Alcoholics Anonymous History: Where the
Twelve Steps Came From
Taking, Believing, and Understanding the
Twelve Steps
Dick B.
© 2013 Anonymous. All
rights reserved.
Why Take The Steps Before You Know What the A.A. Cofounders Said About
Their Sources?
Both Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, the cofounders of A.A.,
spoke explicitly on where the 12 Steps came from. Considering the statements of
each, they stated that the basic ideas came from: (1) the Bible; (2) Dr.
William D. Silkworth; (3) Professor William James; and (4) Reverend Samuel M.
Shoemaker, Jr.
As we will see in this article, that summary is not the
whole story. Here’s what A.A.'s cofounders said:
Dr. Bob on the Basic Source Ideas
In his last major address to AAs, delivered in Detroit in
1948, A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob stated:
When we started in on Bill D., we
had no Twelve Steps . . . we had no Traditions. But we were convinced that the
answer to our problems was in the Good Book. To some of us older ones, the
parts that we found absolutely essential were the Sermon on the Mount, the
thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, and the Book of James. [The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous:
Biographical Sketches: Their Last Major Talks (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous
World Services, Inc., 1972, 1975), 13.]
It wasn’t until 1938 that the
teachings and efforts and studies that had been going on were crystallized in
the form of the Twelve Steps. I didn’t write the Twelve Steps. I had nothing to
do with the writing of them. But I think I probably had something to do with
them indirectly. . . . We already had the basic ideas, though not in terse and
tangible form. We got them, as I said, as the result of our study of the Good
Book. [The Co-Founders, 14.]
Bill W. on Thee Sources
In The Language of the
Heart: Bill W.’s Grapevine Writings (NY: The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., 1988),
A.A. cofounder Bill W. stated:
So, then, how did we first learn
that alcoholism is such a fearful sickness as this? Who gave us this priceless
piece of information on which the effectiveness of Step One of our program so
much depends? Well, it came from my own doctor, “the little doctor who loved
drunks,” William Duncan Silkworth. [p. 297]
Who, then, first told us about the
utter necessity for such an awakening, for an experience that not only expels
the alcohol obsession, but which also makes effective and truly real the
practice of spiritual principles “in all our affairs”? Well, this life-giving
idea came to us of AA through William James, the father of modern psychology.
It came through his famous book, Varieties
of Religious Experience. . . .
William James also heavily emphasized the need for hitting bottom. Thus
did he reinforce AA’s Step One, and so did he supply us with the spiritual
essence of today’s Step Twelve. [pp. 297-98]
Having now accounted for AA’s Steps
One and Twelve, it is natural that we should next ask, “Where did the early AAs
find the material for the remaining ten Steps? Where did we learn about moral
inventory, amends for harm done, turning our wills and lives over to God? Where
did we learn about meditation and prayer and all the rest of it?” 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. [p. 298]
“The God of the Scriptures” Was the “Power Greater than Ourselves” to
Which the Co-founders Turned
What God was Bill Wilson speaking of? In The Language of the Heart, Bill wrote at
page 284:
And then the great thought burst
upon me: “Bill, you are a free man: This is the God of the Scriptures.”
What God was Dr. Bob Smith speaking of? In Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed. (NY:
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2001), Dr. Bob wrote at page 181:
Your
Heavenly Father will never let you down!
In 1975, Harper & Row published Robert Thomsen's
biography of A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson under the title Bill W. – 50th Anniversary Edition – Commemorating the 1935 Meeting
Between Bill W. and Dr. Bob that Launched Alcoholics Anonymous (NY: Harper
& Row, Publishers, 1975). In that biography of Bill W., author Thomsen
wrote:
Ever since he [Bill W.] and [Dr.]
