From Contender Ministries this is an excellent response to “A Course in Miracles”. The impact will be great from this book because of Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement. Oprah Winfrey has been an advocate of the New Age Movement which is influencing many women.
We need to have answers for those who are following the “broad path”to destruction.
A BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO A COURSE IN MIRACLES
The Course in Miracles often speaks of Jesus Christ, God, the atonement, sin, and other Christian terms. However, when examined closely, it becomes very clear that the meanings given to these Christian terms are far more consistent with the New Age movement than Christianity or the Bible.
CREATION
Throughout the Course, the world is explained as simply an illusion created by the ego of man. The Bible however, teaches that the ego of man had nothing to do with the creation of the world.
Genesis 1:1 “In the Beginning God created the heaven and the earth”.
John 1:3 “All things were made by Him(Jesus); and without him was not anything made that was made.”
Paul writes in Col 1:16, “For by Him(Jesus), were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth.”
There was a creation for sure, but it was not done by man’s ego. All things were created by God alone.
REVELATION AND “ALL PATHS LEAD TO GOD”
On the topic of revelation, we should first realize that A Course in Miracles consistently contradicts Jesus own words, so it cannot come from the Jesus of the Bible. A Course in Miracles teaches that revelations are completely subjective and do not have to be consistent with another persons revelation or the revelation in the Bible.
A Course in Miracles vol.1, p.5 – “Revelation is intensely personal and cannot be meaningfully translated”
On The Course itself the text states “The Course is but one version of the universal curriculum. There are many others…They all lead to God in the end”
I Thessalonians 5:20-21 tells us “Do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good”. According to the Bible, not all prophecy is necessarily from God and we should test these claims against the Word of God so that we might separate truth from fiction. Jesus also commended the church at Ephesus because “you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false” (Rev. 2:2). If all revelations were equally valid and were all from God, it would make no sense to commend the church for recognizing false apostles. The Bible makes it clear that not all people who claim to speak for God are to be trusted. The Bible also tells us how to recognize these false teachers. If A Course in Miracles were truly from Jesus it would agree with the Bible. Isaiah 8:20 “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn”.
All paths are not truth, and all teachings or beliefs are not to be trusted, especially if they teach that Jesus Christ is not the only one by whom we must be saved.
Luke 13:24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to”
John 10:8-9 “All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”
THE INERRANT WORD OF GOD
A Course in Miracles makes the claim that the Bible is not without error. Apparently all revelation should be accepted as truth according to the Course, except the Bible. In the Bible’s case, The Course takes the liberty of presenting needed corrections in the scriptures where it suits them.
A Course in Miracles, vol 1 page 28-29
“The statement ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’ needs only one slight correction to be meaningful in this context; ‘He gave IT TO His only begotten Son’”.
In order to support their beliefs that Christ was not offered as a living sacrifice to cover our sins (sins they don’t believe exist), they change this verse to mean that God gave Jesus the world instead of God offering His Son to the world as a sacrifice. Since the Course defines the “Son” as each of us, the consequence of this revision is that instead of the world being given Jesus Christ, the world is given to us. They twist this verse further by believing that the “Him” in the verse means ourselves since we are the son’s of God. Instead of, as the Bible teaches, believing that belief in Christ saves us, the Course teaches that belief in oneself saves us.
Volume One page 87 also states that “the Apostles often misunderstood the crucifixion…and out of their own fear they spoke of the ‘wrath of God’ as His retaliatory weapon…These are some of the examples of upside-down thinking in the New Testament…If the Apostles had not felt guilty, they never could have quoted me as saying ‘I come not to bring peace but a sword’. This is clearly the opposite of everything I taught.”
2 Timothy 3:16 says ,”All scripture is God-breathed”, and 1 Thessalonians 2:13 says that preaching of the Bible should be received “not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe” Jesus also said of the Old Testament scriptures that they are “the word of God” (Mk 7:13) that “cannot be broken” (John 10:35). The Course in Miracles refutes the inerrancy of the Bible largely because it does not support their teachings on so many things.
THE DOCTRINE OF GOD
A Course in Miracles teaches the idea of monism (or the belief that all is one), pantheism (the belief that God is in everything), and panentheism (the belief that all are a part of God).
A Course in Miracles, Vol. 2, p.92
“In my own mind, behind all my insane thoughts of separation…is the knowledge that all is one forever. I have not lost the knowledge of who I am because I have forgotten it. It has been kept for me in the Mind of God, Who has not left His thoughts. And I, who am among them, am one with them and one with Him.”
A Course in Miracles, vol. 2, p. 45
“God is in everything I see”
Vol. 1, Page 92
“God is still everywhere and in everything forever. And we are a part of Him”.
Vol. 1, p. 165
“Whenever you question your value, say: ‘God Himself is incomplete without me’”.
Vol. 1, p. 136
“The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself. There is no separation of God and His creation”.
The Bible is clear that God is distinct from His creation. John 4:24 tells us that God is spirit, but we are flesh. Psalms 50:21 tells us that God us unlike man ethically, “You thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you”. God is righteous and holy (Lev. 11:44, 19:2; Isa 6:3) and He distinguishes sin from righteousness.
Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put karkness for light and light for darkness who put better for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
Romans 1 also makes it clear that God is distinct from His creation. He is the Creator and divine in nature while the creation is not.
Romans 1:20-24
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised.”
It is also wrong to think that sin has not created a separation between God and mankind. Isaiah 59:1-2 says “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save. Nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” This is why Christ was sent as a mediator and a ransom to set us free from the sins we have committed so that we can receive our promised inheritance (Hebrews 9:15).
THE NATURE AND DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST
A Course in Miracles teaches that Jesus and those who accept Him are equal.
A Course in Miracles, vol. 1, p. 5
“Equals should not be in awe of one another because awe implies inequality. It is therefore and inappropriate reaction to me. An elder brother is entitled to respect for his greater experience, and obedience for his greater wisdom…There is nothing about me that you cannot attain”.
Vol. 1, p. 70-71
“My mind will always be like yours, because we were created as equals. It was only my decision that gave me all power in heaven and earth. My only gift to you is to help you make the same decision”.
