Aa history Lovers 2004 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page

is, read literally, "things not up to us" vs. "things up to us."

And the goal of the good life in Stoic philosophy is always described as the

attainment of "serenity," which in ancient Greek was apatheia, which meant

freedom from overwhelming emotional storms (what were called the pathe in

Greek, that is, the fierce passions like the furious and insane rage which

drove Medea to kill her own children and Clytemnestra to murder her husband,

King Agamemnon, by chopping him up with an ax as he lay soaking in his

bathtub).

To see what they meant by the pathe, the overwhelming "passions" which led us

to our destruction, see the Roman tragedies written by Seneca. His plays

usually focus on the destructive power of ira (out of control anger) and furor

(which is out of control anger carried to truly insane lengths). But the

Stoics knew that there were a lot of other passions which could destroy you

when they got out of control, such as desire, grief, fear, and even joy

(modern drug addicts can assure you that this is so). And the ancients knew

about sexual lust of course! They had felt its power too.

At any rate, any ancient Greek philosopher who looked at the Serenity Prayer

would note these two items - - the distinction between the things we cannot

change and the things we can, and the idea of serenity as the goal of the good

life - - and nod his head and say, "Yes, this must be by a Stoic." These were

technical terms which these ancient philosophers argued over, and everybody

knew that this was the Stoic position on those issues.

St. Augustine, who knew his ancient philosophy thoroughly, later on attacked

the idea of serenity as the goal of the good life in his City of God, which he

wrote at the beginning of the fifth century A.D., specifically identifying

this as a Stoic idea.

The Discourses of Epictetus is the best Stoic work to look at to see how the

ancient Stoics understood these terms. Epictetus had once been a slave in the

mad emperor Nero's palace, and knew whereof he spoke when he talked about

being in situations where we had no control over people, places, or things.

(This observation was a standard part of ancient Stoic belief also. The only

thing we ultimately have real control over, they taught, is what is going on

inside us, inside our own heads.)

How did these ideas get down to the twentieth century? By the end of the

Greco-Roman period, most philosophers were teaching mixtures of Stoic and

Platonic (and sometimes Aristotelian) philosophy. They were called Late Stoics

or Middle Platonists or Neo-Pythagorians or other technical terms like that,

but all of them had mixed a lot of Stoic ideas into their thought. Even the

writings of an Academic Sceptic like Cicero were filled with references to

Stoic ideas.

And by the second century, Christian theologians were using a mixture of Stoic

and Middle Platonic philosophy to explain their own Christian ideas. In the

eastern end of the Mediterranean most early Christian theologians taught that

serenity in the Stoic sense was the goal of the Christian life, and Eastern

Orthodox Christianity still teaches that to this day.

And the revival of the Greek and Roman classics in the Renaissance, beginning

in the 1300's A.D., meant that you can find Stoic ideas coming out in all

sorts of Renaissance and Early Modern literature from western Europe for a

number of centuries afterward.

Reinhold Niebuhr was probably the greatest American-born theologian of the

twentieth century, and had a deep and profound knowledge of ancient philosophy

as well as the history of Christian theology.

There is a little bit of the Stoic approach in the early medieval philosopher

Boethius (who is sometimes cited as the source), but he really doesn't use the

Stoic technical terminology, and he was also not very apt to have been on

Reinhold Niebuhr's reading list. Boethius just did not show up on the standard

reading lists at either Protestant or Roman Catholic seminaries in the early

twentieth century. They might mention his name in a general history course,

but would not go into any detail about his ideas, or require the students to

actually read anything Boethius wrote.

But Reinhold Niebuhr could have picked up these ideas from so many different

Late Ancient and Medieval sources, that I think tracking down the particular

one that suggested the prayer to him is impossible. There were just too many

places he could have found the basic ideas.

Originally though, if we take the ideas in the Serenity Prayer back to their

beginnings, it was a very distinctive and easily identifiable Stoic

philosophical position. It wasn't just vague talk about men and women

sometimes being at the mercy of forces they cannot control, which was

something which thoughtful human beings in all cultures at all periods of

history have talked about (Egyptians, Persians, Buddhists, Hindus, the

classical Greek tragedians, and so on).

Glenn Chesnut, Professor Emeritus of Ancient History, Indiana University

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++++Message 1957. . . . . . . . . . . . Report from the moderatpr

From: NMOlson@aol.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/29/2004 8:46:00 PM

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The group keeps growing. Today there are more than 910 members from all over

the world.

