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"(The Course) is wrong about the truth of the matter: that sinners redeemed by Christ must die with Him in order to rise with Him, that they must 'take up their cross' and follow Him, only to find that His 'yoke is easy ' and his 'burden is light.' This is not punishment by an angry God; this is victory over death. The Course claims that Jesus' disciples believed the crucifixion was the Father's punishment laid on His Son for the sin of man. This is nothing but a foolish slander, since another and great doctrine was taught openly from the beginning: that the Son's death was the Father's free offering of Himself, as God, in the person of His Son - since Father and Son are 'one substance' - to pay man's debt. And this debt could not have been the 'wounded honour' of the Father which needed to be satisfied because the Father's gift of His Son was a sacrifice, not a demand." Charles Upton: The System of Antichrist, p 243-244. Available through online booksellers and partially at Google Books (search for the title).
"Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong; I cannot. If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -- of creatures that worked like machines -- would hardly be worth creating." C S Lewis: Mere Christianity. Available through online booksellers.
"Many students of The Course consider themselves people who have bade farewell to or have abondoned the burden and pressure of a church-oriented Christianity. But what has replaced this? A religious ideology that in the form of an extremely optimistic view of man, places an incomparable greater burden and pressure on the individual. It is the burden of creating life ourselves. Paradoxically by letting go of our own ego, but nevertheless with our own strength and potential. The pressure results from the realisation that we have to blame ourselves for every second that we have not reached complete happiness. This all renders the Course in my opinion ‘uncanny’ and merciless. So: what should we think about this development to a ‘new-old ideology’? These words come to mind: bewildering and sad." Anton van Harskamp Read his full article at A Modern Miracle.
"Some who embrace ACIM do so, in part, out of rebellion against the perceived dogmatism, blind faith and exclusivity of the Christian faith. Ironically, ACIM is extremely dogmatic. Its purpose is 'thought reversal' and it encourages readers to practice its ideas without exception even if they find them to be unbelievable. In other words, simply believe and follow its exclusive truth without questioning; (these are) some of the very things many find distasteful about traditional religions." Darren Hewer Read the entire article at Oprah and A Course in Miracles.
"Judgement – the sovereign declaration that this is good and to be upheld and vindicated, and that is evil and to be condemned – is the only alternative to chaos. Judgement is necessary – unless we were to conclude, absurdly, that nothing much is wrong, or blasphemously, that God doesn’t mind much." N T Wright: Surprised by Hope pp 178-179 Available through online booksellers.
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