The Bible does not teach that we are equal with Christ; it teaches that Jesus is both God and man. As God, Jesus does not possess sinful desires, susceptibility to temptation, or mortality, which are all attributes of sinful man. Because Jesus is also God, He is not equal to us as we are not deity. In John 8:23 Jesus said, “You are of this world; I am not of this world.”
John 1:1-3 tells us that Jesus was God the Son, the eternal Word who created the universe. He took on mortal, human nature and came “in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7). At Christ’s resurrection Jesus retained His human nature and His divine nature as God, and His physical body was changed from mortal to immortal (1 Co. 15). While Jesus is God the Son who took on human form, we as human beings have only one nature, a human nature.
A Course in Miracles also teaches that Jesus should not be understood as a sacrificial lamb for our sins.
A Course in Miracles vol. 1, p. 33
“I have been correctly referred to as ‘the lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world,’ but those who represent the lamb as blood-stained do not understand the meaning of the symbol. Correctly understood, it is a very simple symbol that speaks of my innocence…Innocence is incapable of sacrificing anything, because the innocent mind has everything and strives only to protect its wholeness”.
The Course denies I Peter 2:24 which reads, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been set free.” The Course denies even the need for Christ’s sacrifice because they teach that people are already sinless and perfect beings. You have to wonder what planet these people have been living on. Examples of just such sin can be seen all around us. The Bible is very clear that we are reconciled to God through the death of his Son (Romans 5:10).
The Course distorts the Bible even further, however, by claiming that Jesus Christ wasn’t the Son of God, but rather we are the Son’s of God referred to in these scriptures.
A Course in Miracles, Vol. 1, p.2
“The Sonship is the sum of all that God created”.
Vol. 1, p.14
“In the creation, God extended Himself to His creations and imbued them with the same loving will to create. You…have also been created perfect. There is no emptiness in you.”
Vol. 2, pp. 353-354
“You are the holy Son of God Himself. And with this holy thought you learn as well that you have freed the world…All power is given you in Earth and Heaven. There is nothing that you cannot do.”
The Course requires the student to affirm, “Your Son…is but what I really am in truth. He is the Son You love above all things. He is my Self as You created me. It is not Christ that can be crucified.”
The Bible states clearly that Jesus is God’s only begotten Son (John 1:18; 3:16; 1 John 4:9) The term “only begotten Son” is never used to refer to believers in the New Testament, but only to Jesus. Jesus Christ is the only Son of God. However, the word sons (plural) and “children of God” are applied to Jesus’ followers several times in Romans, 1 John and elsewhere. Christians are not “sons of God” by nature but we become sons of God (Romans 8:15).
Galatians 4:4-7
“But when the tie had fully come, God sent his Son born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba”, Father. So you are no longer a slave but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”
Unlike Jesus, who is eternally the Son of God (Ps 2:7; Heb 1:2,4) we obtain a derivative relationship through faith: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:26).
Further discounting the sacrifice made my our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, A Course in Miracles teaches that Jesus is but a man who found Christ in other people and is no more the Christ than anyone else.
A Course in Miracles vol. 3, p. 83
“The name of Jesus is the name of one who was a man but saw the face of Christ in all his brothers and remembered God. So he became identified with Christ, a man no longer, but at one with God. The man was an illusion, for he seemed to be a separate being, walking by himself, within a body that appeared to hold his self from Self, as all illusions do.”
“Jesus remains a Savior because he was the false without accepting it as true. And Christ needed his form that He might appear to men and save them from their own illusions”.
Jesus, of course, never taught this. When Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16), Jesus did not reply, “Yes, and so are you”. When the woman at the well said, “I know that Messiah is coming,” Jesus replied “I who speak to you am he”. He didn’t say, “We are each the Christ”. Furthermore, the word Christ cannot refer to all people everywhere. The Old Testament was very clear about who the Christ, or the Messiah, would be, where he would be born, when he would be born, and who he would descend from. (Mic 5:2; Dan 9:24-27; Mt 22:42)
The Course also teaches that the resurrection of Jesus should not be understood as a literal, physical return from the dead. According to the Course, the body does not exist and death does not exist. Thus, Jesus could not have been raised from the dead in any real sense.
A Course in Miracles, vol. 1, p. 87
“…the resurrection is the symbol of sharing because the reawakening of every Son of God is necessary to enable the Sonship to know its wholeness”
Vol. 3, p. 65
“The resurrection is a reawakening or rebirth: a change of mind about the meaning of the world.”
Vol. 1, p. 396
“A slain Christ has no meaning. But a risen Christ becomes the symbol of the Son of God’s forgiveness on himself; the sign he looks upon himself as healed and whole.”
The reality that Christ “died for our sins” and subsequently was raised on the third day is the heart of the gospel.
1 Co 15:3-6
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve. After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time,”
The physical nature of Jesus’ resurrection was part of the apostolic message. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter said that the messianic psalms of King David “spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay” (Acts 2:31)
When Christ appeared to “doubting Thomas” and the other apostles to show His pierced hands, feet, and side, it is clear that He was showing His physical body and that this was not a visionary experience.
Luke 24:38-39 “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in you mind? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
THE DOCTRINE OF SIN
A Course in Miracles teaches that sin does not exist, and each person is perfectly guiltless and innocent. In other words no one is sinful in any way.
A Course in Miracles Vol. 1, p. 88
“No one is punished for sins, and the Sons of God are not sinners”
Vol. 1, p. 423
“The Holy Spirit will never teach you that you are sinful”
Vol. 1, p. 377
“When you are tempted to believe that sin is real, remember this: If sin is real, both God and you are not”
The Bible teaches that sin affects all people.
Ecc 7:20
“For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin”
The Bible also addresses those who, like followers of the Course in Miracles, deny the reality of sin:
1 John 1:8 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”
It doesn’t get any plainer than that. Nowhere in the Bible are we told that sin is merely an illusion. We will all be held accountable to God (Romans 3:19).
In order to explain the obvious sin that surrounds each and every one of us in this world on a daily basis, the Course teaches that sin appears to exist, but this is a false illusion or an insane thought caused by the ego.