Lately I have not responded to new members with welcoming messages. So this is

for the new members, and a reminder to the others:

Welcome to AA History Lovers.

We are not an AA group: The list is open to anyone interested in AA history

whether AA members or not.

We are not a chat room: Please do not use the list to comment on other

people's posts. Comment on the post ONLY if your message has additional

history on the subject.

Personal Opinions Are to be Avoided:

No personal opinions, or posts based just on rumor or vague memory of what

someone told you will be posted. To the extent possible please list the

sources for any information you send.

Messages that repeat history already on the list will not be posted: Please

use the search box to make sure the information is not already on the list.

Also please search the list before posting a question which may already have

been answered.

Subject Lines: Please identify the subject in any post that you send. Those

that say "A question" are not helpful.

Are you getting too much mail?: You can always change your setting to get a

daily digest or to receive no e-mails but only read the messages on the

website.

Read old posts by going to: Yahoo! Groups : AAHistoryLovers Messages : 1-31 of

853 [89]

Also, I do not always post questions about how a particular local custom got

started. There are far too many of them and they would crowd the list with

nothing but local customs.

Please do not argue when your post is not approved. I do not have time to

respond to such complaints.

As some of you know, I have not been well lately and considered turning the

group over to someone else. But now I have decided I want to keep control of

it until it is absolutely necessary to turn it over. But I may not be as

efficient as I have tried to be in the past.

Please be patient with me.

Nancy Olson

Moderator

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++++Message 1958. . . . . . . . . . . . Serenity Prayer and New York Herald

Tribune

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Cora F. seems to have discovered what may be yet a new problem in tracking

down the origins of the Serenity Prayer. So far, everyone has taken as a

starting point the tradition that the prayer came from a newspaper clipping

described as follows: Nell Wing for example, in Appendix B to Grateful to Have

Been There (p. 167), says that the prayer was discovered in 1941 in the "In

Memoriam" obituary column of an early June edition of the New York Herald

Tribune.

Cora F., whom I already know to be a very careful researcher with really sharp

eyes, says "I copied down the relevant dates, went to the library at the big

university, and spent several hours over two afternoons with a diabolical

microfilm viewer. No luck."

Has anyone else in our web group tried to verify that the copy of the prayer

which came into the New York AA office in fact came from an obituary in the

New York Herald Tribune in 1941? If it cannot be found in that newspaper

during that time period, was the person who brought it in to the AA office

mistaken in saying that it came from the Herald Tribune? There were a lot of

newspapers in New York in those days. Or did the date perhaps get remembered

incorrectly? Or was the newspaper clipping which was brought into the office

in June 1941 a memento which the person had kept from a much earlier time?

Cora F. says that she was looking at the obituaries in and around early June

1941.

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From: jacqueline belgium . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/28/2004 1:42:00 PM

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One of a good reference to AA history is the Bill W.'s biography published

by A.A. i.e. «PASS IT ON» where a lot of names is mentioned together with

the role they played in A.A. first days of AA history. just for your

information, the French-speaking European countries (i.e France, Switzerland

and Belgium) translated, a few years ago, the only existing French version

known up to now.

Regards.

_________________________________________________________________

Ne cherchez plus. Trouvez. http://search.fr.msn.be/

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++++Message 1960. . . . . . . . . . . . Price of the Big Book

From: Susan Krieger . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/28/2004 5:57:00 PM

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Starting in 1939 when the book was published is there any way of finding out

the original price and a history of GSO's price changes throughout the past 65

years?

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++++Message 1961. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: Serenity Prayer and New York

Herald Tribune

From: Tim Sheehy . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/30/2004 7:43:00 AM

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There is a grapevine article in the January 1950 edition describing the

origins of the serenity prayer as we know it.

-----Original Message-----

From: Glenn Chesnut [mailto:glennccc@sbcglobal.net]

Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2004 10:12 AM

To: AA History Lovers

Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Serenity Prayer and New York Herald Tribune

Cora F. seems to have discovered what may be yet a new problem in tracking

down the origins of the Serenity Prayer. So far, everyone has taken as a

starting point the tradition that the prayer came from a newspaper clipping

described as follows: Nell Wing for example, in Appendix B to Grateful to

Have Been There (p. 167), says that the prayer was discovered in 1941 in the

"In Memoriam" obituary column of an early June edition of the New York

Herald Tribune.

