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+ Last updated:
July 26, 2006
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Alcoholics Anonymous History
A New Way In
By Dick B.
A New Way In
Reaching the Heart of a Child of God in
Recovery
With
His Own, Powerful Historical Roots
Part One
The Akron A.A. Christian Program That
Cured Alcoholics
Beginning with 1934, A.A. Co-founder Bill Wilson
said many times that he was unable to get a single person sober in the
six months that he ran from Towns Hospital to Calvary Rescue Mission to
Oxford Group meetings in New York. Bill feverishly chased drunks, but
not one of them got sober. Furthermore, as Bill began bringing drunks to
the home that he and Lois Wilson shared, the result was the same for
several years. Not one person got sober. And even in the earliest years
of New York A.A., the best Wilson could claim was that his partner Hank
Parkhurst got sober—only to drink at a later point; and that John Henry
Fitzhugh Mayo—son of an Episcopal minister—was the other newcomer who
was reached successfully by Bill.
Let’s therefore begin with, and focus on, the Akron program of 1935 to
1938, that Bill and Co-founder Dr. Bob developed together. This was the
program that, by 1937, had produced forty alcoholic recoveries among men
with two years or less of continuous sobriety. Counting noses, Bill and
Bob found they had a total success record of 50% among these men, with a
further, additional 25% success record among pioneers who relapsed but
returned to sobriety.
The Frank Amos Written Summary of the
Pioneer Program
The Early AAs’ solution to their problems was
reliance on the Creator. That reliance produced a documented 75% success
rate in Akron, and very soon a 93% success rate in Cleveland among the
medically incurable alcoholics who really tried. It’s a story worth
learning. It is simple. The approach was effective. And, because it
worked, it attracted thousands to A.A. over the ensuing years. Medical
cures and percentages of cure are what attract patients. Medical
failures do not. Fortunately, we still have a precise and accurate study
of the Akron program that succeeded. Details that can be used this very
day.
Bill Wilson had come to John D. Rockefeller, Jr., looking for money.
Bill told the famous businessman the results Dr. Bob and his helpers
were achieving in Akron. And Rockefeller decided to see for himself. He
sent his agent Frank Amos out to Akron to investigate, and Amos reported
back in two different papers exactly what he found. Amos had spent about
a week in Akron, interviewed Dr. Bob and members of his fellowship,
interviewed their wives, interviewed an Akron judge, an Akron attorney,
medical colleagues, and others. And the following is the essence of the
program, as Amos described it to Rockefeller:
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An alcoholic must realize that he is an
alcoholic, incurable from a medical viewpoint, and that he must
never drink anything with alcohol in it.
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He must surrender himself absolutely to God,
realizing that in himself there is no hope.
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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.
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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.
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He must be willing to help other alcoholics
get straightened out. This throws up a protective barrier and
strengthens his own willpower and convictions.
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It is important, but not vital, that he meet
frequently with other reformed alcoholics and form both a social and
a religious comradeship.
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Important, but not vital, that he attend some
religious service at least once weekly.
Seven points, the last two—religious comradeship
and church attendance—were simply recommended, but not required. The
foregoing original A.A. program in Akron had no steps—twelve, six, or
otherwise. It had no basic text but the Bible. For reading matter, it
did circulate among the early fellowship members a large number of
Christian books, devotionals, and articles. And you can read for
yourself the foregoing detailed description of their program in DR. BOB
and the Good Oldtimers. NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.,
1980, pp. 130-136.
But the Frank Amos reports merely summarized the requirements of the
program. Amos did not describe its activities with any particularity,
and they need to be examined more fully. Though accurate as set forth,
the importance of the original requirements and practices is not clear
without a description of several additional points Amos didn’t cover.
Therefore, we’ve reconstructed from historical research a picture of the
entire spiritual program of recovery developed in Akron between 1935 and
1938, and we’ve included the details summarized by Frank Amos.
The Specifics of What the Pioneers Did
in Akron
They located a “real” alcoholic who needed
help, wanted help, and would do whatever was expected of him: In the
case of the first three AAs—Bill Wilson, Dr. Bob Smith, and Bill
Dotson—someone had actually gone searching for each of the three as a
“pigeon” needing help. Later, wives and relatives would sometimes bring
a new man to Dr. Bob for help. Sometimes drunks appeared on the scene
and asked for help. But searching out and “qualifying” the new person as
one who was serious and willing was a critical part of the new program.
He was interrogated to verify these points. And that very outreach
itself contributed mightily to the success of the searchers.
