Who was the source of the information in A Course in Miracles? Is it an authentic divine message or was it corrupted?

A Course in Miracles was divinely inspired and is divine in origin and divine in its content. It is colored by cultural context of the recipient of the information, as well as the intention behind the seeking of the information that came forth. It is not a perfect match to today’s world for that reason. And because the information conveyed was general in nature to allow expression of human free will in implementing the messages, it is therefore open-ended and somewhat ill-defined and largely metaphorical. And this is the reason for all such metaphorical teachings and the parables given in the Scriptures. It is not the place of divine realm to tell people what to do but to inspire, to give examples for good conduct, and show the follies of certain events and certain behaviors through example, but to not call out specific individuals and give them marching orders. In that way, all divine teachings are open-ended and allowing, giving a general compass heading and encouragement, but not strict instructions that would themselves be a kind of constraint serving to fence in the reach of human and deny them many alternative options they may give birth to with their own creativity and their own personal inspiration. So it suits them in a particular setting but might not suit the broad humanity as a whole. So there needs to be room for individual experience and choice of paths, as well as broad teachings that are of general value and applicability for most, if not all, humans. There is no way to do both and have a “one size fits all” with perfection, because the application of specificity for one, will not be a fit for many, many, others. And a broad “one size fits all” message will not have sufficient specificity for certain individuals with certain issues and problems needing greater clarity or force than can be imparted in a general instruction. So in this way there are no perfect bodies of knowledge. The Scriptures are more guidelines than a true handbook for living, and such a detailed handbook for living will nonetheless lack specificity of selection instructions for whoever attempts to follow, as many specifics may be irrelevant or even a hazard to pursue for certain individuals who may not be ready, who may have their choices misdirected in some way, because the solutions proffered are not a match to them and their destiny. So A Course in Miracles is a kind of broad analysis of life and its broader meanings, and many of the options available to humanity to address the human dilemma. And in that way it will not address many specific circumstances, because those are not stated, nor are they even predicted by this work, which is ancient in origin, and so is not intended to be all-powerful and stand for all of time. It is a general overview and not an individual prescription for a particular person. This is to draw meaning and to draw inspiration from and not to be followed word for word and applied to each and every possible problem or circumstance. There must be room for interpretation, for individualization, for inner awareness and insight to inform the reader whether the words they see are a match to their circumstance and their dilemma in some way. And this will inspire them, through divine outreach, to see value in the words before them and embrace their meaning. So it is a book of possibilities, and the possibilities are the moments of synchronicity where they see the information resonate with their lives, and this will be reinforced by divine realm accordingly, and may well inspire them to take action for their betterment. So it is sort of like a book of blessings, not all of which are needed by each and every person in a given moment. But by going through and scouting the terrain, one can find the special areas of agreement and value that are just what’s needed for a given person and their circumstances. This was the intention behind the work and it can serve that function quite well still today. But it is subject to the same reservations as the holy Scriptures, that they can be over-scrutinized and over-interpreted and twisted to fit almost anything desired by the reader. And in doing so, that interpretation departs from the divine intention for the words to be there in the first place, and therefore the link to the divine is broken as well. Even when this happens, this does not preclude a value coming from the exercise, as an individual human can reach out to the divine in a personal way with a personal issue, defining it in their thoughts and feelings as best they can, and will receive personal responses that fit the problem. So to go to an outside compendium of spiritual or metaphysical wisdom and seek an answer for oneself, in a sense, is doing it the hard way. It is looking for the needle in the haystack when one can simply go up to God and request a needle and be granted a needle that is just for them. So such works are a way of creating a broader awareness of possibilities, by putting things into words others can see, and understand, and began to think about, and then embrace the idea of a spiritual force. This serves the building of faith. And so there is a valuable place for all such works. It is just they are not a perfect answer in and of themselves. Those who deify the Bible as the specific prescription for any and all problems are over-selling it and overstating its reach, even as intended by Creator in imparting divine wisdom to the prophets of old. So even aside from the problems of mistranslation, of heavy-handed deliberate deletion of many topics, and many of its original chapters, it still has limitation as a guide. It is of general use, but the specific applications must rely on inner wisdom and creativity of those involved in making the extrapolation. In many cases, it will be accurate and helpful, but this is not always the case. And therefore, as always, the responsibility lies with the human in need and whoever is helping them with their life journey.