Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Bill W. - Compare the Films to the Actual A,A, History


Dick B.’s Documented Account of the Story of Bill Wilson, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the Influences on Wilson [In reply to a question about Oxford Group influences, if any, on Bill Wilson]



Dick B.

Copyright 2012 Anonymous. All rights resereved



“Thank you for asking about the possible influence of the Oxford Group on Bill Wilson.



Actually, there were many influences on his A.A. ideas, as there were in the case of Dr. Bob: They definitely include, and I have documented, the following:



1. The Bible.

2. The Christian organizations and people that preceded and influenced AA: a) Evangelists like Dwight Moody and F. B. Meyer; b) Gospel Rescue Missions; c) Lay brethren of Young Men's Christian Association; d) Salvation Army; e) Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor; f) Oxford Group; g)Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr.

3. The Christian  upbringing of Wilson in the East Dorset Congregational Church, the Bible studies he did with grandfather Griffith and friend Mark Whalon, the conversion and cure of his grandfather Willie Wilson, the sermons and revivals and conversions and temperance meetings he attended, his 4 years at Burr and Burton Academy where he took a four year Bible study course, went to daily chapel at this Congregationalist school, and was president of and active in the school's Young Men's Christian Association.

5. The advice of his physician Dr. Silkworth on his third visit to Towns Hospital; that he would die or go insane if he didn't stop drinking; and that the Great Physician Jesus Christ could cure him.

6. The visits from his friend Ebby Thacher, telling him: a) that he (Ebby) had been to the altar at Calvary Rescue Mission, been born again, got religion; b) that he (Ebby) had learned several things from the Oxford Group friends (Rowland Hazard, Shep Cornell, and Cebra Graves) about Christian subjects he had studied as a youngster, and also about the power of prayer, about the Oxford Group[ program, about Dr. Carl Jung's advice to Rowland that he (Rowland) could be helped if he had a "vital religious experience"--a conversion experience;] c) Bill's trip to Calvary Church to hear and check up on Ebby Thacher's testimony; d) Bill's thought that perhaps Calvary Mission could do for him what it had done for Ebby; e) Bill's trip to the altar at Calvary Mission where he made his decision for Jesus Christ, wrote twice "For sure I had been born again," and wrote that he had "found religion." f) Bill's subsequent drinking, deep despair and depression, and thoughts that he should call on the Great Physician for help; g) Bill's last trip to Towns Hospital where he cried out to God for help, had his memorable "indescribably white flash" blazing in his room, sensed the presence of God, exclaimed "So this is the God of the Scriptures," stopped doubting the power of God, and never drank again.

7. Bills subsequent discussion with Dr. Silkworth where Bill was told he had had a "conversion experience." Bill's extensive study that day of the William James book on religious experiences that cured alcoholics, and Bill's conclusion that his experience in the hospital was a valid conversion experience.

8. Bill's adventure on discharge from the hospital out on the streets with a Bible under his arm and telling drunks in hospitals, missions, flea bag hotels, Oxford Group meetings that he had found a cure for alcoholism and that they should give their lives to God (See Big Book, page 191).

9. Bill's utter failure to convert or sober up anyone at all. Not before he met with Dr. Bob in Akron.

10. Bill's visit with Dr. Bob at Henrietta Seiberling's Gate Lodge for six hours where Bill convinced Bob that the idea of service to others was an essential element in the Oxford Group that was part of the mix, and Dr. Bob's assent.

11. The three months that Bill spent with the Smiths at their home in Akron where: a) Anne read them the Bible each day. b) Anne may have shared from the journal she had kept since 1933. c) there were daily prayers and  quiet time. d) there was an agreement that hospitalization was an essential ingredient. e) Attendance at the weekly "clandestine lodge" meeting of the Oxford Group at the T. Henry Williams home. f) Where extensive Oxford Group and Shoemaker literature were available at the meeting for the taking.

12. The success--when there was no Big Book, were no Steps, were no Traditions, were no drunkalogs, and were no meetings like those today--with A.A. Number Three-Bill Dotson. Bill and Bob visited Dotson in the hospital, told him to give his life to God and, when healed, go out and help others. Dotson turned to God for help, was immediately healed, and went out from the hospital a new man--which marked the founding of Akron Group Number One July 4, 1935.

13. Bill and Bob learning in November of 1937 by "counting noses" that forty members had achieved and maintained some sobriety--with an assured 50% success rate; and that God had shown them how the cure could be passed on by working with newcomers, hospitalization, belief in God, acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, old fashioned prayer meetings, Bible study meetings, Quiet Time, reading Christian literature, and helping others without charge.

