of A Course in Miracles that contains the writings scribed by Helen Schucman. It is published by A Course in Miracles Society [CIMS] and consists of forward, introduction, text, workbook for students, and manual for teachers. It is the manuscript that was retyped three times by William Thetford and Helen Schucman. They had divided the Text into chapters and sections and had given titles to each, and they had removed a great deal of material from the early chapters, material they believed was meant for them personally, not for the 'Course'. This is the manuscript that is published by CIMS.

Judith Skutch Whitson, President and Chairperson of the Foundation for Inner Peace, reports that nearly two million volumes of A Course in Miracles have been published and disseminated worldwide since it first became available for sale in 1976. Additionally, A Course in Miracles has been translated into nineteen different languages with eight new translations underway.

Background

Overview of origins

A Course in Miracles was originally written in a collaborative venture by Schucman and Thetford. In the beginning, the Voice (whom Schucman referred to as Jesus) described them as scribes.

In 1976, A Course in Miracles was published and distributed as a three-volume set—which had evolved from the original notes—and comprised three books: Text, Workbook for Students, and Manual for Teachers.

During the first 19 years of its circulation, A Course in Miracles was published, printed and distributed directly by the students of the work. In 1995, the printing and distribution of the work was licensed to Penguin Books for five years.

The teachings of A Course in Miracles have been supported by such mainstream commentators as Oprah Winfrey in her interviews with author Marianne Williamson, and are supported by some "New Thought" churches, such as the Association of Unity Churches.

Editors

Kenneth Wapnick

When Schucman experienced some personal difficulties and hesitance after hearing the Voice, Bill Thetford, her work supervisor and friend, 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 advice and counsel. Shucman later met with Cayce before she began to record the Course.

Father Benedict Groeschel, who studied under Thetford and worked with Schucman, arranged an introduction of Kenneth Wapnick to Schucman and Thetford in November 1972. In 1973, Schucman and Thetford presented the third draft of the complete manuscript to Wapnick and Groeschel. Wapnick subsequently became a teacher of the Course, co-founder and president of the Foundation for A Course in Miracles (FACIM), and a director and executive committee member of the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP).

At the time, Wapnick was a clinical psychologist who directed a school for disturbed children and served as chief psychologist at Harlem Valley State Hospital from 1967 through 1972. In 1972, Wapnick abandoned his Jewish faith and sought to convert to Catholicism so he could become a monk. Groeschel, a priest and a member of a Franciscan order, and who also had a doctorate in psychology, heard of Wapnick's intended conversion, which interested him, and so they met.

Wapnick reviewed the draft and discussed with Schucman further revisions that were needed to place the book in final form. Over the next thirteen months, Wapnick and Schucman edited the manuscript again, substantially rearranging and deleting material, altering chapter and section headings, and correcting various inconsistencies in paragraph structure, punctuation, and capitalization. This editing process was completed in approximately February 1975.

Distribution

Yellow Criswell Version

The Foundation for Inner Peace (or FIP) was originally called the Foundation for Para-Sensory Investigations, Inc. (FPI)., and was founded on October 21, 1971 by Robert Skutch and Judith Skutch Whitson. Robert Skutch and Judith Skutch Whitson were married at the time of its inception, and have since become directors. Robert Skutch was a businessman and writer, who for many years had been a writer of television plays and advertising copy. Judith Skutch Whitson was a teacher and lecturer at New York University on the science of the study of consciousness and parapsychology. On May 29, 1975, Douglas Dean, a physicist engineer, introduced Schucman, Thetford, and Wapnick to Judith Skutch Whitson. Soon thereafter, they introduced her to the Course and the four of them met regularly to study, discuss, and share their common enthusiasm for it. At some point in 1975, Schucman appears to have authorized Skutch Whitson and Ken Wapnick to initiate the process of copyrighting ACIM and to assume responsibility themselves for the resulting copyright.

