ATONEMENT WITHOUT SACRIFICE
T 3 C. Atonement without Sacrifice
There is one more point which must be perfectly clear before any residual fear which may still be associated with miracles be‐ comes entirely groundless. The Crucifixion did NOT establish the Atonement. The Resurrection did. This is a point which many very sincere Christians have misunderstood. Nobody who was free of the scarcity‐fallacy could POSSIBLY have made this mistake.
T 3 C 2. If the Crucifixion is seen from an upside down point of view, it certainly does appear AS IF God permitted, and even encouraged, one of his Sons to suffer BECAUSE he was good. Many very devoted ministers preach this every day. This particularly unfortunate interpretation, which actually arose out of the combined misprojection of a large number of my own would‐be followers, has led many people to be bitterly afraid of God.
T 3 C 3. This particularly anti‐religious concept happens to enter into many religions, and this is neither by chance nor coincidence.
T 3 C 4. The real Christian would have to pause and ask “how could this be?” Is it likely that God Himself would be capable of the kind of thinking which His own Words have clearly stated is unworthy of man?
(There are times when) The best defense, as always, is NOT to attack another’s position, but rather to protect the truth. It is not necessary to consider anything acceptable, if you have to turn a whole frame of reference around in order to justify it. This proce‐ dure is painful in its minor applications, and genuinely tragic on a mass basis. Persecution is a frequent result, justifying the terrible misperception that God Himself persecuted His own Son on behalf of salvation. The very words are meaningless.
T 3 C 6. It has always been particularly difficult to overcome this be‐ cause, although the error itself is no harder to overcome than any other error, men were unwilling to give it up because of its promi‐ nent escape value. In milder forms, a parent says “This hurts me more than it hurts you,” and feels exonerated in beating a child. Can you believe that the Father REALLY thinks this way?
T 3 C 7. It is so essential that all such thinking be dispelled that we must be VERY sure that NOTHING of this kind remains in your mind. I was NOT punished because YOU were bad. The wholly benign lesson which the Atonement teaches is wholly lost if it is tainted with this kind of distortion in ANY form.
T3 C 8. “Vengeance is Mine sayeth the Lord” is strictly a karmic viewpoint. It is a real misperception of truth, by which man assigns his own evil past to God. The “evil conscience” from the past has nothing to do with God. He did not create it, and He does not main‐ tain it. God does NOT believe in karmic retribution at all. His Divine mind does not create that way. HE does not hold the evil deeds of a man even against HIMSELF. Is it likely, then, that He would hold against any man the evil that ANOTHER did?
THE WAY OUT OF THE DREAM
A COURSE IN MIRACLES is a day-by-day lesson plan to shift the mind from its delusional state of fear, separation, isolation, and judgment into a state of peace through systematic reparation of damage and systematic reintegration of concepts and ideas into the mind.
It is time that all beings read A Course in Miracles , as it is the way out of the dream. It is the way out of suffering, and it explains in great detail all this information. It is a challenging book to read for a reason: It accesses different parts of the mind than you are used to using, and many of you in the Western world are undisciplined in the focused study of texts.
The text and lessons of A Course in Miracles will work wonders on your life. You will be relieved of much of your suffering, much of your ”feelings of separation, isolation, and loneliness. You will begin to see magnificent shifts: first in your internal world that will indeed be reflected onto your material world in the form of abundance, healthier relationships, a healthier body, and a much more optimistic attitude. All the beings around you will benefit. All the people you love will benefit. You will become kinder and more generous, and you will experience more abundance in all ways: health, finances, inspiration, and creativity. All of these things will increase because, indeed, you will be reinforcing your connection to Source, reinforcing your connection to Divine Mind. And that is where all the wonderful things come from, where all the wonderful, thoughts, concepts, and ideas come from that bring you joy and allow you to express those things into the material world.
A Course in Miracles is the foundational text for any of you who wish to change your minds, who wish to change your lives, or who wish to stop suffering in your world. This is the book to read and study so that you will understand, and you can begin to shift your consciousness into higher vibration realms.
If you suffer, if you feel put upon, if you feel unfairly treated, or if you feel you do not have the freedom to live your own life, it is because you do not understand. There are untruths in your mind that need to be shifted or that need to be deleted. The answer is to study A Course in Miracles.
From Jesus - My Autobiography
