The history of the reception of A Course In Miracles by members of the Sonship has shown that quite a few students have been guided or drawn to using the Original Edition of The Course. It allows us to deepen our study and understanding and to enjoy the depth and beauty contained in the first historic compendium of The Course' content. It had been prepared for all of us by the author and scribes' team in the year 1972. This document which is known as the third in the 'trilogy' of the three cardinal versions of The Course, had only been seen by a rather small group of students until divine orchestration provided for its discovery in the Association for Research and Enlightenment [A.R.E] library on November 29^th, 1999, and its subsequent sharing among Course students. What a glorious gift in the very beginning of the new millennium, and what timing!

          The commonly acknowledged importance of the Trinitarian ontology which is so central to The Course's thought system, once again becomes apparent to the vigilant observer in the smallest detail. With the ur-handscript and the ur-typescript as the first two cardinal versions, the third cardinal version completes the fruit of the co-creative collaboration which was to bring the contemporary teachings of Christ Jesus, faithful to its initial transmission's content from Whole Mind to humanity, into the world.  

          The Course in Miracles Society CIMS has been instrumental in sharing the original Course ever since. The time had also come for translations into various languages, in order to provide more miracle workers worldwide with this beautiful compendium of essential Course teachings in their own respective native tongue. Quickly, the legal modalities for its distribution had also been taken care of, so that its popularity and therefore its usefulness is constantly increasing.

          Meanwhile, the work of scholars and instructors had helped many to find detailed information about the profound differences in form, and therefore in underlying content, when a line-by-line comparison with earlier presentations of The Course were conducted. At the same time the many testimonials shared among students spoke for the tremendous impact the Original Edition has had on the student's development regarding study and application. During my talks to groups of interested Course students in Germany, where we have started to share the translation and audio-book in an interactive manner, Guidance prompts me to cite from the Original Edition, chapter twenty-two, paragraph 22, in order to illustrate my personal, irresistible attraction to the third cardinal version and its content. Philosophically speaking, the author makes one of his unambiguous statements in the context of the underlying 'radical idealism' which, by the way, has been quite challenging for me for years:

"This course will be believed entirely or not at all.
For it is wholly true or wholly false
and cannot be but partially believed." (OrEd.Tx.22.22)

          Surely, as a student I would only be pretending to have reached a more advanced level of mind training than I have actually attained so far if I implied that I truly experience, already, absolutely everything the Course contains. Honesty obliges me to make this clear, yet what is also clear is that once I embark on a course and see its results, then gradual learning and step by step instructions are all geared towards some point of graduation. Hurdles and temporary learning failures are obviously part of the training, and also sufficiently and individually addressed.  

          A course which is honoring "beliefs that lead to progress" also requires solid faith in what is announced and yet to come. (i.e. OrEd.Mn.24.6). The point of graduation in time is also summarized in OrEd.Tx.4.11, where it is said: "Every good teacher hopes to give his students so much of his own thinking that they will one day no longer need him. This is the one real goal of the parent, teacher, and therapist."

          It always made a lot of sense to me to study and use The Course in its entirety and exactly as it has been prepared for us by the author and the scribes' team. This very much seems to be a necessary prerequisite for believing it entirely: learning what it truly says. When this realization had occurred, the next natural development to be observed was that I was not alone in this realization, and others had come to the same conclusion independently.  

          So, one of the shared aspects of the unified purpose in the Atonement had become to join efforts and talents in order to make the Original Edition more widely available, and in other languages for those who are not in a position to read and study it in its originally English language. The author's instruction to always 'listen, learn and do' applied also here.

          What was to be understood before taking on such a task? In chapter seven, paragraph 15 of the Text we are given a clear description of a translators' responsibilities:

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