For many years, we have been emphasizing the importance of several A.A. General Service Conference-approved Literature publications. These are a vital part in any study of A.A. origins, A.A. history, A.A. founding, A.A.'s Original Akron Program, and subsquent changes.
Pamphlet P-53 is titled "The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches Their Last Major Talks." This pamphlet is often not seen on the literature tables of the many A.A. meetings I attend. But the pamphlet has much important information about A.A. in the words of its Co-founders.
Much of the Bible background, of which Dr. Bob spoke, spilled over into and was expanded in A.A. General Service-Conference Approved "DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers." This too is often not found on literature tables.
At our two conferences in California on September 17 and September 20, much of our focus will be on the early A.A. program and how to apply it today. And it is particularly important to start with several of A.A.'s own pieces, as well as the extensive research on history in the last 30 years.
Please send to me, and/or bring to the conference, as many P-53 Pamphlets as fit within your budget. These will be distributed free at the Conferences.
God Bless, Dick B. PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
AA - 12 Step - AA History - James Club Study Groups: A Big Boost
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
AA - 12 Step - James Club Study Groups: A Terrific Boost from Georgia
Here is a terrific boost for study groups, for the idea of James Clubs,
and for more and more information about the early A.A. emphasis
on the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and
1 Corinthians 13. Many thanks to The James Gang in Georgia
Dick B.
Be sure to take a look at the flyer. It's great!
From:
Date: Aug 30, 2011 6:42 AM
Subject: The James Gang - Flyer
I've shared The James Gang - Flyer
Message from kurt.igoglobal@gmail.com:
FYI.......
Click to open: [You will need to contact Kurt until and unless I can transmit the actual flyer]
The James Gang - Flyer
Google Docs makes it easy to create, store and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
Monday, August 29, 2011
International Christian Recovery Coalition banners for your site, links, directories
Great enthusiasm for a particular cause or mission or website often springs from notice of an attractive banner placed on the web by an individual or group.
We want to see the mission and progress of the International Christian Recovery Coalition widely publicized so that others may learn about, talk about, and participate in the growing Christian Recovery Movement.
If it would bless you, we would welcome your using one of the banners on you website, link, listing of resources, directories, newsletters, and the like.
Here are the banners and instructions as to how to post them.
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/images/banners/index.shtml
We want to see the mission and progress of the International Christian Recovery Coalition widely publicized so that others may learn about, talk about, and participate in the growing Christian Recovery Movement.
If it would bless you, we would welcome your using one of the banners on you website, link, listing of resources, directories, newsletters, and the like.
Here are the banners and instructions as to how to post them.
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/images/banners/index.shtml
Sunday, August 28, 2011
The Documented 93% Success Rate of Early Cleveland A.A.
The Documented(!) 93% Success Rate in Cleveland, Ohio
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved
The first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous in Cleveland, Ohio, was held on May 11, 1939, one month and a day after the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (the “Big Book”) was published on April 10, 1939. Writing to a member trying to get A.A. started in a new city, Bill Wilson said:
I explain this at some length because I want you to be successful with yourself and the people with whom you work. We used to pussyfoot on this spiritual business a great deal more out here [in New York City] and the result was bad, for our record falls quite a lot short of the performance of Akron and Cleveland, where there are now about 350 alcoholics, many of them sober 2 or 3 years, with less than 20% ever having had any relapse.”
An even greater, 93% success rate was reported in Cleveland A.A., whose first group was founded in May 1939, shortly after the Big Book was published in April of that year. Clarence Snyder (Dr. Bob's sponsee and founder of A.A. in Cleveland) is quoted as saying in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers:
Clarence said . . . "I think A.A. was more effective in those days. Records in Cleveland show that 93 percent of those who came to us never had a drink again. When I discovered that people had slips in A.A., it really shook me up."
Mitchell K., Clarence Snyder's biographer, reported as to the 93% success rate in Cleveland:
Two years after the publication of the book [i.e., of Alcoholics Anonymous (the "Big Book") in April 1939], Clarence made a survey of all of the members in Cleveland. He concluded that, by keeping most of the "old program," including the Four Absolutes and the Bible, ninety-three percent of those surveyed had maintained uninterrupted sobriety.
Three of Clarence Snyder sponsees wrote: "Of the first 260 people who came into A.A. in Cleveland, ninety-three percent never drank again!" These Cleveland groups grew from one to thirty in a year.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved
The first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous in Cleveland, Ohio, was held on May 11, 1939, one month and a day after the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (the “Big Book”) was published on April 10, 1939. Writing to a member trying to get A.A. started in a new city, Bill Wilson said:
I explain this at some length because I want you to be successful with yourself and the people with whom you work. We used to pussyfoot on this spiritual business a great deal more out here [in New York City] and the result was bad, for our record falls quite a lot short of the performance of Akron and Cleveland, where there are now about 350 alcoholics, many of them sober 2 or 3 years, with less than 20% ever having had any relapse.”
An even greater, 93% success rate was reported in Cleveland A.A., whose first group was founded in May 1939, shortly after the Big Book was published in April of that year. Clarence Snyder (Dr. Bob's sponsee and founder of A.A. in Cleveland) is quoted as saying in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers:
Clarence said . . . "I think A.A. was more effective in those days. Records in Cleveland show that 93 percent of those who came to us never had a drink again. When I discovered that people had slips in A.A., it really shook me up."
Mitchell K., Clarence Snyder's biographer, reported as to the 93% success rate in Cleveland:
Two years after the publication of the book [i.e., of Alcoholics Anonymous (the "Big Book") in April 1939], Clarence made a survey of all of the members in Cleveland. He concluded that, by keeping most of the "old program," including the Four Absolutes and the Bible, ninety-three percent of those surveyed had maintained uninterrupted sobriety.
Three of Clarence Snyder sponsees wrote: "Of the first 260 people who came into A.A. in Cleveland, ninety-three percent never drank again!" These Cleveland groups grew from one to thirty in a year.
16 Specific Practices Associated with the Original Akron A.A. "Christian Fellowship" Program
16 Specific Practices
Associated with the Original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” Program
Bill W. and Dr. Bob Developed
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved
Here are 16 actual practices of the original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” during the period from June 10, 1935, to the publishing of the First Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (the "Big Book") in April 1939:
1. Qualifying the newcomer. Newcomers—and often their wives—were interviewed by Dr. Bob (and other pioneer AAs) to determine: if they had conceded that they had an uncontrollable alcoholism problem; if they had shown a desire to quit permanently; and if they had committed themselves to go to any length to stay sober.
2. Hospitalization was a must. Newcomers were hospitalized for a period of some five-to-seven days. They were medicated to prevent seizures and other problems. During this time, Dr. Bob would visit extensively each day, other sober alcoholics would tell the newcomer their stories, the Bible was the only reading material allowed, and Dr. Bob would offer the newcomer the opportunity to "surrender" before release.
3. “Surrender” by the newcomer before discharge after his five-to-seven-day stay at the hospital. Before the newcomer was discharged from the hospital, Dr. Bob would conduct his final visit and require that the newcomer profess a belief in God—not “a” God, but God. Then the newcomer would get out of his bed, get down on his knees, and pray with Dr. Bob, accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in the process.
4. Upon leaving the hospital, in the case of Clarence Snyder at least, Clarence was taken to his first Oxford Group meeting at T. Henry’s house, given a Bible by Dr. Bob, and told by Dr. Bob to “go out and fix drunks as an avocation.” This practice of telling the newcomer, at the time he surrendered to God, that he must go out and help other drunks was consistent from the very first.
5. Most went to live in the Smith residence or in the residences of other Akron people like Wally G. and Tom L. They stayed as long as needed in order to get steady in their path.
6. There were Christian fellowship meetings every day, with Dr. Bob, Anne, and Henrietta Seiberling. These included group Bible study, prayer, and Quiet Time observances.
7. In addition, each morning, alcoholics and their family members gathered at the Smith home for a Quiet Time conducted by Anne, with prayer, Bible reading, seeking guidance, and discussion of portions of Anne’s personal journal.
8. There was one “Oxford Group” meeting each Wednesday at the home of T. Henry Williams—a meeting unlike any other Oxford Group meeting. These meetings scarcely resembled conventional Oxford Group meetings. Oldtimers Wally and Annabelle G. said they had read a lot about the Oxford Group meetings being held at the Mayflower [in 1933] but that “it wasn’t until later that they realized the meeting at T. Henry’s was 'sort of a clandestine lodge of the Oxford Group.'” Dorothy S. M., wife of Dr. Bob's sponsee, Clarence S., observed in 1937 that the meeting was “a regular old fashioned prayer meeting.” Dr. Bob’s son, Robert R. (“Smitty”) Smith, in a telephone conversation with me from his home in Nocona, Texas, described the meetings as “old fashioned revival meetings.” Author Nan Robertson quoted Dr. Bob's son, Smitty, as follows: “It was kind of like an old fashioned revival meeting.” Some called the group itself “the alcoholic squad.” Frank Amos referred to the group as the “self-styled Alcoholic Group of Akron, Ohio.” Dr. Bob called the group a “Christian Fellowship.” Frank Amos declared, “Members did not want the movement connected directly or indirectly with any religious movement or cult; they stressed the point that they had no connection whatever with any so-called orthodox religious denomination, or with the Oxford Movement. (Obviously, Amos meant the Oxford Group).” Bob E. stated:
Dr. Bob and T. Henry “teamed” the meeting; T. Henry took care of the prayers with which the meeting was opened and closed. “There were only a half dozen in the Oxford Group. We [the alcoholics] had more than that. Sometimes, we’d go downstairs and have our meeting, and the Oxford Group would have theirs in the sitting room.”
9. The “real surrender” by each newcomer at a “regular” meeting on Wednesday. And at these weekly meetings, there was a time in which newcomers were required to make a “real surrender” with Dr. Bob and one or two others upstairs. There the newcomer, on his knees, accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, asked that alcohol be taken out of his life, and asked strength and guidance to live according to cardinal Christian teachings. The elders prayed with him after the manner of James 5:16.
10 There was extensive reading of Christian devotionals and literature provided by Dr. Bob, or recommended by Dr. Bob or his wife, and/or distributed or made available at meetings.
11. There was particular stress on study of the Book of James, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and 1 Corinthians 13.
12. Meetings concluded with invitations to reach out to newcomers in the hospital and elsewhere, and then closed with the Lord’s Prayer.
13. There was frequent socializing in the homes, particularly on Saturday evenings.
14. The little group of members and wives knew each other well. They frequently phoned one another. They frequently visited the homes of each other. They gathered for parties, dances, covered-dish suppers, and picnics. They prayed together. And they frequently had meals together.
15. Keeping track of names, addresses, phone numbers, and sobriety information about each member was commonplace as evidenced by their address books and rosters. They kept little address books with the names, phone numbers, and street addresses of the pioneers. Also, this data was listed on some of the rosters which they kept and which are discussed next.
16. The easy to find, extant rosters they kept, make it equally simple today to name and document the successes, relapses and returns, and failures among the original AAs. Particularly evidenced by the hand-written memo and roster kept by Dr. Bob and on file in the Rockefeller Archives today. Other rosters of the names and addresses, sobriety dates, and relapses, if any, were kept and still exist today. Richard K. of Massachusetts—author of four major works on early A.A. history, including studies of the “First 40” cures, about early articles about A.A., and about statistics relating to A.A.—has discussed these rosters. Richard spent several months with me in Maui reviewing the rosters and materials I had, as well as materials he obtained from A.A. General Services in New York and elsewhere. He carefully examined photocopies of original documents, newspaper accounts, and extant lists of the early A.A. members and their sobriety records. His work is the most important study of early A.A. successes, cures, and announcements written to date. There are also my own copies of the pioneer member rosters which were acquired by me from several A.A. historians such as Earl Husband, George Trotter, Sue Smith Windows (Dr. Bob’s daughter), and Ray Grumney (former long-time archivist and member of the managing board at Dr. Bob’s Home in Akron). Their value became particularly valuable when other evidence was reviewed and clearly disclosed that early AAs commonly kept address books—many of which contained names, addresses, phone numbers, sobriety information, and relapse and death notations. As a group, these rosters enable an accurate evaluation of the successes of the original 40 pioneers surveyed by Bill W. and Dr. Bob in November 1937. And they provide important evidence relating to the 75% and 93% successes rates (overall, and in Cleveland, respectively) early A.A. claimed. Recently, an anonymous friend from New Jersey supplied me with a copy of a roster in Dr. Bob’s own hand, written on his medical office stationary, and listing all the successful original members, giving names, drinking history, relapses if any, sobriety dates, and age. It came from the Rockefeller Archives in New York. I now possess one I secured from those archives. It is a vital, new piece of evidence apparently unknown to those who have disputed the early A.A. successes or temporized about the reason for them.
Associated with the Original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” Program
Bill W. and Dr. Bob Developed
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved
Here are 16 actual practices of the original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” during the period from June 10, 1935, to the publishing of the First Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (the "Big Book") in April 1939:
1. Qualifying the newcomer. Newcomers—and often their wives—were interviewed by Dr. Bob (and other pioneer AAs) to determine: if they had conceded that they had an uncontrollable alcoholism problem; if they had shown a desire to quit permanently; and if they had committed themselves to go to any length to stay sober.
2. Hospitalization was a must. Newcomers were hospitalized for a period of some five-to-seven days. They were medicated to prevent seizures and other problems. During this time, Dr. Bob would visit extensively each day, other sober alcoholics would tell the newcomer their stories, the Bible was the only reading material allowed, and Dr. Bob would offer the newcomer the opportunity to "surrender" before release.
3. “Surrender” by the newcomer before discharge after his five-to-seven-day stay at the hospital. Before the newcomer was discharged from the hospital, Dr. Bob would conduct his final visit and require that the newcomer profess a belief in God—not “a” God, but God. Then the newcomer would get out of his bed, get down on his knees, and pray with Dr. Bob, accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in the process.
4. Upon leaving the hospital, in the case of Clarence Snyder at least, Clarence was taken to his first Oxford Group meeting at T. Henry’s house, given a Bible by Dr. Bob, and told by Dr. Bob to “go out and fix drunks as an avocation.” This practice of telling the newcomer, at the time he surrendered to God, that he must go out and help other drunks was consistent from the very first.
5. Most went to live in the Smith residence or in the residences of other Akron people like Wally G. and Tom L. They stayed as long as needed in order to get steady in their path.
6. There were Christian fellowship meetings every day, with Dr. Bob, Anne, and Henrietta Seiberling. These included group Bible study, prayer, and Quiet Time observances.
7. In addition, each morning, alcoholics and their family members gathered at the Smith home for a Quiet Time conducted by Anne, with prayer, Bible reading, seeking guidance, and discussion of portions of Anne’s personal journal.
8. There was one “Oxford Group” meeting each Wednesday at the home of T. Henry Williams—a meeting unlike any other Oxford Group meeting. These meetings scarcely resembled conventional Oxford Group meetings. Oldtimers Wally and Annabelle G. said they had read a lot about the Oxford Group meetings being held at the Mayflower [in 1933] but that “it wasn’t until later that they realized the meeting at T. Henry’s was 'sort of a clandestine lodge of the Oxford Group.'” Dorothy S. M., wife of Dr. Bob's sponsee, Clarence S., observed in 1937 that the meeting was “a regular old fashioned prayer meeting.” Dr. Bob’s son, Robert R. (“Smitty”) Smith, in a telephone conversation with me from his home in Nocona, Texas, described the meetings as “old fashioned revival meetings.” Author Nan Robertson quoted Dr. Bob's son, Smitty, as follows: “It was kind of like an old fashioned revival meeting.” Some called the group itself “the alcoholic squad.” Frank Amos referred to the group as the “self-styled Alcoholic Group of Akron, Ohio.” Dr. Bob called the group a “Christian Fellowship.” Frank Amos declared, “Members did not want the movement connected directly or indirectly with any religious movement or cult; they stressed the point that they had no connection whatever with any so-called orthodox religious denomination, or with the Oxford Movement. (Obviously, Amos meant the Oxford Group).” Bob E. stated:
Dr. Bob and T. Henry “teamed” the meeting; T. Henry took care of the prayers with which the meeting was opened and closed. “There were only a half dozen in the Oxford Group. We [the alcoholics] had more than that. Sometimes, we’d go downstairs and have our meeting, and the Oxford Group would have theirs in the sitting room.”
9. The “real surrender” by each newcomer at a “regular” meeting on Wednesday. And at these weekly meetings, there was a time in which newcomers were required to make a “real surrender” with Dr. Bob and one or two others upstairs. There the newcomer, on his knees, accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, asked that alcohol be taken out of his life, and asked strength and guidance to live according to cardinal Christian teachings. The elders prayed with him after the manner of James 5:16.
10 There was extensive reading of Christian devotionals and literature provided by Dr. Bob, or recommended by Dr. Bob or his wife, and/or distributed or made available at meetings.
11. There was particular stress on study of the Book of James, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and 1 Corinthians 13.
12. Meetings concluded with invitations to reach out to newcomers in the hospital and elsewhere, and then closed with the Lord’s Prayer.
13. There was frequent socializing in the homes, particularly on Saturday evenings.
14. The little group of members and wives knew each other well. They frequently phoned one another. They frequently visited the homes of each other. They gathered for parties, dances, covered-dish suppers, and picnics. They prayed together. And they frequently had meals together.
