The beginnings of A Class in Wonders could be tracked back once again to the cooperation between two persons, Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford, both of whom were prominent psychologists and researchers. The course's inception occurred in early 1960s when Schucman, who was a scientific and research psychiatrist at Columbia University's University of Physicians and Surgeons, began to see a series of inner dictations. She identified these dictations as via an internal style that discovered itself as Jesus Christ. Schucman originally resisted these experiences, but with Thetford's encouragement, she began transcribing the communications she received.

Around an amount of eight years, Schucman transcribed what would become A Program in Wonders, amounting to three quantities: the Text, the Book for Students, and the Manual for Teachers. The Text sits out the theoretical foundation of the class, elaborating on the key ideas and principles. The Workbook for Students includes 365 lessons, one for each time of the  acim entire year, made to guide the reader via a daily exercise of using the course's teachings. The Information for Teachers provides more advice on how best to realize and train the axioms of A Course in Wonders to others.

One of the key styles of A Program in Miracles is the notion of forgiveness. The class shows that true forgiveness is the main element to internal peace and awareness to one's divine nature. In accordance with its teachings, forgiveness isn't simply a moral or ethical training but a elementary shift in perception. It requires letting get of judgments, grievances, and the perception of sin, and alternatively, seeing the entire world and oneself through the contact of love and acceptance. A Program in Wonders stresses that true forgiveness leads to the acceptance that individuals are interconnected and that separation from one another can be an illusion.

Another significant part of A Program in Miracles is their metaphysical foundation. The program gift suggestions a dualistic view of truth, distinguishing between the vanity, which presents divorce, concern, and illusions, and the Holy Spirit, which symbolizes love, reality, and religious guidance. It shows that the vanity is the origin of suffering and conflict, while the Sacred Nature provides a pathway to healing and awakening. The target of the program is to simply help people surpass the ego's confined perception and align with the Holy Spirit's guidance.