Are Course Students Christians?

Whether or not you consider yourself Christian is up to you. The designation “Christian” is a concern of the world, not of awakening. (The term “Christian” is used in the Course only in Chapter 3, part I. Atonement Without Sacrifice).

For the most part those who call themselves Christian seem to agree on one point: At minimum, you must declare yourself a sinner and accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior to be a Christian. Of course, there are others who call themselves Christians who do not accept these concepts.

The Course teaches us we cannot sin, that we are all Christ in Truth, and that we are One with God. The Course teaches us that God did not make this world, so therefore it cannot be real; that it is a projection of the wish to be separate from God; that atonement means correction of this perception, not punishment for it; that guilt is unjustified; that sacrifice has no place in God’s plan for your awakening. All of this is the opposite of what traditional Christianity teaches.

Yet, even those who identify themselves as Christian do not always agree on what makes a person Christian. Some will say you have to read the Bible and attend church to be Christian. Some will say it has to be their specific Church you attend or their particular interpretation of the Bible you accept to call yourself Christian. Others say all you have to do is accept Jesus into your heart. So in the end it seems that even in the world it is up to the individual to define what “Christian” means.

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Comments

dave said…
The Course teaches us that God did not make this world, so therefore it cannot be real; that it is a projection of the wish to be separate from God; that atonement means correction of this perception,....

ACIM also says that a sunbeam is nothing without the sun.
If we chose to create the seperateness of this world, we did it under Gods direction and thought.
It was HIS idea to be seperate - not ours. Likewise the atonement game was his idea, not ours. Its ALL HIS IDEA !
Horses for courses- tomatoes and tomarters...
3:29 PM
ACIM Mentor said…
God, being All, must contain even the idea of Its own opposite. But, being All, God cannot have an opposite. The moment the idea of not-God arises it is cancelled out by God's All-Encompassing Nature. But in this concept of not-God is the idea of time, which is the opposite of Eternity, an Attribute of God. Only in time does it seem like separation from God happened long ago and will be undone in some indefinite future. In Eternity, none of this has happened at all. Time is the great illusion in which all other illusions rest.

This is why, Dave, practicing the Holy Instant is so essential. When you step out of time and experience Eternity, you recognize that only God is Real. And when you return to an awareness of a world again, it never has the same hold over you.

You can only understand that illusion is illusion from the perspective of Truth. In illusion, illusion seems real.
4:08 PM
Anonymous said…
Hi Dave,

What a conundrum we have all got ourselves into!! but your quote and comments,

''ACIM also says that a sunbeam is nothing without the sun.
If we chose to create the seperateness of this world, we did it under Gods direction and thought.
It was HIS idea to be seperate - not ours. Likewise the atonement game was his idea, not ours. Its ALL HIS IDEA !''

Got me thinking,you have spoken as a true split mind, ''its all His idea'', How far or tangible can it be/gets when God hurls accusation towards God,the Course maintained that ideas leaves not its source, that EVEN God cannot make something unlike itself and succeed,this tiny mad idea happened in an instant and already answered, yeah the acceptance of the answer can seem to take forever, but God is inevitable...our return to sanity/ our SELF is inevitable. Take heart dear brother.
1:22 PM
Anonymous said…
it was nice to be awakened only to fall asleep again. If only we could all stay awake ...
Any mentors here demonstrating and teaching the steps or stages in the awakening process? Earl Purdy's videos on YouTube gives me hope ..
The 'Holy Instant' Idea is sweet, but I have to deal with arranging events and activities with ego-minded people in the 'Illusion' in which we live. If I could be a hermit or monk it would be easier to live in the 'moment' I guess...
2:59 PM
Anonymous said…
Belief systems are meant to be broken. I've had a few "dark nights of the soul" where there was nothing left to do but accept and surrender. The first major significant time was in a Christian Regeneration center where I was given strength to do something about my situation, but situations are what they are and they change, the second one was during my tenure at A.A. which totally blew the first one out of the water. That's when I really started to question...everything!!!

Then I start having "strange things" happen like Clair-audience incidents when I was mentally examining more incidents in my past because that kind of thing became important because I didn't want to be the way I was anymore.

I also noticed in photographs taken at the time that my eyes were very clear next to others that still were living with baggage of some sort and this sensation I felt when I was at work only to get off and go somewhere where this situation that most people only dream about just shows up. It was like well...Spider-Man and his Spider-Sense going off being the only way I can explain it.

I've had people that called themselves Christians say that "This was New Age as hell" when I've never been happier, so now to me being a "Christian" is more than just some proclamation to me. I don't even use the term anymore because this was something totally beyond that. I like Eckhart Tolle's POV on that from The Power Of Now;

"The word God has become empty of meaning through thousands of years of misuse. I use it sometimes, but I do so sparingly. By misuse, I mean that people who have never even glimpsed the realm of the sacred, the infinite vastness behind that word, use it with great conviction, as if they knew what they are talking about. Or they argue against it, as if they knew what it is that they are denying. This misuse gives rise to absurd beliefs, assertions, and egoic delusions, such as "My or our God is the only true God, and your God is false," or Nietzsche's famous statement "God is dead."
5:22 AM
Anonymous said…
Oh btw, I also like this;

Don't let the past remind us of what we are not now
I am not dreaming.
I am yours, you are mine
You are what you are

Something inside is telling me that I've got your secret.
Are you still listening?

Fear is the lock, and laughter the key to your heart

And I love you.

I am yours, you are mine, you are what you are
You make it....awesome!!! :-)
6:50 AM
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