ACIM Teachers

Gary Renard, Tom Carpenter, Helen Schucman what do these ACIM teachers all have in common? The answer is they’ve all channelled material, spoken with Jesus or met ascended masters.

It also begs the question, are these authors telling the truth about the source of their inspiration?

Are they really able dial up on the ‘cell-estial’ phone and speak directly to enlightened entities or Christ himself.

The alarming prospect is that if these ACIM teachers aren’t actually speaking to enlightened beings they’re either deluded or conmen.

Delving deeper into A Course in Miracles community the more you realise there are a lot of conversations with ascended masters going on. For many this can be quite unsettling.

Is every ACIM Teacher channelling?

There seems to be two distinct categories of authors. There are those that interpret ACIM without the help of another entity. People like Kenneth Wapnick, Marianne Williamson, Patrick Miller and Jerry Jampolsky are examples of this.

Then there are those who are sometimes quite literally stumbling across Jesus in their living rooms like Jayem, Brent Haskell, Gary Renard and Tom Carpenter.

Let me give you a taster of some of the key ACIM teachers and authors - both those that channel and those that don’t. Let’s start off with the non-channelers.

Non-channeling ACIM Teachers

If you feel a bit uncomfortable with people who claim to speak directly to Jesus or ascended beings, then there are still plenty of ACIM teachers to choose from.

Kenneth Wapnick

Kenneth Wapnick is perhaps the most respected and renowned teacher of the principles of the Course. He had direct access to Helen Schucman the scribe of ACIM and spent hours reading and discussing the content with her and Bill Thetford (the Course’s other scribe).

He is one of the few teachers to have had direct access to Helen and Bill.

Indeed Ken edited ACIM with a fine tooth comb, creating the chapter and verse numbering system we take for granted today. Kenneth Wapnick combines intellect, academia and experience with his interpretation of the A Course in Miracles.

He is a prolific author and has written numerous books about ACIM principles.

Marianne Williamson

Marianne Williamson exploded onto the spiritual scene in the 1980’s. Her dynamic style and passionate speaking soon caught the attention of people like Oprah Winfrey.

When Oprah endorsed Marianne’s book Return to Love sales rocketed.

Marianne Williamson mixes her own blend of spirituality which strongly draws from the principles of A Course in Miracles however as she freely admits, she is not an ACIM purist.

She is still a popular spiritual teacher and has written several further books.

 

 

Patrick Miller

Patrick Miller is a well respected reporter. What many like about his style is that he stands back and takes a reflective view on ACIM.

As a reporter he often offers both sides of the story. He combines a sensitive and honest view about ACIM with a sense of authority.

His book The Complete Story of the Course is an excellent introduction to the history of the Course.

 

Jerry Jampolsky

Jerry Jampolsky leapt to fame with his simple but excellent book, Love is letting go of Fear Jerry was friends with Bill Thetford (one of the original scribes of ACIM).He went on to set up attitudinal healing centers which focussed on giving love and support to the seriously ill and their families.

These centers might have the principles of ACIM at heart; however they are not overtly based on its teachings.

Channelling ACIM Teachers

Let’s move onto the second category of ACIM teachers, those who have direct access to Jesus or ascended masters. The ones chosen here are greatly respected in the Course community.

Tom Carpenter

Tom is best known for channeling Jesus, whom he refers to as ‘brother’. His book Dialogue on Awakening was put together after he asked the Holy Spirit to help him understand ACIM.

Tom, wrote down the answers he was given and his wife Linda typed them up, eventually publishing them as Dialogue on Awakening.

Tom Carpenter is a popular Course teacher with a strong following.

 

 

Jayem

 Jon Marc Hammer (known as Jayem) has written one of the most comprehensive channelled courses since ACIM itself.

Jayem says that The Way of Mastery was given to him directly by Jesus himself. In all it took 10 years to complete.

Jayem teaches principles closely related to ACIM however he is not a teacher of A Course in Miracles and has never fully read A Course in Miracles himself.

 

 

 

Gary Renard

Gary Renard in recent years is probably the best known ACIM author to emerge since Marianne Williamson.

In Disappearance of the Universe he explains how two ascended masters, Arten and Pursah, appeared to him in his living room.

The three of them had lengthy discussions around forgiveness and enlightenment, which he recorded on tape and then wrote up in his book.

As well as bringing new people to ACIM Disappearance of the Universe has also re-invigorated A Course in Miracles students with the books’ message.

Gary Renard says that before coming across Arten and Pursah he had never even come across A Course in Miracles. Since Disappearance of the Universe he has written a couple of further books

 

Brent Haskell

Brent Haskell is best known for his book Journey Beyond Words. He said he received from Jeshua (the author of the Course) channelled material which complements ACIM. This material he collated into his book. Brent holds degrees in psychology, physics and medicine.

 

Other ACIM Teachers

There are many other ACIM teachers across the world, some are better known than others. Further spiritual teachers like Wayne Dyer and Deepak Choprah have also been inspired by its writing, even though they are not A Course in Miracles purists.

As well as teachers and authors many ACIM organizations have sprung up in recent years. Each one offering a slightly different perspective on the teachings of the Course.