Bob had tried to shape a program, their ideas had been based on Oxford Group
principles: first admitting they were powerless over alcohol, then making a
moral inventory, confessing their shortcomings to another, making amends
whenever possible, and finally praying for the power to carry out these
concepts and to help other drunks. [p. 282]
The Additional Sources Upon Which Bill and Bob Drew
The difficulty with all these somewhat-conflicting
statements is that the Twelve Steps themselves came from a much broader group
of resources than any of the writers reported
Therefore, why categorize the four main Big Book-Step roots (Bible,
Silkworth, James, and Shoemaker) without learning, understanding, and comparing
the details about and influences of all the additional contributing sources of
those roots?
There are three different types of roots of the sources of
the 12 Steps.
As announced by the cofounders, the first (the main) roots
of the Steps are the Bible, Silkworth, James, and Shoemaker. The additional
contributing influences and sources are discussed in recent titles my son Ken
and I wrote. See Dick B. and Ken B., The
Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide: Historical Perspectives and Effective Modern
Application, 3rd ed. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc.,
2010); Stick with the Winners! How to
Conduct More Effective 12-Step Recovery Meetings Using Conference-Approved
Literature: A Dick B. Guide for Christian Leaders and Workers in the Recovery
Arena (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2012. The latter two
contributing sources are:
1.
The Seven-Point Summary of the Original Akron
A.A. “Christian Fellowship” Program: Page 54 of The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., quotes verbatim the
seven-point summary of the original A.A. “Christian fellowship” program in
Akron developed by Bill W. and Dr. Bob beginning during the summer of 1935.
This original A.A. program, documented in late February, 1938, by Rockefeller
agent Frank Amos, is recorded on page 131 of the A.A. General Service
Conference-approved book DR. BOB and the
Good Oldtimers (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980).
2.
The 16 Specific Practices of the Akron A.A.
Christian Pioneers: Pages 27-37 of Stick
with the Winners! discuss in some detail the 16 actual practices employed
by the Akron pioneers in their implementation of their original seven-point
A.A. Program documented by Frank Amos. With my son Ken's help, I unearthed and
reported on these 16 practices in conjunction with our 24 years of research on
the origins of Alcoholics Anonymous.
In Total, What are the Roots and Sources Which Define the Origins of
the 12 Steps?
So what are these 27 wellsprings or sources of the 12 Steps
upon which Bill Wilson drew when he put together the Big Book published in
1939? These 27 wellsprings include Bill and Bob’s stated four—Bible, Silkworth,
James, Shoemaker. They include the very specific seven points laid out in the
Frank Amos summary of the original Akron A.A. program. And, in three of my
recent titles, I listed and explained what are at least16 different sources of
the ideas Bill Wilson finally incorporated into the Twelve Step program—the
“new version of the program”—as Bill called his 1939 work-piece (fashioned and
presented by him the first edition of Alcoholics
Anonymous.
Yet the more one searches for specifics, and the more one
researches the historical documents, the more the fullness of the wellspring
details becomes.
In brief, there are 27 wellspring ideas incorporated into
the Twelve Steps as presented in the text of the first edition of Alcoholics
Anonymous, published by Works Publishing Company in 1939. These sources
include:
1. The King James
Version of the Bible (affectionately called “The Good Book.”).
2. William D. Silkworth, M.D. (Bill Wilson’s psychiatrist
who treated him at Towns Hospital.).
3. Professor William James of Harvard, whose book on “vital
religious experiences” that Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob had both read.
4. Dr. Carl Gustav Jung of Switzerland, who told Bill’s Oxford
Group mentor, Rowland Hazard, that—because Rowland had the “mind of a chronic
alcoholic”—a religious conversion might help him overcome drinking.
5. The Oxford Group, to which Bill Wilson and his wife Lois
belonged and with which Dr. Bob and his wife Anne were associated in Akron. Its
28 life-changing ideas influenced all four people—Dr. Bob and his wife Anne,
and Bill W. and his wife Lois.
6. The teachings of Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., with whom
Bill had worked on his proposed “new version” of the program—the preacher whom
Bill called a “co-founder” of A.A. Shoemaker’s prolific writings certainly
covered and paralleled those of the Oxford Group.
7. The “no-cure” ideas and language of the lay therapist
Richard Peabody, whose book, The Common
Sense of Drinking, both Bill and Bob read.