15. Keeping track of names, addresses, phone numbers, and sobriety information about each member was commonplace as evidenced by their address books and rosters. They kept little address books with the names, phone numbers, and street addresses of the pioneers. Also, this data was listed on some of the rosters which they kept and which are discussed next.
16. The easy to find, extant rosters they kept, make it equally simple today to name and document the successes, relapses and returns, and failures among the original AAs. Particularly evidenced by the hand-written memo and roster kept by Dr. Bob and on file in the Rockefeller Archives today. Other rosters of the names and addresses, sobriety dates, and relapses, if any, were kept and still exist today. Richard K. of Massachusetts—author of four major works on early A.A. history, including studies of the “First 40” cures, about early articles about A.A., and about statistics relating to A.A.—has discussed these rosters. Richard spent several months with me in Maui reviewing the rosters and materials I had, as well as materials he obtained from A.A. General Services in New York and elsewhere. He carefully examined photocopies of original documents, newspaper accounts, and extant lists of the early A.A. members and their sobriety records. His work is the most important study of early A.A. successes, cures, and announcements written to date. There are also my own copies of the pioneer member rosters which were acquired by me from several A.A. historians such as Earl Husband, George Trotter, Sue Smith Windows (Dr. Bob’s daughter), and Ray Grumney (former long-time archivist and member of the managing board at Dr. Bob’s Home in Akron). Their value became particularly valuable when other evidence was reviewed and clearly disclosed that early AAs commonly kept address books—many of which contained names, addresses, phone numbers, sobriety information, and relapse and death notations. As a group, these rosters enable an accurate evaluation of the successes of the original 40 pioneers surveyed by Bill W. and Dr. Bob in November 1937. And they provide important evidence relating to the 75% and 93% successes rates (overall, and in Cleveland, respectively) early A.A. claimed. Recently, an anonymous friend from New Jersey supplied me with a copy of a roster in Dr. Bob’s own hand, written on his medical office stationary, and listing all the successful original members, giving names, drinking history, relapses if any, sobriety dates, and age. It came from the Rockefeller Archives in New York. I now possess one I secured from those archives. It is a vital, new piece of evidence apparently unknown to those who have disputed the early A.A. successes or temporized about the reason for them.
Original 7-Point Early A.A. Program - For presentation & discussion at California Summit Conferences
The Original, Seven-Point, Akron A.A. Program
In February 1938, before work began on the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., dispatched his agent, Frank Amos, to Akron to investigate what Amos referred to as the “self-styled Alcoholic Group of Akron, Ohio.” In his report to Mr. Rockefeller on the results of his investigation, Amos included a description of the original, seven-point, Alcoholics Anonymous program that Bill W. and Dr. Bob began developing over the summer of 1935. The following is a discussion of that Amos report, including the description of the original Akron A.A. “Program,” found on pages 130-31 of the A.A. General Service Conference-approved book DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (New York, N.Y.: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980):
In meeting with a number of the men, their wives, and “in some cases, their mothers,” Mr. Amos heard varying stories, “many of them almost miraculous.” He noted, however, that when it came to recovery, they were all remarkably alike in “the technique used and the system followed.” He described the “Program” as follows:
“1. An alcoholic must realize that he is an alcoholic, incurable from a medical viewpoint, and that he must never drink anything with alcohol in it.
“2. He must surrender himself absolutely to God, realizing that in himself there is no hope.
“3. Not only must he want to stop drinking permanently, he must remove from his life other sins such as hatred, adultery, and others which frequently accompany alcoholism. Unless he will do this absolutely, Smith and his associates refuse to work with him.
“4. He must have devotions every morning—a “quiet time” of prayer and some reading from the Bible and other religious literature. Unless this is faithfully followed, there is grave danger of backsliding
“5. He must be willing to help other alcoholics get straightened out. This throws up a protective barrier and strengthens his own willpower and convictions.
“6. It is important, but not vital, that he meet frequently with other reformed alcoholics and form both a social and a religious comradeship.
“7. Important, but not vital, that he attend some religious service at least once weekly.”
Mr. Amos said, “All the above is being carried out faithfully by the Akron group, and not a day passes when there is not one or more new victims to work on, with Smith as their leader by common consent.”
Stressing Dr. Bob's importance in the work at Akron, Frank Amos went on to note that even though there were other able men in the group, they all looked to Dr. Bob for leadership.
In February 1938, before work began on the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., dispatched his agent, Frank Amos, to Akron to investigate what Amos referred to as the “self-styled Alcoholic Group of Akron, Ohio.” In his report to Mr. Rockefeller on the results of his investigation, Amos included a description of the original, seven-point, Alcoholics Anonymous program that Bill W. and Dr. Bob began developing over the summer of 1935. The following is a discussion of that Amos report, including the description of the original Akron A.A. “Program,” found on pages 130-31 of the A.A. General Service Conference-approved book DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (New York, N.Y.: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980):
In meeting with a number of the men, their wives, and “in some cases, their mothers,” Mr. Amos heard varying stories, “many of them almost miraculous.” He noted, however, that when it came to recovery, they were all remarkably alike in “the technique used and the system followed.” He described the “Program” as follows:
“1. An alcoholic must realize that he is an alcoholic, incurable from a medical viewpoint, and that he must never drink anything with alcohol in it.
“2. He must surrender himself absolutely to God, realizing that in himself there is no hope.
“3. Not only must he want to stop drinking permanently, he must remove from his life other sins such as hatred, adultery, and others which frequently accompany alcoholism. Unless he will do this absolutely, Smith and his associates refuse to work with him.
“4. He must have devotions every morning—a “quiet time” of prayer and some reading from the Bible and other religious literature. Unless this is faithfully followed, there is grave danger of backsliding
“5. He must be willing to help other alcoholics get straightened out. This throws up a protective barrier and strengthens his own willpower and convictions.
“6. It is important, but not vital, that he meet frequently with other reformed alcoholics and form both a social and a religious comradeship.
“7. Important, but not vital, that he attend some religious service at least once weekly.”
Mr. Amos said, “All the above is being carried out faithfully by the Akron group, and not a day passes when there is not one or more new victims to work on, with Smith as their leader by common consent.”
Stressing Dr. Bob's importance in the work at Akron, Frank Amos went on to note that even though there were other able men in the group, they all looked to Dr. Bob for leadership.
Cured? Recovered? Arrested? "In recovery" - the Great Quandary Still. But how about God!
Here's my reply to a puzzled AA
Tommy:
My son Ken may be able to add something to this, but I begin by stating I certainly know your quandary about “recovery” and “recovered” and I’m wondering if you know about “cured.” I suggest you begin by reading page 191 of the 4th edition of the Big Book and then my title “Cured!!: Proven Help Today for Alcoholics and Addicts” www.dickb.com/cured.shtml.
I doubt if anyone in or out of A.A. knows who at GSO – now that Wilson is dead and Nell Wing is out of the picture – makes these mysterious changes in Big Book language. I certainly don’t when it comes to “recovery” “recovered” and “cured.”
We have thoroughly documented that Dr. Silkworth, Bill Wilson, Dr. Bob, and A.A. Number Three all believe they had been permanently cured of alcoholism. The first draft cover of the Big Book (green) has the phrase “Alcoholics Anonymous Their Pathway to a Cure.” The Wilson-Parkhurst promotional says they had a cured. GSO sells a catalogue with innumerable news, magazines, and columnist clippings across America in which many AAs were quoted as saying they were cured by the power of God. You can also read in the 4th edition the statements in pages 180-182 and page 191 where the same statement is made. There is also the lengthy series of news article which originally said “cured” and then mysteriously began to appear with “recovered” and the “cured” deleted. Who did it? Why?
Although the phrase “in recovery” is certainly popular in treatment arenas and in other fellowships, it seems to be a product of the thinking and language of those who make a living out of revolving door treatment and relapse and treatment and relapse and treatment and relapse. In this respect, I can say of myself that I was a mighty sick man when I entered the rooms of A.A. more than 25 years ago and have never had a drink or a sleeping pill from that day until this. At about 8 months, I truly turned to God for help with all my troubles—just as the early AAs did—and I believe I had been cured by the power of God, For I never doubted the cures in the Old Testament, the cures by Jesus, and the cures listed in the Book of Acts. I still don’t.
As to “recovered,” I have been through all the tortured questioning of when and whether and how we could say “recovery” when the Big Book says “recovered” and Bill later injected from The Common Sense of Drinking that we are never cured. Once an alcoholic always an alcoholic. Then allowed the very very clear statements by Bill Wilson and Bill Dotson to be included in page 191 of the Big Book where both averred: “The Lord has cured me.”
You may note the footnote in A.A. Conference Approved literature that endeavors to justify the change by implying the early AAs were misled. Wilson? Smith? Dotson? Silkworth? The writer of the Liberty Magazine Article who interviewed Bill? The hundreds of statements in newspapers (printed in A.A.’s own catalog). Or the unspecified committee who added that statement to DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers?
So today: Are we “in recovery?” I’m not. But I hear it all the time in the “wisdom of the rooms.”
Are we “recovered?” Well the Big Book says it is going to have the writers tell us exactly how they recovered. And I happen to think I’ve come a lot farther with God’s help than quivering each day in fear that I only have today I have no problem saying that I have recovered.
Are we “Cured?” Dr. Silkworth wrote and advised patients that Jesus Christ could cure them. He also was the primary speaker in the Rockefeller offices where four Rockefeller people, Wilson and some New York alcoholics, Smith and some Akron alcoholics, Dr. Strong—Bill’s brother-in-law—were present when Silkworth said he believed the men he had treated had been permanently cured.
Then we go to the academic community and want to argue over whether we have an allergy and an obsession where the obsession is removed by the power of God (something they sometimes call “arrested”) The allergy remains as a constant threat. But I suggest you look at the Book of James—which Dr. Bob quoted frequently, which the Big Book quotes—which points out that “temptation” is a deadly problem, that the devil must be resisted, that we are to submit ourselves to God and humble ourselves while the “Lord” lifts us up. I can easily concede that temptation to drink, to smoke, to steal, to lie, to cheat, to be mean and angry, to be fearful are always there to entice, trap, and destroy. See John 10:10. But Dr. Bob pointed to the language of the Lord’s Prayer which asks deliverance from temptation.
Thus, we can simply dive into A.A.—sick or well. We can study the Big Book and “take” the Twelve Steps. We can start “working with others’ as quickly as possible. We can recognize that Bill’s conversion was changed to a spiritual experience, then to a spiritual awakening, and then to a personality change. Finally, we can keep it really simple and “trust God, clean house, and help others” by telling them how we did it with God’s help when we sought Him. Otherwise, why the abc’s on page 60! That God could and would if He were sought! An original manuscript says He can and He will.
Maybe we suffer from a severe writer’s problem and those who like to present their opinions as dogma.
Tommy:
My son Ken may be able to add something to this, but I begin by stating I certainly know your quandary about “recovery” and “recovered” and I’m wondering if you know about “cured.” I suggest you begin by reading page 191 of the 4th edition of the Big Book and then my title “Cured!!: Proven Help Today for Alcoholics and Addicts” www.dickb.com/cured.shtml.
I doubt if anyone in or out of A.A. knows who at GSO – now that Wilson is dead and Nell Wing is out of the picture – makes these mysterious changes in Big Book language. I certainly don’t when it comes to “recovery” “recovered” and “cured.”
We have thoroughly documented that Dr. Silkworth, Bill Wilson, Dr. Bob, and A.A. Number Three all believe they had been permanently cured of alcoholism. The first draft cover of the Big Book (green) has the phrase “Alcoholics Anonymous Their Pathway to a Cure.” The Wilson-Parkhurst promotional says they had a cured. GSO sells a catalogue with innumerable news, magazines, and columnist clippings across America in which many AAs were quoted as saying they were cured by the power of God. You can also read in the 4th edition the statements in pages 180-182 and page 191 where the same statement is made. There is also the lengthy series of news article which originally said “cured” and then mysteriously began to appear with “recovered” and the “cured” deleted. Who did it? Why?
Although the phrase “in recovery” is certainly popular in treatment arenas and in other fellowships, it seems to be a product of the thinking and language of those who make a living out of revolving door treatment and relapse and treatment and relapse and treatment and relapse. In this respect, I can say of myself that I was a mighty sick man when I entered the rooms of A.A. more than 25 years ago and have never had a drink or a sleeping pill from that day until this. At about 8 months, I truly turned to God for help with all my troubles—just as the early AAs did—and I believe I had been cured by the power of God, For I never doubted the cures in the Old Testament, the cures by Jesus, and the cures listed in the Book of Acts. I still don’t.
As to “recovered,” I have been through all the tortured questioning of when and whether and how we could say “recovery” when the Big Book says “recovered” and Bill later injected from The Common Sense of Drinking that we are never cured. Once an alcoholic always an alcoholic. Then allowed the very very clear statements by Bill Wilson and Bill Dotson to be included in page 191 of the Big Book where both averred: “The Lord has cured me.”
You may note the footnote in A.A. Conference Approved literature that endeavors to justify the change by implying the early AAs were misled. Wilson? Smith? Dotson? Silkworth? The writer of the Liberty Magazine Article who interviewed Bill? The hundreds of statements in newspapers (printed in A.A.’s own catalog). Or the unspecified committee who added that statement to DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers?
So today: Are we “in recovery?” I’m not. But I hear it all the time in the “wisdom of the rooms.”
Are we “recovered?” Well the Big Book says it is going to have the writers tell us exactly how they recovered. And I happen to think I’ve come a lot farther with God’s help than quivering each day in fear that I only have today I have no problem saying that I have recovered.
Are we “Cured?” Dr. Silkworth wrote and advised patients that Jesus Christ could cure them. He also was the primary speaker in the Rockefeller offices where four Rockefeller people, Wilson and some New York alcoholics, Smith and some Akron alcoholics, Dr. Strong—Bill’s brother-in-law—were present when Silkworth said he believed the men he had treated had been permanently cured.
Then we go to the academic community and want to argue over whether we have an allergy and an obsession where the obsession is removed by the power of God (something they sometimes call “arrested”) The allergy remains as a constant threat. But I suggest you look at the Book of James—which Dr. Bob quoted frequently, which the Big Book quotes—which points out that “temptation” is a deadly problem, that the devil must be resisted, that we are to submit ourselves to God and humble ourselves while the “Lord” lifts us up. I can easily concede that temptation to drink, to smoke, to steal, to lie, to cheat, to be mean and angry, to be fearful are always there to entice, trap, and destroy. See John 10:10. But Dr. Bob pointed to the language of the Lord’s Prayer which asks deliverance from temptation.
Thus, we can simply dive into A.A.—sick or well. We can study the Big Book and “take” the Twelve Steps. We can start “working with others’ as quickly as possible. We can recognize that Bill’s conversion was changed to a spiritual experience, then to a spiritual awakening, and then to a personality change. Finally, we can keep it really simple and “trust God, clean house, and help others” by telling them how we did it with God’s help when we sought Him. Otherwise, why the abc’s on page 60! That God could and would if He were sought! An original manuscript says He can and He will.
Maybe we suffer from a severe writer’s problem and those who like to present their opinions as dogma.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The Complete Program for the Sept 24 Christian Recov Summit in Brentwwood, CA
The International Christian Recovery Coalition
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
Presents
The North American Summit Conference Meeting #2
Saturday, September 24, 2011, 9:30 AM to 8:00 PM
Golden Hills Community Church—Brentwood Campus
2401 Shady Willow Lane, Brentwood, CA 94513
(925) 516-0653
http://goldenhills.org/
Theme
Using Akron-Cleveland Christian Recovery Model Principles
to Enhance Substantially Today's Christian Recovery Efforts
Contact: Dick B., Executive Director
International Christian Recovery Coalition
PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
Email: DickB@DickB.com
Cell: 808 276 4945
The Program
Summit Conference Meeting #2
Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, CA
Friday Evening, September 23, 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (** We hope you can make this meeting, too)
Workshop meeting with International Christian Recovery Coalition Participants: Details soon!
Saturday, September 24, 9:30 am to 8:00 pm:
Pre-meeting music and hospitality
Commencing prayer
Welcome by Matt Pierce, Pastor of Recovery Ministry, Golden Hills Community Church
Theme presentation by Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons” Worldwide—on the Move!
Learning about the astonishing success of the original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program and how to apply its principles and practices today;
how the early Cleveland program built upon the original Akron program and
set the stage for Christian recovery opportunities today
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Vision presentation by Ken B.
