The Good Book and the Big Book: A.A.'s Roots in the Bible

by Dick B.

The very first, and the most popular, study of A.A.'s roots in the Bible. A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob stated in his last major talk in Detroit, Michigan, in December 1948 that the basic ideas of A.A.'s 12 Steps came from Bill W. and Dr. Bob's study of the Bible [ The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Biographical Their Last Major Talks (Item # P-53), 14]. So too that the Book of James, Jesus's "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5-7), and 1 Corinthians 13 were absolutely essential to the early program. Dr. Bob also said that he and Bill W. were convinced that the answer to their problems was in the Good Book (as he called the Bible) [ The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous  (Item # P-53), 13]. The Good Book and the Big A.A.'s Roots in the Bible by Dick B. explores every observable source and appearance of Bible ideas in the Big Book which Bill W. began writing about three years after A.A. was founded in Akron in June 1935. It has become a regular shelf item among those who believe in God, understand the importance of the Bible, diligently seek to apply the teachings of Jesus Christ in the march to sobriety and a life of love of service thereafter. The book is a page-turner for those who, like the author at first, had never realized the specific sources of A.A. in the Bible, and the specific Bible language in A.A.'s basic text, talks, and literature of the early days.

264 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1995

Reviews

[Dayna Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book for those in recovery. Lots of good history for those who already know some of the AA History.

[Deborah-Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I was so disappointed with this book. When I first saw it as a recommendation after having finished The Basic Text, I was really looking forward to it. I am a Christian and a Bible College/ seminary graduate and also a recovering alcoholic and I thought this would be the perfect book for me. However, I found it extremely poorly written. There were typos and grammatical mistakes all over the place. The writing didn't flow and was very choppy. It basically read as a paragraph, a bunch of old-school KJV texts, and then another paragraph. I also thought the author's main point was pretty underhanded and clearly with an agenda to covert people to his one school of thought. I don't know entirely if anything he said holds weight. It is quite possible that what he said actually was historically the case. At least I know that the Oxford Group was real and their tenets were based upon Puritan Christianity. Beyond that, I am not sure how much of this is made up and how much is factual, but even if it is factual, the way it was presented was uninteresting, boring, and just poor craftsmanship. I wish I could have given this a better review, but unfortunately I cannot. It is not worth your time to read even if you are a practicing Christian in recovery.

[Jo Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

way too technical for me.