Comments on: Chapter 2: The Twelve Steps and Their Relationship to Christianity

By: danny

danny — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:48:16 +0000

My question is, does a 12 step program recommend that participant not have any relationships for at least a year after they get done with program?

By: Darell Adams

Darell Adams — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:40:51 +0000

This is a awsome website and I love the way that it is broken down. For me I found God inA.A and study about him now in church. I believe for me it takes both. Thanks again

By: Randy Young CDCA

Randy Young CDCA — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:38:39 +0000

God tells us to preach the Gospel to all peoples, not just Christians. Those who have the god(s) of Allah, money, drugs,sex, or anything other than the One Great God need to hear of His love, forgiviness, and His great plan for our eternal salvation.

AA/NA participants need God’s love and forgiviness, just as all people do. They first receive this from us, at the meetings. Then, maybe they will see God.
Keep coming back! God Bless you.
Randy Y.

By: Randy Young CDCA

Randy Young CDCA — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:30:22 +0000

I just discovered your website. Wow.
I am an undergraduate substance abuse counseling student at Ohio Christain University, in Circleville, Ohio; planning on graduate school in 2011. I work full time as an addictions counselor in Springfield and Dayton, Ohio.

The contents of this site are extremely halpful to my ministry. I plan to utilize your site often (with proper referencing)

God Bless you!

By: trina

trina — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:07:49 +0000

i am grateful for this history because i am/was serioulsy considering leaving the 12 step program because. The problem I still have is this: is it ok to hold hands and pray with people who are praying to a whole bunch of different gods?

By: Richard G. Burns, J.D., CDAAC (pen name Dick B.)

Richard G. Burns, J.D., CDAAC (pen name Dick B.) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:04:29 +0000

I sure welcome the broader picture of Alcoholics Anonymous, its diverse roots, the importance of the Bible, the significance of Shoemaker, and the basic biblical ideas that poured into the early A.A Christian Fellowship program of 1935–ideas from the Book of James, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13; ideas that were developed in the Bible study meetings and old fashioned prayer meetings in Akron; ideas that came from such Christian devotionals as The Runner’s Bible, The Upper Room, My Utmost for His Highest, The Christ of the Mount, Abandundant Living, and Daily Strength for Daily Needs. Most important too was the journal that Anne Smith kept from 1933-1939 and used to share with early AAs and their families at the Quiet Time sessions at the Smith Home where prayer opened the meeting, the Bible was read, group prayer was involvled, seeking God’s guidance was involved, and discussion of Anne’s journal and/or Christian literature was commonplace. This was the A.A. that achieved the early, documented and astonishing 75% success rate among the seemingly hopeless, medically incurable, “last gasp” real alcoholics who went to any lengths to establish a relationship with God and be delivered from what many called the curse of alcoholism. In our new International Christian Recovery Coalition (www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com), many in this informal group are participating in world-wide efforts to let people know that the help of God is still available to those in recovery who want it and seek it diligently Heb. 11:6
God Bless, Dick B. dickb@dickb.com

By: Dick B.

Dick B. — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:39:22 +0000

As the last 19 years of my research have revealed, the comprehensive picture of A.A. develop needs to be repainted. In very brief form, the sequence goes like this: (1) The pre-A.A. successes and techniques of the following Christian influences–rescue missions, YMCA, evangelists, Salvation Army, Christian Endeavor, Oxford Group, and Rev. Sam Shoemaker. (2) The Christian training and ideas absorbed by Bill W. and Bob as youngster in Vermont (The Conversion of Bill W. and Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous). (3) What the founders brought to the table as they founded the Akron Christian Fellowship program in 1935 (Real Twelve Step Fellowship History and The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous). (4) The Akron Christian program summarized by Frank Amos in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers. (5) The period between 1935 and 1938 when the original Christian program developed and flourished, and while Wilson stated there were six “word-of-mouth” ideas with various interpretations by various people. (6) Then Bill worked primarily with Rev. Samuel Shoemaker, Jr. on the manuscript; asked Sam to write the Twelve Steps; codified most of the Oxford Group life-changing ideas into the Twelve Steps (The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous); and then later said that the last 10 steps came directly from the teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker–Wilson dubbing Sam a “cofounder of A.A.”