They usually hospitalized the newcomer for about seven days:
Hospitalization and/or medical help for a brief period was virtually a
"must" for almost all the early A.A. members. Then, as now, there was
danger of seizures, severe shaking, injury to self, and disorientation.
Medical monitoring was considered prudent. During that period, only a
Bible was allowed in the hospital room. Medications were administered.
There were daily visits and lengthy talks by Dr. Bob with each patient.
There were regular visits by recovered pioneers who apprised the
newcomer of their own stories and successes. Just prior to discharge,
there was a visit to the newcomer by Dr. Bob. He may have covered
additional points about alcoholism, such as they were known at that
time. But, primarily, he asked the new person to acknowledge his belief
in the Creator. If there was an affirmative answer, Dr. Bob required the
patient to make a "surrender" to Christ on his knees and join Dr. Bob in
a prayer. And then there was release from the hospital.
They often offered food, shelter, and support in the home of some
pioneer family. The two homes that first come to mind are those of
Dr. Bob and his wife Anne Smith, and Wally G. and his wife Annabelle. In
a sense, these live-in arrangements represented the first “half-way”
houses as they are often called today. Recovery work in Akron did not
begin or take place in groups or meetings or treatment centers; nor in
rehabs or therapy or confinement. It took place primarily in homes, and
that, in itself, constituted a very different situation from the program
of the Oxford Group where Bill Wilson had previously cut his teeth in
the New York area. As stated, Akron pioneer efforts took place primarily
in the homes of people like Dr. Bob and Anne Smith. And in these homes,
there were: (1) Daily get-togethers. (2) Bible studies and the reading
of Christian literature and devotionals circulated by Dr. Bob and his
wife. (3) Quiet times held by each individual who prayed, studied the
Bible, and sought God’s guidance. (4) Morning quiet time meetings led by
Dr. Bob’s wife for AAs and their families who listened to Anne teach
from the Bible, prayed together, heard Anne share from her spiritual
journal, discussed its contents with those present, and then sought
guidance from God for the day. (5) Residents frequently discussed
problems and Biblical solutions with Dr. Bob, Henrietta Seiberling, T.
Henry Williams, and Anne Smith. And those who stayed over many days and
nights in this or that home, broke bread, lived, and fellowshipped
together. (6) Once a week the pioneers held a “regular” Wednesday
meeting with "real" surrenders upstairs after the manner of James
5:15-16. (7) Pioneers utilized a few of some twenty-eight Oxford Group
life-changing practices such as Inventory, Confession, Conviction, and
Restitution. (8) They then arranged visits to newcomers at the hospital.
(9) They recommended church attendance by most. (10) They enjoyed
social, religious, and family fellowship. (11) And it all began again.
There was one “Regular” meeting on Wednesdays at the home of T. Henry
and Clarace Williams in Akron. Though it originally began as an
Oxford Group meeting, it was not conducted like most Oxford Group
meetings. Its members--Oxford Groupers, alcoholics, wives and
children—were there to help alcoholics get well by spiritual means. Host
T. Henry therefore called the meeting a “clandestine lodge” of the
Oxford Group because it differed so much from the movement Frank Buchman
and Sam Shoemaker were leading. Also, before the Wednesday meeting,
leaders such as Dr. Bob, Anne, Henrietta Seiberling, and Mr. and Mrs.
Williams would hold a Monday “setup” meeting where God’s guidance was
sought as to who should lead the Wednesday meeting and what its topic
should be. On Wednesdays, there were none of the conventional Oxford
Group testimonials nor were there any of what have today become
alcoholic drunkalogs. The regular meeting opened with a prayer.
Scripture was read, then group prayer, and then a brief group guidance
circle. The meeting discussed a selected topic—whether from the Bible, a
devotional, or a subject involving living by Biblical principles. The
discussion was led by someone such as Dr. Bob, Henrietta Seiberling, or
T. Henry Williams. There was intense focus on the study and discussion
of the Bible’s Book of James, Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13.
There was a special time for "real" surrenders upstairs for the
newcomers. Following those, arrangements were made downstairs for some
in the group to visit newcomers at the Akron City Hospital. The meeting
closed with the Lord's Prayer; socializing; and the exchange of
Christian literature displayed on tables for the taking. There had been
no drunkalogs. No Steps. No Big Book. No texts at all. Just the Bible
and devotionals like The Upper Room and the specially valued lessons
taught from James, Corinthians, and Matthew.
