The sources of A Class in Wonders could be tracked back once again to the cooperation between two individuals, Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford, both of whom were prominent psychologists and researchers. The course’s inception occurred in the early 1960s when Schucman, who was a scientific and research psychologist at Columbia University’s School of Physicians and Surgeons, began to have a series of internal dictations. She explained these dictations as coming from an internal style that determined itself as Jesus Christ. Schucman originally resisted these experiences, but with Thetford’s encouragement, she started transcribing the messages she received.
Over a period of seven years, Schucman transcribed what can become A Course in Miracles, amounting to three quantities: the Text, the Book for Students, and the Manual for Teachers. The Text sits out the theoretical basis of the course, elaborating on the core concepts and principles. The Workbook for a course in miracles includes 365 lessons, one for each day of the year, made to guide the reader via a daily exercise of using the course’s teachings. The Information for Educators provides further guidance on how best to realize and train the maxims of A Course in Wonders to others.
One of the main styles of A Class in Miracles is the thought of forgiveness. The program shows that correct forgiveness is the main element to inner peace and awareness to one’s heavenly nature. In accordance with its teachings, forgiveness is not only a moral or honest exercise but a basic shift in perception. It requires making go of judgments, issues, and the perception of crime, and alternatively, viewing the world and oneself through the contact of love and acceptance. A Program in Wonders stresses that true forgiveness results in the acceptance that people are interconnected and that divorce from one another can be an illusion.
Another significant facet of A Program in Wonders is their metaphysical foundation. The class gift suggestions a dualistic view of fact, distinguishing between the ego, which shows separation, anxiety, and illusions, and the Sacred Heart, which symbolizes love, reality, and spiritual guidance. It suggests that the confidence is the origin of putting up with and conflict, whilst the Holy Heart offers a pathway to healing and awakening. The target of the class is to simply help individuals transcend the ego’s limited perception and arrange with the Sacred Spirit’s guidance.