A Course in Miracles, Vol. 2, p. 409
“Sin is insanity. It is the means by which the mind is driven mad, and seeks to let illusions take the place of truth…And yet what sin perceives is but a childish game. The Son of God may play he has become a body, prey to evil and to guilt, with but a little life that ends in death. But all the while his Father shines on him…There is no sin”
Vol. 2, p. 327
“The betrayal of the Son of God lies only in illusions, and all his ‘sins’ are but his own imagining. His reality is forever sinless. He need not be forgiven but awakened. In his dreams he has betrayed himself, his brothers and his God. Yet what is done in dreams has not been really done”
The Bible does not teach that sin is an error to be corrected, or an illusion that does not exist. Rather, sin is a wrongful act and condition of mankind that requires repentance, remission, and forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:22
“Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”
Hebrews 9:26
“now he [Jesus Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
The remedy for sin is not “waking up” as the Course teaches. Repentance and confession is the only remedy. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Pr 28:13)
THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION
A Course in Miracles teaches that man’s original state is perfection. Salvation in the Course comes by undoing the misbelief that we are separated from God and are sinful beings. We simply arrive at a state of awareness that we are perfect.
A Course in Miracles Vol 1, p. 9
“The purpose of the Atonement is to restore everything to you; or rather, to restore it to your awareness.”
A Course in Miracles Vol. 1, p. 6
“I am in charge of the process of Atonement, which I undertook to begin. When you offer a miracle to any of my brothers, you do it to yourself and me. The reason you come before me is that I do not need miracles for my own Atonement, but I stand at the end in case you fail temporarily. My part in the Atonement is the canceling out of all errors that you could not otherwise correct. When you have been restored to the recognition of your original state, you naturally become part of the Atonement yourself”
In the New Testament, atonement, propitiation, and reconciliation are intertwined with the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. In Christ we now receive “atonement” (Romans 5:11). Through the blood of Jesus we obtain “propitiation” (Romans 3:25). It is Jesus who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 2:2; 4:10). Atonement does not open our eyes to our own perfection, but instead covers our sins before God. Only through the acceptance of the sacrifice Christ mad on the cross can we be saved.
It makes sense that the Course would completely ignore the sacrifice Christ made for our sins, since it teaches that God did not allow His Son to die on the cross for our salvation.
A Course in Miracles, vol. 1, p. 32
“If the crucifixion is seen from an upside-down point of view, it does appear as if God permitted and even encouraged one of His Sons to suffer because he was good…Yet the real Christian should pause and ask, ‘How could this be?’ Is it likely that God Himself would be capable of the kind of thinking which His Own words have clearly stated is unworthy of His Son?”
A Course in Miracles, vol. 1, p. 32
“Persecution frequently results in an attempt to justify the terrible misperception that God Himself persecuted His Own Son on behalf of salvation. The very words are meaningless…In milder forms a parent says, ‘This hurts me more than it hurts you’, and feels exonerated in beating a child. Can you believe our Father really thinks this way? It is so essential that all such thinking be dispelled that we must be sure that nothing of this kind remains in your mind. I was not ‘punished’ because you were bad. The wholly benign lesson the Atonement teaches is lost if it is tainted with this kind of distortion in any form”
It is clear in the New Testament that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of mankind.
1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit”.
The Old Testament also teaches that it was the will of God the Father to sacrifice Jesus Christ for us.
Isaiah 53:5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
The Course follows the thinking of Peter before the resurrection – a line of thinking he was clearly rebuked for.
Matthew 16:21-23
When Jesus told the disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and be killed, Peter said this must not happen. Jesus replied, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”.
The Course contends that the reason for Christ’s crucifixion was to induce people to love one another.
A Course in Miracles, vol. 1, p.87
“The message of the crucifixion is perfectly clear: ‘Teach only love, for that is what you are’. If you interpret the crucifixion in any other way, you are using it as a weapon for assault rather than as the call for peace for which it was intended”.
The Bible addresses just such thinking this way:
1 Corinthians 1:18; 15:3-4
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
Continuing their teaching that there is no sin, the Course teaches that there is no Hell or eternal punishment.
A Course in Miracles, vol. 1, p. 281
“The Holy Spirit teaches thus: There is no hell. Hell is only what the ego has made of the present”
Scripture, however, teaches us that there will be eternal punishment for the wicked and the unrepentant.
Matthew 13:41-42
“The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of theath”.
Revelation 20:15
“If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire”.
On the subject of Christ’s return, the Course teaches that the Second Coming and final judgment are not meant to punish sinners, but to heal the mind, rectify mistakes, and dispel the illusions we have believed in.
A Course in Miracles vol. 1, pp. 29-30
“Judgment is not an attribute of God…The Last Judgment is generally thought of as a procedure undertaken by God. Actually, it will be undertaken by my brothers with my help. It is a final healing rather than a meting out of punishment, however much you may think that punishment is deserved.”
Vol. 2, p. 439
“Christ’s Second Coming, which is sure as God, is merely the correction of mistakes, and the return of sanity.”
Vol. 2, p. 445
“The Final Judgment on the world contains no condemnation. For it sees the world as totally forgiven, without sin and wholly purposeless.”
Judgment is a basic attribute of God.
Isaiah 30:18
“The Lord is a God of judgment”
Psalms 9:7-8 “He has established his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.”
The Second Coming of Christ will be as literal and physical as His first coming was. “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). This is not simply the arrival of a spirit or a thought in our minds. When Christ returns He will bring God’s punishment on the wicked.
II Thessalonians 1:7-9
“…the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.”
Jesus referred to this coming as the “day of Judgment”. (Mt 10:15; 11:22-24; 12:36)
These and many other scriptures show that the Course’s teaching that there is no sin, no judgment, and no Hell are completely unbiblical and must be rejected.
Here is a link to another article that is relevant
https://kimolsen.wordpress.com/2007/08/12/women-of-theosophy-a-course-in-miracles/
DiscernIt 
170 comments
January 19, 2008 at 6:34 am
Kim
Oh Mary…i know…
And here is the reason why!
Jhn 15:18 ¶ If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before [it hated] you.
Jhn 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
January 19, 2008 at 8:58 am
ACIM Student
Kim et. al.,
If God created the world, why would Jesus talk down the world?
Isn’t he proud of what his Father made?