“Real Surrenders” to Christ, several Oxford Group practices,
counseling with the Smiths and Henrietta Seiberling, study of Christian
literature, and church attendance. (1) In order to belong to the
Akron fellowship, newcomers had to make a “real surrender.” This was
akin to the altar call at rescue missions or confession of Christ with
other believers in churches, except that it was a very small, private,
action taken upstairs and away from the regular meeting. Four A.A.
old-timers (Ed Andy, J. D. Holmes, Clarence Snyder, and Larry Bauer)
have all verified orally and in writing that the Akron surrenders
required acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. They took place
at the regular Wednesday meeting upstairs in the manner described in
James 5:15-16. Kneeling, with “elders” at his side, the newcomer
accepted Christ and, with the prayer partners, asked God to take alcohol
out of his life and to help, guide, and strengthen him to live by
cardinal Christian teachings such as those in the Four
Absolutes—Honesty, Purity, Unselfishness, and Love. (2) Not so clear as
to Akron is just how many of its pioneers completed such Oxford Group
life-changing practices as Inventory, Confession, Conviction, and
Restitution though there is mention of some. (3) Many men and women
received counseling from Bob and Anne Smith, Henrietta Seiberling, and
T. Henry Williams. They frequently studied or listened to Scripture,
prayed, and discussed practical matters like jobs and family
difficulties. Anne Smith worked extensively with new people and their
families and formed a Woman’s Group in Akron in A.A.’s second year. (4)
A wide variety of Christian literature on the Bible, prayer, healing,
love, the life of Christ, Shoemaker’s writings, Oxford Group books, and
daily study topics was passed around the fellowship and read by
alcoholics and family members alike. (5) Though A.A. literature is
devoid of significant mention of church, the Amos reports disclose that
attendance at a church of one’s choice was recommended. There is
particular evidence that Roman Catholics were in touch with their own
priests, and that the leaders—Bob, Anne, Henrietta, and Mr. and Mrs.
Williams—all attended church.
Quiet Times: (held by individuals, by the group, and by the early
birds in the morning with Anne Smith). The first condition of receiving
revelation is not "listening" to God. The first condition of effective
communication with the Creator is the establishment of one’s standing as
a child of God by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. With that
accomplished, the new Christian is a member of the body of Christ, able
to communicate with God and His son, and endowed with the ability to
understand spiritual matters the “natural man” cannot comprehend. Hence,
this was a vital part of the Akron program-evidenced by the "surrender"
at the hospital and certainly the "real surrender" in the homes. Then,
for born-again believers, quiet time consisted of reading the Bible,
prayer to and seeking revelation from God, use of devotionals like The
Upper Room, utilizing Anne Smith's Journal for teaching and instruction,
and reading Christian literature such as Henry Drummond's The Greatest
Thing in the World, Nora Smith Holm’s The Runner’s Bible, The Upper
Room, and various studies of the Sermon on the Mount by Oswald Chambers,
Glenn Clark, Emmet Fox, and E. Stanley Jones..
Intensive personal work with newcomers: Dr. Bob was called the
“Prince of Twelfth Steppers” and worked personally with over 5000
alcoholics. Visits with newcomers by those who had already made the
grade were a regular occurrence in Akron. And, though Bill’s personal
outreach efforts yielded little fruit when compared to the results in
Akron, Bill Wilson was the original, vigorous hustler—seeking out new
people at Oxford Group meetings, Towns Hospital, and Calvary Rescue
Mission. However, the unquestioned, liveliest individual 12 Stepper was
probably young Clarence H. Snyder. Before he formed the Cleveland group,
Clarence was bringing alcoholics down to Akron on a regular basis. In
Cleveland, Clarence was a dynamo seeking out drunks, taking them through
Step classes, and getting new groups going. Cleveland groups grew from
one to thirty in a year. And Clarence sponsored hundreds through the
years—finally as the A.A. with the longest period of sobriety.
Self-government, self-decisions, and self-support within membership
groups: Both Dr. Bob and Bill were raised in the tradition of the
New England Congregational denominations. This meant that each church
was governed by its members. It was supported by its members. And it was
accountable to no higher power, official, office, or administration than
the rule and vote of its own congregation. Whatever the way by which
this concept reached A.A., this system became the rule for local A.A.
groups though Dr. Bob was undeniably the “leader” in Akron in the early
pioneer days. At the same time, Bob was always opposed to transferring
control of the A.A. fellowship to New York.
