Moffat Yard & Co, first printed May 1908, this is the stated9^th printing December 1908. Thereis no writing in the book and no torn or missing pages, the cover has minimal indication ofwear, there is a paper label on the lower spine edge,the text pages are slightly age-toned. No dust jacket. This book is out of print.

The earliest book of the Emmanuel Movement it stresses the power of the mind over the body, medicine, good habits, and a wholesome, well regulated life. The Emmanuel Group confined it’s practice to functional nervous disorders that included alcoholism. Most of the disorders addressed had been associated with the moral life. The book is an overview of techniques used by the authors to bring about positive changes in their patients. The subconscious mind is discussed at length, just as William James did in Varieties of a Religious Experience. To reach the subconscious mind the authors employed suggestion, hypnotism and auto-suggestion. The final section of the book deals with the therapeutic value of prayer. Worcester writes: If a cure was to be effective it must include a spiritual life. This very much in line with the teaching of James, a principle of the Oxford Group and the basis of AA’s Twelve Step recovery plan.

What was the Emmanuel Movement?

William James offered his conviction that by getting in touch with the subconscious the human energy released could be used for transformation and healing. Elwood Worcester was one of the first ministers to take seriously this notion. While rector of the Episcopal Emmanuel Church in Boston he teamed up with other with other physicians and offered classes and groups using suggestive therapy to treat nervous disorders. Worcester offered group therapy classes for free for almost 23 years. His clientele grew quickly from hundreds to thousands and gained national publicity. Thus was born the Emmanuel Movement, the first American adventure between doctors and clergy to cure souls.

An important aspect of the Emmanuel Movement was the introduction of lay therapy in the treatment of alcoholism. Up to this time treatment had been the duty of the medical profession or clergy, or sometimes just dealt harshly with by the legal system. Courtenay Baylor, who as a recovering alcoholic, began working with Worchester in 1912 may have been the first lay therapist to work with other alcoholics. Among those treated by Baylor was Richard Peabody in 1922, the author of Common Sense of Drinking. Alcoholics Anonymous memeber’s practice of one non-professional alcoholic helping another is an example of utilizing lay therapy.

Another important aspect of the Emmanuel Movement similar to William James’s teachings of reliance upon an higher power. It is believed James is the source for AA’s term higher power when he wrote in Varieties of a Religious Experience: we are saved from the wrongness by making proper connection with the higher powers.

Worcester wrote in his first book of the Emmanuel Movement Religion and Medicine: Man must become conscious of his need and dependence upon a Higher Power, and bring himself more and more into harmonious relations with this Power, and this desire goes forth with prayer.