The Disappearance of the Universe (or DU for the purposes of this article) by Gary Renard is a book that alleges to be a recounting of Renard's encounters with two individuals whom Renard describes as 'ascended masters'. According to Renard, his encounters with these two 'ascended masters' took place over a span of 9 years, and manifested specifically as a sequence of 17 separate teaching sessions that began in 1992 and that ended in 2001. To date, no known manner of confirming the actual veracity of these alleged encounters by Renard exists, however during these encounters several somewhat prophetic events were foretold that would supposedly begin to unfold over the course of the coming century.

In addition to this prophetic content, DU also includes a fairly comprehensive philosophical, yet also practical system of beliefs and teachings that appear to augment, support and be consistent with the teachings of the book A Course In Miracles (or ACIM). Allegedly, the two 'ascended masters' described in DU presented themselves to Renard as Pursah and Arten, and further claimed that they had been previously known as the two Biblical disciples of Jesus: Thomas and Thaddeus. According to DU, Pursah and Arten first introduced Renard to the book, ACIM, then they proceeded to teach him how to better comprehend the unique teachings of this book, particularly regarding the supposedly true meaning of Christian forgiveness. Their regular visits to Renard drew to a completion shortly after the

DU was first published in 2003 and has since proven itself to be particularly popular amongst ACIM students. Currently a sequel is planned for release in 2006. Although the main title of this sequel is not yet known, Renard has posted on his website that the subtitle will be "How To Break The Cycle of Birth and Death"

DU theology

In addition to its popularity amongst ACIM students, DU has raised some interest amongst some Biblical scholars as a result of its unique theology. For some Biblical scholars, DU's treatment of theology appears to illuminate many heretofore unanswered riddles regarding what some Biblical scholars have tended to regard as certain apparent inconsistencies between various teachings as found in the Bible. Particularly addressed by DU are some of the apparent inconsistencies found in the Bible between the teachings of Paul as found in the Epistles and the teachings of Jesus as found in the Gospels.

Throughout history, traditional churches have generally tended to either deny, to refuse to address, or to create elaborate theological explanations in their attempts to resolve some of these apparent inconsistencies. Still some Biblical scholars have remained unconvinced by some of these traditional church explanations. Even though DU appears to point out some shortcomings in what it perceives as the Biblical teachings of Paul, vs: the Biblical teachings of Jesus, still DU does describe Paul's conversion

Perhaps the foremost example of such an apparent Biblical discrepancy is the apparent discrepancy between the exact nature of forgiveness as taught by Jesus in some of the Gospel accounts, vs: as it was taught by Paul in the Epistles. Here the Gospel accounts offer numerous examples of a certain type of radical forgiveness that does not seem to be addressed by Paul. The Gospel teachings about 'turning the other cheek', 'going the extra mile', and forgiving others first, before we might be able to sense God's forgiveness of ourselves, as taught in the Our Father prayer all appear to be somewhat inconsistent with the Epistle teachings of Paul regarding forgiveness. By contrast, Paul appears to focus more uopon the need to simply have faith, or to believe in Jesus and to believe that only by Jesus's crucifixion are man's sins forgiven. In Paul's theology, it would appear that his insistence on central role of the forgiveness of the crucifixion would relegate the role of the need for the forgiveness of one's fellow man to a sort of a secondary position, secondary to the need to believe in the crucifixion.

As an answer to this apparent discrepancy regarding the true nature of forgiveness, DU describes forgiveness as the mastery of the ability to fully forgive others, rather than relying on a faith in the traditional church theology of the crucifixion. This DU teaching regarding forgiveness also appears to be fully consistent with ACIM's teachings on this same topic.

DU cosmology

Regarding the cosmology of DU, this DU teaching appears to make an even more radical departure from traditional Biblical teachings, than do even DU's radically different teachings regarding the 'true' nature of forgiveness, or the role of Paul within Christianity. DU's cosmology states that the known universe is in fact not a creation of God, but rather a sort of a dream of man. It is a dream that began when mankind first fell asleep and began to imagine that he was no longer a part of God, and it is a dream that will end when all of mankind ultimately reawakens to the knowledge that it has never really left its unity with God the Father.

Renard's view of DU's role in ACIM teachings

Renard describes his book as a sort of a can-opener, and he describes ACIM as the can. By this he seems to mean that he believes that his book, while not as substantive or truly valuable as ACIM, can provide a good tool to enable one to more easily access and understand the teachings of ACIM. Many ACIM students highly recommend DU as an excellent introductory book for those who might be wishing to embark upon the study of ACIM, which is a far more scholarly and academic type of book.

See also

• Gary Renard
• A Course In Miracles
• Gary Renard Seminars
• Miscellaneous ACIM movements of note and support organizations