Synopsis
The essential characteristic of A Course in Miracles that lies at the core of our differences is that it is a non-dualistic spirituality. Christianity, as Judaism before it, is a dualistic thought system in which God and the world, spirit and matter co-exist as separate states, both of which are real. Reality is thus seen to be a dimension of opposites—as with good and evil—in marked distinction from the Course's understanding of reality as being only perfect unity in which there are no opposites. (Adapted from "Summary and Conclusions")
Many students of A Course in Miracles have been tempted to call it the "Third Testament," thereby expressing their belief that it represents the same basic theology of the Bible, although in a more "purified," i.e., less ego-dominated, or more spiritually evolved form. Kenneth Wapnick and Rev. W. Norris Clarke, S.J., priest, philosopher, theologian, and Professor Emeritus from Fordham University, engage in this dialogue in order to identify the radical differences, as well as the similarities, between the thought systems of A Course in Miracles and biblical Christianity. While a Catholic priest, Fr. Clarke frames his remarks so as to represent the main theological doctrines of most Protestant churches as well. The dialogue makes abundantly clear, in the spirit of friends agreeing to disagree, that A Course in Miracles and biblical Christianity reflect entirely different and mutually exclusive theologies that can never be integrated into one coherent spirituality.
The dialogue is divided into an Introduction and five chapters: The Origin of the World, Jesus (Nature and Role; The Meaning of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection), The Eucharist, Living in the World, and Summary and Conclusions. The Appendix includes a Glossary, the Nicene Creed, and a summary of the origin and principles of A Course in Miracles.
About the Author
Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and one of the foremost teachers of A Course in Miracles, which he has been working with since 1973, when he joined Dr. Helen Schucman, scribe of the Course, and Dr. William Thetford at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. He has written more than 25 books on the Course, including Love Does Not Condemn, Absence from Felicity: The Story of Helen Schucman and Her Scribing of 'A Course in Miracles,' The Message of 'A Course in Miracles,' and many others. He has also produced over 150 audio and video titles discussing the principles of the Course. He is President and co-founder, with his wife Gloria, of the Foundation for A Course in Miracles in Temecula, California.
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