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  How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism
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The Oxford Group called its conversion process soul-surgery. Its so-called surgical procedure broiled down to five concepts:
CONFIDENCE,
CONFESSION,
CONVICTION,
CONVERSION and
CONSERVATION.
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Frank Buchman and his followers held certain theological beliefs, including the following*:
1) Sovereignty and Power of God.
2) The reality of sin.
3) The need for complete surrender to the will of God.
4) Christ's atoning sacrifice and transforming power.
5) The sustenance of prayer.
6) The duty to witness to others.
*Garth Lean, ON THE TAIL OF A COMET - p. 73
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Six Steps of Oxford Group
From Bill Wilson and how the A.A message reached the world:
1. We admitted that we were licked, that we were powerless over alcohol. 2. We made a moral inventory of our defects or sins. 3. We confessed or shared our shortcomings with another person in confidence. 4. We made restitution to all those we had harmed by our drinking. 5. We tried to help other alcoholics, with no thought of reward in money or prestige. 6. We prayed to whatever God we thought there was for power to practice these precepts. Although those steps had helped in the recovery of New York and Akron alcoholics, Bill feltthe program was still not definitive. Maybe our six chunks of truth should be broken up into smaller pieces, he said. Thus we could better get the distant reader over the barrel, and at the same time we might be able to broaden and deepen the spiritual implications of our wholepresentation. Pass It On, p.197 Dick B AA Historian writes me July 21, 2000 via email I want to point out to you that the Oxford Group did not have any steps, or six steps, or twelve steps. That error has been perpetuated by those who have not studied the Oxford Group or talked to its people or read its books. In fact, Pass It On quotes Willard Hunter (who wrote the Foreword to my Oxford Group book) who correctly says there were no 6 steps.
Please List My site:
Site: Alcoholics Anonymous & Alcoholics Anonymous History: Dick B.'s Works on the History of Early A.A.'s Spiritual Roots
URL: http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml Description: Books, articles, resources, links, and frequently updated what's new on A.A.'s spiritual roots. Please keep in touch and I would be very happy to see you become one of our informed history people. God Bless, Dick B.
LDP notes:
there is much more about Dick B's Books website and writings on my book-history page 4 and also on the start page http://www.aabibliography.com/bookhist4_4.html
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from the 1st edition Big Book.Alcoholics Anonymous History & Early A.A. “Four Absolutes”
Dr. Robert E. Speer and the Four Absolutes
The Four Absolute Standards
Some have attributed their origin to Professor Henry B. Wright and his title The Will of God and a Man’s Lifework. The attribution has some merit in that Wright took the “four standards” of Robert The so-called “Four Absolutes”—Absolute Honesty, Absolute Purity, Absolute Unselfishness, and Absolute Love—have long been known and popular in many parts of the Alcoholics Anonymous Community.
Speer and expanded on them by citing a number of correlative verses from various different church epistles in the New Testament. Some attribute the Four Absolutes to Dr. Frank N. D. Buchman, founder of the Oxford Group; and certainly Buchman mentioned them and wrote about them with great frequency. You can find them in Buchman’s speeches that are recorded in his book Remaking the World. In the Oxford Group itself, they were sometimes known as the “Four Absolutes” and sometimes as the “Four Standards.” Reverend Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., whom Bill Wilson dubbed a co-founder of A.A., also wrote about the absolutes in his very first title, Realizing Religion. Though he had an outspoken distaste for them, Bill Wilson often spoke about their commonality in the early A.A. Oxford Group circles in New York.. Dr. Bob Smith, on the other hand, pointed out that early A.A. had no other moral principles, that these four were its “yardsticks” for behavior, and that—to the end of his life—he felt they were of great importance. His remarks are contained in A.A.’s Co-founders pamphlet. Dr. Bob’s wife Anne expressed an even stronger enthusiasm for them as she wrote about them frequently in her 64 page journal that she shared with early AAs and their families. (See Anne Smith’s Journal, 1933-1939). Old-timer Clarence Snyder spoke about them often. (See That Amazing Grace: The Role of Clarence and Grace S. in Alcoholics Anonymous). The Four Absolutes appeared on the masthead of Cleveland A.A.’s Central Bulletin for a number of years. An interpretation of them is still widely circulated out of the Cleveland and Akron A.A. offices. And even out here in Hawaii, Clancy U.—who was sponsored by both Dr. Bob and Clarence—was well-known for concluding his talks by saying, “And don’t forget those Four Absolutes!” In fact, he and his wife traveled all over the United States, and he never stopped mentioning “those Four Absolutes.”
Speer and expanded on them by citing a number of correlative verses from various different church epistles in the New Testament. Some attribute the Four Absolutes to Dr. Frank N. D. Buchman, founder of the Oxford Group; and certainly Buchman mentioned them and wrote about them with great frequency. You can find them in Buchman’s speeches that are recorded in his book Remaking the World. In the Oxford Group itself, they were sometimes known as the “Four Absolutes” and sometimes as the “Four Standards.” Reverend Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., whom Bill Wilson dubbed a co-founder of A.A., also wrote about the absolutes in his very first title, Realizing Religion. Though he had an outspoken distaste for them, Bill Wilson often spoke about their commonality in the early A.A. Oxford Group circles in New York.. Dr. Bob Smith, on the other hand, pointed out that early A.A. had no other moral principles, that these four were its “yardsticks” for behavior, and that—to the end of his life—he felt they were of great importance. His remarks are contained in A.A.’s Co-founders pamphlet. Dr. Bob’s wife Anne expressed an even stronger enthusiasm for them as she wrote about them frequently in her 64 page journal that she shared with early AAs and their families. (See Anne Smith’s Journal, 1933-1939). Old-timer Clarence Snyder spoke about them often. (See That Amazing Grace: The Role of Clarence and Grace S. in Alcoholics Anonymous). The Four Absolutes appeared on the masthead of Cleveland A.A.’s Central Bulletin for a number of years. An interpretation of them is still widely circulated out of the Cleveland and Akron A.A. offices. And even out here in Hawaii, Clancy U.—who was sponsored by both Dr. Bob and Clarence—was well-known for concluding his talks by saying, “And don’t forget those Four Absolutes!” In fact, he and his wife traveled all over the United States, and he never stopped mentioning “those Four Absolutes.”
Their Source: The Principles of Jesus by Dr. Robert E. Speer
I personally saw but one of Robert E. Speer’s titles among the books in Dr. Bob’s Library. That was Studies of the Man Christ Jesus (NY: Fleming H. Revell, 1896). It was owned a circulated by Dr. Bob and recommended by Anne Smith in her journal. On the other hand, both Bob and Anne were quite conversant with writings by Sam Shoemaker; and Shoemaker mentioned several times that he felt, “One of the simplest and best rules for self-examination that I know is to use the Four Standards which Dr. Robert E. Speer said represented the summary of the Sermon on the Mount—Absolute Honesty, Absolute Purity, Absolute Unselfishness, and Absolute Love” (Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., How to Become a Christian. NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1953, p. 57). I cannot say for sure that either Dr. Bob or Anne actually read Speer’s book that spelled out the four absolute standards; but they certainly seemed to understand where they came from.
What Dr. Speer Had to Say about Purpose and Principles
My copy of the well-known Speer title is The Principles of Jesus: Applied To Some Questions of To-day, by Robert E. Speer. NY: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1902. Speer’s writing is clear and easy to understand, always documented with Scriptural references. It deserves actual quotation, and that is what I shall provide below:
“Men are no longer content with the conventional judgments about conduct that satisfied them a few years ago. It is a striking sight to see them turning instinctively to Jesus for light on their difficulties or to claim His authority in support of their solutions of the problems of life (p. 9).
“Jesus Christ is the revelation of right in life. Whatever he approves is right. Whatever he condemns is wrong. But what would He approve if He were here to-day, and what would He condemn? It is possible to err in either of two ways in answering this question. (1) Some attempt to apply with rigid literalness the exact sayings of Christ to present conditions. “Sell all that you have.” “Lay not up treasure on the earth.”. . . But this view is impossible. None of its advocates sells all that he has. . . . It is un-Christlike. . . . He came to displace legalism by the spirit of a true life, to supplant prescription by principle. . . . “The Spirit will come,” He said. “He will guide you.” (2) On the other side men err in so refining away the teaching of Jesus in ethical sublimates that nothing sold and stable is left. Jesus established no organization, they say. He laid no hard constraints upon men. He broke up the enslavements of the past whether of opinion or ritual. . . . But Jesus was not just this. He came to give men power to live a new and eternal life, it is true. But the new life was to be eternal life lived in time before entering upon eternity. And He revealed in Himself the objective standards and principles of the eternal life thus abiding in time (pp. 10-11).
“Following in Jesus’ steps accordingly is not wearing the sort of clothes which He wore. Neither is it merely the possession of sweet feeling towards all men irrespective of the moral life. It is the application of conduct to-day under its changed conditions of the principles which found expression in the life and teaching of Jesus nineteen hundred years ago, but which, because they are principles, are not local, transient, and personal, but universal and abiding (p. 11).
“The purpose of these studies will be to seek in the life of Christ for some of those principles which should guide our lives. These principles found one application in His life. He lived in His own age and country, and He fitted Himself to His time and the people among whom He moved. We live in another age, and the methods and problems of our life are different; but the same principles which guided Him are to guide us (pp. 11-12).
“That study is most directly helpful which leads us to look straight at Him whom Luther called “the Proper Man,” who was the revelation of the Father’s will for every man. What Jesus was, the Father would have each of us be. What Jesus did, the Father would have each of us do” (p. 12).
Speer’s writing makes me think a good deal about the United Christian Endeavor Society, in which Dr. Bob participated so actively as a youngster. That Society asked so many times, “What would Jesus do?” And a good deal of its inspiration came from the famous book by United Christian Endeavor writer and leader (Charles M. Sheldon. In His Steps. Nashville, Broadman Press, 1935). This book was owned and circulated by Dr. Bob!