Cora F., whom I already know to be a very careful researcher with really

sharp eyes, says "I copied down the relevant dates, went to the library at

the big university, and spent several hours over two afternoons with a

diabolical microfilm viewer. No luck."

Has anyone else in our web group tried to verify that the copy of the prayer

which came into the New York AA office in fact came from an obituary in the

New York Herald Tribune in 1941? If it cannot be found in that newspaper

during that time period, was the person who brought it in to the AA office

mistaken in saying that it came from the Herald Tribune? There were a lot of

newspapers in New York in those days. Or did the date perhaps get remembered

incorrectly? Or was the newspaper clipping which was brought into the office

in June 1941 a memento which the person had kept from a much earlier time?

Cora F. says that she was looking at the obituaries in and around early June

1941.

++++Message 1962. . . . . . . . . . . . Another "Original" Preamble

From: Lee Nickerson . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/31/2004 6:59:00 AM

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Can anyone identify the source of the following. Its language

appears to be close to Oxford Group principles?

"Alcoholics Anonymous is a group of people for whom alcohol has

become a major problem and who have banded together in a sincere

effort to help themselves and other problem drinkers recover their

healthy and maintain sobriety.

Definitions of alcoholics are many and varied. For brevity we think

of an alcoholic as one whose life has become unmanageable, to any

degree, due to the use of alcohol.

We of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the alcoholic is suffering

from a disease for which no cure has yet been found. We profess no

curative powers but have formulated a plan to arrest alcoholism.

The only requirement for A.A membership is a desire to stop drinking.

There are no dues or fees in A.A.

Activities are supported by the voluntary contributions of the

members.

power rests only in God.

We adhere to no particular creed or religion. We do believe,

however, that an appeal for help to one's own interpretation of a

Higher Power, or God, is indispensable to a satisfactory adjustment

to life's problems.

Alcoholics Anonymous is not a prohibition or temperance movement in

any sense of the word. Neither have we any criticism of the

controlled drinker. We are concerned ONLY with the alcoholic.

From the vast experience of our many members we have learned that

successful membership demands total abstinence. Attempts at

controlled drinking for the alcoholic inevitable fail.

We attempt to follow a program of Recovery which has for its chief

objectives, sobriety for ourselves; help for other alcoholics who

desire it; amends for past wrongs; humility; honesty; tolerance; and

spiritual growth.

We welcome and appreciate the cooperation of the medical profession -

the clergy, and the public in general." unknown

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++++Message 1963. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Serenity Prayer and New York

Herald Tribune

From: Cloydg . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/30/2004 10:58:00 AM

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Here's a selected contribution I found on the net, hope it will help? Clyde

The Origin of our Serenity Prayer

As published in August/September 1992 BOX-459

(Reprinted with permission)

AA History.com [90]

For many years, long after the Serenity Prayer became attached

to the very fabric of the Fellowship's life and thought, its

exact origin, its actual author, have played a tantalizing game

of hide and seek with researchers, both in and out of A.A. The

facts of how it came to be used by A.A. a half century ago are

much easier to pinpoint.

Early in 1942, writes Bill W., in A.A. Comes of Age, a New York

member, Jack, brought to everyone's attention a caption in a

routine New York Herald Tribune obituary that read:

[91] "God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot

change,

courage to change the things we can,

Everyone in A.A.'s burgeoning office on Manhattan's Vesey Street

was struck by the power and wisdom contained in the prayer's

thoughts. "Never had we seen so much A.A. in so few words," Bill

writes. Someone suggested that the prayer be printed on a small,

wallet-sized card, to be included in every piece of outgoing

mail. Ruth Hock, the Fellowship's first (and nonalcoholic)

secretary, contacted Henry S., a Washington D.C. member, and a

professional printer, asking him what it would cost to order a

bulk printing.

Henry's enthusiastic response was to print 500 copies of the

prayer, with the remark: "Incidentally, I am only a heel when

I'm drunk .. . so naturally, there could be no charge for

anything of this nature."

"With amazing speed," writes Bill, "the Serenity Prayer came

into general use and took its place alongside our two other

favorites, the Lord's Prayer and the Prayer of St. Francis [92]

.