14. When Akron, by a barely passing vote in Akron, authorized Wilson to write a book, Bill claimed there were six word-of-mouth ideas being used with success. He phrased the six ideas in at least 4 different ways--when it came to God's help. He claimed they were derived from the Oxford Group, but that there was no general agreement, particularly in the mid-west , on what they were. He also said they were applied according to the "whim" of the group involved. But Bill's  "six" word-of-mouth ideas were very different from the 7 point Akron Christian Fellowship program that Frank Amos summarized in his report to the Rockefeller people in 1937. See DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, 131.

15. Bill soon sat down with Rev. Sam Shoemaker at the book-lined study at Calvary House--with closed doors--and worked out the program of the Big Book, derived largely from Oxford Group ideas (and the Oxford Group itself declared that the principles of the Oxford Group were the principles of the Bible--as Rev. Sherwood Day twice wrote in The Principles of the Oxford Group).

16. When it came time to write Chapter 5 of his new book, Bill asked Sam Shoemaker to write the 12 Steps, but Shoemaker declined saying that they should be written by an alcoholic, namely Bill. Bill then sat down, looked at his alleged "six ideas", and  quickly wrote out Twelve Steps in a book where the word "God" had consistently been used without qualification.

17. Just before the book went to press, four people (Ruth Hock-secretary, Hank Parkhurst--Bill's partner, Bill Wilson--the author, and John Henry Fitzhugh Mayo--who wanted the book to be Christian to the core) changed the language of the steps, deleting God from Step Two, and adding "as we understood Him" to Steps 3 and 11. Bill attributed this change to a "broad highway" to the contributions of the atheists and agnostics.



Most of this material can be found in various of my books listed in http://www.dickb.com/titles.shtml.



And the material is placed in updated, comprehensive, documented, teachable form in "The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide," 3rd ed., 2010. http://www.dickb.com.



Most of the recent, documented research is set forth in my two preceding books "Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous" http://www.dickb.com/drbobofaa,shtml, and "The Conversion of Bill W." http://www.dickb.com/conversion.shtml.

dickb@dickb.com

References to Jesus Christ by Early AAs and Founders


Jesus in Early A.A. Literature and Talks
Dick B.
Copyright 2012 Anonymous. All rights reserved
Probably, a large majority of those in A.A. today, as well as those in the recovery community as leaders and as patients, and even the very small group of Christian critics of Alcoholics Anonymous would answer the following questions incorrectly or simply plead ignorance of the questions and the answers:
“Is Jesus even mentioned in early A.A. literature?”
“Did A.A.’s founders frequently mention Jesus?”
“If so, are there still a number of A.A. General Services Conference-approved books and materials that mention, refer to, or discuss the role of Jesus in recovery from alcoholism?”
Answers: Yes! Yes! And Yes!
In fact, there are so many references, that it will suffice to mention and document a few of them, and then let inquirers search for themselves – just as Dr. Bob used to require questioners in early A.A. to search in the Bible for answers to their questions about the program.
Here is Where You Can Find the Answers
Bill W. and The Great Physician, Jesus Christ: In his own autobiography, Bill Wilson spoke of the “Great Physician”—a metaphor for Jesus Christ. This reference to Jesus Christ as the “Great Physician” was often uttered by Bill Wilson’s doctor, William D. Silkworth, M.D. See Bill W. My First 40 Years: An Autobiography by the Cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous, 139, 145, 147; Dale Mitchel, Silkworth The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks: The Biography of William Duncan Silkworth, M.D.. 44, 47, 49, 50, 51, 225; Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W.: More on the Creator’s Role in Early A.A., 43, 50, 52-53, 56, 59, 60, 62-67, 70, 76, 100-02, 115, 126, 133-34, 173, 189, 193.
Bill W. and “The Lord. . . curing me. . .”: Probably the most emphatic testimony as to the role of Jesus Christ in Bill Wilson’s recovery is found on page 191 of the latest (4th, 2001) edition of Alcoholics Anonymous. Moreover, Bill’s affirmation of Jesus’s role was echoed on that same page 191 by Bill Dotson, AA Number 3.
Bill W. and his decision for Jesus Christ: Mrs. Samuel M. Shoemaker and Bill’s wife Lois attested that Bill had made a decision for Jesus Christ – “handed his life over to Christ.” Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W., 61-62.
Bill W. himself twice confirmed his statement: “For sure I had been born again.” Bill W.: My First 40 Years, 147; Dick B., Turning Point, 94-98, A New Way In, 62; The Conversion of Bill W., 62.
Bill W. told AAs this at his last full-length talk at an A.A. meeting in New York. Bill quoted Dr. Bob’s reminder “that most of us were practicing Christians.”  The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches Their Last Major Talks, 30.
Bill W. pointed out to the Lecturers at Yale University that “a great many of us have taken to reading the Bible.” Alcohol, Science and Society: Twenty-nine Lectures with Discussions as given at the Yale Summer School of Alcohol Studies. “Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Inc., 1945, W.W., Lecture 29, The Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous,” 467.
Dr. Bob is frequently quoted in The Co-Founders Pamphlet P-53, speaking about “Jesus Christ,” the “Master,” his “Heavenly Father,” and the “Good Book” as he often called the Bible: The Co-Founders, 11, 13-15, 19, 20. 30. And, on page 34, Bill said of Bob: “So Dr. Bob became the prince of all twelfth-steppers. Perhaps nobody will ever do such a job again.
You can find for yourself many other statements, about which I have written extensively, how early AAs, their “co-founders,” and their predecessors spoke of Jesus Christ. Examples are
 (1) Dr. Bob’s wife Anne Smith mentioned Christ in the journal from which she daily shared with early AAs and their families. (2) Rev. Sam Shoemaker—who was called a cofounder of A.A. by Bill W.—started writing about Jesus Christ in his very first significant book—Realizing Religion, and continued to do so throughout his long career. (3) Shoemaker pointed out that Calvary Mission—where Bill W. made his decision for Christ—was the place where Jesus Christ changes lives. (4) Bill W. marched in a processional from Calvary Church to Madison Square to witness—the group carried the sign, “Jesus Christ changes lives.” (5) Endless Oxford Group writings were read by early AAs and frequently mentioned Jesus Christ. (6) Dr. Bob mentioned many times that early AAs considered that the Bible’s Book of James, Jesus’ 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)."


