Sam Shoemaker's Early Book That Heavily Influenced Alcoholics Anonymous History

The Shoemaker Book That Set the Stage for Real Alcoholics Anonymous History, November 11, 2008 By Dick B. "Dick B." (Kihei, HI USA) This review is from: Realizing religion As many know, I began my research and travels investigating the roots of Alcoholics Anonymous over 21 years ago. My focus began with the question: Did early A.A. come from the Bible? And the research has established that it did. Particularly the remarks of A.A. co-founder Dr. Bob in his last major address to AAs at Detroit. It can be found in A.A. General Service Conferenc-approved pamphlet P-53. Dr. Bob said plainly four important things about A.A. and the Bible. He said: (1) We believed the answer to our problems was in the Good Book (Bible).The Good Book and the Big Book: A.A.'s Roots in the Bible (Bridge Builders Edition) (2) The parts the oldtimers considered absolutely essential were the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. The James Club and the Original A.A. Program's Absolute Essentials (3) "I didn't write the Twelve Steps. I had nothing to do with the writing of them." (4) We got the basic ideas from our study and effort in the Bible. That's the origin and Alcoholics Anonymous History of early A.A. And, for those who try to lay the roots on the Oxford Group, it is important to know that Oxford Group Founder Frank N.D. Buchman was described as "soaked in the Bible."The Oxford Group & Alcoholics Anonymous And Reverend Sam Shoemaker (Oxford Group American leader) was known as a "Bible Christian." New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A. (2d ed.) But it's equally important to recognize that Bill Wilson developed a new and different A.A. program when he published the First Edition of the Big Book in 1939. His Twelve Steps content came largely from the basic ideas of the Oxford Group. More important, he said that Steps Two through Twelve came directly from the teachings of Rev. Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr.Language of the Heart: Bill W's Grapevine Writings. And this statement, along with other Oxford Group books and literature sent me scurrying to every significant book ever written by Sam Shoemaker. And I lodged them in the Shoemaker Room at Sam's second church (Calvary Church) in Pittsburgh. One thing stood out clearly. The roots of Bill Wilson's Big Book ideas and Steps, from Bill's standpoint, got their origins from Sam Shoemaker's first significant book--Realizing Religion. And, as I interviewed numerous Oxford Group and Shoemaker activists and visited their libraries, I was almost inevitably confronted with Shoemaker's Realizing Religion. Almost all of them had it. Now to this brief but powerful book published by the Association Press in 1923. Shoemaker's first chapter covers two major ideas that wound up in Bill Wilson's 12 Step program. The first idea was that man suffered from spiritual misery--separation from God by people meant to be his companions. That separation was called "sin." Then Shoemaker concluded his chapter with three statements that epitomized Bill Wilson's expression about God--"May you find Him now!" For Shoemaker's thesis and apologia centered on his famous statement, "I Stand by the Door." He wanted people to "find" God. And he believed the church--religion--opened the door to establishing a relationship with God. And any student of A.A.'s Big Book will recognize very quickly the two 1939 A.A. themes: (1) You must find God. Now. (2) As Shoemaker wrote: "You need to find God. You need a vital religious experience. You need Jesus Christ." And, though many really don't know it today, early A.A.--as Wilson saw it, and as Shoemaker participated in its framing--was about finding God and using some twenty-eight Oxford Group ideas (later incorporated into the Steps) that supposedly would enable one to "find God," and then receive the resultant "vital religious experience"--that would transform him. In this little, early Shoemaker book, the reader will find, as I did, phrase after phrase that eventually wound up in Wilson's Big Book and became part of the suggested program of recovery that many in A.A. are still following today. Shoemaker was a tremendous writer. He was dedicated to helping others. And he certainly was able to use the idea of a new birth and absorption of biblical truths to bring that help to them. I recommend the book highly.