A Course in Miracles
NEW EDITION
THE TRANSLATION
This edition is a translation of the full dictation given by Jesus to Helen Schucman, as it appears in the Urtext and Helen’s Notes. It incorporates over 50,000 words omitted in previous editions.
It is an improved translation, employing more contemporary language and style, updated orthography according to current standards of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), and corrections of transcription errors from the original source, as well as conceptual clarifications and pronoun disambiguations.
From a purely formal standpoint, this edition presents each sentence on its own line to enhance clarity and aid in understanding the concepts being conveyed.
Helen often warned Bill, as she dictated her notes, about certain concepts she heard from Jesus with greater emphasis, which Bill would then transcribe in capital letters. Every effort has been made to preserve these elements in order to respect their intended emphasis.
The numerous personal comments related to the scribes, which appear at the beginning of the dictation and clearly are not part of the Course, are presented in a different typeface.
The source text used for this translation is the excellent work by Dough Thompson: A Course in Miracles, The Urtext Manuscripts, The Complete Seven Volume Combined Edition.
THE NOTES
The notes in this edition of the Course serve a highly pedagogical function; one could say they are a course about the Course itself. Their sole purpose is to provide students and teachers of God with a useful teaching resource that enhances learning and saves time in the process.
The vast majority of the notes are my own, though some are drawn from Dough Thompson’s work and others from Robert Perry’s notable edition, A Course in Miracles: Complete & Annotated Edition.
This edition includes four main types of notes:
Biblical References
Thousands of cross-references with the Old and New Testaments, mostly taken from the works mentioned above.
Internal References
Notes that point to concepts found in other parts of the dictation, such as the Text, the Manual for Teachers, and the Supplements.
External References
Comments on concepts from other literary works or historical and cultural events.
Explanatory and Pedagogical Notes
This is the main, most extensive, and original body of the work—likely the most valuable for Course students. These notes stem from two decades of deep reflection on the text, as well as exhaustive research from various sources.
In the case of the Workbook for Students, the notes are not the result of exegetical analysis of the original text, but rather inspired insights offering complementary explanations. These help students better understand the Lessons and practice them more deeply.
Brief History of the Various Editions
Helen received the dictation of the main body of the Course between 1965 and 1972. However, until 1978 she continued to receive related content and personal messages. This work presents all known material to date in its original form.
Helen transcribed what she heard from Jesus in shorthand notebooks, known as Helen’s Notes. The following day, she would dictate what she had received to Bill, who typed it into what became known as Bill’s Transcripts—of which no copy remains. These typed pages were the basis for what is now known as the Urtext.
It is important to note that Helen did not dictate everything in her notebooks to Bill; at times, she would also share material she had just received. Therefore, in the early chapters of the dictation (up to Chapter 8), neither the Notes nor the Urtext contain the full material.
In 1972, Helen and Bill edited the Urtext, removing nearly all personal and technical content, rewriting many original expressions, and structuring the work into chapters and sections for the first time. This version, intended for Hugh Lynn Cayce—son of the well-known psychic Edgar Cayce, whom Jesus refers to several times early in the dictation—is known by the acronym HLC.
In 1973, Helen and Ken Wapnick undertook a new edition of the Course. In this version, more material was removed, large portions of the Text were rearranged, and the wording was heavily revised, with many terms and expressions changed. This version was published in 1975 and, with minor modifications, is the one widely known through its publisher, the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP).
Together, these successive editions of the dictation removed approximately 50,000 words from the Urtext and relocated about 6,000 words from their original context. Notably, these changes primarily affected the first eight chapters of the Text. The remainder of the dictation remains nearly identical across all later editions, apart from minor details and occasional transcription errors.
In 2004, the main body of this dictation entered the public domain.
Copyright
ISBN: 9798370813139
All rights to the translation and notes are reserved.
However, I authorize the good-faith use of significant excerpts from this work for reference in other editorial productions or for free dissemination with educational purposes. In such cases, I would appreciate the courtesy of citing the source.
I also expressly authorize and encourage the daily distribution of the Workbook Lessons by email to Course study groups. This is a practice I have implemented with my own students and have found to be highly effective.
The only restriction is that it is not permitted to copy, market, or disseminate the entire work or its various parts in a single document in any format or medium.