Is A Course in Miracles Christian?
The answer depends, in part, on what we mean by “Christian.”
A Course in Miracles is deeply rooted in the world of Christianity. Jesus is its teacher. God is our loving Father. Its pages are filled with Christian language and ideas—Christ, the Holy Spirit, salvation, forgiveness, miracles, and Heaven. And at the heart of the Course is the same moving call we find in Jesus’ teachings: to love one another, to forgive our enemies, to relinquish judgment, and to become instruments of healing in the world.
Yet the Course is not traditional Christianity. It reinterprets many familiar Christian teachings, sometimes quite radically. It presents a God of perfect love who never condemns or punishes. It understands sin not as an offense requiring divine punishment, but as a mistake that calls for healing. And it sees Jesus’ crucifixion not as a sacrifice God required for our sins, but as a demonstration that even in the face of attack, we can “teach only love.”
For many Christians, these differences will put the Course outside the boundaries of orthodox Christian belief. For others, the Course can feel surprisingly close to the Jesus they have always loved—a Jesus whose message of unconditional love and forgiveness can sometimes be obscured by the doctrines that developed around him.
So is A Course in Miracles Christian? It is certainly not conventional Christianity. But it is deeply connected with Christianity and, most especially, its central figure. And it asks a very Christian question: What if we took Jesus seriously as a teacher and tried to live the way of love and forgiveness he taught?
On this page, we explore this relationship: where the Course and Christianity meet, where they differ, and what the Course may have to offer those who want to look again at Jesus and his teachings.
If you’ve been seeking a meaningful spiritual connection, free of guilt and fear, A Course in Miracles may resonate deeply with you.
A Course in Miracles offers:
A God of pure love
If you want to get away from judgment and condemnation, the Course connects you with a God Who loves you unconditionally and never judges you. The Workbook of the Course even says, “God does not forgive, because He has never condemned.”
A practical path to inner peace and healing
We all want practical answers. The Course will take you on a step-by-step healing journey to inner peace, freedom from fear, and a deeper spiritual experience.
Jesus as teacher
The Course presents itself as Jesus’ teachings for a modern world. In A Course in Miracles you have both the new wisdom of Jesus, and a return to the Jesus you always knew.
A Course in Miracles and Jesus:
Jesus is the most influential figure in history.
He took the teachings of the Judaism in which he lived, teachings that include love and forgiveness, to their most inspiring – and challenging – extreme.
At the very center of Jesus’ teaching is the idea that God does not favor the good and punish the bad.
God loves, takes care of, and forgives everyone – including enemies and oppressors – and that’s how we can love too.
Jesus brought to the world the immortal message that:
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- Everyone is valuable and worthy of being cared for, not just a few.
- We can love those who wish to do us harm.
- We can give to another person, even if we barely have anything ourselves.
- We can forgive without payment or punishment because that’s what God does.
A Course in Miracles claims to be authored by Jesus.
Is that true? There’s no way to know for sure, although there are some very significant and suggestive facts about the voice that spoke to Helen Schucman.
In both the Gospels and
A Course in Miracles:
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Jesus’ focus is not on himself but on his teaching.
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He targets the suffering in ordinary life and aims to reason us into a profound inner transformation.
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He holds out a way of life full of inner abundance and free of anxiety and self-concern, even in the midst of a harsh world.
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The foundation of his message is achieving an egoless disposition toward others that mirrors God’s unconditional love. This includes responding to attack with forgiveness and generosity, and loving everyone equally—including “enemies” and oppressors.
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Through those who follow his teachings, he aims to bring about a new world.
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If this really is Jesus…
What would it mean for our world?
What would it mean for the significance of A Course in Miracles?
What would it mean for your life?
Jesus’ original teachings changed the world.
The Sermon on the Mount was a major influence behind the social revolutions launched by Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Yet the Sermon on the Mount is about five pages long.
What if we have a 2,000 page Sermon on the Mount, delivered word-for-word by Jesus in our time?
It would mean we have a scripture that is free of violence and oppression. Free from condemnation, misogyny, homophobia, racism, war, mass persecution, sanctioning of slavery, and hate. If this really is Jesus, he is once again giving us a way through the madness.
A Course in Miracles is an invitation to take your journey with Jesus further, to make peace with him if need be, and to invite him to be your personal teacher.
The Course says he can’t take care of your readiness for you. You still need to do that part. But when you do, he says in the Course, you avail yourself of his efforts, which are “limitless.”
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