In Chaper III, after writing about “Jesus and the Father” (Chapter I) and “Jesus and Prayer” (Chapter II), Speer wrote about “Jesus and the Will of God.” He began:
“The ruling principle in the life of Jesus, both in its prayer and in its service, was the will of God. He conditioned His prayers upon the Father’s will (Luke 22:42), and He declared that He never did anything but the will of His Father (John 5:30). He found the truest relationships in life, not in the mere ties of flesh and blood, but in common devotion to God’s will (Mark 3:35). In doing that will was His meat and drink, so that He could even forego other nourishment while some noble ministry sustained Him (John 4:34). He taught His disciples to love it. They were to pray not so much for a million details, as simply that the will of God might be done on earth as in heaven (Matt. 6:10). Those were to enter into His kingdom who did the will of His Father (Matt. 7:21) [p. 22]
“Whoever wills to do God’s will, he shall be able to understand Jesus’ teaching, to “behold” Him as the open way to the Father, and the peace and strength of His noble will (John 7:17). This was the preaching and practice of Jesus about the will of God. 1. It delivered Him from all fear. Nothing can intimidate God’s will of the man who is set in it. “Fear not,” said Jesus (Luke 12:7, 32). 2. It brought Him perfect steadiness of life and composure of heart. There is no fitfulness or vacillation in God’s will. . . . 3. It gave Him the power of God. God does His will through the man who does God’s will . . . . As Jesus did the will of God, we are to do it. 1. And it is to be with us, not only submission to power above our own, but also partnership in power greater than our own. . . . 2. It will be with us a deliverance from sin. . . . 3. It will glorify life into personal partnership with the living God. . . . 4. It will open to us the secret of accomplishing prayer (1 John 5:24). 5. And make us sharers in the abiding eternity of God (1 John 2:17)” [pp. 22-24].
At this point, many who have studied my books and research will begin to see just how much this approach by Speer impacted on the teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, the life of Dr. Bob, and the writings of Anne Smith. And we need not go further into the many succinct chapters in Speer’s book, but we do recommend their reading by those who want to see more. Here, however, our objective is simply to lay the foundation for Speer’s approach to the Four Absolutes which have meant so much to so many founders and other AAs.
“Men are no longer content with the conventional judgments about conduct that satisfied them a few years ago. It is a striking sight to see them turning instinctively to Jesus for light on their difficulties or to claim His authority in support of their solutions of the problems of life (p. 9).
“Jesus Christ is the revelation of right in life. Whatever he approves is right. Whatever he condemns is wrong. But what would He approve if He were here to-day, and what would He condemn? It is possible to err in either of two ways in answering this question. (1) Some attempt to apply with rigid literalness the exact sayings of Christ to present conditions. “Sell all that you have.” “Lay not up treasure on the earth.”. . . But this view is impossible. None of its advocates sells all that he has. . . . It is un-Christlike. . . . He came to displace legalism by the spirit of a true life, to supplant prescription by principle. . . . “The Spirit will come,” He said. “He will guide you.” (2) On the other side men err in so refining away the teaching of Jesus in ethical sublimates that nothing sold and stable is left. Jesus established no organization, they say. He laid no hard constraints upon men. He broke up the enslavements of the past whether of opinion or ritual. . . . But Jesus was not just this. He came to give men power to live a new and eternal life, it is true. But the new life was to be eternal life lived in time before entering upon eternity. And He revealed in Himself the objective standards and principles of the eternal life thus abiding in time (pp. 10-11).
“Following in Jesus’ steps accordingly is not wearing the sort of clothes which He wore. Neither is it merely the possession of sweet feeling towards all men irrespective of the moral life. It is the application of conduct to-day under its changed conditions of the principles which found expression in the life and teaching of Jesus nineteen hundred years ago, but which, because they are principles, are not local, transient, and personal, but universal and abiding (p. 11).
“The purpose of these studies will be to seek in the life of Christ for some of those principles which should guide our lives. These principles found one application in His life. He lived in His own age and country, and He fitted Himself to His time and the people among whom He moved. We live in another age, and the methods and problems of our life are different; but the same principles which guided Him are to guide us (pp. 11-12).
“That study is most directly helpful which leads us to look straight at Him whom Luther called “the Proper Man,” who was the revelation of the Father’s will for every man. What Jesus was, the Father would have each of us be. What Jesus did, the Father would have each of us do” (p. 12).
Speer’s writing makes me think a good deal about the United Christian Endeavor Society, in which Dr. Bob participated so actively as a youngster. That Society asked so many times, “What would Jesus do?” And a good deal of its inspiration came from the famous book by United Christian Endeavor writer and leader (Charles M. Sheldon. In His Steps. Nashville, Broadman Press, 1935). This book was owned and circulated by Dr. Bob!
In Chaper III, after writing about “Jesus and the Father” (Chapter I) and “Jesus and Prayer” (Chapter II), Speer wrote about “Jesus and the Will of God.” He began:
“The ruling principle in the life of Jesus, both in its prayer and in its service, was the will of God. He conditioned His prayers upon the Father’s will (Luke 22:42), and He declared that He never did anything but the will of His Father (John 5:30). He found the truest relationships in life, not in the mere ties of flesh and blood, but in common devotion to God’s will (Mark 3:35). In doing that will was His meat and drink, so that He could even forego other nourishment while some noble ministry sustained Him (John 4:34). He taught His disciples to love it. They were to pray not so much for a million details, as simply that the will of God might be done on earth as in heaven (Matt. 6:10). Those were to enter into His kingdom who did the will of His Father (Matt. 7:21) [p. 22]
“Whoever wills to do God’s will, he shall be able to understand Jesus’ teaching, to “behold” Him as the open way to the Father, and the peace and strength of His noble will (John 7:17). This was the preaching and practice of Jesus about the will of God. 1. It delivered Him from all fear. Nothing can intimidate God’s will of the man who is set in it. “Fear not,” said Jesus (Luke 12:7, 32). 2. It brought Him perfect steadiness of life and composure of heart. There is no fitfulness or vacillation in God’s will. . . . 3. It gave Him the power of God. God does His will through the man who does God’s will . . . . As Jesus did the will of God, we are to do it. 1. And it is to be with us, not only submission to power above our own, but also partnership in power greater than our own. . . . 2. It will be with us a deliverance from sin. . . . 3. It will glorify life into personal partnership with the living God. . . . 4. It will open to us the secret of accomplishing prayer (1 John 5:24). 5. And make us sharers in the abiding eternity of God (1 John 2:17)” [pp. 22-24].
At this point, many who have studied my books and research will begin to see just how much this approach by Speer impacted on the teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, the life of Dr. Bob, and the writings of Anne Smith. And we need not go further into the many succinct chapters in Speer’s book, but we do recommend their reading by those who want to see more. Here, however, our objective is simply to lay the foundation for Speer’s approach to the Four Absolutes which have meant so much to so many founders and other AAs.
Speer’s Chapter on Jesus and Standards
Would that we could quote every word in Speer’s Chapter VI. Those words would put some solid truth about A.A.’s real history before every reader. Those words might also put an end to so much of the speculative and opinionated jabber among AAs and the recovery community about the “principles” of the Big Book, the Steps, and the Traditions. Thus AAs are often in a dither as to the real meaning of “practice these principles,” “the Twelve Principles of the Steps,” the expression “principles before personalities,” and the welcomed declaration that “we are not saints.” By contrast, let’s put the magnifying glass on what Speer actually wrote about the “principles”—the principles of the Bible—on which A.A. was founded:
“1. Jesus did not attempt to issue a code of laws to guide human conduct. He put men in possession of great moral principles which they would have to apply themselves. . . . 2. It might seem from Jesus’ teaching that He was not doing this, but rather dealing with points of application of principle to practice, He was so practical and illustrative (Matt. 5:39-42), But he taught in this way in order to make people understand, and the illustrations He used were themselves such as to make some principle perfectly clear. They set up standards. . . . 3. And those standards were absolute, the more boldly absolute because Jesus intentionally framed His teaching in direct opposition to the casuistical method of the scribes. . . . He cut off escapes and pretexts, and taught that standards were standards (pp. 33-34).
“4. Men say: “I think this course is right. My conscience does not reprove me. Therefore it is right for me.” Nonsense. Jesus told His disciples that some day men would kill them conscientiously and for God’s sake (John 16:2). He pointed out that there is such a thing as moral color-blindness (Matt. 6:23) [p. 34].
“5. Jesus was, then, the teacher of absolute principles. He made no comparisons, no abatements for human lust or weakness. Perfection was His standard (Matt. 5:48). He had attained it (John 8:29). He demanded it. We are to be His disciples in this. Right is to be right. Thinking it right or thinking it wrong does not make a thing right or wrong. It is right or wrong irrespective of our thought about it. To know whether it is right or wrong, drag it into Jesus’ presence, and see how He looks at it and how it looks before Him. . . .” (pp. 34-35).
“1. Jesus did not attempt to issue a code of laws to guide human conduct. He put men in possession of great moral principles which they would have to apply themselves. . . . 2. It might seem from Jesus’ teaching that He was not doing this, but rather dealing with points of application of principle to practice, He was so practical and illustrative (Matt. 5:39-42), But he taught in this way in order to make people understand, and the illustrations He used were themselves such as to make some principle perfectly clear. They set up standards. . . . 3. And those standards were absolute, the more boldly absolute because Jesus intentionally framed His teaching in direct opposition to the casuistical method of the scribes. . . . He cut off escapes and pretexts, and taught that standards were standards (pp. 33-34).
“4. Men say: “I think this course is right. My conscience does not reprove me. Therefore it is right for me.” Nonsense. Jesus told His disciples that some day men would kill them conscientiously and for God’s sake (John 16:2). He pointed out that there is such a thing as moral color-blindness (Matt. 6:23) [p. 34].
“5. Jesus was, then, the teacher of absolute principles. He made no comparisons, no abatements for human lust or weakness. Perfection was His standard (Matt. 5:48). He had attained it (John 8:29). He demanded it. We are to be His disciples in this. Right is to be right. Thinking it right or thinking it wrong does not make a thing right or wrong. It is right or wrong irrespective of our thought about it. To know whether it is right or wrong, drag it into Jesus’ presence, and see how He looks at it and how it looks before Him. . . .” (pp. 34-35).
And Now for the 4 Standards!
[Truth – the standard of Absolute Honesty]
“6. Jesus set up an absolute standard of truth. Find all His allusions to lies. If Satan is the father of lies, how can any lie be justifiable? Jesus did not make truthfulness depend upon its profitableness or its loss. Men must be true and speak the truth regardless of consequences (p. 35).”
