Did Jesus dictate an important message to the world from 1965 to 1972 to an atheist woman with a Jewish background who went to Catholic Mass frequently? What happens when she and her psychologist colleague at Columbia University medical school, both highly regarded in their field, collaborate on a secretive project that neither intended? These and other questions are answered in A Course in Miracles: The Lives of Helen Schucman & William Thetford by historian Neal Vahle. Vahle's book is something of a miracle in itself because he gathers previously unpublished materials from the surviving principles. From the facts and accounts he has assembled the reader can make one's ownjudgment about what really happened.

The Rev. Vern Barnet, DMn is the religion columnist for the Kansas City Star

Two friends, Helen Schucman and William Thetford, in continuous conflict for seven years while colleagues at Columbia University Medical School, decided to find a better way to be together. The experience of bringing A Course in Miracles into form was their answer. Although I have heard stories about Helen and Bill, this book reveals them to be both complex and inspiring. The author presents a fascinating story of their acceptance of this extraordinary teaching, and the effect the Course had on their lives. The last pages of this book are an inspiration to us all.

Linda Carpenter
Student and teacher of A Course in Miracles
Publisher with Tom Carpenter of Dialogue of Awakening

As a Unity minister, I have studied and taught the Course. Vahle's book seriously contributes to our knowledge of the origins of A Course in Miracles, especially in bringing to light material that no one knows. I am struck with the realization of how challenging and subtle it is to practice spiritual truths, even when you know them well, and even if they are channeled through you! I think we can all see ourselves in this very human tale of two unlikely individuals evidently chosen to reveal a mighty teaching. This book makes the Course even more relevant for its students, and even more available, and harder to ignore, for those yet to take on its challenge.

Rev. Michael A. Maday, adjunct faculty, Unity Institute, Unity Village, Missouri, and former editor of Unity House.

Beginning with a world-class elevator briefing on what A Course in Miracles is all about, Neal Vahle portrays the depth and breadth of heart-and-soul energy within the two persons through which the Course has emerged. Vahle has converted much complexity into easy reading.

Rev. Noel McInnis is a former ACIM instructor, an ordained doctorate minister of Religious Science at the New Thought Center for Spiritual Living in suburban Portland, Oregon.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Neal Vahle's biography of Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford, which describes their collaboration in producing A Course in Miracles. Though I knew Helen and Bill, and much of the story, this book fills in many of the missing pieces.

Rev. Jon Mundy Ph.D.
The Institute for Personal Religion
Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church, Middletown, NY.

The stories of how A Course in Miracles came to be channeled and published were for me like ocean waters infested with sharks. With this new biography by Neal Vahle, a professional historian who has written biographies of New Thought teachers, Ernest Holmes, Myrtle Fillmore and Charles Fillmore, I think it is once again safe to go back into those historical waters. Vahle does an excellent job of presenting all of the information in a realistic way, so that we get to judge for ourselves how the events actually unfolded. Helen and Bill emerge as very complex people, full of foibles, problems and difficulties. We don't have to think of them as highly spiritually evolved. We don't need to worship them or put them up on a pedestal. They produced a great work with their level of spiritual development. I whole-heartedly recommend that Course students read A Course in Miracles, The Lives of Helen Schucman and William Thetford.

Rev. Tony Ponticello
Community Miracles CenterMinister/Counselor
Author of After Enlightenment

Neal Vahle, who has written insightful biographies of Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, founders of the international Unity Movement of spiritual Christianity, turns his attention in this volume to the origins of A Course in Miracles. His stimulating account of two academics, one the unlikely recipient of a profound spiritual message elaborated in an extensive text, and the other, her collaborator and editor, makes fascinating reading.

Their struggles to bridge the realities of their professional lives and their new found revelations, as well as the impact of the Course on the small group entrusted to read and disseminate it, will be of great interest to students of the Course and the general reading public.

Joseph T. Schultz
Oppenstein Brothers Distinguished Professor of Judaic Studies, Emeritus, and Director of the Center for Religious Studies, Emeritus, University of Missouri, KansasCity

I am delighted that at last we have an unbiased account from a non-ACIM student and professional historian teacher, of how this spiritual masterpiece called A Course in Miracles came into being. What struck me most about Neal Vahle's book are his extraordinary insights into the complex character and personalities of Helen Schucman and Wiilam Thetford. I was deeply touched by how Bill Thetford, a former agnostic, struggled with many personal and social problems, and let go of his grievances through his conscious willingness to apply the forgiveness principles of the Course. What a demonstration! As a result he died a truly happy man. I ended this book with my heart pounding and tears of joy in my eyes.

Val Scott is a long-time Course student and teacher, as well as a social entrepreneur who during his personal and professional life has focused on non-adversarial an all-win approaches to personal, social and community relationships.

One of the most amazing events of the "New Age," as it has been termed, was the publication of and reaction to A Course in Miracles. I know I was stunned by it when I read it: I'm very familiar with so-called channeled material, having investigated altered states, parapsychological events and spiritual phenomena throughout my career, and most channeled stuff is, frankly, boring. But this was something quite different, for it was not only deeply insightful at a psychological level, it touched the heart in a unique way. I can quite understand that millions of people around the world have been deeply moved by the Course. We humans are always curious about how something comes about-who "created" it (or channeled it, in this case), and how it related to its times. Up till now there has been only scattered and partial bits of information on the channeler and scribe, Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford, and it wasn't enough to satisfy. So I was intrigued when asked to review the manuscript of this book by Neal Vahle, and very satisfied when I finished reading it. At last we have the kind of objective information we would expect from a professional historian!

Charles T. Tart
Professor of Psychology, Emeritus
University of California, Davis
(Author of best-selling Altered States of Consciousness)