Oprah Winfrey is Offering the Controversial New Age “A Course In Miracles”-Truth!
Summary of eRumor:
The forwarded email warns that popular American television personality Oprah Winfrey is going to be offering a controversial New Age study course on XM Radio. It’s called “A Course in Miracles” and the eRumor says that the radio series will be hosted by New Age leader Marianne Williamson.
The Truth:
According to both Oprah Winfrey’s and Marianne Williamson’s websites this daily one hour radio program through Oprah and Friends Radio on XM satellite radio went on the air January 1, 2008.
It is a one-year show based on A Course in Miracles. Winfrey’s web site describes the program as “a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy contained in three books. It is not a religion, but rather a psychological mind-training base on universal spiritual themes.”
Marianne Williamson is a popular lecturer who has authored several books and promotes z”A Course in Miracles.”
A Course In Miracles first came out in 1976. Psychologist Helen Schucman describes herself as the “scribe” of the book rather than the author. She said that she and fellow psychologist William Thetford “scribed” the book from an “inner source.” Schucman has said that it was channeled to her by Jesus Christ.
The course of teachings makes frequent reference to Jesus and uses Christian terminology, but many Evangelical Christian teachers and apologists regard it has heretical.
The text of this eRumor is from an article written by Warren Smith, a former new ager who was a devotee of A Course in Miracles and who is now an Evangelical Christian.
In March, 2008, a video began circulating widely on the Internet that used some similar material as in the forwarded email version.
Among the statements in the video include:
“Who you are requires no belief.”
This is a quote from Eckhart Tolle a featured guest of Oprah’s. He is the author of the book The Power of Now. “Heaven is not a location but an inner realm of consciousness.”
This, too, is an Eckhart Tolle quote from his book A New Earth. “The man on the cross is an archatypel [sic] image, he is every man and woman.”
This is described second-hand as a Tolle quote, but we have not confirmed that. “My mind is part of God’s, I am very holy, my holiness is my salvation and my salvation comes from me.”
One of the lessons in A Course of Miracles is titled “My Holiness is My Salvation.” The statement “My salvation comes from me. It cannot come from anywhere else” is a quote from the Course of Miracles (workbook, lesson 70). “There is no sin.”
This is a quote from A Course in Miracles. “The exercises teach sin is not real, and all that you believe must come from sin will never happen, for it has no cause. Accept Atonement with an open mind, which cherishes no lingering belief that you have made a devil of God’s Son. There is no sin. We practice with this thought as often as we can today, because it is the basis for today’s idea.” Workbook, lesson 101. “Do not make the pathetic error of clinging to the Old Rugged Cross. The only message of the crucifixion is that you can overcome the cross.”
From A Course in Miracles. “Do not make the pathetic human error of “clinging to the old rugged cross.” The only message of the crucifixion was that we can overcome the cross. Unless you do so, you are free to crucify yourself as often as you choose. But this is not the gospel I intended to offer you.” Chapter 4, The Root of All Evil.
Updated 4/3/08