[Unselfishness – the standard of Absolute Unselfishness]
“7. Jesus set up an absolute standard of unselfishness. This was His own spirit. . . . The kingdom with its service of God and man was to be above home, friends, comfort, life (Matt. 19:29).” [p. 35]
[Purity – the standard of Absolute Purity]
“8. Jesus set up an absolute standard of purity. He tolerated no uncleanness whatsoever. The inner chambers of imagery and desire must be pure (Mark 7:15). A hand or an eye, outer or inner sin, must be sacrificed to the claims of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:29, 30).” [p. 35]
[Love – the standard of Absolute Love]
“Jesus set up an absolute standard of love (John 23:34). Neither dirt (Luke 16:20), nor poverty (Luke 14:13), nor social inferiority (Luke 7:39) were annulments of the law of love. He Himself loved to the limit (John 13:1), and with no abatements. The law of love makes it impossible to say: “I don’t like those people. I can’t love them.” (pp. 35-36).
“6. Jesus set up an absolute standard of truth. Find all His allusions to lies. If Satan is the father of lies, how can any lie be justifiable? Jesus did not make truthfulness depend upon its profitableness or its loss. Men must be true and speak the truth regardless of consequences (p. 35).”
[Unselfishness – the standard of Absolute Unselfishness]
“7. Jesus set up an absolute standard of unselfishness. This was His own spirit. . . . The kingdom with its service of God and man was to be above home, friends, comfort, life (Matt. 19:29).” [p. 35]
[Purity – the standard of Absolute Purity]
“8. Jesus set up an absolute standard of purity. He tolerated no uncleanness whatsoever. The inner chambers of imagery and desire must be pure (Mark 7:15). A hand or an eye, outer or inner sin, must be sacrificed to the claims of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:29, 30).” [p. 35]
[Love – the standard of Absolute Love]
“Jesus set up an absolute standard of love (John 23:34). Neither dirt (Luke 16:20), nor poverty (Luke 14:13), nor social inferiority (Luke 7:39) were annulments of the law of love. He Himself loved to the limit (John 13:1), and with no abatements. The law of love makes it impossible to say: “I don’t like those people. I can’t love them.” (pp. 35-36).
Jesus Himself Was the Standard, Said Speer
“Jesus Himself was the standard He set up. He was unchangeable. He had been before Abraham (John 8:58). He would be forever (Heb. 13:8). The absolute Teacher was the absolute lesson. It is a great thing in this day of wavering, of quibbling by moral evasions and straddles, to have a faith and a faithful Master who cannot be moved” (p. 36).
Alcoholics Anonymous and
Its Real Oxford Group Connection
Its Real Oxford Group Connection
The Oxford Group and Our Other A.A. Sources
The Oxford Group is not the only source of A.A.’s principles, practices, and language. The Bible is the major source. Quiet Time, the teachings of Reverend Sam Shoemaker, the materials in Anne Smith’s Journal, and the Christian literature A.A. pioneers read are all of major significance. And we have written at length on them elsewhere in books, articles, and seminars. Moreover, one needs to note the difference between A.A.’s Akron root (where A.A. was born) and A.A.’s New York origins (where Bill Wilson received many specific Oxford Group ideas). Both Akron and New York alcoholics were conversant with the Oxford Group, but not all looked at it in the same way. Dr. Bob saw it as a source of ideas. Bill Wilson tended to see it as a program that led to a relationship with God. The real picture, the real connection, and the real facts lie in between.A.A. is not the Oxford Group. And, most assuredly, the Oxford Group is not A.A. In fact, the development of the Oxford Group since publication of the Big Book has taken Oxford Group activities to a totally different place than it took A.A. in the period about 1938, just before the Big Book was written.
How, then, can you describe the real Oxford Group Connection of A.A. Unfortunately, it has been expunged in part by the editorial work of Father John C. Ford and Father Ed Dowling on A.A. Comes of Age and in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. It has been clouded by ever-recurring and erroneous statements linking the Oxford Group to the Nazi Party in Germany. It has been lost through Bill Wilson’s insistent accreditation of Rev. Sam Shoemaker with the mantle of "American Leader of the Oxford" and the "well-spring" of A.A.’s ideas and steps. Almost no one quotes an early, leading, Oxford Group leader and writer’s statement: "The principles of the Oxford Group are the principles of the Bible" (Day, The Principles of the Group, p. 1). Finally, the real Oxford Group connection has been virtually discarded in A.A. literature and meetings, along with the Bible, Quiet Time, Sam Shoemaker, Anne Smith’s Journal, and the literature early AAs read.
Fortunately, the last 11 years of research and the accumulation of some 23,900 historical items including hundreds of Oxford Group and Shoemaker books in our resource center in Maui has made microscopic looks at Oxford Group ideas and Alcoholics Anonymous codifications of those ideas a reality–just simply unknown to most today.
We’ve covered most specific details in our titles The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous: A Design for Living That Works(http://www.dickb.com/Oxford.shtml), New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A. (http://www.dickb.com/newlight.shtml), and Turning Point: A History of the Spiritual Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous (http://www.dickb.com/Turning.shtml), and in other works (http://www.dickb.com/titles.shtml).
The Important Oxford Group In-put Time Line
There was no "Oxford Group" prior to 1919. There was no "Oxford Group" prior to the time the press gave a tiny group of travelers in Africa the Oxford "group" name in 1928. And basically, there was no "Oxford Group" in America, at least, after 1938 when the idea and name "Moral Re-Armament" were embraced by Oxford Group founder Dr. Frank N.D. Buchman, just prior to the beginning of World War II. Finally, the name in America has now been changed to "Initiatives for Change." And you will look long and hard to find any resemblance between today’s activities (which often involve a Roman Catholic Cardinal, the Jewish Rabbi of London, the Dalai Lama, and a supportive Japanese business executive, who has no connection with Christianity whatever). Many of the ideas which formed the heart of the Oxford Group’s life-changing program came from Christian evangelism, revivalism, and writings which achieved wide-spread importance and acceptance in the 1800's. They are seldom mentioned among activists in today’s Moral Re-Armament program. Perhaps the one remnant is an occasional reference to one or all of the "Four Absolutes" or "Four Standards"–honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love. These "standards" were framed in the late 1800's by Dr. Robert E. Speer in his book The Principles of Jesus, and embraced and expanded by Frank Buchman’s major mentor, Dr. Henry Wright, in the early 1900's in his book The Will of God and a Man’s Life Work.It probably would be quite accurate to say this of A.A.’s "Real Oxford Group Connection." Nobody invented it. It came through being borrowed from many sources. It developed over a period of some twenty years. It is embodied in a number of titles, with different subjects, different approaches, and different authors. In fact, this is what Bill Wilson often said of A.A. itself. Nobody invented it. It was borrowed from many sources. And–what should be said of the Oxford Groupand Alcoholics Anonymous–the basic ideas came from the Bible. Just as Dr. Bob said they did. A fact that Bill Wilson never disputed or rejected.
Major Published Oxford GroupWorks
We have covered these before. They are listed at great length in The Books Early AAs Read for Spiritual Growth, 7th. ed. (http://www.dickb.com/bks_early.shtml), and Making Known the Biblical Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous (http://www.dickb.com/makingknown.shtml). We must have more than 500 important Oxford Group titles here in Maui at our Resource Center. But in this piece we will just summarize those which will provide the reader with some solid chewing, information, and documentation! And by the way, that’s the reason for all the footnotes, bibliographies, and appendices in my books. So you can look and find out for yourself.Important Early Sources for Principal Oxford Group Ideas–acknowledged its Leaders
I like Streams, which was published by Mark O. Guldseth in 1982. The book has a real feel for the flow of sources from people like Horace Bushnell, Henry Drummond, F.B. Meyer, Dwight L. Moody, Robert E.. Speer, and Henry B. Wright into the thinking of Frank Buchman and the writings of Oxford Group people. To mention just a part of their contribution, these sources from the 1800's contributed a widely known flow of ideas, including (1) The Will of God. (2) The inspired Word in the Bible. (3) The guidance of God. (4) The principles of Jesus, as summarized in the "Four Standards." (5) The major importance of "sin" as a barrier to a relationship with our Creator. (6) The "art" of life-changing involved in the well-known principles of "Confidence," "Confession," "Conviction," "Conversion," and "Continuance." You can hear these principles, in one form or another, on any Billy Graham Crusade, in A.A.’s last three steps, in the Books of Acts and Romans, and in the law respecting confidential communications, etc. (7) Witnessing. (8) Fellowship. (9) Amends and restitution. You can find these ideas in the Sermon on the Mount and the Old Testament and other teachings of Jesus. You can find them in a court of equity. You can find them in the criminal justice system. (10) The Ten Commandments. (11) The love of God and of others, including our enemies. (12) Searching the Scriptures, praying, meditating on the Word, and setting aside a "Quiet Time" or "Morning Watch." (13) Accepting Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Saviour–a much discarded, but primary element in early practices (John 3: 1-8; John 3:16; Romans 10:9).
In sum, Frank Buchman and Sam Shoemaker and Bill Wilson never claimed to have invented the foregoing principles that found their way to early A.A. As Wilson said, they were the common property of mankind. And they sure weren’t something that was "distorted" or "poisoned" by the Oxford Group. Just read the Bible. Read any of the non-Oxford Group books Dr. Bob read and recommended. See Dr. Bob and His Library (http://www.dickb.com/drbob.shtml).
Read the pamphlets published by early Akron A.A. And read the speeches of Dr. Bob and Bill Wilson when they were on the same platform before Dr. Bob died..
Opponents of this or that religion, church, religious idea, or religious book so often try to place their target in a box. Then they label it. Then they condemn it. Often just because it doesn’t fit their "box." But they frequently have never mastered the facts about it. Half truths, biased summaries, and basic prejudices lead away from God, the Bible, and the truth, rather than toward it–when it comes to so much "history," including that about early A.A.’s biblical roots, and those of the Oxford Group.