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

History/origins/roots of Alcoholics Anonymous

Here's what popped up on the internet today (May 29, 2012) about Alcoholics Anonymous History, Alcoholics Anonymous Roots, and Alcoholics Anonymous Origins. Unsolicited. No author's name. But thank you. Dick B.

The following are articles that have been written by several AA historians that have taken the time to search and research the history and origins of Alcoholics Anonymous. The articles appearing on this site were chosen to show references to the validity of the origins of the original message of Alcoholics Anonymous, not to show our history as a whole. For links to other sites that deal with the history of AA see the favorite links page.
The following articles are from one of AAs leading historians, Dick B. It was a pleasant surprise when I stumbled accross some of his articles a few 24 hrs ago. I have spent many hours reading his articles and books and have learned much about early AA from his research. For more from Dick B. go to his website at www.dickb.com

Radio Interviews of Worldwide Christian Recovery Leaders by AA Historian Dick B.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/christian-recovery-radio-with-dickb

Friday, May 25, 2012

Stick with the Winners Book and 27 Video Classes





Dick B. and Ken B.’s Newest Title:



Stick with the Winners!

How to Conduct

More Effective 12-Step Recovery Meetings

Using Conference-Approved Literature:

A Dick B. Guide

for Christian Leaders and Workers in the Recovery Arena

(Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2012)



Contents

Introduction: “Old-School” Christian Recovery

Ch. 1:   Resources for “Old-School” 12 Step Recovery Meetings

Ch. 2:   Conference-Approved Literature Foundations

Ch. 3:   The Real Akron A.A. Program

Ch. 4:   16 Key Practices of the Real Akron A.A. Program

Ch. 5:   “Old-School” A.A. and First Century Christianity

Ch. 6:   “Old-School” Elements That Can Be Used Today

Ch. 7:   How to Conduct “Old-School” Recovery Meetings

            Conclusion



Available on www.DickB.com for only $9.95 NOW!

(Just scroll down the center column of the www.DickB.com front page.)







Announcing!

Dick B. and Ken B.’s New 27-Video Class:

Stick with the Winners!

