Customer Reviews

The Golden Text of A.A.: God, the Pioneers, and Real Spirituality (Why It Worked-- A.A. History Series)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I know Dick B. quite well. I am an ambassador for Christ. I am a son of God. I am a Bible student. And I'm a former soldier--I know about the spiritual battle too. More than any seem to realize today, Dick has highlighted the same believing in the early A.A. Christian Fellowship. Not much more needs to be said: You need to find the details in this little gem of a book. In a few words, it shows you how Bill Wilson and A.A. Number Three confirmed that the Lord had cured them of alcoholism. It also confirms the later conversions of the A.A. pioneers--they were required to believe in God, come to Him through Jesus Christ, study the Bible, pray, ask His wisdom, obey His will, grow in fellowship, and then experience cure. Whereupon, they were to help others with the same information. They were ambassadors. They were soldiers on the spiritual battlefield. And they knew how to achieve victory. This book is an inspiration for those who want to get well, and who want to say, along with A.A. founders: The Lord has cured me of this terrible disease; and I just want to keep talking about it and telling people. That's the Golden Text of A.A. You can still find it on page 191 of the 4th edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 191.

"The Lord has been so wonderful to me, curing me of this terrible disease that I just want to keep telling people about it." How many AAs and recovery programs today know that Bill Wilson and A.A. Number Three both used this expression. A.A. Number Three called it The Golden Text of A.A. And you can find the details on page 191 of Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed. Yep. It's alive and well today. And if you thumb back a few pages to Dr. Bob's story, you'll see that Bob also twice commented on the cure the pioneers had found. There's lots more in this priceless little book. But it captured the attention of the managers of the Wilson House. It became the subject of one of Dick B.'s Heritage Seminars there. And its words and theme need to be hammered home to those wandering souls that are teaching newcomers more and more often that you can believe in anything you want in A.A., or in nothing at all. Baloney! Not unless you prefer to drink.

Many have assumed that A.A. never was Christian. And it certainly isn't today. But that was not the picture in the early days.

Three events are now recorded in A.A. literature that show how the first three AAs regarded Jesus Christ as a critical element in their cures. The first was the statement by Bill Wilson to A.A. Number Three's wife. Bill said, "Henrietta, the Lord has been so wonderful to me curing me of this terrible disease that I just want to keep talking about it and telling people." A.A. Number Three heard the comment, subscribed to it, and said it represented the "golden text of A.A." for him and others. And that is where this little book got its name.

But there was one other early A.A. incident that showed the same focus on Jesus Christ. This was when a newcomer asked Bill Wilson what it was that was causing all these miracles. And Bill pointed to a painting of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane praying. Bill simply said, "There it is."

And this book, The Golden Text of A.A., contains eye witness accounts by three different early A.A. pioneers who all said that newcomers were required to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in order to become "members" of the early A.A. Christian Fellowship.

Hence this little book is of great importance to those many many Christians in A.A. today who feel ill-at-ease if and when they mention Jesus in a meeting and are rebuked by some oldtimer. It shows "Christians in the recovery arena are not alone."