Applying “Old School” A.A. in Today’s 12-Step Fellowships
What the First, Original, Akron A.A. Program Was and Did
The way the first three AAs-Bill W., Dr. Bob, Bill D.-got sober before there was a “Big Book.” See The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010, pp. 57-59.
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1. There were no Steps;
2. There were no Traditions;
3. There was no “Big Book”;
4. There were no “drunkalogs” (of the kind seen today); and
5. There were no meetings (of the kinds seen today).
Instead, each of the first three AAs:
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1. believed in God;
2. was a Christian;
3. asked God for deliverance; and
4. received the requested deliverance from God.
The Summary by Frank Amos, Published in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, page 131.
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At the commencement of Matthew 5 we find the Lord Jesus pronouncing blessed a certain class of people. They are not named as “believers” or saints,” but instead are described by their characters; and it is only by comparing ourselves and others with the description that the Lord Jesus there gave, that we are enabled to identify such. First, He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” To be “poor in spirit” is to have a feeling sense that in me, that is, in my flesh, “there dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). It is the realization that 1 am utterly destitute of anything and everything which could commend me favorably to God’s notice. It is to recognize that I am a spiritual bankrupt.
