AA-The James Club and A.A. Study Groups

AA-The James Club and A.A. Study Groups

Dick B.
© 2010 Anonymous. All rights reserved

For several years, I have featured “The James Club” in both my articles and my books about early A.A.

There were several reasons for this: (1) Early AAs wanted to call their Society and Big Book “The James Club.” But they were overruled by A.A. Cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob. (2) The reason for this, said both Bill and Bob, was that the Book of James in the Bible was a favorite with the Akron A.A. pioneers and their Christian Fellowship. (3) Dr. Bob and many early AAs frequently stated that the Book of James, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians were considered “absolutely essential” to the early program and its astonishing successes. (4) The Bible itself was stressed as reading material. (5) Many of the devotionals the Alcoholics Anonymous pioneers used contained verses from James, Matthew 5-7, and 1 Corinthians 13. (6) A.A.’s Big Book itself contains several references (without their biblical attribution) that are taken directly from the Book of James and from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. These include “faith without works is dead,” “love thy neighbor as thyself, “Father of lights,” and “Thy will be done.” (7) Moreover, until recent years, most A.A. meetings closed with members joining hands and saying the “Lord’s Prayer”—which comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

I have written several books which explain the early A.A. reliance on, and study of, the Bible for their basic ideas and program. See Dick B., The Good Book-Big Book Guidebook: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible; The Good Book-Big Book Guidebook; The James Club and The Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials; Why Early A.A. Succeeded; When Early AAs Were Cured and Why; and Turning Point: A History of Early A.A.’s Spiritual Roots and Successes. See www.dickb.com/titles.shtml.

AAs today hear very little about their Bible roots. They hear even less about the importance of the Book of James, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13 in early A.A. In fact, many have confused some Emmet Fox writings with the real “sermon on the mount.” To the degree that I have sometimes written and often said at conferences: “Emmet Fox did not deliver the Sermon on the Mount; Jesus did!”

For many years, I have urged AAs and others to form study groups so that they can learn, discuss, and apply the principles in their Big Book, Twelve Steps, Bible, and history in their daily lives. And do so more effectively.

As a consequence, across the United States, many AAs and recovery-related fellowships have formed study groups. They study the Bible and the Big Book. They study the Twelve Steps and the Bible. They study A.A. history. They study A.A. in the context of its Bible roots. And they see how the Bible IS related to A.A. today, and also how it is NOT related. Many of the study groups call themselves “James Clubs” in order to affiliate themselves with what I call “old school” A.A. and to study and respect the Bible as an integral part of A.A. history.

In other words, A.A. and Twelve Step Christian and Bible study groups are alive and well today. And so is “The James Club” in the titles they use.

dickb@dickb.com; www.dickb.com

Gloria Deo