Helping wives and families. Early AAs were male. Yet the earliest
A. A. meetings in Akron were family affairs. Alkies, their wives, and
their children would attend the meetings at the home of T. Henry and
Clarence Williams. Oxford Group activists did the same. Henrietta
Seiberling made sure all her children attended some of the meetings. The
Smith kids attended many. Wives of members worked shoulder-to-shoulder
with their husbands. Thus the work of T. Henry had the help of his wife
Clarace. The work of Dr. Bob, that of Anne. The work of Wally G., that
of his wife Annabelle. The work of Tom Lucas, that of his wife. And the
work of Clarence Snyder, that of his wife Dorothy. But there were
special needs of wives of alcoholics that began to be recognized right
away. Anne Smith was at the head of the pack in meeting them. Throughout
early A.A. stories, you find remarks that Anne was legendary with
newcomers, that she was especially kind to wives, that as early as 1936,
she formed a women’s group, and that she was particularly helpful to
Lois Wilson time and time again. Her crown jewel, of course, is Anne
Smith’s Journal, 1933-1939, which she wrote and used for teaching during
all of A.A.’s formative years. It is filled with materials as suitable
for dealing with the problems of family as with the alcoholic himself.
Yet it’s rarely mentioned even by A.A. historians, and never in A.A.
literature itself. It’s not my purpose to deal with women’s issues or
rights, or the absence of women as members of the earliest A.A. But it
is quite clear that Anne Smith, Bob, Bill to some extent, and Lois later
realized that the special problems of what some now call “the family
disease” of alcoholism needed to be addressed, both for the sake of
individuals, of those who suffer, and for A.A. itself. Even Lois Wilson
huddled in New York with her little “kitchen group” for quite some time
before the seeds of Al-Anon and its Family Groups began to appear and
take root.
The Emphasis of Bob and Bill together: I have several times
quoted or summarized the statements of Bob and Bill together on the
platform of the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in 1943. Their remarks
were reported in the March, 1943 issue of The Tidings. About 4500 AAs
and their families were present. Bill spoke about the importance of
Divine Aid, the religious element in A.A., and prayer. Dr. Bob spoke
about the importance of cultivating the habit of prayer and reading the
Bible. Both men were warmly received-a testimony to their harmonious
accord, consistency, and simplicity of presentation when appearing
together. The event signaled the unanimity of intent, if not of
experience and knowledge, between Bill and Bob.
Diversions from Akron’s Program Called
the Word-of-Mouth “Six Steps”
Set forth above are the seven points of the
original A.A. program, as Frank Amos summarized them after careful
investigation. Set forth too are quite detailed descriptions of exactly
how AAs conducted their program—in terms of structure, hospitalization,
work with newcomers, Bible study, prayer, reading of literature,
utilization of some Oxford Group ideas, utilization of devotionals,
utilization of Anne Smith’s Journal, utilization of the Four Absolutes,
confession of Christ, reliance on the Creator, obedience to God’s will,
and cleansing sin from one’s conduct.
Dr. Bob said several times that he didn’t write the 12 Steps and had
nothing to do with writing them. He said their basic ideas came from
A.A.’s study of and effort in the Bible. He said the Book of James,
Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13 were absolutely
essential to the program.. And he specifically said that, when A.A.
began, there were no Steps; there were no traditions; and that the
stories (drunkalogs) didn’t amount to much. So far, then, we’ve provided
an almost complete composite of what early AAs did, developed, and
accomplished from their founding on June 10, 1935 through the
publication of their Big Book in the Spring of 1939.
But there were curious sideshows—call them “diversions”—that seemed to
accompany or follow the first years of the Akron program. Bill claimed
there were six “word of mouth” elements being used for recovery. Yet
there is no mention of them by Frank Amos or by Dr. Bob. Secondly, as
Bill went in to a deep depression in the 1940’s and 1950’s, Dr. Bob
seemed concerned that the principles and practices of early
A.A.—principles and practices that were to have been made the subject of
the original basic text—be made available in very simple form. And so it
was that four Akron AA pamphlets emerged; and the pamphlets far more
resembled the Frank Amos program than Bill’s “six” word-of-mouth ideas
or the elements of the Twelve Steps he wrote in the Big Book.
For a long time in my research, I kept hearing that there had been six
steps before there were Twelve. In one way or another, Bill Wilson
suggested this. In another way, Lois Wilson suggested it by quoting
“six” Oxford Group tenets—tenets which very clearly did not exist in the
history or annals of the Oxford Group. My tendency, therefore, was to
point to these facts and reject Bill’s “six” steps as bogus.
