Richard Rowland

Think what you like, however, that could be a coincidence. By the way, Judeo-Christian scripture, as you put it, has been on it's way out for some time.

Seth

Sure, the more socialist doctrine that comes in, it's inevitable, only because the totalitarians who are attempting to take over our society, as in their colleagues who once ran the Soviet Union, don't want faith in G-d to stand between the people and the supreme power of the state.

Your Ouija board, tea leaves and healing crystals will also have to go, I'm afraid.

Iliamna1

What Richard wants us to worship is science and the state.
Well, that's been tried over and over around the world with predictable and terrible results. Venezuela comes to mind. He can ridicule me all he likes. I'll keep my faith in Jesus,the Messiah.

sisboombaa

The bible is a combination of writings from mortal men. Add many t***slations. Then changed by England's King James under the direction of the Catholic Church; thus the King James version. It's not perfect but it is ONE of the best teachers of love, peace, and guidance that we have. A better "bible/text book", in my opinion, is "The Course in Miracles" published by the Foundation for Inner Peace. I recommend the reading as it MAY change your whole outlook on this temporary three dimensional life and your view of all the people you share the journey with.

Richard Rowland

Yeah, I understand that. However, being free and prosperous have much to do with the character of a nation's people, and resources available, if a Judeo-Christian belief is practiced that's a side issue. Still, America's prosperity, for instance, didn't happen overnight.

If you are aware of our counties early history, which, by the way, the Judeo-Christian belief system was practiced, you'll note that prosperity was hard to come by. However, freedom is a bit more difficult to define. It's open to interpretation. Plus it can be fleeting.

I'm done with this thread, it's been fun.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

“A Course in Miracles” is a self-study curriculum written by a Jewish woman named Helen Schucman (1909—1981), a research psychologist raised by Jewish but non-religious parents. From 1958 through 1976, she was a professor of medical psychology at Columbia University in New York.

"A Course in Miracles" (also referred to as ACIM or the Course) was “scribed” by Helen Schucman between 1965 and 1972 through a process of a distinct and clear dictation to her, word for word, from a demonic inner voice only she could hear, which had identified itself to her as Jesus Christ.

The teachings of the Course—a mixture of mysticism, Gnosticism, and New Age psycho-babble—run counter to Christian beliefs. The fundamental teaching of A Course in Miracles is the “atonement principle,” which states that separation from God through sin did not happen. The course further teaches that sin is the absence of love and nothing more. It denies that sin is an act against God. The stated principal purpose of A Course in Miracles is to “restore to one’s awareness the power of one’s mind to choose.”

"A Course in Miracles uses Christian vocabulary and attempts to sound Christian. Many churches have been deceived by the sound of the course and have used the material in Sunday school classes and other church-sponsored activities. This exposes their congregants to the lies of the enemy, Satan, who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

It claims to be "a system of mind training- A Spiritual Psychotherapy - designed to help you achieve and retain a greater feeling of Inner Peace by replacing man's natural thought system, which the book claims is based on fear, with a new thought system based on love. The Course declares it is not a religion,that it has no dogma, or any kind of central doctrine." Like all demonically driven false religion, it is eager to convince people that sin does not exist, that they are not separated from God, and that they do not need a Savior to keep them from hell.

Again, "A Course in Miracles" ,1976, contains a curriculum to assist its readers in achieving a "spiritual t***sformation;" teaching that the greatest "miracle" that one may achieve is gaining a full "awareness of love's presence" in one's own life, instilling the belief that a Savior, Jesus Christ is not needed, nor is Christianity.

The book has been called everything from "New Age psychobabble" to "a Satanic seduction" to "The New Age Bible". According to Olav Hammer, the psychiatrist and bestselling author, Gerald G. Jampolsky has been among the most effective promoters of the Course.

The Bible reveals the t***h (which is the opposite of what this book teaches): “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Colossians 1:21–22).

sisboombaa

Zemirah, we could discuss the Bible and the Course for hours and days or even years. It would no doubt lead nowhere as to changing one's opinion. I do have two questions for you. (1) Have you read the entire Course yourself? (2) Is the opinion expressed in your post yours or are you quoting the opinion of someone else. You are entitled to your thoughts and beliefs. If you are happy and know how to love and be loved then you have it made. If not, maybe you should be more open minded to other thoughts and ideas. Remember, we are all blind led by the blind in search of the t***h, wh**ever it is. Good luck to you and all of us.

cbpat1

Ooh! Don’t do that, you scared the s**t out of me!

