Notes on the Text of A Course in - Stephen Wingate

thought system of separation. We are so afraid of ego
death that we avoid or attack any idea that threatens
our special separate existence; sometimes directly by
outright denial; sometimes indirectly by trying to
bring the light into our darkness by asking God,
Jesus or the Holy Spirit to be active in our painful
dream world.
•
Traditional Christianity has fallen into the trap of
trying to bring the light into the illusion. In the Bible
the sin of separation is made real and God responds
to it. In the Course, the sin of separation is something
we believe happened, and because we believed in sin
it became real for us and we suffer the consequences
of guilt and fear. But the sin of separation is not real
and God knows nothing of it — there is no
separation, no sin, no ego and no world. If God
believes in sin He would be the original sinner!
The notes below refer to the section of the Text
called "Atonement without Sacrifice" which
addresses what traditional Christianity has done with
the historical Jesus. The Bible's idea of crucifixion
makes sin real which evokes guilt and God's
punishment. The ultimate punishment is death. The
ego's god believes he has been sinned against and
seeks retribution in the form of sacrifice. The ego
believes the sin of separation is real and fears God's
vengeance; so, to appease God the ego offers Him a
"sacrificial lamb" — Jesus.
Atonement with sacrifice says sin is real and you
must atone for it with a life of suffering and sacrifice
for your sin against God, and pray that He is as
insane as you are and accepts your offering!
Atonement without sacrifice, as presented in the
Course, corrects the error by saying the separation
never happened and there is nothing to atone for. In
the Course "atone" means to correct or undo; not to
sacrifice, suffer or pay back.
The idea of Atonement with sacrifice plays a major
role (albeit mostly unconscious) in our special
relationships. We will address our special love and
hate relationships in detail in later chapters.
•
The authority problem is at the core of the mistake in
traditional Christian thought. The authority problem
is based on the belief that I (the ego) am in conflict
with God. This conflict is represented by the terms
"battleground" and "kill or be killed" in the ego's
wrong minded section of the Heaven-Knowledge
<strong>Notes</strong> on the Text of A Course in Miracles
10
Chart. The ego believes "I have usurped God's role
on the throne, and He is going to try to take it back
from me."
•
The authority problem is the belief that we (the ego)
have separated and taken power from God. The
authority problems we have in relationships with
others in the world are a shadowy fragment of the
original authority problem with God. The ego is
often looking to be abused and victimized by
authorities. This ego dynamic is addressed more in
later chapters.
•
The source of the authority problem is the ego's
belief that it separated from and killed God, evoking
guilt and demanding punishment which engenders
fear. Fear stems from what the authorities may do to
me. I believe I have taken God's power and authority,
and I fear God or another authority figure will try to
take it back from me. My independent existence as a
body in a world is proof that I have taken God's life,
power and authority.
•
Knowledge versus perception is an important theme
in this chapter and the whole Course. Refer to the
Chart: Heaven-Knowledge is a state of oneness.
Perception or consciousness is a state of separation.
•
Heaven is perfect oneness. Once the separation
seemed to happen, there appeared to be a dualistic
universe instead of a one-minded universe. The
dualistic universe is referred to as "perception."
Perception is consciousness of a subject/object
separation — this is duality. Knowledge or Heaven is
non-dual, non-specific and abstract.
•
The term “invention” refers to what the mind makes
to fill its perceived lack. The world of duality and
specifics is also the world of judgment. In the
Course, judgment means condemnation. To give up
judgment means to give up condemnation.
Generally, judgment means selectivity in the world
of duality. In Heaven or Knowledge there is nothing
to select among — there is only God's wholeness.
Once the split mind occurred, judgment was the split
mind's foundation. In the world we must make
judgments and select from various elements in the
world. Perception is based on choosing for what we
deem important, and against the unimportant.
Conversely, God's creation is the abstract,
unconditional love of all. Our true Identity as Christ
is God's extension of His perfect love.