Some Major Contributing Oxford Group Literature in its AA Input Era (1919 to 1939)
Soul Surgery: In my judgment, the first "real" Oxford Group book was Soul-Surgery, published in 1919. It was intended to be the collaborative work of H.A. Walter, of Buchman’s mentor Henry B. Wright, and of Frank Buchman himself. It set forth a life-changing program–the so-called Five C’s–that Frank Buchman called "God’s art" for cutting out sin and "opening the way" to a relationship with God. In Confidence, Confess it, become Convicted of it. Get rid of it by Conversion–an experience of God. And Continue the changed life. All of these ideas directly influenced Bill Wilson’s Twelve Steps.
Rev. Sam Shoemaker’s Writings: Often ignored are the powerful, articulate, and simple early writings of Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., There are many, and they are covered in my various bibliographies. They are virtually reviewed in my title New Light on Alcoholism. They include Realizing Religion, Religion That Works, Confident Faith, How to Find God, If I Be Lifted Up, The Conversion of the Church, National Awakening, The Church Can Save the World, and A First Century Christian Fellowship. Those who focus too much on the "Oxford Group" tend to ignore the immense personal influence that Shoemaker had as a member of the Oxford Group, as a personal friend of Bill Wilson, and as one that Bill called a "Co-founder" of A.A. and actually asked (at first) to write the Twelve Steps themselves–steps in which Dr. Bob played no part at all as to the writing stage.
The Life-changing books Anne Smith and Dr. Bob recommended: Begbie’s Twice-Born Men and Life-Changers; Foot’s Life Began Yesterday; Shoemaker’s Twice-Born Ministers; and Russell’s For Sinners Only. There were others of less popularity: Kitchen’s I Was a Pagan; Charles Clapp’s The Big Bender; and Amelia Reynold’s New Lives for Old..
"Doctrinal" Descriptions of Various Principles: Almond’s Foundations for Faith; Sherwood Day’s The Principles of the Group; Julian Thornton-Duesbury’s Sharing; Philip Marshall Brown’s The Venture of Belief; the anonymous What is the Oxford Group; Harris’s The Breeze of the Spirit; Weatherhead’s Discipleship; Benson’s The Eight Points of the Oxford Group; Leon’s The Philosophy of Courage; Phillimore’s Just for Today; and Winslow’s Why I Believe in the Oxford Group.
The Bible study, Prayer, and Guidance literature: Carruthers’s How to Find Reality in Your Morning Devotions; Chambers’s My Utmost for His Highest; Fosdick’s The Meaning of Prayer; Holm’s The Runner’s Bible; Jones’s Victorious Living; Forde’s The Guidance of God; H. Rose’s The Quiet Time; Cecil Rose’s When Man Listens; Sangster’s God Does Guide Us; Streeter’s The God Who Speaks; The Upper Room; Hadden’s Christ’s Program for World-Reconstruction: Studies in the Sermon on the Mount; Harris’s An Outline of the Life of Christ; Hicks’s How to Read the Bible; Viney’s How Do I Begin?; and Winslow’s Vital Touch with God and When I Awake; Tileston’s Daily Strength for Daily Needs
Biographical: Austin’s Frank Buchman as I Knew Him; Buchman’s Remaking the World; Howard’s Frank Buchman’s Secret and That Man Frank Buchman; Hunter’s World Changing through Life-changing; Lean’s On the Tail of a Comet; Spoerri’s Dynamic out of Silence; Thornhill’s The Significance of the Life of Frank Buchman.
Recent accounts by oldtimers: Belden’s Beyond the Satellites: Is God Speaking–Are we Listening; Blake’s Way to Go; Harriman’s Matched Pair; Lean’sCast out your Nets; Martin’s Always a Little Further; Mowat’s Modern Prophetic Voices; and Twitchell’s Frank Buchman: Twentieth Century Catalyst;
Some criticisms: Brown’s The Oxford Movement: Is it of God or of Satan; Dinger’s Moral Re-Armament: A Study of Its Technical and Religious Nature in the Light of Catholic Teaching; Hensley’s The Oxford Groups; Niebuhr’s Christianity and Power Politics; Van Baalen’s The Chaos of Cults; and Williamson’s Inside Buchmanism.
The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous, Part 2
The Steps, The Facts, The Oxford Group
The Steps
People in A.A. who are intensely enthusiastic about the Twelve Steps of recovery are fond of rejecting any "smorgasbord" approach to those Steps. They’ll say, for example, "The Steps are numbered for a reason." And they rail against those who "take" and/or "practice" such of the twelve as appeal to them, yet leave the remainder of the Steps alone.I’m not convinced that many really do accept or reject in this manner. Those who are timid about the program are more likely, I believe, to: "balk" at the Fourth Step; "lie" or withhold facts in their Fifth Step; "misunderstand" and underestimate the important principles behind Steps Six and Seven; simply fail to complete Steps Eight and Nine; and somehow overlook the "continuity" purpose of Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve. The last category, for example, might include those who say, "I practice all of the Steps every day," or "I do one Step each month," or "I’m doing all the Steps again." When confronted with a more appropriate order, they may dodge the criticism by arguing that the steps are "suggestive" only and contain no requirements. In other words, they probably don’t ignore any of the Steps. Many–particularly the timid--just haven’t done or perhaps are unwilling to do the hard work involved in completing the first nine steps and applying what they’ve learned in "continuing" to practice the principles involved in the last three steps.
The same thing applies when it comes to learning our spiritual roots. There are at least six major spiritual roots: (1) The Bible. (2) Quiet Time. (3) The teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker. (4) The life-changing program of the Oxford Group. (5) The writings of Dr. Bob’s wife Anne Ripley Smith. (6) The Christian literature they read.
Added to these six roots are: (7) Some of the ideas of Professor William James (whose very words were used by Rev. Sam Shoemaker in his writings, and whose book The Varieties of Religious Experience was read by A.A.’s founders). (8) Some of the ideas of Dr. Carl Jung about conversion. (9) Some of the new thought phrases of Ralph Waldo Trine, Emmet Fox, and several "transcendentalists." And then: (10) Some of the fall-out from Dr. William Silkworth on the "disease," "allergy," and "psychic change" concepts. (11) Richard Peabody on some of the "treatment" notions covered in his title The Common Sense of Drinking–also read by the founders and containing language similar to that found in A.A..
The more you research the more you find that our official, "reported" history has actually cluttered up the historical facts themselves. Thus there has been a failure even to explore or detail Dr. Bob’s work in Christian Endeavor as a youngster. This gap leaves this root of Akron’s "old fashioned prayer meetings" ignored as a major Bible root. Moreover, the failure to write about Lois Wilson’s Swedenborgian beliefs, family church membership, and her own affiliation–together with Bill’s exposure to those influences--leaves out this possible "spiritualism" influence on, and support for, Bill’s "spook sessions." It also may contribute to a failure to mention Lois’s stated opposition to "conversion," "soul surgery," and possibly even to the Bible itself. The latter being a matter of omission rather than explicit opposition.
A problem definitely arises out of a "smorgasbord" approach to our spiritual roots and parts of roots. If you pick at some, pick out some, and push out others, you don’t have the "Program." By "Program," we mean whatever Frank Amos meant when he came to Akron and thoroughly investigated Dr. Bob and those features which had produced such astonishing successes at Akron No. 1–A.A.’s first group. Worse, you can’t attain an understanding of the "Program." It is easy to call it too religious, too Christian, too Protestant, or too Oxford Group–leaving the program itself to float in a sea of unbelief.
You may overlook the Bible because it is so little mentioned today. You may not appreciate the importance of Quiet Time because it has been so hacked up by later "meditation" and "reflection" and "twenty-four-hour" books. You may ignore the immense influence of Rev. Sam Shoemaker because the details of his specific role and contributions have been missing until recently. You may decline to look at the Oxford Group principles because of long-standing Roman Catholic and other opposition to Dr. Buchman and his work some 50 years ago. You may just plain miss the work of Anne Smith because her "journal" has been so long on the shelf–in fact, virtually banned from the history scene at her own home in Akron today. And you may omit the Christian literature early AAs read because it is voluminous and, for some, controversial. You may, as I did for quite some time, fail to appreciate or study the effect on A.A. "theology" of the ideas of William James, Ralph Waldo Trine, Emmet Fox, and others. In so doing, you may not realize the confusion and conflict fostered by putting some of our spiritual sources in your thinking, ignoring others, and believing everything in front of you was and is divinely inspired and just hunky dory.
What Steps?
You won’t spend much time digging in our early "Program" without realizing that, at its peak percentage-of-success period, which commenced in 1935, there were no Steps. No steps? No steps!" To assure your consideration of that fact, let’s look at the record:
"Dr. Bob, noting that there were no Twelve Steps at the time and that ‘our stories didn’t amount to anything to speak of,’ later said they were convinced that the answer to their problems was in the Good Book" (DR BOB and the Good Oldtimers, p. 96).
"As Dr. Bob recalled: ‘I didn’t write the Twelve Steps. I had nothing to do with the writing of them. . . . We already had the basic ideas, though not in terse and tangible form. We got them. . . as a result of our study of the Good Book’." (DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, p. 97).
"Dorothy [Snyder Murphy] recalled the 1937 meetings when ‘the men would all disappear upstairs. . . After about half an hour or so, down would come the new man, shaking, white, serious, and grim. And all the people who were already in A.A. would come trooping down after him. They were pretty reluctant to talk about what had happened, but after a while, they would tell us they had had a real surrender. I often wonder how many people that come in now would survive an experience like that–a regular old fashioned prayer meeting’." (DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, p. 101).
"But Bill did get to see John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who dispatched Frank Amos out to Akron to investigate what was going on. Mr. Amos, who was soon to become one of A.A.’s first non-alcoholic trustees, did a thorough job of investigating what he referred to as the ‘self-styled Alcoholic Group of Akron, Ohio.’ He called on Dr. Bob and attended meetings. He questioned members and nonmembers, including professional associates of Dr. Bob. . . . In his report to Mr. Rockefeller in February, 1938, Mr. Amos said. . . . ‘they [the stories of the men, their wives, and in some cases their mothers]. . . were all remarkably alike in ‘the technique used and the system followed.’ He described the ‘Program’ as follows: ‘1. An alcoholic must realize that he is an alcoholic, incurable from a medical standpoint, and that he must never again drink anything with alcohol in it. 2. He must surrender himself absolutely to God, realizing that in himself there is no hope. 3. Not only must he want to stop drinking permanently, he must remove from his life other sins such as hatred, adultery, and others which frequently accompany alcoholism. Unless he will do this absolutely, Smith and his associates refuse to work with him. 4. He must have devotions every morning–a ‘quiet time’ of prayer and some reading from the Bible and other religious literature. Unless this is faithfully followed, there is grave danger of backsliding. 5. He must be willing to help other alcoholics get straightened out. This throws up a protective barrier and strengthens his own willpower and convictions. 6. It is important, but not vital, that he meet frequently with other reformed alcoholics and form both a social and religious comradeship. 7. Important, but not vital, that he attend some religious service at least once weekly’." (DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, pp. 128-31).
