Numerically One Being?
"What He creates is not apart from Him, and nowhere does the Father end, the Son begin as something separate from Him." W-132.12:4)
Many students frequently use the above quote as a possible piece of documentary evidence which shows that A Course in Miracles teaches there is only numerically one thing or being in reality, called “God” or “Love”. They seem to want to believe this because the Course has been called “nondualistic” or “nondual”. There are other passages used for this purpose, but I simply want to address this one. Of course, “what God creates (causes to be) is NOT apart from Him.” This teaching pervades the Course! But it does not imply that God and what God creates are numerically one being. There are several ways the Course makes the point that what God creates is not apart from God. As we all know, the Course uses many terms to refer to God the Creator. For example, “Creator”, “Father”, “Mind”, “Cause”, and others. So, the idea that what God creates is not apart from Him is stated in several different ways using different terms for God. For example, “Cause and Effect are one.” God is Cause, His Son is Effect. So, the Course would have us say, “I am forever an Effect of God.” Mind is cause and Its thought(idea) effect. Ideas leave not their source, nor do they leave the mind that thinks them (26.7,13:1f). None of these statements that God and his creation (or Effect or Son or Thought) “are one” implies that God and His Son are singular or one in number. Furthermore, the statement that “the Son does not begin as something separate from His Father,” is not referring to numerically one being. Nor does it deny that there are two beings. The statement simply denies that the Father and the Son are separate. The Course states again and again that the Son and the Father are in a relationship of Creator and Created. As the Course teaches, the Father created the Son. The Son did not create the Father. You, the Son of God as God created you “were created to create”. This means that the Son creates a creation that is like himself just as the Father created a creation that is like Himself. There are numerous statements in the Course that indicate that, in reality, in God’s Kingdom there is an eternal dynamic occurring. There is something going on! And it is going on forever! The Course calls it “Creation”. And the Course’s teaching about creation can be understood in this way, God is extending His Self by causing another one of His Self to be, thus causing His Self to grow in number. (His “growing in number” is His “extending”.) “This (the extension of the joint will of the Father and the Son) is perfect creation by the perfectly created in union with the perfect Creator” (8.3,3:3). Notice that the “perfectly created” is creating! The Son is creating! The Son is creating in union with the Father. We may add one more thing the Course teaches about the nature of God and His creation. “God created beings who have everything individually but who want to share it to increase their joy” (See 4.7,5:1). Since Jesus says elsewhere that reality is changeless, he lets us know that this increase in God’s Kingdom does not constitute a change because everything created was created to create and this has never changed. “Creation continues unabated” (C-1,4:3). Copyright © 2023 • Robert J. Hellmann
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.Added to website 05.09.2024
Many students frequently use the above quote as a possible piece of documentary evidence which shows that A Course in Miracles teaches there is only numerically one thing or being in reality, called “God” or “Love”. They seem to want to believe this because the Course has been called “nondualistic” or “nondual”. There are other passages used for this purpose, but I simply want to address this one. Of course, “what God creates (causes to be) is NOT apart from Him.” This teaching pervades the Course! But it does not imply that God and what God creates are numerically one being. There are several ways the Course makes the point that what God creates is not apart from God. As we all know, the Course uses many terms to refer to God the Creator. For example, “Creator”, “Father”, “Mind”, “Cause”, and others. So, the idea that what God creates is not apart from Him is stated in several different ways using different terms for God. For example, “Cause and Effect are one.” God is Cause, His Son is Effect. So, the Course would have us say, “I am forever an Effect of God.” Mind is cause and Its thought(idea) effect. Ideas leave not their source, nor do they leave the mind that thinks them (26.7,13:1f). None of these statements that God and his creation (or Effect or Son or Thought) “are one” implies that God and His Son are singular or one in number. Furthermore, the statement that “the Son does not begin as something separate from His Father,” is not referring to numerically one being. Nor does it deny that there are two beings. The statement simply denies that the Father and the Son are separate. The Course states again and again that the Son and the Father are in a relationship of Creator and Created. As the Course teaches, the Father created the Son. The Son did not create the Father. You, the Son of God as God created you “were created to create”. This means that the Son creates a creation that is like himself just as the Father created a creation that is like Himself. There are numerous statements in the Course that indicate that, in reality, in God’s Kingdom there is an eternal dynamic occurring. There is something going on! And it is going on forever! The Course calls it “Creation”. And the Course’s teaching about creation can be understood in this way, God is extending His Self by causing another one of His Self to be, thus causing His Self to grow in number. (His “growing in number” is His “extending”.) “This (the extension of the joint will of the Father and the Son) is perfect creation by the perfectly created in union with the perfect Creator” (8.3,3:3). Notice that the “perfectly created” is creating! The Son is creating! The Son is creating in union with the Father. We may add one more thing the Course teaches about the nature of God and His creation. “God created beings who have everything individually but who want to share it to increase their joy” (See 4.7,5:1). Since Jesus says elsewhere that reality is changeless, he lets us know that this increase in God’s Kingdom does not constitute a change because everything created was created to create and this has never changed. “Creation continues unabated” (C-1,4:3). Copyright © 2023 • Robert J. Hellmann
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.Added to website 05.09.2024