Cured!: Proven Help for Alcoholics and Addicts [Paperback]

Dick B. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 2003

This is a book for those who want to be cured of alcoholism and of addictions. Permanently! The author has spent 13 years researching the claims, program, and practices of the A.A. Pioneers who declared emphatically they had been cured of alcoholism. Only later did one of the founders, cheered on by therapists, treatment programs, and even religious leaders, say there was no cure - only a daily reprieve. The author demonstrates the original fact of cure. He points to confusing definitions of alcoholism that have obfuscated the real cure - reliance on the Creator. He rejects the "goofy gods" of recovery and urges the availability of God's power today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Dick's newest title is here, and it's a breath of fresh air. Hallelujah! This is Dick's finest work! Must read. -- Steve Rutz, Alcoholics Victorious, Florida; February 4, 2003

Lays out, in clearly . . . documented detail, the miracle of the God-granted cure of the compulsive use of addictive substances. -- Robert P. Turner, M.D., Medical Director, MUSC Clinical Neuophysiology Laboratory, Medical University of South Carolina, January, 2003

This is one pepper pot of a book. There is something here to challenge everyone in the great recovery debate. -- Lee Hummel, M.S.C.C., Christian Therapist at Safe Harbor Christian Counseling, Delaware, January, 2003

What was it that brought. . . AA to a place where "The alcohol problem was removed?" You must read "Cured." . . .RECOVER! -- Sponsor to Sponsor Publications, November 10, 2003

From the Publisher

Here is a title for doubters! Doubters who just can't believe that God is "powerless" over alcohol. Doubters who wonder why A.A. and other fellowships ever adopted the idea "once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic" and bought the notion that there is no cure. Early AAs sought the power of God. They relied on the Creator for cure. And they said so. More important - they were cured. This title by A.A.'s leading scholar on its spiritual roots will show you how and why. And convince you! With facts! You can be cured too!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 182 pages
• Publisher: Paradise Research Pubns (January 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885803354
• ISBN-13: 978-1885803351
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,152,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm an active, recovered member of Alcoholics Anonymous. I use the pen name Dick B. to conform to A.A. Traditions. I am also a writer, an historian, a Christian, a Bible student, a certified CDAAC, a retired attorney, and A.A. with over 25 years of continuous sobriety. As of October, 2011, I had, for more than 21 years, been researching the roots of early A.A. in the Bible, United Christian Endeavor, the Salvation Army, the Rescue Missions, the Young Men's Christian Association, the evangelists of the 1800's, the life-changing program of the Oxford Group, the teachings of Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Quiet Time, the teachings of Anne Ripley Smith (Dr. Bob's wife), and the roles of William James, Carl Jung, Richard Peabody, New Thought writers, William D. Silkworth, Christian literature and devotionals of the day. And published 42 titles and over 675 articles on all aspects of A.A.'s spiritual history, biblical roots, and astonishing successes in the 1930's and very early 1940's. And why? Because many in the 12 Step Fellowships tire of hearing about a 'higher power' that can be a tree, a radiator, a lightbulb, the group, or Gertrude. And they tire of seeing Biblical expressions in A.A.'s basic text and early literature and yet hearing today's literature stating that A.A. is 'spiritual, but not religious' when outsiders and the courts readily see its religious character and many therefore believe they should be able to learn A.A. Christian roots. And they tire of the fatalism that abounds in recovery writings and talk today. So I decided to find out where A.A. came from, and then pass on to the 100 plus men I have sponsored, the truth about A.A.'s roots. Currently and still today, one history after another appears in print and purports to talk about A.A.'s beginnings. Yet there is little or no mention of the Bible, of God, of Jesus Christ, of Divine healing, of redemptive forgiveness, or of deliverance from the power of darkness. Nonetheless, these unmentioned or little mentioned Christian elements were relied upon by early AAs for their astonishing recoveries. The fact is that they declared they were cured by the power of God and had a documented 75 to 93% success rate among seemingly hopeless, medically incurable, alcoholics who gave the program their best shot. So each of my 42 published titles and innumerable articles cover some aspect, and often more than one, of A.A.'s seven major Biblical and basic roots: (1) The Bible. (2) Quiet Time and the daily devotionals. (3) The teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, Jr. (4) The life-changing program of the Oxford Group. (5) The details in the spiritual journal kept by Anne Ripley Smith (co-founder DR. Bob's wife) and shared with the pioneers and their families, but unmentioned today. (6) The extensive Christian literature ranging from St. Augustine to Brother Lawrence to Henry Drummond to John Mott to Harry Emerson Fosdick to Glenn Clark to Oswald Chambers, and a host of others. (7) One of the most recent finds has been the roots of Akron A.A. in the United Christian Endeavor Society. If one wants to understand the role, power, and love of God our Creator in A.A. today, that person will not accomplish much in the meetings, nor even in the "something" or "somebody" definitions that are pumped out today as a "power" to seek. Nonetheless, they can find accurate facts in my thoroughly researched and documented work of the past 21 years. For A.A. history abounds with truths from the Bible: how to come to God through His son Jesus Christ, how to be healed, how to comport yourself in accordance with Christian principles, how to pray, and how to receive guidance as one of God's kids. It's all there; and I welcome your comments and the many I receive each day. There's still plenty to learn and pass on. God Bless, Dick B. PS: Many of our latest findings are in The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010 www.dickb.com/Christian-Recov-Guide.shtml. Many are frequently posted on my blog www.mauihistorian.blogspot.com, as well as my facebook and twitter entries