I remember sitting in Wisconsin in the home of an experienced AA. That was several years ago. We listened to the taped interrogation of Ed Andy, an A.A. oldtimer from Lorain, Ohio. Ed Andy is dead now. But at the time, he was questioned again and again as to how he "took the Steps." Most of the time, he simply responded with talk about other things they did in the old days. But he also frequently said, "There were no Steps." I really don’t think his interrogators understood him because they were not that conversant with the "Program" that Frank Amos and Dr. Bob explained as set forth above. The A.A. questioners seemed not to believe that this old duffer had been sober so many years without taking "the Steps."But there were no steps! The "Program" was described by Frank Amos. And Amos accurately reported what the pioneers did. They renounced alcohol. They surrendered absolutely to their Creator for help. They worked at removing "sins" from their lives. They had devotions in the form of prayer, Bible study, use of religious literature such as The Upper Room, and seeking revelation from God in what was commonly called a "Quiet Time." They helped alcoholics get straightened out. They fellowshipped with other believers. And they often attended a weekly religious service. No steps! No Oxford Group program. Just the simple acts described above.
Their actions and their Program were influenced to a greater and greater degree by what was in the Bible, in Oxford Group writings, in Anne Smith’s journal, and in the religious literature. And they followed much the same prayer, Bible study, quiet time, and witnessing ideas Dr. Bob had learned in his youth in Christian Endeavor in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
The Steps Appear
Some–unduly impressed, or disturbed by, the Oxford Group influence on A.A.–have asserted that the Oxford Group had six steps.
But it didn’t. I have talked with, corresponded with, and studied the literature read by almost every significant Oxford Group survivor in the United States and also several abroad. Most have seen and in fact helped critique my title The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous: A Design for Living That Works. That title documents my finding that there really were about twenty-eight Oxford Group ideas that impacted on A.A.
You will see from my title Anne Smith’s Journal, 1933-1939, that Dr. Bob’s wife covered–long before the Big Book was written in 1938--all of the twelve step ideas Bill eventually put in A.A.’s basic text, the Big Book You’ll see from my title The Good Book and The Big Book that all of the twelve step ideas really did stem from Bible principles, just as Dr. Bob said they did. And you’ll see from New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A. that the same type of Bible language parallels can be found in the writings and speeches of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, just as could be inferred by Bill W.’s tributes to Sam.
If you look at one of earliest Oxford Group pamphlets–written by Sam Shoemaker’s good friend Rev. Sherwood Sunderland Day about 1922–the following statement appears on page one: "The principles of ‘The Oxford Group’ are the principles of the Bible." And whether you are reading Sam Shoemaker’s work, Oxford Group writings, Anne Smith’s Journal, The Upper Room, or even the new thought ideas of Emmet Fox, you’ll find the Bible cited and at the core of almost all the thinking.
From all this, you will see that neither the Bible, nor the Oxford Group, nor the writings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, nor the Quiet Time literature, nor Anne Smith’s Journal, nor the other religious writings studied by A.A. pioneers said anything about "six steps" or "twelve steps" or any formalized step program at all.
As A.A.’s Conference Approved Pass It On correctly observes:
In later years, some A.A. members referred to this procedure [an alleged six word-of-
mouth steps Bill said had been employed] as the six steps of the Oxford Group. Reverend T. Willard Hunter, who spent 18 years in full-time staff positions for the Oxford Group and M.R.A., said, "I never once saw or heard anything like the Six Tenets. It would be impossible to find them in any Oxford Group-M.R.A. literature. I think they must have been written by someone else under some sort of misapprehension" (Pass It On, page 197 and footnote 2 on page 206).
The fact is that Bill Wilson himself described his word-of-mouth "six steps" in several different ways (See Dick B., The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 256-60). How he referred to our Creator seemed to depend upon the time and the circumstances and the audience. The description which I believe to be the most accurate rendition of what early AAs really did as to reliance on our Creator can be found in The Language of the Heart at page 200. There, Bill describes "step" number 6 as "We prayed to God to help us to do these things as best we could." In this rendition, Bill felt there were six steps (certainly not Oxford Group steps)–the last one referring to "God" our Creator as "God," just as Bill did almost 400 times in the Big Book. And this usage as to our Creator is consistent with the wording of the very first draft of the Twelve Steps where "God" our Creator and Heavenly Father is also referred to as "God"–not some "power" or "higher power" or "God as we understood Him." (See Pass It On, p. 198).The Twelve Steps "appeared" in 1934
If you read pages 12 to 15 of the Third Edition of the Big Book, and a couple of earlier lines in Bill’s Story, you may be puzzled at seeing all of the Twelve Step ideas on those pages and seemingly propounded by Ebby Thacher to Bill Wilson at Towns Hospital in 1934. This situation prompted me, during my visit to Stepping Stones, to give special attention to three different early Big Book draft manuscripts written by Bill Wilson. And the startling fact is that Bill relates in detail almost all of the Twelve Step ideas and the explanation of those Steps in specific terms that Ebby taught him in 1934. These explicit and lengthy historical portions from Bill’s "story" or "reflections" as he then called them (which I have set forth in Turning Point: A History of Early A.A.’s Spiritual Roots and Successes) more than justify the assumption that the Twelve Steps basics–biblical in nature as Dr. Bob and Rev. Sherwood Day said–were floating around in rather concrete form in 1934. In fact, they could well have been passed to Ebby at an earlier point either by Ebby’s mentor Rowland Hazard or by Rev. Sam Shoemaker himself. You can see the remarkable detail in the early pages of my title, Turning Point: A History of Early A.A.’s Spiritual Roots and Successes.
And where might Bill’s alleged "six steps" (that preceded the Twelve) have come from if they weren’t in the Bible, Quiet Time, Shoemaker, the Oxford Group, Anne Smith’s Journal, or the Christian literature AAs read?
Actually, during A.A.’s formative period from 1934 to 1939, mixed into the various analyses and descriptions of Oxford Group ideas, were the following alleged "six basic assumptions" of the Group: (1) Men are sinners. (2) Men can be changed. (3) Confession is prerequisite to change. (4) The changed soul has direct access to God. (5) The Age of Miracles has returned. (6) Those who have been "changed" must "change" others. See Kurtz, Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous, 1979, p. 49.
Also, Lois Wilson had described "the Oxford Group precepts" as: (1) Surrender your life to God. (2) Take a moral inventory. (3) Confess your sins to God and another human being. (4) Make restitution. (5) Give of yourself to others with no demand for return. (6) Pray to God for help to carry out these principles. In fact, however, neither the so-called "six assumptions" nor Lois’s six Oxford Group "precepts" adequately reflects the complete Oxford Group thinking that impacted on early A.A. The "assumptions" are, in no sense, biblical; yet the Oxford Group principles avowedly were. Lois’s "precepts" were also not biblical; yet Dr. Bob said A.A.’s basic step ideas were based on study of the Bible.
In sum, it is very doubtful that Dr. Bob would have subscribed to the idea that the original A.A. "Program" had four steps, six steps, eight steps, or twelve. His own Christian Endeavor background and extensive studies of the Bible led him to the very simple program Frank Amos described; and I have found no particular evidence to indicate Dr. Bob did not use those simple Bible ideas in bringing recovery to the 5000 alcoholics he personally helped in Akron.
And What of the Oxford Group and Our Twelve Steps
I believe it might be fair to say that A.A. had three approaches to recovery in its earliest days: (1) An approach directly related to recovery and based primarily on the Bible and reliance on our Creator–applied by Dr. Bob and the Akron pioneers (See The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible). (2) An approach that was not directly related to recovery but involved a "life-changing" program whose principles were biblical and were applied for recovery–applied primarily in the East, prior to, and then in, early A.A. (See The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous: A Design for Living That Works). (3) An experiment by Bill W. and Dr. Bob utilizing both approaches and culminating in the Big Book text whose (a) "Steps" were based primarily on the Oxford Group’s aim of attaining a life-changing experience of God and continuing in that experience, and whose (b) Big Book "text" was possibly much more influenced than the Steps by the Bible and yet propounded several inconsistent and even conflicting theories on alcoholism as an "incurable" mental, physical, and spiritual malady; required a "conversion" that was more "change" than a "born again" experience; and "action" seemingly focused more on doing things than on believing the truths which the Bible said would make believers free (See Turning Point: A History of Early A.A.’s Spiritual Roots and Successes).
As to the Steps, however, and even as to many explicit phrases in the Big Book, you can’t ignore the Oxford Group’s immense influence on A.A.–coming from the Oxford Group’s twenty-eight principles such as: (a) God is Almighty and our Creator; (b) God’s Plan; (c) Our Obedience, (d) Initial belief that God is; (e) Surrender of your "will" to God; (f) A "turning point"--leading to "steps" embodied in the OG’s 5 C’s--(g) Confidence, (h) Confession, (i) Conviction, (j) Conversion, (k) Continuance)–five "steps" that would eliminate "sin" "blocking" one from God and others; (l) Making restitution for harms caused by sins; (m) Making "daily" surrender that continued to apply the "steps;" (n) "Growing" spiritually through Bible study, prayer, and Quiet Time observances enabling receipt of God’s revelation; (o) Becoming "God conscious" as the result of such obedience; (p) Witnessing to what God had done that the person had been unable to do for himself; (q) Fellowshipping; (r) Serving; (s) Practicing Christian principles, made available to believers by their new-found power of God in Christ which is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 5:17
Part Three
I have said and written many times–just as did Bill Wilson–that nobody invented Alcoholics Anonymous, nor did its principles and practices come from just one source. There are those who believe almost all our principles and practices came from the Oxford Group. But that is not so. Nor did either Dr. Bob or Bill say so. Nor did the two founders argue or dispute over the diverse sources–Bible, Quiet Time, Shoemaker’s teachings, Anne Smith’s Journal, the Oxford Group life-changing program, and the Christian literature of all sorts that early AAs read.. Each co-founder, however, did ultimately stress certain of the several sources.