John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
The preceding sounds like Jesus doesn’t like it here. To be fair, I don’t like either.
January 19, 2008 at 9:17 am
Kim
LOL Good one, Student….
No i don’t know any good ACIM jokes but you know how it is at 1:00 am in the morning…AHA!
I also don’t know why there are so many denominations. And why do the Hindus have a million gods? But i can tell you this. A lot of us just want the truth. We don’t quibble much over the small stuff. But the fundamentals remain the same. There are many today in Christianity who are letting themselves be deceived by a false gospel and that is what this blog is really about. Staying true to the Gospel…
You are precious in God’s eyes…..
January 19, 2008 at 9:33 am
ACIM Student
Kim et. al.,
Sometimes I think, is this some kind of sick joke. God want us to keep guessing what is the truth. With so many religions professing so many disparate teachings. With so many billions of people believing so many different theologies. That’s one of the reasons I don’t buy Christianity belief in hell. I do belief in Heaven without an opposite. I do belief in God without an opposite. Maybe, ACIM is right when it says: A universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary.
Good Night, It is only 10:30PM in the Midwest.
January 19, 2008 at 8:38 am
ACIM Student
Kim et. al.,
Let’s make a small parenthesis here for a Christian joke.
First Church accepts all denominations, preferably twenties and fifties.
Do you know any ACIM jokes?
Do you know that within Christianity there are more than 33,820 denominations and counting.
Why so much disagreement?
January 20, 2008 at 8:04 am
Mary
ACIM,
Unfortunately what ACIM is teaching is fairytales. Heaven without Hell is creating a god of our own creating.
It doesn’t have to be so confusing figuring out spiritual truth if you look to the inspired word of God-the 66 books of the Bible. The only scripture I had to stand on as a young highschooler seeking spiritual truth was Luke 11:9. After 3 years of asking,seeking, and knocking the Lord answered and slowly began to remove the blinders from my eyes.
While I won’t hold my breath that you are going to believe me I just felt like I had to say it again. God is faithful. He can be nothing else. But you must seek Him in truth…..His word the Bible.
January 20, 2008 at 8:18 am
Mary
“Isn’t he proud of what his father created?”
After the fall of mankind the days of earth’s existance were now numbered. Decay and death to all living creatures resulted. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom-not of this world because this world is passing away.
January 20, 2008 at 9:11 am
Kim
I have never thought that God tries to keep us guessing. This is Satan’s ploy not God’s.
Post-modern thought has entered the church with man’s philosophies and strange rules of reality. What is good, is called evil and what is evil, is called good. (Does anyone know what verse this is?)
So now we have no hell…no sin…no absolutes…sounds like the emerging church.
But Paul said…Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the basic principals of the world, and not according to Christ.”
Confusion does reign when man rebels against the Creator, who reveals himself in the written word.
January 20, 2008 at 10:05 am
Mary
Isaiah 5 :20-21
January 20, 2008 at 10:45 am
Kim
Thanks Mary, I have been thinking about this verse for some time.
“Woe to those call evil good, and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.”
If you think back to John Burton from IHOP…there was a section in his e-book called “Uncommon Sense”. Everything is being reversed. Thought processes are turned around.
ACIM makes no bones about it. “THis is a course in mind-training”. pg.16
“It is the Holy Spirit’s goal to help us escape from the dream world by teaching us how to reverse our thinking and unlearn our mistakes” pg.xi No Sin just forgiveness.
Doug Pagitt, emergent, did the same thing with the denial of Hell. And ACIM denies there is a hell.
These same patterns are appearing in all facets of false teachings and occult teachings. I am God……
January 21, 2008 at 12:41 am
ACIM Student
Kim,
What is your occupation in the church that you go to? Are you a minister?
January 20, 2008 at 11:47 pm
ACIM Student
Kim et. al.,
Genesis 1:26-29 – 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
There is at least a problem with the preceding verses, do you see it? God has no image, if He had an image, then He have to have form, If he has form then He has to limits. If He has limits then He in not infinite and by default He wouldn’t be God.
In my opinion, the god of bible is a god made to our own image. The god of the bible is very small god indeed. The god of the bible is not omnipotent (there is power besides his), the god of bible is not infinite (there are beings and a whole universe outside of him). The god of the bible, in my opinion, is just a reflection of our own ego.
Like I said on January 15, 2008 at 8:05 am:
“It is insane to think that a part of God, a part of the All, a part of total unity could somehow split off and, all of a sudden, be outside everything — that there could be a reality beyond totality, something beyond infinity, a power beyond omnipotence.”
The preceding paragraph is an excerpt taken from “The Metaphysics of Separation and Forgiveness” by Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D.
***link deleted***
January 21, 2008 at 12:48 am
Mary
ACIM in the image of God man was created-not in a physical sense but in spiritual likeness, emotions, thoughts etc.
January 21, 2008 at 1:38 am
ACIM Student
Mary,
The “like from like” principle, says that anything coming from God must be like Him. Pure non-dualism is not willing to compromise on this principle either. Rather, it says that anything that comes from God must be exactly like Him. God could not create anything that is not perfect or else He wouldn’t be perfect. If God is perfect and eternal, then by definition anything He creates would also have to be perfect and eternal. Since there is obviously nothing in this world that is perfect and eternal, Jesus was able to see the world for what it was – nothing. But he also knew that it appeared for a reason, and it was a trick to keep people away from the truth of God and His Kingdom.
January 21, 2008 at 2:35 am
ACIM Student
Mary,
When Jesus made statements like, “Of myself I can do nothing.” — John 5:30 and “I and my Father are one.” — John 10:30 he wasn’t claiming any kind of specialness for himself. In fact, he was giving up any specialness, individuality, or authorship and accepting his true strength – the power of God.
Jesus Love, like God’s, was total, impersonal, non-selective and all embracing. He treated everyone equally, from rabbi to prostitute. He was not a body. He was no longer a human being. He had passed through the eye of the needle. He had reclaimed his place with God as pure spirit. This is pure non-dualism: an attitude that, along with the Holy Spirit, will lead you to what you are. You and Jesus are the same thing. We all are. There is nothing else!
