The roots of A Course in Wonders may be traced back to the venture between two persons, Helen Schucman and William Thetford, equally of whom were prominent psychologists and researchers. The course's inception occurred in the first 1960s when Schucman, who had been a medical and study psychiatrist at Columbia University's School of Physicians and Surgeons, began to experience a series of internal dictations. She defined these dictations as originating from an interior style that determined itself as Jesus Christ. Schucman originally resisted these experiences, but with Thetford's encouragement, she started transcribing the communications she received.

Over a period of eight years, Schucman transcribed what would become A Course in Wonders, amounting to three volumes: the Text, the Book for Students, and the Handbook for Teachers. The Text sits out the theoretical foundation of the course, elaborating on the core ideas and  acim  principles. The Book for Pupils contains 365 instructions, one for each day of the season, developed to guide the audience by way of a daily practice of applying the course's teachings. The Guide for Educators gives further advice on the best way to realize and train the axioms of A Class in Miracles to others.

One of the key themes of A Class in Miracles is the notion of forgiveness. The course teaches that true forgiveness is the important thing to inner peace and awakening to one's divine nature. According to their teachings, forgiveness isn't simply a ethical or moral exercise but a basic change in perception. It involves allowing move of judgments, grievances, and the notion of sin, and alternatively, viewing the world and oneself through the lens of enjoy and acceptance. A Course in Miracles stresses that correct forgiveness leads to the acceptance that individuals are all interconnected and that divorce from one another can be an illusion.

Still another substantial part of A Course in Wonders is its metaphysical foundation. The course gift suggestions a dualistic see of fact, distinguishing between the confidence, which presents divorce, fear, and illusions, and the Holy Heart, which symbolizes enjoy, truth, and religious guidance. It shows that the ego is the source of suffering and conflict, while the Holy Nature supplies a pathway to therapeutic and awakening. The goal of the program is to simply help individuals transcend the ego's confined perception and arrange with the Sacred Spirit's guidance.