8. The teachings of Dr. Bob’s wife, Anne Ripley Smith, who
compiled and shared with early AAs and their families her personal journal
which she wrote between 1933 and 1939 (Dick B., Anne Smith’s Journal 1933-1939).
9. The Christian books, other religious literature, and
devotionals, circulated by Dr. Bob among early AAs. (Dick B., Dr.
Bob and His Library, 3rd ed. and The Books Early AAs Read for Spiritual Growth, 7th ed.
10. “Quiet Time” and the guidance of God (Dick B., Good Morning!: Quiet Time, Morning Watch,
Meditation, and Early A.A.).
11. Belief in, and conversion to, God through Jesus Christ
(Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W.) .
12. Qualification of newcomers as to their decision to quit
permanently, and as to their willingness to go to any lengths in order to get
and stay sober.
13. Medical help for, or hospitalization of, newcomers—literally
to save their lives in withdrawal..
14. New Thought writings and ideas—as evidenced by a
sprinkling of “new thought” words like “higher power” that came from William
James and Emmet Fox, among others.
15. Intensive work helping newcomers get straightened out.
16. Recommended social and religious comradeship.
17. Recommended weekly attendance at a religious service.
18. Evangelists like Dwight Moody, Ira Sankey, Allen Folger,
Francis Clark, F.B. Meyer (Dick B., Dr.
Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His
Excellent Training in the Good Book as a Youngster in Vermont).
19. Lay workers of the Young Men's Christian Association
(the YMCA). See Dr. Bob of Alcoholics
Anonymous.
20. The Salvation Army. See the popular book by Harold
Begbie, Twice Born Men.
21. Gospel or rescue missions. See The Conversion of Bill W.
22. The Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor. See Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous.
23. Dr. Bob’s extensive Christian upbringing and Bible study
as a youngster in Vermont. See Dr. Bob of
Alcoholics Anonymous.
24. Bill Wilson’s extensive Christian upbringing, Congregational
church attendance, YMCA participation, and Bible study as a youngster in
Vermont and Burr and Burton Seminary. See The
Conversion of Bill W.
25. The “Farther Out” ideas manifested in Big Book language,
and in the practices and experiments of Bill Wilson, and seemingly emanating
from Bill’s extensive exposure to Lois Wilson’ Swedenborgian sect, in psychic
experiments, in Richard Maurice Bucke’s Cosmic
Consciousness book, in spiritualism, and in mysticism. See the writings of Mel B. and in “Pass It On.”
26. The idea of self-made religion, a self-made deity, absurd
names for a god, and choosing one’s own conception of an “higher power.” See Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age.
Through the years of my research and writing, all of the
foregoing 26 ideas have been discussed. Today, our research, travels,
interviews, studies, visits to archives and libraries, and acquisition of
pertinent literature provide the substantial documentation that can be found in
several of my titles, including: (1) Dick B. and Ken B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good
Book As a Youngster in Vermont (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications,
Inc., 2008), 275-99; (2) Dick B., A New
Way Out: New Path—Familiar Road Signs—Our Creator’s Guidance (Kihei, HI:
Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2006), 14-32; and (3) Dick B. and Ken B.,
The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide,
3rd ed.
Materials on several of our more recent findings are
discussed, from various viewpoints, in the following titles (among others): (1)
Mel B., My Search for Bill W. (Center
City, MN: Hazelden, 2000); (2) Mel B., New
Wine: The Spiritual Roots of the Twelve Step Miracle (Center City, MN:
Hazelden, 1991); (3) Mel B., Ebby.
(4) Mel B., New Wine; (5) Susan
Cheever, My Name is Bill: Bill Wilson—His
Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous (NY: Washington Square Press,
2004); (6) Silkworth: The Little Doctor
Who Loved Drunks; (7) Bill W. My
First Forty Years. (8) William G. Borchert, The Lois Wilson Story When Love is Not Enough: A Biography of the
Cofounder of Al-Anon (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2005). (9) Bill Pittman
and Dick B., Courage to Change: The
Christian Roots of the Twelve-Step Movement (Center City, MN: Hazelden,
1994).