January 21, 2008 at 3:12 am
ACIM Student
Mary,
Here is what Jesus meant when he said;
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Matthew 7:13-14
He wasn’t trying to scare the hell out people by threatening them with destruction if they didn’t walk the straight and narrow. On the contrary, he was telling them that what they are experiencing here is not life, while showing them the way to life.
What you are experiencing here is destruction, but Jesus knew the way out. That’s why he said, “Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
If he wasn’t a man who had lessons to learn like you, then why would he have to overcome the world in the first place?
January 21, 2008 at 3:39 am
Kim
ACIM…No I am not a minister….but i will give you some background…
My husband and I belong to a Lutheran Church…now the reason I belong to this church is not because i studied the different denominations and selected accordingly, it is because the Lord selected this church for me to be in.
One day as a visitor in this church, I was listening to the person reading scripture during the worship service and Lord told me, He wanted me to do this….Well i had to become a member to do this. So we joined and in obedience i signed the sheet to be a reader on one of the Sundays.
I am on the church council, and i am on the Altar Guild, which sets up communion and takes care of the sanctuary.
I have been involved with BSF Bible Study Fellowship for 5 years. It is a 7-year Bible Study. It coincides with the school year so we study every day for 9 months with 3 months off for the summer. This year i am involved with the school program and teach 10-11 year olds. Next year i would receive a different age group.
God called me into the discernment ministry (similar to how a missionary would be called). This blog is the result and i would also like to start a local group somehow but i walk with the Lord on a daily basis, and let Him call the shots, so we will see what happens.
My husband and i own a window and floor covering business and employ a couple of designers. At this point i just do the bookwork.
I was brought up in the church but left when i was sixteen. About six years ago the Lord called me back to Him. I was reading a prophecy book when i was hit with the realization that Jesus would be coming back soon and i was dead in my sin. I was a puddle on the floor for hours while i repented and gave my entire life back to the Lord.
The joy of walking with the Lord in obedience and studying His word has been worth every second. The sacrifices are worthwhile and have eternal consequences.
This world is real but “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
So no i am not even qualified to be a minister, (only men should be anyway). I am more like a donkey, Balaam’s donkey…..somehow the Lord still uses me even though i am no good, stubborn, sinful, and sometimes love the world more than Him, but i repent and work on my sanctification day by day. I always pray that i have a servant’s attitude and i long to serve my Savior in any way He desires.
Hey…it is your lucky day…that was the short version..
kim
January 21, 2008 at 5:09 am
ACIM Student
Kim,
Thank you for sharing!
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Mark 13:31
I can understand that earth will cease to exist, because it does not really exist in reality (reality been Heaven), but Heaven ceasing to exits? That verse makes no sense to me.
In my opinion anyone that wants to be a minister should be able to. There is no male or female in Heaven. Spirit has no gender and we are all spirits. We are non-local beings having a local experience.
In accord with what Anonymous wrote in “Fear and Ridicule” January 14, 2008 at 7:19 pm.
I will ask you the following:
Who stand to gain the most by keeping you in fear of hell, Satan, and damnation?
Think about it!
You said, “test the spirit”, I will rephrase that to “test your pastor/church”. How do you think the church gained control of the masses?
When you said: ‘So no I am not even qualified to be a minister, (only men should be anyway).” That’s more in line with the way men in the Middle East think, even today. You know, women are not treated with love in those countries. Every living creature should be treated with the utmost respect and love. That is the Jesus way!
January 21, 2008 at 5:40 am
Kim
On The Day of the Lord, when Jesus returns to earth, heaven and earth shall pass away. When He comes in judgment:
Luke 21:25…”On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of sea. 26 Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”
It will not be a good day for those who are outside of Jesus Christ.
There is a biblical order in the bible. Men are not to mistreat women, but woman are not be above men in the church. Even at BSF, the women are not allowed to teach the men’s group.
1 Peter 3:1 “Wives in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over by the behavior of their wives.”
But i have no fear of hell, Satan, and damnation. I would be afraid of death if I were not in Christ and saved by His blood. My eternal life is settled.
So who stands to gain the most by denying the sinful nature of man. Satan. And who is the loser? Man. But Satan has already been defeated by the Cross. His time is short….
Yes, we are to test our pastors and teachers….In fact much of the New Testament is devoted to false prophets and false teachings and we are to test these teachings against the Word of God. They are to be rampant in the last days. That is the purpose of this blog. There is only one way to keep yourself from deception and that is to test all teachings against the absolute truth of the God of Israel and Jesus Christ, in the Holy Word of the Bible.
2 Peter 2:1 “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves.”
Many will attest to the fact that it is difficult to find a bible-based church these days. I am lucky. Our new pastor is filled with the Holy Spirit, and he knows about end-time deceptions.
Here is another profile on zimbio with most of my newer articles.
http://www.zimbio.com/member/kimolsen
January 21, 2008 at 6:09 am
ACIM Student
Kim,
I think the bible is one of the most scary books ever. Edgar Allan Poe doesn’t even come close to all the horrors portrait in the bible. Is that the work of loving God?
January 21, 2008 at 6:22 am
Kim
God loves you so much that He sent his Son, to hang nailed to a cross, dying a slow tortured death, so that you, because you are so dear to Him, would not have to suffer yourself.
Only those who reject His free gift of salvation, over and over again, will in the end, perish. All are given a chance to come to know the truth…most reject it…some believe and will have everlasting life. You know these truths…don’t you? Oh please say you do….my heart is aching for you.
January 21, 2008 at 6:47 am
ACIM Student
Kim,
Don’t worry about me. There is no condemnation in God. Love can only forgive. There is no parallel in this world that can teach us the awesome Love of God. God is awesome. God is bigger than we can ever imagine. God is in total control.
I need to be frank with you, if the the god that you are talking about created a place call hell. Send me there, I wouldn’t want to be in the same place where a hateful god resides. Only hate can create such a place.
The God presented to in ACIM is an all loving God, all that He wants is for us come back to Him. Just like the father in the Prodigal Son parable. The Father’s treasure was/is He’s Son. We are all His Son. There are no levels in Heaven. God is One with all He’s creations. That is TRUE LOVE!!!
January 21, 2008 at 10:21 am
Kim
ACIM Student….(can i call you something else?)