But I nonetheless encountered them in several different ways, phrased in
several different forms, and emanating from several different alleged
sources. The first phraseology appeared on a piece of paper handed to me
in New York by Bill’s secretary, Nell Wing. It was scribbled in Bill’s
handwriting; and it appeared to contain material identical to that which
Bill had placed in an A.A. Grapevine article. Bill stated there, as “we
commenced to form a Society separate from the Oxford Group, we began to
state our principles something like this:
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol.
We got honest with ourselves.
We got honest with another person, in confidence.
We made amends for harms done others.
We worked with other alcoholics without demand for prestige or money.
We prayed to God to help us do these things as best we could”
(See Dick B., The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics
Anonymous, 3rd ed., 1998, pp. 256-257. Identical language—specifying “we
prayed to God” can be found elsewhere. Not “a” god. Not God as you
understand Him. Not whatever kind of God you thought there was. See Bill
W., The Language of the Heart. NY: The AA Grapevine, Inc. 1988, p. 200;
William L. White, Slaying the Dragon. IL: Chestnut Health Systems, 1998,
p. 132)
Time marched on. Bill shifted gears, seemingly bent on putting still
more distance between “God,” the Akron program about God, and Bill’s
delegated responsibility to report the original facts in the new text he
proposed. And Bill still talked about a “word-of-mouth” program of six
steps to achieve and maintain sobriety. But Bill listed a new and
rephrased “six steps” as follows; and the dutiful revisionist historians
of A.A. followed suit:
We admitted that we were licked, that we were
powerless over alcohol.
We made a moral inventory of our defects or sins.
We confessed or shared our shortcomings with another person in
confidence.
We made restitution to all those we had harmed by our drinking.
We tried to help other alcoholics, with no thought of reward in money or
prestige.
We prayed to whatever God we thought there was for power to practice
these precepts.
(See Dick B., The Akron Genesis, p. 256;
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 160: Pass It On., p. 197; Ernest
Kurtz, Not-God. MN: Hazelden, 1991, p. 69. Note the prayer to “whatever
God we thought there was”).
The newly invented six steps were not left alone, however. Others were
tinkering with them. This even though there was absolutely no evidence
that the Oxford Group had any steps at all – not two, nor four, nor six,
nor twelve. But Bill’s wife Lois declared that there were “the Oxford
Group precepts”—six in number—as follows::
Surrender your life to God.
Take a moral inventory.
Confess your sins to God and another human being.
Make restitution.
Give of yourself to others with no demand for return.
Pray to God for help to carry out these principles.
(See Dick B., The Akron Genesis, p. 257; Lois
Remembers. NY: Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, 1987, p. 92. Note the
language “surrender to God” and “Pray to God”).
And then, after Dr. Bob was dead, came the following unsupported
insertion in the Big Book. It alleged that Dr. Bob had used “six steps.”
In language hardly resembling any ever used by Dr. Bob (who had also
said there were no steps), the Big Book writer attributed the following
words to Bob (words containing no mention of God):
Complete deflation.
Dependence and guidance from a Higher Power.
Moral inventory.
Confession.
Restitution.
Continued to work with alcoholics.
(See Dick B., The Akron Genesis, p. 258;
Alcoholics Anonymous, 2d ed., p. 292; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age,
pp. 22-23; DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, p. 131).
The Further Burial of Akron Program
Ideas in the Words of Bill’s New Twelve Steps
This is not a Twelve Step or a Big Book study. My
title Twelve Steps for You covers the diverse origins of each of the
Twelve Steps, examining each, step by step. The Big Book has been
extensively studied and well reviewed by such venerable AAs as Joe McQ
and Charlie P. in their Seminars, tapes, and books. What’s been missing
is an understanding of the fact that Bill Wilson was commissioned to
write a basic text conveying the program details that were so successful
in Akron by 1938. Instead, Wilson and his partner Hank Parkhurst, formed
a corporation, drew up a stock prospectus, outlined a completely new and
different recovery procedure, and sold the ultimate product as “the
steps we took.” This despite the fact that there were no steps, that the
predecessor Oxford Group had no steps, and that no steps were ever taken
by anyone in early 1939—the date the Big Book was published.
As a starting point, we can look at Bill’s six word-of-mouth steps and
the variant presentations of them. But it is important to highlight the
things in the ultimate draft of Twelve Steps that completely changed
A.A.’s ideas on what it took to recover. The draft threw Dr. Jung’s
“conversion” into a barrel and reworded it a “spiritual experience.”
Here are the highlights (See Pass It On, pp, 198-199):
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The idea that AAs were somehow “powerless”
replaced the original concept that they were simply “licked.”
