Oneness: Its Meaning in A Course in Miracles

Consider the following statements from the Text:

In creation, you are not in a reciprocal relation to God since He created you and you did not create Him. Only in this respect does your creative power differ from His. (7.1,1:4-5)

After thinking about these two statements, I realized that they can serve as a basis for justifying the claim that the Course teaches that there is more than numerically one being in reality as opposed to the claim that it teaches there is only one single being in reality or only numerically one being in reality,

From the two statements above, we can infer that there is something we can say is true about God the Father that is not true about God the Son. It is this: the Father created the Son, but the Son did not create the Son (Himself). If these two statements are correct, and I believe they are, then we must be referring to numerically two beings, one called the “Father”, the other called the “Son”. They both exist in reality; they both are real.

I realize some students/teachers of the Course, and some well-known ones at that, claim that the Course teaches that there is only numerically one being in reality. I say differently. I say that the Course’s teaches us that God and His creations are one in nature not one in number. They all are naturally one not numerically one.

A correct understanding of the oneness of creation, of reality, is needed. For this is an important aspect of the theoretical foundation that serves as a framework for making the lessons in the Workbook meaningful. For example, the lesson, “I am as God created me” makes sense if indeed God did create me as His Son. On the other hand, if one takes the position that there is only one single being in reality, only numerically one being in reality, then the lesson makes no sense, it has no meaning. For how is it possible that “I am as God created me” given that God did not create anything? It must be true that God did not create anything if God is the only – single, numerically one - being in reality.

Let's explore a little further what the Course says about the Son God created like Himself. When referring to God's creation as "God's Son", the Course sometimes uses the singular term "Son", sometimes the plural term "Sons". This is because there is an infinite number of God's Sons (Thoughts), but They all, however, have the same nature, and they are all united in this one nature.

When the Course uses the singular "Son" as a term for what God created, it is generally referring to the Christ, the unified spirit, the unified Thoughts of God all of Which share one and the same nature or Self. They are naturally one.

When the Course uses the plural "Sons" it points to the fact that, even though all God's Sons (Thoughts) are one in nature, they are infinite in number. "Creation is the sum of all God's Thoughts in number infinite ”.(Th11,1:1) (my emphasis).

In conclusion we say that when the Course uses the term oneness to refer to the oneness of reality it is referring to the oneness in nature of God and His infinite number of creations and not to numerically one single being in reality.

Copyright © 2002, 2o18 • Robert J. Hellmann