alcoholics anonymous

Lewis brown this believing world
1943 sixth edition

Early A.A. members, including Bill Wilson, learned from this book that,
regardless of their other differences, all of the great religions
of mankind have one thing in common; they all believe in a higher power

This Believing World, A Simple Account of the great
religions of mankind by Lewis Browne, The MacMillan Company, 1926

A study in the development of religion from magic, thru the ancient religions
of Ireland, Europe and the Middle East. Covers all major
 religions throughout the world.

the photo of the book with the dust cover is for illustration purposes

this book being sold does not have the dust cover



aa historian Dick B Writes: ome books and pamphlets were very frequently mentioned by A.A.'s pioneers. They were: the Bible, The Upper Room, My Utmost for His Highest, The Runner's Bible, the Glenn Clark books, the E. Stanley Jones books, James Allen's As a Man Thinketh, Henry Drummond's The Greatest Thing in the World, the Emmet Fox books, Harold Begbie's books, two Lewis Browne books, William James, Carl Jung, the Oxford Group literature, and Sam Shoemaker's books. These are mentioned in A.A. histories. And they were mentioned in pamphlets and bulletins put out by A.A. offices and groups. They were also mentioned by many of the surviving families and pioneers the author interviewed. Many of the core ideas that AAs adopted were ideas that were covered in depth by many different books and materials they read.



jim burwell writes in his early 1940s history of alcoholics anonymous: It is my opinion that a great deal of Bills traditions came from the fourth book. Lewis Browne's This Believing World. From this book, I believe Bill attained a remarkable perception of possible future pitfalls for groups of our kind for it clearly shows that the major failures of religions and cults in the past have been due to one of three things: Too much organization, too much politics, and too much money or power.

Charles Knapp Writes:

Oh yes Bill knew of this book all right.  He read almost everything on the subject of "spiritual experiences." This Believing World by Lewis Browne, and The God Who Speaks by B.H. Streeter are just 2 other books on the subject he read.  Bill once said " Our program is nothing new.  We borrowed from everyone we could.  Even those who failed, we learned from their mistakes."  Also see Appendix II in our Big Book.  It was largely taken from James' book. (page 569)
Thanks for asking the questions and looking for answers.
Charles Knapp