A New Jesus? What does the Bible say?

 

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas with family and friends! I prepared Christmas dinner for the first time and it was quite an experience. I love to cook, but preparing so many dishes at once takes much coordination. However, sitting down and eating with family I love was such a great reward!

My last blog post left off with a case study of a woman named Helen Schucman. Schucman believed that she had a new revelation from Jesus. Her revelation is known today as A Course in Miracles, and has been further propagated through an author and speaker known as Marianne Williamson.

What is the problem with Schucman’s “new” revelation about Jesus? The problem is that it’s NEW! Scripture indicates that new revelation and knowledge of Jesus is impossible. The case is closed! All the knowledge we need to know about God, Jesus, and the basics of Christianity is given to us in the Bible. Read the following verse from Jude 3:

 

“Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”

Jude indicates that the faith has been handed down “once for all.” It is finished. The Greek word that is used for “once for all” indicates that something has been done and finished. It doesn’t need to be repeated. Therefore, the basics of Christianity such as the nature of God, Jesus, and method of salvation does not need to be revisited. It has already been revealed to us.

The apostle Paul tells us the following in Galatians 1:8:

 

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

 

Again, any revelation or teaching that is contrary to Scripture is false.

Now a few of you might be saying or thinking the following things:

• What about a dream that I or someone else might have where God spoke something to that person?
• What about a prophetic message that was given at my church or from someone I might know?
• What about those who claim to hear God speak to them in some manner?

My answer is this: If it does not agree with what the Bible teaches, then it is false. As Christians we should be talking to God all the time through prayer. It shouldn’t be surprising to hear back from Him through the Holy Spirit, in dreams and visions, or even hear His voice. There are plenty of people in the Bible that heard God speak to them in this manner. However, if you hear back a response that goes against the very nature of God or the personhood of Jesus Christ, then you can be sure it is false and is from the enemy and not from God.

Stay tuned for the next blog post that will introduce you to different methods that New Agers use to gain supposed new revelation about Jesus.

Ron Rhodes’ book, New Age Movement, was used as a reference for this blog post.

Case Study: Helen Schucman

 

Today I am going to present a case study of a person who believes and claims that God does give new revelation about himself today. This person is Helen Schucman. Have you heard of her? If not, you’ve probably been exposed to her teachings through an author and speaker named Marianne Williamson.

Marianne Williamson is the author of many New Age books such as Illuminata: A Return to Prayer, The Age of Miracles: Embracing the New Midlife, and the most widely known, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles.” Marianne currently has her own daily radio show on the Oprah channel for XM Satellite radio. On the show she shares her insights from A Course in Miracles and helps listeners apply these spiritual teachings to their everyday lives.[i] Moreover, Williamson writes articles and blogs for Oprah.com.

What is important to know is that Williamson’s book, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles”, is a revamp of teachings from 1965 by Columbia University professor of Medical Psychology Helen Schucman.[ii] Schucman has said to have heard an “inner voice”, claiming to be Jesus Christ, say to her: “This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.”[iii] After seven years of writing down what the inner voice told her, Schucman created A Course in Miracles. The course teaches that God’s love is in everyone and everything, that we can be divine because Christ is within us, and that sin is an illusion.[iv] Read the following statements from A Course in Miracles:

 

 

• “God is in everything I see.”[v]
• “God is still everywhere and in everything forever. And we are a part of Him.”[vi]
• “The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself. There is no separation of God and His creation.”[vii]

 

These statements clearly show that A Course in Miracles is pantheistic.

Warren Smith, who was once a New Ager but is now a Christian, writes about Schucman in his book Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New Gospel:

 

In the seven and a half years of cumulative dictation that became A Course in Miracles, Schucman’s “Jesus” presents a whole new way of looking at the world. Using Christian terminology, sophisticated psychology, and convincing authority, Schucman’s “Jesus” teaches a completely different gospel than the one found in the Bible. His “new gospel” wholly contradicts the Bible’s Gospel of Jesus Christ. Schucman’s “inner voice,” while claiming to be Jesus, actually opposes everything for which the Bible’s Jesus stands.[viii]

What a perfect example of Matthew 24:5 which says, ” For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” In 1975, Schucman’s A Course in Miracles was published and had a small following through the 1980’s. However, it wasn’t until Marianne Williamson embraced Schucman’s teaching and wrote A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles” that it really took off. In 1992, Marianne was featured and endorsed on the Oprah Winfrey Show, thus spreading Schucman’s false teaching of Jesus Christ across the world.[ix]

Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians:

 

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:6-9, NIV)

Helen Schucman is teaching another gospel different than what is taught in the Bible. Paul clearly demonstrates in this passage that people will try to pervert the gospel of Christ. If what is taught is different than what the Bible teachings about Christ, then it is false. We clearly see that this is the case with Schucman and Williamson’s teachings. For instance, Christ did not teach that sin is an illusion. If He did, then why did He die on the cross to free us from sin?

What do you think? Please leave comments! Stay tuned in for the next few blog posts where I will continue this discussion …

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[i] http://xmradio.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=1550, accessed 8/6/09

[ii] Smith, Warren. Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New Gospel. (Ravenna:Conscience Press, 2002), 9.

[iii] Skutch, Robert. Journey without Distance: The Story behind “A Course in Miracles” (Berkeley: Celestial Arts, 1984), 54.

[iv] Smith, 10.

[v] A Course in Miracles. Vol. 2, Workbook for Students. (Tiburon: Foundation for Inner peace, 1975), 45.

[vi] Ibid, 92.

[vii] A Course in Miracles. Vol. 1, Text. (Tiburon: Foundation for Inner peace, 1975), 136.

[viii] Smith, 10.

[ix] Smith, 10-11.