by Dr. Bob Rosenthal

Circle of Atonement Editon ACIM
With Helen's notes serving as their backbone, Robert Perry and the Circle of Atonement have tried to rebuild the Course from the bottom up in order to achieve their stated goal of restoring the Course to its original form, that is, "the original words as Helen received them," (p. 1920) editing these words with only the lightest touch possible. As a result, they have reinserted a great deal of material from the Notes and Urtext that was cut, not just from the FIP Edition, but from the Hugh Lynn Cayce draft as well. This is particularly true for the early chapters of the Text, where approximately 150 pages of new material and explanatory footnotes have been added.
In doing so, they make a key assumption, one that is essential to understand if we are to view this new edition in proper perspective. They consider the original wording from Helen's Notes to be the most accurate. This implies that the rapid-fire, stream of thought that Helen managed to capture and record in words, taking it down in her own personal shorthand, came through with such precision that it required little or no revision. Of course, anyone who has sat in a lecture hall attempting to take notes from a fast-paced lecturer can tell you how improbable this is. But there is a more significant issue here. Helen and Bill clearly stated that their editing was fully directed by the Voice: the same one that dictated the Course to her in the first place. So basically, we are being asked to believe that Helen overrode the explicit instructions of the Voice of Jesus in order to change and ultimately degrade the very Course she gave birth to. Robert Perry and the CofA give their reasons for making this assumption on pages 1911-1912 of this edition and their arguments come across as persuasive. But as neither Helen nor Bill are alive to present an alternate point of view, let me attempt to stand in for them and say what I believe they might have said in response.
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