A.A. Holiday Studies of A.A. and the Oxford Group

Alcoholics Anonymous History

Holiday Study of the Oxford Group Root of A.A.

One of Many

                                                                                                   

Alcoholics Anonymous History:

Alcoholics Anonymous History -- the origins, the roots, and the early tools can be your special, simple, inexpensive way of reading, studying, learning, and applying the varied roots of A.A. in recovery today. This is the Oxford Group root. A.A. didn’t come from the Oxford Group; but by the time its Big Book was written and published, Bill Wilson had used Oxford Group ideas (or, as “Pass It On” expressed it) the Big Book was “heavy with Oxford Group” materials.



Studying the Oxford Group impact.



First of all, the original Akron program was Bible-based—not Oxford Group-based. As published in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, the Akron program was summarized in seven points on page 131. It was also made clear that the Akron Christian Fellowship was not based in any way on affiliation with the Oxford Group. Garth Lean wrote a biography of Oxford Group Founder Frank Buchman and echoed the non-Oxford Group comment in A.A.’s DR. BOB. Lean quoted Oxford Group activist James D. Newton as to the agreement worked out in the early Akron days with the Oxford Group. It was: “You look after drunken men. We’ll try to look after a drunken world.” Garth Lean, Frank Buchman: A Life (London: Constable, 1985, 152. This position should be compared with the Akron comment that its regular Wednesday meeting was a “clandestine” lodge of the Oxford Group.



Second, the Big Book program was taken in small part from Dr. Silkworth as to Step One, from Professor James as to Step Two and the “spiritual experience” solution of Step Twelve. But there were twenty-eight Oxford Group ideas that impacted on the Big Book itself and on Steps 3 through 12. Bill Wilson made this clear in his article published in

The Language of the Heart, page 298.



Learning A.A.'s Roots in the Oxford Group as taught to Wilson by Rev. Sam Shoemaker.

The Oxford Group contribution – from its sources and founding to the 28 ideas incorporated by Bill Wilson—is thoroughly covered and documented in Dick B., The Oxford Group & Alcoholics Anonymous: A Design for Living that Works www.dickb.com/Oxford.shtml.

You can order it online.



Alcoholics Anonymous and The Principal Oxford Group Ideas



Relevant Items to Look for:



The eight Oxford Group categories that include the twenty-eight Oxford Group roots are these:

(1)    In the beginning, God.

(2)    Sin—Estrangement from God—the Barrier of Self

(3)    Finding or Rediscovering God

(4)    The Path They Followed to Establish a Relationship with God.

(5)    Jesus Christ.

(6)    Spiritual Growth – Continuance

(7)    The Spiritual Experience or Awakening

(8)    Fellowship with God and Believers, and Witness by Life and Word.

Holiday Study Groups incorporating study of the easily recognized Oxford Group ideas:

These Oxford Group ideas included Biblical descriptions of God, His plan, Man’s chief end, and believing. Also, the important idea of sin as that which separates man from God and from others. Also, finding God through Surrender, “Soul-surgery”—the “Art” or Way, and Life Change as the result. Then the path which parallels A.A.’s Steps—Decision, Self Examination, Confession, Conviction, Conversion, and Restitution. Next, Jesus Christ as the source of power. Then, spiritual growth through continuance which included continuance as an idea, daily surrender as a process, guidance, the Four Absolutes, Quiet Time, Bible study, Prayer, Listening to God for leading thoughts, checking. Then the resultant spiritual experience called for by Carl Jung, defined by William James, and articulated by the Group and Shoemaker, Finally, Fellowship and Witness.



Since we first featured this piece of history, many AAs, Christian and otherwise, have formed Big Book/Bible Study groups. Some called "James Clubs."



Your Specific A.A. Guide: The Oxford Group & Alcoholics Anonymous: A Design for Living that Works, Newton ed.



Use this all-important guide by Dick B., www.dickb.com/Oxford.shtml. You can order this online.



You'll find each specific Oxford Group idea, language, and even words that closely parallel and are instructive about significant Big Book and other A.A. literature.



Three Suggested Study Tools:

Your study tools: The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous; New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A., and By the Power of God—a guide to study groups. All available to you on line, and see descriptions on www.dickb.com/titles.shtml.



dickb@dickb.com, 808 874 4876.