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons”:
Supplying Critically-Important, Missing Pieces in Modern Christian Recovery Efforts
Lunch Break (1 hour)
Featured Speaker: J. Donald Hall, Don Hall Ministries, 23365 Barnes Lane, Colfax, CA 95713
Long-recovered wayward youth and drug addict
Missionary evangelist and Bible teacher--18 years, serving with Youth With a Mission and
others in over 60 nations; conferences, seminars, retreats, and mission
services –also community programs in schools, prisons, and civic clubs
Graduate of Vanguard University, Costa Mesa, CA (B.A. Degree)
Graduate of California Graduate School of Theology (M.A. Degree)
Founder and former Executive Director of Teen Challenge in Southern CA and Hawaii
for sixteen years
Cited by the Governors of California and Hawaii for his leadership in the fight against
drug abuse and crime among America’s Youth
Senior Pastor of Calvary Assembly, San Jose, California, for eight years
Recent ministries: South Korea Outreach; Sri Lanka Ministry; Singapore; Gulf Disaster Relief
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Speaker Panel 1:
Jeff A. Holt, Men’s Recovery Fellowship, Auburn Church of the Nazarene, Auburn, California
Dale Marsh, Recovery Pastor, Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Oroville, California; International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers’ Bureau
Dominic D, Turning Point Recovery Ministry, Cornerstone Fellowship—Livermore Campus, California
Roger McDiarmid, International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers' Bureau, Huntington Beach, California
Wade Hess, Training Director, CityTeam Ministries, San Jose, California
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Speaker Panel 2:
Mark Galligan, Leader, “Akronite” Recovery Group, Ontario, Canada
David Sadler, Christian recovery leader serving Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California
Karen A. Plavan, Ph.D., Prof. of Counseling an Chemical Dependency, Director of Oasis Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Bill Boyles, President, Won Way Out Ministries, Wyoming, Delaware
Wayne White, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, President/CEO, Footprints/Alcoholics Victorious,
Kansas City, Missouri
Dinner Break (1 hour)
International Christian Recovery Coalition Future Plans: Dick B. and Ken B.
Christian Music Concert
Closing Prayer
Our Sponsors and Endorsers
Christian Denominational Recovery Programs
United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence
Rev. Cynthia W. Sloan
Program Associate,
United Methodist Special Program on
Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV)
New York Office location: 475 Riverside Drive, room 338
New York, NY 10115
phone: 212-870-3699, fax: 212-870-3932
North Carolina Office location:
325 Meadowbrook Drive
Matthews NC 28104-4309
phone: 704-882-0282
email: csloan@gbgm-umc.org
website: http://www.umspsarv.org
Become a “Fan” on SPSARV’s Facebook page
SPSARV Advance Number: 982598
Episcopal Diocese of Texas Recovery Committee
Fr. Bill Wigmore, Chaplain and Former President
Austin Recovery
8402 Cross Park Drive
Austin, TX. 78754
Tel: 512.697.8674
Email: RevBillW@gmail.com
website: www.AustinRecovery.org
Individual Benefactors
Bob J., Kihei, Maui, Hawaii
Philanthropist and long-time Christian recovery and A.A. history collector and benefactor
Rick S.
Long-recovered Christian recovery work supporter
Rick is preparing a sponsor's guide to Alcoholics Anonymous, using the first edition text.
The guide will be published in paperback and on the Internet; and it will have accompanying audio talks of Rick's taking people through the Big Book.
Robert P. Turner, M.D., M.S.C.R.
Associate Professor of Neurosciences, Pediatrics, and Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, & Epidemiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Christian Churches
The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, California, Host, September 17, 2011, Conference
Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California, Host, September 24, 2011, Conference
Endorsing Christian Recovery Libraries and Archives
Griffith Library, The Wilson House – birthplace of Bill Wilson, East Dorset, Vermont
Bonnie Burke (formerly, Bonnie Lepper), President
23,000 historical items donated by Dick B., A.A. meetings, Quiet Time, seminars.
Conducted Tours at East Dorset, Vermont (Wilson House, Griffith Library, East Dorset
Congregational Church—where both the Wilson and the Griffith families and
Bill W. attended—and nearby cemetery where Bill and Lois Wilson are buried)
Conducted Tours to St. Johnsbury, Vermont (Dr. Bob’s birthplace and boyhood home,
North Congregational Church—where all of Dr. Bob’s family attended,
The Athenaeum—the village library containing many historical records,
St. Johnsbury Academy—where Dr. Bob attended, his father was an Examiner,
and his mother had been student, teacher, school historian & Exec. Comm. member)
Dr. Bob Core Library—North Congregational Church (UCC), St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Jay Sprout, Pastor
The entire family of Dr. Bob attended this church and was active in its affairs.
North Congregational Church sponsors this Conference in the context of housing the “Dr. Bob Core Library.”
Ray G., Newton Falls, Ohio, and Seminole, Florida
Traveling archives; and, for 21 years, the Archivist and a Managing Board Member, Dr.
Bob’s Home, Akron, Ohio; A.A. speaker and exhibitor of A.A. historical Items all over the United States and Canada, and on sobriety cruises
The St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Library, Akron, Ohio
Mark Pruitt, Rector
This is the church in which Dr. Bob became a communicant before his death.
Its former rector, Dr. Walter Tunks, was a major figure in the beginning Akron days of A.A.
The library is a source of A.A. historical materials.
Christian Intervention, Treatment, Recovery Ministries, Counseling, Sober Living
Sponsors
New Life Spirit Recovery
Robert T. Tucker, Ph.D., D.Min., Registered Addiction Specialist, MCA and M-RAS)
Founder and Executive Director, New Life Spirit Recovery Christian Treatment Center; President, Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counseling (aka: ACADC Institute)
18652 Florida Street, Suite 200, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 841.1906 or Call Toll Free (866) 543.3361
http://www.newlifespiritrecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html
Rock Recovery Ministry, ABC Sober Living, Soledad House
David Powers, Rock Church recovery leader
810 Emerald Street
San Diego, CA 92109
Contact: david@abcsoberliving.com
619.925.1879
http://www.rockrecovery.org/
Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands, California
Pastor Mike Belzman, Ph.D., Chairman and Founder
Jeff Jay and Debra Jay, Grosse Point, Michigan
Nationally-known authors, lecturers, interventionists,
Authors of Love First: A Family’s Guide To Intervention—Updated
Tools and Techniques to Help Loved Ones Heal from Addiction, 2d ed., rev and exp.
(Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2008)
Publishers
Sponsors
Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services, division of Hazelden Foundation
Center City, Minnesota, www.Hazelden.org; publisher of recovery books, including:
The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous
Bill W.: My First 40 Years
Silkworth: The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks
Dover Publications
publisher of many books, including Alcoholics Anonymous: The Original 1939 Edition,
with an Introduction by Dick B.: http://store.doverpublications.com/0486480593.html
Our Exhibitors and Displays
United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV)
http://www.umspspserv.org
New Light Spirit Recovery, Huntington Beach, California
http://www.newlifespiritrecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html
Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands, California
Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services, division of Hazelden Foundation
www.Hazelden.org
Our Featured Speaker and Panelists
Featured Speaker: J. Donald Hall, Don Hall Ministries, Colfax, California
(See details in this program about his education; his work with Teen Challenge and Youth With A Mission, his pastoring of churches, his work as a Missionary Evangelist and Bible teacher, and his speaking engagements in 60 nations.)
Speaker Panel 1:
Jeff A. Holt, Men’s Recovery Fellowship, Auburn Church of the Nazarene, Auburn, California
Dale Marsh, Recovery Pastor, Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Oroville, California
Dominic D, Turning Point Recovery Ministry, Cornerstone Fellowship—Livermore Campus, California
Roger McDiarmid, International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers' Bureau, Huntington Beach, California
Wade Hess, Training Director, CityTeam Ministries, San Jose, California
Speaker Panel 2:
Mark Galligan, Leader, “Akronite” Recovery Group, Ontario, Canada
David Sadler, Christian recovery leader serving Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California
Karen A. Plavan, Ph.D., Prof. of Counseling an Chemical Dependency, Director of Oasis Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Bill Boyles, President, Won Way Out Ministries, Wyoming, Delaware
Wayne White, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, President/CEO, Footprints/Alcoholics Victorious,
Kansas City, MO
Acknowledgments
Our Conferences could not have taken place without leadership and help from:
Randy Moraitis, Executive Pastor of Ministries, The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, CA
Matt Pierce, Pastor of Recovery Ministry, Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, CA
David Powers, Rock Recovery Ministries Leader, Rock Church, San Diego, CA
The Lifelines Band, Costa Mesa, CA
The Musicians at Golden Hills Community Church
Roger McDiarmid, Huntington Beach, California
David Sadler, Lafayette, California
Karl Kramer, Brentwood, California
Our Sponsors
Our Endorsers
Our Exhibitors
Thank you!
For Further Participation in and Support of the Projects of International Christian Recovery Coalition
Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/christian-recovery-guide.shtml
The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class by Dick B. and Ken B.
http://dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml
(The class includes four DVD's, a class instructor's guide, a student's guide, and
The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed.)
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons” Worldwide
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/christian-recovery-resource-centers.shtml
The 29-volume “Dick B. A.A. History and Christian Recovery Movement Reference Set”
http://www.dickb.com/titles.shtml
The International Christian Recovery Coalition Web site:
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
The International Christian Recovery Coalition Blog
http://internationalchristianrecoverycoaliti.blogspot.com/
International Christian Recovery Coalition Forums Website
http://www.christianrecoverycoalition.com/forums/
Other Christian Recovery and A.A. Historical Resources
FREE: Over 650 articles by Dick B.: http://www.dickb.com/articles.shtml
FREE: Over 175 recorded audio talks by Dick B.: DickB.com/Audio-talks.shtml.
FREE: Follow Dick B. on Facebook, on Twitter, and on the Dick B. Blog.
FREE: The “Dick B. FYI Message” newsletters: To subscribe, please go to the bottom of the center column of the www.DickB.com front page.
FREE: The Dick B. Channel on YouTube (“dickbchannel”): http://goo.gl/rCtH6
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
Presents
The North American Summit Conference Meeting #2
Saturday, September 24, 2011, 9:30 AM to 8:00 PM
Golden Hills Community Church—Brentwood Campus
2401 Shady Willow Lane, Brentwood, CA 94513
(925) 516-0653
http://goldenhills.org/
Theme
Using Akron-Cleveland Christian Recovery Model Principles
to Enhance Substantially Today's Christian Recovery Efforts
Contact: Dick B., Executive Director
International Christian Recovery Coalition
PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
Email: DickB@DickB.com
Cell: 808 276 4945
The Program
Summit Conference Meeting #2
Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, CA
Friday Evening, September 23, 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (** We hope you can make this meeting, too)
Workshop meeting with International Christian Recovery Coalition Participants: Details soon!
Saturday, September 24, 9:30 am to 8:00 pm:
Pre-meeting music and hospitality
Commencing prayer
Welcome by Matt Pierce, Pastor of Recovery Ministry, Golden Hills Community Church
Theme presentation by Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons” Worldwide—on the Move!
Learning about the astonishing success of the original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program and how to apply its principles and practices today;
how the early Cleveland program built upon the original Akron program and
set the stage for Christian recovery opportunities today
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Vision presentation by Ken B.
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons”:
Supplying Critically-Important, Missing Pieces in Modern Christian Recovery Efforts
Lunch Break (1 hour)
Featured Speaker: J. Donald Hall, Don Hall Ministries, 23365 Barnes Lane, Colfax, CA 95713
Long-recovered wayward youth and drug addict
Missionary evangelist and Bible teacher--18 years, serving with Youth With a Mission and
others in over 60 nations; conferences, seminars, retreats, and mission
services –also community programs in schools, prisons, and civic clubs
Graduate of Vanguard University, Costa Mesa, CA (B.A. Degree)
Graduate of California Graduate School of Theology (M.A. Degree)
Founder and former Executive Director of Teen Challenge in Southern CA and Hawaii
for sixteen years
Cited by the Governors of California and Hawaii for his leadership in the fight against
drug abuse and crime among America’s Youth
Senior Pastor of Calvary Assembly, San Jose, California, for eight years
Recent ministries: South Korea Outreach; Sri Lanka Ministry; Singapore; Gulf Disaster Relief
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Speaker Panel 1:
Jeff A. Holt, Men’s Recovery Fellowship, Auburn Church of the Nazarene, Auburn, California
Dale Marsh, Recovery Pastor, Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Oroville, California; International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers’ Bureau
Dominic D, Turning Point Recovery Ministry, Cornerstone Fellowship—Livermore Campus, California
Roger McDiarmid, International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers' Bureau, Huntington Beach, California
Wade Hess, Training Director, CityTeam Ministries, San Jose, California
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Speaker Panel 2:
Mark Galligan, Leader, “Akronite” Recovery Group, Ontario, Canada
David Sadler, Christian recovery leader serving Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California
Karen A. Plavan, Ph.D., Prof. of Counseling an Chemical Dependency, Director of Oasis Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Bill Boyles, President, Won Way Out Ministries, Wyoming, Delaware
Wayne White, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, President/CEO, Footprints/Alcoholics Victorious,
Kansas City, Missouri
Dinner Break (1 hour)
International Christian Recovery Coalition Future Plans: Dick B. and Ken B.
Christian Music Concert
Closing Prayer
Our Sponsors and Endorsers
Christian Denominational Recovery Programs
United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence
Rev. Cynthia W. Sloan
Program Associate,
United Methodist Special Program on
Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV)
New York Office location: 475 Riverside Drive, room 338
New York, NY 10115
phone: 212-870-3699, fax: 212-870-3932
North Carolina Office location:
325 Meadowbrook Drive
Matthews NC 28104-4309
phone: 704-882-0282
email: csloan@gbgm-umc.org
website: http://www.umspsarv.org
Become a “Fan” on SPSARV’s Facebook page
SPSARV Advance Number: 982598
Episcopal Diocese of Texas Recovery Committee
Fr. Bill Wigmore, Chaplain and Former President
Austin Recovery
8402 Cross Park Drive
Austin, TX. 78754
Tel: 512.697.8674
Email: RevBillW@gmail.com
website: www.AustinRecovery.org
Individual Benefactors
Bob J., Kihei, Maui, Hawaii
Philanthropist and long-time Christian recovery and A.A. history collector and benefactor
Rick S.
Long-recovered Christian recovery work supporter
Rick is preparing a sponsor's guide to Alcoholics Anonymous, using the first edition text.
The guide will be published in paperback and on the Internet; and it will have accompanying audio talks of Rick's taking people through the Big Book.
Robert P. Turner, M.D., M.S.C.R.
Associate Professor of Neurosciences, Pediatrics, and Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, & Epidemiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Christian Churches
The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, California, Host, September 17, 2011, Conference
Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California, Host, September 24, 2011, Conference
Endorsing Christian Recovery Libraries and Archives
Griffith Library, The Wilson House – birthplace of Bill Wilson, East Dorset, Vermont
Bonnie Burke (formerly, Bonnie Lepper), President
23,000 historical items donated by Dick B., A.A. meetings, Quiet Time, seminars.
Conducted Tours at East Dorset, Vermont (Wilson House, Griffith Library, East Dorset
Congregational Church—where both the Wilson and the Griffith families and
Bill W. attended—and nearby cemetery where Bill and Lois Wilson are buried)
Conducted Tours to St. Johnsbury, Vermont (Dr. Bob’s birthplace and boyhood home,
North Congregational Church—where all of Dr. Bob’s family attended,
The Athenaeum—the village library containing many historical records,
St. Johnsbury Academy—where Dr. Bob attended, his father was an Examiner,
and his mother had been student, teacher, school historian & Exec. Comm. member)
Dr. Bob Core Library—North Congregational Church (UCC), St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Jay Sprout, Pastor
The entire family of Dr. Bob attended this church and was active in its affairs.
North Congregational Church sponsors this Conference in the context of housing the “Dr. Bob Core Library.”
Ray G., Newton Falls, Ohio, and Seminole, Florida
Traveling archives; and, for 21 years, the Archivist and a Managing Board Member, Dr.
Bob’s Home, Akron, Ohio; A.A. speaker and exhibitor of A.A. historical Items all over the United States and Canada, and on sobriety cruises
The St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Library, Akron, Ohio
Mark Pruitt, Rector
This is the church in which Dr. Bob became a communicant before his death.
Its former rector, Dr. Walter Tunks, was a major figure in the beginning Akron days of A.A.
The library is a source of A.A. historical materials.
Christian Intervention, Treatment, Recovery Ministries, Counseling, Sober Living
Sponsors
New Life Spirit Recovery
Robert T. Tucker, Ph.D., D.Min., Registered Addiction Specialist, MCA and M-RAS)
Founder and Executive Director, New Life Spirit Recovery Christian Treatment Center; President, Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counseling (aka: ACADC Institute)
18652 Florida Street, Suite 200, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 841.1906 or Call Toll Free (866) 543.3361
http://www.newlifespiritrecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html
Rock Recovery Ministry, ABC Sober Living, Soledad House
David Powers, Rock Church recovery leader
810 Emerald Street
San Diego, CA 92109
Contact: david@abcsoberliving.com
619.925.1879
http://www.rockrecovery.org/
Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands, California
Pastor Mike Belzman, Ph.D., Chairman and Founder
Jeff Jay and Debra Jay, Grosse Point, Michigan
Nationally-known authors, lecturers, interventionists,
Authors of Love First: A Family’s Guide To Intervention—Updated
Tools and Techniques to Help Loved Ones Heal from Addiction, 2d ed., rev and exp.
(Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2008)
Publishers
Sponsors
Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services, division of Hazelden Foundation
Center City, Minnesota, www.Hazelden.org; publisher of recovery books, including:
The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous
Bill W.: My First 40 Years
Silkworth: The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks
Dover Publications
publisher of many books, including Alcoholics Anonymous: The Original 1939 Edition,
with an Introduction by Dick B.: http://store.doverpublications.com/0486480593.html
Our Exhibitors and Displays
United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV)
http://www.umspspserv.org
New Light Spirit Recovery, Huntington Beach, California
http://www.newlifespiritrecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html
Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands, California
Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services, division of Hazelden Foundation
www.Hazelden.org
Our Featured Speaker and Panelists
Featured Speaker: J. Donald Hall, Don Hall Ministries, Colfax, California
(See details in this program about his education; his work with Teen Challenge and Youth With A Mission, his pastoring of churches, his work as a Missionary Evangelist and Bible teacher, and his speaking engagements in 60 nations.)