Powerless led more neatly to Bill’s “Power.” Being licked had been a
prelude to a cry to God for help out of the mire.
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The idea that AAs “came to believe” replaced
the original concept that they either believed or they didn’t. And
“Power greater than themselves” replaced the word “God” to appease
two or three atheists and fit the step into Bill’s “Power”
progression.
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The Third Step redefined “sin,” characterized
it as “self-centeredness,” and put a spin on the surrender as being
a surrender of self instead of a surrender to God—the kind of
surrender involved in a real conversion.
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The Fourth through Seventh Steps involved
action to eliminate offensive manifestations of self, rather than
adopting the Biblical solution of receiving the spirit of God,
walking by the Spirit, and disdaining walk by the flesh. Note the
significance of this change in terms of the “cure” concept. “Self”
can’t be eliminated; hence never “cured.” Walking in obedience to
God’s will is always possible and an attainable condition to cure.
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The restitution aspects of the Eighth and
Ninth steps retained the Biblical ideas of agreeing with our
adversary quickly, righting wrongs through restoration or
reconciliation, and cleansing hands as suggested in James 4:7-10.
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The Tenth and Eleventh Steps shifted attention
from a daily walk with the Creator to a daily effort to eliminate
self-centeredness plus newly minted defects of character—resentment,
self-seeking, dishonesty, and fear. They ignored the Four Absolute
standards of Jesus that were so important to AAs and used in
Akron—unselfishness, purity, honesty, love.
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The Twelfth Step twisted “conversion” to
“spiritual experience” which later add-on provided no way to a new
man, a new power of the Holy Spirit, and a new relationship with
God. Quite frankly, no more dramatic shift in emphasis from God to
self can be found elsewhere in the action steps. The Twelfth Step
emphasized an experience allegedly produced by action instead of a
new creature, in Christ, produced by the Creator in the miracle a
new birth. Its message therefore shifted to some undefined
experience resulting from the steps taken, rather than a
demonstration of what God does for man that man cannot do for
himself. It spoke of principles but simply left them unspecified
even though, in early A.A., the principles were taken from the Ten
Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, the Book of James, and 1
Corinthians 13, and other parts of the Bible.
As Bill’s Depressions Progressed,
Diversionary Programs Multiplied
Clarence Snyder and Cleveland A.A. Perhaps
it all started constructively in May, 1939 when Clarence Snyder took the
Bible, the Oxford Group Four Absolutes, the Big Book, and the Twelve
Steps to Cleveland and made hay with the old and the new, retaining
strong ties to both. Cleveland’s groups grew from one to thirty in a
year. The success rate soared to 93%. And Clarence developed guides to
taking the steps and sponsorship. See Three Clarence Snyder Sponsee
Old-timers and Their Wives: Our A.A. Legacy to the Faith Community: A
Twelve-Step Guide for Those Who Want to Believe. Comp. ed. by Dick B.
Winter Park, FL: Came to Believe Publications, 2005.
Dr, Bob, Sister Ignatia, and St. Thomas Hospital: In 1940, Akron
began to be focused on hospitalization and Twelfth-stepping as part of
the work by Dr. Bob and Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron.
This work retained the important hospitalization of old. But Sister
Ignatia added some new approaches, and both Dr. Bob and Anne Smith were
moving toward their declining years in energy and effort. The Ignatia
story is well covered in Mary C. Darrah. Sister Ignatia: Angel of
Alcoholics Anonymous. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1992; and, while
it cannot be said that the A.A. program thereby changed, it does seem
that a stint with Bob, Ignatia, and St. Thomas might have inclined St.
Thomas patients to believe they had completed their rehabilitation even
though Akron Group Number One was still meeting, and Dr. Bob was still
active.
Enter four new influences. Their respective works are covered elsewhere,
but each brought substantial changes to A.A. itself:
(1) Father Ed Dowling, S.J., entered the scene in late 1940; he
communicated with Bill for the next twenty years. Their subject matter:
Bill’s “second conversion” when he did a “fifth step” with Dowling,
Dowling’s view of the significance of the Exercises of St. Ignatius, and
a steady flow of letters. See Robert Fitzgerald. The Soul of
Sponsorship: The Friendship of Fr. Ed Dowling, S.J., and Bill Wilson in
Letters. Hazelden, 1995. But, by 1942, Bill had gone into a deep,
severe, almost immobilizing thirteen year depression. And still other
leaders and programs were, for whatever reason, attempting to fill the
gap.
