Preface

Have you ever wondered why you hear so little in A.A. about the personal stories/testimonials located in the “Personal Stories” section of Alcoholics Anonymous (the “Big Book”) beginning on page 165 of the fourth edition? Or why some people think that the so-called “basic text” of Alcoholics Anonymous couldn’t possibly include the “Personal Stories” section? Or why some people have torn the entire 394-page “Personal Stories” section (pages 165-559) out of their Big Books and just studied “The Doctor’s Opinion” chapter, “the first 164 pages,” and “Appendix II: Spiritual Experience?” All this in spite of the fact that the front cover of the dust jacket of the fourth edition states:

Alcoholics Anonymous: This is the Fourth Edition of the Big Book, the Basic Text for Alcoholics Anonymous

And despite the following statement in the Preface to the fourth edition:

Because this book has become the basic text for our Society . . . (p. xi)

Why does this aversion to a complete “basic text” exist?

Have you ever wondered why a few people vociferously announce that one can never read about, discuss, or even mention Jesus Christ or the Bible in an A.A. meeting, supposedly because such activity is a “violation” of the Twelve Traditions; or because A.A. is “spiritual, but not religious;” or because the Bible is supposedly not “Conference-approved?” Even though A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson is quoted on page 191 of the fourth edition as follows:

. . . “Henrietta, the Lord has been so wonderful to me, curing me of this terrible disease, that I just want to keep talking about it and telling people.”

And even though A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob stated in his last major talk made at Detroit, Michigan, in December 1948--as quoted on page 13 of the transcript of the talk as published in the A.A. General Service Conference-approved pamphlet titled The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches: Their Last Major Talks:

. . . [W]e were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book.

Why do people continue to exhibit such hostility toward Jesus Christ and the Bible in A.A. meetings despite A.A.’s avowed slogan of “love and service,” and its declared code of “love and tolerance?”

Have you ever wondered why a claim such as that “the Big Book has never been changed!” continues to circulate? Even though page xii of the Preface to the fourth edition states:

All changes made over the years in the Big Book . . .

Or have you wondered why, when pressed about the accuracy of their claim that the Big Book has never (been) changed, such claimants hold on firmly to the fallback claim: “Well, the personal stories may have changed, but the first 164 pages have never been changed!” Even though page xi of the Preface to the fourth edition states:

. . . the first portion of this volume, describing the A.A. recovery program, has been left largely untouched in the course of revisions made for the second, third, and fourth editions.

“Has been left largely untouched” does not mean “has never been changed.” Particularly, when one of those “touches”—i.e., one of the changes—involved changing the wording of Step 12 from “spiritual experience” to “spiritual awakening.” And another, related change involved adding an entire Appendix (“Appendix II: Spiritual Experience”) to try to explain the significance of that change.

Why do such unfounded claims continue to float around?

One need only look to the wise quote on page 570 of the “Conference-approved” Big Book to see the answer:

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.

It should be enough to point out that A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob, throughout his last major talk recorded in the Alcoholics Anonymous General Service Conference-approved pamphlet The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches: Their Last Major Talks (Item #P-53), repeatedly mentioned God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible.

Regarding the Bible—which Dr. Bob often referred to as the “Good Book”—Dr. Bob said:

I had refreshed my memory of the Good Book, and I had had excellent training in that as a youngster. [pp. 11-12]

. . . Bill D., our good friend from Akron . . . was a Sunday-school superintendent, and I thought that he probably forgot more about the Good Book every night than I ever knew. [p. 12]

. . . I felt that I should continue to increase my familiarity with the Good Book . . . [p. 13]

. . . [W]e were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book. To some of us older ones, the parts we found absolutely essential were the Sermon on the Mount, the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, and the Book of James. [p. 13]

We already had the basic ideas [of the Twelve Steps], though not in terse and tangible form. We got them, as I said, as a result of our study of the Good Book. [p. 14]

Regarding God, the Creator—to Whom Dr. Bob usually referred as “our Heavenly Father”—Dr. Bob said:

I used to get a little peeved at our Heavenly Father, because He had been a little slow on the trigger in my own case. [p. 15]

I’m talking about the attitude of each and every one of us toward our Heavenly Father. [p. 19]

We had no humility, no sense of having received anything through the grace of our Heavenly Father. [p. 19]

It’s only through God’s grace that I did it. [p. 19]

I feel extremely fortunate and thankful that our heavenly Father has let me enjoy them. [p. 20]

Regarding the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Dr. Bob said:

Christ said, “Of Myself, I am nothing—My strength cometh from My Father in heaven.” [p. 19]

[Bill W. said of Dr. Bob:] I remember how perfectly Bob put it to them. He reminded us that most of us were practicing Christians. Then he asked, “What would the Master have thought? Would He have kept this man away?” [p. 30]

The purpose of our quoting the foregoing statements is to demonstrate to present-day AAs and other recovery folks that there is no longer any excuse for trashing God, His Son Jesus Christ, or the Bible on the grounds that speaking about them in an A.A. meeting supposedly violates the Twelve Traditions or that reading about them in the Bible or elsewhere constitutes the reading of non-Conference-approved literature. As all can see, the statements quoted above by and about A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob are all found in A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature. In fact, A.A. itself has published statements in writing that there is no such thing as “Conference-disapproved” literature. And A.A. itself has also said that it is none of A.A.’s business what anyone reads.

But today, many a person has received criticism or been ridiculed for mentioning Jesus Christ or the Bible in an A.A. meeting. The new  Celebrate Recovery Bible presents an example along these lines. There, on pages viii and ix, Pastor John Baker, founder of Celebrate Recovery—a huge Christian recovery movement among churches—explains his distaste for, and reasons for rejecting, Alcoholics Anonymous. Pastor Baker states Celebrate Recovery was born at Saddleback Church as a “Christ-centered recovery program” because:

. . . [At] my A.A. meetings I was mocked when I talked about my Higher Power—the only true Higher Power, Jesus Christ.

It may seem like a long leap from John Baker’s concern over being mocked about what he chose to call a “Higher Power” to the concerns of tens of thousands of Christians in A.A. today. A number of Christians have found themselves rebuffed for bringing a Bible into an A.A. meeting. They have found the long-used Lord’s Prayer being eliminated from meeting endings. They have heard themselves condemned for mentioning Jesus Christ in an A.A. meeting. They have often found a local A.A. Central Office (and even World Headquarters) refusing them an official meeting listing because of study of Christian materials. Worst of all, perhaps, is that they have been sorely tempted to be afraid of letting out a peep about their church or their Heavenly Father in an...