Speaker Panel 1:
Jeff A. Holt, Men’s Recovery Fellowship, Auburn Church of the Nazarene, Auburn, California
Dale Marsh, Recovery Pastor, Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Oroville, California
Dominic D, Turning Point Recovery Ministry, Cornerstone Fellowship—Livermore Campus, California
Roger McDiarmid, International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers' Bureau, Huntington Beach, California
Wade Hess, Training Director, CityTeam Ministries, San Jose, California
Speaker Panel 2:
Mark Galligan, Leader, “Akronite” Recovery Group, Ontario, Canada
David Sadler, Christian recovery leader serving Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California
Karen A. Plavan, Ph.D., Prof. of Counseling an Chemical Dependency, Director of Oasis Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Bill Boyles, President, Won Way Out Ministries, Wyoming, Delaware
Wayne White, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, President/CEO, Footprints/Alcoholics Victorious,
Kansas City, MO
Acknowledgments
Our Conferences could not have taken place without leadership and help from:
Randy Moraitis, Executive Pastor of Ministries, The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, CA
Matt Pierce, Pastor of Recovery Ministry, Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, CA
David Powers, Rock Recovery Ministries Leader, Rock Church, San Diego, CA
The Lifelines Band, Costa Mesa, CA
The Musicians at Golden Hills Community Church
Roger McDiarmid, Huntington Beach, California
David Sadler, Lafayette, California
Karl Kramer, Brentwood, California
Our Sponsors
Our Endorsers
Our Exhibitors
Thank you!
For Further Participation in and Support of the Projects of International Christian Recovery Coalition
Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/christian-recovery-guide.shtml
The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class by Dick B. and Ken B.
http://dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml
(The class includes four DVD's, a class instructor's guide, a student's guide, and
The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed.)
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons” Worldwide
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/christian-recovery-resource-centers.shtml
The 29-volume “Dick B. A.A. History and Christian Recovery Movement Reference Set”
http://www.dickb.com/titles.shtml
The International Christian Recovery Coalition Web site:
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
The International Christian Recovery Coalition Blog
http://internationalchristianrecoverycoaliti.blogspot.com/
International Christian Recovery Coalition Forums Website
http://www.christianrecoverycoalition.com/forums/
Other Christian Recovery and A.A. Historical Resources
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Thursday, August 25, 2011
The Complete Program for the Sept 17 Christian Recov Summit in Costa Mesa, CA
The International Christian Recovery Coalition
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
Presents
A North American Christian Recovery Summit Conference
Saturday, September 17, 2011, 9:00 AM to 1:45 PM
The Crossing Church
2115 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(949) 645-5050
http://www.thecrossing.com/
Theme
Using Akron-Cleveland Christian Recovery Model Principles
to Enhance Substantially Today's Christian Recovery Efforts
Contact: Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition
PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com; DickB@DickB.com;
Cell: 808 276 4945
The Program
The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, California
[Friday Evening, September 16, 7:00 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. (** We hope you can make these meetings, too)
Address by Dick B. at the Lifelines Meeting of The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, CA
Workshop meeting with International Christian Recovery Coalition Participants]
Saturday, September 17, 9:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Pre-meeting music, signing in, viewing exhibits, and hospitality
Commencing prayer
Welcome by Host Church
Theme presentation by Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons” Worldwide—on the Move!
Learning about the Astonishing Success of the Original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” Program and How to Apply Its Principles and Practices Today
How the Early Cleveland Program Built upon the Original Akron program and
Set the Stage for Christian Recovery Opportunities Today
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Vision presentation by Ken B.
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons”:
Supplying Critically-Important, Missing Pieces in Modern Christian Recovery Efforts
Lunch Break on the Premises (30 minutes)
First Speakers Panel:
John Barton, Historian, Writer, Orange, New Jersey
Randy Moraitis, Executive Pastor of Ministry, The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, California
Russell Spatz, attorney, Alive Again, Miami, Florida
Bobby Nicholl, Director of Admissions and Interventions, Celebrate a New Life at Hope by the Sea,
San Juan Capistrano, California
Jerry McDonald, Interventionist, Certified Counselor, long associated with the Betty Ford Center,
Rancho Mirage, California
Danny Whitmore, A.A. Historian, former leader of Roots Revival Group, and of Clarence Snyder
Retreats in Southern California
Break (10 minutes)
Second Speakers Panel:
Roger McDiarmid, International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers' Bureau, Huntington Beach,
California.
Robert Tucker, Ph.D., Exec. Dir., New Life Spirit Recovery, Huntington Beach, California;
President, Association of Christian Alcohol & Drug Counselors
Dale Marsh, Recovery Pastor, Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Oroville, California
Wally Lowe, Christian Recovery Resource Center Satellite Office, Vero Beach, Florida
Jeff McLeod, Executive Director, Overcomers Outreach, Inc., Whittier, California
Concluding: International Christian Recovery Coalition Future Plans: Dick B. and Ken B.
Closing Prayer
Our Sponsors and Endorsers
Christian Denominations
United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence
Rev. Cynthia W. Sloan
Program Associate,
United Methodist Special Program on
Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV)
New York Office location: 475 Riverside Drive, room 338
New York, NY 10115
phone: 212-870-3699, fax: 212-870-3932
North Carolina Office location:
325 Meadowbrook Drive
Matthews NC 28104-4309
phone: 704-882-0282
email: csloan@gbgm-umc.org
website: http://www.umspsarv.org
Become a “Fan” on SPSARV’s Facebook page
SPSARV Advance Number: 982598
Episcopal Diocese of Texas Recovery Committee
Fr. Bill Wigmore, Chaplain & Former President
Austin Recovery
8402 Cross Park Drive
Austin, TX. 78754
Tel: 512.697.8674
Email: RevBillW@gmail.com
website: www.AustinRecovery.org
Individual Benefactors
Bob J., Kihei, Maui, Hawaii
Philanthropist and long-time Christian recovery and A.A. history collector and benefactor
Rick S.,
Long recovered Christian recovery work supporter
Preparing to publish his Alcoholics Anonymous, 1st Edition Sponsor’s Guide publications, website, and recorded talks
Robert P. Turner, M.D., M.S.C.R.
Associate Professor of Neurosciences, Pediatrics, and Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, & Epidemiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Christian Churches
The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, California, Host September 17 Conference
Golden Hills Community Church, California, Host, September 24 Conference
Endorsing Christian Recovery Libraries and Archives
Griffith Library, Wilson House – birthplace of Bill Wilson, East Dorset, Vermont
Bonnie Burke, formerly Bonnie Lepper, President
23000 Dick B. History Items, A.A. meetings, Quiet Time, Seminars
Conducted Tours at East Dorset, Vermont (Wilson House, Griffith Library, East Dorset
Congregational Church—where both the Wilson and the Griffith families and
Bill W. attended, and nearby cemetery where Bill and Lois Wilson are buried)
Conducted Tours to St. Johnsbury, Vermont (Dr. Bob’s birthplace and boyhood home,
North Congregational Church—where all of Dr. Bob’s family attended,
The Athenaeum—Village Library containing many historical records,
St. Johnsbury Academy—where Dr. Bob attended, his father was an Examiner,
And his mother had been a student, teacher, school historian, Exec. Committee.
Dr. Bob Core Library – North Congregational Church (UCC), St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
Jay Sprout, Pastor
The entire family of Dr. Bob attended this church and was active in its affairs
North Church sponsors this Conference in the context of housing the Dr. Bob core library.
Ray G., Newton Falls, Ohio, and Seminole, Florida
Traveling Archives, and 21 years the Archivist and a Managing Board Member, Dr.
Bob’s Home, Akron, Ohio, A.A. Speaker and Exhibitor of A.A. Historical Items all over the United States and Canada and on sobriety cruises
The St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Library, Akron, Ohio
Mark Pruitt, Rector
This is the church in which Dr. Bob became a communicant before his death.
Its former rector, Dr. Walter Tunks, was a major figure in the beginning Akron days of A.A.
The library is a source of A.A. historical materials.
Christian Intervention, Treatment, Recovery Ministries, Counseling, Sober Living
New Life Spirit Recovery
Robert T. Tucker, Ph.D., D.Min., Registered Addiction Specialist (MCA) and (M-RAS)
Founder and Executive Director, New Life Spirit Recovery Christian Treatment Center
President, Association of Christian Alcohol & Drug Counseling (aka ACADC Institute)
18652 Florida Street, Suite 200
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 841.1906 or Call Toll Free (866) 543.3361
http://www.newlifespiritrecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html
Rock Recovery Ministry, ABC Sober Living, Soledad House
David Powers, Rock Church leader
810 Emerald Street
San Diego, CA 92109
Contact: david@abcsoberliving.com
619.925.1879
http://www.rockrecovery.org/
Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands, California
Pastor Mike Belzman, Ph.D., Chairman and Founder
Jeff Jay and Debra Jay, Grosse Point, Michigan
Nationally known authors, lecturers,
interventionists, authors of Love First: A Family’s Guide To Intervention—Updated
Tools and Techniques to Help Loved Ones Heal from Addiction, 2d ed., Rev & Exp.
(Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2008)
Publishers
Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services, division of Hazelden Foundation
Center City, Minnesota, www.Hazelden.org
Dover Publications – publisher of First Edition Reprint, Alcoholics Anonymous
with Introduction by Dick B.
Our Exhibitors and Displays
United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV)
http://www.umspspserv.org
New Light Spirit Recovery, Huntington Beach, California
http://www.newlifespiritrecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html
Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands, California
Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services, division of Hazelden Foundation
www.Hazelden.org
Our Panelists
First Panel:
John Barton, Historian, Writer, Orange, New Jersey
Randy Moraitis, Executive Pastor of Ministry, The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, California
Russell Spatz, Attorney, Frequent Speaker, Alive Again, Lost Sheep Fellowship, Miami, Florida
Bobby Nicholl, Director of Admissions and Interventions, Celebrate a New Life at Hope by the Sea, San Juan Capistrano, California
Jerry McDonald, Interventionist, Certified Counselor, Long Associated with the Betty Ford Center, Rancho Mirage, California
Second Panel:
Roger McDiarmid, International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers Bureau, Huntington Beach, California
Robert Tucker, Ph.D., Executive Director, New Life Spirit Recovery, Huntington Beach, California; President of Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute.
Dale Marsh, Recovery Pastor, Oroville Church of the Nazarene, International Christian
Recovery Speakers Bureau, Oroville, California
Wally Lowe, Christian Recovery Resource Center Satellite Office, Vero Beach, Florida
Jeff MacLeod, Executive Director, Overcomers Outreach, Inc., Whittier, California
Acknowledgements
Our Conferences Could Not Have Taken Place Without The Following Leadership and Help
Randy Moraitis, Executive Pastor of Ministries, The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, CA
Matt Pierce, Pastor of Recovery Ministry, Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, CA
David Powers, Rock Recovery Ministries Leader, Rock Church, San Diego, CA
The Lifelines Band, Costa Mesa
The Musicians at Golden Hills Community Church
Roger McDiarmid, Huntington Beach, California
Our Sponsors
Our Endorsers
Our Exhibitors
For Further Participation in and Support of the Projects of International Christian Recovery Coalition
The Dick B. and Ken B. The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/christian-recovery-guide.shtml
The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery Class’
http://dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml
4 DVD presentations by Dick B. and Ken B.
Instructor’s Guide
Student’s Guide
Christian Recovery Coalition Centers and Persons Worldwide
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/christian-recovery-resource-centers.shtml
Dick B. with Ken B., The Dick B. Handbook for Christian Recovery Resource Centers
The 29 Volume Dick B. A.A. History and Christian Recovery Movement History
http://www.dickb.com/titles.shtml
The International Christian Recovery Coalition Website
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition..com
The International Christian Recovery Coalition Blog
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6025837827646017677
International Christian Recovery Forums Website
http://www.christianrecoverycoalition.com/forums/
Other Christian Recovery Resources
FREE: Over 500 articles by Dick B.:www.DickB.com/Articles.shtml.
FREE: Over 175 recorded audio talks by Dick B.: DickB.com/Audio-talks.shtml.
FREE: Follow Dick B. on Facebook, on Twitter, and on the Dick B. Blog.
FREE: The Dick B. Newsletters. If you would like to subscribe, you can find the
details at the bottom of the center column in this website: www.dickb.com
FREE: Programs on the DickBYouTubeChannel, http://goo.gl/rCtH6
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
There was only the Bible in early A.A.
"There was only the Bible in early A.A."
Make that statement, and you speak the truth.
But anti-A.A. and the un-informed-about-aa just won't look at, study, and then quote the documented truth.
First, let's look at what A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob said in his last major adress to AAs, Detroit, Michigan, 1948. These words are published in many places, but the best and most concise place is A.A. General Service Conference-approved pamphlet P-53.
Its title is "The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches Their Last Major Talks" (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1972, 1975).
Page 53 quotes Dr. Bob as follows:
"In the early A.A. days. . . our stories didn't amount to anything to speak of. When we started in on Bill D., we had no Twelve Steps, either; 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. We used to have daily meetings. . ."
This statement was made many times by Dr. Bob in many places and phrased in several ways. I have documented the statement, the early program, and the spots in Jesus' Sermon on the Mounnt, the Book of James, and 1 Corinthians 13 where ideas and verses from those three segments were incorporated directly into early A.A. language, and--four years later--even in parts of Bill Wilson's Big Book.
See Dick B., The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.'s Roots in the Bible www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml; The James Club and the Original A.A. Program's Absolute Essentialsl www.dickb.com/JamesClub; and By the Power of God www.dickb.com/powerofGod.shtml.
A thorough discussion of sources and practices can be found now in Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010. See www.dickb.com.
Published.com - an excellent listing in color of all Dick B.'s books
For a concise, illustrative review of all of Dick B.'s books--listed on Published.com directory, please check the following URL:
http://published.com/published-search.aspx?catid=&searchstr=Dick%20B.
http://published.com/published-search.aspx?catid=&searchstr=Dick%20B.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Christianity and A.A.: Is Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) Christian?
More and more, people are Googling in the question: Is A.A. Christian. Is it?
Some, including a few Christian writers who are anti-A.A., are quick to jump in and answer with a Bible verse or two, an admonition or three, and a condemnation or 20.
Again: Is A.A. Christian?
Why not start with facts before attempting to answer the question in any meaningful, useful, and helpful way! You might first ask, "What is A.A.?" ot "What A.A. literature--past or present--can shed light on the question?" or "Who is asking the question?" Is the questioner studying A.A., condemning A.A., trying to prove the affirmative, trying to argue the negative, contending that AAs will go to hell, stating that the Bible prohibits attending A.A., or stating flatly that A.A. is Christian or not Christian. And of what period in A.A.'s 75 years or so, is the questioner asking?
You can start by finding out the major influences on A.A. historically. These are the YMCA, Christian evangelists like Dwight Moody and F.B. Meyer, the Salvation Army, the Gospel Rescue Missions including the one where one cofounder made his decision for Jesus Christ, and The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. One comprehensive, documented study can be found in Dick B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous (www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml). Another is Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W. (www.dickb.com/conversion.shtml). Still another can be found in Dick B. Real Twelve Step Fellowship History (www.dickb.com/realhistory.shtml).
Most important, A.A. Cofounder Dr. Bob said the basic ideas for the Steps of A.A. came from their study and effort in the Bible. He specifically named the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. He widely distributed Christian literature and devotionals to AA and their families. A.A.'s basic ideas in Akron A.A. came from the Bible. Dick B., The Good Book and The Big Book (www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml). A.A.'s basic ideas in the Big Book written primarily by Bill Wilson came from the Oxford Group--A First Century Christian Fellowship, as it called itself.
You can move on to look at the Christian upbringing of A.A.'s cofounders Dr. Robert H. Smith and William G. Wilson. You will mostly have to look outside of A.A. for details. But the books above will be helpful. And two A.A. Conference-approved books can start you on your quest. One is DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (1980). Another is "Pass It On." And still others include the autobiography of Bill W. himself and the biography of Bill's doctor, "The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks." Still others are the works on Bill by Susan Cheever and Nan Robertson.
Then you can look at how the first three AAs got sober. And what they had to say about Christianity and alcoholism.
A.A. Number One, Bill Wilson, was told by his doctor (Silkworth) that the "Great Physician" Jesus Christ could cure him. Bill made a decision for Jesus Christ at the altar of Calvary Mission in New York. Bill wrote that he was "born again." And Bill decided to call on the "Great Physician" for help. Finally, Bill cried out to God for help at Towns Hospital. Bill had a "white light experience." He sensed the presence of "the God of the Scriptures," as he phrased it. And he never drank again. But he did immediately go about with a Bible under his arm, telling his story, and telling drunks they must give their lives to God in order to get well. Bill had been raised a Christian in East Dorset and Manchester, Vermont. He had studied the Bible in both places. He had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in New York. And, in A.A.'s own Big Book, he was quoted as saying "the Lord has cured me of this terrible disease."