(2) Richmond Walker had a spotty past as a recycled drunk. He
gained an interest in the Oxford Group and its literature as early as
1934. He joined the Oxford Group in 1939 to get sober, but didn’t
succeed for much over two years. But he gained extensive knowledge of
Oxford Group ideas In May of 1942, he entered A.A. and was involved in
three very influential literary works. He worked with a devotional
titled God Calling, which had been edited by Oxford Group writer A.A.
Russell. In 1945, a Massachusetts A.A group published Walker’s For
Drunks Only which was filled with Oxford Group ideas, A.A. principles,
and sobriety suggestions. He offered it to A.A. for publication and was
declined. In 1948, Walker worked with God Calling and converted it to a
recovery devotional that has sold in the millions, though also declined
by A.A. itself. That devotional is titled Twenty-Four Hours Book
(3) Father Ralph Pfau Ralph was the first Roman Catholic priest
to get sober in Alcoholics Anonymous (he came in on November 10, 1943),
and under the pen name which he chose to use, Father John Doe, he wrote
his fourteen Golden Books back in the 1940’s and 50’s and early 60’s.
They are still being read and used by A.A.’s today: Spiritual Side
(1947), Tolerance (1948), Attitudes (1949), and others. They were coming
out once a year at the beginning. Then Pfau changed his writing and
published three much longer books, including Sobriety and Beyond (1955).
(4) Ed Webster: In 1946, in Minneapolis, Ed Webster published The
Little Red Book under the sponsorship of the A.A. Nicollet Group. Its
title was "An Interpretation of the Twelve Steps." Ed had the help and
support of Dr. Bob, who gave numerous suggestions for wording various
passages. Ed also wrote Stools and Bottles (1955), Barroom Reveries
(1958) and Our Devilish Alcoholic Personalities (in 1970, just a year
before his death).
Bill’s Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions: When Bill finally
pulled out of his depression, Anne Smith was dead, Dr. Bob was dead, the
reigns of A.A. were becoming the property of New York, and Bill had set
about writing a whole new program in his book Twelve Steps and Twelve
Traditions. It was heavily edited by two Roman Catholic Jesuit priests
who purportedly sought to eliminate Oxford Group thoughts from its
content. Bill also introduced a second edition of the basic text and
adopted “spiritual awakening” as the target of the steps—leaving
conversion, religious experience, and spiritual experience in the dust
bin. He completely replaced “conversion” with a psychological conclusion
that, for most AAs, a mere personality change sufficient to overcome the
“disease” of alcoholism was all that was required for recovery.
Finally, recovery centers and literature substantially pre-empted
doctrinal literature publication and distribution. But, as all the
foregoing developments occurred, the A.A. success rates became
observably more and more dismal—dropping from its original rate of at
least 75% to about 5%. And these changes—one and all—provide solid
reasons for returning to, re-examining, and learning early ideas and
history.
AA OF AKRON rides again through its four
later pamphlets commissioned by Dr. Bob
I don’t think anything surprised me more as an AA
from the West Coast than finding the four AA OF AKRON pamphlets on sale
at the Akron A.A. Intergroup Office--pamphlets originally commissioned
by Dr. Bob. They had apparently been around for years. They were filled
with the kind of Akron A.A. I’ve described above. They quoted the Bible,
recommended prayer, discussed the importance of God, and did so in the
context of the Twelve Steps. Yet how in the world did these gems come
into being when their contents were virtually unknown where I came from?
They seemed at first to be the product or property of some “clandestine
A.A.” until I learned what I know today—that they closely resembled the
Frank Amos summary of early A.A.
I can’t say and do not know how much research has been done on their
origins. But this much has been suggested. Dr. Bob felt that the program
in the Big Book was not easy for “blue collar” AAs to deal with. He
asked Evan W. to prepare some practical guides. And four emerged. For
those who have become acquainted with early A.A. in Akron, there’s not a
surprise in them even though two of the four I own were republished,
respectively in 1989 and 1993, while the other two bear were republished
in October, 1997.
Treat yourself to this A.A. program material. Program principles and
practices that were not written by Bill W., that square with the A.A.
that Frank Amos summarized, that frequently quote the Bible—just as Dr.
Bob did, and that I described in detail above. And let’s look at the
general ideas in each of the pamphlets, one by one:
Spiritual Milestones in Alcoholics Anonymous
At the outset, this pamphlet asks and answers the following:
But, asks the alcoholic, where can I find a
simple, step-by-step religious guide? The Ten Commandments give us a set
of Thou Shalts and Thou Shalt Nots; the Twelve Steps of AA give us a
program of dynamic action; but what about a spiritual guide? Of course
the answer is that by following the Ten Commandments and Twelve Steps to
the letter we automatically lead a spiritual life, whether or not we
recognize it.