Video                    Title



00                           Introductory Video for the “Stick with the Winners!” Class

01                           Where to Begin with a Newcomer

02                           Show the Newcomer That the Cure of Alcoholism Was Not Something New from A.A.

03                           The Vermont Youth of Dr. Bob and Bill W. Set the Stage for Early A.A.’s Emphasis on

God, His Son Jesus Christ, the Bible, Prayer, Conversion, and Witness

04                           How Bill W. Got Sober by Turning to God

05                           How Dr. Bob Got Sober by Turning to God

06                           How A.A. Number Three, Bill D., Got Sober by Turning to God

07                           A Summary of How the Original “Old-School” A.A. Program Was Developed

08                           Frank Amos’ Seven-Point Summary of the Original Akron A.A. Program

09                           Part One: Practices One through Eight of the 16 Practices of “Old-School” A.A. in Akron

10                           Part Two: Practices Nine through 16 of the 16 Practices of “Old-School” A.A. in Akron



12                           Part One: Groups One through Seven of the Resources about the “Old-School” A.A.

Program Available Today

13                           Part Two: Groups Eight through 14 of the Resources about the “Old-School” A.A.

Program Available Today

14                           The Starting Point: Mastering and Relying on Key Sections of Conference-Approved

Literature

15                           Supportive Statements in Alcoholics Anonymous (“the Big Book”)

16                           Supportive Statements in The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (# P-53)

17                           Supportive Statements in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers

18                           Organizing and Conducting a “Conference-Approved Literature” Group

19                           Resources for Your Group and Its Meetings

20                           Topics for Your Group and Its Meetings

21                           A Sample Meeting Format

22                           Using the Sample Meeting Format with Other Topics

23                           Putting It All Together: Some Suggested Basic Approaches

24                           The Helpful Personal Stories of Four Early AAs . . .

25                           Conclusion: Here’s What Makes the International Christian Recovery Coalition and

These Suggested Meetings Different



(Available on www.ChristianRecoveryRadio.com for only $29.95 NOW!)

Monday, May 14, 2012

AA History Videos - 28 of them - Available right now!


“Stick with the Winners!”



A new class by Dick B. and Ken B.

comprised of 28 videos expanding on

our new book (2012):



Stick with the Winners!

How to Conduct More Effective

12-Step Recovery Meetings

Using Conference-Approved Literature


To start benefitting from this class right now, please click the “Donate” button.

Top of Form


Bottom of Form

Credit or Debit Card, or PayPal Accepted. (PayPal is the gateway BUT NO PAYPAL ACCOUNT IS REQUIRED.)

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Video #

Description
00
Introductory Video for the “Stick with the Winners!” Class
01
Where to Begin with a Newcomer
02
Show the Newcomer That the Cure of Alcoholism Was Not Something New from A.A.
03
The Vermont Youth of Dr. Bob and Bill W. Set the Stage for Early A.A.’s Emphasis on God, His Son Jesus Christ, the Bible, Prayer, Conversion, and Witness
04
How Bill W. Got Sober by Turning to God
05
How Dr. Bob Got Sober by Turning to God
06
How A.A. Number Three, Bill D., Got Sober by Turning to God
07
A Summary of How the Original “Old-School” A.A. Program Was Developed
08
Frank Amos’ Seven-Point Summary of the Original Akron A.A. Program
Part One: Practices One through Eight of the 16 Practices of “Old-School” A.A. in Akron
10
Part Two: Practices Nine through 16 of the 16 Practices of “Old-School” A.A. in Akron
11
The 75% and 93% Success Rates of Early A.A.
12
Part One: Groups One through Seven of the Resources about the “Old-School” A.A. Program Available Today
13
Part Two: Groups Eight through 14 of the Resources about the “Old-School” A.A. Program Available Today
14
The Starting Point: Mastering and Relying on Key Sections of Conference-Approved Literature
15
Supportive Statements in Alcoholics Anonymous (“the Big Book”)
16
Supportive Statements in The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (Item # P-53)
17
Supportive Statements in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers
18
Organizing and Conducting a “Conference-Approved Literature” Group
19
Resources for Your Group and Its Meetings
20
Topics for Your Group and Its Meetings
21
A Sample Meeting Format
22
Using the Sample Meeting Format with Other Topics
23
Putting It All Together: Some Suggested Basic Approaches
24
The Helpful Personal Stories of Four Early AAs . . .
25
Conclusion: Here’s What Makes the International Christian Recovery Coalition and These Suggested Meetings Different

Only $29.95!

To start benefitting from this class right now, please click the “Donate” button.

Top of Form


Bottom of Form

Credit or Debit Card, or PayPal Accepted. (PayPal is the gateway BUT NO PAYPAL ACCOUNT IS REQUIRED.)