A.A. Number Two, Dr. Bob Smith, had been a member of St. Johnsbury's North Congregational Church when his parents were raising him to believe in Jesus Christ and study the Word of God. Bob and his whole family were deeply involved in the North Congregational Church, with Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, with the YMCA, and with the Congregationalist St. Johnsbury Academy. And of it all, Dr. Bob stated he had received excellent training in the Bible as a youngster.
When Bob at last began his march to sobriety, he knelt on a rug with a group of Christians and prayed to God for his deliverance. Shortly, his prayers were answered by the visit of his new friend Bill Wilson. And shortly Dr. Bob quit drinking forever, studied the Bible intensely, and was a member of at least two Christian churches in Akron, Ohio.
A.A. Number Three, Bill Dotson an Akron attorney, and a drunk, had long believed in God, taught Sunday school in and was a Deacon of a Christian church in Akron. Dotson received the witness of Bob and Bill while in the Akron City Hospital. He turned to God for help. And he was instantly cured. In A.A.'s Big Book, Dotson (like Bill Wilson) declared that the Lord had cured him also.
Early AAs in the group founded by Wilson, Smith, and Dotson called themselves a Christian fellowship. All were required to profess belief in God, to make a decision for Jesus Christ, to study the Bible, to make a surrender of their lives to God, and to attend "old fashioned prayer meetings." They also were urged to fellowship with other believers and attend a religious service once a week.
Was Akron A.A. Christian in the 1930's? You be the judge.
Did A.A. as a Society change its requirements when it published its Big Book in 1939? It removed the word "God" from its Second, Third, and Eleventh suggested Steps of recovery. It tossed out some 400 pages of its draft manuscript--all said to have contained Christian and biblical materials. And it avowedly declared it did so in order to placate atheist and agnostic drunks who wanted to get sober in the Society.
Was A.A. Christian after its Big Book and Steps were published in April 1939? You be the judge.
What about today's A.A.? It has changed again so that the Lord's Prayer no longer closes many of its meetings. It often refuses to allow groups to study the Bible, to mention Jesus Christ, or to study Christian literature. Its literature more and more calls the Society "spiritual but not religious"--even though the courts have mostly rejected this statement. Its literature more and more says that you don't have to believe in anything at all to be a member of A.A. Is today's A.A. Christian? You be the judge.
But! The point made here is that you can be the judge. You can be a Christian in A.A. You can believe what you wish, read what you wish, worship where you wish, and "be" whatever you wish to be. And A.A. has no power to exclude anyone from its membership or to censor books or to "govern" what groups do or do not do. This even though a few vociferous individuals may try.
Therefore, today there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of Christians in A.A. And they are neither barred, nor evicted, nor suppressed by anything except the rude, boisterous, and sometimes insulting remarks of a few intolerant "bleeding deacons"--as Bill Wilson used to call such dissenters.
In the opinion of the author, based on the foregoing evidence: (1) A.A. was Christian to the core in its origins. (2) A.A. founders and the first three AAs were Christians in their upbringing. (3) The same three were believers in God and Christians when they turned to God for help and were cured. (4) The Akron A.A. fellowship--the first group in A.A.--was not only Christian, but said so.
Today, as a member of A.A., you can believe in God or not, be or become a Christian or not, believe what you wish or have no belief, worship where you wish, belong to a Christian denomination if you wish, read the Bible and Christian literature if you wish, and talk about what you wish in meetings. A.A. is not organized. Its leaders are but trusted servants. They do not govern. Groups are urged to turn to and follow the guidance of "a loving God" as He may express Himself in their group conscience. And anyone who disagrees can, as an A.A., buy a coffee pot and take his resentment and disagreement with him to another group. One he and another alcoholic can form or to which he may choose to belong--Christian or not.
Some, including a few Christian writers who are anti-A.A., are quick to jump in and answer with a Bible verse or two, an admonition or three, and a condemnation or 20.
Again: Is A.A. Christian?
Why not start with facts before attempting to answer the question in any meaningful, useful, and helpful way! You might first ask, "What is A.A.?" ot "What A.A. literature--past or present--can shed light on the question?" or "Who is asking the question?" Is the questioner studying A.A., condemning A.A., trying to prove the affirmative, trying to argue the negative, contending that AAs will go to hell, stating that the Bible prohibits attending A.A., or stating flatly that A.A. is Christian or not Christian. And of what period in A.A.'s 75 years or so, is the questioner asking?
You can start by finding out the major influences on A.A. historically. These are the YMCA, Christian evangelists like Dwight Moody and F.B. Meyer, the Salvation Army, the Gospel Rescue Missions including the one where one cofounder made his decision for Jesus Christ, and The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. One comprehensive, documented study can be found in Dick B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous (www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml). Another is Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W. (www.dickb.com/conversion.shtml). Still another can be found in Dick B. Real Twelve Step Fellowship History (www.dickb.com/realhistory.shtml).
Most important, A.A. Cofounder Dr. Bob said the basic ideas for the Steps of A.A. came from their study and effort in the Bible. He specifically named the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. He widely distributed Christian literature and devotionals to AA and their families. A.A.'s basic ideas in Akron A.A. came from the Bible. Dick B., The Good Book and The Big Book (www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml). A.A.'s basic ideas in the Big Book written primarily by Bill Wilson came from the Oxford Group--A First Century Christian Fellowship, as it called itself.
You can move on to look at the Christian upbringing of A.A.'s cofounders Dr. Robert H. Smith and William G. Wilson. You will mostly have to look outside of A.A. for details. But the books above will be helpful. And two A.A. Conference-approved books can start you on your quest. One is DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (1980). Another is "Pass It On." And still others include the autobiography of Bill W. himself and the biography of Bill's doctor, "The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks." Still others are the works on Bill by Susan Cheever and Nan Robertson.
Then you can look at how the first three AAs got sober. And what they had to say about Christianity and alcoholism.
A.A. Number One, Bill Wilson, was told by his doctor (Silkworth) that the "Great Physician" Jesus Christ could cure him. Bill made a decision for Jesus Christ at the altar of Calvary Mission in New York. Bill wrote that he was "born again." And Bill decided to call on the "Great Physician" for help. Finally, Bill cried out to God for help at Towns Hospital. Bill had a "white light experience." He sensed the presence of "the God of the Scriptures," as he phrased it. And he never drank again. But he did immediately go about with a Bible under his arm, telling his story, and telling drunks they must give their lives to God in order to get well. Bill had been raised a Christian in East Dorset and Manchester, Vermont. He had studied the Bible in both places. He had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in New York. And, in A.A.'s own Big Book, he was quoted as saying "the Lord has cured me of this terrible disease."
A.A. Number Two, Dr. Bob Smith, had been a member of St. Johnsbury's North Congregational Church when his parents were raising him to believe in Jesus Christ and study the Word of God. Bob and his whole family were deeply involved in the North Congregational Church, with Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, with the YMCA, and with the Congregationalist St. Johnsbury Academy. And of it all, Dr. Bob stated he had received excellent training in the Bible as a youngster.
When Bob at last began his march to sobriety, he knelt on a rug with a group of Christians and prayed to God for his deliverance. Shortly, his prayers were answered by the visit of his new friend Bill Wilson. And shortly Dr. Bob quit drinking forever, studied the Bible intensely, and was a member of at least two Christian churches in Akron, Ohio.
A.A. Number Three, Bill Dotson an Akron attorney, and a drunk, had long believed in God, taught Sunday school in and was a Deacon of a Christian church in Akron. Dotson received the witness of Bob and Bill while in the Akron City Hospital. He turned to God for help. And he was instantly cured. In A.A.'s Big Book, Dotson (like Bill Wilson) declared that the Lord had cured him also.
Early AAs in the group founded by Wilson, Smith, and Dotson called themselves a Christian fellowship. All were required to profess belief in God, to make a decision for Jesus Christ, to study the Bible, to make a surrender of their lives to God, and to attend "old fashioned prayer meetings." They also were urged to fellowship with other believers and attend a religious service once a week.
Was Akron A.A. Christian in the 1930's? You be the judge.
Did A.A. as a Society change its requirements when it published its Big Book in 1939? It removed the word "God" from its Second, Third, and Eleventh suggested Steps of recovery. It tossed out some 400 pages of its draft manuscript--all said to have contained Christian and biblical materials. And it avowedly declared it did so in order to placate atheist and agnostic drunks who wanted to get sober in the Society.
Was A.A. Christian after its Big Book and Steps were published in April 1939? You be the judge.
What about today's A.A.? It has changed again so that the Lord's Prayer no longer closes many of its meetings. It often refuses to allow groups to study the Bible, to mention Jesus Christ, or to study Christian literature. Its literature more and more calls the Society "spiritual but not religious"--even though the courts have mostly rejected this statement. Its literature more and more says that you don't have to believe in anything at all to be a member of A.A. Is today's A.A. Christian? You be the judge.
But! The point made here is that you can be the judge. You can be a Christian in A.A. You can believe what you wish, read what you wish, worship where you wish, and "be" whatever you wish to be. And A.A. has no power to exclude anyone from its membership or to censor books or to "govern" what groups do or do not do. This even though a few vociferous individuals may try.
Therefore, today there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of Christians in A.A. And they are neither barred, nor evicted, nor suppressed by anything except the rude, boisterous, and sometimes insulting remarks of a few intolerant "bleeding deacons"--as Bill Wilson used to call such dissenters.
In the opinion of the author, based on the foregoing evidence: (1) A.A. was Christian to the core in its origins. (2) A.A. founders and the first three AAs were Christians in their upbringing. (3) The same three were believers in God and Christians when they turned to God for help and were cured. (4) The Akron A.A. fellowship--the first group in A.A.--was not only Christian, but said so.
Today, as a member of A.A., you can believe in God or not, be or become a Christian or not, believe what you wish or have no belief, worship where you wish, belong to a Christian denomination if you wish, read the Bible and Christian literature if you wish, and talk about what you wish in meetings. A.A. is not organized. Its leaders are but trusted servants. They do not govern. Groups are urged to turn to and follow the guidance of "a loving God" as He may express Himself in their group conscience. And anyone who disagrees can, as an A.A., buy a coffee pot and take his resentment and disagreement with him to another group. One he and another alcoholic can form or to which he may choose to belong--Christian or not.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Choices in A.A. for Newcomers, Students, and Sponsors in the Fellowship
There are some choices in A.A. today for newcomers, students of recovery and of the program, and sponsors. Those actually in the fellowship. And wanting to learn.
They can listen to or read about the philosophy and history writers and professors and anti-A.A. Christian critics and learn about not-god-ness, Buchmanism, Father Dowling, the non-existent "six steps," Swedenborg, Freemasonry, Spiritualism, "spirituality," scattered Bible verses, the dangers of A.A., the adultery and mental disorders of Bill W., the depressions of Bill W., the LSD and Niacian forays of Bill W., higher powers, light bulbs, radiators, and chairs, as well as other nonsense gods, OR
They can do the best they can to find out what A.A. was, what A.A. is, and what A.A. might become if all the present diversions become the recovery talk of the day continue to gain audiences.
There are still resources to do the latter. You can learn about them at the two forthcoming Summits in California in September. Or in Dick B.'s books and articles. Or in some diligent study of our history now being undertaken and reported by many participants in International Christian Recovery Coalition
They can listen to or read about the philosophy and history writers and professors and anti-A.A. Christian critics and learn about not-god-ness, Buchmanism, Father Dowling, the non-existent "six steps," Swedenborg, Freemasonry, Spiritualism, "spirituality," scattered Bible verses, the dangers of A.A., the adultery and mental disorders of Bill W., the depressions of Bill W., the LSD and Niacian forays of Bill W., higher powers, light bulbs, radiators, and chairs, as well as other nonsense gods, OR
They can do the best they can to find out what A.A. was, what A.A. is, and what A.A. might become if all the present diversions become the recovery talk of the day continue to gain audiences.
There are still resources to do the latter. You can learn about them at the two forthcoming Summits in California in September. Or in Dick B.'s books and articles. Or in some diligent study of our history now being undertaken and reported by many participants in International Christian Recovery Coalition
Anti-A.A. Straw Man Arguments Regularly Launched against Christians in A.A.
Using several types of names (Rapture Ready, My Word Like Fire, Psychoheresy, and other less than forthright descriptions), an unheard of group of anti-AA writers are continuously trying to drive Christians out of, away from, and careful study or the truthful history of Christian healings over 2000 years old and still available today. For those suffering from alcoholism, addiction, and the hurt inflicted by these maladies on those around the afflited.
What are the straw men used to catch the eye of unwary Christians? That quote a Bible verse or two? And that espouse ideas never embraced in early A.A. or today's A.A. Here are a few:
Swedenborg
Masonry
New Thought
Protestant liberalism
"not-god-ness"
Spiritualism
"Buchmanism"
Anything that the authors can label unChristian, present with Bible verses, and make ad hominem attacks on AAs, rather than truthfully reporting biblical facts, historical facts, recovery programs, and success factors. Or the real status of 12 Step groups and programs today.
Do the phony arguments succeed? I don't know. But the best way to find out is to present them truthfully, look at them carefully, and let Christians decide for themselves whether they have ever heard of Swedenborg, Spiritualism, "Spiritualism," "not-god-ness," New Thought, Masonry, or even A.A.'s Christian origins in recovery meetings, treatment programs, historical reports, or from the mouths of those who seek God's help in recovery today.
Come to the Summit Conferences in California in September and decide for yourself.
What are the straw men used to catch the eye of unwary Christians? That quote a Bible verse or two? And that espouse ideas never embraced in early A.A. or today's A.A. Here are a few:
Swedenborg
Masonry
New Thought
Protestant liberalism
"not-god-ness"
Spiritualism
"Buchmanism"
Anything that the authors can label unChristian, present with Bible verses, and make ad hominem attacks on AAs, rather than truthfully reporting biblical facts, historical facts, recovery programs, and success factors. Or the real status of 12 Step groups and programs today.
Do the phony arguments succeed? I don't know. But the best way to find out is to present them truthfully, look at them carefully, and let Christians decide for themselves whether they have ever heard of Swedenborg, Spiritualism, "Spiritualism," "not-god-ness," New Thought, Masonry, or even A.A.'s Christian origins in recovery meetings, treatment programs, historical reports, or from the mouths of those who seek God's help in recovery today.
Come to the Summit Conferences in California in September and decide for yourself.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Ethel R. Willitts Christian Evamgelist, Her work in Akron, Dr. Bob and Akron AA
Some beginning leads in our investigation:
In ensuing articles, we will be quoting and drawing on the following initial leads as to the role that Christian evangelist Ethel R. Willitts might have played in salvation and healing of alcoholics due to A.A. Co-founder Dr. Bob's ownership of her book and her tabernacle meetings in Akron for 15 weeks shortly after the founding of early A.A. in 1935.
1. Biography of Ethel R. Willitts and Akron Healings http://healingandrevival.com/BioERWillitts.htm
2. "God's Promises Cashed" by Ethel R. Willitts, Evangelist http://mcaf.ee/z5gjx
3. Willits Campaign Songs http://www.amazon.com/Willitts-Campaign-Songs-Compiled-Ethel/dp/B001DENQD0
4. Ethel R. Willitts: Various items listed on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Ethel%20R.%20Willitts
In ensuing articles, we will be quoting and drawing on the following initial leads as to the role that Christian evangelist Ethel R. Willitts might have played in salvation and healing of alcoholics due to A.A. Co-founder Dr. Bob's ownership of her book and her tabernacle meetings in Akron for 15 weeks shortly after the founding of early A.A. in 1935.
1. Biography of Ethel R. Willitts and Akron Healings http://healingandrevival.com/BioERWillitts.htm
2. "God's Promises Cashed" by Ethel R. Willitts, Evangelist http://mcaf.ee/z5gjx
3. Willits Campaign Songs http://www.amazon.com/Willitts-Campaign-Songs-Compiled-Ethel/dp/B001DENQD0
4. Ethel R. Willitts: Various items listed on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Ethel%20R.%20Willitts
A.A. Christian Evangelist, Her Book "Healing in Jesus' Name," Akron-Dr. Bob
This is a beginning point for an inquiry that may take some time because it occurred quite some time ago in early A.A. days and requires as best source the input of the now deceased children of A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob.
The quest concerns Christian Evangelist Ethel R. Willitts
At this point, we would rather invite comments, suggestions, and investigations than to report material that may not adequately reveal the importance of this woman vis a vis Akron A.A., its A.A. Christian Fellowship, and Dr. Bob.
These are the starting points:
1. Ethel R. Willitts published the following book "Healing in Jesus' Name: Fifteen Sermons and Addresses on Salvation and Healing," 2d ed. (Crawfordsville, IN: Ethel R. Willitts, Evangelist, 1931).
2. I found and studied this book which Dr. Bob, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, owned, studied, and circulated. And Dr. Bob's study of evangelism and Christian healing is confirmed by the nany other Christian healing books I found in his library (Dick B., "Dr. Bob and His Library," 3rd ed. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc.) www.dickb.com/drbob.shtml
3. Later, my son Ken and I not only traveled extensively in Vermont, we visited the boyhood villages of Dr. Bob in St. Johnsbury, Vermont; Bill Wilson in East Dorset, Vermont; their respective Academies; and Bill W.'s extensive Christian involvement while at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, Vermont.
4. The upshot was the writing of two recent and vitally important biographical studies of the Christian upbringing of Dr. Bob and of Bill Wilson as youngsters in Vermont. See Dick B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous, www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml, and Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W. www.dickb.com/conversion.shtml.