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

For those who have received the blessing of God's salvation by His grace applied through the conduit of personal faith in Jesus' propitiating death on the cross, and in His subsequent resurrection to new life, all duly recorded two thousand years ago in God's eternal Word, it is deeply saddening to be confronted by any one of the myriad deceptive lies of Satan, of which "A Course In Miracles is one."

All those who have been so privileged as to live in the U.S. have, more than any other country on earth, had readily available access to the Bible, the Holy Scriptures of God, whereas seekers in Saudi Arabia or some other country that is totally under Satan's control, have cruelly paid with their life (paid with their head to be exact) for secretly bringing a Bible into their home... because of their thirst for God.

Where is the thirst for the Word of God in this nation among those who are enjoying the bounty with which he has blessed us?

"A Course In Miracles," is pantheistic, as in Hinduism and Eastern Religious Mysticism, an ancient pagan doctrine identifying all Deity as one with the universe and all that is contained within it, therefore teaching that "One is All, and All is One."

It also teaches Polytheism, a belief in many gods, for if god is one with everything, and if everything is god, then by definition, each of us is god, as is also believed within Hinduism and the New Age.

These doctrines of Pantheism and Polytheism are also integral beliefs within the New Age Movement.

The teachings which became known as "A Course In Miracles,"were received from the voice of an invisible spirit who, from 1969 to 1977, channeled 1,100 pages, to an atheist named Helen Schucman, which she wrote down through the occultic technique known as "automatic writing." During her hours of frenzied writing, her hand and arm were completely controlled by the dictating demon, and when ask the name of this spiritual entity which she always referred to as "the voice," Helen muttered, "it said it was Jesus."

When the demon who claimed to be Jesus had completed channeling, his writings were distributed between three books, and first printed in 1977 with the title, "A Course in Miracles."

Described as "spiritual psychotherapy", it's been widely promoted by Oprah, and since January 2008, the Course has been taught on her world-wide XM radio show.

Quotes From: "A Course In Miracles" Which Deny the Reality of Our World and Our Very Existence:

Lesson #14 - "The world you see has nothing to do with reality. It is of our own making, and it does not exist."

Lesson # 101 -- "You need the practice periods today. The exercises teach sin is not real, and all that you believe must come from sin will never happen, for it has no cause say: God's Will for me is perfect happiness. There is no sin; it has no consequence."

Text page 158, Line 2 - "The reality of everything is totally harmless, because total harmlessness is the condition of it's' reality."

Text page 96, Line 19 - "The Holy Spirit says you cannot either hurt or be hurt. Your brothers need to hear this. Perceive only this need in them and do not respond to any other."

Text page 474 - "Christ's Vision is to see your brother as sinless -do that and you will be released entirely from all effects of sin."

"A Course in Miracles" (ACIM) asserts again and again that: A sense of guilt for having done "wrong" is an illusionary invention of our own minds, and is to be downplayed or overlooked as much as possible.

Here is an excerpt taken directly from the text: "When you realize that all guilt is solely an invention of your mind, you also realize that guilt and salvation must be in the same place. In understanding this (that your salvation is to be found in your own mind) you are saved.

The seeming cost of accepting today's idea is this: It means that nothing outside yourself can save you; nothing outside yourself can give you peace. But it also means that nothing outside yourself can hurt you, or disturb your peace or upset you in any way. Today's idea places you in charge of the universe, where you belong because of what you are. This is not a role that can be partially accepted. And you must surely begin to see that accepting it is salvation." (lesson# 70)

Please Note: If anyone can actually believe lesson #70, then surely, they will realize that "A Course In Miracles" is teaching them that they are themselves, God, and in need of no other.

According to the "Course" (ACIM), To Forgive means, you: "hold not the proof of sin before your brother's eyes... You must attest his sins have no effect on you to demonstrate they are not real."