The son admits to his Father that he has sinned…..
Luke 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
God will always love us, but we must repent, confess our sin, and turn away from it. That God loves us is not the question, how much do YOU love God is the question i want to ask….Do you love God enough to repent?
January 21, 2008 at 10:01 pm
ACIM Student
Kim,
– The first thing you have to understand is that the Son was not kicked out of the house; he was innocently foolish enough to think he could leave and do better on his own. That was Jesus answer to the Garden of Eden myth. God didn’t banish us from paradise, and He is not responsible in any way, shape, or form for our experience of being apart from Him (that’s the condition we have in this world).
The next thing you should notice is that the Son used up his limited resources and began to experience lack, a condition that doesn’t exists in Heaven. Being seemingly cut off from his Source he was now experiencing want for the first time. With the Son now experiencing scarcity, he tries to fill the lack by joining himself to another citizen of that country. This is symbolic of attempting to find solutions to your problems somewhere outside of yourself, invariably involving some form of special relationships. These endless and hopeless attempts at a solution through external searching continue until you become like the prodigal Son when he came to himself. Then the Son realizes that the only meaningful answer to his problems is to return to his Father’s house, and doing this becomes more important to him than anything in the world.
Here we come to the most important point of the story: the contrast between what the Son has come to believe is true about himself and what the Father knows to be true. The Son thinks that he has sinned and in unworthy to be called the Son of his Father. But the loving Father will hear none of this. He is not wrathful or vengeful and is not the slightest bit interested in punishing His Son. This is what God is really like! He doesn’t think like humans because He isn’t a person. The story is metaphorical. God’s Love rushes to meet His Son. God knows that His Son is forever innocent, because He is His Son. Nothing that seems to happen can ever change that fact. The prodigal Son is now returning to life. He is no longer lost in dreams of scarcity, destruction and death. It’s time to party. –
We as the prodigal Son are forever innocent, nothing that seems to happen can ever change that fact. We as humans have a belief, but our Father knows the true and He will use any means, including ACIM, to let us know that we are innocent.
John 8:31-32 – “31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Free from what?
– Free from this world of scarcity, destruction, and death.
“You are at home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality.” (T-10.I.2)
Just to get another point of view if you so desire, I recommend Dr. Kenneth Wapnick workshop “The Prodigal Son” in four cd’s from the point of view of ACIM.
You can call me Mike.
January 21, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Kim
Oh Thanks…Mike.
Anonymous also talked of the story of the Prodigal Son. Here is how i answered.
One should read the entire passage of Luke 15 for complete understanding the 3 parables here.
The Lost Sheep wanders off and it is found..Jesus says “Rejoice…there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.”
The Lost Coin is found there is rejoicing, and Jesus says “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels over one sinner who repents.”
Then the Prodigal Son… He takes his inheritance from his Father (God) and squanders it and finds that “no one gave him anything” v.16
v.17 says he returns to his father (God) saying “Father, i have sinned against heaven and against you.”
The father rejoiced at this. v.24 “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate.”
A sheep wandered off the path…something of value we already have is dropped or lost…someone rebels against God….
God rejoices when someone repents and returns to Him.
I believe in the bible from Genesis to Revelation and i do not hand pick my favorite verses and reject the ones that bother me or might be life changing.
I have a question…why do you reject the bible as the inspired, inerrant word of God and then turn around and use quotes from it?
January 21, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Kim
Also about the Garden of Eden….God did banish man from the Garden
Genesis 3:23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
This was the result of man’s disobedience. It is the same today. Those who reject God will never be spiritually joined with Him again. The only way is through the belief of Jesus Christ and the following of His words in the bible.
The Course offers a different “Jesus”. This Jesus is not the biblical one but one that was channeled by Helen Schucman. Schucman’s “Jesus” is according to the Course “an elder brother entitled to respect for his greater experience”. This “Jesus” says the Bible has errors.
I believe that Helens “Jesus” is a false “Jesus”, and that she was channeling an unholy spirit.
January 22, 2008 at 1:14 am
ACIM Student
Kim,
I will reject any teaching (it does not matter what the source is) that says that our Heavenly Father is anything but Love. If ACIM mentions one word that even suggested that I should fear our Heavenly Father, I would dumped ACIM on the spot.
Not only did the people of 2,000 years ago kill Jesus body, they also massacre his message of Love and Forgiveness and turn it into one of judgment, punishment, and sacrifice. They continue to belief what they always belief, the old scripture. Instead of listening to what the master had to teach.
It seems to me that you do not notice that to create hell, God has to become hate. He would stop being changeless. He would stop being God. That is an impossibility, we do not have that power. If our behavior could change who God is, then indeed we would have pull the impossible, changing the Changeless. You are believing the bible blindly.
The people who benefit from this blind faith, are the ones who get 10% of your hard earn money. Throughout the centuries, many people (merchants running the temple) have abused people like yourself with this doctrine of fear. Repent or you will face eternal condemnation.
Matthew 13:50 “50And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
It sounds awful alright, just not true.
I knew before I started writing here, that it was going to be a big waste of time. No surprises here. You are free to belief whatever you want. I am beyond that false message of judgment, punishment, and sacrifice.
January 22, 2008 at 1:33 am
Kim
Well….Mike,
I did find these verses in a bible translation, if it is any consolation to you.
“The god you save may be yourself.”
“Why not really be honest if you are going to create a god in your image, why not create that god as yourself. Every man is a god if he chooses to recognize himself as one.”
January 22, 2008 at 1:38 am
Kim
Unfortunately…
These verses are from the Satanic Bible by Anton LeVay.
pgs. 44 & 96
January 22, 2008 at 1:51 am
Kim
Lessons from ACIM
“You are as God created you. Today honor your Self. Let graven images you made to be the Son of God instead of what he is be worshipped not today. Deep in your mind the holy Christ in you is waiting your acknowledgement as you. And you are lost and do not know yourself while he is unacknowledged and unknown.” (Lesson 110)
“My salvation comes from me.” (Lesson 70)
“God’s Name is holy, but no holier than yours. To call upon His Name is but to call upon your own” (Lesson 183)
January 22, 2008 at 2:09 am
ACIM Student
Kim,
I wish you the best. Goodbye!
January 22, 2008 at 2:28 am
Kim
Okay Mike….
Come back again. I enjoyed talking with you.
God Bless.
January 22, 2008 at 4:01 am
Mary
Mike ,
What a load of garbage. ACIM is nothing more than Satan’s lie in the garden of eden. There truly is nothing new under the sun. And the new age is nothing but the same old lies from the same old devil that rebelled against God from time past.
January 22, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Kim
ACIM does not have anything to offer Christians who are truly walking with the Lord. We already have peace of mind, we love our brothers and sisters, and there is no fear of our future.
Those who have accepted Jesus Christ of the Holy Bible as opposed to a false or another “Jesus” of the “enlightened ones, already have the Holy Spirit living inside. There is no need to imagine our world that we live in as an Illusion of our egos to allay our fears.
Those who do rebel against God seem to have great fear and ACIM appears gives them what they need. Their ears are tickled by the lies of Satan. These lies tells people that they are as God and that they are in control of their own destiny. What a snub this is to God who created us.
Life in this world as we know it will never be perfect and there will always be trials and tribulation. Those who believe that ACIM will protect them from everyday struggles will continue to struggle. Fear is addressed all through ACIM to the very end of the book, which is addressed to the teachers of ACIM. So fighting fear and doubt is a main issue, even for the teachers.
On the other hand, we who have given our life to Jesus Christ as Savior and Creator, can live in this world with joy and God gives us scripture which in turn gives us the strength and hope we need, till Jesus returns to earth in judgment.
January 22, 2008 at 10:24 pm
ACIM Student
Kim, et. al.
The Bible’s Ungodly Origins: ***link deleted***
Half way down the page you will find, Tom Paine letter to a Christian friend on May 12, 1797.
January 22, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Kim
MIke i believe that ACIM is of ungodly origins.
Can you prove me wrong?
January 22, 2008 at 11:35 pm
ACIM Student
Kim, et. al.
You are right, ACIM is of ungodly origins. Jesus is the author and he is not God.
January 22, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Kim
That is not what i am asking. Can you prove that ACIM is authentic?
January 22, 2008 at 11:45 pm
ACIM Student
Kim, et. al.
Can you prove that ACIM is NOT authentic?
January 23, 2008 at 12:32 am
Kim
My answer is no….I cannot prove that ACIM is not authentic. But i do believe ACIM was channeled by an unstable woman who took dictation from an unholy spirit claiming to be “Jesus”.
So this brings me back to my original question. Can you prove me wrong? BTW…You don’t really need to answer this. Okay off to work!
January 23, 2008 at 1:56 am
ACIM Student
Kim, et. al.
You wrote: “But I do believe ACIM was channeled by an unstable woman who took dictation from an unholy spirit claiming to be “Jesus”.”
That’s only your opinion. Believing in a tooth fairy doesn’t make the tooth fairy real, anymore than not believing in a tooth fairy makes it false.
I do not have to proof anything. A million words will proof nothing, an experience will proof everything, but only to yourself. If you want to know how an ice-cream taste like, there is only one way to know. You have to experience it, taste it with your own taste buds. There is no other way.
ACIM is not for everyone, at least not for everyone at once. If you do not agree with it, move on. This is a personal decision.
ACIM only purpose is to provide a way in which some people will be able to find their own Internal Teacher.
The only proof you will get from ACIM is that it works.
January 23, 2008 at 2:09 am
ACIM Student
Kim, et. al.,
Formalizing religion involves taking the inspirational words of the visionary, prophet, or enlightened founder, and as soon as the person is gone — it usually does not take very long — codifying, ritualizing, and dogmatizing them, and then using the teachings as weapons against dissenters and unbelievers. Unfortunately, the early history of A Course in Miracles has not surprisingly begun to traverse a similar path.
January 25, 2008 at 6:38 pm
IWanthetruth
Kim,
Have you seen this site before
http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/
I didn’t know which topic to put this at….
January 25, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Kim
Hey Hi…
Yes…This site is already on my blogroll. I have a book by Marcia Montenegro “Spellbound, The Paranormal Seduction of Today’s Kids”
She is very interesting…used to be a professional astrologer who became involved in the occult, then came to know the Lord.
Great site and book.
hmm…I think i will post her story.
January 25, 2008 at 9:39 pm
jb
Kim,
Can I just say that ACIM is set in their way and it reminds me of these versus:
1Tim 6:20
2Tim 2:14-16
2Tim 3:7
In my opinion they don’t want the truth, it’s too hard.
January 25, 2008 at 11:30 pm
ACIM Student
Kim, et. al.,
The truth is that there is no hell. Hell is an invention of man designed to gain control of gullible believers. Satan is a full time employee of the Christian church. His job (with lots of help from the preacher) is to scare the hell of theirs members, so they pay tithing willingly to the clergy. Thay way the clergy can live like wealthy people.
These preachers are masters at scaring people, that’s how they make their living. They say that God is love and then turn around and tell the congregation how bad their all are (sinners), that if they don’t repent God will send to hell for an eternity. People, don’t you ever notice how they use God for their own financial gain. People, open your eyes!
January 26, 2008 at 12:00 am
Kim
There will always be counterfeit Christians among the true Christians.
False teachers promote themselves instead of God, false teachers also promote themselves as God. False teachers teach than man is God.
True teachers of the Bible, teach its entire counsel.
January 26, 2008 at 12:54 am
jb
ACIM,
Funny, I’ve seen that on TV too, but never in 7 years of being born again. I’ve lived in 4 states and attended dozens of christian churches and never heard that.
January 26, 2008 at 1:12 am
Mike
Kim, et. al.,
ACIM doesn’t teach that man is God. What it says, is that our spirit is within the realm of God’s Spirit. Why? Because God is all encompassing (infinite). There is absolutely nothing outside of Him. Everything there is, is within Him. There is no life outside of God. It is simply impossible. God is all there is. ACIM says that what we are seeing with the bodies eyes, including the body, is an illusion. What we call life is not really life. True life is only possible in Heaven. Heaven and God are One and the same. Everything that appears to happen is happening at the level of the mind. Those are the teachings that Jesus couldn’t teach 2,000 years ago. They were to advance for their time. It is obvious by your resistance to it, that they are to advance for many of you.