Thus, Bill Wilson said of ten of the Twelve Steps: "The spiritual substance of our remaining ten Steps came straight from Dr. Bob’s and my own earlier association with the Oxford Groups, as they were then led in America by that Episcopal rector, Dr. Samuel Shoemaker" (See The Language of the Heart, p. 298; Dick B.,New Light on Alcoholism, 2d ed., p. 6). The facts bear out Wilson’s assertion.
Note, however, that Bill was speaking only of ten of the Twelve Steps. He was not discussing the A.A. Fellowship, nor his own Big Book, nor the A.A. slogans, nor the source of the Oxford Group principles, which came straight from the Bible (See Rev. Sherwood Sunderland Day, The Principles of the Group, p. 1: "The principles of ‘The Oxford Group’ are the principles of the Bible").
And here is what Dr. Bob said about the source of the A.A. Program. He was not discussing the A.A. Fellowship, nor Bill’s Big Book, nor the source of the Oxford Group principles. He was discussing where the basic ideas for the Twelve Steps came from. Dr. Bob said:
When we started in on Bill D., we had no Twelve Steps. . . But we were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book (See The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 9-10; Dick B., The Good Book and The Big Book, p. 19).
I didn’t write the Twelve Steps. I had nothing to do with the writing of them. . . . We already had the basic ideas, though not in terse and tangible form. We got them. . . . as a result of our study of the Good Book (See DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, p. 96; Dick B., The Good Book and The Big Book, p. 4).
Before we undertake this further study of the Oxford Group principles that found their way into A.A. (And they are numerous!), we need to realize–from our Founders’ statements: (1) Bill said the spiritual substance of ten of the Twelve Steps came from the Oxford Group. (2) The Oxford Group said (and their writers bear this out) that its principles came from the Bible. (3) Dr. Bob said the basic ideas in the Twelve Steps were the result of the pioneers’ study of the Bible. (4) Early Akron A.A. was a Christian Fellowship; likened in part to "an old fashioned prayer meeting;" and brought alcoholics to Jesus Christ through surrenders, Bible study, prayer, practicing the principles of the Bible, and seeking God’s guidance (See Dick B., Why Early A..A. Succeeded).
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Oxford Group Parallels Bill Adopted in A.A.’s Writings and Steps
In this study, we will be talking about the remarkable instances where the language Bill Wilson used in his Big Book, in the Twelve Steps, in his talks, and in the slogans very closely resembles language used by a host of Oxford Group writers in a host of Oxford Group writings (See, for example, Dick B., The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous, 2d ed., pp. 341-64–giving 187 specific illustrations; New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A., 2d ed., pp 153-70–giving 149 specific illustrations). We can’t begin to repeat them all or to claim the foregoing titles contain them all. But this first study will give you some to think about:
As to the First Step:
"It [sin] makes a gap between myself and the Ideal which I am powerless to bridge. . . Only God, therefore can deal with sin. He must contrive to do for us what we have lost the power to do for ourselves" (Shoemaker, If I Be Lifted Up, pp. 131, 133).
"Oh God manage me because I can’t manage myself" (Russell, For Sinners Only, p. 79; Howard, Frank Buchman’s Secret, pp. 41-44; Harris, The Breeze of the Spirit, p. 10).
As to the Second Step:
"Security lies in a faith in God which includes an experiment. It lies in believing that God is" (Shoemaker, National Awakening, pp. 40-41).
"Willingness to believe" (Brown, The Venture of Belief, p. 26).
"When we come to believe in God at all, we come to believe in Him as having something definite to say about our lives. To believe in the fact of the will of God is only to believe in God in the concrete" (Shoemaker, Religion That Works, p. 55).
"A vast Power outside themselves" (Shoemaker, A Young Man’s View of the Ministry, p. 42).
"A Force outside himself, greater than himself" (Shoemaker, If I Be Lifted Up, p. 176; Kitchen, I Was a Pagan, pp. 63, 78).
As to the Turning Point:
"You need to find God" (Shoemaker, Realizing Religion, p. 9).
"We must surrender our wills to a greater Will, and that will set us free" (Foot, Life Began Yesterday, p. 35).
"The crisis of self-surrender has always been and must always be regarded as the vital turning point of the religious life" (Shoemaker, Realizing Religion, p. 9; Begbie, Life Changers, p. 126).
"He made a decision to surrender to God" (Foot, Life Began Yesterday, p. 30).
"Let go! Abandon yourself to Him. Say to Him, ‘Not my will but Thine be done" (Shoemaker, Religion That Works, p. 19).
As to the Third Step:
"The decision to cast my will and my life on God" (Shoemaker, Twice-Born Ministers, p. 134).
"Opening their minds to as much of God as he understood, removing first the hindrance of self-will" (Shoemaker, Children of the Second Birth, p. 47).
"That is what the Oxford Group is working for, changed lives, God-centered in place of self-centered" (Foot, Life Began Yesterday, p. 47).
"For most men, the world is centered in self, which is misery" (Shoemaker, Realizing Religion, p. 11).
"I surrender Thee my entire life, O God. I have made a mess of it, trying to run it myself. You take it–the whole thing–and run it for me, according to Your will and plan" (Kitchen, I Was a Pagan, p. 67).
"The first action is mental action, it is a decision of the will to make a decision–one decides that one has not controlled one’s life particularly well hitherto, and therefore it had better be put under new management" (Foot, Life Began Yesterday, p. 10).
The Reverend Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr., S.T.D., DD, is known to a few (far too few) members of Alcoholics Anonymous as a “co-founder” of the Society and the well-spring of its ideas.
To the religious community, to Episcopalians, and to many citizens, Sam was known and applauded as one of the 10 greatest preachers in America (along with Billy Graham, Norman Vincent Peale, and others). From 1925 and for many years thereafter, Sam was Rector of the Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church in New York. Later he was called to be Rector of the Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh. Sam took a special interest in Alcoholics Anonymous and become a good friend of co-founder Bill Wilson. In fact, Sam taught Bill Wilson most of the spiritual principles that were incorporated into A.A.’s basic text (Alcoholics Anonymous) and in A.A.’s Twelve Steps. Some 200 phrases in A.A. bear the unmistakable footprints of Sam. And, at one point, Wilson asked Shoemaker to write the Twelve Steps, but Sam declined – saying they should be written by Bill. Nonetheless, the Steps (as is the Big Book) are replete with Shoemaker ideas on how to find God, the “turning point,” the Oxford Group life-changing steps (Confidence, Confession, Conviction, Conversion, Continuance), Quiet Time, Spiritual Awakening, prayer, fellowship, conversion and witness, and the need to “pass it on”—a phrase known to all AAs. Years after the founding of A.A. in 1935, Wilson according Shoemaker the singular honor of addressing the A.A. International Conventions in 1955 (St. Louis) and 1960 (Long Beach).
Recently, the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Experiment (which Sam founded) opined to me that Shoemaker’s whole dedication was to opening the door and showing people how to find God. Shoemaker several times wrote articles bearing titles like “How To Find God.”
It is not surprising that Shoemaker penned several versions of a poem which most have titled “So I Stand By The Door.” Actually, at Christmas, 1958, Sam had this poem and many others privately printed by Calvary Church in Pittsburgh. The poem has taken several forms and been known by at least two titles. The first title – apparently the one that Sam himself chose – was “So I Stay Near The Door—An Apologia For My Life.” This is the title used in the pamphlet which I found in the Episcopal Church Archives in Austin, Texas. The poem has been used, modified, reprinted, and retitled elsewhere under the better known name of “So I Stand By The Door.”
To the religious community, to Episcopalians, and to many citizens, Sam was known and applauded as one of the 10 greatest preachers in America (along with Billy Graham, Norman Vincent Peale, and others). From 1925 and for many years thereafter, Sam was Rector of the Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church in New York. Later he was called to be Rector of the Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh. Sam took a special interest in Alcoholics Anonymous and become a good friend of co-founder Bill Wilson. In fact, Sam taught Bill Wilson most of the spiritual principles that were incorporated into A.A.’s basic text (Alcoholics Anonymous) and in A.A.’s Twelve Steps. Some 200 phrases in A.A. bear the unmistakable footprints of Sam. And, at one point, Wilson asked Shoemaker to write the Twelve Steps, but Sam declined – saying they should be written by Bill. Nonetheless, the Steps (as is the Big Book) are replete with Shoemaker ideas on how to find God, the “turning point,” the Oxford Group life-changing steps (Confidence, Confession, Conviction, Conversion, Continuance), Quiet Time, Spiritual Awakening, prayer, fellowship, conversion and witness, and the need to “pass it on”—a phrase known to all AAs. Years after the founding of A.A. in 1935, Wilson according Shoemaker the singular honor of addressing the A.A. International Conventions in 1955 (St. Louis) and 1960 (Long Beach).
Recently, the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Experiment (which Sam founded) opined to me that Shoemaker’s whole dedication was to opening the door and showing people how to find God. Shoemaker several times wrote articles bearing titles like “How To Find God.”
It is not surprising that Shoemaker penned several versions of a poem which most have titled “So I Stand By The Door.” Actually, at Christmas, 1958, Sam had this poem and many others privately printed by Calvary Church in Pittsburgh. The poem has taken several forms and been known by at least two titles. The first title – apparently the one that Sam himself chose – was “So I Stay Near The Door—An Apologia For My Life.” This is the title used in the pamphlet which I found in the Episcopal Church Archives in Austin, Texas. The poem has been used, modified, reprinted, and retitled elsewhere under the better known name of “So I Stand By The Door.”
The Poem: “So I Stay Near The Door”
“I stay near the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important door in the world—
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There’s no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside, and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men.
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it . . .
So I stay near the door.
“The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door—the door to God.
The most important thing any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch—the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man’s own touch.
Men die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter—
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it—live because they have found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him . . .
So I stay near the door.
“Go in, great saints, go all the way in—
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics—
In a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms,
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in,
Sometimes venture a little farther;
But my place seems closer to the opening . . .