5. In this recent work, it became clear that the Great Awakening of 1875 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont; the personal work of YMCA lay brethren; the Salvation Army, The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor; and some great evangelists like Dwight L. Moody, Ira Sankey, Allen Folger, and F.B. Meyer all had an impact on the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible had in the origins, history, founding, original fellowship program, and successes of Akron A.A. and the first A.A. Group Number One in Akron.
6. This in turn led to a renewal of questions raised in studies of Professor William James, Dr. Carl Jung, the conversion/healing of Bill W.'s grandfather nd his alcoholism, the conversion and healing of Bill's friend and sponsorl Ebby Thacher, and the conversion and healing of Bill Wilson himself in late 1934.
7. Back we went to all the Christian healings of alcoholics that the factions mentioned in 5 and 6 above were able to bring about before A.A. began and in the younger days of Bill W. and Dr. Bob. And then to Dr. Bob's obvious interest in the Bible, his affiliation with Akron churches, and his extensive topic reading on diverse healing sources ranging from Mary Baker Eddy to New Thought to the rescue missions and to other sources covered in the books in his library. Further, he talked about God's doing the healing and in one instance sought healing help at a Bible institution.
8. Before listing some of the sources and reports we are currently investigating, we believe the Ethel Willitts story is of particular importance because of the 15 weeks she spent in Akron and also the other books and materials she wrote. And here is where we would like to see someone better financed and living in closer proximity to Ohio and Indiana look into:
a) What can internet search yield up on such topics as Willitts, Ohio Evangelists, her Tabernacle in Akron, her large healing and salvation meetings in Ohio, and perhaps a niche or two on Dr. Bob and/or alcoholism healings.
b) What can Akron newspaper records, particularly those of the Akron Beacon Journal add to the Willitts Akron healing work.
c) What can the Bierce Library at the University of Akron yield
d) What can the Summit County Library in Akron yield
e) What can some publicized appeals in and on all of these bring out of the woods from someone's recollections, books, records, or stories from relatives and friends.
f) What can the large University or other Public Libraries and Seminary Libraries yield.
g) What can words like evangelism, Christian evangelists, Ethel R. Willitts, salvation and healing meetings, Akron religious events, Christian healing and alcoholics, and a host of others yield via catalogs, indices, search engines, and other internet tools.
We have used them all in the past in gathering material for our 42 titles and over 650 articles. In many cases, we seemed to know more about Christian Endeavor than Christian Endeavor until we finally stumbled on the gold mine of Christian Endeavor books, Christian Endeavor in Vermont, Christian Endeavor in the Big Book, and ample Christian Endeavor writings in newspapers, religious libraries, public libraries, and history centers in Vermont.
For now we will defer discussing a rather substantial amount of material we have just unearthed on Ethel, her Akron meetings, her books, and her healings--hoping that more work by us and by others will put a better spin on the idea of searching for facts.
dickb@dickb.com
The quest concerns Christian Evangelist Ethel R. Willitts
At this point, we would rather invite comments, suggestions, and investigations than to report material that may not adequately reveal the importance of this woman vis a vis Akron A.A., its A.A. Christian Fellowship, and Dr. Bob.
These are the starting points:
1. Ethel R. Willitts published the following book "Healing in Jesus' Name: Fifteen Sermons and Addresses on Salvation and Healing," 2d ed. (Crawfordsville, IN: Ethel R. Willitts, Evangelist, 1931).
2. I found and studied this book which Dr. Bob, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, owned, studied, and circulated. And Dr. Bob's study of evangelism and Christian healing is confirmed by the nany other Christian healing books I found in his library (Dick B., "Dr. Bob and His Library," 3rd ed. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc.) www.dickb.com/drbob.shtml
3. Later, my son Ken and I not only traveled extensively in Vermont, we visited the boyhood villages of Dr. Bob in St. Johnsbury, Vermont; Bill Wilson in East Dorset, Vermont; their respective Academies; and Bill W.'s extensive Christian involvement while at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, Vermont.
4. The upshot was the writing of two recent and vitally important biographical studies of the Christian upbringing of Dr. Bob and of Bill Wilson as youngsters in Vermont. See Dick B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous, www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml, and Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W. www.dickb.com/conversion.shtml.
5. In this recent work, it became clear that the Great Awakening of 1875 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont; the personal work of YMCA lay brethren; the Salvation Army, The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor; and some great evangelists like Dwight L. Moody, Ira Sankey, Allen Folger, and F.B. Meyer all had an impact on the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible had in the origins, history, founding, original fellowship program, and successes of Akron A.A. and the first A.A. Group Number One in Akron.
6. This in turn led to a renewal of questions raised in studies of Professor William James, Dr. Carl Jung, the conversion/healing of Bill W.'s grandfather nd his alcoholism, the conversion and healing of Bill's friend and sponsorl Ebby Thacher, and the conversion and healing of Bill Wilson himself in late 1934.
7. Back we went to all the Christian healings of alcoholics that the factions mentioned in 5 and 6 above were able to bring about before A.A. began and in the younger days of Bill W. and Dr. Bob. And then to Dr. Bob's obvious interest in the Bible, his affiliation with Akron churches, and his extensive topic reading on diverse healing sources ranging from Mary Baker Eddy to New Thought to the rescue missions and to other sources covered in the books in his library. Further, he talked about God's doing the healing and in one instance sought healing help at a Bible institution.
8. Before listing some of the sources and reports we are currently investigating, we believe the Ethel Willitts story is of particular importance because of the 15 weeks she spent in Akron and also the other books and materials she wrote. And here is where we would like to see someone better financed and living in closer proximity to Ohio and Indiana look into:
a) What can internet search yield up on such topics as Willitts, Ohio Evangelists, her Tabernacle in Akron, her large healing and salvation meetings in Ohio, and perhaps a niche or two on Dr. Bob and/or alcoholism healings.
b) What can Akron newspaper records, particularly those of the Akron Beacon Journal add to the Willitts Akron healing work.
c) What can the Bierce Library at the University of Akron yield
d) What can the Summit County Library in Akron yield
e) What can some publicized appeals in and on all of these bring out of the woods from someone's recollections, books, records, or stories from relatives and friends.
f) What can the large University or other Public Libraries and Seminary Libraries yield.
g) What can words like evangelism, Christian evangelists, Ethel R. Willitts, salvation and healing meetings, Akron religious events, Christian healing and alcoholics, and a host of others yield via catalogs, indices, search engines, and other internet tools.
We have used them all in the past in gathering material for our 42 titles and over 650 articles. In many cases, we seemed to know more about Christian Endeavor than Christian Endeavor until we finally stumbled on the gold mine of Christian Endeavor books, Christian Endeavor in Vermont, Christian Endeavor in the Big Book, and ample Christian Endeavor writings in newspapers, religious libraries, public libraries, and history centers in Vermont.
For now we will defer discussing a rather substantial amount of material we have just unearthed on Ethel, her Akron meetings, her books, and her healings--hoping that more work by us and by others will put a better spin on the idea of searching for facts.
dickb@dickb.com
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Responding to a Courteous Jewish A.A. Who Wonders if Early A.A. had a "Blind Period"
Thank you for (1) Writing. (2) Your courteous remarks – because I don’t answer the other kind. (3) Your thoughtful exposition of how a Jew of your convictions looks at A.A.
I don’t care to debate with you. I do think you need to consider some important points and then ponder them and use them for yourself.
First, there was no “flying blind” period in Alcoholics Anonymous. Try that on Bill W., Dr. Bob, and Bill Dotson and the pioneers who voted to let Bill write a totally different book and progrram. That is a product of the secularism you so wisely observe. I would never call “blind” a period such as the one summarized in the Frank Amos report and covered in detail in several of my books (including The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous and The James Club and the Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials). That “blindness” expression was coined by some paid, well-known A.A. writers of the 1980’s. And they are welcome to their view—unsupported as it is.
Second, in your zeal to take umbrage at the unquestioniable and thoroughly documented “cures” and successes of early A.A., you have allowed yourself to fall into the trap of throwing the baby out with the bath water. The “baby: is God – Not Jesus Christ, but Yahweh. Check out your Big Book which refers to God, to Creator, to Maker, to Heavenly Father, etc. You appear to worship God. So do I. But you totally miss the historical quest that started my research and writing 21 years ago. I did not start out trying to “prove” anything. I started out trying to establish what had not been even closely or accurately or comprehensively reported—the roots of A.A., its origins, and what it looked like before the Great Compromise in 1939 when God was deleted from Steps 2, 3, and 11.
Third, as a practicing Jew you probably want Jews to be comfortable with Yahweh, with reliance upon Him, and with the freedom to do so in A.A. Why not! I have sponsored several Jews, taken them through the Steps, and impressed upon them the abc’s and the “May you find Him now” that have never been deleted or removed or superseded.Read page 191 of the Big Book 4th Edition (2001).
Fourth, today, A.A. and many members are pumping out the nonsense that you can pray to a Pumpkin, you can corrupt religion into New Age spirituality, and you can ignore the ruling of a great majority of courts that A.A. is a religion and that the “spiritual but not religious” nonsense doesn’t alter the clear facts.
Fifth, (and I doubt this) if you are advocating that dedicated Christians and Jews in A.A. are to surrender to a light bulb, to worship a chair, to pray to “Something,”, and to peddle the idea – now widely voiced in new A.A. literature – that you don’t have to believe in anything at all, you would be describing the A.A. of today and not the successful A.A. of the “early years.” You seem to overlook the fact that when Cleveland A.A. was founded in May of 1939s, it embraced the Bible, the Four Absolutes, the Big Book, and the 12 Steps. It grew from one group to thirty in a year, was the fastest growing area in the country—bar none, and had a documented 93% success rate. They weren’t blind. They were highly and demonstrably successful. And even Jews and Roman Catholics could be found among them.
Sixth, I have published 42 titles and over 650 articles; and until you have digested the origins of A.A., the history of A.A., the founding of A.A. when the first three AAs -- all believers in Almighty God, all Christians, and all totally successful with continuous sobriety, then I really wouldn’t care to discuss this further. But if you cover the first three and also learn the Akron program, the Cleveland program, the success rates, and the great compromise of 1939 when a committee of four removed God from the Steps, then you will be on a firm footing in believing what you believe, reading what you wish, practicing whatever religious ideas you have, and witnessing to your successes. And not condemning the dedicated work of another AA.
I am one of those dudes who has attended and/or served honorably in the Boy Scouts, the Army, college, law school, the Rotary Club, and the Stanford Law Review. Never did I dispute what someone else said or believed or practiced concerning himself. I just served where I was, I believed what I believed. And I tried to heed the injunction found in both the Old and the New Testaments that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as yourselves. You will also find it in the Big Book. And you won’t find it among the “bleeding deacons” who want to tell everybody else what they must believe in order to be a Boy Scout, a soldier, a university student, a lawyer, a Rotarian, and a Law Review Editor. I found many Christians, Jews, Roman Catholics, and humanists in all these outfits. I didn’t call them “blind.” And I ddn’t leave any of them. I merely drank too much before I successfully joined A.A. over 25 years ago, maintained continuous sobriety, and helped more drunks and addicts than I can count.
God bless,
I don’t care to debate with you. I do think you need to consider some important points and then ponder them and use them for yourself.
First, there was no “flying blind” period in Alcoholics Anonymous. Try that on Bill W., Dr. Bob, and Bill Dotson and the pioneers who voted to let Bill write a totally different book and progrram. That is a product of the secularism you so wisely observe. I would never call “blind” a period such as the one summarized in the Frank Amos report and covered in detail in several of my books (including The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous and The James Club and the Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials). That “blindness” expression was coined by some paid, well-known A.A. writers of the 1980’s. And they are welcome to their view—unsupported as it is.
Second, in your zeal to take umbrage at the unquestioniable and thoroughly documented “cures” and successes of early A.A., you have allowed yourself to fall into the trap of throwing the baby out with the bath water. The “baby: is God – Not Jesus Christ, but Yahweh. Check out your Big Book which refers to God, to Creator, to Maker, to Heavenly Father, etc. You appear to worship God. So do I. But you totally miss the historical quest that started my research and writing 21 years ago. I did not start out trying to “prove” anything. I started out trying to establish what had not been even closely or accurately or comprehensively reported—the roots of A.A., its origins, and what it looked like before the Great Compromise in 1939 when God was deleted from Steps 2, 3, and 11.
Third, as a practicing Jew you probably want Jews to be comfortable with Yahweh, with reliance upon Him, and with the freedom to do so in A.A. Why not! I have sponsored several Jews, taken them through the Steps, and impressed upon them the abc’s and the “May you find Him now” that have never been deleted or removed or superseded.Read page 191 of the Big Book 4th Edition (2001).
Fourth, today, A.A. and many members are pumping out the nonsense that you can pray to a Pumpkin, you can corrupt religion into New Age spirituality, and you can ignore the ruling of a great majority of courts that A.A. is a religion and that the “spiritual but not religious” nonsense doesn’t alter the clear facts.
Fifth, (and I doubt this) if you are advocating that dedicated Christians and Jews in A.A. are to surrender to a light bulb, to worship a chair, to pray to “Something,”, and to peddle the idea – now widely voiced in new A.A. literature – that you don’t have to believe in anything at all, you would be describing the A.A. of today and not the successful A.A. of the “early years.” You seem to overlook the fact that when Cleveland A.A. was founded in May of 1939s, it embraced the Bible, the Four Absolutes, the Big Book, and the 12 Steps. It grew from one group to thirty in a year, was the fastest growing area in the country—bar none, and had a documented 93% success rate. They weren’t blind. They were highly and demonstrably successful. And even Jews and Roman Catholics could be found among them.
Sixth, I have published 42 titles and over 650 articles; and until you have digested the origins of A.A., the history of A.A., the founding of A.A. when the first three AAs -- all believers in Almighty God, all Christians, and all totally successful with continuous sobriety, then I really wouldn’t care to discuss this further. But if you cover the first three and also learn the Akron program, the Cleveland program, the success rates, and the great compromise of 1939 when a committee of four removed God from the Steps, then you will be on a firm footing in believing what you believe, reading what you wish, practicing whatever religious ideas you have, and witnessing to your successes. And not condemning the dedicated work of another AA.
I am one of those dudes who has attended and/or served honorably in the Boy Scouts, the Army, college, law school, the Rotary Club, and the Stanford Law Review. Never did I dispute what someone else said or believed or practiced concerning himself. I just served where I was, I believed what I believed. And I tried to heed the injunction found in both the Old and the New Testaments that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as yourselves. You will also find it in the Big Book. And you won’t find it among the “bleeding deacons” who want to tell everybody else what they must believe in order to be a Boy Scout, a soldier, a university student, a lawyer, a Rotarian, and a Law Review Editor. I found many Christians, Jews, Roman Catholics, and humanists in all these outfits. I didn’t call them “blind.” And I ddn’t leave any of them. I merely drank too much before I successfully joined A.A. over 25 years ago, maintained continuous sobriety, and helped more drunks and addicts than I can count.
God bless,
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
A.A. History or A.A. Mystery
A.A. History or A.A. Mystery
A Series with Answers
Dick B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved
A.A.’s own resources:
A.A.’s Pamphlet P-53 reports the complete talk Dr. Bob gave at his last major address in 1948, emphasizing A.A.’s roots in the Bible—Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7), the Book of James, and 1 Corinthians 13.
Bill W. wrote some “fragments” that became available in Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age ( 1957), and, in an article published in The Language of the Heart: Bill W.’s Grapevine Writings, Bill sketched out the source of the 12 Steps as Dr. William D.
Silkworth, Professor William James, and Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr.
It was not until the 1980’s that A.A. published DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (1980)
which recorded the Original A.A. program in Akron (from 1935-1938); and not until 1984 that A.A. published “Pass It On” – a partial biography of Bill’s life with most of Bill Wilson’s shortcomings frankly conceded.
What was missing:
There was no complete, accurate, or informative material on the Christian upbringing of
Dr. Bob in Vermont. There was no complete, accurate, or informative material on Bill W.’s Christian upbringing in Vermont Nor on the solution that Dr. Silkworth gave Bill—the cure through Jesus Christ. Nor Ebby Thacher’s new birth at Calvary Mission Nor Bill’s decision for Jesus Christ at Calvary Mission. Nor his original witnessing with a Bible under his arm and his testimony that the Lord had cured him of his terrible disease.
There was no mention of Bill W.’s autobiography which lay dormant in Stepping Stones for years and years.
It took a bid at auction for slightly less than one million dollars to result in Hazelden’s publication in 2010 of the drastically changed printer’s manuscript of the First Edition
of Alcoholics Anonymous.
There was no publication for years and years of anything accurate about the personal
Journal that Dr. Bob’s wife Anne Ripley Smith had kept from 1933 to 1939, which
laid out the basic principles of the A.A. program, and from which she shared each morning at the Smith home in Akron with pioneer AAs and their families.
There was no significant information published about the excellent training that Dr. Bob said he had had in the Bible as a youth. There was no significant information published about Bill’s Bible study with his grandfather and with his friend, or the four-year Bible study Bill undertook at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, Vermont.
There was no adequate report on the many Christian conversions and cures that Professor William James recorded in his Varieties of Religious Experience that both Dr. Bob and Bill owned and studied.
