Customer Reviews

The Books Early AAs Read for Spiritual Growth, 7th Edition

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I'm a Marine vet. In the Marines, I studied literature on weapons, combat, hand-to-hand fighting, and all the rest. But nobody from the U.S. Government or from the top rank to the bottom ever told me I couldn't read the Bible,Henry Drummond's The Greatest Thing in the Word, the Upper Room, As a Man Thinketh, or the Saturday Evening Post. That's from one of the most stringent training units in existence. The Marines don't censor the mind, or the literature, or freedom of expression. But that's what my friends in recovery get thrown at them all the time. They mention the Bible or Jesus Christ, and right away some character sounds off that this violates the Traditions, that such material is not "conference approved," or that A.A. is spiritual but not religious and hence doesn't consider these outside issues. But that's not A.A. as I read it in Dick B.'s books. I have to distinguish what individuals did and can do from what someone tells them they can't do. And the best answer is history--the history of A.A. itself. This simple little book shows just how broad the reading, religious study, use of the Bible, and employment of devotionals was in A.A. It's not a secret. It's just that people don't know it and get intimidated by nonsensical remarks. I'm very grateful for this excellent review of all the books AAs studied - about God, about the Bible,about Jesus Christ, about prayer, about healing, about Quiet Time, about religion and the mind, and even about William James, Carl Jung, Dr. Silkworth and all the rest. People in recovery are not in a cage, nor should they let anyone put them there. Again the answer is history, and this is the book that shows precisely that there never was a cage. I recommend it to those who want to be free and are scared to death to say so. Take heart you kindred souls: Read, Recover, Enjoy. Remember God

The Big Book suggests that there are many helpful books that can be read in connection with the Eleventh Step. And early AAs read all kinds of literature, which is covered in this guide. Their books were those on Quiet Time, prayer, healing, love, forgiveness, daily devotionals, the Oxford Group, and New Thought writers like Fox, Drummond,Clark, etc. Dick plumbed the sources from Dr. Bob's Library, Anne Smith's Journal, That Amazing Grace (what Clarence Snyder had in his library, Henrietta B. Seiberling (what her children told him about her library), the books T. Henry Williams read, all the Sam Shoemaker articles and books, and the immense number of Oxford Group books Dick collected. Here is a concise description of the books you will find helpful to your spiritual growth, just as I have. And see Dr. Bob and His Library, Anne Smith's Journal, That Amazing Grace, DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, AA The Way It Began by Pittman, New Light on Alcoholism, and The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous