Is ACIM Infallible?
A Course in Miracles talks a lot idols. On this subject it is in agreement with the Bible that it is an image we have created that is a substitute for God or the truth. Of course, we recall the story of the Israelites worshipping the golden calf instead of the one God.
The idols of humanity are without number, but the interesting thing is even the best of teachings and their books can be an idol.
Christian fundamentalists see the Bible as the “infallible word of God” and if you question any literal text they will condemn you.
The same problem occurs with any text considered sacred, from the Quran to the Vedas, to the Book of Mormon, to one’s favorite channeled material and so on.
The stark reality is that A Course in Miracles is no exception. If the student views it as infallible the way he or she literally reads it then it has become an idol to him.
And how do we prevent it becoming an idol?
The key to this is the Holy Spirit, the teaching of which I know from experience to be true.
The question each sincere student needs to ask is this: When I come across something that sounds a little strange or difficult to believe, do I just accept it because it was supposed to come from Jesus, or do I check with the Holy Spirit for verification?
If the student accepts without question, then ACIM, as good as it is, has become an idol.
If instead, he checks with the Holy Spirit then he has not made the Course an idol as the Fundamentalists have the Bible.
Ken Wapnick in his own words gives us evidence that Helen Schucman’s transmissions from her Voice was not perfect.
“There also is the group of small messages Helen took down over a period of time, that we came to refer to as “Special Messages.” In the main, these involved “celestial pep talks,” wherein Jesus offered us encouragement by guaranteeing a successful outcome to all things. Some of these even became quite specific as to when this success would or might come. None of these predictions, however, came to fruition, and on any kind of observable or experiential level, none of the positive more general predictions came to pass either.” Absence From Fellicity, Chapter 14
“Returning to this important point, there is a prominent idea that what Helen took down are Jesus’ literal words, and are therefore sacred and should never have been altered. This is as patently absurd as the lady who wrote to me after the second (and numbered) edition was published, accusing me of changing Jesus’ course by adding numbers to it. Helen did not think that way. A lot of what she heard at the beginning was just wrong, and she of course knew that. Again, I had many personal experiences with Helen of her writing down messages she said were from Jesus. This, by the way, occurred during the same time period when she was writing down the pamphlets, which are certainly pure in their teaching. Inaccuracies were frequently the result when she was involved with specifics. Here are some additional examples.
“I think it was 1976, a year after we met Judith Skutch, the eventual publisher of the Course through the Foundation for Inner Peace. Helen, Bill, Judy, and I were discussing what we thought was going to happen with the Course and our work with it. As was typical during this period, Helen wrote down a message for us, probably somewhere in the summer, and it said that “This year will end in blazing glory.” The meaning was that there was to be some magnificent breakthrough; perhaps, we thought, Helen and Bill’s relationship would be healed and we would all ride off into the spiritual sunset together—i.e., wonderful things would be happening. Well, weeks and months went by, and no blazing glory. Finally, it was December 31st and we were still waiting. Judy was giving a New Year’s Eve party in her apartment, which overlooked Central Park and provided a beautiful view of the sky. Sometime later in the evening, New York City put on its New Year’s Eve fireworks display, and we turned to each other and said: “There’s the blazing glory!” Obviously, Helen had been wrong.
“Another instance of Helen’s inaccuracy with specifics was when she saw her own tombstone, indicating that she would die when she was 72. Well, she died when she was 71. It was close, but if you are Jesus’ scribe, you should not be off even a little. She also that said Bill would die within a year of her death, which became a big concern for Bill. But he lived another seven years and died in 1988. Finally, Helen said that her husband Louis would die within five or six years of her death, but he lived for almost another nineteen years! And so Helen was frequently wrong when it came to specifics… ” From The History of the Manuscripts of A Course in Miracles by Kenneth Wapnick
Available at: https://facim.org/foundation-course-miracles/history-of-the-manuscripts/form-and-content/
Members of every spiritual movement want to believe their sacred texts are infallible as this removes them from any responsibility of thinking deeply about it or checking with the Holy Spirit for verification.
So, what do I do when I come across something that doesn’t sound right in ACIM?
I figure the worst thing I could do would be to automatically dismiss it, as the Course is an earned authority with me. It has taught many things that have been proven correct through my own experience and confirmation through the soul. So, the first question I ask is whether I am understanding this particular text correctly, or perhaps the intent was for the reader to think in a certain direction.
The worst thing a student can do is to interpret the Course so it is in harmony with his preconceived notions. To see the Course as not being infallible does not give the student license to corrupt its meaning so it affirms anything he wants to believe.
Often then, rereading the context and comparing the questionable passage with other parts of the Course brings understanding.
Then there may be times that certain passages are not resolved. In this case I consider that I may need more light on the subject, but also the possibility that Helen just didn’t get it right. If what the Holy Spirit reveals seems to be not in harmony with the Course, or any other writing, then I go with my own inner voice.
In fact, the Course’s teachings of relying on the Holy Spirit as a means of greater understanding than words themselves is one of the most profound and helpful teachings of the course.
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