"The Golden Text of A.A.," Jesus Christ, and Early A.A.'s Christian Fellowship

[dickb]

Monday, October 24, 2011"The Golden Text of A.A.", Alcoholics Anonymous History, and Jesus Christ
Amazon.com has just posted a short review of our book The Golden Text of A.A. www.dickb.com/goldentext.shtml

And this little book shows the number of times Jesus Christ was the subject of reference during the early A.A. days of the Akron Christian Fellowship.

Bill Wilson spoke of the Lord's curing him of his terrible disease. Big Book, 4th ed., 191.

A.A. Number Three echoed this view.

A.A. Number Three said this represented the "Golden Text of A.A." for him and for others.

Dr. Bob frequently spoke of Jesus as "the Master" and also by name.

And this book quotes three eye witnesses among the early pioneers. All said that you had to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in order to become a "member" of the Akron fellowship.

Dr. Bob's wife also expressly recommended books on the life of Jesus Christ. www.dickb.com/annesm.shtml

[jonesg]

Would you like to put Jesus into the big book?

[Mountainman]

Would you like to put Jesus into the big book?

The problem with this discussion is that is assumes some facts not in evidence. There is no evidence that A.A. today is, can be, or will become a Christian fellowship. It isn’t. Anyone who attends A.A. should readily acknowledge the obvious. Next, there is ample evidence that early Akron A.A. was a Christian fellowship. Members regularly studied the Book of James, Jesus’ sermon on the mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. They were required to profess belief in God and make a decision for Christ. Early AAs were cured by reliance on the power of God. And one should read page 191 of the Big Book for Bill Wilson’s own statement. The final point is that belief in God, acceptance of Christ, and study of the Bible are still quite available, viable, and dear to many of us in today’s are Christians. Love and tolerance are our code. Criticism of religious beliefs is not.
http://stepstudy.org/2008/05/21/big-book-theology-we-agnostics-and-william-james/


Mention of Jesus in Early A.A. Literature
A Listmania! list by Dick B. "Dick B." (Kihei, HI USA) Share with friends
The list author says: "It will probably surprise you to know that there were many many references to Jesus. So many, in fact, that I will only list some categories. For example: (1) In his own biography, Bill Wilson spoke of the Great Physician—a metaphor used for Jesus Christ and often expressed by Dr. Silkworth. (2) Anne Smith mentioned Christ in her journal. (3) Rev. Sam Shoemaker—who was called a cofounder of A.A. by Bill—started writing about Jesus Christ in his very first book—Realizing Religion, and continued to do so throughout his long career. (4) Shoemaker pointed out that Calvary Mission—where Bill made his decision for Christ—was the place where Jesus Christ changes lives. (5) Bill marched in a processional from Calvary Church to Madison Square to witness—the group carried the sign, “Jesus Christ changes lives.” (6) Endless Oxford Group writings were read by early AAs and frequently mentioned Jesus Christ. (6) Dr. Bob mentioned many times that early AAs considered the Book of James, the Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13 were “absolutely essential to the early program;” and, of course, it was Jesus that delivered the sermon (see Matthews 5, 6, 7)."


Gethsemane
hanging over the mantel was a picture of Gethsemane
and Bill pointed to it and said, 'There it is


Maybe we should remove all Christian references in the book such as "Faith without works is dead," and especially the quote from page 216 - "...I did challenge Bill (Wilson) to tell me something about A.A. and I do recall one other thing: I wanted to know what this was that worked so many wonders, and hanging over the mantel was a picture of Gethsemane and Bill pointed to it and said, 'There it is,..." and of course the quote from page 574, "The basis of the technique of Alcoholics Anonymous is the truly Christian principle that a man cannot help himself except by helping others." While we are at it how about the quote on page 181 - "If you think you are an atheist, an agnostic, a skeptic, or have any other form of intellectual pride which keeps you from accepting what is in this book, I feel sorry for you." Dr. Bob said that and maybe we should get rid of Dr. Bob for that and other quotes and Bill for the Gethsemane quote.

[admin]

Would you like to put Jesus into the big book?

I believe He is already in there on Page 59: Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.

Now I know it doesn't say Jesus but Jesus is as I understand God. For me it is the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. God can be defined in many ways and referred to by many different names which to me is why it is stated "as we understood God." For me it doesn't matter whether you believe or not in any God, just work on staying sober one day at a time any way you can. For me, AA and God is what works.

This thread is now closed to further discussion.