Biography of Author Dick B. – Updated December 24, 2013
I am an author, A.A. historian, retired attorney, Bible
student, CDAAC, Christian recovery leader, and an active, recovered member of
Alcoholics Anonymous with more than 27 years of continuous sobriety. I use the
pen name Dick B. to conform to A.A. Traditions. I have sponsored over 100 men
in their recovery program.
I began my quest to learn A.A. History when I was about
three years sober. A young AA named John came up to me in an A.A. Step Study
Meeting in Marin County, California. He said: "Dick, did you know that
A.A. came from the Bible. They were so fond of the Book of James that they
first wanted to call A.A. “The James Club." I said: "John, I have
been to more than a thousand meetings; and I have never heard that statement
made." John said I should read A.A.'s own "DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers." And I did. And the pages were surfeited with mention of God,
the Bible, prayer, Quiet Time, their Christian Fellowship, their required
belief in God, their required acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in
order to come to Him. And I was intrigued, excited, and off to the races.
Joined by my son Ken (a non-alcoholic, ordained minister,
teacher, researcher, and businessman):As of September,2013, I had, for more
than 24 years, been researching the origins, history, Christian upbringing of
A.A. cofounders Dr. Bob and Bill W., how the first three AAs got sober, the
original Akron A.A. Group Number One--a Christian fellowship, the literature of
and by AAs, the founding of Akron A.A. in 1935, the new version of the program
of Twelve Steps in the Big Book first published in 1939, the basic ideas that
the original Akron AAs took and developed from their teachings, studies, and
efforts in the Bible; the fundamental roots of early A.A. in the Bible, United
Christian Endeavor, the Salvation Army, the Rescue Missions, the Young Men's
Christian Association, the evangelists of the 1800's, later, the life-changing
program of A First Century Christian Fellowship also known as the Oxford Group,
the teachings of Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Quiet Time, the teachings of Anne
Ripley Smith (Dr. Bob's wife), and the roles of William James, Carl Jung,
William D. Silkworth, Christian literature and devotionals of the day, and the
conversion to God when Bill W. accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at
Calvary Mission in New York, followed by Bill's decision to seek the help of
the "Great Physician" (Jesus Christ); Bill's checking in to Towns
Hospital, crying out to God for help, and then having his blazing indescribably
white light vital religious experience in his hospital room, his sensing the
presence of God, and his conclusion: "Bill, you are a free man. This is
the God of the Scriptures." Bill stopped drinking at once, lost all doubts
he had about the existence of God, and believed he had been commissioned to
help drunks all over the world. He was discharged from the hospital, went into
the streets, hospitals, and flea bag hotels with a Bible under his arm, telling
drunks they must give their lives to God, and relating that "the Lord had
been so wonderful to [Bill] curing him of his terrible disease that he just
wanted to keep talking about it and telling people”. These were the beginnings
of the research and then turned into a major search for the original program,
the practices of its pioneer members, the proof of their testimonies, and the
astonishing successes they achieved.
Of late, the research and writing has shifted emphasis: Now
that we know the astonishing successes of early Akron AAs can be attributed to
the power and love of God and the truth of His Word, the challenge and
accomplishments have been and are how to encourage today's alcoholics and
addicts to see, learn, and apply the techniques of the early Akron A.A.
Christian Fellowship, and succeed in like manner. That is, if they want God's
help and realize they neither they nor any other human power has been able to
cure and release them. And, in all, I have published 46 titles and over 1,500
articles on all aspects of A.A.'s spiritual history, biblical roots, Christian
beginnings, and the many changes that occurred thereafter. And why? Because
many in the 12 Step Fellowships tire of hearing about nonsense gods and a
'higher power' that can be a tree, a radiator, a light bulb, the group, or
Gertrude. And they tire of seeing Biblical expressions in A.A.'s basic text and
early literature and yet hearing today's literature stating that A.A. is
'spiritual, but not religious' and "not-god-ness" when outsiders and
the courts readily see its religious character and many therefore believe they
should be able to learn A.A. Christian roots to help them recover from
alcoholism, change their lives, and make new victorious lives for themselves.
And they tire of the fatalism that abounds in recovery
writings and talk today. So I decided to find out where A.A. came from, and
then pass on to the 100-plus men I have sponsored and then tens of thousands of
others, the truth about A.A.'s roots. And later some 4 million readers and
viewers.
Currently and still today, one history after another appears
in print and purports to talk about A.A.'s beginnings. Yet there is little or
no mention of the Bible, of God, of Jesus Christ, of the gift of the Holy
Spirit, of divine healing, of redemptive forgiveness, or of deliverance from
the power of darkness. Nonetheless, these unmentioned or little mentioned
Christian elements were relied upon by early AAs for their astonishing
recoveries. The fact is that the pioneers declared they were cured by the power
of God and had a documented 75 to 93% success rate among seemingly hopeless,
medically incurable, alcoholics who gave the program their best shot.
So each of my 46 published titles and innumerable articles
covers some aspect, and often more than one, of A.A.'s seven major Biblical and
basic roots: (1) The Bible. (2) Quiet Time and the daily devotionals. (3) The
teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, Jr. (4) The life-changing program of the
Oxford Group. (5) The details in the spiritual journal kept by Anne Ripley
Smith (co-founder DR. Bob's wife) and shared with the pioneers and their
families, but unmentioned today. (6) The extensive Christian literature ranging
from St. Augustine to Brother Lawrence to Henry Drummond to John Mott to Harry
Emerson Fosdick to Glenn Clark to Oswald Chambers, and a host of others. (7)
One of the most recent finds has been the roots of Akron A.A. in the United
Christian Endeavor Society.
If one wants to admit the disastrous results emanating from
excessive use of alcohol and drugs, to concede he is at the bottom of the well,
to acknowledge that he is in a seemingly hopeless medically incurable
situation, and to understand the role, power, and love of God our Creator in
A.A. today, that person will not accomplish much in the meetings, nor even in
the "something" or "somebody" definitions that are pumped
out today as a "power" to seek. Nonetheless, they can find accurate
facts in my thoroughly researched and documented work of the past 24 years. For
A.A. history abounds with truths from the Bible: how to come to God through His
son Jesus Christ, how to be healed, how to comport yourself in accordance with
Christian principles, how to pray, and how to receive guidance as one of God's
kids. It's all there; and I welcome your comments and the many I receive each
day.
There's still plenty to learn and pass on. God Bless, Dick B. PS: Many of
our latest findings are in The Dick B.
Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., (2010) www.dickb.com/Christian-Recov-Guide.shtml.
Many are frequently posted on my blogs such as www.mauihistorian.blogspot.com,
as well as my Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, Tumbler, Pinterest, WordPress, In
the Rooms, Daily Recovery, Christian Recovery Social, CyberRecoverySocial, www.DrBob.info, and Hub Pages entries. I
conduct interviews of recovered Christian leaders with great frequency on the “Christian
Recovery Radio with Dick B.” show--www.ChristianRecoveryRadio.com.
Gloria Deo
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