Thus did the "accidental" noticing of an unattributed prayer,

open the way toward the prayer's daily use by thousands upon

thousands of A.A.s worldwide.

But despite years of research by numerous individuals, the exact

origin of the prayer is shrouded in overlays of history, even

mystery. Moreover, every time a researcher appears to uncover

the definitive source, another one crops up to refute the

former's claim, at the same time that it raises new, intriguing

facts. What is undisputed is the claim of authorship by the

theologian Dr. Rheinhold Niebuhr, who recounted to interviewers

on several occasions that he had written the prayer as a "tag

line" to a sermon he had delivered on Practical Christianity.

Yet even Dr. Niebuhr added at least a touch of doubt to his

claim, when he told one interviewer, "Of course, it may have

been spooking around for years, even centuries, but I don't

think so. I honestly do believe that I wrote it myself."

Early in World War II, with Dr. Niebuhr's permission, the prayer

was printed on cards and distributed to the troops by the U.S.O.

By then it had also been reprinted by the National Council of

Churches, as well as Alcoholics Anonymous.

Dr. Niebuhr was quite accurate in suggesting that the prayer may

have been "spooking around" for centuries. "No one can tell for

sure who first wrote the Serenity Prayer," writes Bill in A.A.

Comes of Age. "Some say it came from the early Greeks; others

think it was from the pen of an anonymous English poet; still

others claim it was written by an American Naval officer... ."

Other attributions have gone as far afield as ancient Sanskrit

texts, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas and Spinoza.

One A.A. member came across the Roman philosopher Cicero's Six

Mistakes of Man, one of which reads: "The tendency to worry

about things that cannot be changed or corrected."

No one has actually found the prayer's text among the writings

of these alleged, original sources. What are probably truly

ancient, as with the above quote from Cicero, are the prayer's

themes of acceptance, courage to change what can be changed and

the free letting go of what is out of one's ability to change.

The search for pinpointing origins of the prayer has been like

the peeling of an onion. For example, in July 1964, the A.A.

Grapevine received a clipping of an article that had appeared in

the Paris Herald Tribune, by the paper's correspondent in

Koblenz, then in West Germany. "In a rather dreary hall of a

converted hotel, overlooking the Rhine at Koblenz," the

correspondent wrote, is a tablet inscribed with the following

words:

alter;

and the wisdom to distinguish the one thing from the other."

These words were attributed, the correspondent wrote, to an 18th

century pietist, Friedrich Oetinger (1702-1782). Moreover, the

plaque was affixed to a wall in a hall where modern day troops

and company com-manders of the new German army were trained "in

the principles of management and . . . behavior of the soldier

citizen in a democratic state."

Here, at last, thought A.A. researchers, was concrete

evidence-quote, author, date-of the Serenity Prayer's original

source. That conviction went unchallenged for fifteen years.

Then in 1979 came material, shared with G.S.O.'s Beth K., by

Peter T., of Berlin. Peter's research threw the authenticity of

18th century authorship out the window. But it also added more

tantalizing facts about the plaque's origin.

"The first form of the prayer," Beth wrote back, originated with

Boethius, the Roman philosopher (480-524 A.D.), and author of

the book, Consolations of Philosophy. The prayer's thoughts were

used from then on by "religious-like people who had to suffer

first by the English, later the Prussian puritans . . . then the

Pietists from southwest Germany . . . then A.A.s . . . and

through them, the West Germans after the Second World War."

Moreover, Beth continued, after the war, a north German

University professor, Dr. Theodor Wilhelm, who had started a

revival of spiritual life in West Germany, had acquired the

"little prayer" from Canadian soldiers. He had written a book in

which he had included the prayer, without attribution, but which

resulted in the prayer's appearance in many different places,

such as army officer's halls, schools and other institutions.

The professor's nom de plume? Friedrich Oetinger, the 18th

century pietist! Wilhelm had apparently selected the pseudonym

Oetinger out of admiration of his south German forebears.

Back in 1957, another G.S.O. staff member, Anita R., browsing in

a New York bookstore, came upon a beautifully bordered card, on

which was printed:

"Almighty God, our Heavenly Father,

give us Serenity to accept what cannot be changed,

Courage to change what should be changed,

and Wisdom to know the one from the other;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord."

The card, which came from a bookshop in England, called it the

"General's Prayer," dating it back to the fourteenth century!

There are still other claims, and no doubt more unearthings will