Aloha to you, William, from Maui, Hawaii!
Thank you for your question about whether it is
appropriate to "use the phrase Christ is my Higher Power."
There are very simple answers to your question in the Bible,
in the Big Book, and in A.A. history.
1. The Bible: The phrase "higher power" in the
singular does not occur in the King James Version of the Bible. All you need to
do to verify that is to use the Blue Letter Bible available online:
www.BlueLetterBible.org. Use "higher power" as your search term. If
you put quotes around the phrase "higher power," you will get the
following result:
"higher power"
occurs in 0 verses in the KJV (see Primary Results).
["higher power," www.BlueLetterBible.org:
http://mcaf.ee/b7cqy; accessed 4/6/13]
There are a number of descriptive words and phrases used of
Jesus in the Bible. For example, "Christ" [which is the Greek equivalent
of the Hebrew word "Messiah" and means "anointed (one)"]
and "Son of the living God":
He [Jesus] saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou,
Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven.
I suggest you consider sticking with the language of
Scripture.
2. Alcoholics Anonymous ("the Big Book"). The
phrase "Higher Power" occurs two (2) times in pages 1-164 of the
fourth edition of the Big Book. You may verify that using the "164 and
More" Big Book search tool available online: www.164andmore.com:
His defense must come from a Higher Power. (Alcoholics
Anonymous, 4th ed., 43)
Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently
live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances!
(Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 100)
As to the occurrence of the phrase "Higher Power"
on page 43, it is interesting to note:
1. The letter "h" in the phrase "Higher
Power" (as it appears in the fourth edition) was not capitalized in the
first printing of the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous. The phrase was
written:
. . . higher Power.
2. Taking the page 43 “Higher Power” in context, let’s look
at pages 45 and 46 of the fourth edition:
And, it means, of course, that we are going to talk about
God [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed, 45]
We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice
and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we
commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully
define or comprehend that Power, which is God [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th
ed., 46]
3. In the paragraph
just before the paragraph in which the phrase "Higher Power" occurs
on page 43 of the fourth edition, we find the following language:
As to two of you men, whose stories I have heard, there is
no doubt in my mind that you were 100% hopeless, apart from divine help.
[Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 43]
As to the occurrence of the phrase "Higher Power"
on page 100, it is interesting to note:
1. In the same paragraph in which the phrase "Higher
Power" occurs on page 100, the previous sentence reads:
When we look back, we realize that the things which came to
us when we put ourselves in God's hands were better than anything we could have
planned. [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 100]
2. In the paragraph immediately preceding the paragraph in
which the phrase "Higher Power" occurs on page 100, we find the
following two sentences:
Remind the prospect that his recovery is not dependent upon
people. It is dependent upon his relationship with God. [Alcoholics Anonymous,
4th ed., 100]
When it comes to sharing your personal experience (or
"personal story"), page 29 of the fourth edition of the Big Book
offers a good starting point:
Each individual, in the personal stories, describes in his
own language and from his own point of view the way he established his
relationship with God.
And stick with the facts! Here are some facts about the word
"God," capitalized pronouns, and biblical descriptions as they are
used of the Creator of the heavens and the earth on pages 1-164 of the fourth
edition of the Big Book:
• The word
"God" occurs 135 times on pages 1-164. [This figure includes related
word-forms, including "God-consciousness" (p. 13), "God's"
(pp. 24, 25, etc.), "God-sufficiency" (p. 52), "God-given"
(p. 69), and "God-conscious" (p. 85).] If one chooses to
omit/disqualify "for God's sake" (p. 24) and "the God of
reason" (p. 54), that would leave 133 occurrences of the word “God” which
fairly clearly refer to the Creator of the heavens and the earth.
• Capitalized
pronouns referring to the Creator of the heavens and the earth (i.e., God)
occur 81 times on pages 1-164; i.e., "He," "His,"
"Him," "Thou," "Thy," and "Thee."
• Biblical descriptions
of the Creator of the heavens and the earth (i.e., God), other than the word
"God," occur 16 times on pages 1-164--i.e., "Creator,"
"Maker," "the Father," and "the Father of Light."
(Please see the three attached files about occurrences of
the word "God," capitalized pronouns, and biblical descriptions of
the Creator of the heavens and the earth in pages 1-164 of the fourth edition
of the Big Book for the documentation.) [And to the reader, you may obtain
copies of the three files by emailing dickb@dickb.com]
3. Alcoholics Anonymous history. Here is the message A.A.
cofounder Bill W. said that Ebby carried to him:
"I've got religion." [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th
ed., 9]
Bill then stated:
[Ebby] . . . did no ranting. In a matter of fact way he told
how two men had appeared in court, persuading the judge to suspend his
commitment. They had told him of a simple religious idea and a practical
program of action. . . . [T]he result was self-evident. It worked! [Alcoholics
Anonymous, 4th ed., 9]
Bill continued:
. . . [M]y friend sat before me, and he made the point-blank
declaration that God had done for him what he could not do for himself.
[Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 11]
And Bill declared:
Thus was I convinced that God is concerned with us humans
when we want Him enough. [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 12]
A.A. Number Three, Bill D. of Akron, had this to say about
the message Bill W. carried:
Bill [W.] was at my house talking to my wife and me. We were
eating lunch, and I was listening and trying to find out why they had this
release that they seemed to have. Bill looked across at my wife and said to
her, "Henrietta, the Lord has been so wonderful to me, curing me of this
terrible disease, that I just want to keep talking about it and telling
people." [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 191]
A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob had this to say about Bill W.
following their first, six-hour meeting on Mother's Day, May 12, 1935, in
Akron:
. . . [T]his was a man . . . who had been cured by the very
means I had been trying to employ, that is to say the spiritual approach.
[Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 180]
And what message was Dr. Bob carrying?
“Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!” [Alcoholics
Anonymous, 4th ed., 181]
What message was A.A, Number Three, Bill D., carrying?
"I thought, I think I have the answer. Bill was very,
very grateful that he had been released from this terrible thing and he had
given God the credit for having done it, and he's so grateful about it he wants
to tell other people about it. That sentence, "The Lord has been so wonderful
to me, curing me of this terrible disease, that I just want to keep telling
people about it," has been a sort of a golden text for the A.A. program
and for me.” [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 181]
There is, of course, much more to be found in A.A. history
about the roles played by God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible in early
A.A.'s astonishing successes. You might look, for example, at page 131 of DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers. There
you will find a seven-point summary of the original Akron A.A. "Christian
fellowship" program by Frank Amos, the agent of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
No "higher Power" or "Higher Power" there. Just God, the
Creator of the heavens and the earth. As Ebby shared with Bill W. at Towns
Hospital in December 1934 shortly after Bill W.'s hospital room had
"blazed with indescribably white light" and Bill had sensed the
presence of God:
My friend promised when these things were done I would enter
upon a new relationship with my Creator; that I would have the elements of a
way of living which answered all my problems. Belief in the power of God, plus
enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain the new
order of things, were the essential requirements. [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th
ed., 14]
Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!
Thank you for writing to Dick B.
In GOD's love,
Dick B.'s son, Ken
For further information, see Dick B., God and Alcoholism: Our Growing Opportunity in the 21st Century. Available right now on Amazon.com.
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