All About A Course in Miracles: ACIM-Related Books"

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1 Accept no substitutes... if you’re going to study A Course in Miracles, use the standard version published by the Foundation for Inner Peace. Since the copyright was revoked, ersatz versions are surfacing and it’s important to study the real McCoy. The new Third Edition brings together, for the first time, the standard authorized Text, Workbook, and Manual for Teachers with Helen Schucman’s other channeled prose works, Psychotherapy and Song of Prayer.
2 Gifts from a Course in Miracles, with a foreword by Marianne Williamson, is one of the first authorized brief collections of pithy Course excerpts, good for introducing friends or relatives to some of the gentler concepts of ACIM.
3 The Concordance, now becoming a rare bird, is a voluminous indexing and cross-referencing of everything said in ACIM. Good for scholarly studies and/or total obsession.
4 The misnamed “Original” edition is actually an early version of ACIM before the editing for the standard edition was complete. Favored by some students, but contains inconsistencies and odd expressions in the first four chapters. Also, the paragraph and sentence numbering is absent (because, weirdly enough, the numbering system is still under copyright).
5 This bound edition of the “Urtext,” or unedited original manuscript of ACIM, is meticulously organized and footnoted, with voluminous footnoting and a companion DVD with almost too many resources. The UR will be of primary interest to ACIM scholars, as it’s too hard to follow for study purposes (and it helps you appreciate the editing of the Standard).

1 This Celestial Arts/Random House title released in 2008 is the first comprehensive overview of ACIM’s history, message, and legacy. It’s a substantially revised edition of the Fearless Books title The Complete Story of the Course, which was released in 1997.
2 Absence from Felicity is Kenneth Wapnick’s history of Helen Schucman and her scribing of the Course. This is an in-depth portrayal of the early history of ACIM.
3 An excellent biography of Bill Thetford, the lesser-known of the two Course scribes, and the one who was able to take its message to heart in his later years. Author Carol Howe knew him well, and that makes a difference.
4 This joint biography of the Course scribes unfortunately lacks coherence; author Neal Vahle is not a Course student and thus has little perspective on how the lives of its scribes resonated (or didn't) with the teaching. There’s a lot of previously unpublished information, however, so the book is interesting from a researcher’s point of view.

BOOKS BY VARIOUS COURSE TEACHERS

1 This brief overview of ACIM remains one of the most popular, if unsung, introductions to the Course. It was written by Robert Perry while he was in the employ of Miracle Distribution Center.
2,3,4 Ken Wapnick is not easy to read, but he’s done the most thorough and thoughtful analyses of ACIM and his work is worth keeping around to savor slowly as the years pass by. Of these three important titles, Forgiveness and Jesus may be the most approachable for the beginning “Wapnickian.”
5 Gary Renard’s first book took the Course world by surprise and remains a popular and controversial “refresher” on the basic principles of ACIM. Originally published by Fearless Books, The Disappearance is now a Hay House title.

1Robert Perry is one of the better writers in the Course field and his books always have a clear and pragmatic focus on using ACIM to live more wisely. He is the founder of the Circle of Atonement study center in Sedona, Arizona.
2,3 Allen Watson and Robert Perry put together these voluminous study guides (500+ pages each!) to accompany the Workbook of ACIM. The Course Lessons might be best experienced on their own initially, but if you’re looking for a new insights the second time around, these are worth looking into.
4 Marianne Williamson’s first book propelled ACIM into pop culture in the mid-1990s after Oprah gave copies of it to everyone in her studio audience, and about 20 skadillion copies sold within the next few weeks. A mix of autobiography and light review of Course principles, A Return to Love is not deep, but it is honest and inspiring.

1 Even before Marianne Williamson, there were two bestsellers based on Course principles: Jerry Jampolsky’s Goodbye to Guilt and Love is Letting Go of Fear. Simply written with a clear self-help intention, these books do not delve into Course metaphysics but can nonetheless provoke a change of worldview for people unfamiliar with ACIM principles.
2,3 Karen Casey’s Daily Meditations and Brent Haskell’s Journey Beyond Words have stood the test of time in the “Miracle Studies” field, remaining popular and useful years after their publication. Each book is a different kind of echo of the actual Course, but neither should be mistaken for ACIM itself.
4 Jon Mundy is a popular Course teacher and lecturer on metaphysics who goes way back with the ACIM movement. He used to get personal counseling from Course scribe Helen Schucman, and taught the Course from a Methodist pulpit for some years before it proved too unsettling for his congregation. This is his summary book on the Course; he’s also written an autobiography, Missouri Mystic, and an encyclopaedic guide to metaphysics entitled What Is Mysticism?
5 David Hoffmeister is a popular ACIM teacher who’s taught worldwide and stays on the road most of the year. Catch up with him in matters of course.

1 DavidPaul and Candace Doyle are a very nice, clean-cut couple who have been indefatigably teaching folks how to hear God’s voice for themselves for some years now. They are inspired by ACIM but don’t limit themselves to its teaching.
2 Dan Joseph is no showman, but he presents Course principles with clarity and humility. This book focuses on personal problem-solving from an ACIM perspective without a hint of frothy mysticism.
3 In this collection of 16 articles from the newsletter of San Francisco’s Community Miracles Center, the most irreverent Reverend around unleashes some pithy and plainspoken thoughts about religion, sex, relationships, false messiahs, Jesus Christ, scandalous behavior, and oh yeah, the Course.
4 This recently popular book by Nouk Sanchez and Tomas Vieira is focused on “undoing the ego” in a six-stage program and brings the transformative personality system known as the Enneagram into a discussion of Course principles. A little hard to follow at times, but innovative and thorough.
5 It's about time a stand-up comic entered the fray. In this inspirational memoir and self-help book, Nick Arandes tells the story of his success before becoming homeless, broke, and diagnosed with a tumor... and then how he learned to “let God.”

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or sending hard copies to Fearless Books, PO Box 4199, Napa CA 94558.

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