The Course teaches, in a thousand ways, its' axiom that: "In our defenselessness our safety lies". While this may sound "spiritually loving", the Course's teaching of this idea goes seriously awry; for, according to the Course, no defense is ever warranted since "in reality" no offense or attack really occurs. The Course teaches that sin and guilt are not real, and therefore, neither are any of their "seeming effects".

The teachings of A Course in Miracles contradicts Holy Scripture; claiming that: Jesus was NOT God, the devil does not exist, and there's no such thing as evil, or sin, ”especially original sin, as the Course teaches that man's fall from Grace in the Garden of Eden never happened--- (preface, pg. xiii) and that Holy Scripture cannot be trusted, as Christ's apostles misinterpreted his message and taught in error. (text pgs. 94 & 95)

These false tenets alone clearly show that the demonic spirit who channeled them, while claiming to be Jesus, is in fact, a counterfeit Christ, for Jesus has never contradicted Himself or His own teaching, as written by His Apostles, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the 1st century.

The teachings of A Course in Miracles fails the "test of discernment" to distinguish a true and Godly spirit from a false one, for it denies that Jesus came in the flesh.

Even for the non-Christian, the danger of studying "A Course in Miracles" can clearly be seen in what the Course asks you to believe:

Claiming that physical life on Earth is really just a "nightmare," a delusion the collective human race is experiencing while in a state of psychic sleep, (text pg. 18 and throughout)

like ancient Hinduism, the Course teaches that: everything you see around you is not reality, but an illusion,(lesson #14 and throughout)

that sin and guilt are not real but, "solely an invention in your own mind"(lesson #70)

that, you can neither hurt others, nor be hurt (text pg. 96 and throughout)...

that "you can and should deny any belief that error can hurt you"...

the false promise that: if you see your neighbor as sinless, "you will be released entirely from all effects of sin" (text pg. 474)

that "the reality of everything is total harmlessness" (text pg. 158)

that you alone are the sole cause of anything hurtful that's ever happened to you (lesson #23, #304, and throughout)...

that, "The world you see has nothing to do with reality. It is of your own making, and it does not (actually) exist."(lesson #14 and throughout)

Many former students of "A Course In Miracles", and it's teachers attest to it's core message: that if enough people, (an amount large enough to affect "mass consciousness") -or if even just one person realizes and integrates these "t***hs" fully, the human race will all spontaneously "awaken" from it's psychic nightmare and everyone will realize that we've never left Heaven.

The only condition necessary for this amazing occurrence to take place is this: the student must make No Exceptions in his/her application and full acceptance of the ideas. (Workbook intro. Pgs 1 & 2, Lesson #1, and throughout).

"A Course In Miracles" students all over the world are seeking to be "the one" to hasten this "great awakening", because they've been taught that when it occurs, "in the twinkling of an eye", the entire world of "form", with all its' suffering and sorrow, will disappear and we'll be back in Paradise.

The hazards of adapting this outlook on life cannot be stressed enough- to give just a brief example, -- the 14th lesson, which is to be accepted as true by the student, reads as follows:

"With eyes closed, think of all the horrors in the world that cross your mind. Name each one as it occurs to you, and then deny its' reality. God did not create it, and so it is not real. Say for example: God did not create that war, and so it is not real. God did not create that airplane crash, and so it is not real. God did not create that disaster, and so it is not real. Other suitable subjects to which you should apply today's idea of denying reality should also include: Anything you are afraid might happen to you, or to anyone else about whom you are concerned."

Another poisonous tenet the student of "A Course in Miracles" is asked to accept, is that - any unjust, hurtful, or violent incident that happens to you, is, in actuality, not real, but merely an illusory (unreal)) "manifestation" of your own fearful "attack thoughts" which you have projected outward, like an image on a screen. . . (Workbook pg. I, lesson #23 and throughout)

This is another reason, according to the Course, that no forgiveness is ever warranted since your own ego is the "cause" of anything hurtful that has or will ever happen to you. (text pg. 649 and throughout)

One could say, this is a perfect example of why our adversary, the devil, has been called, "the accuser of the brethren."