There was no adequate report for years and years on the prescription of conversion as a cure for alcoholism that Dr. Carl G. Jung prescribed before A.A. was founded. And that Dr. William D. Silkworth had specifically mentioned to Bill Wilson on Bill’s third visit to Towns Hospital as a patient.
There was no report or documentation of the twenty-eight Oxford Group principles that so strongly influenced Bill W.’s writing in the Big Book and Twelve Steps.
There was no public report of the “Bedford” Manuscript that Bill dictated to Ed B. in the 1950’s when Bill recorded a version of A.A. history that was later used by Robert Thomsen (Bill’s first biographer) and even by the authors of “Pass It On” – but no apparent or recognizable opportunity for the public to see and analyze the report itself
There was no report of the hundreds of articles in newspapers and magazines and even books where early AAs told how they had been “cured” of alcoholism. And eventually
A.A. literature (except for page 191 of later Big Book editions) simply obliterated the idea that alcoholism could be cured, that Bill Wilson had said so, but and had also specifically attributed the cure to Jesus Christ in a story about Cleveland that has
now been removed from the Third Edition of “Alcoholics Anonymous.”
There has been no presentation of the more than 400 pages of Big Book manuscript materials – containing Christian and biblical materials – that were discarded before the Big Book manuscript was published. And there has been no presentation of the “dogma” that Bill wrote had been learned from the churches and missions that had helped AAs.
The price paid and the mystery created by the omissions
Writers put out books like “Not-God,” “Slaying the Dragon,” biographies of Bill, and reflections by hundreds of later A.A. members on what A.A. had given them or not given them in the way of “spiritual experiences” or “Something saves” if they even acknowledged the existence of such novel recovery interpretations..
The “solution” that had made Bill and A.A. famous—Bill’s own story of conversion to God through Jesus Christ and called a “spiritual experience” was changed to speak of a “spiritual awakening” and finally a “personality change.”
Every mention of the Bible was omitted from the Big Book main text.
Every meaningful mention of Jesus Christ was omitted from the Big Book main text.
Significant mention of God as Creator, Maker, Heavenly Father, and Father was mixed with Bill W.’s self-made “Czar of the Heavens,” “Universal Mind,” “Spirit of Nature,” and “Creative Intelligence,” and other human appellations seemingly derived from New Thought writers.
A few dogged anti-A.A. Christian writers began publishing untruths about A.A. and
Spiritualism, A.A. and “spirituality,” A.A. as being “spiritual but not religious,” A.A. and Masonry, and absurd names for “a god” like higher power, light bulb, radiator, chair, table, Gertrude, Ralph, Santa Claus, the Great Pumpkin, and Something.
A few A.A. apologists began trying to equate the biblical roots and expressions of early A.A. with Bible verses the mention of which in early A.A. was simply not documented.
A large number of AAs and the A.A. hierarchy began pushing the idea that one didn’t need to believe in anything at all in order to recover in the A.A. program.
A.A. Traditions and A.A. “Conference Approved” barriers were manufactured by people in the rooms to bar books, to suppress mention of the Bible and Jesus Christ, and even to exclude from recognition those groups that studied the biblical and Christian roots of A.A.
The “wisdom of the rooms” with its psychobabble and self-made religion gained much more usage by members than the Bible verses and Christian ideas that dominated the early A.A. of Akron. Phrases like “this too shall pass,” “turn it over,” “acceptance is the answer,” “just play with the cards that are dealt you,” “don’t drink and go to meetings,” and “go to meetings – go to meetings – go to meetings” predominated over reading the Bible, having Quiet Times, holding prayer meetings, affirming belief in Almighty God, accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and talking about “religion.”
Worship of some “higher power” began to be widely accepted as a remedy instead of being rejected or ignored as an “absurd name for God” which Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr. had warned against in A.A. conferences and literature.
The possibility that someone could and can be a participant in a 12 Step or A.A. program or fellowship and still be a Christian caused some writers to concoct interpretations of the Bible and fearful condemnations of those who dared to be Christian and A.A.
A.A. History or A.A. Mystery?
One who is an AA and Christian is often left with several misunderstood or seemingly unacceptable choices: (1) Believe the “wisdom of the rooms.” (2) Misuse A.A. tools like “Conference-approved” and the “Traditions” to suppress reading and meeting talk. (3) Read the volumes of later published literature promoting A.A. as a “broad highway,” a place where those of any belief or no belief could flourish in their discussions of A.A. and its Steps. (4) See himself vocally and in writing condemned for expressing his views about God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, the Bible, religion, and church.
God has not left A.A. Nor has the Christian history of A.A. disappeared. Jesus Christ has not vanished from the beliefs of thousands and thousands of AAs. The Bible has not been burned—as with Nazi German and other historically reported book-burnings. Idolatry has not been acclaimed by Christians. “Higher Powers” are not proven vehicles of healing or understanding or worship or belief. They are bogus crutches for those who have heard and believed a rumor, “forgotten where they came from” and never learned how it is that the original believing AAs (40 in number) had a 75% success rate—which is far far far from the success rates of those in A.A. who don’t believe or those who rely on frequent rotating “rehabs” and “treatment” programs.
The “mystery” perhaps is just how long the perpetrator of unbelief, the victims of unbelief, and the publishers of unbelief will continue to dilute and perhaps even destroy the desperate hopes for healing, outcries for help, and solid reliance on God that still cause the formula to be published in A.A.’s Big Book – “God could and could if He were sought.”
A Series with Answers
Dick B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved
A.A.’s own resources:
A.A.’s Pamphlet P-53 reports the complete talk Dr. Bob gave at his last major address in 1948, emphasizing A.A.’s roots in the Bible—Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7), the Book of James, and 1 Corinthians 13.
Bill W. wrote some “fragments” that became available in Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age ( 1957), and, in an article published in The Language of the Heart: Bill W.’s Grapevine Writings, Bill sketched out the source of the 12 Steps as Dr. William D.
Silkworth, Professor William James, and Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr.
It was not until the 1980’s that A.A. published DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (1980)
which recorded the Original A.A. program in Akron (from 1935-1938); and not until 1984 that A.A. published “Pass It On” – a partial biography of Bill’s life with most of Bill Wilson’s shortcomings frankly conceded.
What was missing:
There was no complete, accurate, or informative material on the Christian upbringing of
Dr. Bob in Vermont. There was no complete, accurate, or informative material on Bill W.’s Christian upbringing in Vermont Nor on the solution that Dr. Silkworth gave Bill—the cure through Jesus Christ. Nor Ebby Thacher’s new birth at Calvary Mission Nor Bill’s decision for Jesus Christ at Calvary Mission. Nor his original witnessing with a Bible under his arm and his testimony that the Lord had cured him of his terrible disease.
There was no mention of Bill W.’s autobiography which lay dormant in Stepping Stones for years and years.
It took a bid at auction for slightly less than one million dollars to result in Hazelden’s publication in 2010 of the drastically changed printer’s manuscript of the First Edition
of Alcoholics Anonymous.
There was no publication for years and years of anything accurate about the personal
Journal that Dr. Bob’s wife Anne Ripley Smith had kept from 1933 to 1939, which
laid out the basic principles of the A.A. program, and from which she shared each morning at the Smith home in Akron with pioneer AAs and their families.
There was no significant information published about the excellent training that Dr. Bob said he had had in the Bible as a youth. There was no significant information published about Bill’s Bible study with his grandfather and with his friend, or the four-year Bible study Bill undertook at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, Vermont.
There was no adequate report on the many Christian conversions and cures that Professor William James recorded in his Varieties of Religious Experience that both Dr. Bob and Bill owned and studied.
There was no adequate report for years and years on the prescription of conversion as a cure for alcoholism that Dr. Carl G. Jung prescribed before A.A. was founded. And that Dr. William D. Silkworth had specifically mentioned to Bill Wilson on Bill’s third visit to Towns Hospital as a patient.
There was no report or documentation of the twenty-eight Oxford Group principles that so strongly influenced Bill W.’s writing in the Big Book and Twelve Steps.
There was no public report of the “Bedford” Manuscript that Bill dictated to Ed B. in the 1950’s when Bill recorded a version of A.A. history that was later used by Robert Thomsen (Bill’s first biographer) and even by the authors of “Pass It On” – but no apparent or recognizable opportunity for the public to see and analyze the report itself
There was no report of the hundreds of articles in newspapers and magazines and even books where early AAs told how they had been “cured” of alcoholism. And eventually
A.A. literature (except for page 191 of later Big Book editions) simply obliterated the idea that alcoholism could be cured, that Bill Wilson had said so, but and had also specifically attributed the cure to Jesus Christ in a story about Cleveland that has
now been removed from the Third Edition of “Alcoholics Anonymous.”
There has been no presentation of the more than 400 pages of Big Book manuscript materials – containing Christian and biblical materials – that were discarded before the Big Book manuscript was published. And there has been no presentation of the “dogma” that Bill wrote had been learned from the churches and missions that had helped AAs.
The price paid and the mystery created by the omissions
Writers put out books like “Not-God,” “Slaying the Dragon,” biographies of Bill, and reflections by hundreds of later A.A. members on what A.A. had given them or not given them in the way of “spiritual experiences” or “Something saves” if they even acknowledged the existence of such novel recovery interpretations..
The “solution” that had made Bill and A.A. famous—Bill’s own story of conversion to God through Jesus Christ and called a “spiritual experience” was changed to speak of a “spiritual awakening” and finally a “personality change.”
Every mention of the Bible was omitted from the Big Book main text.
Every meaningful mention of Jesus Christ was omitted from the Big Book main text.
Significant mention of God as Creator, Maker, Heavenly Father, and Father was mixed with Bill W.’s self-made “Czar of the Heavens,” “Universal Mind,” “Spirit of Nature,” and “Creative Intelligence,” and other human appellations seemingly derived from New Thought writers.
A few dogged anti-A.A. Christian writers began publishing untruths about A.A. and
Spiritualism, A.A. and “spirituality,” A.A. as being “spiritual but not religious,” A.A. and Masonry, and absurd names for “a god” like higher power, light bulb, radiator, chair, table, Gertrude, Ralph, Santa Claus, the Great Pumpkin, and Something.
A few A.A. apologists began trying to equate the biblical roots and expressions of early A.A. with Bible verses the mention of which in early A.A. was simply not documented.
A large number of AAs and the A.A. hierarchy began pushing the idea that one didn’t need to believe in anything at all in order to recover in the A.A. program.
A.A. Traditions and A.A. “Conference Approved” barriers were manufactured by people in the rooms to bar books, to suppress mention of the Bible and Jesus Christ, and even to exclude from recognition those groups that studied the biblical and Christian roots of A.A.
The “wisdom of the rooms” with its psychobabble and self-made religion gained much more usage by members than the Bible verses and Christian ideas that dominated the early A.A. of Akron. Phrases like “this too shall pass,” “turn it over,” “acceptance is the answer,” “just play with the cards that are dealt you,” “don’t drink and go to meetings,” and “go to meetings – go to meetings – go to meetings” predominated over reading the Bible, having Quiet Times, holding prayer meetings, affirming belief in Almighty God, accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and talking about “religion.”
Worship of some “higher power” began to be widely accepted as a remedy instead of being rejected or ignored as an “absurd name for God” which Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr. had warned against in A.A. conferences and literature.
The possibility that someone could and can be a participant in a 12 Step or A.A. program or fellowship and still be a Christian caused some writers to concoct interpretations of the Bible and fearful condemnations of those who dared to be Christian and A.A.
A.A. History or A.A. Mystery?
One who is an AA and Christian is often left with several misunderstood or seemingly unacceptable choices: (1) Believe the “wisdom of the rooms.” (2) Misuse A.A. tools like “Conference-approved” and the “Traditions” to suppress reading and meeting talk. (3) Read the volumes of later published literature promoting A.A. as a “broad highway,” a place where those of any belief or no belief could flourish in their discussions of A.A. and its Steps. (4) See himself vocally and in writing condemned for expressing his views about God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, the Bible, religion, and church.
God has not left A.A. Nor has the Christian history of A.A. disappeared. Jesus Christ has not vanished from the beliefs of thousands and thousands of AAs. The Bible has not been burned—as with Nazi German and other historically reported book-burnings. Idolatry has not been acclaimed by Christians. “Higher Powers” are not proven vehicles of healing or understanding or worship or belief. They are bogus crutches for those who have heard and believed a rumor, “forgotten where they came from” and never learned how it is that the original believing AAs (40 in number) had a 75% success rate—which is far far far from the success rates of those in A.A. who don’t believe or those who rely on frequent rotating “rehabs” and “treatment” programs.
The “mystery” perhaps is just how long the perpetrator of unbelief, the victims of unbelief, and the publishers of unbelief will continue to dilute and perhaps even destroy the desperate hopes for healing, outcries for help, and solid reliance on God that still cause the formula to be published in A.A.’s Big Book – “God could and could if He were sought.”
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Celebrating Christian Recovery Efforts at Two September Summits in California
Celebrating Recovery in California with Christians in Recovery
Two September Recovery Summits Reaching Far Beyond Churches, A.A., N.A., Teen Challenge, Celebrate Recovery, Interventions, Treatment Programs, Counseling, Christian recovery fellowships, Prisons, Homeless shelters, Sober living, and Interventions
Dick B.
A call for broadening your search for God’s help by attending our summits in California and learning how concerned recovery workers are joining complete our worldwide efforts to address all aspects of Christian living beyond affliction and affection.
The next important summit for Christians in recovery will be held Saturday, September 17, 9:00 AM to 1:45 PM at The Crossing Church in Costa Mesa. This will be followed by a summit for Christian recovery Saturday, September 24, 9:30 AM for balance of day.
Open. Free. No registration required. Important.
Audiences will hear from speakers and panelists worldwide who will be telling how the new Christian Recovery Movement reaches far beyond churches. Leaders network with other leaders in assessment, detox, referral, Christian counseling, intervention, Christian treatment programs, Christian after care, Christian sober living, Christian recovery fellowships, prayer groups, Bible study groups, chaplaincy, prison outreach, mental illness, homelessness, and restoration to the abundant life in society that Christians and others--affected and afflicted-can receive relief from God through His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible if they want it.
We are A.A. friendly, Bible friendly, Recovery friendly, and Friendly friendly. And we believe those who want and need help from God should seek all the help they can get. Look to God--whether in A.A., N.A., Alcoholics Victorious, Celebrate Recovery, Overcomers Outreach, Inc., Salvation Army, Teen Challenge, treatment, sober living, or other professional help.
We believe all of these efforts need to be keyed to the power of God and how to receive it. They need to be keyed to God’s healing, forgiveness, love, guidance, and purpose. They need to be keyed toward alcoholics and addicts who are suffering, toward those afflicted by their behavior, and toward those who have had enough of higher powers, spirituality, and nonsense gods.
Be sure to come to California during national recovery month in September. The summits will have Music. Prayer. Speakers. Food, Penelistss, Exhibits, Fellowship.
See www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com. Contact dickb@dickb.com.
Two September Recovery Summits Reaching Far Beyond Churches, A.A., N.A., Teen Challenge, Celebrate Recovery, Interventions, Treatment Programs, Counseling, Christian recovery fellowships, Prisons, Homeless shelters, Sober living, and Interventions
Dick B.
A call for broadening your search for God’s help by attending our summits in California and learning how concerned recovery workers are joining complete our worldwide efforts to address all aspects of Christian living beyond affliction and affection.
The next important summit for Christians in recovery will be held Saturday, September 17, 9:00 AM to 1:45 PM at The Crossing Church in Costa Mesa. This will be followed by a summit for Christian recovery Saturday, September 24, 9:30 AM for balance of day.
Open. Free. No registration required. Important.
Audiences will hear from speakers and panelists worldwide who will be telling how the new Christian Recovery Movement reaches far beyond churches. Leaders network with other leaders in assessment, detox, referral, Christian counseling, intervention, Christian treatment programs, Christian after care, Christian sober living, Christian recovery fellowships, prayer groups, Bible study groups, chaplaincy, prison outreach, mental illness, homelessness, and restoration to the abundant life in society that Christians and others--affected and afflicted-can receive relief from God through His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible if they want it.
We are A.A. friendly, Bible friendly, Recovery friendly, and Friendly friendly. And we believe those who want and need help from God should seek all the help they can get. Look to God--whether in A.A., N.A., Alcoholics Victorious, Celebrate Recovery, Overcomers Outreach, Inc., Salvation Army, Teen Challenge, treatment, sober living, or other professional help.
We believe all of these efforts need to be keyed to the power of God and how to receive it. They need to be keyed to God’s healing, forgiveness, love, guidance, and purpose. They need to be keyed toward alcoholics and addicts who are suffering, toward those afflicted by their behavior, and toward those who have had enough of higher powers, spirituality, and nonsense gods.
Be sure to come to California during national recovery month in September. The summits will have Music. Prayer. Speakers. Food, Penelistss, Exhibits, Fellowship.
See www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com. Contact dickb@dickb.com.
