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Alcoholics Anonymous and the Church Alcoholics Anonymous and the Church A History Misunderstood PAUL STARK Copyright Paul R. Stark © 2010. All Rights Reserved. Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2 The Origin of Alcoholics Anonymous ............................................................................................ 3 The Nature and Extent of the Alcoholics Anonymous Belief System within the Church Today .. 9 A Comparison of Certain Historical Orthodox Christian Doctrines to Certain Alcoholics Anonymous Doctrines .................................................................................................................. 13 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 15 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 17 1 Introduction The relationship between the Christian Church and Alcoholics Anonymous has historically been a close one. Churches of all denominations across the United States continue to regularly host Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on their properties. Churches have no doubt opened their doors to this group, or fellowship, as it calls itself,1 as an outreach of Christian love to the community. However, churches have also been frustrated by their inability to construct a theology within which to understand addictions and therefore to help addicted persons from a biblical and Christocentric perspective. Many a pastor and Christian counselor has become deeply discouraged attempting to help addicted persons through prayer, encouragement, and counseling. Add to this the uncertainty about the nature of addictions. Are they medical problems? Psychological problems? Sociological problems? Theological problems? Which among the popular models should be used in thinking about addictions, the moral model, the disease model, the scientific model?2 Many pastors have been all too willing to allow Alcoholics Anonymous to ―minister‖ to their parishioners with addiction problems due to the absence of an acceptable solution of their own. This paper will begin by examining the origin of Alcoholics Anonymous with particular attention paid to its theological roots and relationship to the historic Church. The personalities involved in its beginnings and their Christian beliefs will be surveyed. Next, an analysis of the nature and extent of the Alcoholics Anonymous belief system upon the church and its effects will be considered. What does the relationship between Alcoholics 1 Ernest Kurtz, Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous (Center City: Hazelden Educational Services, 1979), 33. 2 Christopher C. H. Cook, Alcohol, Addiction, and Christian Ethics (Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 17. 2 Anonymous and the church look like today, and is there cause for concern? Finally, a comparison of certain historical orthodox Christian doctrines to certain Alcoholics Anonymous doctrines will be undertaken. Are Alcoholics Anonymous dogmas compatible with or antithetical to these Christian doctrines? If not, what are the implications for the church, and what form, if any, should the relationship take between the church and Alcoholics Anonymous? The Origin of Alcoholics Anonymous There is not unanimity regarding a certain ―founding moment‖ for Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).3 Ernest Kurtz puts it in a 1934 Brooklyn, New York ―kitchen experience‖ between AA co-founder Bill Wilson and his alcoholic friend Ebby Thacher, who upon being offered a drink by Wilson, declined declaring, ―I‘ve got religion‖.4 Kurtz actually cites four ―founding moments‖ in AA‘s history: Dr. Carl Gustav Jung‘s 1931 conversation with Rowland H.; Ebby T.‘s late November 1934 visit with Bill Wilson; Wilson's ‗spiritual experience‘ and discovery of William James in Towns Hospital in mid-December 1934; and the interaction of Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith through May and June 1935 which climaxes in the final and enshrined ‗founding moment‘. .5 Rowland Hazard was a man who had accumulated considerable wealth in finance and, after becoming alcoholic, was able to consult one of the foremost psychiatrists of the day in Jung. Hazard traveled to Zurich for extensive treatment by Jung. After informing Hazard that there was no further medical options that could help him, Jung told this desperate 3 Kurtz, 8. 4 Ibid., 7. 5 Ibid., 33. 3 man that there might be hope in ―a spiritual or religious experience – in short, a genuine conversion.