Then the pamphlet says: “Here, however, is a set
of suggestions, couched in the simplest of language:
1 – Eliminate sin from our lives.
2 – Develop humility
3 – Constantly pray to God for guidance.
4 – Practice charity.
5 – Meditate frequently on our newly found blessings, giving honest
thanks for them.
6 – Take God into our confidence in all our acts.
7 – Seek the companionship of others who are seeking a spiritual
life.
And the explanatory discussions of these seven
points frequently mention God, Christianity, the Bible, and prayer. The
pamphlet gives several illustrations of how men have found God. It
concludes with the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.
A Manual for Alcoholics Anonymous.
This guide picks up the trail where Spiritual Milestones left off. It
addresses the newcomer, hospitalization, sponsors, visiting the
hospital, and what the newcomer must do on his discharge. He is told to
read the Bible and give particular attention to the Sermon on the Mount,
Book of James, 1 Corinthians 13, and the Twenty-third and Ninety-first
Psalms. The guide suggests a prayer life for each and every day. Then it
describes the thrill of helping someone else. Citing Matthew 6:34 of the
Sermon on the Mount, it suggests day by day time progress and acquiring
health “one day at a time.” It quotes Step Twelve as a “Spiritual
Experience,” not the “Awakening” Bill was soon to substitute as the
result of taking the steps.
Second Reader for Alcoholics Anonymous
Its primary topic is, WHAT IS THERE IN AA FOR ME BESIDES SOBRIETY. And
the article discusses four items: “Work, Play, Love, and
Religion”—substituting A.A. for the latter. It contends that the good
active AA is practicing Christianity whether he knows it or not. It
devotes a paragraph to the Bible accounts that children loved for years:
The Lord’s Prayer, David and Goliath and Samson, Adam and Eve in the
Garden, the Prodigal Son, and the Good Samaritan. And it lays out some
very practical and purposeful ways of sharing a story in A.A. meetings.
A Guide to the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
With this fourth pamphlet, Akron AA completes the circuit of A.A.
activity. It offers the following as a simplified, condensed form of the
complete program:
-
We honestly admitted we were powerless over
alcohol and sincerely wanted to do something about it. In other
words, we admitted we were whipped and had a genuine desire to QUIT
FOR GOOD.
-
We asked and received help from a power
greater than ourselves and another human. (NOTE: In almost all cases
that power is called God. It is, however, God as WE UNDERSTAND HIM.
. . .)
-
We cleaned up our lives, paid our debts,
righted wrongs.
-
We carried our new way of life to others
desperately in need of it.
The pamphlet discusses each of the Twelve Steps
individually. It concludes with these rules for living.
-
Remember that you an alcoholic, and but one
drink away from drunkenness again.
-
Remember that you are completely dependent on
God as you understand Him.
-
Remember to keep your thinking straight.
-
Remember that a wrong act will play on your
mind until you either do something to rectify it or get drunk.
-
Remember that defects will creep into your
life if given half a chance.
-
Remember that if only through gratitude, we
must help others in order to help ourselves.
Is It Any Wonder!
Just look at the road traveled in A.A. between
1935 and 1955. Just look at how the early Akron A.A. precepts perished a
little more along each step of the road. And then ask if it’s any wonder
that today’s people don’t even know their history, and perhaps don’t
even want to know it.
But our educational target is the child of God in A.A.—the Christian,
the believer, if you wish—who is awash in authoritative talk about
spirituality, higher powers, powerlessness, personality changes, and
experiences. It is he who needs to be reached with the simplicity of the
early Christian Fellowship program. He has as much at stake in that
program as any other person in A.A. It concerns his life, his freedom,
and his happiness which were spiraling down the tube in his drinking
years. And he has as much need and right as any person in A.A. to know
that his own beliefs—when used to deliver him from the power of
darkness—were the very beliefs that delivered early AAs from the curse
of alcoholism. It was alcohol that was the enemy and the key. And the
early pioneers found out how to defeat that enemy and turn the lock with
the help of Almighty God.
Dick B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837, 808 874
4876;
dickb@dickb.com;
http://aa-history.com;
http://www.dickb-blog.com;
http://freedomranchmaui.org;
http://aa-history.com/bookstore.
©Dick B. 2006.
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