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Curing a Marine: I want to be cured, not perpetually sick, April 16, 2008

By 

Daxton Lyon (Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cured! Proven Help for Alcoholics and Addicts (Paperback)

Dick B. has written two major books on the cure of alcoholism. This is the cure that every single early A.A. proclaimed. His later book is When Early AAs Were Cured and Why. It's a what they did, and how to do it today book. And it's a pip. But the introduction to the idea, the refutation of perpetual sickness, and the historical backdrop of the real, early A.A. Christian fellowship, Bible ideas, cures, and message carrying will be found in this book. It carefully explores the obvious meaning of cure. It carefully explores what the Bible has to say about cure. It carefully reviews the history of cures through the ages, as well as the specific cures of alcoholism before, during, and after A.A.'s founding. And it wowed me! I'm a Marine vet, and I looked for success, not failure, health, not sickness, victory, not defeat. And I find it with my relationship with God and His son Jesus Christ. I tired of hearing alcoholics and addicts dampened in their enthusiasm for sobriety and recovery by the doleful statements that there is no cure for alcoholism. It rankled me as a fighter and vet. What it really did for me was to show me the depth of believing, study, obedience, and love for God that enabled the Akron A.A. pioneer Christian fellowship people to be cured. And they said so. Hurrah for this positive note.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Power that overcomes the Powerless Paranoia, November 17, 2006

By 

John Albert Hill Jr. "Bible student in recovery" (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cured! Proven Help for Alcoholics and Addicts (Paperback)

Yes. Alcoholics can be cured. And A.A. Pioneers said so.
Here's the book where Dick first began cutting the thread between Bill Wilson's 'powerless' alcoholic and A.A.'s original reliance on the power of God for a cure. And such a statement still raises the hackles of the died-in-the-wool fanciers of old, weak, shop-worn 'sick forever' ideas that crept into A.A. and 12 Step groups with the failures of therapists, the failures of treatment programs, and the rim-running by unbelievers who feel it's more important to be untainted by religion than to confess that God can, did, and does heal alcoholics. Dick's book shows the origin of the fallacy of no cure for alcoholics. The idea didn't come from God or the Great Physician Jesus Christ. It didn't come from the Good Book. It didn't come from the early A.A. Christian Fellowship program developed in 1935. It came when the Devil introduced the effectiveness of temptation over the effective fervent prayer of righteous men. Take a look at the Book of James, the early A.A. favorite. Read the first chapter on temptation. Read the fourth chapter 4:7 on submitting yourself to God, resisting the devil, and watching him flee. Read Chapter Five on the effectiveness of prayer--the chapter that guided the pioneers in their surrenders to Christ and their believing. Stick to the impotence of God if you want to remain sick. Look to the cures by God if you want to get well. And that's what the pioneers did.

Also recommended: God and Alcoholism, by Dick B. When Early AAs Were Cured and Why, by Dick B. The James Club and the Original A.A. Program's Absolute Essentials, by Dick B. A New Way Out, by Dick B.; A New Way In, by Dick B.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars " ALL WISE RIGHT AND EXACT ", September 30, 2008

By 

Gary Williams - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cured! Proven Help for Alcoholics and Addicts (Paperback)

I CANNOT EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION FOR YOUR DILIGENCE AND CONCERN FOR THE TRUTH AND ALL TRUE SEEKERS OF KNOWLEDGE IN AND OUT OF THE ROOMS OF A/A-N/A . I HAVE BEEN DELIVERED FROM ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS AND I AM AN ADDICTIONS COUNSELOR IN THE NATIONS CAPITAL TEACHING "THE PURE MILK " TO THE LOST BUT NOW FOUND CHILDREN OF GOD AND YOUR DOCUMENTATION HAS STRENGHENED MT TESTIMONY AND CLINCAL FOUNDATION. I THANK ALMIGHTY GOD FOR FELLOW SERVANTS SUCH AS YOUR SELF !!! KEEP FIGHTING BROTHER !!