Alcoholism and Drug
Addiction are life and death conditions--illnesses. Neither the afflicted, nor
another human being,, nor medicine can cure these conditions (or so claims
Alcoholics Anonymous). That said, why concoct and urge reliance on self-made
religion, spurious “spirituality,” “absurd names for God, and “half-baked
prayers” (as Shoemaker called all four)? Why adopt such makeshift bandaids when
historians, A.A. Society literature, researchers, writers, and psychologists,
talk about “Taking the 12 Steps,” but leave “God” out, and avoid the documented and prime sources of instruction
that produced the early results that put A.A. on the map!
It would appear that today’s AAs and A.A. critics are frequently
discussing fashioned ideas and approaches which seem to appeal to their
individual beliefs, unbelief, or creeds—but which sadly do not point them to
the multitude of sources where the initial instructions for taking the Twelve
Steps can be found.
We will suggest an approach, particularly for Christians, in
later writings. But it would be well to point here to several inconsistent
approaches today that leave much to be desired—by all concerned.
1.
Following the varied instructions in four
different editions of Alcoholics
Anonymous.
2.
Studying or minimizing the “Personal Stories” in the Big Book—including
the original stories in the first edition (1939), when all but three of the
original First Edition stories are omitted from the fourth edition (2001).
3 Using one of the many secular “Step guides”
that have all sorts of subjective interpretations of what the step language
means and how to “take” those steps—even those stalwart presentations published
by Joe and Charlie from the Big Book Seminars through Hazelden (in a variety of
forms), and accompanied by a host of other variant guides by other individuals.
4.
Using one of the so-called “Recovery Bibles”: Life Recovery Bible, Serenity:
A Companion for Twelve Step Recovery, Recovery
Devotional Bible, and the Celebrate
Recovery Bible. Yet most of these four commonly read books are filled with
page after page of attempted, edited, subjective correlation of the Steps to
some verse or section of scripture being read at any given time—a privilege for
the clergy perhaps, but not one that gives a bona fide picture of the original
12 Step program or its sources as outlined here..
5. Using one of the innumerable
“Christian Step Guides” now in print, most of which append a writer’s personal,
subjective view of one or more Bible verses deemed to be relevant to the Step
under study—but not based on historical fact or practice in A.A..
How to Utilize All These Sources in Today’s Recovery Arena and Diverse
Participants
Can any or all of the foregoing and other approaches be
reconciled with the Bible and the Big Book? Can the Big Book and the Bible be
reconciled at all? Can the Steps be used as life-changing guides emanating from
biblical basics? Can the accuracy and integrity of the Word of God be preserved
by a Big Book-Bible student who would like to utilize the Steps, the A.A.
Fellowship, and the Bible in recovery? Can one study the Bible in conjunction
the Big Book presentation of the Twelve Steps and meet the “requirement” of the
Book of James—“But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your
own selves” (James 1:22)
When we address these issues at a later point and certainly
in the forthcoming First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference
in Portland Maine in September, 2013, we will begin with the way in which Bill
W. and Dr. Bob—though differing in theological viewpoints and religious
backgrounds—were able to collaborate in the use of the Steps, build on the
Bible basics, discuss A.A. history, and retain their own convictions as to how
these elements could be used by their particular followers to help drunks. The
best proof of how the co-founders dealt with the problem can be found in the
talks, interviews, and accounts of Dr. Bob’s words—particularly as they are
paraphrased in the four AA of Akron pamphlets which, though substantially
edited, cover the biblical approaches of the original program. As to the
diversity of subjective alterations of ideas by Bill W., one can learn much
from Bill’s Twelve Steps and Twelve
Traditions and the printer’s manuscript of the Big Book first edition just
published by Hazelden and showing how God was edited out of the Steps the last
minute before the basic text went to press in 1939.
For more information, contact Dick B. at dickb@dickb.com
Gloria Deo
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