In mid-July 1975, Skutch Whitson met briefly with her doctoral adviser, Eleanor Criswell, who had a small printing company called Freeperson's Press. Criswell advised Skutch Whitson that she would be willing to assist in having the manuscript published and took responsibility for the manuscript pages, and in August 1975, they were taken to a Kopy Kat copy center in Berkeley, to be reproduced. In August 1975, Skutch Whitson organized a reception at 2000 Broadway, San Francisco, where Schucman and Thetford were introduced to a number of people. During this time period, a number of copies were distributed—hundreds according to Skutch Whitson and Skutch. The first edition of 100 copies of the Criswell edition was bound with a yellow cover and a copyright notice. Robert Skutch filed the copyright for ACIM for FIP on November 24, 1975, swearing to a date of first publication as October 6, 1975, in the form of the Freeperson Press edition. Zelda Suplee, director of the Erickson Educational Foundation, a friend of Skutch Whitson, was given a copy of the uncopyrighted manuscript by Skutch Whitson prior to the publication of the Criswell edition. In 1976, Reed Erickson, a wealthy transsexual philanthropist, received a copy of the manuscript, which he used as a basis for study by a group in Mexico. Erickson was the primary financial backer of the first hard-bound edition of the Course, donating $440,000 for this printing. Later that year the FIP began to publish the Course in a set of three hardcover volumes. Five years later, in 1981, Schucman died of complications related to pancreatic cancer.

In 1983, control of the copyright was transferred to the FACIM as headed by Wapnick.

In 1985, the FIP began publishing the three volumes in a more manageable, single soft-cover volume, but without any editorial content changes.

In 1992, the FIP published a second hardcover edition, which contained some editorial content additions and minor changes. Amongst these changes were the addition of a verse-numbering system and also the addition of a "Clarification of Terms" section, which had been written earlier by Schucman. It was Schucman's desire that a non-profit foundation publish the work.

In 1995, FIP entered a five-year printing and distribution agreement, which expired in December 2000, with Penguin Books for $2.5 million. Currently some copies of some of the earlier draft versions of the book (which may or may not be complete, unadulterated or legal) are available both online and through private publishers.

Copyright litigation

File:Acimlogo.png

Original logo of FIP, later adopted by the FACIM

Beginning in June, 1996, and ending in April, 2004, a copyright lawsuit initiated by Penguin Books and FIP was brought against the New Christian Church of Full Endeavor for their unlimited independent publication of substantial portions of A Course in Miracles. It was found that the contents of the FIP first edition, published from 1976 through 1992, are in the public domain. However, copyright in all of the changes introduced in the Second Edition remains intact, as does the copyright for the Text Preface, "Clarification of Terms" found at the end of the Manual for Teachers, and the two supplementary pamphlets, Psychotherapy and Song of Prayer, as well as Schucman's poetry, The Gifts of God. The Urtext manuscript of A Course in Miracles, which has been widely published on the internet, was obtained legally by the parties involved in the copyright litigation. This material is said to be under separate copyright although this claim may be challenged since only an author can obtain a copyright. A Copyright Timeline appears here: http://jcim.net/Pages/CopyrightTimeLine.html

Structure of material

Preface

The Preface was written in 1977 and was subsequently added to the published volume. The first two sections--"How It Came" and "What It is"--were written by Helen Schucman. The last section, "What It Says," was written by the process as described by Schucman.

Text

The Text contains the largest volume of material—containing 31 chapters—and discusses the theory upon which A Course in Miracles is based.

Workbook for Students

The Workbook contains 365 lessons, which are designed to help a student practice applying the principles set forth in the text.

Manual for Teachers

The Manual is presented with questions as the headings of each section followed by a discussion in answer format. The manual is based on the primary themes of 1) separate versus shared interests (shared interests is at the core of A Course in Miracles's concept of forgiveness); and 2) asking the Holy Spirit for help. The Manual also includes a section entitled "Clarification of Terms" and an epilogue.

Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice

The psychotherapy pamphlet is an extension of the principles of A Course in Miracles and discusses the principle of healing within the context of a therapist-patient relationship.

The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness, Healing

The song of prayer is another supplement and was written by the process as Schucman describes in the preface after there began to be among students a general misunderstanding of the practicing of the principles as the Course sets forth. This pamphlet introduces the ego concepts of asking-out-of-need, forgiveness-to-destroy and healing-to-separate, which are juxtaposed with the Holy Spirit's corrections for these concepts. The metaphor of a ladder of prayer is used to symbolize an evolving process of understanding and application.

The Gifts of God

Additional mention should be made of The Gifts of God, which was published after Schucman's death. It is a collection of poetry that Schucman wrote by the same process as she describes in the preface; however, her name does appear on the title of this anthology. The reason for this, Wapnick writes, is that unlike A Course in Miracles wherein Schucman got herself out of the way to let the material come through, with the poetry Schucman felt that her own voice joined in the collaboration of writing the poems.

Scholarly study

A scholarly study of ACIM and Schucman and Thetford appeared in 2009. The book is A Course in Miracles: The Lives of Helen Schucman & William Thetford by Neal Vahle (Open View Press).

A second study of ACIM and Thetford appeared in 2009. The book is Never Forget to Laugh: Personal Recollections of Bill Thetford, Co-Scribe of A Course by Carol Howe.

