The origins of A Program in Wonders may be tracked back again to the cooperation between two people, Helen Schucman and William Thetford, both of whom were prominent psychologists and researchers. The course's inception happened in the first 1960s when Schucman, who was a scientific and research psychiatrist at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, began to experience some inner dictations. She identified these dictations as via an internal voice that discovered itself as Jesus Christ. Schucman initially resisted these experiences, but with Thetford's support, she began transcribing the messages she received.

Over a period of eight years, Schucman transcribed what can become A Program in Miracles, amounting to three volumes: the Text, the Book for Students, david hoffmeister church and the Guide for Teachers. The Text lays out the theoretical basis of the program, elaborating on the core ideas and principles. The Workbook for Pupils contains 365 instructions, one for each time of the entire year, developed to guide the audience via a daily practice of applying the course's teachings. The Handbook for Teachers offers further advice on how to realize and train the axioms of A Class in Wonders to others.

One of the main subjects of A Course in Wonders is the idea of forgiveness. The course shows that true forgiveness is the key to internal peace and awakening to one's heavenly nature. Based on its teachings, forgiveness isn't simply a ethical or honest practice but a simple change in perception. It requires making go of judgments, issues, and the understanding of sin, and as an alternative, viewing the entire world and oneself through the lens of love and acceptance. A Class in Miracles highlights that correct forgiveness leads to the acceptance that we are all interconnected and that separation from one another is an illusion.

Still another significant aspect of A Class in Miracles is its metaphysical foundation. The class presents a dualistic see of truth, distinguishing involving the confidence, which presents divorce, anxiety, and illusions, and the Sacred Spirit, which symbolizes love, reality, and religious guidance. It suggests that the pride is the foundation of enduring and conflict, while the Holy Nature provides a pathway to therapeutic and awakening. The target of the course is to help persons surpass the ego's restricted perspective and align with the Holy Spirit's guidance.