So I stay near the door.
“The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving—preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door,
But would like to run away. So for them, too,
I stay near the door.
“I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply, and stay in too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there too.
Where? Outside the door—
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But—more important for me—
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch,
So I shall stay by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
‘I had rather be a door-keeper . . .’
So I stay near the door.”
The poem contains many reminders of the A.A. I found – newcomers crying out for help in finding God. Hesitant, frightened, even reluctant newcomers—coming in and out by the thousands each year. Newcomers who seek a guiding hand—only to hear that “god” can be a light bulb, a radiator, a chair, or “Someone.” Newcomers who can’t find Shoemaker’s “door” because there is no one leading or pointing to the right power—Yahweh, the Creator. Newcomers who—amounting to 50% of those who come in the A.A. door—are out of it within the first year. Back to drinking. Back to drugs. Back to misery. Back to sure and certain death by one means or another if they remain “outside” the real door—the door to the power of God.
How valuable it will be for people to see Shoemaker’s poem today. As we take “God” out of our Pledge of Allegiance. As we take “God” out of our courtrooms. And as AAs are adjured to take “God” out of their belief system with a supposed freedom to choose just “anything at all.”
The A.A. I found, almost twenty years ago, included, among other things, these signposts:
(1) “Remember that we deal with alcohol—cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power—that One is God. May you find Him now!” (“Alcoholics Anonymous,” 4th ed., p. 59; and the first chapter of Shoemaker’s first title, “Realizing Religion,” 1923).
(2) “. . . either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or He isn’t. What was our choice to be?” (“Alcoholics Anonymous,” 4th ed., p. 53; and Shoemaker’s title which preceded A.A., “Confident Faith”).
(3) “Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were.” (“Alcoholics Anonymous,” 4th ed., p. 55).
(4) “When we drew near to Him, He disclosed Himself to us!” (“Alcoholics Anonymous,” 4th ed ., p. 57).
(5) “We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.” (“Alcoholics Anonymous,” 4th ed., p. 59; and many of Shoemaker’s titles, including his first—“Realizing Religion”).
The early A.A. Pioneers in Akron, Ohio, were not trying to find God. They got their information, their belief system, and their instructions from the Bible. They studied the Bible. And they believed that God is (See Hebrews 11:6). So did I.
Devastated by the ravages of excessive drink, like the Pioneers, I sought to rebuild my relationship with God—to establish daily fellowship with Him (1 John 1). And to seek His protection and care at every turn, mindful that obedience to His will was a vital part of the effort. Like early AAs, I was cured of alcoholism and have not had a drink from the first day in A.A. rooms until present.
For doubters, unbelievers, and those like Bill Wilson—who was an atheist and lacked both a relationship and fellowship with God—A.A.’s basic text was written to show newcomers the steps to take to find God. The very thing Rev. Sam Shoemaker was teaching to his friend Bill Wilson in New York. They told “how it worked!”
A NEW LIGHT: "THE FIRST FORTY"
A Chronological Survey of the early AA Pioneers*
(1934-1938)
Compiled and Presented by Richard K., July 9, 2003
Copyright 2003 – Golden Text Productions
* All statistics included in this survey were taken from the following sources:
(1ed) * "Alcoholics Anonymous," 1st Edition, Works Publishing Co., 1939(PIO) * "Pass It On," Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1984
(BOB)* "Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers," Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980
(GT) * Statistical report on "Big Book" authors, annotated by George Trotter
(FA) * "History of the Alcoholics movement up to the formation of the Alcoholic Foundation on Aug, 11, 1938," a report to the Rockefeller Foundation by Frank Amos, 1938
(NO) * "Authors of the Stories from the book, Alcoholics Anonymous," biographies by Nancy O., from "Silkworth.net" website
(SSW)* From the scrapbook of Jim Burwell, sobriety verified by Sue Smith Windows
(MK) * "How It Worked: The Story of Clarence H. Snyder," by Mitchell K., AA Big Book Study Group, 1999
"It was on a November day in that year (1937) when Dr. Bob and I sat in his living room, counting the noses of our recoveries. There had been failures galore, but now we could see some startling successes too. A hard core of very grim, last-gasp cases had by then been sober a couple of years, an unheard-of development. There were twenty or more such people. All told we figured that upwards of forty alcoholics were staying bone dry.
As we carefully rechecked this score, it suddenly burst upon us that a new light was shining into the dark world of the alcoholic…At last we were sure. There would be no more flying totally blind. We actually wept for joy, and Bob and Anne and I bowed our heads in silent thanks."
- Bill Wilson, ‘Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age,’ AAWS, Inc., 1957, p. 76
Date Name Area Result AA# BB Story /Comments
1934, 12/11 Bill Wilson New York Success 1 Bill’s Story1935, 06/10 Dr. Bob Smith Akron Success 2 The Doctor’s Nightmare
(MK – SOB @6/17/35)
1935, June Eddie Reilly Akron Failure*
*(RJK-Though originally failed, Eddie became permanently sober in 1949)
1935, June Dr. McK Akron Failure
1935, June Bill Dotson Akron Success 3 Alcoholic Anonymous #3
1935, August Ernie Galbraith Akron Success 4 The Seven Month Slip
(GT: SOB 7/35) (NO-Failure)
1935, August Wes Wymans NY Failure*
**(RJK-Though originally failed, Wes became permanently sober in 1949, as did Eddie Reilly)
1935, Sept. Hank Parkhurst New York Success* 5 The Unbeliever
(NO – SOB Oct. or Nov. 1935) * (RJK-Returned to drinking > 1 yr following the "counting noses")
1935, Sept. Phil Smith Akron Success
(RJK-One brief slip in 1937)
1935, October John Henry "Fitz" Mayo New York Success 6 Our Southern Friend
(SSW- SOB 10/36) (GT: SOB 11/36)
1935 Freddie B. NY Failure
1935 Brooke B. NY Failure
1935 Bill R. NY Failure
1935 Ernest M. NY Failure
1935 Herb D. NY Failure
1935 Alec NY Failure
1935 Russ R. NY Failure
1935 Bill C. NY Failure
1935 "Victor" Akron Failure
1935 "Lil" Akron Failure
Date Name Area Result AA# BB Story /Comments
1936, Jan. Harold Grisinger Akron Success
(SSW-Died sober)
1936, Feb. Walter Bray Akron Success The Back-Slider
(GT: SOB 2/36) (NO-Relapsed and Detoxed Aug. 1939)
1936, April Joe Doppler Akron Success 8 The European Drinker
1936, April Myron Williams NY Success Hindsight
1936, July Paul Stanley Akron Success 9 Truth Freed Me
1936, Sept. J. D. Holmes Akron Success 10
(SSW-No slips)
1936, Sept. Holland Spencer Akron Success
1936, Dec. Bob Oviatt Akron Success The Salesman
(BW-"stayed dry continuously") (SSW-No slips) (1stEd: Slip May 1937) (NO-1 Slip May 1937)
1937, Feb. Dick Stanley Akron Success 10 The Car Smasher
Don McLean NY Success
1937, Feb. Bill Ruddell NY Success) A Businessman’s Recovery
(NO-Failure)
1937, Feb. Lloyd Tate Akron Success
(NO- SOB 2/37) (SSW: SOB 9/37) (GT: SOB 11/37)
1937, Feb. Bill Van Horn Akron Success Ward of the Probate Court
(BOB: SOB 2/37) (GT: SOB 5/37) (SSW-No slips) (NO-One Slip Later)
1937, Mar. Harry Zoellers Akron Success A Close Shave
1937, March Florence Rankin NY Success* A Feminine Victory
*(RJK-Florence returned to drinking following the Big Book publication and committed suicide)
1937, April Earl Treat Akron Success 13 He Sold Himself Short (2nd)
(SSW-No slips) (NO-One slip July 1937)
1937, April Bob Evans Akron Success
1937, May Wally Gillam Akron Success (NO-1 Slip Later) Fired Again
1937, May Charlie Simonson Akron Success Riding the Rods
1937, July Jim Scott Akron Success Traveler, Editor, Scholar
(GT: SOB 7/37) (NO- SOB 7/37) (SSW- SOB 9/38)
Date Name Area Result AA# BB Story /Comments
1937, July Paul Kellogg NY Failure
1937, Sept. Bill Jones Akron (Cleveland) Success
(SSW-No slips) (BOB-Bob Evans says Jones had a slip)
1937, Oct. Jack Williams NY Success Hindsight
1937, Nov. Tom Lucas Akron Success My Wife and I
(GT: SOB 11/35) (NO-First SOB Nov. 1935)
1937 Jane S. Akron (Cleveland) Failure
(BOB-Sober "a few months")
NOTE** "Successes" and "Failures" are denoted for individuals who were either sober or drinking at the time of Bill’s and Bob’s headcount in November of 1937. – Richard K.