Wapnick, Kenneth (1989). Love Does Not Condemn: The World, the Flesh, and the Devil According to Platonism, Christianity, Gnosticism, and A Course in Miracles. Foundation for A Course in Miracles. ISBN 0-933291-07-8. A comprehensive discussion of the God-world paradox that compares and contrasts these perspectives, approaches and resolutions.

Perry, Robert One Course, Two Visions: A Comparison of the Teachings of the Circle of Atonement and Ken Wapnick on A Course in Miracles. One vision comes from Ken Wapnick and the Foundation for A Course in Miracles. The other cones from Robert Perry and his colleagues at the Circle of Atonement.

Reception

Christian authors such as Bob Larson have critiqued A Course In Miracles, saying it contradicts basic tenets of Christianity, twisting its core teachings and "deceiving people who are sincerely looking for God." Larson also criticizes Marianne Williamson personally, saying that her work on behalf of ACIM denies "essential qualities of faith" such as guilt and forgiveness, and necessitates the Biblically forbidden practice of transpossession mediumship. Evangelical editor Elliot Miller says that Christian terminology employed in ACIM is "thoroughly redefined" to resemble New Age teachings. Other Christian critics say ACIM is "intensely anti Biblical" and incompatible with Christianity, blurring the distinction between creator and created and forcefully supporting the occult and New Age world view.

Skeptic Robert T. Carroll criticizes ACIM as "a minor industry" that's overly commercialized and characterizes it as "Christianity improved", saying its teachings are not original and suggesting they are culled from "various sources, east and west".

References

• Foundation for Inner Peace (1996). A Course in Miracles (2d ed., newly rev.). New York: Viking Penguin. ISBN 0-670-86975-9.
• Foundation for Inner Peace (1992). Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice (2d. ed.). Glen Ellen CA: Foundation for Inner Peace. ISBN 0-9606388-6-5.
• Foundation for Inner Peace (1992). The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness, Healing (2d. ed.). Glen Ellen CA: Foundation for Inner Peace. ISBN 0-9606388-4-9.
• Miller, D. Patrick (2008). Understanding A Course in Miracles: The History, Message, and Legacy of a Spiritual Path for Today. Berkeley: Celestial Arts/Random House. ISBN 978-1-58761-312-8. A journalistic overview of the history, major principles, criticism, and cultural effects of ACIM.
• Skutch, Robert (1996). Journey Without Distance: The Story Behind A Course in Miracles. Mill Valley: Foundation for Inner Peace. ISBN 1-883360-02-1. Discusses the pre-publication history of ACIM.
• Vahle, Neal (2009). A Course in Miracles: The Lives of Helen Schucman and William Thetford. San Francisco: Open View Press. ISBN 978-1-61623-788-2. This book shows how Schucman and Thetford were affected by the teaching in ACIM.
• Wapnick, Kenneth (1999). Absence from Felicity: The Story of Helen Schucman and Her Scribing of A Course in Miracles (2d ed.). New York: Foundation for A Course in Miracles. ISBN 0-933291-08-6. Discusses Helen Schucman and the pre-publication history of ACIM.
• Schucman, Helen (1989). The Gifts of God. Berkeley: Celestial Arts. ISBN 0-89087-585-5. (contains 114 poems that share the spiritual content of the Course as well as the prose poem "The Gifts of God," which summarizes the teachings of the Course)
• Williamson, Marianne (1996). A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060927488. Widely-read adaptation of ACIM principles.
• U.S. District Court Southern District Of New York (2003-10-24). "Opinion, Case: Civil 4126 (RWS) ruling (#03-08697) dismissing complaint and granting judgment" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-07-06.
• U.S. District Court Southern District Of New York (2000-07-21). "Opinion, Case: Civil 4126 (RWS) ruling (#00-07413) summary judgment denied" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-07-06.
• U.S. District Court Southern District Of New York (7 May 2003). "Opinion, Case: Civil 4126 (RWS) ruling (#03-04125) motion to admit evidence" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-07-06.

External links

• Foundation for Inner Peace: Publisher and Distributor of "A Course in Miracles"
• Foundation for "A Course in Miracles": A Teaching Institute for "A Course in Miracles", founded by Kenneth and Gloria Wapnick
• Course in Miracles Society CIMS non-profit organization founded 2000, Publisher and Distributor of "A Course in Miracles" uncopyrighted 1972 edition

• For a more comprehensive aggregated list of related links to ACIM, visit: A Course in Miracles at Curlie, a link aggregation project.