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A.A.’s Roots in the Bible, Part 3
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1 Corinthians 13
by Dick B.
(The Parts Dr. Bob Considered “Absolutely
Essential”)
1 Corinthians 13 is often
called the Bible's “love” chapter because it focuses on the importance of love
in the Christian's life. In the King James Version, the word “charity” is used,
but the underlying Greek word is agape,
which is more properly translated “love.” And the most frequently quoted
characteristics of love are contained in the following verses from the King
James Version of the Bible (which is the version the A.A. pioneers used):
Charity
[love] suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth
not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her
own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but
rejoiceth in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:4-6).
The New International
Version, which is much used today, renders 1 Corinthians 13:4-6:
Love is patient, love is kind . It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not
proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth.
One of the most popular books in early A.A. was
Professor Henry Drummond's study of 1 Corinthians 13. The title of the book,
The Greatest Thing in the World, was taken from the last verse of the
Corinthians chapter, which reads:
And now
abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is
charity (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Drummond's book was part of
Dr. Bob's library, and a copy was still owned by Dr. Bob's family when the
author interviewed Dr. Bob’s son and daughter several years ago. A.A. In much
earlier years, A.A. Oldtimer Bob E. had sent a memo to Bill Wilson's wife, Lois,
in which Bob E. listed The Greatest Thing in the World as one of three
books Dr. Bob regularly provided to alcoholics with whom he worked. In fact, Dr.
Bob's enthusiasm for Drummond's book is dramatized by the following remarks of
the wife of A.A. Oldtimer Clarence S. Dorothy S. M. said:
Once,
when I was working on a woman in Cleveland, I called and asked him [Dr. Bob],
“What do I do for somebody who is going into D.T.'s?” He told me to give her the
medication, and he said, “When she comes out of it and she decides she wants to
be a different woman, get her Drummond's ‘The Greatest Thing in the World.’ Tell
her to read it through every day for 30 days, and she'll be a different
woman”(See DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, p. 310).
Henry Drummond himself had
made a similar suggestion half a century earlier, at the close of the lecture in
which he delivered his “greatest thing in the world” address (which later became
incorporated in the best-selling) book. Drummond said:
Now I
have all but finished. How many of you will join me in reading this chapter [1
Corinthians 13] once a week for the next three months? A man did that once and
it changed his whole life. Will you do it? It is for the greatest thing in the
world. You might begin by reading it every day, especially the verses which
describe the perfect character. “Love suffereth long, and is kind; loveth
envieth not; love vaunteth not itself.” Get these ingredients into your life
(See Drummond, The Greatest Thing in the World, p 53).
The important Drummond influence on A.A. from 1
Corinthians 13 can be seen from Drummond's own simplified description of love's
ingredients. Drummond listed nine ingredients of “love” as he saw love
specifically defined in that portion of that chapter of the Bible (See Drummond,
The Greatest Thing in the World, pp. 26-27). And we here set them
forth with references to correlative A.A. ideas and correlative Bible verses:
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Drummond's
Explanation Authorized (King James)
NIV Version A.A. Big Book 3rd ed.
Examples |
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1. Patience
“Love suffereth long.” Patient
p. 67, 70, 83 111, 163. |
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2. Kindness
“And is kind.”
Kind
pp. 67, 82, 83, 86 |
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3. Generosity
“Love envieth not.” Does not envy
pp. 145, cf. 82 |
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4. Humility “Love
vaunteth not itself, is not Does not boast
pp. 13, 57, 68, puffed up” 87-88 |
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5. Courtesy
“Doth not behave itself
is not proud
p. 69 unseemly” |
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6. Unselfishness
“Seeketh not her own.” not
self-seeking pp. xxv, 93, 127 |
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7. Good Temper “Is
not easily provoked.” not easily angered
pp. 19, 67, 70, 83-84, 125, 118 |
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8. Guilelessness “Thinketh no
evil.”keeps no record of
pp. 19, 67, 70,83- wrongs 84, 118, 125 |
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9. Sincerity “Rejoiceth not in
iniquity, but does not delight in pp. xiv, xxvii, 13 rejoiceth in the truth” |
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evil but rejoices with 26, 28, 32, 44, the truth 47, 55,
57-58, 63-65, 67, 70, 73, 117,140, 145 |
Dr. Bob stressed
that essence of A.A.'s steps could be simmered down to love and service (See
DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, p. 338). He presented God as a God of
love. (See DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, p. 110). Dr. Bob's
wife, Anne, frequently quoted the “God is love” verses in 1 John 4:8; 4:16 (DR.
BOB and the Good Oldtimers, pp. 116-17). Dr. Bob and Anne both studied
Toyohiko Kagawa's book, Love: The Law of Life, and Kagawa devoted an
entire chapter of that book not only to 1 Corinthians 13, but also to Drummond's
analysis of chapter Thirteen of 1 Corinthians in Drummond's The Greatest
Thing in the World. Hence there was a great deal of emphasis among the A.A.
pioneers of the spiritual principle of love as it is defined in the Bible. In
fact, the Big Book itself talks repeatedly of the principle of love (Big Book,
pp. 83-84, 86, 118, 122, 153).
Further
explaining the great store placed in the Corinthians love principle is Jesus
Christ's well-known message, as stated in Mark 12:30-31. These Gospel verses
deal with what Jesus called the two great commandments:
And thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment. And the
second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is
none other commandment greater than these.
The foregoing verses, from
the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament, were cited for the standard of
“Absolute Love,” as it was discussed in AA of Akron's A Manual for Alcoholics
Anonymous (one of the four pamphlets commissioned by Dr. Bob for use among
early AAs). The Old Testament also contained the very same commandments to which
Jesus referred, underlining the importance of love of God and of neighbor in the
commandments of the Bible.
From examining 1
Corinthians 13; from the frequent mention of “love” in the Big Book; from
studying the reading and remarks of Dr. Bob and Anne; from Bill Wilson's mention
of Corinthians; and from the repeated mention of 1 Corinthians 13 in A.A.'s
religious sources, the details of the Corinthians impact on A.A. seem quite
clear. The love “ingredients” as they were summarized by Henry Drummond permeate
A.A.’s basic text and can fairly be proclaimed to be among those “principles to
be practiced” at the level of A.A.’s Twelfth Step. The basic principle is love.
The component virtues are patience; tolerance; kindness; humility; honesty;
unselfishness; consideration for others; and the avoidance of anger, jealousy,
envy, pride, and wrongdoing.
As previously
covered, almost every one of these virtues can be found as well in Jesus’ sermon
on the mount and the Book of James. In the sermon on the mount, from the
standpoint of defining elements of seeking, receiving, and doing the will of
God. And, in James, from the standpoint of action and service to God and service
to others through reliance upon God.
These were also
the very the principles of love and service of which Dr. Bob spoke in his
farewell address and defined as the essence of A.A.’s spiritual program of
recovery. |