January 26, 2008 at 1:42 am
Kim
Vol. 1, p. 70-71
“My mind will always be like yours, because we were created as equals
Vol. 1, p. 136
“The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself. There is no separation of God and His creation”.
************
To me this says that man is equal to God…man=God. To recognize God is to recognize yourself. God=man
January 26, 2008 at 3:27 am
jb
Mike,
HA! HA!
I am in stitches! No offense. The whole body is an illusion, life is not life.
You guys are way way too advanced for me.
I am curious, who created the life is not really life and who created the illusion?
January 26, 2008 at 9:23 am
ACIM Student
Kim,
What do you think Jesus meant when he said?
“Of myself I can do nothing.” — John 5:30
“I and my Father are one.” — John 10:30
I know that to many Christian the following will sound like Chinese.
When Jesus made statements like, “Of myself I can do nothing.” — John 5:30 and “I and my Father are one.” — John 10:30 he wasn’t claiming any kind of specialness for himself. In fact, he was giving up any specialness, individuality, or authorship and accepting his true strength – the power of God.
As far as Jesus was concerned, there was no Jesus, and eventually there wasn’t. His reality was now that of pure spirit and outside of the mind that made the false universe, a mind that people mistake for the home of their true oneness. Jesus knew that the miscreation of the universe didn’t have anything to do with the truth. His identity was with God and nothing else. His Love, like God’s, was total, impersonal, non-selective and all-embracing. He treated everyone equally, from rabbi to prostitute. He was not a body. He was no longer a human being. He had passed through the eye of the needle. He had reclaimed his place with God as pure spirit. What he did is what all of us must do to reclaim our place with God as pure spirit. We have to give up individuality, specialness. To accomplish that we must undergo a very difficult process called forgiveness. One of the goals of the Course is to train your mind so the time will come when instead of judging automatically, you will forgive automatically.
January 26, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Mike
JB,
If you are really curious about who created the illusion then read:
“The Metaphysics of Separation and Forgiveness” by Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D.
You can read all of it online at: ***link deleted***
January 27, 2008 at 12:53 am
Kim
Mike
The entire Bible verse John 5:30 is:
“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”
This one verse is part of a section identifying Jesus as the Son of God and that the way to the Father is through Jesus, and explains that the Father has entrusted all judgment (of sin) to Him. This tells Jesus is qualified as a judge because His power comes as He hears from the Father. Hence, “I can of Myself do nothing.”
Verse 5:30 is the last verse of this passage which summarizes the passage of Jesus’ dependence on the Father vs 19 (whatever the Father does the Son does also), and that He judges as He hears from the Father.
In light of this, this makes the partial verse, “By myself I can do nothing” rather vague. But this is what false teachers to, especially big-time evangelists. They alter the meaning of scripture by fragmenting it. ACIM is no different.
*************
John 10:30
“I and the Father are one”
Again you have selected a verse that ends a passage or paragraph.
This is an important statement regarding the deity of Jesus and the nature of the godhead. This refutes the “Jesus Only” doctrine (Sabelianism) and refutes the teaching that Jesus isn’t God (Arianism).
In this passage He talks of the disbelief of the Jews and says “but you do not believe because you are not my sheep…my sheep listen and follow me…i give them eternal life…no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and Father are one.”
So l believe Jesus is saying that He is God, that He and the Father are one, and that who believes in Jesus knows also the Father.
John 14:6 verifies this when Jesus says “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
What you have said does not sound like Chinese to me. I study theosophy (the ancient wisdom) and ACIM is just an offshoot of it. Just another version of channeled information using metaphysics. (occult means of obtaining information) Divination which is forbidden in the Bible.
Like Mary said…there is nothing new under the sun. Gnostism was rampant during the early church and Paul warned the church about it during his life.
January 27, 2008 at 1:38 am
jb
Mike,
It doesn’t matter what I read, if it’s not real! If you believe any book and then say the bible has not been interpreted correctly by christians or it has error, I ask what makes you think I will believe “your” books especially if we’re not real.
Kim, ACIM,
Versus were not around until something like the 13th century, so Kim is correct saying you are fragmenting. Many, Many, Many “leaders” use fragmented versus to give credit to what they want to say, so that they can make money. If 1% of the bible is in error, I ask which part?
If 100 people find a different 1% wouldn’t that make it 100% in error for that specific group of 100? Yes, and I will go further. If Mike and ACIM use scripture and warp it and then say other parts are in error then their whole argument breaks down, especially if it’s not real. I personally find that hilarious!
January 27, 2008 at 1:45 am
Kim
jb,
Mike and ACIM Student are the same person from my e-mail records.
January 27, 2008 at 1:51 am
jb
Mike and ACIM,
Please know that I am not poking fun, there just seems to be so many holes that are unfillable in what you are saying that I find it very humorous, but in a serious way.
No one on earth before or after Jesus forgave people for their sins, atleast none that died still saying it. You seem very well read, and intelligent. What you have to say is very straight forward college Philosophy 300 course. I do not, however, believe that you’ve looked into the non biblical accounts of Jesus or philosophized on His reality or “un”reality.
It’s obvious you believe in what you are being told, but why believe if it’s not real?
January 27, 2008 at 2:25 am
jb
Kim,
Yes I know. With their belief system, they will never be able to explain the problem of evil, or truth.
January 27, 2008 at 2:25 am
jb
Kim,
I mean I know they are the same person. sorry!
God bless!
January 27, 2008 at 2:44 am
Mike
JB,
Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred. It does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees there was no sin. And in that view are all your sins forgiven. What is sin, except a false idea about God’s Son? Forgiveness merely sees its falsity, and therefore lets it go. What then is free to take its place is now the Will of God.
Why should I want to forgive?
How willing are you to forgive your brother?
How much do you desire peace instead of endless strife and misery and pain?
These questions are the same, in different form. Forgiveness is your peace, for herein lies the end of separation and the dream of danger and destruction, sin and death; of madness and of murder, grief and loss. This is the “sacrifice” salvation asks, and gladly offers peace instead of this.
Forgiveness is the healing of the perception of separation.