What Early A.A. Was Really Like

By Dick B.

You won't learn this in A.A.'s basic text today or in our meetings, but the simplicity of early A.A. will really astound you! And we are here speaking to the pioneer A.A. Christian Fellowship in Akron that developed our program and was led by Dr. Bob.

Abstinence was the Number One requirement. Usually there was hospitalization or at least medical help to save the newcomer's life. At the hospital, only the Bible was allowed in the room. Recovered drunks visited the patient and told their success stories. The newcomer had to identify as a real alcoholic, admit that he too was licked, and affirm that he would do whatever it took. Dr. Bob visited daily. Then, Dr. Bob would explain the “disease” as it was then understood; and, on the final day, Dr. Bob asked two questions to which there was only one answer: (1) Do you believe in God? (2) Are you willing to get down on your knees and pray?

Reliance on the Creator was the Number Two requirement. The newcomer then gave his life to Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. Many were too sick to venture far; so they lived with the Smiths (and later with others) in the Akron homes. It is a myth that they recovered in an afternoon or in four easy lessons. They shook. They shivered. They fidgeted. They forgot. They were ashamed, insecure, and guilt-ridden. But they learned from the Good Book what a loving God had made available by way of forgiveness, healing, and deliverance.

Obedience to God’s will was the Number Three requirement. The entrants were expected to walk in love and to eliminate sinful conduct from their lives.

Growth in Fellowship with their Heavenly Father was the Number Four requirement. At the homes, they had daily Quiet Time (Bible study, prayer, asking guidance, reading a devotional, and often discussing Anne Smith's Journal). They shared their woes and problems with Dr. Bob, with Anne (his wife), and with Henrietta Seiberling. They also had personal Quiet Times in their individual lives or at their home.

They had one meeting a week. No drunkalogs. No whining. No psychobabble. Just prayer. Reading from Scripture. Quiet Time. Use of the Upper Room or similar devotionals for discussion. Then surrender upstairs for the newcomer in a prayer session resembling that in James 5:14-16. The newcomer made his decision for Christ. [This confession of Christ by which the newcomer became born again has been confirmed as a “must” by four different and well-known A.A. old-timers—J. D. Holmes, Clarence Snyder, Larry Bauer, and Ed Andy.]. At that time, the "elders" (usually Dr. Bob, T. Henry Williams, and one other) prayed with him that alcohol be taken out of his life, and joined him in asking that he be guided to live according to God's will.

Intensive help for other alcoholics was the Fifth element. Following the surrender and new birth upstairs, there were announcements downstairs about newcomers at hospitals. Religious comradeship and attendance at a church of choice were recommended but not required. Then socializing. And it started all over again.

There were sessions with Dr. Bob involving a moral inventory (as to adherence to the Four Absolutes—honest, purity, unselfishness, and love), confession of where they had failed to measure up to the “yardsticks,” prayer to have the sins removed, and plans for restitution. Did it work? You bet it did. There was a documented 75% success rate among the seemingly hopeless, “medically incurable” alcoholics who really tried. That success was primarily among Akron members. And the fact that the pioneers had been cured by the power of God was widely publicized across America. Soon, a documented 93% success record was found in Cleveland. That's why the principles and practices in early A.A.—the principles that had, in a similar way, already been working in the Salvation Army, the Rescue Missions, the YMCA, and Christian Endeavor—need to be part and parcel of our own A.A. learning.

A.A. is certainly no longer a Christian fellowship; nor does it any longer require belief in God or even in anything at all. But, for those who do believe in God’s healing power today, knowledge of the simple history is vital. As reported to John D. Rockefeller, Jr., by Frank Amos: It took abstinence. It took God. It took the Bible. It took a life-change decision. It took living consistent with the decision. And it particularly emphasized witnessing to others. It took fellowship. And it took time--lots of it. And it was all just that simple—no steps and no text book. Just a Bible, a devotional or two, and several Oxford Group precepts. Just abstaining from drink and avoiding temptation. Just relying on the Creator and coming to Him through His son. Just obedience to His will—both in eliminating sin and in living love and service. Then growth in fellowship through Bible study, prayer, asking wisdom, and study. And helping others without thought of pay. For, as the early “Twelfth Steppers” often put it: “No pay for soul surgery!” As the basic text declared, ‘That is the miracle of it” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., page 85).

Gloria Deo

Dick B.

PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837; 808 874 4876; dickb@dickb.com
http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml

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