Manuscript 13 De Verzoening Als Verdediging - a podcast by Een Cursus in Wonderen

V. The Atonement as Defense

The Atonement is the only defense which cannot be used destructively. 2That is because, while everyone must eventually join it, it was not a device which was generated by humanity. 3The Atonement principle was in effect long before the Atonement itself was begun. 4The principle was love, and the Atonement itself was an act of love.75 5Acts were not necessary before the separation, because the time-space belief did not exist.

2 It was only after the separation that the defense of Atonement and the necessary conditions for its fulfillment were planned. 2It became increasingly apparent that all of the defenses which humanity can choose to use constructively or destructively were not enough to save it. 3It was therefore decided that you needed a defense which was so splendid that you could not misuse it, although you could refuse it. 4Your will could not turn it into a weapon of attack, which is the inherent characteristic of all other defenses. 5The Atonement thus became the only defense which was not a two-edged sword.

3 The Atonement actually began long before the resurrection. 2Many souls offered their efforts on behalf of the separated ones. 3But they could not withstand the strength of the attack and had to be brought back. 4Angels came, too, but their protection was not enough, because the separated ones were not interested in peace. 5They had already split themselves and were bent on dividing rather than reintegrating. 6The levels they introduced into themselves turned against each other, and they, in turn, turned against one another. 7They established differences, divisions, cleavages, dispersion, and all the other concepts related to the increasing splits they produced. 8Not being in their right minds, they turned their defenses from protection to assault, and acted literally insanely. 9It was essential to introduce a split-proof device which could be used only to heal, if it was used at all.

4 The Atonement was built into the space-time belief in order to set a limit on the need for the belief, and ultimately to make learning complete. 2The Atonement is the final lesson. 3Learning itself, like the classrooms in which it occurs, is temporary. 4(Let all those who overestimate human intelligence remember this.) 5The ability to learn has no value when change of understanding is no longer necessary. 6The eternally creative have nothing to learn. 7Only after the separation was it necessary to direct the creative force to learning, because changed behavior had become mandatory.5 Human beings can learn to improve their behavior, and can also learn to become better and better learners. 2This increase serves to bring them into closer and closer accord with the Sonship. 3But the Sonship itself is a perfect creation, and perfection is not a matter of degree. 4Only while there are different degrees is learning meaningful.

6 The evolution of humankind is merely a process by which you proceed from one degree to the next. 2You correct your previous missteps by stepping forward. 3This represents a process which is actually incomprehensible in temporal terms, because you return as you go forward. 4The Atonement is the device by which you can free yourself from the past as you go ahead. 5It undoes your past errors, thus making it unnecessary for you to keep retracing your steps without advancing toward your return.

7 In this sense, the Atonement saves time, but like the miracle which serves it, does not abolish it.76 2As long as there is need for Atonement, there is need for time. 3But the Atonement as a completed plan does have a unique relationship to time. 4Until the Atonement is finished, its various phases will proceed in time, but the whole Atonement stands at its end. 5At this point, the bridge of the return has been built.

8 If you find discussion of the Atonement upsetting, it is because the Atonement is a total commitment. 2You still think this is associated with loss. 3This is the same mistake all the separated ones make in one way or another. 4They cannot believe that a defense which cannot attack is the best defense. 5Except for this misperception, the angels could have helped them. 6What do you think “the meek shall inherit the earth” means?77 7They will literally take it over, because of their strength.78 8A two-way defense is inherently weak; precisely because it has two edges it can turn against the self very unexpectedly.

9 This tendency cannot be controlled except by miracles. 2The miracle turns the defense of Atonement to the protection of the inner self, which, as it becomes more and more secure, assumes its natural talent of protecting others. 3The inner self knows itself as both a brother and a Son.

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