I’ve gotten some queries from folks who have an affinity for A Course in Miracles and related materials. Recently that traffic appears to have risen somewhat and I felt the need for an anchored reference point on this blog regarding the teachings of ACIM.
First: We live and let live. If you have embraced ACIM, it’s obvious I am not your enemy. You can peruse just a little here and discover that I’ve often said particular beliefs and theology are not the issue here. By the same token, I can’t easily fellowship with everyone who likes some of what I write. Feel free to use my stuff, but don’t assume we are one.
I have examined the teachings and read some of the material. It’s not for me. That’s all I should have to say.
I don’t stand with any of the mainstream branches of Christian religion, particularly those anchored in Western intellectual traditions. Faith in Christ is not cerebral, not a human decision and not a matter of having right thoughts. Such things are not at all a part of Jesus’ Hebrew intellectual background. You could easily make it seem like that’s what the New Testament requires, but you’d be lying. Even mainstream Christian religion knows all about the vast difference between Western Civilization and the Ancient Near East from which the Hebrew traditions arose. However, most Christian scholars do their best to ignore all of that. I stand with the ancients in asserting it’s not so much what’s in your head as what’s in your heart, or what your convictions demand.
The mainstream Christians can have their thing. The ACIM folks can have theirs. Unless you make it a point to harass me, I don’t see any need to address our differences. The difference here is that I was once a part of the mainstream and found things that didn’t work for me. I’m always having to explain that because there are an awful lot of evangelicals hitting me up for discussion all the time. When you deal with the same stuff all the time, you tend to come up with summaries that outline the differences. Against that background, precious few of the ACIM folks have addressed me directly. To be honest, I’ve had more noise from Jehovah’s Witnesses than from the ACIM bunch.
I’m not some kind of crusader seeking to banish from human awareness everything I don’t happen to agree with. Such is not my calling. If those other folks want to critique my stuff, I’ll be glad to help them do so with accuracy. They aren’t hurting me, even if they decide to use ugly words. I might not appreciate a ton of blather attacking my teaching here, but it’s all too easy for you to get your own forum for that. Do it right and I’ll even link to your forum from here. It’s not a question of fairness, but of skill and maybe some style in communication. I love a good roast because I don’t take myself that seriously. But if you play dirty or deceptively, I can’t respect anything you have to say. Don’t pretend you don’t know what that means.
As always, I’ll answer your questions as best I can. However, I must listen to my own heart and convictions, and logic/rhetoric has nothing to do with it. I’m not concerned with what you think of me nor my work. I have to please the voice inside my head. It matters not whether you imagine that voice might be God’s or something else; it’s God to me. In the words of a man I generally disagree with: Here I stand; I can do no other.
