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The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous
Part ThreeBy Dick B.
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Understanding our Fellowship, Big Book, and Twelve Steps as Dr. Bob
Understood Them When Bill and Dr. Bob Developed Them in Akron
I have said and written many times–just as did Bill Wilson–that
nobody invented Alcoholics Anonymous, nor did its principles and practices come
from just one source. There are those who believe almost all our principles and
practices came from the Oxford Group. But that is not so. Nor did either Dr. Bob
or Bill say so. Nor did the two founders argue or dispute over the diverse
sources–Bible, Quiet Time, Shoemaker’s teachings, Anne Smith’s Journal, the
Oxford Group life-changing program, and the Christian literature of all sorts
that early AAs read.. Each co-founder, however, did ultimately stress certain of
the several sources.
Thus, Bill Wilson said of ten of the Twelve Steps: The
spiritual substance of our remaining ten Steps came straight from Dr. Bob’s and
my own earlier association with the Oxford Groups, as they were then led in
America by that Episcopal rector, Dr. Samuel Shoemaker (See The Language of
the Heart, p. 298; Dick B., New Light on Alcoholism, 2d ed., p. 6).
The facts bear out Wilson’s assertion.
Note, however, that Bill was speaking only of ten of
the Twelve Steps. He was not discussing the A.A. Fellowship, nor his own Big
Book, nor the A.A. slogans, nor the source of the Oxford Group
principles, which came straight from the Bible (See Rev. Sherwood Sunderland
Day, The Principles of the Group, p. 1: The principles of ‘The
Oxford Group’ are the principles of the Bible).
And here is what Dr. Bob said about the source of the A.A.
Program. He was not discussing the A.A. Fellowship, nor Bill’s Big Book, nor
the source of the Oxford Group principles. He was discussing where the basic
ideas for the Twelve Steps came from. Dr. Bob said:
When we started in on Bill D., we had no Twelve Steps. . . But
we were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book (See
The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 9-10; Dick B., The
Good Book and The Big Book, p. 19).
I didn’t write the Twelve Steps. I had nothing to do with the
writing of them. . . . We already had the basic ideas, though not in terse and
tangible form. We got them. . . . as a result of our study of the Good Book (See
DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, p. 96; Dick B., The Good Book
and The Big Book, p. 4).
Before we undertake this further study of the Oxford Group
principles that found their way into A.A. (And they are numerous!), we need to
realize–from our Founders’ statements: (1) Bill said the spiritual substance
of ten of the Twelve Steps came from the Oxford Group. (2) The Oxford
Group said (and their writers bear this out) that its principles came from the
Bible. (3) Dr. Bob said the basic ideas in the Twelve Steps were the
result of the pioneers’ study of the Bible. (4) Early Akron A.A. was a
Christian Fellowship; likened in part to an old fashioned prayer meeting; and
brought alcoholics to Jesus Christ through surrenders, Bible study, prayer,
practicing the principles of the Bible, and seeking God’s guidance (See Dick
B., Why Early A..A. Succeeded).
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Oxford Group Parallels Bill Adopted in A.A.’s Writings and Steps
In this study, we will be talking about the remarkable instances
where the language Bill Wilson used in his Big Book, in the Twelve Steps, in his
talks, and in the slogans very closely resembles language used by a host of
Oxford Group writers in a host of Oxford Group writings (See, for example, Dick
B., The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous, 2d ed., pp. 341-64–giving
187 specific illustrations; New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and
A.A., 2d ed., pp 153-70–giving 149 specific illustrations). We can’t begin
to repeat them all or to claim the foregoing titles contain them all. But this
first study will give you some to think about:
As to the First Step:
It [sin] makes a gap between myself and the Ideal which I am
powerless to bridge. . . Only God, therefore can deal with sin. He must contrive
to do for us what we have lost the power to do for ourselves (Shoemaker, If
I Be Lifted Up, pp. 131, 133).
Oh God manage me because I can’t manage myself (Russell,
For Sinners Only, p. 79; Howard, Frank Buchman’s Secret, pp. 41-44;
Harris, The Breeze of the Spirit, p. 10).
As to the Second Step:
Security lies in a faith in God which includes an experiment.
It lies in believing that God is (Shoemaker, National Awakening, pp.
40-41).
Willingness to believe (Brown, The Venture of Belief,
p. 26).
When we come to believe in God at all, we come to believe in
Him as having something definite to say about our lives. To believe in the fact
of the will of God is only to believe in God in the concrete (Shoemaker,
Religion That Works, p. 55).
A vast Power outside themselves (Shoemaker, A Young Man’s
View of the Ministry, p. 42).
A Force outside himself, greater than himself (Shoemaker,
If I Be Lifted Up, p. 176; Kitchen, I Was a Pagan, pp. 63, 78).
As to the Turning Point:
You need to find God (Shoemaker, Realizing Religion, p.
9).
We must surrender our wills to a greater Will, and that will
set us free (Foot, Life Began Yesterday, p. 35).
The crisis of self-surrender has always been and must always be
regarded as the vital turning point of the religious life (Shoemaker,
Realizing Religion, p. 9; Begbie, Life Changers, p. 126).
He made a decision to surrender to God (Foot, Life
Began Yesterday, p. 30).
Let go! Abandon yourself to Him. Say to Him, ‘Not my will but
Thine be done (Shoemaker, Religion That Works, p. 19).
As to the Third Step:
The decision to cast my will and my life on God (Shoemaker,
Twice-Born Ministers, p. 134).
Opening their minds to as much of God as he understood,
removing first the hindrance of self-will (Shoemaker, Children of the Second
Birth, p. 47).
That is what the Oxford Group is working for, changed lives,
God-centered in place of self-centered (Foot, Life Began Yesterday, p.
47).
For most men, the world is centered in self, which is misery
(Shoemaker, Realizing Religion, p. 11).
I surrender Thee my entire life, O God. I have made a mess of
it, trying to run it myself. You take it–the whole thing–and run it for me,
according to Your will and plan (Kitchen, I Was a Pagan, p. 67).
The first action is mental action, it is a decision of the will
to make a decision–one decides that one has not controlled one’s life
particularly well hitherto, and therefore it had better be put under new
management (Foot, Life Began Yesterday, p. 10).
That’s All–For now!
As Bugs Bunny used to tell us: That’s all, folks! But there’s
more to come–more Steps, more quotes, more parallels. But this should be enough
to whet your appetite. Perhaps now you see why I am so anxious to get into
public access and view the 23,900 item historical collection assembled in my 11
years of research. Treat yourself to the actual reading of For Sinners Only,
Life Began Yesterday, I Was a Pagan, Children of the Second
Birth, and Realizing Religion. See our new title, Making Known the
Biblical Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous (a complete summary of all 23, 900
items–books, articles, tapes, videos, papers, etc.). Some can now be seen at The
Wilson House. Some at Dr. Bob’s church (St. Paul’s) in Akron. Most still here on
Maui. More to be placed when benefactors are located. See
http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml for more details.
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