Christian recovery summit--the next one (September) following Celebrate Recovery
The next important summit for Christians in recovery will be held Saturday, September 17, 9:00 AM to 1:45 PM at The Crossing Church in Costa Mesa. Open. Free. No registration required. Important. Audiences will hear from speakers and panelists worldwide who will be telling how the new Christian Recovery Movement reaches far beyond churches. Leaders network with other leaders in assessment, detox, referral, Christian counseling, intervention, Christian treatment programs, Christian after care, Christian sober living, Christian recovery fellowships, prayer groups, Bible study groups, chaplaincy, prison outreach, mental illness, homelessness, and restoration to the abundant life in society that Christians and others--affected and afflicted-can receive relief from God through His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible if they want it. We are A.A. friendly, Bible friendly, Recovery friendly, and Friendly friendly. And we believe those who want and need help from God should seek all the help they can get--whether from A.A., N.A., Alcoholics Victorious, Celebrate Recovery, Overcomers Outreach, Inc., Salvation Army, Teen Challenge, or professional help --- all of which need to be keyed to the power of God and how to receive it. Be sure to come. Music. Prayer. Speakers. Food, Penelistss, Exhibits, Fellowship. See www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com. Contact dickb@dickb.com.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Short URL to the new First Edition 1939 Big Book with intro by Dick B.
http://mcaf.ee/xsohy
This Dover Publications will be one of the three major First Edition Big Book items discussed at the North American Christian Recovery Summit Meetings in California (Sep 17 at Costa Mesa, and Sep 24 at Brentwood)
The plan is to have on display: (1) The original printer's manuscript of the Big Book published last fall by Hazelden. (2) A Dover Publications book or display on the First Edition 1939 with introduction by Dick B. (See http://mcaf.ee/xsohy) (3) A peek at the Sponsor's Guide to the First Edition - now in preparation by Rick S.
This Dover Publications will be one of the three major First Edition Big Book items discussed at the North American Christian Recovery Summit Meetings in California (Sep 17 at Costa Mesa, and Sep 24 at Brentwood)
The plan is to have on display: (1) The original printer's manuscript of the Big Book published last fall by Hazelden. (2) A Dover Publications book or display on the First Edition 1939 with introduction by Dick B. (See http://mcaf.ee/xsohy) (3) A peek at the Sponsor's Guide to the First Edition - now in preparation by Rick S.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Short URL to complete programs of California Recovery Summits in September
This will quickly move you to the complete program information for the two North American Christian Recovery Summit Meetings in California (September 17
at Costa Mesa - The Crossing Church; and September 24 at Brentwood - Golden Hills Community Church http://mcaf.ee/0y56e
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Typical sloppy, incomplete, and conjectural report by history lovers on Dr. Bob and Masonry
A few anti-A.A. Christian writers have a whoop-de-do time casting A.A. in the Masonic mold because Dr. Bob joined a Masonic Lodge as an adult during his drinking years, was later suspended for non-payment of dues, and then was reinstated about 1940. Is all this true? Only if you believe that one cannot be a Christian and a Freemason in the same breath. Only if you don't know the differences between blue lodges, Scottish Rite, and York Rite. Only if you believe that all the U.S. presidents who were Masons could not have been Christians, were mono-theists, and poisoned our country because of their Masonic affiliation. Only if today you think Christians cannot become Masons and that Masons cannot be Christians. And what does any of this have to do with what Dr. Bob believed if you don't know what he believed? And you can be sure from their writings that neither the anti-A.A. Christian writers nor the dean of history lovers has a clue. Only if you buy into the speculation, opinion, sloppy reporting, and weaving a fabric that suits the views of the anti-A.A. Christian writers and the dean of history lovers.
If you can't see the sloppy conjecture about the divinity of Christ, the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (which every early A.A. did), and a supposed belief in the "great architect," try finding anything in the following that is backed up with a shred of relevant evidence! And here comes the manufacturing train from Glenn C., dean of history lovers who bars from his site most who disagree with his pontification.
"Dr. Bob and Masonry Topic List < Prev Topic | Next Topic >
Reply < Prev Message | Next Message >
Re: Dr. Bob and Masonry
Mitchell Klein, "How It Worked," Chapter 9
http://www.aabbsg.org/chs/chs09.htm
"Clarence became involved with the Masons
in Florida. Like Dr. Bob, Clarence was a 32°
Mason." [Mitch is on target with this statement;
the facts are documented; and both Bob and
Clarence were 32 degree Masons. And both were
Christians from their earliest years]
- - - -
"Bruce C."
(brucecl2002 at yahoo.com)
Also refers us to Mitchell K.'s "How It Worked"
- - - -
From: jdf10487@... (jdf10487 at yahoo.com)
The following article claims that Dr. Bob was
a Mason.
Sincerely, Jim F. [and check out the slander
in this source:]
http://www.worldviewtimes.com/article.php/articleid-3537
"Dr. Bob was a Mason. Suspended in 1934, he
gained reinstatement after being sober for
some years." [Blue Lodge? Scottish Rite?
the Treasurer? Which drummed him out, and
which "restored" him?]
The endnote gives Cedric L. Smith, PGM, Grand
Secretary of Masons in Vermont, as the source
of this information. [The Grand Master has
all the records of all the members, but can't
say when Dr. Bob became a member of the blue
lodge, when he entered Scottish Rite, when he
was "suspended," for what reason, when he was
reinstated, and what records show this and where are they?
I'd love to see an attorney present this mish mash of
hearsay to a jury without being prevented from doing so]
- - - -
As I have said in so many of my talks: "AAs may be sick,
but they are not stupid. In fact, there is a statement
in the "wisdom of the rooms" that you can't bs a bser.
Note from the moderator [professor Glenn Chesnut
who, before presenting his lofty opinions, suddenly
says he would like to see "some member" "check the
Vermont Masonic records" of a secret society! He's
safe on that one]
I would suggest that some member of our group
who is a Mason check the Vermont Masonic records
to see if everything in that last statement
(especially the part about Dr. Bob being
"suspended" and all that) is in fact correct,
before anybody repeats all that information.
[which the professor then puts out on the internet
for all to see]
- - - -[Now comes the learned speculation and
opinion]
More importantly though, if Dr. Bob was a good
Mason, then he believed that all you had to do
to be approved in God's eyes was to be an
ethical monotheist. Although most American
Masons were Protestants, Jews were also allowed
to join.
So Masons beleived in one God, the Great
Architect who had designed and created this
universe, and in living a life of honesty and
the highest moral principles, based on God's
Moral Law.
But you did NOT have to believe in the divinity
of Jesus Christ to be a Mason, nor was anyone
required to accept Jesus Christ as their
personal savior [source? what about York Rite?]
[And what records does the professor cite? Pike's
Commentaries, Clausen's Commentaries, Blue Lodge
manuscripts?]
[Now the learned professor speaks for a host of U.S.
presidents and with authority] A number of American presidents were Masons:
George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew
Jackson, James Knox Polk, James Buchanan,
Andrew Johnson, James Abram Garfield, William
McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard
Taft, Warren Gamaliel Harding, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Gerald R. Ford, Jr.,
and Lyndon Baines Johnson [what is the source for
asserting their membership andassuming these fellows had views on the divinity of Christ and Romans 10:9].
[Here is a dilly where "professor" Glenn becomes an
interpreter of our Declaration of Independence. Source?]
The U.S. Declaration of Independence reflected
this same Deist and Masonic conception of God
and the universal moral law [what "same conception" and
what 'universal moral law?' The teaching of Moslems,
Buddhists, Confucius, Shinto, voodo, sharia, and all the
rest [The professor should read David Barton on sources, and now the professor tells us his opinion about the "laws of nature and nature's God" Which "laws" are these? Newton, Einstein, Curry, and Galileo may be qualified to discuss their views, but not the dean of A.A. history lovers:]
If we observe "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God,"
it is a self-evident truth, [self-evident? to whom?] the declaration
proclaimed, "that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." [Not
in the same breath as "laws of Nature and of Nature's God']
http://www.givemeliberty.org/DOCS/DECLARATION.HTM
[If this URL supports all that the professor claims,
someone is a monkey's uncle]
This is the core of AA's moral code [And now without
citing Dr. Bob or Bill or the Twelve Steps or the Big
Book, the great pontificator tells us:] Treat
all other men and women with respect as human
beings equal in importance (in God's eyes)
to ourselves. Respect other people's rights
at all times. Show tolerance to all, and
give everyone else the Liberty to live their
own lives on their own principles -- I have
NO RIGHT to act like a tyrant and try to
impose my will and my beliefs on anyone else.
When I am in bitter conflict with other people,
I must ask myself, which do I want? to be right
or to be happy? Sane people (most of the time)
choose "the pursuit of Happiness" in those
situations as their goal. [not a word here about
the Bible which Dr. Bob said gave A.A. its basic
ideas]
Dr. Bob was 55 years old when he met Bill W.
and got sober. It doesn't matter what was
preached by some religious youth group that Dr.
Bob had belonged 40 or 50 years earlier [here the
great pontificator rejects North Congregational
Church of St. Johnsbury, the YMCA, the Salvation
Army, the rescue missions, Young People's Christian Endeavor Society, and
Dwight L. Moody]. How many of us still believe when we are 55 what
we believed when we were 5 or 10 years old? [And just what did
Dr. believe when he was 5 years old? I never saw any record of that. Has professor Glenn access to the Smith family scrapbook? How many times
does the professor look in the Bible for truth. My Bible says
God does not change. Does He?] If you learned about Him
from your parents, your church, your Sunday school, your
Bible studies, the YMCA, and St. Johnsbury Academy, does
the great pontificator reject all this too. Quite a claim for
an Indiana professor to make]
[Who could be a history lover if someone tried to ram this
onw down his or her throat. Chesnut wrote further:] If Dr. Bob had joined the Masons, then this means that AS AN ADULT [here's the Chesnut
crystal ball again] he had come to accept
the principle that all God required of us
human beings was that we recognize Him
as the creator (the Great Architect of the
universe) and as the Author of a universal
moral law which intelligent people could work
out for themselves, using their own conscience
and their own common sense, without having to
appeal to any church doctrines or dogmas or
holy books [here learned Glenn rejects the Bible,
the Pope, Martin Luther, John Knox, Wesley, and on
and on. A little much for a newcomer to A.A. who
can't remember his home address or mother's maiden
name].
Glenn C. (South Bend, Indiana)"
Throw out your Bibles. Throw out your preachers. Throw out the writings of all the people Glenn condemns. And what do you have that sustains a single one of his statements--only the possibility that he taught this stuff to his congregation or his classes. God help them@
So much for opinion, conjecture, and erroneous
reporting! Let's hear the real historical facts
rendered by someone who has done other than guess
about them.
"
If you can't see the sloppy conjecture about the divinity of Christ, the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (which every early A.A. did), and a supposed belief in the "great architect," try finding anything in the following that is backed up with a shred of relevant evidence! And here comes the manufacturing train from Glenn C., dean of history lovers who bars from his site most who disagree with his pontification.
"Dr. Bob and Masonry Topic List < Prev Topic | Next Topic >
Reply < Prev Message | Next Message >
Re: Dr. Bob and Masonry
Mitchell Klein, "How It Worked," Chapter 9
http://www.aabbsg.org/chs/chs09.htm
"Clarence became involved with the Masons
in Florida. Like Dr. Bob, Clarence was a 32°
Mason." [Mitch is on target with this statement;
the facts are documented; and both Bob and
Clarence were 32 degree Masons. And both were
Christians from their earliest years]
- - - -
"Bruce C."
(brucecl2002 at yahoo.com)
Also refers us to Mitchell K.'s "How It Worked"
- - - -
From: jdf10487@... (jdf10487 at yahoo.com)
The following article claims that Dr. Bob was
a Mason.
Sincerely, Jim F. [and check out the slander
in this source:]
http://www.worldviewtimes.com/article.php/articleid-3537
"Dr. Bob was a Mason. Suspended in 1934, he
gained reinstatement after being sober for
some years." [Blue Lodge? Scottish Rite?
the Treasurer? Which drummed him out, and
which "restored" him?]
The endnote gives Cedric L. Smith, PGM, Grand
Secretary of Masons in Vermont, as the source
of this information. [The Grand Master has
all the records of all the members, but can't
say when Dr. Bob became a member of the blue
lodge, when he entered Scottish Rite, when he
was "suspended," for what reason, when he was
reinstated, and what records show this and where are they?
I'd love to see an attorney present this mish mash of
hearsay to a jury without being prevented from doing so]
- - - -
As I have said in so many of my talks: "AAs may be sick,
but they are not stupid. In fact, there is a statement
in the "wisdom of the rooms" that you can't bs a bser.
Note from the moderator [professor Glenn Chesnut
who, before presenting his lofty opinions, suddenly
says he would like to see "some member" "check the
Vermont Masonic records" of a secret society! He's
safe on that one]
I would suggest that some member of our group
who is a Mason check the Vermont Masonic records
to see if everything in that last statement
(especially the part about Dr. Bob being
"suspended" and all that) is in fact correct,
before anybody repeats all that information.
[which the professor then puts out on the internet
for all to see]
- - - -[Now comes the learned speculation and
opinion]
More importantly though, if Dr. Bob was a good
Mason, then he believed that all you had to do
to be approved in God's eyes was to be an
ethical monotheist. Although most American
Masons were Protestants, Jews were also allowed
to join.
So Masons beleived in one God, the Great
Architect who had designed and created this
universe, and in living a life of honesty and
the highest moral principles, based on God's
Moral Law.
But you did NOT have to believe in the divinity
of Jesus Christ to be a Mason, nor was anyone
required to accept Jesus Christ as their
personal savior [source? what about York Rite?]
[And what records does the professor cite? Pike's
Commentaries, Clausen's Commentaries, Blue Lodge
manuscripts?]
[Now the learned professor speaks for a host of U.S.
presidents and with authority] A number of American presidents were Masons:
George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew
Jackson, James Knox Polk, James Buchanan,
Andrew Johnson, James Abram Garfield, William
McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard
Taft, Warren Gamaliel Harding, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Gerald R. Ford, Jr.,
and Lyndon Baines Johnson [what is the source for
asserting their membership andassuming these fellows had views on the divinity of Christ and Romans 10:9].
[Here is a dilly where "professor" Glenn becomes an
interpreter of our Declaration of Independence. Source?]
The U.S. Declaration of Independence reflected
this same Deist and Masonic conception of God
and the universal moral law [what "same conception" and
what 'universal moral law?' The teaching of Moslems,
Buddhists, Confucius, Shinto, voodo, sharia, and all the
rest [The professor should read David Barton on sources, and now the professor tells us his opinion about the "laws of nature and nature's God" Which "laws" are these? Newton, Einstein, Curry, and Galileo may be qualified to discuss their views, but not the dean of A.A. history lovers:]
If we observe "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God,"
it is a self-evident truth, [self-evident? to whom?] the declaration
proclaimed, "that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." [Not
in the same breath as "laws of Nature and of Nature's God']
http://www.givemeliberty.org/DOCS/DECLARATION.HTM
[If this URL supports all that the professor claims,
someone is a monkey's uncle]
This is the core of AA's moral code [And now without
citing Dr. Bob or Bill or the Twelve Steps or the Big
Book, the great pontificator tells us:] Treat
all other men and women with respect as human
beings equal in importance (in God's eyes)
to ourselves. Respect other people's rights
at all times. Show tolerance to all, and
give everyone else the Liberty to live their
own lives on their own principles -- I have
NO RIGHT to act like a tyrant and try to
impose my will and my beliefs on anyone else.
When I am in bitter conflict with other people,
I must ask myself, which do I want? to be right
or to be happy? Sane people (most of the time)
choose "the pursuit of Happiness" in those
situations as their goal. [not a word here about
the Bible which Dr. Bob said gave A.A. its basic
ideas]
Dr. Bob was 55 years old when he met Bill W.
and got sober. It doesn't matter what was
preached by some religious youth group that Dr.
Bob had belonged 40 or 50 years earlier [here the
great pontificator rejects North Congregational
Church of St. Johnsbury, the YMCA, the Salvation
Army, the rescue missions, Young People's Christian Endeavor Society, and
Dwight L. Moody]. How many of us still believe when we are 55 what
we believed when we were 5 or 10 years old? [And just what did
Dr. believe when he was 5 years old? I never saw any record of that. Has professor Glenn access to the Smith family scrapbook? How many times
does the professor look in the Bible for truth. My Bible says
God does not change. Does He?] If you learned about Him
from your parents, your church, your Sunday school, your
Bible studies, the YMCA, and St. Johnsbury Academy, does
the great pontificator reject all this too. Quite a claim for
an Indiana professor to make]
[Who could be a history lover if someone tried to ram this
onw down his or her throat. Chesnut wrote further:] If Dr. Bob had joined the Masons, then this means that AS AN ADULT [here's the Chesnut
crystal ball again] he had come to accept
the principle that all God required of us
human beings was that we recognize Him
as the creator (the Great Architect of the
universe) and as the Author of a universal
moral law which intelligent people could work
out for themselves, using their own conscience
and their own common sense, without having to
appeal to any church doctrines or dogmas or
holy books [here learned Glenn rejects the Bible,
the Pope, Martin Luther, John Knox, Wesley, and on
and on. A little much for a newcomer to A.A. who
can't remember his home address or mother's maiden
name].
Glenn C. (South Bend, Indiana)"
Throw out your Bibles. Throw out your preachers. Throw out the writings of all the people Glenn condemns. And what do you have that sustains a single one of his statements--only the possibility that he taught this stuff to his congregation or his classes. God help them@
So much for opinion, conjecture, and erroneous
reporting! Let's hear the real historical facts
rendered by someone who has done other than guess
about them.
"
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