How long it has taken to publicize the reason or reasons why Bill Wilson's psychiatrist told him on his third hospital visit that Jesus Christ could cure him? In my case, it wasn't until Hazelden recently published an excellent biography of Silkworth, The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks.
Actually, as Norman Vincent Peale documented in his book The Positive Power of Jesus Christ, Silkworth had given this same advice that Jesus Christ - the "Great Physician" - could cure alcoholics.
However, it wasn't until I studied the Silkworth biography that I learned several things for a certainty. (1) William D. Silkworth, M.D. was a devout Christian. (2) Silkworth knew and attended the church of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. (3) Perhaps much more important is the long-standing friendship of Dr. Silkworth with Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in New York--the man that Bill Wilson dubbed a "co-founder of A.A." (4) Added to these facts is the record that Dr. Silkworth attended Shoemaker's Calvary Church for quite some time.
To those who ask, Was Dr. Silkworth a Christian, the answer is Yes!
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