‖6 Jung and Wilson were later to correspond on the significance of Hazard‘s treatment by the doctor. Wilson wrote that ―[T]he conversation between you [and Rowland] . was to become the first link in the chain of events that led to the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous‖. Wilson‘s own ―spiritual experience‖ is recounted in one of his books: Suddenly the room lit up with a great white light. I was caught up into an ecstasy which there are no words to describe. It seemed to me, in the mind's eye, that I was on a mountain and that a wind not of air but spirit was blowing. And then it burst upon me that I was a free man. Slowly the ecstasy subsided. I lay on the bed, but now for a time I was in another world, a new world of consciousness. All about me and through me there was a wonderful feeling of Presence, and I thought to myself, ―So this is the God of the preachers!‖ A great peace stole over me and I thought, ―No matter how wrong things seem to be, they are right. Things are all right with God and His world‖.7 William James is the author of The Varieties of Religious Experience,8 the book given to Wilson by his friend Ebby while in the hospital, ―a book that was to prove significant to the history of Alcoholics Anonymous‖.9 AA‘s other co-founder, medical doctor Robert Smith, or Dr. Bob as he came to be known, met Bill Wilson through members of The Oxford Group in Akron, Ohio where Smith lived. Wilson was in the area on business in May of 1935 when he was overcome with a desire to drink, the first such desire in months. In desperation, he called the local Oxford 6 Kurtz, 8-9. 7 Bill W., Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age: A Brief History of A.A. (New York: Alcoholics Anonymous Pub., 1957), 63. In an endnote, Kurtz adds, ―Wilson‘s most succinct later understanding of this experience appears in a letter to Marjorie W., 3 April 1958: ‗What I really meant was this: I was catapulted into a spiritual experience, which gave me the capability of feeling the presence of God, His love, and His omnipotence. And, most of all, His personal availability to me.‖ Kurtz, 311. 8 William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (New York: The Modern Library, 1902). 9 Kurtz, 20. 4 Group office in order to seek help with his desire.10 It was through this contact that he eventually was introduced to Dr. Bob, also suffering greatly due to habitual heavy drinking, under the auspices of perhaps being an encouragement to him. In fact, at the end of their meeting, Wilson thanked Smith by remarking, ―So, thanks a lot for hearing me out. I know now that I‘m not going to take a drink, and I‘m grateful to you‖.11 On June 10, 1935, Dr. Bob Smith took his last drink12 and Alcoholics Anonymous officially was founded that very year. These are the historical roots of the organization. In order to understand the theological roots of Alcoholics Anonymous it is necessary to begin with Frank Buchman and The Oxford Group. The Oxford Group ―. was a non- denominational, theologically conservative, evangelically styled attempt to recapture the impetus and spirit of what its members understood to be primitive Christianity.‖13 It was founded as The First Century Christian Fellowship in 1908, changed its name to The Oxford Group in 1928, and finally renamed Moral Re-Armament in 1938. The organization grew for about thirty years and then virtually disappeared. Although it had noteworthy expansion and recognition during its time, and has a remnant of adherents today14, it lost momentum quickly and became a short lived phenomenon in American religious history.15 10 By this time, Wilson had become a member of The Oxford Group in New York, having been introduced to the group by his friend Ebby. Smith was an Oxford Group member in Akron. 11 Kurtz, 29. 12 Bill W., vii. 13 Kurtz, 9n. 14 In 2001, Moral Re-Armament changed its name to Initiative of Change International. For further information on this organization as it exists today, see http://www.iofc.org, accessed 5/23/09. 15 Linda A. Mercadante, Victims and Sinners: Spiritual Roots of Addiction and Recovery (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), 51. 5 The Oxford Group was founded by Frank Buchman. Buchman was an ordained Lutheran minister who held various ministry positions primarily in the evangelistic sphere. He had a ―spiritual experience‖ of his own at a Keswick convention in England.16 He then broke with the Lutheran Church and formed The First Century Christian Fellowship in 1908. Both Buchman and The Oxford Group were not without their critics. The Group itself held controversial views. They were decidedly anti-intellectual, even viewing theology as a ―waste of time for a ‗changed‘ person.‖17 This would appear to reflect Buchman‘s simplistic approach to theology, preferring a few elementary governing concepts to rigorous intellectual criticism.18 The Group also apparently elevated general revelation over special
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