***Post-Headcount***
(RJK-Noted by Frank Amos)
1938, Jan. Jim Burwell NY Success
1938, Feb. Clarence Snyder Akron (Cleveland) Success Home Brewmeister
1938, Feb. Charlie Jones Akron Success
1938, Feb. Ray Campbell NY Success An Artist’s Concept
1938, Feb. Van Wagner NY Unknown
1938, Feb. Jack Darrow NY Unknown
1938, Feb. Norman Hunt NY Success Educated Agnostic
(GT-SOB 6/38)
1938, Feb. Harold Sears NY Success Smile With Me, At Me
(NO-Slips in June)
1938, April Capt. Coxe NY Unknown
1938, May Abby Goldrick Akron Success He Thought He Could Drink…(2nd)
1938, May Bert Taylor NY Unknown
1038, May Bob Taylor NY Unknown
1938, June George Williams NY Unknown
1938, June Joseph Taylor NY Unknown
1938, June Harry Brick NY Success A Different Slant
(NO-Failure)
1938, June Ralph Furlong NY Success Another Prodigal Story
(NO- SOB 6/6/38)
1938, July Bud Emerson NY Unknown
1938, Sept. Archie Trowbridge Akron Success The Fearful One
(GT: SOB 11/38)
Date Name Area Result AA# BB Story /Comments
1938, Sept. Horace Maher NY Success On His Way
1938, Oct. John Dolan Akron Success
1938, Dec. Vaughan Phelps Akron Success
1938, Dec. Horace Chrystal NY Unknown
1938 Bill H. Akron (Cleveland) Failure*
*(RJK-Clarence’s first "baby," later permanently sober)
1939, Jan. Pat
Cooper California Success Lone Endeavor
(NO- Slipped, Back in 1944)
Unknown Sobriety Dates
N/A Delmar Tyron Akron Success Ace-Full Seven Eleven
(NO- Success)
N/A Doc Moran Akron Unknown
(RJK-Wally Gillam remembrance)
N/A Harold Grissom Akron Unknown
(RJK-J. D. Holmes remembrance)
N/A Dr. Howard S. Akron Unknown
(RJK-Frank Amos remembrance)
Dr. Silkworth on Jesus Christ
Twelve Step people who study A.A.'s Big Book are, of course, familiar with Bill Wilson's medical mentor, Dr. William Duncan Silkworth. Bill called him the benign "little doctor who loved drunks." Silkworth, a psychiatrist, had treated thousands of alcoholics and was director of Towns Hospital in New York where Bill had several times sought help. Though Silkworth had explained the disease of alcoholism to Bill, Bill continued to drink until he met his "sponsor" Ebby Thacher, who had recovered through the spiritual program of the Oxford Group. Ebby had also gone to Calvary Rescue Mission, run by Dr. Sam Shoemaker's Calvary Episcopal Church in New York; and Ebby had there made a decision for Christ. Wilson went there for the same purpose and, according to a conversation the author had with Dr. Shoemaker's widow (Helen Smith Shoemaker), Bill Wilson made a decision for Christ at the Rescue Mission. Bill stayed drunk for a few days and then checked into Towns Hospital and again sought help from Dr. Silkworth. And it was during this stay, that Bill took the life-changing steps of the Oxford Group, had his "hot flash experience," reported it to Dr. Silkworth, and was told by Silkworth that he (Bill) had better hang on to what had happened to him. Silkworth later was asked to write the "Doctor's Opinion" that opens the basic text of the Big Book. Silkworth's picture appears in A.A.'s Pass It On, the biography of Bill's life.
Shortly before his death, the author spent an hour with Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, friend of A.A., the Rev. Sam Shoemaker, and Bill Wilson. Dr. Peale told me of the conversations he had with Bill Wilson about Bill's conversion. However, until 1997, I had never heard the following account by Peale about Dr. William Duncan Silkworth. It can be found in Norman Vincent Peale, The Positive Power of Jesus Christ (New York: Foundation for Christian Living, 1980), pp. 60-61. It appears under the title "The Wonderful Story of Charles K.":
Charles, a businessman in Virginia, had become a full-fledged alcoholic; so much so that he had to have help, and fast, for his life was cracking up. He made an appointment with the late Dr. William Duncan Silkworth, one of the nation's greatest experts on alcoholism, who worked in a New York City hospital [the Charles Towns Hospital]. Receiving Charles into his clinic as a patient, the doctor gave him treatment for some days, then called him into his office. "Charles," he said, "I have done everything I can for you. At this moment you are free of your trouble. But there is an area in your brain where you may hold a reservation and that could, in all likelihood, cause you to return to your drinking. I wish that I might reach this place in your consciousness, but alas, I do not have the skill."
"But, doctor," exclaimed Charles, "you are the most skilled physician in this field. When I came to you it was to the greatest. If you cannot heal me, then who can possibly do so?" The doctor hesitated, then said thoughtfully, "There is another Doctor who can complete this healing, but He is very expensive."
"That's all right," cried Charles, "I can get the money. I can pay his fees. I cannot go home until I am healed. Who is this doctor and where is he?"
"Oh, but this Physician is not at all moderate as to expense," persisted Dr. Silkworth. "He wants everything you've got. He wants you, all of you. Then He gives the healing. His price is your entire self." Then he added slowly and impressively, "His name is Jesus Christ and He keeps office in the New Testament and is available whenever you need Him."
Dr. Peale then describes the healing of Charles through the power of Jesus Christ.
Quotations From Bill W.
"Learning how to live in the greatest peace, partnership, and brotherhood with all men and women, of whatever description, is a moving and fascinating adventure. "
"We have good reason to disbelieve those who think spirituality is the way of weakness."
"Honesty with ourselves & others gets us sober, but it is tolerance that keeps us that way. "
"Moments of perception can build into a lifetime of spiritual serenity, as I have excellent reason to know.
Roots of reality, supplanting the neurotic underbrush, will hold fast despite the high winds of the forces which would destroy us, or which we would use to destroy ourselves." "
"The willingness to grow is the essence of all spiritual development. "
"We alcoholics are the biggest rationalizers in the world."
"More than most people, the alcoholic leads a double life. He is very much the actor"
"We have good reason to disbelieve those who think spirituality is the way of weakness. "
"Nothing can be more demoralizing than a clinging and abject dependence upon another human being. This often amounts to the demand for a degree of protection and love that no one could possibly satisfy. So our hoped for protectors finally flee, and once more we are left alone - either to grow up or to disintegrate. "
"Could I also suggest that you look at excessive guilt for what it is? Nothing but a sort of reverse pride. A decent regret for what has happened is fine. But guilt - no."
"I was an agnostic, an atheist on top of it."
"I’m more affected than ever by that sweet and powerful aura of the church; that marvelous spiritual essence flowing down by the centuries touches me as no other emanation does, but—when I look at the authoritative layout, despite all the arguments in its favor, I still can’t warm up. No affirmative conviction comes."
" With ministers, and the world's religions, I parted right there"
" Nothing pays off like restraint of pen and tongue."
" We have never known the average, the mediocre. All or nothing, that's us."
" I understand that the father symbol will always be hitched to me."
" All our experiences are but lessons in some form or another which condition us for our larger destiny. Of that I am sure. Any way you look at it, it's a problem world. What matters, and what matters only is what we do with our problems"
"Great suffering and great love are AA's disciplinarians; we need no others"
"Anonymity was first conceived for AA as a mere protection; but unconsciously we made a spiritual ten-strike of large dementions, too - something that more and more appears as time passes."
"Nothing matters more to AA's future welfare than the manner in which we use the colossus of modern communication. Used unselfishly and well, it can produce results surpassing our present imagination."
"More than most people, I think, alcoholics want to know who they are, what this life is all about, whether thay have a divine origin and an appointed destiny, and whether there is a system of cosmic justice and love"
"Though many theologians hold that sudden spiritual experiences amount to a special distinction, if not a divine appointment of some sort, I question this view. Every human being, no matter what his attributes for good or evil, is a part of the divine spiritual economy. Therefore, each of us has his place, and I cannot see that God intends to exalt one over another.”
"Perhaps the thing that bothers you is the feeling that your case is somehow different and much worse than other peoples"
"The drinking of alcohol is a sort of spiritual release. Is it not true that the great fault of all individuals is abnormal self-concern."
"It is ever so hard to believe that any human beings, no matter who are able to be infallible about anything"
"No personal calamity is so crushing that something true and great can't be made of it"
"Years ago I used to commiserate with all people who suffered. Now I commiserate only with those who suffer in ignorance, who do not understand the purpose and ultimate utility of pain"
"The Catholics call it salvation, the psychiatrists call it integration, and I call it growth"
"What I really meant was this: I was catapulted into a spiritual experience, which gave me the capability of feeling the presence of God, His love, and His omnipotence. And most of all, His personal availability to me"
"Easy does it, first things first, do what you can. Believe me, I too have been through the wringer"
"Look, I'm just another drunk - pass it on."
"I was soon to be catapulted into what I liked to call the fourth dimension of existence"
"We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed"
"The common denominator of spiritual experience is pain and utter hopelessness"
"I suppose half the old-timers have neurotic hangovers of one sort or another. Certainly I can number myself among them"
"A. A. is an utter simplicity which encases a complete mystery"
"In Gods economy nothing is wasted"
"The most heated bit of letter writing can be a wonderful safety valve - providing the wastebasket is somewhere nearby"
"As to changing the steps themselves, or even the text of the AA book, I am assured by many that I could certainly be excommunicated if a word were touched"
"I had to be the first in everything because in my perverse heart I felt myself to be the least of God's creatures"
"In the wake of my spiritual experience there came a vision of a society of alcoholics."
"I have become a pupil of the A. A. movement rather than a teacher."
"The drinking of alcohol is a sort of spiritual release. Is it not true that the great fault of all individuals is abnormal self-concern."
"I am not the least big scandalized by the sins of the church or any of the people in it. I don't see how an ex-drunk can be scandalized about anything."
"It must never be forgotten that the purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous is to sober up alcoholics. There is no religious or spiritual requirement for membership. No demands are made on anyone. An experience is offered which members may accept or reject. That is up to them."
"The thing that irks me about all religion is how confoundedly right they all are"
"Pain is the touchstone of all growth"
"You must have often asked yourself the very question so frequently in my own mind. Why all this pain? What have I done to merit this suffering?
"The roads to recovery are many"
"You didn't get sober to go to meetings"
"Though I still find it difficult to accept today's pain and anxiety with any great degree of serenity - as those more advanced in the spiritual life seem able to do - I can give thanks for present pain nevertheless."
"So this, is the God of the preachers."
"Perhaps we carry the principle of tolerance too far, and if we find that to be true, I am sure we shall be willing to adjust our viewpoints."
" I used to be ashamed of my condition and didn't talk about it. But in recent years, I freely confess I'm a depressive, and that attracts other depressives to me. Working on them has helped a great deal. In fact, it helped me more than it did them."
"....how can I presume to say that my detailed theological convictions are correct? In this search I've had the advantage of what seemed to have been a very genuine and illuminating spiritual experience, together with many encounters with the psychic realm, both personal and by observation."
"Believe me , I know what you have suffered, and share your joy in getting well. Amoung older AA's there is a great deal of this nervous breakdown business. I certainly share your view that glandular ill health plays a heavy part in many of them. I also believe that the withdrawl of alcohol is likely to accentuate the neurosis in many of us. Our neurosis may break out in a very aggravated form after a few years of soberiety."
"In the wake of my spiritual experience there came a vision of a society of alcoholics."
" We have never called alcoholism a disease because, technically speaking, it is not a disease entity "
" The Oxford group wanted to save the world, and I only wanted to save drunks "