Like almost all other Cultish teaching, The Course is very deceiving, for it uses Christian terminology but gives the words new alien meanings. For example, many people may have heard that the Course is "all about forgiveness", but they're most likely not aware, that "forgiveness" according to the Course, means saying to yourself, "since no sin ever occurred, no forgiveness is necessary." (text pg. 548, manual pg.79, and throughout) According to the Course, teaching our brother that he has not hurt us, is how we forgive.

Another example: the "Atonement" , according to the Course, is: " the acknowledgement that I am not in this world", (text, pg. 97) and this "atonement" teaches that: "never having sinned, I have no need of salvation." (Text, pg. 237)

Because people choose to believe such utter trash fiction, rather than to seek the living God, it is necessary to attempt to expose the very real dangers of "A Course in Miracles" and other "New Thought" teachings (such as Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth", and the Law of Attraction teachings in "The Secret" and the books/workshops of Abraham-Hicks.

It is necessary to fulfill the Biblical admonition of Jude, to defend the Word of God as it was handed down, once for all, to the saints, who, according to the Bible, are all the living believers in Jesus Christ.

"Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the Saints." Jude 1:3

Belief in and attempting to live out the deceptive teachings of "A Course in Miracles" lessons, can, and has spawned such tragedies as divorce, suicide, mental breakdown, and even murder. "No one can seriously study and buy into "A Course in Miracles" without jeopardizing their faith, and their grip on reality, putting their mental, physical, and spiritual health at risk.

In the "Course," one reads the promise that, after finishing all their lessons, mighty companions will walk beside you, and that, "helpers are given you in many forms. . .their names are LEGION." (Teachers Manual, pg 87) Unfortunately, for those unfamiliar with the gospels,it is impossible to relate this to the Biblical account of Jesus healing a man possessed by unclean spirits, and that, when casting out those demons Jesus asked, "What is your name?" and they replied, "We are LEGION, for we are many. " (Mk 5:9 & Luke 8:30)

Anyone who has studied A Course in Miracles, or embraced the lessons of "A New Earth" after watching a show like Oprah's, which promoted "New Thought" teachings, has been blinded to their need for God's gospel, although the t***h is readily available, right there in God's Word.

2nd John 1:9-11,7 (Beware of Deceivers) :

"Anyone who does not remain in Christ's teaching but goes beyond it, does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you but does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home or even greet him. Whoever greets such a person shares in his evil deeds."

"For many deceivers have gone out into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh: This is a seducer and an Antichrist."

Ephesians: 5:6,7,11 &12:

"Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient - so do not be associated with them".

"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret."


“I tell you,” He (Jesus) answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.” As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.… Luke 19:40-42

It is time for the stones to begin screaming!

sisboombaa

You chose to ignore my two simple questions that can be answered by a yes or no. Instead you expound on and on about your negative opinion of the course. I merely stated I found helpful. What are you afraid of?

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

I'm sorry, sisboombaa, I neglected to answer your two questions,

1) Just as I would not continue to consume a soured, obviously spoiled fruit pie or a rank, rotten beef roast, after an initial taste, I would not continue to read all of "A Course in Miracles."

As a Christian follower of Jesus Christ, I know His voice. He did not write or dictate "A Course in Miracles," for it contradicts His gospel, and the message of the Bible, received by the Holy Spirit from Him, and breathed into God's chosen Prophets and Apostles, to be written down in their own styles, according to their respective personalities.

" My sheep hear my voice, and I know them" = mutual recognition. " They follow me, and I give them eternal life" = reciprocal activity. " They shall not perish forever, and no one shall pluck them out of my hand" = an authoritative assurance, and its pledge or justification. (John 10:27)

The sheep, who know their shepherd's voice, will not take the lead of a stranger or an alien; i. e. of a "thief or robber." If these secure the sheep at all, it is by violence or stealth, by unfair means, by illegitimate methods. (John 10:5)

2) I have never composed a paper that does not include quotes from other writers or involved personages, however as a Christian, my opinion is always made clear. In this instance, verses from God's Word clarify what I believe and defend.

Jude 1:3-4. The mystery of lawlessness was already working (II Thessalonians 2:7). The false church appropriated the true church's central figure—its savior, Jesus Christ—but rejected the law of God and turned His grace into license (to commit sin).

Jude 3: Regarding The Sin and Doom of Unredeemed People:
"Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints, God's sanctified people.